Blazers to host Fan Fest intrasquad scrimmage Sunday at 7PM
(AP Photo/Steve Dykes)
The Portland Trail Blazers will host their annual Fan Fest, on the eve of the preseason, Sunday October 4 at the Moda Center.
Tickets can be purchased at any Wells Fargo Bank in Oregon or Southwest Washington, who is the title sponsor of the Fan Fest event.
Doors will open at 6PM on Sunday and the intrasquad scrimmage will begin at 7 PM. For those of you who are Comcast subscribers, the game will be televised on Comcast SportsNet Northwest at 7PM.
“We’re trying to divide the teams up evenly, it’s a short game,” said head coach Terry Stotts after Saturday’s practice. “It will be competitive. We will work on the things that we’ve been working on this week.”
While the game doesn’t matter, Stotts doesn’t want it turning into an All-Star game-type atmosphere.
“The game itself, I approach seriously,” said Stotts. “We’re working on our offense, I want serious basketball. I don’t want them to be throwing crazy passes and things like that. Otherwise it kind of throws away what we’ve been doing this week.”
Fan Fest is one of the best things the Blazers do all season long, allowing fans who may not be able to afford game tickets in the preseason and regular season, to come get a sneak peak at next years team for free. Traditionally the players will greet the first few fans at the entrances.
Parking on the Rose Quarter campus will also be free but is subject to availability, so get there somewhat early if you want to get a close parking spot. There’s usually a huge line for the main entrance at least a good half-hour before doors open, maybe longer. But, that was the last few seasons when the team has much higher expectations.
It’s been near capacity the last few seasons, but I guess we will see tomorrow how fans will welcome the new team.
Two of the 17 players on the Blazers’ training camp roster, Cliff Alexander and veteran swingman Gerald Henderson will not play in the scrimmage.
Erik Gundersen
Erik Gundersen is the Trail Blazers beat reporter for The Columbian. He's a graduate of the Allen School of Journalism and Communication at the University of Oregon in addition earning a degree in Spanish. He's covered the NBA for four seasons. You can also occasionally find his work on ESPN.com's NBA section for their TrueCities series. He also fist-bumped with Kanye West once. Follow @BlazerBanter on twitter for more Blazers and NBA news.