Playoff Purgatory: The 1980s Portland Trail Blazers

[SlyPokerDog]

A Clipper blog does a nice job writing about the Blazers of the 1980s in an ongoing series about teams stuck in playoff hell.

The Los Angeles Clippers have made the playoffs five years in a row. Each year, they fell short of the Conference Finals.

They are in postseason purgatory.

Over the next few weeks, ClipperBlog will feature the other 17 teams to make at least five consecutive postseason appearances without reaching the Conference Finals during the streak. Eight of those 17 teams broke through and eventually made the Conference Finals before the end of the postseason streak, and two made it all the way to the NBA Finals.

But none of the previous 17 teams to make at least five consecutive postseason appearances without reaching the Conference Finals won a title before missing the playoffs first.

All of these roundups will feature the players who played at least 10,000 regular season minutes, the head coaches, and what happened to each team at the end of their run of Playoff Purgatory. We’ll circle back and relate it to the Clippers’ current situation.
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In 1977, the Trail Blazers become the youngest team in NBA history to win the NBA title. Head coach Jack Ramsay’s team had never made the playoffs before the 1976-1977 season, and only one player (guard Herm Gilliam) was older than 30 when the Trail Blazers beat the Philadelphia 76ers in 6 games, led by NBA Finals MVP (and future Clipper) C Bill Walton.

Five years later, the Trail Blazers were out of the playoffs. By time the 1982-1983 NBA season started, not a single player from Ramsay’s 1977 championship team was left on the roster. But the Trail Blazers did have C Mychal Thompson, the 1st overall pick in the 1978 NBA Draft, and 1979 1st round SG Jim Paxson. In 1982-1983, Paxson had his first All-Star season, averaging 21.7 points per game to go with 140 steals. The Trail Blazers would make the playoffs, starting an NBA-record streak of 21 postseasons in a row. Portland would sweep I-5 rival Seattle in Round 1, but the Lakers eliminated them in Round 2.

With the 14th pick in the 1983 NBA Draft, the Trail Blazers selected SG Clyde Drexler out of Houston. Drexler wouldn’t start as a rookie, as Paxton turned in another All-Star season in 1983-1984, and the Trail Blazers made it back to the playoffs, only to lose to the Suns in 5 games.

Now, here’s a little story about how the Indiana Pacers almost set the Trail Blazers up for life in the NBA penthouse...

http://clipperblog.com/2016/05/17/playoff-purgatory-1980s-portland-trail-blazers/​

 

[Mediocre Man]

But NBA purgatory doesn't exist according to some in here?

The Pacers DID set us up. We missed the lob slam

 

[SlyPokerDog]

But NBA purgatory doesn't exist according to some in here?

The Pacers DID set us up. We missed the lob slam

The 1980s Trail Blazers are probably the best example of a team not having playoff success for an extended period of time before breaking through to the Conference Finals, even though they didn’t get the ring.

http://clipperblog.com/2016/05/17/playoff-purgatory-1980s-portland-trail-blazers/​

 

[PtldPlatypus]

But NBA purgatory doesn't exist according to some in here?

The Pacers DID set us up. We missed the lob slam

I don't think anyone has said that it doesn't exist; most have simply denied that this particular team was headed for it by making the playoffs because the roster's youth portends significant growth more than is the case with most playoff purgatory teams.

I also think many Blazer fans are more sensitive to purgatory since we're going to have two of the seventeen entries in this list, both the Blazers from 83-89 and from 93-98. There's a lot of fear (on one side) and denial (on the other) going on.

 

[julius]

Isn't it true that outside of Houston, only the Lakers made it to the finals in the 80's (from the west)?

 

[Mediocre Man]

I don't think anyone has said that it doesn't exist; most have simply denied that this particular team was headed for it by making the playoffs because the roster's youth portends significant growth more than is the case with most playoff purgatory teams.

I also think many Blazer fans are more sensitive to purgatory since we're going to have two of the seventeen entries in this list, both the Blazers from 83-89 and from 93-98. There's a lot of fear (on one side) and denial (on the other) going on.

It's the same conversation every year, so it's not just this particular team

 

[-Ace-]

Isn't it true that outside of Houston, only the Lakers made it to the finals in the 80's (from the west)?

That is definitely true. Made it eight times and won it five.

 

[KingSpeed]

I didn't read the post but what about 1993-98? Those years were so awful, I rooted for the Pacers instead.

 

[e_blazer]

It's the same conversation every year, so it's not just this particular team

What, fans are less than totally objective? GTFO.

 

[Boob-No-More]

But NBA purgatory doesn't exist according to some in here?

It all depends on how you define NBA purgatory.

To you, which is worse:

Averaging 54.5 wins per year, making the playoffs five straight years and getting to the second round 3 times

or

Having 2 winning seasons and averaging 31 wins per year over the course of 32 years?

Because that's exactly what the Clippers have done for the last 37 years. They had a shit load of lottery picks, but still sucked for 32 years. Have Clipper fans now become so entitled that they think averaging 54.5 wins per years is the new definition of NBA purgatory?

BNM

 

[Strenuus]

I didn't read the post but what about 1993-98? Those years were so awful, I rooted for the Pacers instead.

Wut? You quit on the blazers?

 

[Harry's Raincoat]

This "purgatory" is one of the reasons that some of us old farts - swing for the fences and don't like to stay static for long. We endured the 80's, making playoffs almost every year only to lose in 1st or 2nd round and usually to the Lakers.

Bowie was a good pick at the time as he was viewed as the final piece adding him to All-Star's Paxson and Vandeweghe, and budding up-and-comers Drexler, Kersey and Porter. Adding a 7' 1" mobile center with pretty good defensive skills (rebounds and blocks) had everybody in town thinking back to Walton and gang of '77/'78.

Drafting Jordan, although in hindsight the better choice, would have created additional problems with the roster (ALL STAR Paxson and really good Drexler).

But easy to call it correctly today......keep Moses Malone in '76, draft Larry Bird instead of Mychal T, and draft Jordan in '84. Simple!!! Dynasty!!

 

[bodyman5000 and 1]

Wut? You quit on the blazers?

Surprised?