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Too many cooks? Distributing playing time could be Blazers' main challengePosted: Friday October 11, 2002 5:06 PM
By Mark Bechtel, Sports Illustrated PORTLAND, Ore. -- There's no way of saying this without sounding weird, so here goes: Arvydas Sabonis looks pretty good with his shirt off. He was being weighed at camp recently so he was going around topless. (Here's one thing I don't get: Sabonis weighs like 320 pounds. Are the extra nine ounces from the shirt really going to make a difference?) At any rate, Sabonis appeared to be in pretty good shape. I figured he'd have ballooned after a year off eating blinis (or whatever the national dish of Lithuania is -- come to think of it, it's probably something pickled), but his mini-retirement seems to have agreed with him. Sabonis says he "disconnected" from the game for eight months, then got inspired to pick up a ball and go practice after watching Brazil win the World Cup in June. The Brazilians do a wonderful job of finding roles for all their talented players; that's going to be tough for Portland head coach Maurice Cheeks this year. For starters, he's got three point guards: Damon Stoudamire, Jeff McInnis and Antonio Daniels. Stoudamire's the incumbent, but it's hard not to read something into the fact that the team brought in two guys to push him. Stoudamire has said if he doesn't start he wants out, but he's scheduled to make $13 million this year. Good luck getting that sorted out, Mo. At shooting guard Derek Anderson is backing up Bonzi Wells, and at small forward Scottie Pippen is keeping Ruben Patterson on the bench. (Patterson outscored Pippen in nine fewer minutes per game last year.) The one guy who has a lock on his job, power forward Rasheed Wallace, is a malcontent who doesn't look too interested in becoming the team's go-to guy. Keeping this bunch happy is going to be tough for Cheeks. (Keep in mind this isn't the league's most sanguine club to begin with. The enduring memory of Sabonis' last season with the team is Wallace throwing a towel at the 37-year-old center during a game.) The 6-foot-5, 224-pound Patterson is poised for a breakout season. He was seventh in the league in field goal percentage last year and is one of the game's best defenders. (He averaged 16.5 points and 5.4 boards in his 13 starts.) "The way Ruben plays, he can get 18, 19 points a game without having a play called for him, just because of his hustle, the way he rebounds and the way he runs the floor," says Stoudamire. With one year in Portland under his belt, Patterson showed up at camp asserting more leadership qualities and an all-around improved game. "His shot looks better, he's handling the ball better, he's looking to pass, he's not trying to force things as much," says Cheeks. "I'm looking for great things from Ruben." The question is, will Patterson get enough minutes to produce them? Sports Illustrated staff writer Mark Bechtel is a frequent contributor to CNNSI.com
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