Wow… don’t remember seeing Portland this bad all season. It’s so tempting to talk first about the offense, which was out of sync all night. But really — pin it on the defense first. You have to defend with more intensity than that to win in the NBA, particularly on the road. Here are a few thoughts:

• I’m beginning to wonder if the Trail Blazers should ever have drafted Greg Oden. I mean, seriously — what’s the point of having a seven-foot force in the middle if the coach doesn’t want to play him and doesn’t seem interested in getting him the ball even when he does use him? The guy is coming off a half in Chicago Monday night where he carried the Blazers. Not many people noticed he barely got a touch in the second half as the Portland jump shooters took over that game. But then Wednesday night, he plays 18 minutes and gets three shots. What’s that all about? Perhaps he’s hurt, or something. If so, I apologize for this — but come on now, there are a bunch of coaches in this league who would sell their first born for a chance at getting a powerful center like this to develop. Why is he playing only 18 minutes and not getting the ball? Dunks aren’t as good as 20-foot jump shots? This makes no sense whatsoever. The plus-minus in this game showed Przybilla at -13, Aldridge -16, Roy -9, Outlaw -18 and Oden +5 — the only Portland player in the plus category. Yes, I know the plus-minus hasn’t been kind to Oden this season, but the guy is improving with every game and not only needs to play, he needs to be used as the weapon he can become. This ranks right at the top of my list of several things I don’t understand about the way this team plays.
• Related to the previous item: Doesn’t everyone see how much better this team is when it plays inside-out? Aldridge, Oden and Roy should be posting up — then that will get you OPEN jumpers instead of the tough shots Portland had Wednesday night. The ball needs to get inside much, much more frequently than it does. This requires more patience, though, than anyone seems to have.
• For every night that Travis Outlaw scores 30 points or so, there are four or five nights when he wanders around the court like a guy who is looking for his lost dog. Man, you have to guard someone, you have to chase the ball down, you have to play with force, you have to make the smart pass. You have to be INVOLVED even when you aren’t shooting the ball!
• Jerryd Bayless is obviously the coach’s favorite in the backup point guard derby. Might just as well start him in Blake’s absence, too. And, I think, may as well trade Sergio, too. Nate McMillan just doesn’t seem to like him — and Sergio seems to sense it. Bayless, who doesn’t look ready for any kind of extended duty yet, is going to get it, though. Man, 1 for 11 from the field, no assists and two turnovers — yeah, meet Thursday night’s starter.
• With Steve Blake and Rudy Fernandez out at the same time, it’s going to be very difficult for Portland to win. The Blazers fire up all those outside shots and now have Sergio and Jerryd — two reluctant, almost frightened, shooters — to share the point-guard duties. If Rudy were healthy, you could at least play him and Roy together.
• Shavlick Randolph? On a night when toughness and inside scoring would have helped, why not?
• Pat’s Cheesesteaks are better than Geno’s. Sorry Blazer Broadcasting, you got that one wrong.
• Man, it puts me in a lousy mood to have to watch an entire game on a computer screen when the Blazers are playing that poorly. Feels like such a waste of time sitting there with those keys in front of you and all that information at your fingertips and you’re watching these guys flounder around without much purpose – know what I mean? Come on Directv, let’s get that deal signed with Comcast Sportsnet, OK?

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Tags: Brandon Roy, Dwight Jaynes, Geno's, Greg Oden, Jerryd Bayless, Pat's Cheesesteaks, Philadelphia 76ers, Portland Trail Blazers, Rudy Fernandez, Sergio Rodriguez, Shavlick Randolph