Darnell Valentine

[5DecadeHawk]

Hello Viking Fans.

The moment I saw that my Jayhawks were matched with a team from Portland I started remembering Darnell Valentine.

I know this isn't necessarily a Portland Trailblazer fan site, but I consider myself privileged to have witnessed his college career at Kansas. He was a very special player.

I witnessed in some form almost every college game he played. If anyone is interested in old stories, let me know. I've got a zillion of them.

I wouldn't mind hearing a few stories about his time in Portland if anyone has a few to share.

 

[forestgreen]

It's been some years since Valentine played for the Trailblazers. What stands out about him in my mind was his excellent defense and huge legs, especially thighs. Kansas has had many a great players over the years. Hope we can give you a decent game Thursday, I just took work off to be able to watch the Viks on tv. Wished I could be in Omaha to see it live. Go Viks!

 

[5DecadeHawk]

It's been some years since Valentine played for the Trailblazers. What stands out about him in my mind was his excellent defense and huge legs, especially thighs. Kansas has had many a great players over the years. Hope we can give you a decent game Thursday, I just took work off to be able to watch the Viks on tv. Wished I could be in Omaha to see it live. Go Viks!

Defense was Valentine's extreme talent. He could dominate an entire game from the defensive end. The way he would frustrate a team's guards was astounding. He could force someone completely out of their standard offense single handedly. Opposing offenses had difficulty getting to the top of the key where most wanted to start their offensive sets. Many coaches would pull their bigmen to the backcourt and use them to pass the ball up the floor because they knew DV would embarrass their guards.

Yes, Darnell's legs were legendary. More than once I sat near female fans in the stands who would coo all game long about his legs. The comments whispered when he was doing pregame streching could get very... *ahem* ... entertaining. (use your imaginiation). I don't think DV ever had a hard time finding volunteers to give him a rubdown. hehehe

 

[12JayhawkFinalFours]

in Kevin Pritchard, the Portland GM. He was the starting point guard on our last national championship team.

 

[forestgreen]

Danny Manning era if my memory serves me correctly. Pritchard is well liked in the Portland community, of course the men he replaced Whitsitt and Patternson were not, so he really looks good in comparison. The Trailblazers will be a very tough team in the near future, when all their young stars mature and a few pieces are added.