No, it’s not just an NBA general manager, either. All of them. They’re second-guessed constantly. Every decision can turn into one that could cost you your job. It’s a big part of why a lot of them are paid a million bucks a year.

Is Kevin Pritchard in jeopardy of being fired? I’m not sure. I don’t think it’s imminent. But it shouldn’t be surprising that he’s the subject of a ton of second guessing. Heck, you’ve seen it constantly in the comment section of this blog. The toughest part of KP’s job is that nobody is 100 percent perfect when it comes to drafting players. There is always something there for the critics.

You can go back and find all kinds of miserable draft-day mistakes on the resume of Jerry West, Geoff Petrie, Jerry Krause, Donnie Walsh — any of them. It’s the nature of the beast.

And I can also tell you that any general manager who passes over the likes of Michael Jordan, or Larry Bird, or, yes Kevin Durant, is going to have to live with that for a long, long time — no matter the circumstances.

You think Pritchard himself isn’t tormented by that draft? Sure, at the time, most people would have done the same thing he did. Greg Oden was the right pick for this team. I would have done it and just about all of the league’s other GMs would have done it. But Pritchard is probably lying awake nights wondering if he couldn’t have had just a little better medical insight, or have taken a little more time, or talked to a few more people before making that pick. I have always assumed that he got Paul Allen’s buy-in before making that pick, and if he didn’t it was a huge mistake.

That was Bob Whitsitt’s genius, I understand. He always got Allen to buy in before a major move. Then if it backfired, you turn around and say, “Hey, too bad — WE made a mistake.” But never, “I made a mistake.” In the case of Oden vs. Durant, I’d have been tempted to make sure Allen — ever a draft nut — saw every workout in person or on tape and then invite him to make the choice.

As fans, a lot of you are uncomfortable seeing Durant become a great player. But you think it bothers you? I can’t imagine what it’s doing to KP. I mean, that Oklahoma City box score popping up three or four times a week with Durant scoring 35 points must drive Pritchard crazy — just as he knows the guy is going to be one of the best three or four players in the league for the next decade.

He knows, too, he’d have been better served by making some use of Raef LaFrentz’s expiring contract last season, too. And not have gone so all-in publicly on Hedo Turkoglu last summer. And every GM worth his salt cares so much about doing a good job that when things don’t go right, he tortures himself.

And then, of course, he has to watch his right-hand man, Tom Penn, get the pink slip at a very odd time. Was that firing a message to Pritchard? Honestly, I still don’t think so. There are indications that Penn’s dismissal had more to do with HR issues — the kind of things that happen in any office. If that’s the case, I feel bad for Penn. I hope the story never gets out as to what really happened and I wish him all the luck in the world finding his way back in the league.

I think Pritchard’s issues are his own. And I think it’s really not unlike what every GM faces. Man, it’s a tough job. And the alligators in suits are nipping at your toes constantly, ready to second-guess everything you do. Often, they’re guys who have no clue what you do.

At the same time, they’re always falling in love with some wizard on the business side who they’re crediting for all the financial success of the franchise. I’ve seen it for years.

But you know what, you can have all your little two-for-one hot dog nights, all your little bobblehead promotions, all the civic contributions and all those little charity deals you want… until your team is winning basketball games, guys, you got nothing. Zip. And that’s what matters to a franchise.

At this point, Paul Allen ought to have connected those dots. He knows that. But you just never know in that organization. Strange things happen — and sometimes without warning.

Being a general manager anywhere in any sport is difficult. And being a general manager for the Trail Blazers is one of sport’s toughest jobs.

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Tags: Dwight Jaynes, Greg Oden, Kevin Durant, Kevin Pritchard, Paul Allen, Portland Trail Blazers, Tom Penn

I have no idea why he was let go. I’m not sure we ever will.

Look, if you’ve ever been in an office environment, you’ll know that there are many things that can get you fired in a hurry concerning your interactions with other employees, your overall conduct, your use or misuse of an expense account and so many other things. I wouldn’t pretend to have any idea what happened but it was a very surprising move.

There is talk that perhaps he was let go because he misrepresented that situation in Minnesota, saying he was offered that GM job when he wasn’t. I find that kind of funny, because that story is getting close to a year old. I wrote last May about this issue and I can’t imagine it took Blazer brass this long to react to it.

In fact, I’m really not sure if the Blazers ever bit as hard on that whole scenario as the media did. The whole “Tom Penn was offered the Minnesota job” story was printed so many times that it became fact without much investigation. I found that especially curious, given that Penn and Kevin Pritchard share the same agent, who probably had little trouble convincing Pritchard he needed to act quickly to keep Penn a Blazer.

The one thing I know about Penn is that a lot of people within the organization did not like him. What I heard most often was that Penn was impacting the culture in a negative way. He was apparently sensitive about things said in the media, by his own broadcasters and even others in the front office. There was a new brand of paranoia creeping in and a lot of people felt Penn was power hungry and eating away at Pritchard’s power base.

Whatever happened, it was a very short era in Trail Blazer history.

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Tags: Dwight Jaynes, Kevin Pritchard, Portland Trail Blazers, Tom Pritchard

Some people were upset with me that I didn’t blog on Friday after Portland won at Golden State. I’d called them out prior to that game, talking about how important it was to break that nine-game losing streak and get it turned around down there.

Then on Friday, nothing. Well, my bad. Should have at least filed a short blog entry congratulating them on the win. It’s been a solid week of taking care of business for Portland, which you have to do when playing those teams below you in the standings. Love the way they’re playing on offense right now — excellent ball movement while getting more players involved.

This is when they’re most dangerous on offense, when they aren’t just standing around watching Brandon Roy play one-on-one. Would love to see some more intensity on defense, with more attention to contesting shots, but I guess you can’t have everything.

And I’m sorry, but there will be days when I just don’t have time for blog posts. It’s the reality of having so many jobs right now. I appreciate your support and your patience.

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Tags: Brandon Roy, Dwight Jaynes, Portland Trail Blazers

Yes, I know — nine straight Portland losses in Oakland.

But if the Trail Blazers lose this one, I don’t want to hear a word about injuries or any other alibis. This game must be won against an obviously inferior opponent that’s also had its share of injuries. The Blazers should blow them away. Talent level? Not even close.

Look, there are important, tough-to-win games ahead. There is no margin for losing games like this one. And I really can’t imagine it happening, actually.

If Portland doesn’t win this game, folks, the spit is going to hit the fan. That’s all I’m going to say about it. This game is too important to mess around with. And a loss here, I’m afraid, indicates problems deeper than some injuries.

Doesn’t it?

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Tags: Dwight Jaynes, Golden State Warriors, Portland Trail Blazers

Frankly, not so well. At all.

They went into last night’s game having surrendered a cumulative field-goal percentage against of more than 50 percent over their last five games. They have not been playing good defense at all.

Yes, they “held” the Kings to 43 percent shooting last night, but seriously — I haven’t seen a team miss as many open shots in a while as the Kings missed last night. The Blazers didn’t close out on three-point shooters at all — but Sacramento couldn’t take advantage of those open looks and missed 10 threes, many of them wide open.

You can say that the recent injury to Marcus Camby had an impact on the team’s defense but really, not all that much. Camby has not played real well since he got here, folks. He’s blocking some shots but he’s a turnover machine. Considering how infrequently he touches the ball, his four turnovers last night were embarrassing, considering the team had but 11. And given the slow pace, lack of fast break points and points in the paint Portland has to live with every night, it can’t afford turnovers.

I expected better play from Camby but perhaps he just needs time. Heck, he’s been playing for the Clippers, where little things like turnovers probably don’t mean much.

There are other things going on right now that are disturbing. The Kings came out obviously trying to be more physical than usual. They attempted to push Portland around a lot and had intentions of ramming the ball inside all night. Word is getting around about the Trail Blazers’ lack of muscle and strength inside.

And the other thing that must be pointed out is that Brandon Roy is still not back to being Brandon Roy. He’s needing more shots than usual to get his points, isn’t getting to the foul line as consistently as he usually does and is missing a lot of free throws. All of that is uncharacteristic.

Some of it is that he’s probably not back to being 100 percent, physically. But another contributing factor is that teams are just not letting him play one-on-one as often as they used to. Portland’s offense has gotten so stagnant it’s beginning to seem as if every shot they take is off a one-on-one move by someone — and is usually contested.

That’s not going to work well, long term. All in all, I’m very underwhelmed by their standard of play at this point of the season. And once more, I’d remind you — don’t talk so much about who isn’t playing. Talk, instead, about who IS playing. And there is enough talent out there to be playing at a much higher level than what we’re seeing.

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Tags: Brandon Roy, Dwight Jaynes, Marcus Camby, Portland Trail Blazers, Sacramento Kings

I’ve been hearing it for days and sort of refused to believe it.

I expected Oregon (or rather, Nike) to have a big-name ready to go for this job. The behind-the-scenes manipulations have probably been going on for a long time.

I don’t know that there are too many people around here who are as familiar with P.J. as I am. I covered him during his time coaching the Trail Blazers and had an up-close look.

Let me say first, as a man, I don’t think they come any better. And he’s the best at working a room that I’ve ever seen. He never forgets a name, knows just the right thing to say and I believe, is a very caring person.

As a coach, I’m just not sure about him. He’s had a tendency wherever he has been in the NBA to get on players’ nerves. He’s a talker, one of those east-coast guys who has an opinion on everything and isn’t shy about sharing it. I found him usually very charming and bright.

But among the guys who played for him the feelings aren’t the same. He wore on them. They found him pedantic and often overbearing. Don’t forget, this is the man Latrell Sprewell tried to physically choke during a practice. And the story around that team was that there were plenty of other players who were rooting for Sprewell in that altercation.

I just don’t know about this hire. Will P.J. make the kind of splash that the Ducks are looking to make? I’m not so sure he would. He’d charm money out of people’s wallets for the program and make them feel good about themselves — but how good a coach is he?

Not sure. I’m not sure how good a coach you need to be at that level. A lot of college coaches are posers — they look the part but are exposed when you put them in a situation, like the NBA, where you actually have to coach players rather than bully them.

In college, it’s all about recruiting. That’s why John Calipari, a total failure at the NBA level, is so successful. The guy can get players onto campus like nobody else. Can P.J. recruit? I don’t know but he better be — and with the Nike muscle and new arena behind him, he certainly ought to be able to recruit.

It’s a fascinating idea that I still can’t quite come to grips with. And I’d love to see him succeed because I like him a lot. Can he succeed? That I’m not so sure about. And I’m not even convinced he’s the impact hire that I expected.

Is he a guy you’re excited about?

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Tags: Ducks basketball, Dwight Jaynes, P.J. Carlesimo, University of Oregon

I know now it’s not just me this bothers. I was in a room with several other people watching last night’s game when that fourth-quarter play happened, the one when Denver missed a shot and Nene held two Trail Blazers right in the middle of the lane while a teammate grabbed the rebound and scored.

It was right in front of the Portland bench but the camera shifted to Coach Nate McMillan and he stood stoic, arms folded and mouth closed.

Man, say SOMETHING. I guess he must subscribe to that old idea that if you don’t yell at referees, in the long run you come out better for it. I’ve heard the  concept but never have heard it from a basketball coach who has done any long-term winning.

There are times when you just have to say something — if nothing else but to show your players you have their backs. But often, you also have to show the officials you’re tired of having the calls go against you and you want to make a statement.

And that’s a statement that McMillan very, very seldom makes. There were a couple of plays last night that you just must rage about — just to show the officials you saw them, if nothing else.

It’s pretty frustrating when a coach does not do that.

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Tags: Dwight Jaynes, Nate McMillan, Portland Trail Blazers, Referees

Man, guard somebody. And at the other end, make some attempt at getting the ball inside. Does this sound like a broken record with the Portland Trail Blazers?

The aggressive team gets the calls and the Nuggets got more than their share all day long. And they ganged up on Brandon Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge, making it extremely tough for them to operate. At the upper level of the NBA, this is how it works. It’s a playoff preview, too — because that’s the way any good team, given time to prepare, is going to play the Blazers.

And the Blazers don’t have enough ball movement and player movement to take advantage of it. That’s where the total frustration comes in. This is not a new problem.

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Tags: Brandon Roy, Denver Nuggets, LaMarcus Aldridge, Portland Trail Blazers

I wanted to get this written before Sunday night’s game against the Nuggets in Denver. I expect the Trail Blazers to at least give Denver a solid battle tonight, if not win the game.

Yeah, I know — given the records of the teams that sounds a little crazy.

But here’s the deal: Portland won 54 games last season and didn’t have as good a team as it has right now, this minute. Injuries have contributed to the Trail Blazers’ record so far this season, that and the result of those injuries – playing completely without a center for a couple of months.

But now that Marcus Camby is here, I think you can take a look at Portland’s lineup and say it’s better than the one that won 54 games last season. Seriously, Andre Miller is a big upgrade at the point, Camby is a marginally better player than Joel Przybilla, this year’s Nic Batum is much improved and well, Brandon Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge are better players this season than last — at least they ought to be.

Oh, you’re going to say this group needs time to get used to each other. Well, maybe — but I think veteran players like Miller and Camby and players with the basketball IQ of Batum don’t need that much time. Look at the Dallas Mavericks, who were overnight a better team with the trade-deadline addition of Caron Butler, Brendan Haywood and DeShawn Stevenson to their lineup.

The Mavs didn’t need a lot of time to settle in — they haven’t, in fact, lost since the acquisition of those players.

I think you’re going to see the Trail Blazers, now that everyone is healthy, begin to play better immediately. And that starts tonight in Denver.

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Tags: Andre Miller, Brandon Roy, Dallas Mavericks, Dwight Jaynes, LaMarcus Aldridge, Marcus Camby, Nic Batum

Remember all those high expectations at the start of the season? Back when everyone was saying the Trail Blazers would be one of the top teams in the West? When they’d be battling the Lakers for the conference championship?

Well, wake up Portland. Whatever you thought of your team then, I’m wondering where those expectations went. The team the Blazers are putting on the floor right now is just about as talented as the one you thought you’d have before all those injuries struck.

Look, other than Joel Przybilla and Greg Oden, all the injured players are back playing. And playing well. And in place of the injured centers is Marcus Camby, who is certainly more talented than Przybilla and would also be thought by some as being as talented as Oden at the defensive end.

So why not expect big things from now on this season? Those injuries cast such a major pall over Portland for much of the season, I don’t think a lot of people have awakened to the concept that what the Blazers are putting out on the floor now is pretty good.

And pretty darned close to what we thought we’d see at the beginning of the season. Sure, the depth isn’t as good at center — but this team is talented enough to play with a smaller lineup and all that time when the young players got big minutes has paid off with many of those players now being capable of reliable contributions off the bench.

So don’t totally give this team a pass the rest of the way. Don’t feel sorry for them. There’s a lot of talent on the floor right now in Portland.

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Tags: Greg Oden, Joel Przybilla, Marcus Camby, Nic Batum, Portland Trail Blazers