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

Man, down a dozen at the half and coming on strong in the third quarter. Andre Miller, Brandon Roy, Nic Batum, Marcus Camby — man, that was a frenzy in the third quarter. Love it when that team shares the ball.

I keep telling you, Batum does a lot of things. The kid’s instincts are amazing. Sometimes he does good things without even thinking about them — like cutting to the basket just as Brandon Roy is losing the ball, leading to a dunk and an and-one. Talk about the perfect fit on this team — Batum starting and playing extended minutes is much like adding a new player in a trade.

Of course, it doesn’t hurt to go 19-for-19 from the foul line, either.

This could be one of those springboard wins, coming at the end of a long road trip. Several times this season I’ve thought the team was ready to take off on a win streak and I’m thinking it again now. It’s as healthy as they’ve been all season and the schedule is favorable.

I think that game Monday could be a launching pad.

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Tags: Andre Miller, Brandon Roy, Dwight Jaynes, Nic Batum, Portland Trail Blazers

A former Trail Blazer coach, after a rather narrow win over an inferior opponent, told me that he was feeling pretty down about the game for a little while.

“But I told myself before I ever took this job that you should never feel bad about winning a game,” he said. “So I try to feel good about every win.”

In this case, it may not have been easy. Watching a team with five total wins this season march down the Trail Blazer lane like hungry men steaming through a Taco Bell drive-through in pursuit of a chalupa, was a little depressing there in the second half. Portland’s defense, other than poor, outnumbered Nic Batum, was horrible.

By the way, all you people out there defending Nate for not starting Batum, what can you say now? So was Nate wrong? By the way, the only problem now is that the kid needs more minutes. Your only good defender needs to play more than 23 minutes on a night when one of the worst shooting teams in basketball is firing at a 49.3 percent clip.

By the way, McMillan said before the game that Batum would be the starter at small forward for the remainder of the season. Not sure why a coach would commit to something like that. There’s no reason. Most coaches would not paint themselves into such a corner.

And watching another center go down wasn’t pleasant, either. Folks, this whole thing about injured centers isn’t just a Portland thing. It’s seemingly harder and harder to keep the big guys healthy. Look around the league. It’s dangerous with all that traffic inside. (That said, this franchise is one historically unlucky place when it comes to centers).

And if your biggest shot of the night is a three-pointer from Andre Miller, you know that things reached desperate levels.

But on the other hand, seeing Brandon Roy out there very close to 100 percent is the best thing that could happen to this team. Without Roy, the playoffs are an impossible dream.

It will be interesting tonight to see what this team has left for a back-to-back.

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Tags: Andre Miller, Brandon Roy, New Jersey Nets, Nic Batum, Portland Trail Blazers

Loved the Trail Blazer defense most of the game. They did a nice job stopping what the Spurs do best, ganged up nicely on Tim Duncan (who, by the way, isn’t moving a lot like Tim Duncan used to move) and after a slow start, held their own on the boards.

Loved the big play that resulted in Martell Webster’s open three-pointer that (should have) sealed the game. Andre Miller got great penetration, found Nic Batum in the corner, who didn’t hesitate in getting the ball to Webster, who had plenty of time to get his feet under him and settle into his three-pointer.

It was a smart play by smart players.

I didn’t like the misses at the foul line late. I expected more from Miller and LaMarcus Aldridge than that.

All in all, though, big game for the team to win against a Western Conference rival. A couple of other thoughts:

– The Spurs look so old and broken down. Their stars have so many miles on them.

– I think Batum is much more effective playing with Miller. His game is moving without the ball and Miller looks for him. I think, too, he’d fit better in a motion offense, rather than the standing-around stuff the Blazers do while watching pick-and-roll isolations.

– Huge game from Juwan Howard that was mostly overlooked by the media. He hasn’t made shots like that in a while.

– Brandon Roy needs to get back soon. I’m not sure how much longer the team is going to be able to hang on without him. Points are getting hard to come by.

– That may have been the Spurs’ A game last night. Not sure they have a whole lot left. They defend well at times, really well. But they can’t seem to do it consistently for the entire game. The energy just may not be there any more. Those guys have a lot of mileage on them from all those deep playoff runs.

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Tags: Andre Miller, Dwight Jaynes, LaMarcus Aldridge, Martell Webster, Nic Batum, Portland Trail Blazers, San Antonio Spurs, Tim Duncan

Man, that was something. I loved the defensive effort. The “bigs” did a great job, for the most part, of rooting Dwight Howard out of the lane all night and everyone else contributed to hounding Howard when he attempted to operate at the post with the ball.

Martell Webster continues to show what he can do with regular minutes and a consistent role. I mean, this guy is showing signs of either becoming a very, very good player or becoming an outstanding trade piece. He’s already a player other teams are talking about as someone, depending on Nic Batum’s development, who could be available.

Andre Miller and Steve Blake were terrific . . . oh, what’s the point of trying to single out individuals? This one was a great team win from start to finish.

One thing I must say, though, about the Orlando Magic: I’ve been around the league for a long time now and what I saw from them Friday night was downright shameful. And I haven’t seen it too often from what is a high-level team that was in the NBA Finals last season.

The Magic just sort of quit. Rolled over. And it appeared to me that the reason is simple — those guys want to get their coach fired. They aren’t listening to him and they’re actually embarrassing him with their on-court actions. Their effort level and attention span were just not there.

Stan Van Gundy has the reputation of a guy who grinds on his players and I’m afraid he’s gotten to this group. They appear, at least for the time being, to have tuned him out.

And once that happens, it’s usually only a matter of time before the coach finds himself on the street.

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Tags: Andre Miller, Dwight Howard, Dwight Jaynes, Martell Webster, Orlando Magic, Portland Trail Blazers, Stan Van Gundy, Steve Blake

Am trying hard not to post on weekends. Using them to rest up and since most people check this blog on the boss’s time Monday through Friday, I have been able to get away with it.

But that was some game. Probably the best one I’ve seen the Blazers play against a quality opponent in some time. Great focus at both ends of the court and an excellent defensive job.

Martell Webster was terrific on Kobe Bryant and is playing with great energy. He got plenty of defensive help, too, and Portland’s scheme on Kobe was terrific.

Andre Miller was solid, as he’s been for the most part lately and you have to give everyone who played a lot of credit. Brandon Roy, of course, was special. He seems to save his best for the best teams.

You just wish they came out with that kind of focus and energy all the time. Make no mistake, it was a special night.

(An interesting sidebar to the game: Jerryd Bayless did something in  the first half I don’t think I’ve ever seen. He hit four straight shots when he was basically behind the three-point line but had his toe on the line — getting credit for only two points. Each shot looked so close to a three-pointer. Man, look down next time, kid. You cost yourself four points.)

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Tags: Andre Miller, Brandon Roy, Dwight Jaynes, Jerryd Bayless, Kobe Bryant, Martell Webster

It has that feel to me. And I’m not one who usually attaches a lot of significance to mid-season games. But I think this one is different.

Suddenly, the Blazers are in the midst of turmoil with all the Andre Miller stuff. A win tonight could put that turmoil on the back burner — diminish it to a degree. If you win, you can say, “See, this stuff isn’t that big a deal.”

And as overmatched as Portland seems to be, the Blazers are 21-6, lifetime, against the Lakers in the Rose Garden. The Lakers aren’t playing particularly well right now, either. So Portland has a chance.

But if the Blazers get blown out, with a date Sunday night against the Cavaliers looming, negative energy is going to be difficult to avoid. It will only intensify the internal problems.

It could get ugly.

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Tags: Andre Miller, Dwight Jaynes, Los Angeles Lakers, Portland Trail Blazers

It’s something to think about. I mean, if there are other players lining up on his side, then I would assume this whole thing could mean long-range problems, even if Miller is shipped out. Does he represent a growing opinion on the team — that the style of play is a problem?

But if he’s a Lone Ranger, then get him away from the others before he starts to influence them, right? Would all this be different if Greg Oden were still playing? My impression is that Oden loved playing with Miller.

Do some of the other players like playing with him? He does have a way of getting the ball to the Blazer bigs that nobody else does.

All questions to ponder as the team moves forward.

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Tags: Andre Miller, Dwight Jaynes, Greg Oden, Portland Trail Blazers

Andre Miller and Nate McMillan got into a heated shouting match during Blazer practice today, according to Jason Quick.

I found Kevin Pritchard’s reaction interesting:

“I encourage open and honest dialogue, I think that is always good,” Pritchard said. “I think it can be (healthy). We have the ability to take it one of two ways and I believe in the character of this team, and you know, I think we can come together.’

Man, that’s some real nice spinning there. Turning this into a positive wasn’t easy. All I can say is that I hope they didn’t keep Miller around so long that they have ruined any trade value he may have. He’s going to have to go and now, after this, the team is surely going to be dealing from weakness, rather than strength.

It was obvious a month ago that the dislike for Miller, whether it originates from Brandon Roy, Nate McMillan, the entire team or whomever, is going to inhibit his ability to fit into this organization. At that point, there was no reason to delay his exit, once Dec. 15 came and went.

UPDATE FOR COMMENTERS: Folks, his trade value is not diminished because people will suddenly think he’s a bad guy. It’s diminished because everyone is going to know that the team now MUST trade him. When you’re trying to move a guy you have to move, you’re going to get low-balled. It’s a fact in any sport.

Now, of course, they’re going to say all is fine and they don’t have any plans of trading him. I doubt it and so will everyone else around the league.

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Tags: Andre Miller, Brandon Roy, Kevin Pritchard, Nate McMillan, Portland Trail Blazers

On the MSP this morning, with Gavin Dawson and Chad Doing, we had Jason Quick on the air, fresh off the Trail Blazers’ 1-3 road trip.

Of the many things Jason said, he predicted that Andre Miller would be in the starting lineup Tuesday night in the Rose Garden when the Blazers play host to the Sacramento Kings.

Quick also referenced some things going on behind the scenes that he couldn’t expand on, including an assertion that the team was sometimes not confident that it could win when it takes the floor. It’s pretty obvious, isn’t it, that a lot of things are going on behind the scenes with that team? Injuries shouldn’t obscure the problems that have existed since training camp.

I believe some of this stuff is due to the mandate that coach Nate McMillan set up prior to the start of camp. McMillan said at the time that the players who played the best in camp and in the exhibition season would earn the starting jobs and the bulk of the playing time.

But then Miller went out and played better than Steve Blake throughout the exhibition season — and still didn’t win the starting job. Look, Miller hasn’t been playing all that well since the regular season started — he’s been very inconsistent — but you’d have to be nuts to think he still hasn’t been outplaying Blake. Yet Blake continues to start.

There’s something wrong with that. And of course, there’s been something wrong with this team all season. The chemistry hasn’t been right and the team, even when it has won games, hasn’t played all that well.

At this point, there isn’t much to lose by throwing Miller out there with the starters, is there?

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Tags: Andre Miller, Dwight Jaynes, Jason Quick, Nate McMillan, Portland Trail Blazers, Steve Blake