Hoop Scoop

[November 15th, 2006] In a topsy-turvy beginning to the NBA season, Portland's Trail Blazers have gotten off to a surprisingly good start.

But that was also the case last season, when the Blazers split their first six games before free-falling their way to the NBA's worst record, with 21 wins and 61 losses.

So with this year's team off to a 4-3 record as it begins its first major road trip of the season (starting Tuesday night, Nov. 16, in Minnesota, after press time), should fans be optimistic about the future or pessimistic that the past will repeat itself?

The glass is half-full: The positive differences so far have been the team's scrappiness in diving for loose balls and rallying from large deficits to win games, an influx of young talent such as rookies Brandon Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge, and the All-Star caliber play of veteran Zach Randolph. (See Murmurs, page 15, for off-court news about Randolph.)

Randolph is healthy after knee problems last season and is gradually becoming the player management paid for when it decided to award him a six-year, $84 million contract in 2004. When he's healthy, Randolph can battle with anybody in the key, with many of his 10 rebounds per game coming after his own missed shots.

"It's a different attitude," Randolph says. "It's everybody. I'm more healthy...we've got better guys."

"[Scrapping is] the only way we're going to be successful," second-year point guard Jarrett Jack said after the Blazers' 27-point comeback victory Friday night against New Orleans.

Many attribute the change in locker-room spirit to the absence of injured forward Darius Miles, a player with questionable hustle and attitude. The team's recent announcement that Miles will undergo another knee surgery with an indefinite recovery time, then, may be more of a boon to the team's potential than a curse.

The glass is half-empty: Unfortunately, Miles isn't the only Blazer with injuries. Center Joel Przybilla suffered a groin injury Nov. 3, and will miss the four-game road trip, as will forward Raef LaFrentz with a calf injury.

Most ominously, Roy, widely regarded as a front-runner for the NBA's Rookie of the Year award, is also hurt, and surgery is an option nobody is ruling out for his ailing left heel.

Another reason for pessimism: This year's team has less veteran leadership than last year's ill-fated squad that began the season at 3-3 and at least had experienced locker-room voices such as since-traded center Theo Ratliff and guard Steve Blake.

But with Aldridge making his rookie debut Sunday night with 10 points and eight rebounds, maybe vets don't matter.

This team is one that Portland fans seem eager to believe in. Players receive standing ovations after hustle plays, and the team responds by playing 48 minutes. Gone (so far) is the scattered booing that often followed Randolph and Miles. Whatever their final record is, that, in itself, is something to cheer about.