I felt that that Portland home loss to the Lakers Saturday night — after nine straight wins here over the defending champs — seemed to really send some Trail Blazer fans over the edge. Now I realize for a lot of Blazer fans a Laker loss is traumatic, but be reasonable.

That streak had to end, whether Kobe Bryant played or not. The problem right now is that Los Angeles is the one team in the league that is just flat-out too big for the Blazers right now. With those centers on the injured list, Portland doesn’t have enough inside. And with Bryant out of the lineup, you had to know that the Lakers would come out with the express purpose of pounding the ball inside.

Which they did. Constantly.

And there’s too much length in there for Portland to handle. Way too much. As long as the Blazers shot the ball around 60 percent, they could stay in the game but the minute their shooting fell off, so did they. And when you get virtually no offensive rebounds, few fastbreak points, get pounded in the paint — you can’t possibly win.

One thing happened near the end of that game, when the Lakers’ Lamar Odom tried to dunk in the waning seconds. Blazer General Manager Kevin Pritchard, according to Kerry Eggers, got into a bit of a tiff with Odom about it, apparently thinking he was showing the Blazers up.

I had no problem with it. I never worry about the other team — just worry about your own team. I mean, you might try guarding him. For me, the worst thing in the waning moments of Trail Blazers losses lately has been Jerryd Bayless’s relentless pursuit of his own points.

You’ve seen it. Both teams are just playing the game out and that’s when he lowers his head, quits looking for teammates and just tries to steamroll to the basket to get his own points. No thought of looking for a teammate — just a seemingly selfish dash to grab cheap points.

It comes off a little cheesy.

AND ANOTHER THING I JUST THOUGHT OF:

There is one other thing the Trail Blazers do home game after home game that is not classy. Look, it’s fine to allow fans to bring and display signs in your arena that make fun of the visiting team. But to show them on the big screen is, in a way, sanctioning them. The one they showed Saturday on the screen comparing Pau Gasol to the Geico caveman was in poor taste for a franchise, if you ask me. And this sort of thing happens time after time.

It’s cheap and kind of embarrassing that a franchise would sanction signs that feature personal attacks on visiting players. It’s really not “making anything better.”

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This is from Lamar’s Wiki page:

In 1997, Odom attended University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) and was enrolled in summer classes. Following an academic scandal, an NCAA inquiry found Odom received payments amounting to $5,600 from booster David Chapman.[3] Coach Bill Bayno was fired and UNLV was placed on probation for four years. Odom then transferred to the University of Rhode Island, but had to sit out the 1997-98 season.

Bayno, of course, is now a Portland assistant coach.

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I know, JC came out this morning and pushed for Lamar Odom. I think we wrote about that quite a bit yesterday but he wrote just one sentence that I’d argue with just a bit:

 He’s tough. He’s versatile. He’s a winner.

The first two sentences are fine. Tough? Sure. Versatile? One of the most versatile players in the league. But a winner? I’m not sure how you quantify that. They won a lot of games the last few seasons with the Lakers, but does that make everyone on the team a winner? I don’t know the answer to that, but I do know that when Odom was with the Clippers all those years he wasn’t considered a winner. In fact, it’s one thing I can’t recall him ever being called.

He’s been inconsistent and indifferent at various times and seems to have responded to the coaching of Phil Jackson and nudges from Kobe Bryant. That doesn’t mean you’d see the same player somewhere else.

There’s also the problem of how he’d be used here. At one time, he was a viable small forward and he’s still considered a swing forward. He can play both spots. But he’d struggle defending small forwards and doesn’t have the kind of outside shot you’d want from that position. I think he’s a power forward — I think the Lakers do, too — and Portland already has one of those.

And look, I’m not trying to portray him as a bad guy. His teammates have always liked him and he’s frequently praised for playing with a lot of heart. I’m just not sure he’d be happy here and not sure the Lakers are really willing to let him go — particularly to a division conference rival.

After Odom, things are bleak. My stance has been the same since the Turkoglu thing fell through. I believe at this point the Blazers should hold onto the money that seems to be burning a hole in their pocket. Wait for the appropriate unbalanced trade. Somewhere between now and the deadline, something will pop up.

If it doesn’t, we’ll all be right here to question why they didn’t do something sooner, right?

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Odom’s out there right now, seemingly spurned by the Lakers. I don’t think anybody thinks the two sides won’t eventually get together, though. LO wants to play in Los Angeles and he’s going to finally figure out he’s going to have to take a pay cut to do it. It’s the old hometown discount thing.

I’ve heard a lot of Trail Blazer fans reject the notion of Odom coming here. You know, all that stuff about him trash-talking LaMarcus Aldridge, bumping Brandon Roy around a little bit. He’s a big Laker villain in Portland.

Folks, that’s no reason not to sign him. Grow up. The moment he’d put on a Blazer uniform and started doing all that stuff to the other team, you’d love him. And you’d love him even more if he puts up some big numbers. In hockey it’s almost a cliche that when you go out and trade for the hated goon on the other team he immediately becomes your most popular player. And I go all the way back to the old Portland Buckaroos and Connie Madigan for that anology.

But the real reason not to sign Lamar Odom is that at times he’s a moody, sulky dog who doesn’t bring it every night. Even for the Lakers (let alone what he was like with the Clippers). The guy grew up in New York, has spent his pro career mostly in LA, other than a season in Miami. This town isn’t big enough for him, either.

I think he’d show plenty of fake interest in coming here and Portland could dream about stealing a piece from the Lakers. But in the end, the Blazers would just be being used to shake a better offer out of his previous team.

Ultimately, you have to love his skill set. But he’s thrived his entire career on that mostly untapped potential. His results have never matched his terrific talents.  Sorry, but I’d take a pass on Odom.

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I hear these names frequently and I think it’s time to pump some realism into the conversation. Neither would be right for the Trail Blazers.

Just two years ago, if you’d have told me Portland would have had a chance to grab Shawn Marion I’d have said, “Jump on it.”

I’m not sure if it’s age or injuries, but the guy’s production has fallen off at an alarming rate in the last two seasons. If you could get him cheap — which I don’t think would be possible — I’d probably still want to take a gamble on him because he was a terrific player at his peak.

But I also worry that his best production came when he was playing power forward. He was able to use his athleticism and quickness against the bigger players to be one of those guys who was a consistently good rebounder and a solid scorer, even though they seldom called plays for him. In Portland, though, he wouldn’t be getting many minutes at power forward and I’m not sure he’s still capable of running and defending the small forwards.

Odom is another story. People who haven’t watched him through his entire career love him. What they see with the Lakers has been a versatile player who can make plays, play multiple positions and do a lot of things that help you win.

Odom has always had that potential but he never fulfilled it until he got to the Lakers — and even then it’s kind of been up and down. But the Lamar Odom I remember previously to the Lakers was a bit of a problem. He was kind of a dog — played in spurts, seemed lazy and unmotivated.

He’s great for the Lakers. Between Kobe and Phil, they’ve seemingly got him focused. But here, I don’t think I’d want any part of it. He grew up in New York and has played his entire career in Los Angeles, other than one season in Miami. Portland would just not satisfy this guy much. And I think we’d see the return of the player we saw with the Clippers and sometimes with the Heat.

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