Casey Holdahl of Blazers.com has a short piece with Portland Trail Blazers guard Will Barton, who reflects on the long odds of making it out of inner-city Baltimore. ------------------------------- "In Baltimore, we alway have a bunch of talented guys. And not just in sports, but in life," said Barton. "But not a lot of guys make it out. So when we get one, we embrace 'em, because we know it's real. In our city with a lot of crime, a lot of violence going on, it's easy to get caught up in that lifestyle, that bad lifestyle. When the neighborhood or the city gets one, everyone is really pulling for him and behind him." ... "My family pretty much understands what I'm trying to do. They're the only people that matter to me, to say the least," said Barton. "I always tell people: I don't have friends, I have family. A friend, I look at him as a brother. They're in my family, in my core. So I really don't have any friends. You either family or nothing with me." ------------------------------- Barton's remarkable journey to the NBA was chronicled here earlier this summer. -- Ben Golliver | benjamin.golliver@gmail.com | Twitter