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.

Tweet This Post

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

Kid took a tough situation and made the best he could of it. Loved his honesty and willingness to admit his mistake. So many people told me they listened to him talk about it and liked him more afterward than they did before.

His poise was extremely impressive.

Keep your jokes out of the comments please, but if you’d like to talk about how you feel about Greg Oden now, compared to when you first heard about this, feel free.

Tweet This Post

Tags: Dwight Jaynes, Greg Oden, Portland Trail Blazers

I’m hearing from all over that this may be Nate McMillan’s best coaching job. You know with the injuries and all that maybe he ought to be the Coach of the Year. But there are those who disagree and it seems many of them comment on this blog.

And I can kind of see where they’re going with their arguments. I mean, at the start of the season, this team had two big tasks — to integrate Greg Oden into the offense, thus moving to more of an inside-outside attack AND to somehow decide on a proper player rotation with all the talent on this roster.

I’m not sure either problem was ever appropriately dealt with. And in fact, the injuries eliminated them as problems. Rather than go inside-outside or really change their style of play at all, the Trail Blazers are now back to playing the way they’ve always played.

You could also make the case that McMillan’s stubbornness in regard to starting Andre Miller hurt the effort early in the season. In fact, the thing that seemed to get Miller straightened out was confronting the coach. I mean, if Miller doesn’t go off on McMillan, does that thing ever really going to get straightened out?

So you give McMillan credit for that?

Again, I’m not sure. You could say that in the face of all the injuries, he kept the team together, but really? Really? It seems to me that if you say that, you’re saying that the character of this team somehow was so weak that these guys wouldn’t have played hard if not for the coach. I don’t buy that.

I think it’s more the case that even though Portland has been hurt by an absolute avalanche of injuries, what’s left is still pretty good. In fact, it’s real good. And by lowering expectations, thus the pressure, they’ve prospered in an environment where they knew they had guaranteed minutes.

Martell Webster, for instance. This is a guy whose minutes always seemed to be jerked around. Often, when he made a mistake or two he was pulled out of the game in a hurry. Now, given the situation, he’s playing no matter what — because they have nobody else. And he’s been sensational.

It’s been one interesting season. And any coaching evaluations would probably be best delayed until the end. Let’s see how it all works out.

Tweet This Post

Tags: Dwight Jaynes, Greg Oden, Martell Webster, Nate McMillan, Portland Trail Blazers

Jason Quick of The Oregonian made a great point this morning on the Morning Sports Page on 95.5 The Game.

We were talking about a potential Portland trade for a big man, someone who could play power forward or center. I think, by the way, such a deal is essential for the future — an insurance policy against the questions about Greg Oden’s long-term health and just another big body to bring the roster into better balance.

Quick mentioned that he thought Kevin Pritchard was out there trying to make something happen but that a deal like that probably will mean a painful parting from the Portland roster. “It’s going to hurt,” he said.

And he is so right.

Obviously, to get something you have to give up something. Nobody is going to hand you a quality player in exchange for your garbage. At least one and maybe two very talented players are going to have to leave. And the organization and its fans are particularly attached to this group.

It’s going to hurt, Blazer fans — whether that deal happens before the trading deadline this season or sometime in the distant future. A tear or two will be shed.

And I hope the front office is willing to deal with that, too.

Tweet This Post

Tags: Dwight Jaynes, Greg Oden, Jason Quick, Kevin Pritchard, Portland Trail Blazers

Kerry Eggers has the story right here.

I couldn’t help myself on this one. When I read it, I found myself smiling. I like Greg Oden. Good kid. I think if he can get back in the lineup in time for the playoffs, it would be a real positive statement and also make going to games a lot more fun.

Plus, the Blazers suddenly would be more of a threat in the playoffs than we’ve assumed they’d be. Oh, I know there will be arguments out there — people are going to say they shouldn’t rush him back, shouldn’t take the chance or that he really won’t help.

It’s been a season with a dark injury cloud over it for the Portland Trail Blazers. I think the mere thought of Oden back in the lineup before the end of the regular season at least parts those clouds a little.

Tweet This Post

Tags: Dwight Jaynes, Greg Oden, Kerry Eggers, 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.

Tweet This Post

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

At the risk, once again, of being perceived as the old man trying to rain on everyone’s parade, I must point out something that’s going on with your Portland Trail Blazers.

Now please get this straight — it’s great what’s going on with the team right now. You’re seeing a dedicated group of players and coaches pulling together in a difficult time, achieving a lot more than anyone thought they’d achieve. It’s been fun to watch this team overcome all the adversity that’s been heaped on it this season and still play at a high level.

I’m not in any way going to belittle or diminish that effort or those results.

BUT. . . Here’s the thing: I’m pretty sure what we’re seeing is not all that important to the long-term future of this franchise. And I’m afraid at season’s end we won’t be able to say that the Trail Blazers have made important progress toward someday being a championship contender.

For many of you, that’s not exactly breaking news. You’ve figured it out and already accepted it. Good for you, because it frees you to enjoy this season for what it is — an exciting and surprising turn of events during a season that appeared at one point to be pretty depressing. But I hear from a lot of people who don’t have that sort of perspective.

Truth is, we’re seeing the Trail Blazers play pretty much the same sort of game they played last season. And it’s not as if, at this point, the team has any choice of how it can play. Without a post presence, the team is stuck with the same sort of jump-shot game it played last year. And make no mistake — it’s pretty good at that type of style. It was good for 54 wins last season and it appears it’s going to net a good number of victories this year.

But I’m not sold that’s the way this team is going to someday win a championship. I think that sort of winning is going to require a much different style and philosophy. THAT style is going to mean more easy baskets — either from low-post players in the halfcourt offense or from fast breaks that result in layups or dunks.

We’re not going to see either of those things this season. It’s not going to happen because of the personnel changes that injuries forced on this team. So that important next step this coaching staff and these players must take — the difficult sea change that must be made to take it all to the next level — will have to wait for at least another season.

And it’s not going to be easy, given must of the core group will now be spending yet one more season back in the jump-shot mode. If you’ll take a look back to the opening of this season and the difficulty integrating Greg Oden and his game into the mix, you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about.

So enjoy this season to the fullest. I have a feeling it’s going to be a fun ride. But don’t get too carried away because the big picture is probably more muddled than it was before. Will the Portland Trail Blazers ever learn to run just enough to capture a few of those cheap baskets that are always there for any team? Will they become skilled at blending an inside game with an outside game?

We’re just going to have to wait another season to find out.

Tweet This Post

Tags: Dwight Jaynes, fast break points, Greg Oden, points in the paint, Portland Trail Blazers

Oh, it gets real different now. Way different.

The Portland Trail Blazers without Joel Przybilla are going to have rebounding problems, second-chance points problems and some serious defensive problems.

But if approached correctly, I still believe the Trail Blazers have a legitimate shot at making the playoffs. But they have to modify how they play at the defensive end.

Przybilla, and Oden before him, were intimidating forces on the inside. It was the backbone of the Portland defense. I would expect teams now to attack the Blazer basket relentlessly, without that big shotblocker inside.

For Portland to survive this, there has to be a change in the style of defense. I think the Blazers have the talent to play small ball, though. Throw all those guards out there with LaMarcus Aldridge and see what happens. And really, Przybilla won’t be missed on offense. He didn’t offer much other than a stiff pick-and-roll once in a while.

The big question, though, is whether Nate McMillan is willing and able to convert his style over to a faster-paced, uptempo, small-ball game. Certainly, we haven’t seen that sort of flexibility out of him.

I’d advocate telling the players at this point to have some fun — run it up and down, pressure the ball, double-team and help each other. Uptempo the game to try to take other teams’ big people out of the game. Spread the floor and attack the basket — then kick to open three-point shooters.

My goodness, Golden State — not nearly as talented as Portland — has hammered the Trail Blazers with that style of play enough over the last few years and so it should be no mystery how it can be done. It would provide a fun element to the second half of the season for the players and the fans — and really, everyone could use a little fun at this point, after all the injury sadness.

Can it happen? Yes, it could. Will it happen? Hmm. It would require a real sea change here and I’m not sure Nate McMillan is ready or willing to make that happen.

Tweet This Post

Tags: Dwight Jaynes, Golden State Warriors, Greg Oden, Joel Przybilla, Nate McMillan, Portland Trail Blazers

My old friend John Hollinger of ESPN.com was at the Rose Garden last weekend when Oden went down with the broken kneecap. And he wrote some pretty good stuff about that game and also about the Trail Blazers, including this:

While broken bones are rarely career-altering, this injury is franchise-altering in the sense that it seems a pipe dream for the Blazers to count on Oden going forward. They can take his contributions as gravy if he’s healthy, but they can’t build a team around him

I don’t take issue with what he said, but I’d add this: The big problem this season is that they weren’t building the team around him. Remember, it was “Brandon Roy’s team.” That’s the way the coach wanted it and the way Roy wanted it. Now, with 20/20 hindsight so common, people will say that was the right thing for the Blazers to do.

Perhaps, in hindsight, it was — but that’s a huge second guess. But basketball-wise, it was not the right thing at the time.

And that was the disturbing thing that was developing this season before Oden’s kneecap exploded. And now, with all the injuries, it will be overshadowed. But remember, in the four minutes-plus that Oden had run up and down the floor Saturday night against that tiny Houston frontline prior to his injury, he hadn’t touched the ball even once at the offensive end — even though he was one of the most efficient offensive players in the NBA.

Yes, that was just one game. But it was very typical of how he was being used this season.

Tweet This Post

Tags: Brandon Roy, Dwight Jaynes, Greg Oden, John Hollinger, Portland Trail Blazers

After Greg Oden went down Saturday night, I was still pretty sure that Portland would be able to play well enough to make the playoffs. I mean, they still have Brandon Roy, LaMarcus Aldridge and a nice group of role players who can help.

But then I watched Monday night’s debacle in Madison Square Garden and saw a Knicks team with not half as much talent dismantle the Trail Blazers. Ugh. I’ve seen guys defended better in H-O-R-S-E games than what I saw last night.

Man, when teams make 50 percent of their three-point field goals, it’s almost always for one reason — because they’re getting wide-open shots. Bingo. That’s what I saw. And a lot of dunks and easy baskets. And a lot of New York second chances.

What’s wrong here? Seriously. There is something going on with this team over and above the injuries. There’s either something missing or something there that’s causing players not to care as much.

I can usually get a pretty good read on what’s up with teams. But this one is a real mystery. A conundrum. But something’s happening and the real story of this season isn’t injuries — it’s what’s gotten into the Portland Trail Blazers to cause such a massive change in the team’s character.

Tweet This Post

Tags: Brandon Roy, Dwight Jaynes, Greg Oden, LaMarcus Aldridge, New York Knicks, Portland Trail Blazers