This team seems to have a bit of "Phoenix" complex (the burning mythical bird that resurrects itself, not the burning hot city in the SW desert), every few years it seems to go through a rapid ascension, immolates itself in some series of gaffes or missteps, crumbles to ash and repeats the cycle. -First wave: The franchise is founded in 1970 and wallows in mediocrity/crappiness for 6 years before finally catching lighting in a bottle and winning its first and only championship, only to crash and burn with injuries the next season, ultimately a messy divorce with Walton occurs thereafter and a 30 year estrangement ensues (low point comes in the early 80s with Shuler and the whole Bowie v Jordan thing). -Second Wave: The rise of the Drexler era team, to it's pentultimate pinnacle, then the tumultuous and torturous falling out with the greatest guard in franchise history (Ultimately, Sabas not coming over probably spells the difference between success and failure to close for this team too) -Third Wave: Wallowing in mediocrity with JR. Rider and co., until the trades for Rasheed, Damon, and Pippen injects some real championship caliber aspirations into the team for the first time in 10 years, ultimately the whole thing falls apart in the early 'oughts' after having its heart ripped out by the Lakers, crappiness ensues as we endure the "Jailblazers" era. -fourth wave: KP somehow spins straw into gold and gets the two best players from the 06 draft, the following year they win the draft lottery ... hilarity ensues I love this team, but sometimes when I take a step back and look at the arc of its history it all just feels a little comical, like some invisible hand is putting a finger on the scales when hopes start to rise a little bit, the recent KP/Penn/Vulcans/Allen debacle plus the supernatural rash of injuries they've endured make me wonder if some capricious god isn't about to play some cruel, cosmic practical joke on us again. ps. I've been drinking quite a few beers with some Pendleton whiskey chasers so I'm feeling a little philosophical and I make no claims as to the accuracy of my recollection of events -- read at your own peril. EDIT: I should add I was prompted to post this after reading this article from Wendell Maxey. http://www.beyondthebeat.net/20100323452/2010-articles/march/source-stop-qhatingq-on-pritchard.html and this excerpt in particular caught my eye:
For being a few drinks in this actually makes some good sense. Maybe that "invisible hand" is the League office, mainly David Stern? Thats my hypothesis. And I do agree that it seems like the Blazers go in cycles of ups and downs almost like resurrections, although there have been other trends that have lasted minus the rebirths (like failing to come through in the 4th quarter in games that matter). (I am a few drinks in myself, brother)
You're right that you weren't accurate. We picked up Rider in the same offseason (1997) that we picked up Rasheed. And that team (Kenny Anderson, JR Rider, Cliff Robinson, Rasheed, Sabonis) played pretty well (49-33, 5th seed).
