Oct 31, 2001 10:36 AM EST
Once the Trail Blazers and the Lakers got around to playing basketball Tuesday night, one team wasn't ready.
No, not that team.
The Blazers had a couple decent stretches in the second half, but opening night belonged to the Lakers as the two-time defending champions rolled to a 98-87 victory at the Staples Center.
The start of the game was delayed 35 minutes as the Lakers put the finishing touches on last season, handing out their championship rings and raising the franchise's eighth championship banner while the team they swept in the first round of last season's playoffs sat in its locker room.
The Blazers didn't need anything rubbed in their faces. They are fully aware of the monumental task facing them to get back among the NBA's elite, which means being able to knock off the Lakers.
But in Tuesday's opener, the Blazers were in trouble after the first eight minutes. That was how long it took to fall behind by 15 points, making what started out as an uphill battle even tougher.
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Oct 31, 2001 10:35 AM EST
The Trail Blazers can talk all they want about how the arrival of new coach Maurice Cheeks has been a breath of fresh air, and how their roster additions have made them quicker and more versatile.
But, as it has for the last two seasons, the simple fact remains: The Blazers are decided underdogs against the Los Angeles Lakers, whom they open the season with tonight at the Staples Center.
The two-time defending champion Lakers will receive their championship rings in a pregame ceremony, while the Blazers mull how far they have fallen behind their chief rivals.
"We know that they are probably a little bit ahead of us, just from the fact that they are the same team that won the championship and we've got a new coach and everything," Blazers forward Scottie Pippen said.
The "everything" Pippen is referring to is a litany of shortcomings that point to a potential opening night disaster.
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Oct 30, 2001 11:39 AM EST
The LA Times' Steve Springer writes that the Clippers waived two players, forward Derek Strong and guard Miles Simon, and placed forward Harold Jamison (contusion of the left shin) on the injured list to reach the 12-player limit.
The Strong move raised eyebrows, considering the Clippers still owe the 10-year veteran $8 million, which will now be paid over the next four seasons. In the past, owner Donald Sterling would rather eat crow and keep a player he didn't need than eat a contract.
But no longer.
The Clippers also obtained center Will Perdue, 36, from the Portland Trail Blazers on Monday, then immediately waived him.
The Clippers had no intention of keeping Perdue, making the move strictly for salary-cap purposes. In exchange for freeing money up for the Trail Blazers, who are well over the cap, the Clippers received monetary compensation from Portland.
But since the Trail Blazers weren't allowed to simply give Perdue away, the Clippers made it legal by giving Portland the draft rights to Doron Sheffer, a 1996 second-round draft choice who retired after playing in Israel two years ago.
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Trail Blazers Oct 2001 Archive
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| Oct 30, 2001
The Portland Trail Blazers finalized their 15-man roster on Tuesday by trading Will Perdue to the Clippers and waiving Johnny Taylor and Priest Lauderdale.
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| Oct 30, 2001
The Blazers held an open scrimmage Sunday at the Rose Garden, and they have until 3 p.
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| Oct 29, 2001
Nba.
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| Oct 28, 2001
The Wolves seem to be shopping Brandon
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| Oct 28, 2001
Yes, it was only an exhibition game, but the Rose Garden was hopping on Friday night.
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| Oct 27, 2001
The NBA welcomes two new faces and two recycled ones to its coaching fraternity this season, and all four of them are sure to have headaches by Halloween.
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| Oct 26, 2001
Pippen, who turned 36 last month, has been banged up and disappointed in his tenure with the Blazers.
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| Oct 26, 2001
As the season opener approaches, nobody on the Blazers seems to know.
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| Oct 26, 2001
With Arvydas Sabonis apparently retired, Davis has taken over as the starting center.
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| Oct 26, 2001
Two weeks ago, Ruben Boumtje Boumtje was just another body in the Trail Blazers' training camp.
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| Oct 25, 2001
Trail Blazers newcomer Ruben Patterson will change the way a game is watched at the Rose Garden, as evidenced by a hair-raising, seat-rattling exhibition season that was epitomized Tuesday night during the Blazers' 86-81 win over the Golden State Warriors in front of 16,562.
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| Oct 25, 2001
The countdown is getting short.
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| Oct 23, 2001
He didn't get the security and stability he was seeking in Portland, but he is getting to play for the same NBA team as his boyhood idol.
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| Oct 23, 2001
Maurice Cheeks grabbed a bottle of water off the scorers table and checked to make sure it was unopened.
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| Oct 23, 2001
"It was almost suicidal just to be a part of this team'' were the words chosen by forward Scottie Pippen when he described the 2000-01 Portland Trailblazers, the team full of All-Stars and a $90 million payroll.
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| Oct 21, 2001
Strickland decided that he would head to South Beach to play with center Alonzo Mourning and for coach Pat Riley instead of with a friend in Allen Iverson and for a former coach in Larry Brown.
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| Oct 21, 2001
Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reports: Desperate times apparently have called for desperate measures:
The agent for Rod Strickland said Saturday his client has agreed to terms with the Heat.
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| Oct 21, 2001
It was mid July and Steve Kerr was swimming with his kids at his Tucson, Ariz.
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| Oct 21, 2001
The Trail Blazers' regular season is 10 days away and coach Maurice Cheeks has remained mum about which players he is leaning toward keeping on the roster.
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| Oct 19, 2001
When he signed with the Trail Blazers, Will Perdue thought he was going to get significant playing time last season as the backup to Arvydas Sabonis.
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| Oct 18, 2001
Snow replaced by Strickland?
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| Oct 17, 2001
Two days after scrimmaging for the first time this fall, Bonzi Wells said he is uncertain whether he will be ready to play by the Trail Blazers' regular-season opener on Tuesday, Oct.
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| Oct 17, 2001
Exhibition basketball is exhibition basketball, so it is hard to get too worked up about the Trail Blazers' 81-77 loss to the Houston Rockets on Monday night in front of 3,363 at Gill Coliseum.
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| Oct 17, 2001
Brunson is on the bubble for sticking with the Blazers, caught in what is shaping up as a five-man battle with Ruben Boumtje Boumtje, Mitchell Butler, Priest Lauderdale and Johnny Taylor for one of two spots that appear up for grabs.
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| Oct 16, 2001
The Rockets also got well, rallying for an 81-77 win.
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| Oct 16, 2001
Portland rookie coach Maurice Cheeks is telling his players he's going to let them do their thing, which is exactly what they wanted to hear.
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| Oct 15, 2001
Zach Randolph flashed into the lane, called for the ball, saw it wasn't coming and moved out of the way.
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| Oct 14, 2001
There was a time when he was one of the best players in the NBA, good enough to have his own nickname, "The Reign Man," good enough to be a member of Dream Team II, good enough to be named to six All-Star Games.
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| Oct 13, 2001
Maurice Cheeks didn't have to dissect the videotapes of the Trail Blazers' first two exhibition games to know his team still has a few bugs in its system.
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| Oct 13, 2001
Let's say the SuperSonics go 20-62 this season, Gary Payton throws fits and Vin Baker causes problems with his inconsistent play.
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| Oct 13, 2001
When the Sonics lost center Patrick Ewing, they used $34 million to replace him with Calvin Booth.
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| Oct 12, 2001
Dave D'Allesandro reports that the Knicks had plans for the non-existant Disabled Player Exception.
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| Oct 12, 2001
Andrei Kirilenko's game is improving rapidly.
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| Oct 11, 2001
Johnny Taylor wants to go on thinking he has a realistic chance for a spot on the Trail Blazers' regular season roster.
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| Oct 10, 2001
Derek Anderson does not pretend to know everything about the Trail Blazers.
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| Oct 10, 2001
Tempers flared last week during two Trail Blazers practices, including one incident in which coach Maurice Cheeks had to run onto the court to separate Ruben Patterson and Erick Barkley, whose shoving match was on the verge of escalating into a fight.
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| Oct 8, 2001
The Trail Blazers have a coach for every starter.
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| Oct 8, 2001
"Now I get the chance that I have wanted since (coming to Portland)," Stoudamire said.
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| Oct 7, 2001
In early July Portland Coach Maurice Cheeks flew to Atlanta and met up with point guard Damon Stoudamire at a hotel.
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| Oct 6, 2001
The well-documented friction on the Trail Blazers last season stemmed from too many players wanting too much playing time.
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| Oct 6, 2001
Jeff Van Gundy isn't the only Knicks coach off limits to Paul Allen's money.
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| Oct 5, 2001
First-year Trail Blazers coach Maurice Cheeks filled out his coaching staff Thursday by hiring Caldwell Jones and Herb Brown as assistants.
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| Oct 5, 2001
Bonzi Wells is about two weeks away from returning to practice.
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| Oct 4, 2001
Dale Davis has a choice: Become the starting center for the Portland Trail Blazers, or ride the bench waiting to get in at power forward behind Rasheed Wallace, with Shawn Kemp and Zach Randolph also pining for time.
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| Oct 4, 2001
Cheeks has never been a head coach at any level, but he's hoping the Blazers will respond to his self-discipline and determination -- qualities that made the former point guard a four-time All-Star and NBA champion with the Philadelphia 76ers.
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| Oct 4, 2001
Nothing clams up the people in the Trail Blazers organization more than the subject of star forward Rasheed Wallace and his penchant for technical fouls.
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| Oct 3, 2001
Maurice Cheeks has plenty of big men.
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| Oct 3, 2001
Sabonis' NBA retirement and decision to finish his career with the hometown team that he now owns, BC Kaunas Zalgiris, will be no cause for celebration in Portland, where Sabonis has played since 1995.
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| Oct 3, 2001
The Blazers reported to training camp to start something new.
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| Oct 3, 2001
The Trail Blazers power forward is leaner than he was last season before he left the team to enter a drug rehabilitation program.
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| Oct 2, 2001
Arvydas Sabonis' apparent decision not to re-sign with Portland will leave a large hole in the Blazers' offense this season.
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| Oct 1, 2001
Arvydas Sabonis' agent said he is "98 percent certain" the center will opt to retire rather than re-sign with the Portland Trail Blazers.
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| Oct 1, 2001
Herb Rudoy, the agent for center Arvydas Sabonis, says that he is 98% certain that Sabonis will retire rather than re-sign with the Blazers, ESPN.
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