It's hard work being a Portland Trail Blazers fan. It's even harder when you know absolutely nothing about the team. Aren't they supposed to be a bunch of thugs with joints dangling from their agape maws? They lose every game, correct? And that Greg Oden guy—he's like Sam Bowie, if Bowie had been run over by a produce truck, right? Wrong, wrong, and wrong again.
The current crop of Blazers are better than all that. Currently at the mid-season mark and flirting with first place, this team is most likely playoff bound, so you better climb back onboard that Rip City bandwagon while there's still room. We won't judge you for your fair weather fandom, in fact, we're here to help. Let this be your primer in better understanding this team; a handy guide to who's who, who does what, and who the hell is Ike Diogu.
Barring freakish injury, diabolic maneuvering by the team's kazillionaire owner (Paul Allen), or the evil hauntings of Kevin Duckworth's ghost, everyone knows the Portland Trail Blazers are barreling toward the playoffs this year. And while it's still too early to be sizing yourself for a championship ring, it's still our journalistic duty to assist you—uninformed sports fan eager to hop aboard the Blazers bandwagon to Kickass Championshipville (Population: You!)—in deciphering the complicated workings of the '08-'09 Blazers, player by player: ...
