2008 Portland Trail Blazers

Even as we say “Congratulations” to the Houston Rockets, who beat the Blazers 4 games to 2 to advance to the Conference Semifinals in the 2009 NBA Playoffs, we want to say a big “Thank you” to the Portland Trail Blazers, who placed 2nd in the brutal Northwest Division, for the impressive season they had!

The Portland Trail Blazers ended the 2007-08 season in 3rd place in the Northwest Division for the second season in a row, though with Greg Oden fully healed, the 2008-09 season should be a dramatic improvement. Oden will be backed up by All-Star Brandon Roy and up-and-coming frontcourt star LaMarcus Aldridge, and with the addition of promising rookies Rudy Fernandez and Jerryd Bayless, the Trail Blazers are beginning the 2008-09 season as serious contenders for the Northwest Division title with a possible shot at going deep into the playoffs. With the most promising roster in recent memory, everyone is going to want tickets to Rose Garden to see the Blazers live, so if you want to be one of the lucky few, get yours today!

The Portland Trail Blazers came into the NBA as an expansion team in 1970. The team used its early draft choices well in the first couple of campaigns. In the inaugural draft, the Blazers selected a six foot four inch shooter out of Princeton, Geoff Petrie. Petrie led the team to 29 wins in the first season en route to winning the NBA's Rookie of the Year award. The very next draft, the Blazers selected Sidney Wicks, a six foot nine inch forward out of UCLA. Wicks averaged nearly 25 points that season and succeeded his teammate Petrie, also winning Rookie of the Year honors.

In 1976, the Blazers added three-time College Player of the Year Bill Walton to the lineup. The '76 season featured just 36 wins, but what was to come was impressive. The Blazers posted a decent regular season record in 1977 before a remarkable run through the playoffs that landed them NBA champs when it was all said and done. In 1983, the Blazers drafted Clyde Drexler. Despite averaging a modest seven points per game in his rookie season, Drexler went on to become a perennial all-star, a member of the Dream Team, and the all-time scoring leader in Blazers history. He also was the leading force in the team's NBA championship appearances in the 1990s.

Maurice Cheeks took over the head coaching job in 2001. Cheeks was a 15 year veteran of the NBA and, at the time of his retirement from playing, was the league's all-time leader in steals and fifth all-time in assists.

The Blazers call the Rose Garden in Portland, Oregon home. Prior to moving into the Garden, tickets to Blazers games were near impossible to get. The team sold out 810 consecutive games before moving in 1995. The Rose Garden seats nearly 20,000 for basketball games. It is also a hot spot for concerts. The stadium is also the home of Portland's Western Hockey League's Winterhawks, who have won 22 championship banners.