Portland Trail Blazers: Counting down the 5 best Rip City teams of all-time
Rob Ryan
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#3 – 1999-00 (Mike Dunleavy, 59-23)
Adding veteran stars Scottie Pippen, Steve Smith, and Detlef Schrempf to a team that already made the Western Conference Finals made Portland the early season favorite to win a Championship. If not for a disappointing fourth quarter collapse, this team could have occupied the top spot.
This group of Portland Trail Blazers was a legit 11 deep. There were young stars such as Rasheed Wallace, Damon Stoudamire, and Brian Grant. Young talented players such as Jermaine O’ Neal and Bonzi Wells were on the way up. The roster was also stacked with veterans and former All-Stars in Pippen, Smith, Shrempf, Arvydas Sabonis, Greg Anthony, and Stacey Augman.
They could attack opponents in so many ways. If a team managed to muscle up and keep Rasheed in check, they had Brian Grant to deal with. Maybe someone could get through Pippen’s stifling perimeter defense, then they still had Greg Anthony and Stacey Augman to beat. If an opponent was relieved that Smith and Pippen were checking out, they were still disappointed to see Shrempf and Bonzi checking in.
A hot start in Rip City led to a 45-11 record. These Blazers bullied opponents, humiliated them, and beat them into submission.
The big roadblock that kept this team from a championship was a miracle comeback by the league’s other super team, the Los Angeles Lakers and (cough Tim Donaghy cough). Fans knew the real NBA Finals that year was the Western Conference Finals series between Portland and LA.
#2 – 1990-91 (Rick Adelman, 63-19)
I had to go over all three Blazers teams from that run of contention between 1990 and 1992. Despite being the lone team that didn’t reach the Finals, the 1990-91 team is the runner-up. At any point in a game, they could flip the “energy switch.” This was the season that Portland looked like the clear-cut favorites to win the title.
Their starting lineup included All-Stars in Clyde Drexler, Terry Porter, and Kevin Duckworth, along with former All-Star Buck Williams. Don’t forget Jerome Kersey, whose high-energy defense and open-court ferocity were the exclamation point of those squads.
Bench players such as former All-Star Danny Ainge and future All-Stars Cliff Robinson and Drazen Petrovic made this arguably the most talented Portland Trail Blazer roster in history.
This was the same team that had the league’s best record (also the best record in franchise history). They would have had the homecourt advantage against the eventual champion Chicago Bulls if the teams met. The Bulls were a team the Blazers had convincingly swept in the regular season. Who knows how that could have changed the legacies of both teams? How history would have viewed Michael Jordan and Clyde Drexler?
Next: Page 3 – Best of the Best
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