Trail Blazers Make Portland Feel Like Home To Marcus Camby

ABM · Apr 16, 2010

http://blog.oregonlive.com/behindblazersbeat/2010/04/trail_blazers_make_portland_fi.html

he water, Marcus Camby says, is so still that you can see the reflection of the clouds above, creating such a mesmerizing image that only the occasional airplane flying overhead tells him it's not a painting.

"It's kind of surreal," Camby says, his memory drifting back to the water.

He calls it "Lake Camby" – laughing at the liberty he took in naming the body of water – because it takes up nearly half of his permanent home, a 25-acre property in Pearland, Texas, a Houston suburb.

It is lined with trees, and has been the site of many a sunset, with Camby alone, his 6-foot-11 frame scrunched in a rowboat, thinking.

"It's real peaceful," Camby says. "And it's usually just me out there."

Some days he fishes, seeking bass, catfish and trout, casting where he last saw a fish jump out of the water. He does it for sport, not the food, admitting he hates cleaning fish.

Some days he thinks.

But most days, he is like the water, full of reflection.

He was a latch-key child in a single-parent home while growing up in the projects of Hartford, Conn. He would return home from school to make dinner for his two younger sisters, their two favorite requests being his fried chicken, and mostly, his breakfast-for-dinner meal of bacon and eggs.

"A lot of times, I just sit out there and survey my whole property and realize how far basketball has taken me," Camby said.

It's a moment to which the Trail Blazers can relate.

As the Blazers prepare to open their best-of-seven playoff series Sunday in Phoenix, many on the team and thousands of Blazers fans can't help but reflect on the heights Camby has taken the Blazers since he arrived two months ago in a trade.

A 14-year veteran, Camby has steadied a wobbling, centerless Blazers team, playing so smartly, so unselfishly and so brilliantly on defense that he is arguably the biggest factor in the Blazers' sizzling stretch run that saw them reach 50 wins and a sixth seed in the ultra-competitive Western Conference.

"I know that when he came here, we got better," coach Nate McMillan said.

With long arms, quick feet, keen instincts, and a few veteran tricks, it didn't take long for Camby to become the face of the Blazers defense.

He had a game of 19 rebounds. Two with 18. Two with 17. One with 16. A game with five blocks. Three with four blocks.

All the while, he has imposed his defensive will onto his teammates. Sometimes it has come with peppy encouragement –clapping his hands to urge Nicolas Batum in Sacramento to step-up his defensive effort –and other times with biting surliness, like Sunday in Los Angeles when he snapped at teammates for not providing help defense on his man, Pau Gasol.

In 23 games with Portland, he averaged 7.0 points, 11.1 rebounds and 2.04 blocks – statistics that everyone on the Blazers would say don't do justice to his value.

The proof is in the Blazers' record, they went 17-6 (.739 winning percentage) in games Camby played.

It became so obvious that he had become the Blazers' season-changing force that near the end of a sterling 30-point, 13-rebound performance against Oklahoma City in the season's penultimate game, Camby was the subject of one of the Rose Garden's most unique moments.

"MAR-CUS CAM-BEE!"

Clap-clap-clap.

"MAR-CUS CAM-BEE!"

Clap-clap-clap.

A sellout crowd, 20,000 plus serenaded the veteran by chanting his name over and over. In the 15 years of the Rose Garden, no Blazers player has ever been graced with that level of adulation.

"I got goosebumps," said Bill Bayno, a Blazers assistant who recruited Camby to the University of Massachusetts.

The moment is important because Camby becomes a free agent this summer, and he said echos from that night will reverberate through his head when he considers the Blazers.

"Oh man, that is going to have a lot to do with my decision," Camby said of the Rose Garden chant. "That was ... Wow. That was incredible. I wish my kids and my mom were here to experience what went on. And I want to make sure I say this right: I'm very, very appreciative of the response they gave me.

"It was unexpected and I kind of felt embarassed about it. I prefer to defer to Brandon (Roy) and LaMarcus (Aldridge), because I just want to play defense, rebound and block shots and win ball games. But it was definitely humbling, and it definitely felt real good."

Smiles and wins

For much of his short tenure in Portland, Camby has been all smiles. He often remarked how refreshing it felt to win, one time in Memphis noting that he won more times in a week with the Blazers than he did in a month with his former team, the Los Angeles Clippers.

His machine-gun laugh is heard often and loudly, and he has become such a part of the Blazers chemistry that teammates call him "Uncle Camby" or simply "M.C."

"I love it here," Camby says.

Except for one thing: His family.

Since being traded to Portland, Camby has been away from his "soul mate" – wife Eva – and their two kids, daughters Milan (7) and Maya (3). They remained in Los Angeles so the kids could finish school.

"They are pretty much my world," Camby says.

He says he misses taking them to school. Helping them with homework. And bathing them at night after Milan has finished tennis lessons and Maya has stopped being what Camby calls a "terror" of energy.

But the part he misses the most is coming home after a game late at night. When he was in Los Angeles, he would peek his head into the rooms of his daughters and inhale deeply, getting what he calls "a good whiff."

"The baby powder and lotion, they smell good," Camby said. "When I get that smell, it makes me feel good. I know they are OK and safe. They are home."

Both kids attended Sunday's game against the Lakers, the first time Maya has been able to watch Dad play because of the afternoon start. Although the Blazers beat the Lakers, thanks in large part to a tip-in by Camby with 11 seconds left, Camby rode home with a heavy heart.

"I said goodbye to them because I had to get on the bus, but I talked to them on the phone all the way to the airport and they were balling, crying, saying 'Daddy come back!' It was eating me up. Eating me up," Camby said.

Family focus

The Camby women – Milan, Maya and Eva – plan to make their first trip to Portland next week, when the Blazers return for Game 3 and Game 4 at the Rose Garden.

By then, Camby hopes his defense on Suns star Amare Stoudemire has helped produce at least one victory in Phoenix. In his only game against Phoenix as a Blazer, Camby had 16 rebounds and five blocks, and spent large portions defending Stoudemire, the Suns' All-Star.

As a result, Camby figures to be one of the central figures in what is expected to be a wide-open and highly competitive series.

Throughout the series, he said he will be intent on blocking out his free agent status and focusing on the task at hand. He has played in 64 playoff games and has been to the NBA Finals once, in 1999 with New York, when they lost to San Antonio.

"I want to win a championship," Camby said. "I know how far between it can go to have an opportunity to make the Finals, or even the playoffs."

Plus, Camby figures this is no time to think about his future. That time will come over the summer. On Lake Camby.

"That's THE place I will be: out on my boat and just thinking and weighing all my options," Camby said. "My number one option is to definitely come back here. Like I've said, my time here has been great. But I have a lot to think about."
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ehizzy3 · Apr 16, 2010

well he can move them here when the school year is over

Shooter · Apr 16, 2010

Great article. Imagine how good we could be next year with a healthy Oden and Camby.

KingSpeed · Apr 16, 2010

I want to win a championship," Camby said.
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It's so great to hear that from one of our players. That's one thing about signing vets like Juwan, Andre, and Marcus. I think they're a bit hungrier than the young guys. They know time is running out and they want to win now.

HailBlazers · Apr 16, 2010

WOW. Touching Article.

Camby said. "I know how far between it can go to have an opportunity to make the Finals, or even the playoffs."
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And you have to best chance to win won right here M.C. You don't really want to go back to Denver do you? They didn't appreciate you there.

Never been so confident of him resigning until I read this article. With Lake Camby at your disposal why wouldn't you wanna play in Portland?

HailBlazers · Apr 17, 2010

Bump

BGrantFan · Apr 17, 2010

HailBlazers said: ↑

WOW. Touching Article.

And you have to best chance to win won right here M.C. You don't really want to go back to Denver do you? They didn't appreciate you there.

Never been so confident of him resigning until I read this article. With Lake Camby at your disposal why wouldn't you wanna play in Portland?
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Because Lake Camby is in Houston?

HailBlazers · Apr 17, 2010

No because Texas has nice weather when your tired of Portland gray skies. His place sounds Dope!

BoBoBREWSKI · Apr 17, 2010

Camby is a stud. I really hope we sign him.

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Trail Blazers Make Portland Feel Like Home To Marcus Camby

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Trail Blazers Make Portland Feel Like Home To Marcus Camby

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ABM Happily Married In Music City, USA!

ehizzy3 RIP mgb

Shooter Unanimously Great

KingSpeed Veteran

HailBlazers RipCity

HailBlazers RipCity

BGrantFan Suspended

HailBlazers RipCity

BoBoBREWSKI BURP!

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