| HEADLINES |
| 04/09/2001 m/d/y |
| D-NEWZ |
| Portland, the Western Conference 6th. The Blazers don' play that well lately. Shawn Kamp won't play this season any more, and Rasheed Wallace broke his own 'Technical fouls per season' record. So, the Blazers have problems, but that's no excuse to be only the sixth team in the Western Conference. West is a better Conference than East, but they're placed behind Utah and Dallas. The Blazers cinched Playoff birth, but they're just 0.5 games ahaid of number seven, the Phoenix Suns. The Blazers' 2001 season looked that bright at the start of the season. They picked up Shawn Kemp and Dale Davis in the off-season, and Rod Strickland during the regulair season. Rasheed Wallace is getting better and better. But Portland felled to the Vancouver Grizzlies, and then you can guess this season wasn't sophose to be this way. 2000-championship rival, Los Angeles Lakers, don't have a good season either. LA is placed third in the West, but is still 3.5 games ahaid of Portland. Portland and LA met in the Western Conference Finals last year, by many seen as the real championship series. But now, it looks like they will meet in the first round of the Playoffs, with Portland placed sixt, and LA third. This is a warning. If the Blazers won't watch their steps, they might even fell in the first round, and felling to the Lakers only makes it worse. |