Vote for USA Today's top 5 Blazers of all time

[Effigy]

As some of you may know, all season USA Today has been polling fans about the top 5 players from each franchise. They give you a list of 10 to choose from, you pick your five favorites. Well this week it's Portland's turn. CHeck out the link: http://www.usatoday.com/sports/basketball/nba/high-fives.htm

Your choices:

Clyde Drexler
Lionel Hollins
Maurice Lucas
Geoff Petrie (who as of right now is not in the top 5 somehow)
Terry Porter
Cliff Robinson
Rod Strickland
Rasheed Wallace
Bill Walton
Sidney Wicks

So go in there, cast your votes and talk about your choices here.

[Red Robot]

Walton and Drexler are given, in my mind. Then I'd go with Lucas, who was the third best player but loses some points for only being a Blazer for 3 years or so. Next comes Sabonis, who isn't even an option. Finally, Sheed, who was the face of the franchise for seven years, never missed the playoffs, and led one of the top teams in Blazer history.

Porter would be sixth, but he gets the snub. Wicks put up nice numbers, won ROY and was a 4 time allstar with the Blazers, but he didn't take the team anywhere. Petrie also put up numbers but he wasn't as efficient and also didn't take the team anywhere. Both Wicks and Petrie played during the watered-down ABA days. Robinson presided over the most unremarkable period of Blazer history. Strickland was efficient, but he doesn't really belong in the discussion. I don't really know anything about Hollins except that he was on the title team.

[NateMustGo]

Walton,Luke,Hollins,Porter and Clyde, To your question RR on Hollins-Great team players that gave all-out to win at all costs,would single handedly take over a game and pull out a victory when we should have lost.Great outside shot in the day before the three pointer,great defender and my favorite Blazer guard!

[Wizenheimer]

the first thing that jumps out to me is that Strickland and Robinson are options, but Buck Williams and Kiki Vandeweigh are not. There's also people like Bobby Gross and Larry Steele who could be mentioned.

If I was to construct a standard team it would be:

PG: Lionel Hollins (but it's real close with Porter..either way is good)
SG: Clyde (duhhhh)
SF: Kiki V (to me this is easily another duhhh)
PF: Buck Williams (again...this is a tossup with Luke)
C: Bill Walton

with walton and williams/lucas rebounding and throwing outlet passes, the running and finishing of drexler, hollins, and vandewegh would be incredible. And the defense would be great as well

[Voodoo]

How is Bradon Roy not on this list? Jk seriously, I would go with Red Robot's list here. Walton, Clyde, Lucas, Sabonis, and Sheed, those are all guys I would put on any team.

[Effigy]

How is Bradon Roy not on this list? Jk seriously, I would go with Red Robot's list here. Walton, Clyde, Lucas, Sabonis, and Sheed, those are all guys I would put on any team.

They put the list together before the season started. As good as Roy was last year, one season isn't going to crack our top 10. We aren't the TWolves.

[Voodoo]

-= original quote snipped =-



They put the list together before the season started. As good as Roy was last year, one season isn't going to crack our top 10. We aren't the TWolves.

Jk means Just kidding ... Usually when I am writing my paragraphs and sentence flow breaks down, and don't take the time to fix it. I work a grave yard shift so I am usually to tired to care about fixing my bad grammar or sentence structure to much, especially when I am writing here... Played to many online games I suppose.

[Effigy]

Didn't even notice the JK. But I think it's a valid question if they were putting the lineup together now that Roy has had 2 strong seasons. He's already made the all star team more than some of the guys on that list.

I would like to see them do this list again in 3 years, and see how much things change by then. Oden and Roy should both be on this list by that point.

[Yadadimean]

I picked

Clyde Drexler
Bill Walton
Mo Lucas
Terry Porter
Rasheed Wallace

Looks like a lot of people agree with my picks as those are currently the top 5 vote getters.

[SalemStoner]

I picked

Clyde Drexler
Bill Walton
Mo Lucas
Terry Porter
Rasheed Wallace

Looks like a lot of people agree with my picks as those are currently the top 5 vote getters.

That was my vote too, tho I would put Buck Williams ahead of Lucas and Porter...

I think Sheed, Drexler and Walton are the only 3 players the Blazers can actually refer to as having been the face of the franchise for any significant period of time. To not include them would be criminal, after that it's a mess of role players, many of whom contributed significantly, but weren't ever the best player on the team.

I think if I was to pick two players who personalities the people of Portland identified with I'd choose Lucas and Buck - and it really galls me that they have guys like strickland on here instead of Buck, or hell even Scottie Pippen or Sabonis both of whom did more for the Blazers than the likes of Strickland.

[Klinky]

I chose Drexler, Porter & Walton. Didn't really choose 'Sheed because I wouldn't really consider him a ~GREAT~ Blazer(nasty temper, off court problems, was not clutch). I never got to see Mo Lucas play. I had to chose Walton since he was a main factor in our only championship.

How did Rod Strickland get on that list?

[Mr Odd]

Clyde Drexler
Lionel Hollins
Maurice Lucas
Geoff Petrie
Terry Porter
Cliff Robinson
Rod Strickland
Rasheed Wallace
Bill Walton
Sidney Wicks

Cliff, Rod & Rasheed should NOT be on the list.
They sure are missing some players in the list.

[d-train]

I just voted for,

Bill Walton
Clyde Drexler
Rasheed Wallace
Maurice Lucas
Terry Porter

It wouldn't change my top 5, but Buck Williams and Scottie Pippen should have been on the candidate list instead of Geoff Petrie and Sidney Wicks. Wicks and Petrie had great numbers but they aren't even top 20 all-time greatest Blazers.

[Effigy]

I've voted for Rod every time I've voted (3 times so far at 3 different locations)
I didn't start really following the Blazers until after we dealt Clyde. In my opinion he's the best Blazer we've had since that time (well, until Roy). I saw him play live a bunch, he could just take over games in the 4th quarter. So incredibly under rated, it's a crime that he was never an all-star. He deserves to be on the list more than Sabonis, much as I love him.

[DeezXXnutZ]

My list will be my favorite players of all time....

1. Clyde the Glyde
2. Sheed
3. Uncle Cliffy
4. B-Roy
5. And I'm still putting Oden the the List...........

[mojomarc]

If I was to construct a standard team it would be:

PG: Lionel Hollins (but it's real close with Porter..either way is good)

Hollins wasn't a PG. He wasn't even remotely a PG. The ball handling duties on those teams went to either Dave Twardzik or Johnny Davis. Hollins was as pure a small SG as there was until Joe Dumars came into the league.

Gotta go with Porter here. He's the only all-star we've had at the position, and he was a tremendous compliment to Clyde.

SG: Clyde (duhhhh)

This was clearly the easiest pick.

SF: Kiki V (to me this is easily another duhhh)

Given they were both here at about the same time, I go with Pippen over Kiki. I might even go with Bobby Gross over Kiki because Gross could play serious defense and Kiki never seemed interested in trying. I would also probably pick Kersey over him, as I think it is telling that Kiki was sent out of town because Kersey earned minutes over him.

PF: Buck Williams (again...this is a tossup with Luke)

By the time Buck came to Portland, he was far behind Luke's prime with the team. For that reason I go with Luke. Sheed would probably be second.

C: Bill Walton

He was the clear leader on a championship team, the NBA Finals MVP and league MVP in only 60 games. That says it all. Sabonis would be second. Oden, though, will probably win this 15 years from now.

with walton and williams/lucas rebounding and throwing outlet passes, the running and finishing of drexler, hollins, and vandewegh would be incredible. And the defense would be great as well

Vandeweghe would be the weak spot defensively. I like my team better, if only because it would be just as good rebounding, better at pulling big men away from the hoop to prevent the double teams on Walton, and at SF we would be better with any of the three I picked than with one-dimensional Kiki. Finally, Porter doesn't give anything up defensively to Hollins but was a far better natural ball-handler.

[541Blaza]

Porter
Roy
Drexler
Walton
Oden

That will be the best starting 5 Blazers of all time when it's all said and done. That's a sweet team!

[Wizenheimer]

Hollins wasn't a PG. He wasn't even remotely a PG. The ball handling duties on those teams went to either Dave Twardzik or Johnny Davis. Hollins was as pure a small SG as there was until Joe Dumars came into the league.

I strongly disagree about that. I saw that team play...plenty. Keep in mind, portland almost had a PC position with Walton, at least in the halfcourt sets. If you think of that team in today's traditional configuration, then of course Hollins was a SG insofar as he was taller then twardzick and davis. But Hollins ran the offense a lot more then twardzick or davis did and as much as walton did. He led the team 4 consecutive years including the championship season in assists and steals.

your statement that hollins wasn't "remotely a PG" is is not remotely true or accurate. If a 25 year old Hollins was the Blazers PG now, we'd be thinking he was one of the best in the league and certainly that he was the best defensive PG.

Gotta go with Porter here. He's the only all-star we've had at the position, and he was a tremendous compliment to Clyde.

as I said, it was a tossup in my mind. Porter could stretch the defense for sure. And he did compliment Clyde well, but Hollins was absolutely exceptional in the open court and was significantly faster then Porter. I'd be happy with either.

Given they were both here at about the same time, I go with Pippen over Kiki. I might even go with Bobby Gross over Kiki because Gross could play serious defense and Kiki never seemed interested in trying. I would also probably pick Kersey over him, as I think it is telling that Kiki was sent out of town because Kersey earned minutes over him.

You apparently have a broader view of "same time" then I do since Pippen arrived about 12 years after Vandeweghe left.

Anyway, with Walton and either Luke or Buck as the C/PF combo, portland would need a SF who could stretch the defense, and few could like Kiki. He shot around 53% as a blazer and considering where he shot it from that's exceptional. You're underating his defense a bit as well, but he certainly wasn't a stopper. He wasn't a great passer either but he was a pure shooter, one of the best, and he was good in the open court as well.

Gross was good, but his game fit the 70's a lot better then it would fit now in my view. Kersey?...I loved his game but he was not on Kiki's level. And IIRC, what did in Vandeweghe in portland was injuries, not Kersey.

By the time Buck came to Portland, he was far behind Luke's prime with the team. For that reason I go with Luke. Sheed would probably be second.

he wasn't that far behind really, but no matter. When I think about it a little more I'd go with Lucas as well. Both he and williams were great rebounders, but Lucas had a lot more range both offensively and defensively. Furthermore, while Walton was known as a great outlet passer (rightly so), Lucas was great at that as well.

I'd still take Buck over rasheed though, because Buck wasn't a moron.

Vandeweghe would be the weak spot defensively. I like my team better, if only because it would be just as good rebounding, better at pulling big men away from the hoop to prevent the double teams on Walton, and at SF we would be better with any of the three I picked than with one-dimensional Kiki. Finally, Porter doesn't give anything up defensively to Hollins but was a far better natural ball-handler.

wow...what a wonderfully impartial review of your own opinions.

kiki wasn't nearly as one-dimensional as you imply.

And your evaluation of porter vs hollins is simply off base. Hollins was an excellent ball-handler and he had a huge advantage over porter as far as quickness...both straight ahead and lateral. I loved Porter's game and he certainly gets the nod as far as the longevity of his Blazer career. But to say that they were comparable defensively is simply wrong. For chrissakes, Hollins was named to the all NBA defensive 1st team once and the second team once. Hollins was quite capable of defending the fastest players in the league and did so effectively and regularly. Porter on the other hand, had trouble with the quicker NBA PG's often. Kevin Johnson, Isiah Thomas, and Tim hardaway abused porter regularly. They wouldn't have had as much success against Hollins.

Porter was a more effective distributor and probably a better shooter. But hollins played before the 3pt shot so it's a little more difficult to determine that.

[d-train]

I've voted for Rod every time I've voted (3 times so far at 3 different locations)
I didn't start really following the Blazers until after we dealt Clyde. In my opinion he's the best Blazer we've had since that time (well, until Roy). I saw him play live a bunch, he could just take over games in the 4th quarter. So incredibly under rated, it's a crime that he was never an all-star. He deserves to be on the list more than Sabonis, much as I love him.

Strickland was a great player. IMO he was the 2nd best PG in the NBA while here in Portland but he never got credit for how good he was because he was such a scumbag. He was also the best player (better than David Robinson was) on the Spurs before he became a Blazer but still Spurs were glad to get rid of him. He is without a doubt the best player in the history of the NBA to never make the all-star game.

[Tim Lehrbach]

-= original quote snipped =-
He was also the best player (better than David Robinson was) on the Spurs

I can't even begin to imagine how you'd make this case.