Freeman: LaMarcus Aldridge Says Blazers "Grew Up" On 3-1 Trip

Joe Freeman of The Oregonian reports that Portland Trail Blazers All-Star forward LaMarcus Aldridge said his team "grew up" on its four-game road trip, which saw Portland go 3-1 with wins over the New York Knicks, Memphis Grizzlies and Minnesota Timberwolves.

And while [Wesley] Matthews has stubbornly been predicting this all along, others on the roster have been a bit more cautious.

One of these players, Aldridge, has seen too many ebbs and flows in too many NBA seasons to get too carried away in training camp. Particularly about an untested team featuring a new coach, five rookies and eight new faces. But as Aldridge dressed Saturday and prepped to fly back to Portland, he beamed about his team's progress.

"I think we actually grew up on this trip a little bit," Aldridge said. "I think we took a step forward. I've been here all year and we've had our moments, but this has been a stretch of our most unselfish basketball I've seen. Guys are making that extra, extra pass and guys are trying to get guys going... I feel like that's been big for us."

-- Ben Golliver | benjamin.golliver@gmail.com | Twitter