Best...Play...Ever!

Arvydas Sabonis’ playoff performance during his ‘rookie’ (‘95-’96) season. I think he averaged 27 ppg in a first round bow-out. He was amazing, passed like Magic Johnson and scored at will. Miss that guy.

“The second pick, in this year’s draft [one more time], will go to the Seattle Supersonics…” RROOOAAAARRRR.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GT8jfABL6yY

What do you mean, that doesn’t count :-(
Then I go with some lame alley-oop or Roy defensive play…

Right after he got the layup plus the foul.

"In "Confessions of a Winning Poker Player," Jack King said, "Few players recall big pots they have won, strange as it seems, but every player can remember with remarkable accuracy the outstanding tough beats of his career."

It seems that when you asked to recall the most breathtaking play of my Blazers watching experience, the first images that came to mind were the plays where opponents put us away.

1. Larry Bird with the double clutch four point play to take the game to overtime on a Sunday afternoon back in the early 1990s.

2. Sean Elliott with his toes and the balls of his feet inbounds, and his heels propped like a halo above the sideline as he jumps and drains the three pointer that I believe shaped the outcome of the 1999 Western Conference finals (in addition to the non-called foul on Steve Smith on the subsequent play).

3. Shaq’s jailbreak dunk during the worst fourth quarter in NBA history in 2000.

Dang, I thought I was having nightmares and just woke up… but no, this is reality and that stuff all happened.

for a single game (won a writing contest), I was able to sit between the photographers on the baseline. It was against the Bucks and Cliff Robinson had 6 blocks. One block, he started on the weakside, just outside the key and blocked a dunk… just feet away from me…I was in heaven.

My friends, Gary and Ralph, Ralph’s dad, and I were in the top row at the Memorial Coliseum, trying to avoid dropping peanut shells onto the folks one row down. Portland had apparently lost- down by one to the 76ers with a second to go.

I turned to Gary and said, “They oughta try an alley oop.” Ralph started heading for the aisle. “Sit down,” his dad said.

 Kermit Washington was going to inbound the ball, and every person at the MC was standing. There was a blur of motion as the red and black jerseys pinballed in the frontcourt. Washington flipped a lob pass toward the rim, and Billy Ray Bates apppeared from the side, leaping over the defenders, catching the rock as if it were a hot potato, then gently flipping it up and over the rim, into the twine.

A roar like I’d never heard before threatened to lift the roof off of the building. Ralph’s dad, short, fat and bald, screamed and jumped like a kid. Gary and I could not stop laughing. Ralph shook his head. Miracles happen.

It may not have been the best ever, but when Trout blocked K@be’s three attempt, then ran behind him, saved the ball from going out of bounds and flew to the basket. Man … that was good.

was a Damon Stoudamire to Rasheed Wallace alley oop Damon was behind half court and Wallace was running the floor and Damon just chucked a ridiculously high lob and Sheed just jumped up there, speared it with one hand, come on…ONE HAND! and, “Flushed it home.”

Man it was awesome. It was on the NBA Top 10 highlight reel for the week…can’t seem to find it on Youtube or anywhere though. :-(

I am going for the best play I saw live in person and I would say it was either Travis’ dunk against the 76ers or Roy’s layup where he went up with it right then switched to his left hand mid air. I remember both plays kind of stunned people into silence for a second then a huge roar of the crowd.

So… the first play stuck in my head is… Jordan’s shot… okay wrong team.

Blazers… Blazers… Blazers collapsing in front of my eyes while I was at home on my death bed barely able to watch. We had been winning. We or the other team were goign to WIPE THE FLOOR with the eastern team… and then the feel of the game changed from third to fourth. The blazers were scared and I could tell a minute into it we were going to lose. I would have cursed but I was too sick to move. I think i lost ten pounds that week.

Oh right… HAPPY burned in images… hmmm…

You know, Clyde brought me in, but I really didn’t get to see a lot of those games. The 2000 era blazers had me grimacing even as I rooted for them.

Then you have the era of Roy. Websters 21 or so point quarter where he was nailing three pointers at will. Roy’s incredible drive to the bakset. Travis Outlaw dunking like crazy and just some sweet incredible passing in spurts.

Out of those, Roy’s move is the one I remember most right now. However, it’s Rudy’s dunk on Dwight Howard that is plastered on my laptop background on my work computer.

What I’m saying is that my memories are just beginning and so I can’t really tell you yet. Ask me in ten years.

Roy’s drive on Bosh against Toronto where he switched hands mid-air a la Jordan. Gotta also give a shout out to the back to back reverse alley oop dunks by Travis from Sergio in that last home game vs. Memphis.

… after exercising the demons of dagger-in-the-heart moments: Danny Young’s little boy face pleading for the refs to say that the halfcourt three he just drained against the Pistons at the end of the game came before the buzzer, please; the ball slipping through Uncle Cliffy’s hands, Magic tossing the ball down the court, The Shrug, ok, ok.

It was a remarkably simple play. End of a game at The L*kers (I think, though it could have been the Suns) either at the end of the season, or in a first round playoff game when we are the away team. The Trailblazers are down by 1. The crowd is roaring. The season hangs in the balance.

Terry Porter steps to the freethrow line. I’ve seen players step to the freethrow line in similar circumstances before. They may look nervous, determined, confident; Terry looked FIERCE. There is no other way to describe how he looked; and it is the only time I’ve seen that look on a player’s face at the freethrow line. Terry drained them both. Trailblazers won the game.

And I remember thinking, “that guy has the biggest stones in the world!”.

I know, I know, with all the fantastic plays that could have stood out in my memory, I remember a guy draining a couple of freethrows. But there it is…

The first was Lucas driving from the top of the key and dunking over Abdul-Jabbar to win the last game of the 1977-78 preseason against the Lakers. That’s when we all knew he was a player and we had a chance to be really good.

The second was a nationally televised game where Clyde blew in from the right side, flew under the hoop and a defender, and dunked on the left side. The play-by-play guy was surprised that Clyde was that good. Typical NBA media ignorance of the Blazers.

back into Damon’s hands. He throws a floater up and the Blazers win the game.

the Blazers force a turnover in the backcourt, Jerome finds Drexler who skies and jams over some poor Bulls big man (can’t remember which one).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n560gRzJnCY

I remember watching this game with my roommate in college. I think we knocked over every piece of furniture in the room running around jumping off the walls. Half the complex came over to find out what all the fuss was about. I don’t think we stopped celebrating through the entirety of halftime!

Recap, Blazers score like 76 in the first half against the the Mavs. This was capped off with about a 10-0 run in the final 90 seconds that incorporated i think 4 dunks, two of which are alley oops !!

I was not at the game, but I saw it from the front row at the old Paramount theater, which by the way, was such a cool place back then.

noone has the Terry Porter pass to Clyde for the dunk. Specifically, Porter was worried about being blocked from behind by a charging defender, and instead of going for the lay-up he somehow sends a blind pass between his legs that Clyde picks up as the trailer and throws down on the defender initially chasing Porter.

OK…it’s not basketball, but the face off between Dawkins and Lucas is etched on my brain. It was the point at which the momentum of the Philly / Portland series changed.

I remember watching Darius Miles lead the break and in a full stride dribbled the ball behind his back to avoid a steal. Not a common move for a guy who is all of 6’9" and it really impressed me with the smoothness of it all.

Also, Zbo’s 360 degree shot was pretty cool too.

We were playing the magic back when they had T-Mac. Somehow Rick Brunson (Burner) ended up defending him, and blocked a 3pt attempt…thats a play I’ll never forget.

Live on TV I’d have to say that the Sergio to Trout back-to-back alley-oops took the cake, I can’t remember anything getting me off the couch like that before.

ground, holding the ball at the Phoenix game sending us to the finals.

T.O.’s back to back reverse jams from El Magio gets re-played a lot in my mind too!

B-Roy’s switch of the hands layup. Just because of the excitement that was involved. The first look at it, you knew it was impressive but you didn’t see exactly how impressive it was. But the Mikes were going crazy over it, and I just started screaming at the TV. Then the replay I had to watch over and over. (I love DVR) The play didn’t make a lot of noise on the ESPN or anything right away, but as people started watching it on youtube it picked up steam. Didn’t NBATV give it the number one best play of the year? Just awesome.

Roy’s block on ‘Melo comes up, as does Travis’ block on Kleiza to end that game to seal our 10th win in a row.

How ‘bout Travis’ buzzer beater at Memphis for our first road win of the year and spurred the streak.

Roy’s Jordan-esque layup. Jack’s Hustle play that beat Chicago in 2xOT. Martell going crazy against Utah. Sergio to Outlaw x2………

Too many to count with plenty more to come.

bmx

Philadelphia is in town. It’s in March. The 76ers have some young kids playing named Allen Iverson and Jerry Stackhouse and Derrick Coleman and Clarence Witherspoon, but they’re bad! Really bad, can you believe it?

Anyway, it’s my first time seeing Arvydas Sabonis in person. I’d gone to games in the 80’s (Steve Johnson at center) and the 90’s (Duckworth), ans I wanted to see Sabonis. He didn’t disappoint.

Sabonis gets the ball on the baseline, facing back upcourt. The hoop is to his left. The defense comes at him, thinking they have him pinned and can force a turnover. Now he’s got them right where he wants them. He takes the ball in his right hand, extends his arm out, and flicks a pass, behind his back, 35 feet across the baseline to Dontonio Wingfield, who has NO FREAKING IDEA the pass is coming, yet still gathers himself enough to pick up the ball and slam it down unfettered.

Sabonis is the best.

when Trout trained that three in Toronto and was fouled by Jamario Moon for a four point play to tie the game and send it to overtime.

I think that the best play that I have seen/can remember has to be in the 76ers game last year when BRoy threw down only minutes before the monstrous dunk Outlaw had over Dalembart. I thought for sure on that play that BRoy was going to lay it in and he shocked me by throwing down.
A close second has to the be the block on Melo against the Nuggets. Being at that game was unreal.

Some time when Sabas was playing, AND Bryant “Big Country” Reeves was a Grizzle;
this pegs it at probably some time during the late 90’s.

I had a seat in the upper deck, but pretty far down within the upper deck.
The Griz got the ball off a missed shot or rebound (couldn’t tell you which),
and they came downcourt with the Blazers’ D hastily setting up shop to stop them.
At that point, it didn’t look like much of an exceptional play at all;
Blazers & Griz coming down to the Grizzly basket, with Sabas and Big Country trailing BADLY.
I mean, duh: It’s late-career Sabas and nearly-done Bryant Reeves.
Of COURSE they’re trailing on the play.

And then an ordinary thing happens, but with extraordinary consequences:
As Reeves & Sabonis are crossing mid-court, the big-man-deficient, amble-break 4-on-4
had (predictably) turned into an attempt to rush penetration with nobody over 6’8" yet present,
especially since this was all coming off of a possession change on the fly at the Blazers end.

So Vancouver (look it up) tries to crash the lane, the defense packs the lane,
everyone gets sloppy, the ball gets slapped away . . .
and here’s the ball at mid-court, 8 guys packed under the Grizzlies’ hoop, Reeves and Sabas alone with the ball.

And Sabonis is a bit behind Reeves.
And the ball comes to him.

Take a moment to picture that:
End-of-career Arvydas Sabonis unexpectedly with the ball at mid-court, clear path to the basket,
end-of-career Bryant “Big Country” Reeves just behind him, and the other 8 players nowhere near the play.

Fast break.
700 pounds worth of out-of-condition FAST BREAK, with maybe half a good knee between them.
I swear, Sabas & Reeves synced their strides, so their combined weight hit in tandem at every half-second
for a good 7 or 8 strides: I do believe I felt the Rose Garden shake with every step. (No, really! It SHOOK!)

And they run and huff and puff and Sabas makes it to the rim with Big Dummy right on his heels: Lay-up.
The crowd goes nuts, the actual athletes on the court fall over laughing, and time-out, puh-LEEZ [gasp]!
The heaviest, slowest fast break EVER.

We felt every footfall in the upper deck.
Am I the only one who remembers this?

Dec. 2006, Raptors vs. Blazers. Garbajosa goes up for what he thought was a clean dunk attempt. Then Joel jumps straight up with both hands and rejects him, taking the ball away fro, him in the process.
I was at the game, and I think I jumped over 3 rows of seats in excitement.

Is that the one you are thinking of?

I barely remember this, but one time Larry Steele hucked the ball from almost all the back court and swished it. I cant recall the cirmcumstances, but it may have been that shot that ignited my blazer passion. Just seems I remember it in color and back then Im sure I was having to watch on the old black and white.

It’s been fun reading all the moments and it has spurred some great memories. I remember a lot of them. I can’t just pick one. The “you really don’t know what might happen on any given play” nature of basketball is why The Blazers and N.B.A. basketball is my favorite sport. So I can’t pick one “best play ever”. This clearly isn’t the “best” play ever but it is one of the most memorable in my personal mind.

Memorable because it was Clyde Drexlers first regular season home game. He was a rookie. I could be wrong but I think it was against the Kings. In anycase I remember at some point Drexler being brought in, and the usual stir from the home crowd when a new rookie first enters a game. It’s been a long time but my memory is that on one of the first plays Drexler was involved in he had the ball stolen from him, knocked, poked away. It had resulted in a breakaway situation for the Kings. The opposing player was under the basket on a breakaway about ready to simply lay the ball in. Drexler somehow got from 1/2 court to back under the basket and was amazingly able to block the lay-up. If I remember right it got called goal tending and the points counted for the opposition. Why is this such a memorable play to me? Because I remember even as a young kid, thinking that very, very, few players would of been able to get back and block that shot. On that single first play Drexler defined himself as something special. Really, I was convinced on that single play that Drexler was something special and knew that someday he was going to be a huge part of The Blazers. It was an amazingly athletic play that demonstrated not only his athletic skill but also his personal pride and competitive nature. He was embarrased losing the ball and in response did the impossible. To me, I knew Drexler had arrived and The Blazers had something very special. That’s probably the single most memorable play for me, if not the “best” play.

I’m looking forward to another “he” has arrived defining play from Oden this season. A block, a dunk…whatever it might turn out to be, but that single moment, single play that announces to the league and The Blazers that we have something special in Oden. It’s going to happen, just a matter of when. Wouldn’t bother me if he tore the hoop down in Staples….that would make a nice statement.

or his dunk over Yao Ming

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kzq4ozGwoOM

and

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80TzrRHu3Nw

Does anyone else remember Clyde’s dunk against the Lakers at the Tomas Mack Center in the playoff after the game was moved due to the riots caused by the Rodney King verdict? I remember before the game in warm ups that the guys lined up and were having somewhat of a little dunking contest going on, then during the game Clyde was streaking towards the basket when I think Cliffy lobbed one up way too high, but Clyde just went up and kept going up until he got it, then just slamed it home. Best dunk I have ever seen in a game.