Take a deep breath, Portland.
Have a seat, Portland.
You have just been through a series of life changing events, and you need to take a few minutes to collect your thoughts.
It’s been a rough winter, and Blazer fans could not catch a break.
As soon as the dust cleared on Brandon Roy’s retirement, it was announced that LaMarcus Aldridge would miss time due to what many thought to be a long since resolved heart condition. “LA” would return shortly, but you as well as I were prepared for the worst.
Then, more bad news. Greg Oden had “tweaked” his surgically repaired knee, and would miss anywhere from a month to as much as the entire season.
Then Oden had surgery in January, adding doubt to the possibility that he may ever play basketball in a Blazers jersey again.
Then, just this week, it was announced that Oden would undergo yet another knee surgery, his fifth in five years with the team, all but assuring he would miss the remainder of the 2011-12 season, finishing out his time with team missing his entire rookie, fourth, and fifth seasons. Needless to say, a sixth season in Portland seems extremely unlikely.
Yet for the first time since November 2011, when it was announced that the 2011-12 season would in fact happen, just prior to black Monday, when everything fell apart, the team and its fans have some good news.
Some very, very good news.
Center Joel Przybilla, known to his supporters as the “Vanilla Gorilla”, has agreed in principle to sign with the team, just over twelve months following his unceremonious departure via trade to Charlotte that brought the Blazers Gerald Wallace.
Now a free agent and badly needed in a depth-deprived front court, Przybilla is coming home, and the timing could not be more important.
While fresh off a 137-97 demolishing of the San Antonio Spurs (albeit severely undermanned), the Blazers have been in desperate need of a big body to assist in the facets of rebounding and interior defense.
Enter Przybilla, who averaged eight boards and nearly two blocks per game during his best years with the Blazers. While assumed to be a role player coming off of the bench, Przybilla will provide a big boost in more than just stats. Often the team’s only “enforcer” who was exchanged for Wallace, who fills that role now, it will be very helpful to have a big man who is not afraid to get after it. A player who plays with a passion and sets the tone with the more physical teams, letting them know early, you do not get pushed around in your own house.
When guys like Wesley Matthews, Raymond Felton, and Nicolas Batum can drive the lane knowing their bigs have their back if the opposition gets cheeky, it can turn the fortunes of a game.
Heart and toughness can have that effect. Losing most of their contests decided by five points or less, a guy like Przybilla can be the deciding factor in games such as these.
Aldridge will now get a well deserved rest knowing he has some much needed help on the boards and on defense, and with Przybilla setting the tone on both sides as well as picks and screens, the offense could potentially open up plenty, and this team could seriously find its way.
Przybilla’s arrival is not the only good news, however. Nate McMillian seems to have finally received the message we have all been hearing for quite some time. Raymond Felton is not a starting point guard, not right now at least. With the playoffs on the line, seemingly every game, the time was now for changes.
Jamal Crawford finished his first start as the Blazers point guard with 20 points (6-8 FG, 5-7 3PT, 3-3 FT) 8 assists, and four rebounds. If even something remotely similar to that stat line can be counted upon regularly from Crawford, the Blazers could be entering a whole new gear. Crawford would essentially be doubling Felton’s starting numbers, and with Przybilla providing nearly ten more rebounds per game, contests that seemingly fell apart at the seams late, could be big wins for Rip City.
In fact, Felton being benched seems to have woken him up, as he scored 16 points (6-11 FG, 4-8 3PT), and four assists, and could be a potentially deadly asset coming off the bench, the role originally envisioned for Crawford. Shooting less than 40% until Tuesday night, making at least half of his shots would be ideal and as it would seem, not out of reach, despite his previous play.
With Crawford and Felton combining for 20 or more points per game, 10 or more assists, and some decent three point shooting, as well as Przybilla crashing the rim to the tune of 7-10 boards per game along with a block or two, the Blazers could take the second half of the season by storm.
When play resumes next Wednesday following the all-star break, the Blazers will be over the .500 mark, with a matchup at Denver and just under two months to secure the final playoff spot, or even better, a higher seeding.
Przybilla didn’t just sign with the team; he has an opportunity to ride in on a white horse, and save a season that was slipping away. This move could also quell some of the Batum trade rumors, and keep the team intact, unless someone desperately wants to trade for Felton, in which case let’s keep our options open.
Przybilla is exactly the type of player many wanted the team to trade for, to restore an inside presence on defense and help with rebounding. To gain a player of his caliber only having to cut a rarely used player such as Armon Johnson, that is better value gained than many of the trade rumors circling currently, trades that likely no longer need to be pursued.
As recently as Monday, this was a team being called out for lacking heart and toughness to compete, with any team, on any court.
That team now has a fully stocked frontcourt of Aldridge, Marcus Camby, Joel Przybilla, and Gerald Wallace, along with reserves Kurt Thomas, Craig “Rhino” Smith, and Chris Johnson.
That sounds more like a team no one will want to play. The Blazers could be converted overnight from playoff hopeful to playoff dark horse.
After months of slouching in seats, frowns on sulking faces, and disgruntled grumbling, the high fiving and cheers are ready to resurface.
Are you ready Portland?
The Vanilla Gorilla is back, and he’s bringing Rip City with him.
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