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The Portland Blazers, a team no one paid attention to, is now ranked first in NBA with an amazing 0.796 PCT (43-11). It is not merely ranked first but leads the entire league in actual power. This situation is very bizarre.
When a person thinks of the Blazers, no great player comes to mind. This is not the case for the competing teams. When people think of the LA Lakers, "Dinosaur Center" Shaquille O'Neal or "Next Jordan" Kobe Bryant come to mind. When they think of the Indiana Pacers, "Master of the Three-Point Shoot" Reggie Miller comes to mind. Thinking about the New York Nicks reminds people immediately of "Original Dream Team Center" Patrick Ewing, like a formula.
This is not surprising, given that these teams are dominating their divisions with PCTs greater than 0.620 due largely to these MVPs. However, the Blazers don't remind us of any superstar players, not even so-so ones. It certainly has legendary players such as Scottie Pippen and Arvydas Sabonis, but few people think them as NBA court dominators.
Pippen is just a supporting musician, as you know. Even when the Chicago Bulls built their NBA Golden Empire in the mid 90's he was no more than a shadow of Michael Jordan, so he didn't appear on the main stage. Same with Sabonis. Though he was worshipped in Russia as a Living Legend during Soviet era, the NBA couldn't get him past the law banning player imports from hostile countries. He therefore only got to the NBA after he had spent his heyday in the European league. If we take a closer look at individual stats, the situation is even worse. No player with good stats exists. Steve Smith is barely ranked 42nd in points per game.
Nonetheless, the Blazers have recorded the highest PCT since Chicago's 1996-1997 season. The Blazers were strong enough to reach the NBA finals last year, of course, but in the beginning of this season nobody imagined they would soon be ahead of the LA Lakers and the All Star Team.
There's an old saying that dripping water cracks a rock - little David defeats giant Goliath. In reality, however, it is very tough for the weak to beat the strong. Usually people just give up. But the Blazers have faced and overcome their disadvantages brilliantly.
If I said I felt as though I were watching the revolution we had after the division of territory against dictatorship, would it seem extreme?
In any event, when I see Portland winning by the raw enthusiasm of small players who can't be even regular members in other teams, I can't help thinking that this is how minority races like us must live in this gigantic foreign country - America. But I suppose that's extreme too.