Rip City Project
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Sunday hangover for Portland Trail Blazers fans: What’s next, Rip City?

By Matt George Moore

NEW ORLEANS, LA - APRIL 21: Damian Lillard
NEW ORLEANS, LA - APRIL 21: Damian Lillard /
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Where do we go from here, Trail Blazers fans? Here at the RCP, we’re still coming to grips with the sudden end to what looked like a promising season.

I just …

Well …

I mean …

I can’t even …

Let’s face it, Rip City: Many of us — not all, but many — are at a loss for words today. (Many of those who are not at a loss for words today are, in my humble opinion, speaking without thinking — including those calling for head coach Terry Stotts’ … well, head. More on that Monday.)

For now, let’s deal with the immediate aftermath.

Blazers-Pelicans

It’s the Sunday after the Saturday which saw the Trail Blazers go down hard in a four-game sweep at the hands of a muscular and relentless New Orleans Pelicans team.

We were so stunned by NOP’s dominance, in fact, that we tweeted this out during Thursday’s Game 3 (and we’re pretty sure we still agree with this sentiment; the Pelicans were just that good):

It’s Sunday. It’s a beautiful day outside. And we’re supposed to be prepping for the work week with Tuesday’s Game 5 on our minds.

Alas, there will be a Tuesday. But there will be no Game 5. Not for these Blazers. And not for Rip City.

In the meantime, the Pelicans are sitting back, basking in the glory of a complete takedown of the third-seeded Portland Trail Blazers.

Fun? For you, maybe.

In a previous article, I mentioned that, for the Pelicans, this was likely a super swell time:

"I imagine that for Davis (47 points, 11 rebounds, three blocks), Holiday (41 points, eight assists) and Rondo (16 assists), this was an enjoyable playoff series."

Turns out that was accurate. Witness this comment from a celebratory Davis after Game 4, as quoted on OregonLive: “It was fun playing against this team,” Davis said.

And he’s right.

How could it not be fun for the Pelicans?

They ran roughshod over and through a porous Portland defense, lobbing lobs and dunking dunks and basically humiliating a Blazers team that won 49 games this season and finished third in the competitive, bruising Western Conference.

And what really bites if you’re a Portland fan is that the Pelicans were so much better than the Blazers, we couldn’t even get all that mad about obvious instances of disrespect, like this:

I mean, ya gotta box out, right?

Fundamentals matter.

Even — especially — when you’re getting battered around like a child’s toy.

More from Blazers News

More to Come

Over the next few days, we’ll be dissecting this loss and the Blazers season at length. We’ll also cover the rumors of Terry Stotts’ imminent firing. And we’ll put together a series of pieces on the various exit interviews of the Blazers players themselves.

But to be honest, what we really feel like doing is walking outside in the sunshine for a little while — and reminding ourselves that there’s more to life than basketball. There’s more to life than the Trail Blazers. And that, even though it hurts and we feel hungover and a little befuddled by the fact that there is no more Blazers basketball for now, we’re gonna come out of this stronger. Together.

Right, Rip City?

Right … ?

Next: Confidence changes Damian Lillard’s shooting success

Ah, well. I’ll let you sleep it off.

And then together we’ll figure out how to turn this franchise from an also-ran into a legit title contender.

And then perhaps the Blazers will be the ones dunking on people and pointing at them.

Those will be swell times.

Go Blazers.