Grand Opening, Grand Closing
Saturday night felt like a party in Portland, but only Boston smiled at the end
It’s a sign of the times for this Portland Trail Blazers team that the game with the most genuinely positive pre-game vibes of the season ended in genuine embarassment. That it happened at the hands of a franchise that did things over the summer in a way this franchise could have, with a team dripping in local ties, only added to the sting.
Instead of letting a struggling Danny Ainge continue to run the Celtics, Brad Stevens moved up from the bench to replace him. The coach they brought in, Portland’s own Ime Udoka, had put in several years on some of the most experienced benches in the NBA. That Udoka is from Portland and had family and friends in attendance added to the festive atmosphere sparked by Neil Olshey no longer bringing down the vibes. But the vibes could not mask an overmatched Blazers team in both talent and spirit. Only the Celtics were laughing in the end, hanging out long after the game after almost all the Blazers had left, save for CJ McCollum, who was undergoing examination for bruised ribs.
The pre-game crowd was great, especially in cheering for the home team, although one has to acknowledge the Celtics travel about as well as any fan base in the league. Mark Mason’s introduction of “Your Portland Trail Blazers” elicited the loudest pre-game cheer I’ve heard in the games I’ve been to this season. But from the very beginning, the Blazers looked out of their depth, with Boston making an astonishing 14 of 15 shots to begin the game.
Even Enes Kanter Freedom got in on the act with 15 rebounds and a putback jam to end the first quarter up 38-23. And the game was capped by Payton Prichard’s 16-point barrage, turning the Rose Garden into a run at L.A. Fitness, except with a Portland crowd playing into every made basket of the Boston Celtics.
After Prichard’s last 3-pointer, even Lillard, who had been resigned to the game’s result, got up to talk to Billups and point out his anger. But after the game, the ire from Billups was not towards the Celtics for not respecting the game or the young reserves for letting Prichard go off, but on the veterans of the team. Only his latest salvo in calling out this team’s lack of heart, effort and care. Think about all the cliche moments of dudes going off like Kobe’s 61 in his final game or KD at the Rucker. It was like that tonight in Portland for Payton Prichard.
The last time I saw a team this broken in my professional career was the 2018 Cleveland Cavaliers when I was running the LeBron Wire for USA Today. But even they had an 18-game win streak. I guess for this Blazers team, their 10-1 start at home can be the stand in as the lone positive amid a terrible start for a group of players that is playing worse than the sum of their parts. As LeBron himself often says, the best teacher in life is experience. And I’ve seen this movie before.
Like the Cavaliers of 2018, I’m afraid this team is in need of a midseason overhaul to be executed by an interim general manager. But unlike LeBron James needing 30 games to know what was wrong with the Cavaliers, the Blazers have far more data to reckon with. Joe Cronin is much more experienced than Koby Altman was when he excuted a deadline overhaul of the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2018 that saw six players leave Cleveland across three different trades. Billups said very excitedly that he is excited to work with Cronin, who he called “The Man,” on Saturday night. That excitement might have to turn into action sooner than any of them bargained for when they started the season.
“I’m very much looking forward to building with Joe,” Billups said. “In all honesty right now, Joe is the man. I’m not overlooking that, I don’t think anybody should. He’s been in the game for a long time, he’s well thought of my many people and I think Joe is as qualified as most people. He’s very good. It’s easy to jump over that and look for the next move. But right now, Joe is the next move. They moved on from Neil, gave Joe the keys, so I’m focused on that to be honest with you.”
Damian Lillard won’t ever totally check out. But missing 10 days just before every player in the NBA can be traded seems like too much of a coincidence to be a mistake. Dame isn’t passive aggressive by nature, but this he seems to have stolen from the LeBron James playbook.
All the while the game was going on, Cronin was sitting underneath the basket with Jody Allen, Dewayne Hankins and Bert Kolde. For the sake of the Blazers, him getting comfortable enough to make a major move might be the only hope for saving this season and the rest of Lillard’s prime.
It’s never ideal to make a trade with an interim general manager, but superstar players in their early 30s and the general disposition of the Trail Blazers franchise under this ownership group will never create ideal conditions. It didn’t with Paul Allen and it hasn’t with Jody and Bert. But these are the cards this franchise, Damian Lillard, and Joe Cronin, have been dealt.
As for the rest of the Blazers who are looking over their shoulder over the next few weeks, may the odds be ever in your favor.
It’s time to roll the fucking dice. December 15 is only 10 days away and it’s far too late to second guess anything around here anymore.