Duckworth & Old Blazers / New Blazers contrast

Kevin Duckworth. 00. The big man in the middle during the Blazers championship runs in the late 80’s and early 90’s is gone. It is eerily fitting that I wore all black today, and extremely rare wardrobe choice for me. Sometimes true fans are connected deeper than they will ever know.

When I was a Realtor I toured Kevin Duckworth’s house out near Canby... it was very nice but not too gaudy or lavish. Just a classy big place on some acreage surrounded by Christmas tree farms. Since I lived, at the time, on a place surrounded by Christmas tree farms I felt like I could relate to him... he seemed to be very different from the average famous athlete. He and Jerome Kersey both stayed in the Portland area after they retired and I like that about them. Both got involved in helping the community and I like that about them too. I saw double zero at a Blazer game last year and he was a massive man. From what I understand, his heart was just as big. It’s a sad day in Blazerland today.

The sadness got me reminiscing back to those fun years when Duck, Jerome, Terry Porter, Clyde Drexler, and Buck Williams dominated. And it hit me as I was sending a note to my friend Brad… this is the same way I feel about this year’s team… there is a certain closeness and fondness and hopefulness. I think it’s because this team puts in the same effort on and off the court like that team did. That, and the fact that they are real. Relatable. Professional, not aloof. Down to Earth… regular guys with extraordinary talent. Guys who work hard and treat people right. Lunch pail guys. Effort, humbleness, professionalism, and community connection are what I must truly long for in pro teams.

Like Duckworth, I Hope Greg Oden will become one in a long line of great Blazer Centers... Bill Walton, Michael Thompson, Kevin Duckworth, Arvydas Sabonis, and Greg Oden... that's a better big man legacy than most teams can claim.

I think the biggest difference between the Drexler era and the current era is experience. Buck was a very solid veteran when the Blazers got him. He was a guy that Ike Diougu and Channing Frye should aspire to be – solid rebounder, great footwork on defense, good passer for a big guy. Buck and Maurice Lucas are my favorite Blazer Power Forwards of all-time. We also had Danny Ainge coming off the bench and he was a great 3-point shooter who was crafty at drawing the foul. Mark Bryant was also an imposing enforcer off the bench. Cliff Robinson could play Small Forward, Power Forward and Center, which was rare at the time. Danny Young and Drazen Petrovich were good gap fillers, though I think Drazen was a bit over rated. He was energetic; the Sergio Rodriguez of his time with better 3-point accuracy. They used a different back-up center each year for a while. Wayne Cooper, Bill Cartwright, Alaa Abdelnaby, James Edwards, etc. Though their bench may not be as deep as the current team, they were more experienced and had more leadership ability.

The depth of the current Blazers is the exceptional difference between the two eras. Joel Przyabilla is so much better than Alaa Abdelnaby. I hope they keep him around for a while so we don’t have to do what the old Blazers did with a new Center each year. I think Rudy Fernandez will be a better all-around player than Ainge in the end. A lot of it will depend on how Oden and Bayless turn out, but if they gel with the team then we are one of the deepest in the league by far. And even though we lack veterans we have a few players, like Brandon Roy and Steve Blake, who play and lead like veterans. Bench guys like Channing Frye, Przybilla, Ike Diogu, Bayless, Travis Outlaw, and even LaFrentz. When we need to we can be versatile and match up to any team regardless of if they go big or small.

Last year we didn’t match up well against teams that had a Yao Ming or Dwight Howard. With Oden in the mix, we should be able to. Przybilla is probably the best Center coming off the bench in the league. Not for his scoring of course but he is a great rebounder and decent shot blocker. Our depth should allow our starters to rest enough during the season to get us some wins late in the year and maybe even one or two in the play-offs. In a couple years, when these guys become veterans, we can be one of the elite teams in the NBA.