Greatest Blazers ever: Vote for #11

[Moonbeam]

Cliff Robinson was voted in as the 10th greatest Blazer in a close one. Here is the list so far.

Who's going to get in as #11?

How to participate:

1. Vote among the polled players for the player you feel has had the best career as a Blazer.

2. Nominate an unlisted player to join the pool of players eligible to be voted in the next thread.

3. Feel free to argue your case for the players you are voting for and nominating, but do not use this as a platform to belittle the opinions of others.

You are welcome to participate in any and all of these ways. Above all else, have fun!

Project guidelines and links:

Spoiler:

Polls will be remain for 48 hours. Ties will be broken by votes in previous rounds, and failing that, total Win Shares with the team.

Do not consider the careers of players while they were playing for other teams. For example, we're not evaluating LaMarcus Aldridge for his entire career, just for his career with the Blazers.

Do not consider any non-playing roles some former players have had with Portland after their tenure as players. So don't consider Maurice Lucas for his role as a big man coach, just what he brought to the team while he was a player.

This spreadsheet may be a useful resource - it contains information about all 330 Blazer players, including statistics from the regular season and playoffs, all-star appearances and other awards, and MVP vote shares.

Here is a link to the overall 2015 project, which contains links to each of the chosen players.

[Moonbeam]

Tough choice between Kersey and Buck, but I went with Kersey for longevity. Both lovable guys who meant a lot more than their stats, IMO.

Nominating Wicks again. As a 4-time All-Star, he seems worthy of being among the poll of players.

[Effigy]

I'm still debating who to vote in. I nominate Wesley Mathews

[Masterfully]

Kersey is in the top 10 in pretty much every category, including a few you might not expect, like blocks. Everyone ranked above him are already off the board. He was key to one of the best periods of Blazer basketball. So this is easy, Kersey is the pick.

And no offense to Buck, but not only is he statistically inferior, my main memories of him consist of missed free throws at the worst possible time.

[JasonStern]

Kevin Duckworth
7 seasons, 13.6ppg/6.3rpg/0.9apg average, 18.1ppg/8.0rpg/0.8apg peak, 1989 all-star, 1991 all-star, 1988 most improved player

Jerome Kersey
11 seasons, 12.1ppg/6.1rpg/2.1apg average, 19.2ppg/8.3rpg/3.1apg peak

CJ McCollum
6 seasons, 17.8ppg/3.1rpg/2.9apg average, 23.0ppg/3.6rpg/3.6apg peak, 2016 most improved player

Jim Paxson
9 seasons, 16.0ppg/3.2apg/2.3rpg average, 21.7ppg/2.9apg/2.1rpg peak, 1983 all-star, 1984 all-star

Geoff Petrie
6 seasons, 21.8ppg/2.8rpg/4.6apg average, 24.9ppg/3.5rpg/4.4apg peak, 1971 rookie of the year, 1971 all-star, 1973 all-star

Scottie Pippen
4 seasons, 11.4ppg/5.3rpg/5.0apg average, 12.5ppg/6.3rpg/5.0apg peak

Zach Randolph
6 seasons, 16.0ppg/7.7rpg/1.5apg average, 23.6ppg/10.1rpg2.2apg peak, 2004 most improved player

Mychal Thompson
7 seasons, 16.7ppg/8.9rpg/3.4apg average, 20.8ppg/11.7rpg/4.0apg peak

Kiki Vandeweghe
5 seasons, 23.5ppg/2.9rpg/2.2apg average, 26.9ppg/3.2rpg/2.8apg peak

Buck Williams
7 seasons, 10.2ppg/8.7rpg/1.1apg average, 13.6ppg/9.8rpg/1.4apg peak

---

nominate Rod Strickland:
5 seasons, 16.2ppg/4.3rpg/8.2apg average, 18.7ppg/4.4rpg/9.6apg peak
doesn't get much love as he played during that transition era between the Drexler teams and the Jailblazers, but those teams made the playoffs every year, and he was a big reason why.

[bob2]

I nominate Wicks.

[d-train]

nominate Rod Strickland:
5 seasons, 16.2ppg/4.3rpg/8.2apg average, 18.7ppg/4.4rpg/9.6apg peak
doesn't get much love as he played during that transition era between the Drexler teams and the Jailblazers, but those teams made the playoffs every year, and he was a big reason why.

Actually, Rod was the best player on every Blazers team he was on, except the year he came back (2001) when he was an older player. Clyde was injured most of Rod's 1st year and was never the same player when he was great. Rod wasn't expected to be the team's best player that year, but that is what happened because Clyde wasn't 100%. The next year, Rod's 2nd season, he was just flat-out our best player. Clyde was only 31 that year, but he was just a fraction of the player he was previously.

Rod doesn't get much credit because he had some issues. He was a great pass first PG and had a great feel for the game. He and Sabonis were a great duo, 2 very instinctively intelligent players. He was a very capable defender but he didn't always give 100% on that end.

[Norm2953]

I would second the nomination of Wesley Matthews. Guys like Wicks were literally run out of
town when Jack Ramsey arrived in town as a high maintenance player that coach Lenny
Wilkens had problems with. In 3 years, CJ will be a top 8 player but right now Jerome
Kersey is a fine choice at 11.

[d-train]

I nominate Hollins

[d-train]

Cliff Robinson at #10 is a joke. His best years in Portland were his 1st 3 seasons when he was never better than our 5th best player, and his 8th year. His 8th year, he got back to playing defense again, which is what made him good his 1st 3 years. He was a better player in Phoenix than he was for half his career in Portland. Cliff was never as good as Williams, Kersey, or Strickland.

[Wizenheimer]

I agree...if you're talking about Buck - Kersey - Mychal Thompson - Lionel Hollins - Rod Strickland - Wicks - Paxson - Kiki...and Cliff Robinson, there's no way that Robinson should have ended up at the top of that list.

[Moonbeam]

Sorry for the delay, everyone! Having a sick kid is no fun!

Voting is closed! JEROME KERSEY ran away with a majority of the votes and is in at #11.

Both Wesley Matthews and Sidney Wicks received 2 nominations, so the tiebreaker goes to most nominations in previous polls. That means that SIDNEY WICKS will join the pool of eligible players for #12.

Thanks for your participation, everyone!

[d-train]

Sorry for the delay, everyone! Having a sick kid is no fun!

Voting is closed! JEROME KERSEY ran away with a majority of the votes and is in at #11.

Both Wesley Matthews and Sidney Wicks received 2 nominations, so the tiebreaker goes to most nominations in previous polls. That means that SIDNEY WICKS will join the pool of eligible players for #12.

Thanks for your participation, everyone!

Didn't Hollins get 2 votes?