<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Portland fans were reminded of what could have been when the Detroit Pistons and Indiana Pacers visited the Rose Garden this month.One night, there was Rasheed Wallace, standing on the court in his Pistons warmups. Three days later, Jermaine O'Neal stood in the visitors' locker room among a pack of teammates in Pacers uniforms. It's not hard to imagine what the Blazers could have accomplished had they kept Wallace and O'Neal, former Blazers forwards who are among the league's most talented big men. "Man, I always wonder. I think about that all the time," said Blazers guard Damon Stoudamire, a teammate of both players. "What would have happened if we would still have had them here? We would have definitely been contenders." After he stripped off his warmups March 1, Wallace played a key role in the Pistons' 103-93 win over the Blazers. The 6-foot-11, 225-pound forward made four consecutive shots -- including back-to-back three-pointers -- in the first quarter and had a team-high 10 rebounds. Wallace, who is averaging 14.3 points, 8.3 rebounds and 1.5 blocked shots this season, said he is comfortable as a role player in Detroit -- scoring when needed, rebounding, blocking shots and defending. That wasn't the case in Portland, where the Blazers wanted him to lead the team rather than assume the side role he has in Detroit. The Pistons won the NBA championship last season after they acquired Wallace in February 2004 as part of a three-team trade with Atlanta and Boston. O'Neal became one of the NBA's elite players after the Blazers traded him and Joe Kleine to Indiana for Dale Davis in August 2000. The 6-foot-11 O'Neal, averaging 24.8 points, 9.0 rebounds and 2.1 blocked shots, did not play against Portland after suffering a separated right shoulder against Denver on March 3. He has not played since the injury. </div> Source
