My Teams Following Suit

I know it’s early, but I can already see a resemblance of my two favorite sports teams, the Portland Trail Blazers and San Francisco 49ers. I see the Blazers following suit of the 49ers in having a great season.

A lot of NBA analysts didn’t even pick the Blazers to make the playoffs this season. Same goes for NFL analysts and the 49ers. Most of this was because each team was forced to implement a new system within a short period of time due to the lockouts. The 49ers’ new system was because they had a new head coach in Jim Harbaugh. The Blazers had a new system ready to be enforced because of a new style of point guard in Raymond Felton, and current head coach Nate McMillan wanted to create an offense that is more suitable for his new player.

A lot of the core players were still the same for both of these teams as well. Blazers still had two great defenders in place with Gerald Wallace and Marcus Camby. The 49ers still had guys like Patrick Willis and Justin Smith, along with other good defensive players. The Blazers had last year’s best offensive weapon, LaMarcus Aldridge, and also had an up and coming guard in Wesley Matthews. The 49ers still had their best offensive weapon, Frank Gore, and had an up and coming wide receiver in Michael Crabtree.

Each team was able to make key acquisitions during the short training camp to replace others. The Blazers picked up Jamal Crawford, Kurt Thomas, and Craig Smith (all getting solid rotation minutes) to replace two guys – Brandon Roy and Greg Oden. The 49ers picked Carlos Rogers to replace Nate Clements. They also lost linebackers Manny Lawson and Takeo Spikes, the young linebackers of the 49ers then had to step up and play well in their place. We will need our young guys to step up as well.

Both head coaches have done a great job of preparing his team for battle. I consider Harbaugh as the NFL’s coach of the year. He completely transformed this team to be winners – something they have not been used to over the past couple years. If Nate McMillan can get his team a top 4 seed (I predict 2^nd in the standing behind the Thunder) then I believe he will deserve the NBA coach of the year as well.

Each team got off to a decent start with some solid home wins that followed with a letdown. The Blazers knocked off both Los Angeles teams at home and followed those wins up with losses to the Phoenix Suns and Orlando Magic. The 49ers knocked off the Seattle Seahawks at home in their first game and then were off to a good start against the Dallas Cowboys until giving up a lead and losing that game.

Now the Blazers, as the 49ers did at this time, are on their way to a huge road trip. For NFL teams, they usually don’t go on road trips where they do not return home after games. This was different for the 49ers as they stayed at Youngstown State in Ohio for a week in between their games against the Cincinnati Bengals and Philadelphia Eagles. They used this time as a bonding period. That is what the Blazers need to do on their road trip as well.

Along with some great bonding time, this basketball team will have to play well and get some wins. Coming back home with some confidence will be key to success for the rest of the season. I saw a lot of heart in this team during their comeback attempt against the Magic, some of the same heart that the 49ers showed against the Eagles. However, the Blazers fell a little short. They will need that same heart to fight through this road trip.

This current shortcoming won’t keep them down. They know what they are capable of, as do we. They have put together some great wins so far this season. A little bit of sloppy play, but who hasn’t? It’s still early and there is a lot of room for improvements. As long as they can take what they have done well and slowly cut out the mistakes, they are on their way to a very good season.