Portland Trail Blazers Face a Tough Road Ahead

The tough road to glory just got a whole lot tougher. While all of the players on Portland's roster knew the road to the playoffs would be arduous, they did not expect their schedule to start as unfortunate as this. With 15 of their first 22 games on the road, the Blazers young squad will need to adapt early. By this time in November, the partially inexperienced Portland frontcourt must face a line-up of some of the NBA's toughest. Not only are their early games on the road, but 11 of the first 18 were in the playoffs last season. Teams such as San Antonio, Houston, and New Orleans make the trek down to the Rose City while some road games consist of trips to Detroit, Orlando, and Utah. The Blazers open their season against the teams that battled each other in last season's Western Conference Finals: Los Angeles and San Antonio. While most believe Portland's roster is poised enough to handle this, many are still unsure of Greg Oden. Oden will have his hands full against two talented ... (link)