Option 1
G – Raymond Felton 6-1
G – Brandon Roy 6-6
C – Greg Oden 7-0
F – Gerald Wallace 6-7
F – LaMarcus Aldridge 6-11

Option 2
G – Raymond Felton 6-1
G – Wesley Matthews 6-5
C – Marcus Camby 6-11
F – Nicolas Batum 6-8
F – LaMarcus Aldridge 6-11

Let’s pray the Brandon Roy of the playoffs is the B-Roy of reality! If so, he along with LaMarcus would give Portland the 1-2 it’s been planning on for several years now. A healthy Oden would give them one of the few true centers in all of the NBA.

The Zers have great depth at the wings with Roy, Matthew, Wallace and Batum. Hopefully the bigs can stay healthy and Portland can make a legit playoff run in 2012!

Wesley Matthews – Hit four big threes en route to a team-high 25 points in leading the Blazers to a must-win home game that put Portland on the board 1-2 in the first-round series with Dallas.

Jermaine O’Neal – Shocked everyone with his performance in game one of the Boston versus New York series. O’Neal was a perfect six of six from the field and had four huge blocked shots to lift the Celtics over the Knicks.

Zach Randolph – Z-Bo’s three-pointer with under a minute to play in game 3 lifted the Memphis Grizzlies to a 2-1 advantage over the San Antonio Spurs and it’s being called the biggest shot in Grizzlies’ history.
“Crunch time belongs to Randolph” – ESPN

Portland Trail Blazers forward LaMarcus Aldridge helped beat the San Antonio Spurs with one of his best career performances in the teams’ most recent meeting.
With the Spurs lacking the inside presence of Tim Duncan this time, Aldridge and the Blazers may be due for another productive effort.
Portland looks to keep pace in the Western Conference playoff race Friday night when it shoots for its sixth straight home victory in the series against San Antonio.
Aldridge scored a then-career high 40 points and grabbed 11 rebounds Feb. 1 in a 99-86 win against the Spurs. He hit 16 of 23 shots, and the Blazers (49-33) outscored San Antonio 28-15 in the fourth quarter to pull away.
Aldridge would set a new career high just six days later with 42 points in a win over Chicago, and he’s been putting up solid numbers ever since. He had 22 points before resting the entire fourth quarter Tuesday in a 111-76 rout of Washington, and is averaging career-highs of 22.2 points and 8.7 rebounds this season.
The Blazers have won three of four and are sixth in the West, 1 1/2 games behind fifth-place Denver but only 1 1/2 up on eighth-place Memphis.
Gerald Wallace had his best performance since being traded to Portland from Charlotte at last month’s deadline, scoring 28 points on 10-for-14 shooting. It marked only the second time in 61 games this season Wallace made at least 10 field goals.
“I think I’ve found a comfort zone as far as playing with the guys, getting a feel for what the guys like to do,” Wallace said. “And I think they’re getting comfortable with me out there on the floor.”

– NBA.com

To make things even better for the Blazers, several of the West’s best players were shipped out East, including the losses of Denver’s Carmelo Anthony and Chauncey Billups and Utah’s Deron Williams, both of which are Northwest division rivals.

So what does this mean for the balance of power of West vs East. Here’s what I think. The East just moved past the West, with Boston, Miami, Orlando, Chicago and New York all possible Eastern Conference champions. But I feel that the West will win the NBA championship, as whoever comes out of the West (I’m betting on either the Lakers or Spurs) will have had a much easier playoff than the team coming out of the East.

Not to mention the fact that Blazers could get the Vanilla Gorilla back… things are looking good for Portland, who is one of the hottest teams in the NBA having won 7 of 8.

NBA.com Power Rankings:
1 Heat
2 Spurs
3 Celtics
4 Bulls
5 Mavs
6 Thunder
7 Lakers
8 Magic
9 Grizzlies
10 Blazers
16 Knicks

ESPN’s NBA Power Rankings:
1 Spurs
2 Mavericks
3 Bulls
4 Celtics
5 Heat
6 Magic
7 Lakers
8 Thunder
9 Trail Blazers
10 Grizzlies
15 Knicks – look for this number to change when the next ranking is released.

I have LaMarcus Aldridge listed as the 4th best power forward in the league. Where would you rate him?

With a list of injuries that would make a playoff caliber-team including Brandon Roy, Greg Oden, Marcus Camby and Joel Przybilla… the Blazers have needed some help. Matthews has provided that help and kept Portland in the playoff hunt.

At 16 points per game, Matthews is the second-leading scorer among Blazers still playing this season, behind LaMarcus Aldridge, who is having having an All-Star caliber season with over 21 ppg and over 8 rebounds per.

Can you think of a better Blazers move in the past few years?

Anything else?