Portland Trail Blazers – A Year Of Exceeded Expectations

Before the NBA season began I was cautiously optimistic with what General Manager Neil Olshey was able to do over the offseason. Leading into the season, I wrote that my prediction was a team that would hover around .500 and fight for the 8^th seed in the Western Conference. Boy, how things have changed over the course of the season.

Here we are in mid-April watching a Portland Trail Blazers team that is 20 games over .500 and control their own destiny for the 5^th seed in the Western Conference. They have definitely exceeded every expectation.

In my mind there are three main ways that the Blazers have exceeded expectations thus far in the season, and no matter what happens in the postseason, this will be go down as a successful season in the history books of the Portland Trail Blazers.

1. 50+ Win Season – In the NBA, winning 50 games is a benchmark number that is a clear indicator that it was a very successful season. Last year the Blazers won 33 games and lost their final 13 games of the season. So to come into this season and play the way they did was a huge success, and in a lot of ways a huge surprise.
2. Two Blazer All-Stars – LaMarcus Aldridge had made the NBA All-Star team the last two years and has really established himself as one of the premiere power forwards in the game. When he was named to his third All-Star team it wasn’t a tremendous surprise to anyone. It was the Blazers’ point guard, Damian Lillard, that continued to elevate his game. Lillard not only made the Western Conference All-Star team, he competed in all 5 events of All-Star Weekend, further raising the brands of Lillard and the Portland Trail Blazers.
3. Portland’s Newest Additions – Olshey really made magic happen this past summer. Jason Quick really summed up the overachieving of Olshey here. Robin Lopez has been a double-double machine and hasn’t missed a game the entire season. Mo Williams and Thomas Robinson have been spark plugs off the bench. Dorell Wright has been very versatile playing many positions to help the Blazers win games. To think of what the team looked like last season is no kind of shocking compared to how far they’ve come.

I have been a huge Olshey fan since the beginning and I am also a huge Chris McGowan fan (Trail Blazers president). Combine those two guys at the top of the organization and the tremendous success the team has had on the court this season and you can see the makings of a very good stretch of Blazers basketball in the future. If this core can stay together, this won’t be the only 50+ win season in the near future.

Sunday night is a big game against the Golden State Warriors. Win and the Blazers look to be the 5^th seed in the West, lose and that spot might slip to the Warriors. With a little more confidence and swagger back in their game I look for the Blazers to finish the season strong and prepare for an all-out war against the fast, physical and aggressive Houston Rockets in the first round.