I don’t think anyone expected Brandon Roy to be an all-star in only his second season in the league. I still remember getting bashed for saying we should draft him over Adam Morrison in chat rooms. He has had a tremendous season, not only in the way he played the game, but also in the way he is quickly developing into one of the more respected players in the NBA. His patience, leadership, and poise in clutch situations are all rare in a guy this young. This is only after two years, folks. Just imagine what he will be doing five years from now. What a great time to be a Blazer fan.

For someone who I had no expectations of succeeding it would have to be James Jones. To go from a 0 (well not quite a 0) to a hero in a short span was unbelievable.

I have to go with Travis, though. We all knew he was athletic, but I simply haven’t seen anyone hit shots like he does since Jordan was doing that fallaway schtick. I certainly didn’t think he’d be getting any sixth-man votes. The best part is it looks like he’s still getting better! Can’t wait to see what he can do next year.

He performed consistently. Night in and night out.

Travis improved, but we were sort of expecting that. Webster did as well. But both were inconsistent. Channing Fry did a lot to change my mind about him, but no way was his performance even close to Brandon’s when it comes to impressing. LaMarcus gets runner-up. He looked good, but there were still too many times he allowed himself to be pushed away from the basket. I think he’s a top 5 PF. But he’s not yet playing at that level every night.

...................... the dude is a big league rebounder and he impressed me with his toughness.

Now if he could just impress me with a couple offensive moves… He could probably become a 10-and-20 guy with just a little work.

t

James Jones – Had exactly zero expectations for this guy and he turned into one of the best 3pt shooters in the NBA. Just him being on the floor completely changed how teams played us.

Travis – Went from an undeveloped talent and a wild card to one of the toughest players to D up on in NBA. That and he started the magic with that game against Memphis. Imagine how different things could have been if he missed that shot.

More than anything or anyone else, the future is tied to our big 3. They are the un touchable pieces that will determine if P’Town is going to see more than just one Broadway parade in June anytime soon.

With the exit stage right given to Z’BO, Mr. Aldridge was asked to fill some big numbers on the team’s stat sheet. No one else was asked as to do as much. He delivered more than most of us thought he could (or maybe I should say realistically expected). He has proven his worth, and validated his being a cornerstone of the franchise. I don’t think anyone can really argue that could have been said at this time last year.

Our role players are just that, they are (said here with a heavy heart) interchangeable pieces. Therefore, any impression that I may have had been pales in comparison.

With much respect to B Roy, (he was after all R.O.Y. last year).

LMA I am most impressed with you this year and the potential you still posses.

He was are only real point guard and was for the most part steady as a rock. Most people didnt even want Blake preseason and he emerged as our clear cut best point guard(I dont consider Roy a point). Nice work Blakey!!

I am far more impressed by the things that opera singers do with their voice than someone’s one year old. Now if we’re talking about MY one year old, that is a completely different story.

But I understand, the Blazers are our one year old. Going .500 is not going to impress too many people, but for us, it is a monumental leap forward.

For most impressive, I’m not going with a player, but rather our coach. To take the youngest team in the league, and the third youngest in history, without the number one draft pick, as far as he did is nothing more than amazing.

This guy will be a beast in the not to distant future. What a weapon he’s going to be once Oden starts to get the double coverage. One thing that I feel is so under rated about his game is his footwork. The young man is just so skilled in that area, that he reminds me of David Robinson.
P.S. I would have gone with J. Jack if he would have decked Skinner in that last game against the Suns.

LMA and Trout

I can’t say I saw Trout making the jump. He’d shown flashes of the player he could be last season, but like the previous 3 season before, he disappointed. This year, his 5th, he’s finally made that jump to NBA player.

I expected LMA to kick some serious rectum this season, and he did.

After the season he had last year, to step in and be THE DIFFERENCE on defense for 77 games…you can’t help but think that the Blazers would have been in a world of hurt if he had not stepped up. And step up he did.

The way he stepped up and delivered night after night was nothing short of breathtaking. If you look up the word “stud” in the dictionary you’ll find a picture of Przy. He made a vow to play all 82 games (after being hammered with brutal injuries the year before) and but for an unlucky hand injury at the end of the year he lived up to his vow. More than any other Blazer this year, Przy was the embodiment of an unconquerable will. He never once lost his focus and he WILLED himself to greatness.

After signing that big deal, then having the injuries all last year, I was going “Oh no! We didn’t pull a Theo Ratliff all over again, did we?”

Joel set my mind to rest this year. He’s worth every penny of his contract (and would likely command a much higher salary at this point if he were available).

We’re going to have one of the best 1-2 punches at center in the entire league next year, and I’m not even entirely convinced that Oden is going to be the “1” in that scenario.

This is not to ignore the tremendous improvements from guys like Roy, Travis, LaMarcus, Jones, et al. But thos young guys you had to expect some improvement. Joel, being more established, was much more impressive to me.

...to simply follow the crowd, but if the definition is “most impressive” season then how do you pick anyone BUT Brandon? Player of the week twice in December and Rookie Game and All-Star game performances?

Other Blazers had impressive seasons but if you attach overall accomplishment both individually and to The Blazers then Brandon is the man.

Roy
Outlaw
Jones
Przy
Aldridge

All those guys exceeded my expectations (well, except Lamarcus but I had huge expectations for him). I’d still have to say Roy impressed me the most. He took a huge step- from solid starter to borderline all-star (and the bubble was kind to him this year). My hope is that next year he makes the leap that Chris Paul made this year… to a dominant MVP type player. Will he? I don’t think so. I wouldn’t bet against him though.

I think you guys deserve the best team, the team you are gonna have.

Seriously.

I thought this guy was just going to be 100% bench filler, riding the pine until we got to dump his salary after next year.

Instead, he came in and played some meaningful minutes in some games (especially the L*kers win late in the season when Joel went down), and by all accounts was a great guy to have in the locker room, and never complained about lack of PT.

His influence on the younger guys, in terms of his professionalism, alone is worth some kudos for a job well done. His on-the-court performances were pure gravy.

But I can’t imagine any other answer aside from ROY-BOT.

Looking at his numbers, you say “Hmm, nice” but they aren’t sensational by any stretch of the imagination. Yet he just wins games, either with the big shot, big rebound, big block, big pass, whatever it takes he does. Roy is amazing.

I remember some here, when the season started and Roy was so-so, worrying that Roy was just a good starter in the NBA. He quickly elevated his game to allstar status, and just played such WINNING basketball that he carried a young, inconsistent, uneven team missing their once a decade center to a .500 record. How can he not be the most impressive player?

Yeah, Joel was huge for us. He did what he was supposed to do though—aside from FT shooting, he really didn’t “improve”, just bounced back to normal. Travis showed he can score on anyone and hit some game winners. LMA had some great games, but his play didn’t always seem to really WIN us the game… not like Roy.

None of them impressed and won us games night in, night out like one Brandon Roy did. I like to be contrary and unique as well, but this is one case where the obvious answer is the correct answer.

Really though, anyone on the team this year (aside from Sergio and Jack) could have a case made for them as most impressive. Everyone either stepped up, improved, or were professional about their role. We are lucky KP put together such a great group of guys, and that Roy was able to completely take over the team. Being a do-it-all-playmaker-leading-scorer type guy who the other teams obviously try everything they can to stop AND having to be a leader on and off the court sure ain’t easy, and just makes Roy all the more impressive.

Mortimer

while i expected him to be good; I really didn’t expect the consistency that he was able to give us.

i love brandon, everything about him. trout is a good pick too and you can’t argue against przybilla.

with aldridge part of what was so surprising to me is how quickly and authoritatively he stepped up with ZBO gone. we heard the rumors from casey and others during pre-season that he was going to break out, but i had serious doubts. i thought a lot of the “aldridge is going to take a big step forward” talk was just talk because we were at a point where it was difficult to get excited about the upcoming season (think back to last august, it’s a whole new world) with the recency of oden going down.

aldridge didn’t have a perfect season but he put to bed the injury knocks, the heart issue, and he took the mantle of being “the man,” took direct challenges to improve his game from coach Nate and put those things into practice right before our eyes, and he did it against a stocked western conference full of big men. tons of battles every night, many of which he came out on top.

of course most of the greatness occurred on the offensive end. he still has (large) steps to take on defense.

but LMA had my jaw dropping more than anyone with his soft hooks, consistent jump shooting, great footwork and his swag (confidence).

By early in the year, Brandon left me shaking my head, marvelling at his play; lamarcus had me giggling because i had expected way more growing pains than we saw.

whipping boy last season to everybody’s favorite crunch time scorer this season. I think that’s pretty impressive.

I read Dave’s post and Roy came to mind immediately. His All-Star berth and performance was a big surprise and genuinely impressive. The guy just brought it all year long. And he wasn’t hurt for many games, my biggest concern before the season.

For what.?...three years now?... Travis has been languishing in the shadows and this year he came out into the sun. He showed he can hit the big crunch-time shot consistently. The highlight for me was that thriller in Toronto, even though it ended in a loss. Me and my boys were in the car on the way to a Duck’s game when Trout made that incredible 4 point play. We almost punched three holes in the roof as we came unglued.

His confidence level really jumped this year.

and it would be easy for me to pick him as “Most Impressive”, Most Improved”, Most Amazing”, “Most LaMonster”, etc, etc, etc. But he fact is I have to agree with lee3022, The entire Trail Blazer Organization has taken huge leaps in the right direction and deserve to be considered the Most Improved Franchise!

The most awesome reality of all is that this next season PTB could again be: Most Improved Franchise!

BlazerMania Forever!

Just because no one else did. He took the benching like a man and I think it made the team respect him more. They looked at him on the end of the bench while they were our their winning games and said, “That Sergio sure knows how to take a benching. I respect that.”

If I die before I wake, feed Serg, he’s been a good point guard. My best friend right through it all.