Commentary

By Kevin Hampton
Gazette-Times Reporter

Blazermania is back.

The rumblings began when the Portland Trail Blazers beat the odds to land the top pick in the NBA Draft, ensuring either franchise center Greg Oden or franchise forward Kevin Durant would be wearing the team colors in the Rose Garden for seasons to come.

When NBA commissioner David Stern took the stage on Thursday in New York and announced that Oden was the pick, it went into full-throttle.

After all, there’s nothing more that fans in Oregon want to do than to love the Blazers.

It’s an affair that began with the 1977 title and carried through the great Clyde Drexler-led teams of the early 1990s.

Fans clogged the streets of Portland to celebrate that title and it won hearts of fans throughout the state.

The Blazers made the playoffs for years, but the losing finally came. Even then, Blazers fans were undeterred. It took a seemingly endless string of personnel blunders, bad relations and worse behavior by the players to alienate these fans. But when the team became known as the “Jail Blazers” around the country, most had found other ways to spend their time.

Who can blame them? They went from the class acts of Terry Porter and Jerome Kersey to watching Rasheed Wallace melt down game after game and reading about the latest trouble finding Isaiah Rider. The list goes on.

The organization itself was imploding with petty infighting and paranoid witch hunts.

Personnel moves on the roster and in the office began to smooth things out. Kevin Pritchard was made general manager and quickly changed the face of the franchise with a slew of draft-day trades last year.

Then the No. 1 pick drops into the Blazers’ lap and Pritchard made more moves, sending Zach Randolph to New York in a package deal for Channing Frye and Steve Francis. Whether those players actually wind up in a Blazers uniform remains to be seen.

People tend to forget how important the Blazers were to Oregon. Allegiances are divided in the state when it comes to the NFL and major league baseball, but the Blazers are Oregon’s team and at their peak they were followed by everyone from grade-schoolers to grandmothers.

Really, the fans never left. They were always there, waiting and hoping for a turnaround.

A championship could be right around the corner. Blazers fans expect it sooner or later and figure anything less would be a disappointment.

Now comes the tough part. Pritchard seems to be up to it.

Championship teams are built from the ground up. The 1977 team won the title because Jack Ramsay knew exactly what kind of pieces he wanted and he was able to go out and get them.

It takes quite a bit of skill, but some luck as well. Ramsay was able to build around Bill Walton, the top pick of the 1974 draft. Walton was a great rebounder with the ability to whip outlet passes down the court with precision to speedy guards Johnny Davis and Lionel Hollins, the sixth pick of the 1975 draft.

Ramsay picked up his power forward, Maurice Lucas, through the ABA dispersal draft and signed guard Dave Twardzik as a free agent after the ABA folded. Lucas added a rugged toughness to the team. Small forward Bob Gross, who was selected in the 1975 draft along with Hollins, was a great all-around player.

Talent put the team in position to make a run at the title. Chemistry allowed the Blazers to win the championship.

Today we are able to watch Pritchard build a potential title team. He’s done the dealing to land several parts, including Brandon Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge. He’s had the luck of a ping-pong ball bouncing just right.

If the parts fit, the Blazers could make another run at a title. In the meatime, the Trail Blazers have become fun for the fans once again.

Blazermania never died. It was in hibernation, huddled away until winter passed on.

With Oden coming to town and Pritchard in charge, the thaw has arrived.

Kevin Hampton is a reporter for the Gazette-Times. Reach him at kevin.hampton@lee.net.