| The Record May Be Worse But... Authored by Billy Ray - April 27, 2006 - 10:32 pm
The Trail Blazers tumultuous season came to a unforgiving end—beaten by the playoff bound Phoenix Suns 106-96. Like the past two season ending games there were no playoff's for fans to look forward to. But unlike last season the Blazers can cling to one thing—hope.
That hope starts with coach Nate McMillan. Such a long shot to leave Seattle was the coach known as “Mr. Sonic” that when discussing possible coaching candidates McMillan's name rarely surfaced. But the Blazers took a massive gamble and waited, and waited, and waited.
The rest is history, and the incredible long shot is serving as one of a few beacons of hope for a once proud NBA franchise suffering through the inevitable rebuilding cycle that all NBA teams have to face at some point.
McMillan quickly instilled a discipline that the Trail Blazers franchise hadn't seen in years. Players were expected to perform and were to be held accountable for their actions. It was a sweeping change that swept Blazer fans off their feet as McMillan always found the right way to say what needed to be said and do what needed to be done.
The changes weren't met with acceptance by all players. Most notably Zach Randolph who coined McMillan as “sarge.” McMillan had his hands full with Randolph, Darius Miles and Ruben Patterson all serving as various distractions throughout the season.
The Blazers started the season strong, but found it slipping away almost as quickly as the season started. After starting 3-3 to start the year the Blazers went 2-10 in the next 12 games. The Blazers had a nice stretch in mid January seeing the team win 4 games in a row. But in February the Blazers may have met a defining point in the season when the team lost three games in a row by a combined 97 points. The team was clearly in disarray and McMillan was at a loss as to what exactly lead to team to the dismal performances.
10 days after losing to Toronto by 33, the Trail Blazers shipped troubled forward Ruben Patterson, rookie forward Sergei Monya, and journeyman guard Charles Smith in a 4-way deal that saw Brian Skinner come from Sacramento and Voshon Lenard come from Denver.
Despite the trade not translating into wins, the Blazers achieved a small victory. Despite Patterson's energy and hustle, the Blazers were growing tired of Patterson's antics which included being sent home from a road trip after blowing up at McMillan and assistant coach Monty Williams in a game against the New York Knicks November 20—8 games into the season.
But unlike previous Trail Blazer seasons that become unwatchable by this point, McMillan refused to give up. Where previous head coach Maurice Cheeks would find himself burying his face in his hands, McMillan was up barking instructions to his team. McMillan instilled that hard work and grit was going to put players in his corner and that pouting, giving up, and whining would not be accepted.
Many players emerged under McMillan's tutelage. Steve Blake had his best season as a pro. Viktor Khryapa started 53 games out of the 69 he played—after being on the inactive list or listed as a did not play-coaches decision for the first month and a half of the season. Jarrett Jack proved himself to be a valuable and important contributor who didn't miss a single game despite a ankle deemed only to be at 60% until the last month of the season when McMillan wanted to see what Blake and Sebastian Telfair could do.
Possibly one of the brightest spots of the Blazers youth was rookie guard Martell Webster. Despite a very rough start to the season that saw him collecting did not play-coaches decision's and time on the inactive list—and an eventual stint in the NBDL—Webster bounced back.
In the final 10 games of April Webster averaged 13.7 points per game 4 rebounds, a steal and an assist while shooting almost 46% from the field 32% from three and an eye-popping 91% from the free throw line. Webster worked incredibly hard during the season, being one of the few Trail Blazers to actually come to the practice facility after home games and work on his game. McMillan liked Webster's efforts so much that he felt Webster was going to be a “special player.”
Off the court Webster was a fans dream, being the exact thing that fans desperately wanting to shed the old Jail Blazer label had been craving. The rookie was polite, well-spoken and very humble.
The Blazers now enter the upcoming draft with another potential bright spot—a guaranteed top-4 selection. Despite not knowing where the Blazers will pick amongst the top 4, the draft is widely considered to be a draft that features 4 top players. The Blazers may choose to package the draft pick and move a contract such as Darius Miles, Theo Ratliff or Zach Randolph for a more veteran player who still has a good amount of game left in his tank, or may choose to take a flyer on one of the top players in the draft.
The Trail Blazers season was far from pretty, and far from problem-free. But McMillan is leading the charge to change the team. The Blazers face uncertainty in ownership as Paul Allen is apparently looking to cut ties with the team. But that hasn't seemed to deter McMillan. If the Blazers continue to follow McMillan's lead, this column might be talking about something bigger than a top 4 pick in the upcoming draft. |
