Ripcity Uprise

Doubted, left for dead, hung out to dry, irrelevant.

These expressions were used to describe the Portland Trail Blazers hopes at the start of last season. A year later, and the boys from Ripcity are favorites to win the Northwest Division. Yes the division that the Portland Trail Blazers won in the 2014-2015 season, and came in second last year. They are the best team in the Northwest, and frankly one of the best teams in the West. Yes the Blazers are one of the best in the west. This might seem improbable, a series of miscalculated typos, or downright impossible. The team lost 4 starters from its playoff team in 14-15. They drafted Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, only to trade him to Brooklyn for mediocre journeyman Mason Plumee. They failed to resign Aaron Aflalo and Steve Blake: the two guys that preserved some strength and depth off the bench. One player was a proven threat, one. That one player was Damian Lillard, and it turns out he was all the Blazers needed.

The Blazers drafted Damian Lillard with the 6th overall pick in the NBA Draft on June 28th, 2012. The then unproven 4-year-college player from Weber State University in Who Knows Where, Utah, was chosen before college stars Harrison Barnes (North Carolina), Andre Drummond (UCONN), and Austin Rivers (Duke). I sat in section 204 with my dad and two friends on the night of October 31st, 2012. Damian Lillard’s first NBA game verses Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers. Dame made it rain. Triples, step-back-two’s, and acrobatic finishes. He concluded the night with 23 points and 11 assists. Oh and the blazers won 116-106. This one night, this isolated contest between a team on the backend of practically a 30-year dynasty, and a then 23 year old individual who 4 and a ½ years from that night would be the sole face of a franchise on the rise: a team that was laying the foundation for years of NBA dominance.

The Blazers didn’t make the playoffs that year, but the next two years they did. In the 2013-2014 season Dame hit the biggest shot in Portland Trail Blazers history: a fadeaway 3-pointer over Chandler Parsons with 0.9 on the clock to lift the Blazers to a 99-98 victory over the Houston Rockets in Game 6 of the Western Conference Playoffs. I know, a mouthful, but quite the shot. Portland’s season ended in the next round however as they lost in 5 games to the San Antonio Spurs, the eventual NBA champions that season. In the 2014-2015 season, Portland started off strong, but in mid-march Wesley Matthews went down with an Achilles injury which devastated Portland’s starting core. All of a sudden, all-star forward, and franchise cornerstone Lamarcus Aldridge shifted into offseason mode, before the playoffs even began. Nicolas Batum flat out disappeared, and Dame couldn’t buy a bucket in the first round series versus the Memphis Grizzlies. Needless to say the Blazers lost in quick fashion (5 games), and slumped into the offseason, questions marks surrounding the team from all areas.

Lamarcus went to San Antonio, Wesley to Dallas, Batum to Charlotte, and Robin Lopez to New York. Dame was the lone starter who remained. Yet Lillard didn’t run, he didn’t hide in an offseason filled with doubt about his future in Portland. Damian Lillard instead signed a 5-year deal with the Blazers, and in his presser stated, “I know in my heart, this is where I want to be.” Lillard made his plans clear. He believed not only in the management, or the remaining players, but in the city of Portland. This was his team, his city, his legacy, and that faith ultimately allowed the 15-16 Trail Blazers to shock the world.

Every hero needs a sidekick to be successful: Batman needed Robin and Superman needed Jimmy Olsen. It’s that simple, one person cannot do it all. So in a time of need, Damian Lillard turned to the kid who he had grown to trust, love, and call his best friend, CJ McCollum. A 4-year college player out of Lehigh that rode the Blazers bench for the first two years of his NBA career, CJ broke out into the NBA spotlight with his play in the 15-16 season. In the Blazer’s season opener against the New Orleans Pelicans, he torched all star point guard Jrue Holiday, and 2012 Rookie of the Year Tyreke Evans. CJ made his name known; he had worked his tail off behind the scenes, and finally got his chance to shine. That motto seemed to be the story of the Blazer’s historic success last season. A group of individuals who had never really found the right fit, but came together under the leadership of Damian Lillard and Terry Stotts.

Allen Crabbe had the best season of his career. Al Farouq-Aminu aka "The Chief" became a relevant household name. Moe Harkless played with confidence, poise, and precision. Mason Plumlee simply could not be stopped. Ed Davis was a beast on the boards.

For a franchise that had been caught in the realm of underachievement, scratching the surface of potential, and then flopping when it mattered most, the Portland Trail Blazers overachieved last season in a fashion that truly nobody could have predicted. It was the feel good story in the NBA, and as the season progressed less and less people could really believe what the Blazers were doing.

It didn’t start out pretty however, as by Christmas, Portland was an unimpressive 11-20. They slogged into Portland after a 0-5-road trip, which concluded with a 26-point loss to the Pelicans. So far the Blazers were playing right into the script that everyone had wrote for them before the season began. Competitive, but not a real threat. Talented, but not talented enough. The game that really catalyzed the Blazers success was a home game against the defending Eastern Conference Champion, Cleveland Cavaliers. Portland throttled the Cavaliers the day after Christmas, and won handily 105-76. This game proved to be the turning point in the Blazers season. From this point on the Blazers clicked it into high gear, torching the NBA and finishing 5th in the Western Conference: ahead of Dallas, Memphis, Houston, and New Orleans. Portland refused to listen to the critics, to become the team that people wanted them to be, and instead they became the team they knew that they could be. They were a team of talented individuals that hadn’t found a stable home yet, Ripcity proved to be that stability they desired. It was the breeding ground for the rise of CJ McCollum, the dominant play of Mason Plumlee, the outstanding effort, hustle, and heart of The Chief, Al Farouq-Aminu, and it was the place where Allen Crabbe took over the NBA playoffs. Oh and I should mention that Portland also managed to beat the Clippers in the First Round of the NBA Playoffs in 6 games, and then fought Golden State in the closest 5 game series of all time in the Second Round. Portland made it just as far as San Antonio, the team who Lamarcus Aldridge joined that offseason. They made it farther than Dallas (Wes Matthews) and Charlotte (Nic Batum), who both lost in the first round of the playoffs. As for the New York Knicks, the team that Robin Lopez and Aaron Aflalo joined, they didn’t even make the playoffs.

Portland did the unthinkable. But it really wasn’t that astonishing to the players themselves. This is a bunch that believes, this is group of guys that play with tremendous heart, and this is collection of amazing athletes that know how to win as a team. Ripcity is built for success today, and for years to come, and it’s not because of one coach, or one player, but because everyone in Ripcity (yes that includes the fans), has bought in: now its time to reap the benefits.