I wish I had some great story about attending a Blazers game at Memorial Coliseum as a kid or writer.

Guess I’ll have to leave that for Dwight Jaynes.

Here’s one commonality between the preseason and regular season in the NBA: you still have to find something to build upon after every loss.

It was a bit of a surreal experience last night at the Rose Garden as the new season got underway with a little preseason action against the Sacramento Kings.

It was a night of firsts in many ways.

Before the start of Portland’s inter-squad scrimmage at the Rose Garden – one that saw the Blazers Black team beat the White team, 79-70 in front of 16,752 fans – Nate McMillan sat courtside explaining how expectations are expected to rise each season.

When Hersey Hawkins and his   smooth jumper left the NBA back in 2001, he did so knowing he’d never step back on the floor again.

“It was something I prayed about for half a year. Was it the time to leave? It was just put on my heart that is was time to go,” Hawkins remembered after his 13 seasons in the league.

“I never really had the desire to ever play again. I really don’t have the desire to even step on the court and play. I really don’t. I bet the first four or five years after I retired, I played twice.”

But “Hawk” can still hit that sweet jumper, right?

“Oh, yeah,” he said laughing.