(Photo by Troy Wayrynen/USA TODAY Sports Images)

What a ride.

It seems like yesterday when uncertainty reigned over the Portland Trail Blazers. Many of the familiar faces of the last couple of years had departed and all that was left was new players and reduced expectations.

Maybe that is exactly what this team needed to get to where they are in the present.

Despite losing in the semi-finals to the Golden State Warriors 4-1, it certainly did not feel as if the series went just five games. In fact, Portland had ample opportunities to push this series to at least six games, and maybe even seven.

Game Two will be looked upon as the pivotal game in the series. The Blazers had a double-digit lead in Oracle arena as the Warriors struggled to gain an advantage as eventual MVP Stephen Curry sat on the bench nursing his sprained MCL. What transpired, however, was what had plagued the Blazers dating back to November.

Portland was unable to close out the Warriors and it ended up costing the Trail Blazers the series in the end as their lead vanished in the fourth quarter as Golden State scored a whopping 34 points to Portland’s 12. It was simply a “been there, done that” mindset for the Warriors, whereas the Blazers were experiencing all aspects for the first time and their inexperience held them back.

In games four and five, the Blazers jumped out to an incredibly hot start, taking massive double-digit leads, even going up by as much as 21-7 in game four. However, with Curry’s return in game four and Portland’s lack of offensive weapons, Golden State simply wore Portland down at every turn.

The Blazers doomed themselves as well by putting up bad quarters in every game. Against a team like Golden State, they can essentially play a good five-minute stretch of basketball and that is all that they need to take control and never look back, even without Curry.

Portland does not have that luxury. So, a bad quarter spells problems in every way. Clumsy turnovers, sudden offensive cold spells and less disciplined defense gave the Warriors the necessary edge, particularly in game four when Curry caught fire in overtime en route to his 40-point performance in Portland to essentially seal the series up.

The Trail Blazers got plenty of contributions; Al-Farouq Aminu was marvelous in the series, averaging 17.2 points and 8.4 rebounds on 54 percent shooting from the field and 55 percent from three. As head scratching as Aminu can be, especially on offense, he lit the offense on fire and led the Blazers to a game three victory where he missed just one shot.

Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum got their points. It seems that Lillard likes Golden State’s rims as he averaging 31.8 points, 7.6 assists, 4.4 rebounds and 1.6 steals on 36 percent shooting in the series.

McCollum, on the other hand, averaged 21.4 points on 42 percent shooting.

What this series exposed was Portland’s lack of offensive weapons and their weakness in the paint. While Mason Plumlee and Ed Davis have provided more than Portland could have asked for, there is still not a consistent scoring punch that oppositions have to worry about. So, teams can still commit to guarding the dynamic backcourt.

It was not a surprise or a shock, but it was certainly more obvious. Whenever Andrew Bogut saw time on the court, the Blazers simply had no answer except sheer will and energy. DeAndre Jordan was a different center in that he was less bulky and he could be pushed around more. Bogut is a different matter entirely.

It will be no surprise that the frontcourt will be an area of focus for the Trail Blazers’ off-season as they look to capitalize on a fantastic playoff run.

Even though there were plenty of frustrations, Blazer fans need to step back and realize exactly what they are thinking about. For one, the playoffs were a distant and, what seemed to be, an unreachable goal at the beginning of the season. It was assumed that Portland would be a lottery team and not even sniffing the playoffs.

The fact that the Trail Blazers even got the fifth seed was a victory enough, but to also move to the second round after beating the Los Angeles Clippers in the first round? Portland was playing with house money.

With being on national television and forcing the champs to give them all they had, and even then it was still close, the Blazers helped out their off-season efforts. Free agents certainly saw the spirited performances and there will be an effect come the summer.

Fans do not need to worry about a rebuild or a down season, it seems as if the Blazers had not missed a beat and what Neil Olshey constructed was masterful. Now, it’s just a matter of adding talent because, believe it or not, Portland is on the doorstep of being a better team than they were with LaMarcus Aldridge.

The question is can Portland capitalize?

The off-season is upon us and with it comes a break from the blog posts for the time being. It has been an entertaining and an incredible season to write about and it only makes it more exciting to see what comes in the future.

Stay tuned!