Atlantica - 01.03.2001, Page 34

the championship, ballooning the team’s payroll to about
USD 75 million, hence the marketing slogan. But can all the
money in the world help bring basketball’s biggest trophy
back to Portland for the first time since 1977, when Blazer
Mania swept across the state of Oregon.
BUILT TO WIN
It all begins with Scottie Pippen. As the former sidekick of
Michael Jordan, Pippen won six championships with the
Chicago Bulls and he certainly covets another ring. “Winning
is definitely a goal,” he mutters, sitting on a training table
after an early season practice. “I came here, felt this team
had an excellent chance to win it. But we didn’t.”
Pippen’s matter-of-fact approach to last year’s gut-
wrenching loss is one reason why he’s the leader of this
team, and he’s philosophical about its chances to capture the
crown in 2001. “Winning a championship is something you
have to work at. It doesn’t just happen. It takes leadership,
work ethics – guys knowing their roles. I think I bring that to
the team.”
Portland’s head coach, Mike Dunleavy, adamantly agrees
that Pippen possesses the intangibles to fulfil the team’s
dream. “He’s not really a vocal leader,” Dunleavy says about
Pippen. “He says what he has to say when it’s needed. It’s
more the success he’s had over the years and his under-
standing of the game.”
This is Pippen’s second year as a Blazer and his recent
addition, along with Steve Smith, and the wicked, emotional
play of Rasheed Wallace, is the reason why most basketball
pundits project the Blazers to face the Lakers in the Western
Conference finals again, the winner expected to dominate
the Eastern Conference representative in the Championship
Series.
Due to injuries and lacklustre play endemic to poor chem-
istry, Portland struggled out of the gate. Restless Blazer
Maniacs questioned the offseason manoeuvrings that were
supposed to give the Blazers the added height and physical
strength to match up with the massive, seven-foot-tall, 330-
pound body of Laker centre Shaquille O’Neal. The media
sarcastically grumbled about the team’s unimaginable pay-
roll, complaining that 75 million bucks just didn’t buy what it
once did.
Were the players as worried as the restless fans and the
cynical media about the early season stumbles?
Winning a championship is “not going to happen over-
night,” says point guard, Damon Stoudamire, about the
team’s ragged start. “We’ve still got time. We just need to
start making it happen on the court. That’s the bottom line.”
PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT
Once I turn onto the correct street, I have no trouble finding
the Blazers’ practice facility. The parking lot overflows with
SUVs, BMWs, Mercedes and other automobiles that cost
more than the house I grew up in. After there’s been a short
wait inside the media room, Brian Facchini, assistant direc-
tor of sports communication for the Blazers, signals that
practice has “opened to the media” and I stroll in with the
beat writers and broadcasters, a smaller group than normal
because the Blazers have four days off – a rare break –
before an upcoming two-game road trip. At the moment, the
team’s managed to play itself out of its early-season funk
and has won four in a row. The mood is good.
When I sit down to observe, the players are scrimmaging.
By the way they joke around, though, they look more like
a beer-guzzling city league squad than an elite group of
athletes. But one shouldn’t always expect full speed during
practice. After all, pacing is everything during a season that
runs from August summer-league games to June playoff
games, an endless journey causing athletes to hit a physical
wall so thick that a former NBA guard once joked about
being too exhausted by mid season to get an erection.
The slow-motion scrimmage winds down and the players
finish off practice by shooting free throws. Before Pippen
can call it a day, however, he’s got a little business to attend
to with a six-year-old named Josh, who’s been watching the
entire practice with his family thanks to the efforts of the
Make a Wish Foundation, an organisation that strives to fulfil
the dreams of children suffering from terminal illnesses.
Josh’s wish: to play one-on-one with Pippen.
“I like to watch him on TV,” Josh says meekly, anxiously
awaiting his “15 minutes” with the superstar he idolises.
While Josh’s parents videotape the unfolding event, Josh
reveals his secret strategy to beat Pippen. “I’m going to
dribble under his legs.”
Josh and his brother stand in awe as Pippen skirts over to
the kids, asking them if they enjoyed practice. Pippen then
plays keep-away with the boys, a bit uncomfortable
embodying the role of an idol. But the kids have a blast.
Afterwards, Josh and his brother shoot baskets while Pippen
talks to the parents.
The charitable event breaks up when Josh’s little sister
takes a screaming header off a bench. Impervious to his sis-
NBA
3 2 A T L A N T I C A
“Winning a championship is
something you have to work at.
It doesn’t just happen. It takes
leadership, work ethics
– guys knowing their roles.
I think I bring that to the team.”
Scottie Pippen
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