Jan 10, 2013; Sacramento, CA, USA; Sacramento Kings fans hold signs against the Maloof

Attending college in Portland, I met a fair amount of Seattleites. A common theme for Pacific Northwest students was Portland kids, being bored with Portland, went up to Seattle for college, and Seattle kids, being bored with Seattle, came down to Portland for college. As is the nature of such relationships, trash talking about our respective cities/states came out in full force.

Being the “forgotten corner” of the US (good luck to us competing with New York, Los Angeles, and Miami), we take great pride in where we are from. As is apt to occur, this pride often manifests itself through jawing about sports.

Or unfortunately, more accurately these days, it tries to manifest itself through sports.

Seattle has an NFL team, Portland does not. Owing to Pacific Northwest pride, Portland has more or less adopted the Seahawks.

With the addition of the Portland Timbers to MLS, a burgeoning rivalry with the Seattle Sounders is being fostered. Let’s be real though – while expanding, soccer is still a rather niche fandom.

College sports can’t add much to the conversation either. Of the four major universities in Oregon and Washington (UO/OSU/UW/WSU), only one (UW) is based in Portland or Seattle.

The Sonics are sorely missed.

Portland and Seattle are a mere three hours (and a prayer for no traffic) away from each other – a relatively short jaunt up or down I5. And resulting from the relative lack of professional sports options, each group of fans is crazy.

This is the foundation for a perfect rivalry. Think about the current great sports rivalries – Yankees / Red Sox, Duke/UNC, Steelers/Ravens, etc. Close proximity and passionate fan bases are essential.

You need more than just that, however. For a true rivalry, the teams must be evenly matched. That’s why for so many years the Manchester United / Manchester City “rivalry” was a joke – United was so dominantly superior that it just wasn’t a fair competition.

Fortunately, the Blazers and Sonics have been uncannily near mirror images of each other. Each franchise has one championship: Portland won in 1977, and the Sonics quickly responded by winning theirs two years later.

Both franchises experienced a resurgence in the 90s. Portland dominated the early part of the decade, making two Finals appearances in 1990 and 1992. Seattle, riding the heyday of Gary Payton and Shawn Kemp, responded with a dominant stretch of 55+ win seasons from 1992-1998, with the highlight being a Finals appearance in 1996. Finally, Portland closed the decade with a memorable romp to the 2000 Western Conference Finals.

After another brief lull for the franchises, the ping pong balls saw fit to reignite the rivalry by granting Portland and Seattle the first two picks in the 2007 Draft; a draft that conveniently featured two transcendent talents (…..). All of the Northwest was ready to watch Kevin Durant and Greg Oden square off for Western Conference supremacy over the next decade.

The rest is history. Portland was robbed of Oden, and even more cruelly, Seattle was robbed of the Sonics. The rivalry that was, and could have been, had died.

This is why when talks about the Kings’ potential move from Sacramento to Seattle began to percolate, I immediately perked up. Let’s be clear: having an NBA team in Seattle again would be great not just for Seattle, but for the entire region. These fans each get behind their team. That rivalry still simmers beneath the surface, and both franchises could feed off of it.

This has been evidenced be the above mentioned Timbers/Sounders rivalry. Despite the Timbers being complete newcomers to MLS, and soccer being a less popular sport, I was pleasantly surprised to see my Facebook home page filled with unprintable barbs lobbed between fans of the two teams before every game they played against each other. It warmed my heart. I can only imagine what would happen if Seattle ever returned to the NBA.

The basketball side of me would be ecstatic if this move went through and the rivalry was rekindled. The human side of me, though, would have issues. Namely, I don’t know if I could ever bring myself to root for Sacramento to be robbed of their team.

Befriending several Seattle sports fans, I was initially shocked at just how hurt they were regarding the Sonics. The pain is still fresh, and it runs deep. I think the general public’s perception of the move was softened by both how successful and likable the franchise has been in Oklahoma City. On the other hand, to the fans in Seattle, the move is an open wound still festering.

For this reason, I personally have trouble condoning the Kings being forcibly wrenched from Sacramento. That fan base has been loyal – far more loyal than they could have been considering how poorly the franchise has been managed. It would truly be a shame. At the same time, it must be noted that the fans’ patience finally began to wane, as the Kings were dead last in attendance this season.

If the move does take place, though, the Portland basketball side of me will properly mourn Sacramento for a week, and then gleefully switch into make-fun-of-Seattle mode. I wouldn’t complain, but I cannot actively root for this pain to be foisted upon another NBA franchise.

If it does not happen (which is now looking more likely), I genuinely wish the Kings the best, and hope that they can turn things around now that the Maloofs are out of the picture. There would still be a basketball sized hole in Seattle, though, and I would vehemently root for any solution that fills it. Perhaps an expansion team…?

@ripcityproject

Travis Outlaw has been key in both Sacramento Kings’ victories over the Blazers. Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports

Just Announced: DeMarcus Cousins is not with the team in Portland tonight (Coach’s Decision).

— Sacramento Kings (@SacramentoKings) December 26, 2012

Regardless of how Wednesday’s game shakes out, whether or not Portland loses the season series to the Kings 3-1 or ends it in a 2-2 tie, the biggest story coming out of it will likely be that once again DeMarcus Cousins was not a part of it. Cousins is no longer suspended, but The Sacramento Bee reports that according to Kings’ head coach Keith Smart, being reinstated doesn’t necessarily mean he’s going to play. Wednesday will be the second game in a row DMC will have missed, and the third time he’s been held out of the lineup due to suspension when his team faced the Blazers.

So onto Wednesday’s game.

While compiling my preview for the month of December, I predicted that the Blazers would struggle against the Spurs and Nuggets at home, while beating the Kings a bunch of times. I was wrong on both counts. The question then is, would you take wins against San Antonio and Denver this month if you were told that getting them might mean losing twice to the Kings and having to pull off a win in the second half of a home-and-home just to tie the season series?

My contention is yes, you take those win in a trade for those losses. San Antonio is a top-four team in the West; Denver might make the Playoffs. Beating good teams is better than beating bad teams. I would say it’s maybe even better than losing to bad teams. Many people will strongly disagree with those statements, considering that losing to bad teams is the best way to tank for the purpose of getting better picks, and beating good teams if you’re not a playoff team is basically meaningless unless you ascribe some type of quantitative value to things like “developing character.” Regardless, tanking isn’t a thing that actually happens, and building confidence is pretty important for a young team. Take the win over the Spurs; forget about losing twice, possibly three times, in one month to the Kings.

Blazers Starting 5: PG Damian Lillard, SG Victor Claver, SF Nicolas Batum, PF LaMarcus Aldridge, C J.J. Hickson

Kings Starting 5: PG Aaron Brooks, SG Marcus Thornton, SF John Salmons, PF James Johnson, C Jason Thompson

When you’ve faced the same team three times in three weeks, there should basically be no surprises. Looking at the box scores from the last three match-ups between the Kings and Blazers, it’s quite clear that the team that shoots better from three wins. I said as much in my recap of Portland’s abysmal Christmas Eve Eve loss in Sacramento.

Possibly, the Blazers take the embarrassment of last Sunday to heart and play a little bit of defense. Maybe not. Maybe Portland will realize that the Kings are not the better of these two teams, come out early, and run Sacramento out of the Rose Garden. I’m not holding my breath on that one.

Portland has looked good at times in 2012-13. They’ve also looked bad. They, however, have looked at their absolute worst this season against Sacramento (minus their one victory in November). Win or lose, the Blazers will be done playing the Kings until next season. We can all be thankful for that.

What to Watch For

• Which Blazer team will show up. Bounce-back game? Get right game? Revenge game? Call it whatever you want. Portland needs to show up Wednesday. If they don’t, they’ll have lost their first season series of 2012-13.
• Can Portland stop Travis Outlaw. Trout has played in 11 games this season. He’s been held score-less four times, he’s scored two points twice, and four and six points once each. He has a total of three games in which he’s reached double figures. One of those games was a blowout loss to the Clippers. A game he started, played 26 minutes, and managed a grand total of 11 points. Against his old team, however, Travis has been on fire. Trout went for 11 points in 17 minutes shooting 71% from the field and 100% from three when the Kings killed the Blazers in Portland, and then scored 15 points in 16 minutes shooting 86% from the field and 100% again from three (1-for-1 both times) on Sunday in Sacramento. Travis probably won’t start, but if he plays more than 15 minutes and scores more than 10 points, the Kings win.
• Portland’s shooting. The Blazers torched the Kings when they made their threes.

@mikeacker | @ripcityproject | mike.acker1@gmail.com

Dec 23, 2012; Sacramento, CA, USA; Sacramento Kings small forward John Salmons (5) drives in against Portland Trail Blazers small forward Nicolas Batum (88) during the third quarter at Sleep Train Arena. The Sacramento Kings defeated the Portland Trail Blazers 108-96. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports

Hey, if you’re going to blow a winning streak, there’s no better way to do it than getting taken to pieces for the second time in three weeks by the wayward and failing Sacramento Kings. The good news is we get to replay this game on Wednesday. The great news is Portland doesn’t have to play the Kings again after that until the 2013-14 season.

I hope you were doing something fun last night. Maybe you were like me and attending a holiday party and only following Portland’s progress on you phone or on Twitter. Let’s hope that you weren’t playing Grinch to your own Christmas and actually watching this game. The season and these Blazers are still young. They’re still developing a personality. They’re still trying to find a way to win night in and night out. They’ll get there. There are going to be bumps along the way, Sunday’s big time loss in Sacramento was one of those bumps.

Growing pains are to be expected. It’s when a team lets one bad game turn into a bad week or they let a bad week turn into a bad month or they let a bad month turn into a bad season that you have the Washington Wizards. Every game is important. Something can be learned every night. That being said, some times you have a game that needs to be forgotten by the team that lost it by the time they are on the bus leaving the Sleep Train Area. That’s what a young Blazer team can learn from Sunday. Saturday night you’re the winner of five straight, a game above .500, looking at cracking the top eight, flying as high as can be. Sunday night you’ve lost again to the Kings, and need a win to avoid losing that season series. Fates have a tendency to change over night.

Portland is probably not a playoff team, so really all the hype about getting over .500 is basically just hype. They’re a good team. though. They have a ton of potential. What they need to do right now is forget Sunday happened, forget they somehow couldn’t make a defensive stop, forget that two times now they’ve somehow managed to morph Travis Outlaw version 12-13 into Travis Outlaw version 08-09. Dwelling on this game is not in the best interests of this team, and it’s not in the best interest of fans of this team.

Go enjoy your holidays. The Blazers have a chance to get back on track and same their season (series against the Kings) Wednesday night at the Rose Garden.

Couple quick things:

• Sunday night, Portland allowed the Kings to shoot 56% from the field (45-of-81) and 47% from three (9-of-19). The last time these two teams played back on December 8th, Sacramento shot 42% from the field (36-of-86) and 47% from three (an identical 9-of-19). The first time the Blazers and Kings played this season on November 13th, Sacramento’s shooting percentages were 47% from the field (36-of-77) and a whopping 10% from three (1-of-11). One of those three nights was an outlier. Can you guess which one? Sunday, the Kings got threes from Marcus Thornton (2-of-5), John Salmons (1-of-3), Aaron Brooks (2-of-3), Isaiah Thomas (2-of-4), Jimmer Fredette (1-of-3), and Travis Outlaw (1-of-1). Not a single guy that got hot, but a bunch of shooters knocking down the shots they’re expected to make. Saturday in Portland, the Blazers were running Phoenix’s three-point shooters off the line, taking away their long-distance game. If the magic number for the Kings to beat the Blazers is 47% from three, then the Blazers know what they need to stop. For the record, Portland shot poorly from three in Sunday’s loss (29%), a little better from three in their first loss to the Kings (38%), and outstanding from deep in their blowout win in Sacramento in November (52% getting five threes from Damian Lillard alone). Portland and Sacramento are both jump shooting teams. Maybe a specific percentage won’t determine a winner, but whatever team shoots better from three will probably win on Wednesday.
• Speaking of Wednesday, Twitter is reporting that DeMarcus Cousins has been reinstated, meaning on that day he will suit up and play against the Blazers (tweet via Matt Moore, article also via Matt Moore). As of Monday, the Kings are 1-1 against Portland without DMC, and 1-0 against Portland with DMC. Will the results even out Wednesday? Tune in to find out.
• So like I said might happen following the Suns game, maybe I brought back my Standings Watch a little early. I won’t run down the standings and Portland’s position relative to the playoffs again until the Blazers have reached two games over .500.

Box Score

Standings

@mikeacker | @ripcityproject | mike.acker1@gmail.com

Dec 23, 2012; Sacramento, CA, USA; Sacramento Kings mascot holds mistletoe during the fourth quarter against the Portland Trail Blazers at Sleep Train Arena. The Sacramento Kings defeated the Portland Trail Blazers 108-96. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports