Portland’s Success Even Surprise to Coach

Let’s paint a picture of the Portland Trail Blazers by the numbers. There are two reasons for this approach. First, the best team in the National Basketball Association remains a collection of largely anonymous role players, at least to East Coast patrons of the sport. Secondly, the figures are staggering.

Yes, we all know about Clyde “The Glide” Drexler who, if it were not for the presence of Michael Jordan, would be hailed as the reigning Peter Pan of the NBA. And we know about Buck Williams because of all those winters he toiled heroically for the Nets somewhere in the New Jersey swamps. And then there is Danny Ainge, the former Boston Celtic with a chip on his shoulder, a sneer on his lips and a three-point shot in his holster.

But look again. Three of the Blazers’ top four scorers are named Terry Porter, Kevin Duckworth and Jerome Kersey. They hail from such renowned basketball factories as Wisconsin-Stevens Point, Eastern Illinois and Longwood College, respectively.

“We have a lot of underrated players,” Drexler said. “We’re so far from the East and we’re not in a big media market. We have players who don’t get enough recognition for what they can do.”

So let’s forget about personalities because, frankly, the last Portland player to draw national attention was Bill Walton, and that was as much because of the big guy’s hair, lifestyle and possible knowledge of Patty Hearst’s whereabouts as for his exceptional ability. Let’s look at what these guys in the black uniforms have done since barging unexpectedly into the NBA Finals a year ago.

The most significant set of numbers, of course, is 25-3, the team’s record after a 108-92 rout of the New York Knicks Wednesday night. That’s what basketball people refer to as the bottom line and it has placed them at the very top of the standings.

“I’m surprised at our record,” said Rick Adelman, a coach with one of the lower profiles in the sport. “I think anybody would be. But I expected us to play well this year.”

Understandably so. A year ago, Portland won 59 of 82 games, even if no one outside of Oregon noticed. In the same season, a team on the same coast, located in the television capital of the nation, won 63. They had a superstar named Magic, a coach featured on the cover of GQ and other magazines and a front-row fan named Jack Nicholson.

But not even Adelman expected this. Consider that the Blazers have seven players averaging in double figures, that they won their first eight road games, that their winning margin of 12.1 points per game is the third-largest in NBA history if projected over a season. Oh, yes, there is one other glaring statistic. The 6-8 Williams is shooting .668 from the field, a mark surpassed only three times in NBA history, but never by someone shorter than 7 feet.

“The guards are getting me the ball in great position,” he said at Madison Square Garden Wednesday night. “I’ve made the remark that Stevie Wonder could have made some of the shots I’m getting.”

But the numbers that have really dazzled opponents are these: 49-18 and 35-9. Those are first-quarter leads achieved against the San Antonio Spurs and the Golden State Warriors on Nov. 25 and Dec. 18, respectively. The start against the Spurs left even the Blazers in awe.

“I caught myself at times just watching guys throw in 20-footers unconsciously,” Williams recalled. “Sometimes, I wouldn’t even run in for the rebound. The basket seemed so wide. It was the kind of quarter you want to put in a time capsule and save.”

Adelman, the captain of the first Portland team two decades ago, has done the next best thing. He has committed it to memory. “It’s the best basketball I’ve seen sustained over a full quarter in my life,” the coach said. “What made it special is that it was against a good team that came in with a winning streak. It was fun to just stand back and watch. They (the Spurs) didn’t know what hit them.”

The Spurs, it should be noted, had the best record in the Midwest Division and pushed the Blazers to a seventh game in the Western Conference semifinals last spring. The Spurs lead their division this season and have the second-best record in the West. It was a big game for both teams. “We came out intense and very fired up,” Drexler said. Apparently.

So who are these guys who are on a pace to exceed the all-time NBA record of 69-13 established by the 1971-72 Los Angeles Lakers? “We’re a team without a dominating player,” Williams said. “We pass the ball to each other. We’re all involved in the offense.”

Even though Portland is ranked third in the league with 118.7 points per game, there isn’t a Blazer among the top 10 scorers. “They just don’t think about scoring, or who is going to be the leading scorer,” Adelman said. “The way we play, everyone gets a chance.

“The other night we’re playing Denver and Clyde has four points in the middle of the third period. And he wasn’t even looking to score.”

What he is looking to do is win. His Houston team reached the NCAA championship game in 1983 but was stunned by lightly regarded North Carolina State. Last spring he had a taste of the NBA Finals that he still cannot swallow. “Memories are never really fond after you lose,” he said.

But the experience told the Blazers they were on the right track, and the acquisition of Ainge may have pushed them over the top. “Winning breeds confidence,” Drexler said, “but basically, we’re an unselfish bunch of guys.”

Adelman thought about the Pistons losing in the finals to the Lakers before they returned to win two consecutive championships. “The year after they lost in the finals,” the coach said, “they came out west in the exhibition season and kicked our butts twice. We’ve talked about that. They were on a mission from the start of the season.”

Since only the 1969-70 Knicks enjoyed a faster start than these Blazers, it can be assumed Portland is similarly motivated. “We never thought we’d go undefeated,” Drexler said, allowing a smile.

However, they do think they can finish better than second in 1991. “We got close last year,” Duckworth said. “Now we want to win it all.”