Token Weekly Blazers Post

The Blazers went 2-1 this past week, which was probably more notable for the burgeoning Darius Miles controversy (didn't we get rid of that guy a long time ago?) and less for what Portland did on the court. This is a franchise that has had plenty of off-court things to discuss over the years, but hopefully the focus will return to actual basketball very soon. Portland struggled once again without Brandon Roy against the Lakers last Sunday in L.A., but it was not a game anyone expected them to win. I was able to attend Wednesday's home game against Detroit, which was also quite a struggle, but the Blazers ended up pulling it out thanks to late surge thanks to rookie Jerryd Bayless and a game deciding shot by the much-maligned Travis Outlaw. It's nice to see Bayless, a high draft choice this past summer, finally get some playing time after getting very familiar with the bench.

Brandon Roy returned on Saturday night and so, it seemed, did the Blazers offense to give the Blazers a 113-100 victory and a 2-1 week overall. Golden State doesn't play a whole lot of defense or bother rebounding, however, but it was nice to see Portland beat someone who had dogged them earlier this season. Next up is a four game road trip, starting in Chicago on Monday and finishing in Charlotte on Saturday.

About the cards:

• The Blazers dedicated the season to the late Kevin Duckworth and wear a stripe with his number (#00) on their jerseys this season. What can you say about Skybox's premier edition of basketball cards? Nothing, of course, that doesn't begin or end with the word awesome.
• Walter Davis finished his career with a short stint with the Blazers at the end of the ill-fated 1990-91 season where they won 63 games only to be bounced by the Lakers in the Western Conference Finals. What happened to the Hoops brand, anyway? It seems like they were the Pro Set of the NBA. I know that by their fourth release (1992-93) they had been acquired by Skybox, but I was surprised to see that they were long gone.
  

Bonus: I picked up this Jermaine O'Neal rookie card in a large 5 cent box at a card show yesterday. I got stacks of the cheap stuff of the Cardinals variety as well and will feature some of that in a later post. Yes, a baseball post, in fact... I still do those from time to time.