Trail Blazers fans have long been regarded as a sharp, intelligent and understanding group.

And that's why I implore those at the Rose Garden on Thursday to go against their instinct to boo

.

Instead, cheer.

That's right, cheer the guy who shattered the Blazers' record for dribbles off his foot in a season. Cheer the guy who almost single-handily torpedoed a well-equipped roster by coming into training camp overweight and out of shape. Cheer the guy who said he would never throw his coach under the bus, then 24 days later, did just that. Cheer the guy who challenged the fans who did boo him to meet him at his apartment complex.

Cheer it all, because without Felton's decided inability to shoot, pass, or protect the ball last season, the Blazers and this city wouldn't now have the joy that is

.

Only with point guard play so bad that it created its own vocabulary -- surely you remember Feltdowns, Failtons, and F-Bombs -- could the Blazers have thrown in the towel so emphatically last season. Although nobody would dare touch Felton at the trade deadline, the blowup of the Blazers last March included the fleecing of the Nets, who took Gerald Wallace in exchange for some garbage contracts and their first-round pick, which gloriously turned out to be Lillard.

Bravo, Ray-Ray. It was your greatest assist of the season.

What's even better, not only does Portland have a rookie point guard who is already better than Felton ever will be, but because of a trade exception gained in an offseason

, the Blazers were able to obtain Eric Maynor at the trade deadline for nothing. Now the Blazers have two point guards better than Felton.

Who says that

was among the worst in franchise history? Thanks to the keen eye of general manager Neil Olshey, and the sharp understanding of the collective bargaining agreement by salary cap analyst Joe Cronin, Felton has turned out to be a gold mine.

Before Lillard and Maynor, Felton yielded only jokes. I mean, how many times have you heard

references in relation to the portly Felton this week, let alone since that June 2011 trade?

Frankly, I'm over Felton. Have been since the Blazers blew it all up nearly one year ago today. Really, I have nothing but sadness for him.

When the organization acquired him, it was with a long-term commitment in mind. And the fans were eager to finally stop the revolving door at point guard. Opportunity, and welcoming arms greeted him.

For a player, there are few places where an organization and its fans have a more symbiotic love than in Portland. Just look at the retired numbers hanging in the Rose Garden rafters. It's a veritable murderer's row of mediocrity. But if you play hard, play well, act decently, and win, this town falls in love. I mean, Joel freaking Przybilla got a standing ovation when he returned here.

Felton never grasped that simple concept.

He came in fat and said he wasn't. He played horribly and blamed it on the coach. He bristled and brooded when some dared to question his play, then turned his nose up to a fan base that grew tired of both his bricks and his brooding. Most will remember him as being overweight, and some will remember his hideous turnovers, but I will always remember that to Raymond Felton, nothing was ever his fault.

It takes a real special sort -- a Darius Miles, Bonzi Wells, Hedo Turkoglu -- to make this city boo and turn on players. And few have made this fan base turn as much as Felton.

Like most of you,

. In fact, I went to great lengths to defend him from the early criticism of his weight, and that unfortunate picture of him at his introductory press conference, when the Blazers gave him a cupcake to hold. I wanted to believe he was an atypically built point guard, a solid, barrel-chested sort.

Even when he reported to camp when the lockout ended so badly out of shape -- heck, almost everyone was out of shape, but no one as much as Felton -- it was easy to see his assets. I can't remember another Blazers point guard in the last decade who could dribble quicker from one end of the court to the other. And he fit the bill as a pass-first point guard. I distinctly remember sitting next to a Lakers scout in Oklahoma City, as Felton zipped up and down the court and the Blazers ran circles around the Thunder on the way to their 7-2 start. The Lakers scout marveled at how Felton's speed had changed the Blazers, and how tough Portland looked.

But Felton couldn't maintain that pace, that speed. He was simply too out of shape. Ask any player what happens when they are tired, and invariably they will say they start missing shots and getting sloppy with the ball. I can't remember a Blazers player being so loose with the ball as Felton. His turnovers were not just frequent, but mindless. And incredibly untimely. Who can forget the Utah game when he turned the ball over twice in the final 90 seconds, including his trademark dribble-off-his-foot? Or when he lost the ball near halfcourt in crunch time at Sacramento? Or when he dribbled the ball off his foot in Detroit in the final seconds?

Then-coach

and his mistakes while privately bemoaning his conditioning. Eventually, the season started to slip away, and McMillan couldn't wait any longer. He briefly

after the Blazers scored seven points in the first quarter in a loss to the Lakers. And as the turnovers mounted -- eight in one game at New Orleans -- he reeled in the freedom for Felton to run the offense.

Felton grew to dislike McMillan, and made little effort to hide his disdain of the task master from his teammates. It was nothing new to McMillan, who over the years knew he had detractors. He often remarked that much of his job was "putting out fires" in the locker room. But with Felton fanning the flames, the anti-McMillan heat grew too hot. The team quit on the coach, and

.

The season was lost, and so too was Felton's approval rating and chance at returning in Portland. Everyone, including Felton, can agree that was a good thing for all involved.

Felton this season reported to the Knicks in better shape and has played markedly better than he did in Portland. The Blazers have finally found their franchise point guard in Lillard. And the holdover Blazers have a coach they like and want to play for.

So why boo tonight? Think back one year ago today, the eve of the trade deadline, the day before McMillan was fired. Aren't the Trail Blazers in a better place?

So thank you, Ray, for helping us all get here.

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