OK, my e-mail buddy Greg nudged me over the weekend with the Rasheed Wallace retirement story. Not much, he said, is being made of the fact that a pretty good player says he’s retiring. And, oh, by the way, he is telling people he may decide to make his post-NBA home in Portland.

It got me thinking. Let’s say Wallace decides to settle with his family here. How will he be received? Let’s say he becomes a regular at the Rose Garden for home games — will fans boo him? Will they cheer him? How do Trail Blazer fans perceive him right now? Do they hate him? Hey, will this guy join Jerome Kersey, Terry Porter and Dale Schlueter as a Blazer ambassador some day? Doubt it.

For me, I’m guessing Wallace will become a fan favorite, if he wants to be. Portland fans want to love their ex-players — all of them. The big question, of course, is will Wallace want it?

It should be interesting.

Tweet This Post

I’m not going to excerpt parts of it. Just go here and read it all and report back.

Wow.

Tweet This Post

As I read all the reports today about Rasheed Wallace heading to the Boston Celtics, I happened to notice the old T-shirt I’d thrown over my head today. It’s my favorite of all time and put out in a limited edition (a very limited edition, I believe) and it arrived shortly after one of Wallace’s special media performances during the playoffs.

You know the story. But if you don’t, suffice it to say he’s a guy who didn’t offer much in post-game interviews. (Clip thanks to”Arthritis” in the comments).

So as Celtic fans await the arrival of a guy who can produce plenty as long as you don’t have to rely on him for it,  enjoy this photo of my favorite shirt.

And by the way, I hope he and KG get along perfectly.

Tweet This Post

A long-time NBA assistant coach was lamenting one time about how tough it was to find dedicated, physical rebounders in the league. And his conclusion was, “Most of them come with baggage.” He said they tended to be people who got into physical confrontations outside the game (beating their wives, barroom fights, etc.) and often they also had some sort of substance abuse problems. It was just sort of the mentality a lot of physical rebounders carried around.

Now, the intent of this post isn’t for you to go out and list good rebounders who don’t have these problems — obviously, he was generalizing. I know there are great people who are great rebounders. The focus of this essay is simply this:

Is there a point when the Blazers should add a player with a bit of a troubled past, if he’s the guy, talent-wise, who can make a difference in a drive toward a championship? At what point do you go with just one shaky character guy if he’s a difference-maker? Can you trust the rest of the choir boys to keep him in line at this point?

Everyone says the Blazers need a banger, right? What if he’s not exactly the guy you’d invite home to meet the family? Can you live with that?

I will tell you where I come from in this discussion. I was in the Rose Garden seeing standing ovations for Rasheed Wallace and J.R. Rider. I was courtside that year when the crowd roared in appreciation when Rider stood atop the scorer’s table after a playoff win, pounded his chest and pulled his jersey back to point at his heart. The adoring fans ate it up.

I could have puked, quite honestly.

I’m a cynic, yes. But I think the complaining about the character of Trail Blazer players really didn’t start in earnest until the team started to lose basketball games. Before those days, I think people tended to try to hold their nose and clap at the same time.

Does all the bad behavior stuff still count if you’re in position to contend for an NBA title?

Tweet This Post

Wow, that was ugly, wasn’t it? A few observations:

– If you don’t play consistent defense, you’re in danger of losing any night to any team. The Timberwolves, without Al Jefferson, are likely the worst team in the league. They don’t defend and can’t score much. Portland kept them in the game, though. Seriously — young teams have their problems but they’re supposed to improve as the season goes along. You think that’s happening? The Blazers have made little progress at the defensive end from start to finish.

– Young teams are supposed to have some energy, too. Sorry, don’t see much of that, either. They look like a bunch of 10-year veterans marking time until the end of the season. Youthful enthusiasm? I don’t see it.

– You shouldn’t need 30 points from Brandon Roy to beat that team. The guy shouldn’t have to take the whole show and put it on his back EVERY night. They’re riding him too hard against lousy teams and that could lead to problems later because he’s going to wear down.

– You can keep ripping Greg Oden as a bust if you want, but it’s clear by now how much the Trail Blazers miss him. He’d have had 24 points, 16 rebounds and Portland would have won by 20 last night. He’s what the team needs at both ends of the floor right now and I would hope that lesson will translate into him getting more touches when he’s finally back in the lineup. His development is critical to the long-term growth of the team. Really, in the long run, they’re not going anywhere without him.

– LaMarcus Aldridge depends on medium-range jump shots. That’s fine when they’re going in. But against teams like Minnesota, he should be planted at the low block and punishing whatever undersized defender the ‘Wolves throw at him. Is he slipping into the video room and watching old Rasheed Wallace tapes?

– You can be pragmatic if you want and say, “Hey, a win is a win. They won the game.” Yes, but the other team was shooting a wide-open three-pointer to win the game at the horn, too. Twice Portland has dodged that bullet in the last week and usually in the NBA, that’s pushing your luck.

Tweet This Post

A close game. Fourth quarter. Foul on Rasheed Wallace. Rasheed flips a towel into the stands. Then throws another in the direction of a referee. Damn, if only Arvydas Sabonis was on hand as a target.

Those are techs Nos. 15 and 16 for him, which means automatic suspension, on top of whatever he gets for the towel-tossing tirade. Video of the usual Sheed madness is right here. But heck, you’ve seen it all before, right?

UPDATE: It’s being reported that Wallace will not face the AUTOMATIC suspension because two technical fouls he received earlier in the season were rescinded. We await word, though, on whether his action of tossing a towel in the direction of a referee is grounds for being sent to bed without dinner.

Tweet This Post

Wanna buy Rasheed Wallace’s Portland house? He’s dropped the price to $4.9 million. There’s a built-in saltwater fish tank, but for that price, I’m sure you would have expected that.

Tweet This Post

My good friend, Bean, the brains behind every single technical thing done to make this blog work correctly, is upset about this – a group of Blazer fans predicting when the team will win its next championship. And he makes some pretty good points about how silly that is, too:

 The Blazers definitely have a wide-open window coming up, but it’s not a foregone conclusion that they’re going to win a championship. I’d like to see Brandon Roy play an injury-free season first. I’d also like to see Greg Oden play period. Let’s maybe wait a little while before we go getting all giddy over the prospect of a Blazer championship. At least that’s how we did it back in the day.

I think I’ll just sit this one out and let them argue about it. But it does seem kind of funny for a group of fans of a team that hasn’t made the playoffs since Rasheed Wallace was throwing towels in people’s face, to assume the team has a championship within its reach. And when I read phrases like “primed for a decade of dominance” I have thoughts of some poor guy in bib overalls counting tiny chicks before they have hatched. Seriously, when is the last time any NBA team had a decade of dominance? Jordan’s Bulls didn’t even have that. The last coach to preside over a decade of dominance was lighting up victory cigars on the bench — and folks, there’s no smoking in NBA arenas these days.

But then again, this kind of chatter is what being a fan is all about, isn’t it?

Tweet This Post