Your Favorite Trail Blazers vs Sonics memories

by bow4meow on Mar 24, 2008 7:35 PM PDT

I find it hard to believe, after all the SuperSonics tradition, its to be no more. I have so many memories of this rivalry, and hoped to elicit a couple of your favorite PTB/Sonics moments, and players.

If its proper, I'll start. TP somehow throwing down the 3 on the botched pass from ainge that tied the game and sent it to an OT Blazer victory. Arguably in my book, unbeatable.

As to a player, its so hard to choose... but Sikma did have that unblockable turnaround, oh no... had to be "Downtown" Freddie Brown, because when he made the outside shot, the announcer would elongate his name and the fans went crazy, and so did I.

Thanks for the memories

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I miss Gary Payton in his prime.

That guy was so awesome!

I can't remember a specific play, but I do remember one night, Feb. 18th 1998. For some reason this game has stuck with me through the years. Nate McMillan was coming off injured reserve for the first time that season (his last), and to me had always seemed like a Blazer killer, and it had me really worried.

Mike Rice quote on Courtside:

"Nate McMillan doesn't scare me, it's GP and Dale Ellis we have to worry about. Nate McMillan won't have any impact on this game." (I wonder if Rice remembers this.)

From the wire:

Nate McMillan, playing in his first game of the season after returning from knee surgery, hit three three-pointers in the fourth quarter, helping the Seattle SuperSonics to a 101-95 comeback win over the Portland Trail Blazers.

McMillan, who finished with nine points and seven assists in 23 minutes, hit his first three-pointer to tie the score at 78-78 with 9:51 left. Just 53 seconds later, he capped an 9-3 spurt with a three-pointer to give Seattle the lead for good. His last three-pointer made it 92-85 with 3:55 remaining.

McMillan missed the bulk of last season with back and hamstring ailments and all of this season with a knee injury. He has the longest continuous term of service of any current Sonic and is an outstanding defender.

"I was surprised I had enough in my legs in the fourth quarter to shoot the deep threes," McMillan said. "Once I hit one the others came in rhythm. I saw guys backing off of me and I understood why, with this being my first game back. My thing was to punish them for leaving me open. And I was able to knock the shots down."

Isaiah Rider scored 26 points and Jermaine O'Neal added 14 and 13 boards for the Trail Blazers, who had their five-game winning streak snapped. Stoudamire, playing in his second game for the Blazers after arriving in a trade from Toronto, shot just 4-for-14 from the field but did have 11 assists and six rebounds.

by Blazerholic on Mar 24, 2008 8:43 PM PDT reply actions

Dangit! Somehow I deleted the part after my first

big paragraph. It should read:

"...and to me had always seemed like a Blazer killer, and it had me really worried. I actually got through to Courtside that night with a question to Steve Jones and Mike Rice about my concerns. Jones deferred the question to Rice.

Mike Rice quote on Courtside..."

Didn't realize I had Courtside listed two times in that short span. Terrible editing on my part...

by Blazerholic on Mar 24, 2008 8:53 PM PDT up reply actions

downtown freddie brown!

Gosh whatta cool name. How come there's no more cool names like that?

Nature bats last.

by fisheyes on Mar 24, 2008 9:25 PM PDT reply actions

that game at the Tacoma Dome

where it was a Seattle "home game" but we had more fans. We came back from ~25 down to win.

by jksnake99 on Mar 24, 2008 9:35 PM PDT reply actions

Slick Watts

There never was a player more hated in Portland (except k*by perhaps). He made so many steals at critical moments and brought such huge energy into the game.

by lee3022 on Mar 24, 2008 9:36 PM PDT reply actions

Don't forget that Jack...

...Sikma, especially when he had his perm, was loathed in Portland. However, I agree that Slick had a special spot in Portland's heart (a dark, festering spot).

by DonkeyShins on Mar 24, 2008 10:25 PM PDT up reply actions

Yeah, I hated Sikma

and I wasn't alone.

I'm frequently right, but always certain

by jscot on Mar 25, 2008 12:58 AM PDT up reply actions

sikma's baseline jay

when he would put the ball behind his dishwater perm on the spin around baseline jumper, and loft it softly over the tallest defensers reach and into the net, time and time again, that upset me for years.

I heartily endorse this event or product-- Krusty

by bow4meow on Mar 26, 2008 9:49 AM PDT up reply actions

about Slick

Slick played with incredible personality, and who didnt want to yank that yellow head band off?

I heartily endorse this event or product-- Krusty

by bow4meow on Mar 26, 2008 9:52 AM PDT up reply actions

Triple Overtime Victory

I believe it was sometime around 1991-92. I was about 13 years old and was watching the game back in the Pat Lafferty/Steve Jones era on KOIN-TV. We played at Seattle and had two miraculous plays that kept prolonging the game. Terry Porter basically hit a big 3 at the buzzer of either the regulation or overtime to send it to an extra period. The Other play was a Danny Ainge steal of the in-bounds pass and a layup that sent it into another extra period. It was a very exciting game, and I remember being emotionally exhausted when it was over.

The second would be watching that 25 point Tacoma Dome come-from-behind victory. It was an improbable victory. The very next night we played the L*kers in the Forum, and came back from 21 down to beat them.

I'm hip, I'm slick, and all the women want my phone number!

by silkybrown on Mar 25, 2008 2:10 AM PDT reply actions

Yeah, I second

That trip OT game was one of the top 3 or 5 Blazer games I've ever seen, if not the very best.

Amazing thing is, I didn't even remember whether we won or lost that game and it didn't matter to me.

Like that 2OT Sunday thriller at the Boston Garden showcasing Clyde and Bird. We lost the game in heartbreaking fashion but my that one was memorable.

"Life is a meaningless sequence of events in between Blazer championships"

by broggerboy19 on Mar 25, 2008 12:35 PM PDT up reply actions

If they had replay like today...

Porter's shot would not have counted. It was clearly after 0:00 was on the clock. But we'll take it.

by TallTimber on Mar 25, 2008 6:52 PM PDT up reply actions

oh yea??

happen to just find this little morsel....
http://youtube.com/watch?v=qucFOZrjcpo&feature=related

apologies if I didnt get that right, but it is the 3 point miracle shot from TP I found on you tube.

after the buzzer? Doesnt appear that way to me.

I heartily endorse this event or product-- Krusty

by bow4meow on Mar 26, 2008 9:26 AM PDT up reply actions

I hate replying to myself

but to continue my thought off my post... as I've watched this replay for the 10,000th time, I realize it wasnt a botched pass from Ainge, which was how I remembered it. TP caught the ball, turned as if either to pass back to Ainge, or go up for the deep 3, had the ball stripped by Payton (as best can tell) which bounced off his head, back into TP's hands, who somehow grabbed it, and lofted it towards to hoop- Swish. So did I get it right?

It brings tears to my eyes...

I heartily endorse this event or product-- Krusty

by bow4meow on Mar 26, 2008 1:49 PM PDT up reply actions

Thanks for posting that clip

It's great to watch that again. And yes I still see the ball on his fingertips as the clock hits 0:00. But who cares, Ronnie Garretson said it was good.

by TallTimber on Mar 26, 2008 8:03 PM PDT up reply actions

agreed, but...

if Im not mistaken the rules say the game isnt over until the buzzer sounds... and clearly according to that replay the buzzer went off after TP jettisoned the ball. Nevertheless, still arguably one of the greatest PTB memories ever. Wish I had included it in the diary.

I heartily endorse this event or product-- Krusty

by bow4meow on Mar 26, 2008 8:06 PM PDT up reply actions

I think the rule has been changed

In the old days (before replay) it was when the clock went off. The buzzer was definitely late in that game. I don't that is the rule now. That's why they review those shots. The red light comes on when its 0:00 and they can see for sure if it was good.

by TallTimber on Mar 27, 2008 4:57 PM PDT up reply actions

Mine is a bad one

When the Blazers had Kemp, they were in Seattle and beating the crap out of the Sonics. It was as quiet as a quiet room in a quiet place and a fan yelled out something to Kemp. Kemp replied with a cuss word followed by the word "you," that was heard clear as day to everyone in the arena and watching on television. The announcer made a comment like, "Shawn Kemp expressing his displeasure with a fan."

The cuss word was just funny, but the total domination of the Sonics was my favorite part. I have never seen or heard another game where it was that quiet in the arena.

The square on the hypotenuse is equal to the sum of the squares on the other two sides.

by tominhawaii on Mar 25, 2008 12:34 PM PDT reply actions

what a shocker

the fan pretty much probably just said what we were all thinking anyways.

I heartily endorse this event or product-- Krusty

by bow4meow on Mar 26, 2008 9:46 AM PDT up reply actions

oh really

what do you know anyways

I heartily endorse this event or product-- Krusty

by bow4meow on Mar 26, 2008 8:09 PM PDT up reply actions

I remember

Payton to Kemp on those lob passes; pretty much unstoppable. No specific game, I just remember thinking uh-oh, they're gonna do it again. Sort of like the famous Blazer poster with Clyde, Terry, Jerome, and Buck coming on the break.

Watching Kersey and X get into it was always entertaining.

"I'm a buffet of goodness."

by TP43 on Mar 25, 2008 5:15 PM PDT reply actions

unstoppable

when both those teams played, the level of play was so high, it was great ball to watch. Im sad to see how Seattle has gone from a proud top echelon team, to such a proverbial leftover.

I heartily endorse this event or product-- Krusty

by bow4meow on Mar 26, 2008 9:40 AM PDT up reply actions

bingo bango bongo

is that what you are referring to in that fast break attack we had?

I heartily endorse this event or product-- Krusty

by bow4meow on Mar 26, 2008 10:04 AM PDT up reply actions

Might have been BBB,

but I was thinking the caption at the bottom of the poster was "uh-oh..." as in here comes that Blazer fastbreak again.

We were pretty devestating on the break in those days. Maybe somebody needs to make JJ sit and study TP film. I'm not trying to pile on JJ, maybe it would actually help.

"I'm a buffet of goodness."

by TP43 on Mar 27, 2008 4:51 PM PDT up reply actions