(Tualatin, OR)  --  Portland Trail Blazers head coach Terry Stotts says his team's season, even though it ended earlier than hoped, was a special one.  Stotts says his players displayed good character and he was happy with what they were able to do individually and collectively.  The Blazers, who were picked by many sports pundits before the season to not make the playoffs, made it into the Western Conference semifinal round, where they lost to Golden State, three games to one.  Guard C.J. McCollum says the Blazers are "on the doorstep of becoming an elite team."