Team page/schedule | Stats: Preseason | Roster
Last year: 50-32, fourth in Pacific, seventh in conference
Coach/GM: Maurice Cheeks/Bob Whitsitt
Arena, first game: Rose Garden (19,980); Nov. 3, 1995
All-time franchise record/NBA titles: 1,368-1,142/1
Notable: 12 straight winning seasons, 19 with playoffs

THE ROTATION
Pos	Player	Key Stat	Skinny
PG	D. Stoudamire	5.7 apg	Third in scoring in bounce-back year
SG	Derek Anderson	15.5 ppg	Won't find things as much fun here
SF	Scottie Pippen	11.3 ppg	For old times sake, deal him to D.C.
PF	Rasheed Wallace	19.2 ppg	For all the hype, his 19 and 7 isn't great
C	Dale Davis	7.5 rpg	With no Sabonis, it's his job
6th	Bonzi Wells	.533 FG	Almost demanded trade Anderson deal
7th	Ruben Patterson	.494 FG	Can't imagine his stats remain at Seattle levels
8th	Shawn Kemp	6.5 ppg	How his career changed in one season

		The Blazers are an enigmatic team. I'm not optimistic about them. While power forward Rasheed Wallace is one of the league's top players, they don't have a strong center tandem. Chris Dudley and Will Perdue could combine to hold down the fort, but neither player will score. And Perdue was off last year. Getting Derek Anderson should help; he's a good defender who can also push the ball up the floor. Bonzi Wells needs to come back and play well coming off a serious knee injury. They also need Scottie Pippen to step up and perform better than he did a year ago. Ruben Patterson adds energy to the mix. But how will Maurice Cheeks handle all the personalities and situations that are bound to arise? It happens every year with Portland. The players seem to be indicating they have resolved the internal conflict they have had. I'm taking a wait-and-see approach. It will be a tough job for a first-year head coach.

By Scott Howard-Cooper
Special to ESPN.com

A year later, they have gone from supposedly being the biggest threat to the Lakers to being an afterthought in any mention about the West and the best, a notion that's tough to avoid even for a team with a history of disappearing at the strangest times. "Because the last two years, they were in every conversation and didn't win it," said guard Derek Anderson, a newcomer. "So maybe now that they don't say anything, we can come up and just play basketball and get the job done." Welcome to the low-key, sedate Trail Blazers. But of course.

Who's Who
Maurice Cheeks has either been handed an opportunity that can only blow up in his face or a greater chance than any rookie coach has the right to dream of, taking over a team that is still capable of big things if the warm fuzzies prove to be more than training camp optimism. His contribution to that end, as critical to this team as any play he will call, is a calm demeanor and a reputation for relating well to players.

"I'm not the greatest with people, but I'm pretty good with people," he said. "I know people. People are going to be OK. Rasheed (Wallace) is going to be OK. All our guys, we have some great leadership on our team, in Scottie (Pippen) and Damon (Stoudamire) and now Rasheed is starting to lead. They're going to help me along a lot." Said Jim Lynam, a Blazers assistant: "Maurice, he's just a genuine people person. I don't know that he's had anything but good relationships with all the people he's ever played with, all the coaches he's ever played for. I think that aspect of his personality will carry over to his coaching. He'll relate extremely well to these guys in a Maurice Cheeks way."

Anderson is much more of a sure thing. His acquisition, along with Steve Kerr in a sign-and-trade for Steve Smith, brought youth and athleticism to the Trail Blazers, not to mention the emotional boost of Portland showing it could make changes in the wake of the late-season meltdown in the spring. To have come back to camp with essentially the same roster and claiming things would be better this time just because would have been a tough sell. Instead, Anderson is in at shooting guard, while incumbent Bonzi Wells recovers from knee surgery, Dale Davis heads the committee that will replace Arvydas Sabonis (who decided to stay home in Europe) at center and Ruben Patterson signed as a free agent. There is also a chance that Zach Randolph will contribute as a rookie forward.

FANTASY SLEEPER

Shawn Kemp, PF -- Kemp had more positive, professional comments this preseason than he has had in all of the last four years combined. He also spent time with substance-abuse rehab guru John Lucas this summer in an attempt to raise his game and vertical leap back to a level near what it once was. So far he leads the Blazers in scoring and rebounding this preseason. The talent is there and, if the mind is willing, watch out.

The Big Question
Not Will they beat the Lakers? It's Will they beat themselves? The theme is as old to us as it is to them, but someone would have just had to have thrown in a towel in your face to not see that it remains the primary issue with the Trail Blazers. There should be a concern about the lack of depth at point guard, where the departure of Greg Anthony (trade) and Rod Strickland (free agent) means Stoudamire starts without an experienced backup, and the fact that Pippen is 36 and that Cheeks gets his first shot with a team that is built to win now. But it's still all about the attitude.

Best/Worst Case Scenario
The team that won 50 last season and had the best record in the league through 60 games is still dangerous enough to reach 53-55 if they actually do stay away from another implosion, as opposed to just talking about it. No one should be surprised if they reestablish themselves. Of course, these being the Trail Blazers, it will rate along side "It rained in Oregon today" if you see a mushroom cloud coming out of the Rose Garden some night and they end up at 42 victories.

OVERRATED	UNDERRATED	TEAM MVP
Shawn Kemp. Oh, did you say overweight or overrated? Well, he's both.	Dale Davis. Was double-double guy in Indy, so why can't he do that in West? Now he can.	Rasheed Wallace. Can he stay under the 40-technical mark? No, but he can score and rebound.