Good, Better, and Best of the 2015-2016 Portland Trail Blazers Season

Friday, May 13, 2016

Garrett Thornton, Oregon Sports News

The Portland Trail Blazers completely overshot every expectation this season. A team projected to win 26 games by Vegas, a team told that they should tank for a better draft pick, a team that returned 20% of their starting lineup, was the 5th seed in the Western Conference and made it to the second round of the playoffs.

Playing the defending champs in the second round was a definite eye-opening experience for a young team. After losing big leads in two games that they ended up giving away in the fourth quarter, there will be some second-guessing to close the season. Unfortunately only one team in the playoffs ends their season on a winning note. The Blazers gave everything that they had to the Golden State Warriors, won a game at home, and showed the world that they are definitely a team on the rise.

Now that it is all said and done, we can take a step back and recognize the success and overall excellence of the Blazers’ season.

This brings us to the Good, Better, and Best things of the 2015-2016 Season.

The Good:

• The Blazers’ offense got better! Seriously. After losing LaMarcus Aldridge, Wesley Matthews, Robin Lopez, and Nicolas Batum, the Blazers’ offense got better the following season. If you would have made that bet last summer, you would be a really rich man right now. Last season with that dynamic starting lineup the Blazers averaged 102.8 points per game. This season with a patched together roster with a lot of young and unproven players, averaged 105.1 points per game. That is a huge win, not only for this season, but for the future of this franchise.
• Forty-four regular season wins… 44! After the odds-makers in Vegas set the over/under for total wins at 26.5 for the Blazers, a lot of fans almost accepted that this was going to be a down year for the Blazers. General Manager Neil Olshey sums it up best by saying, “Whatever the narrative was this offseason about our expectations and our projected win totals, and about what we lost, Damian never set a tone that this was a rebuilding year. A lot of our guys are having career years. A lot of that is what they do on the floor with Damian, but also how he treats and embraces them and empowers them to be more than what other people might have thought they were."

The Better:

• Not only making the Playoffs as the 5th seed in the Western Conference, but winning a playoff series. Last season, the Blazers were the 5th seed, and got demolished by the Memphis Grizzlies. This season when the odds were against the Blazers, they returned to the playoffs in the same seed. Making the playoffs could have been seen icing-on-the-cake on a successful season during a rebuilding year, but this team came out and competed, and eventually beat, the Los Angeles Clippers. In the first time that these two teams have met in the postseason, the Blazers fell in a 0-2 hole. This team that never quit this season, and they sure didn’t quit in the playoffs, as they won 4 games in a row!
• Portland is a legitimate destination for free agents this season. I have been saying this since Lillard was drafted by the Blazers, but this season hammered home that point. Lillard and McCollum are a dynamic backcourt combo. There is young talent on this roster. Olshey and Coach Terry Stotts each have reputations as extremely player-friendly leaders. Going into the postseason and playing those 11 games in front of the national audience legitimized them as a team that has a bright future. ESPN writer Kevin Arnovitz wrote about the appeal of playing with Lillard . Who wouldn’t want to join what’s going on in Rip City?

The Best:

• CJ McCollum winning the NBA’s Most Improved Player award. Damian Lillard is an unreal point guard and can carry a team to victory on any given night, but he needed a sidekick. McCollum has developed into one of the most dynamic shooting guards in the league. McCollum went from averaging 6.8 points, 1.5 rebounds, and 1 assist per game last season, to averaging 20.8 points, 3.2 rebounds, and 4.3 assists per game. Not only did he make the most of his increased playing time, he took control of the backup point guard roll and showed his versatility.
• Rip City is alive, and the future is bright. There is such an energy in the Rose Quarter during postseason basketball, but there was something different about this year. It wasn’t just that the Blazers beat the Clippers and followed that up by battling the reigning-champ Warriors. It wasn’t just that this team exceeded all expectations. There was an excitement, it was palpable. This team is likeable, they are relatable, and they are young and here for years to come. The fan base, and city, was really able to wrap their arms around this team. They were underdogs all season, but they played with heart and embodied all the things that set them apart from a lot of the NBA. They played with heart, determination, energy. They never quit, no matter what obstacles they faced. They all seemed to get along and genuinely like each other. That is something so rare in today’s day and age of superstar athletes and 9-figure contracts. This team is different. There is no question about that.

As a Blazers’ fan, I am looking forward to what the future brings, but for now I can sit back, and appreciate all of the amazing things this team accomplished this season.