Yeah, me too. But probably not as much as we think. Portland’s situation is not unique.

Phoenix and Steve Kerr parted ways at the end of the season but the Suns are doing quite well these days. Just today, they’ve added Hedo Turkoglu and Josh Childress and earlier added Hakim Warrick. Really, that’s not too bad.

And still no general manager.

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I’ve made this known before, but I have to reiterate — don’t count me among those all geeked up for another Lakers-Celtics NBA Finals.

The tradition of this doesn’t move me much. I’ve seen them play enough over the years. Been there, done that — even in the days when a 2-2-1-1-1 travel schedule in a seven-game series between Boston and Los Angeles meant enough cross-country flights to jet lag me for days.

I find these the two most unlikeable franchises in the league — mostly for their arrogance, I guess. There is nothing very lovable about either team, if you ask me. And I’m hard-pressed, too, to pick a winner in the series or to even say which team I’d like to see win.

Usually, I’m more accustomed to subtly pulling against one of these teams. Now, I’ve got to watch one of them win. I suppose, if you put a gun to my head — and I wish you wouldn’t do that, by the way — I’d have to say I’d prefer the NBA championship stays in the West. But really, it wouldn’t break my heart to watch Phil Jackson lose a series.

However, it looks to me as if the Lakers may have too much for Boston this time around. I like the Los Angeles front line over Boston’s. And I like Kobe Bryant over anybody in basketball. The only thing that worries me is the physical nature of Boston’s defense. In the West half of this bracket, the Lakers haven’t seen a mugging like they’re going to get from the Celts.

I’m not sure the Phoenix Suns did much to prepare Los Angeles for the Celtics.

That’s Boston’s big chance — to physically beat up the Lakers and make it an old-fashioned, NBA wrestling match. And even without the physicality, the Celtic defense is much better than anything the Lakers have seen to date in the postseason.

I can’t recall ever saying this before, but I wouldn’t mind seeing it end quickly. Man, it seems to me that this has been one long NBA season. I wouldn’t mind seeing it finish up. Let’s get to the draft so we can start the whole thing all over again, right?

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• Isn’t it funny how all the people who said Orlando couldn’t win four straight against the Celtics — or even, when the Magic trailed 2-0 in the series, said they couldn’t win four out of five — are now saying that the Magic will win Game 6 in Boston and there’s no way Boston could win a Game 7 in Orlando? Don’t count on anything in that series.
• And people are talking about Phoenix “not boxing out” on Ron Artest late on the last play of Thursday night’s Laker win over the Suns. Thing is, when a guy throws an airball, boxing out isn’t always the answer. Boxing a guy out means being between him and the basket. On an airball, the guy with inside position doesn’t always get the ball. In this case, Artest had the advantage of coming from the weakside, so he had a line of vision to the ball and the rim, which helped him. The man “boxing him out,” Jason Richardson, didn’t watch the ball — which normally is OK. But it’s funny how often an airball is beneficial in that situation. A whole lot of big plays have come off offensive players plucking an airball and throwing it in the basket — just ask Houston against North Carolina State, the most heart-breaking loss I’ve ever seen in a big game.
• All of a sudden, people are making Orlando the favorite to win that series. I think you still have to think Boston will win Game 6. But in a city where the NHL Bruins famously blew a 3-0 series lead — even a 3-0 lead in Game 7 at home — there will be incredible depression in Boston if the Celts don’t win that series.
• Do the Blazers look good after seeing how well Phoenix has played in these playoffs? After all, Portland is so far the only team to defeat the Suns on their homecourt during the postseason. Yeah, I think it makes Portland look good. But I’ve also thought about what a great opportunity this season would have been for the Blazers if they’d stayed healthy. There was a definite path there to a long playoff run.
• If Orlando emerges from the East to a berth in the Finals, well, my love for Stan Van Gundy will continue to increase. Love the guy. One of the most straight-talking guys in sports. And he still COACHES. He never stops coaching. He doesn’t defer to these guys or shy away from confrontation — in fact, he gets right in their face. I’m not saying he’s going to last for a long time doing that, but I love it as long as he gets away with it. It’s refreshing.

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Everyone keeps talking about the Phoenix Suns confounding the Los Angeles Lakers with their zone defense. It’s becoming the story of the series, if you listen only to the television commentators.

But the fact is, the Lakers are shooting well enough to win and certainly scoring enough points. But the real problem for the Lakers is that, just like the Trail Blazers and Spurs, the Lakers can’t stop the Suns. That is one very good offensive team and even when Phoenix doesn’t shoot well, it still seems to put a lot of points up.

The Lakers are just not defending with any consistency and that’s the real problem. For the two games in Phoenix, the Lakers just did not guard the Suns very efficiently. I would not expect that to continue in Los Angeles but at this point I’m not quite as sure about the Lakers as I was a few days ago.

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What’s your most overpowering thought about that, in conjunction with the Trail Blazers? Is it pride, that the Blazers were able to get a couple of games off the Suns and the Spurs were not?

Or is it anger that Portland couldn’t get past the Suns, knowing that the Spurs were so soft in the second round? Really, if Brandon Roy hadn’t gotten hurt late in the season, don’t you think Portland would have had a heck of a shot at knocking out Phoenix? That Roy we saw in the playoffs this season just wasn’t the same Brandon Roy we usually see, right?

I said it at the start of the playoffs, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen a No. 6 seed get a draw in a bracket the way the Blazers did — with a season-series edge on all the teams it was likely to play all the way to the NBA Finals.

And by the way, do you expect Phoenix to be able to beat the Lakers?

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Well, we’ve got months now to evaluate this season and to look ahead to next year. So we’ll save an in-depth analysis for all the dog days to come. At the same time, a few observations on Thursday night’s season-ender:

– Man, why did Jerryd Bayless keep entering that game? I know Andre Miller didn’t play well but he played just 18:26 compared to Bayless’s 29:10. One veteran media guy who has seen more NBA games than I have over the years turned to me at halftime and said, “That guy (Bayless) may be the most selfish player I’ve ever seen. And to keep putting him out there to watch him go to the basket to get his layups blocked is crazy.”

– Rudy Fernandez may have gotten hot in this game. Well, yes, he WAS hot. But seriously, he probably gave up more easy points than he scored. The guy bordered on tragic comedy at the defensive end.

– Martell Webster and Fernandez are pulling shots out of their backside, including several three-pointers with hands in their face, but when LaMarcus Aldridge and Brandon Roy come back in the game, the ball stops going to the weak side of the floor. It’s back to the two-man game with Roy and Aldridge and so the ball stops going to the hot hands. Stops cold. And speaking of cold, Roy was 4 for 16 and Aldridge was 5 for 17. Ugh.

– See previous item when talking about the Portland coaching situation. Unless this team changes its offensive system (or actually finds an offensive “system”) this is what’s going to happen in the postseason. The whole scheme is dependent upon those two guys carrying the team with a series of one-on-one moves out of isolation. Works in the regular season when teams have no prep time and cannot adequately prepare in the avalanche of an 82-game season. But in the post-season with time to prepare? It’s a suicidal offensive scheme. Portland made the Suns’ defensive scheme look like the legendary Pistons’ Bad Boys defense.

– One thing I heard afterward from several people — “Well, the Suns were just the better team.” Yes, I’m afraid that’s correct, as long as Nate McMillan is coaching this team. All the injuries have bought McMillan another season — one more year to show what he’s doing isn’t going to work in the playoffs over the long term. I’m astounded at how people don’t look at how many open shots Blazer opponents get out of their offensive systems and how many contested shots Portland ends up having to shoot because its players cannot create their own shots against double and triple-teams.

– Yeah, the off-season will once again be filled with the Blazers searching for “another guy who can create his own shot.” Damn, Roy can do that as well as anybody but not against three guys. Already, the Blazers play more one-on-one than any other team in the league. Roy is in isolation more often than LeBron or Kobe. HELP THE MAN! Get him some stuff that he doesn’t have to turn himself into a pretzel to get! Move the ball and move bodies instead of just standing around! Yeah, I know, you’re sick of hearing that. But the problem is, you’re going to get even more sick of watching it in the future.

– The Blazers used 10 players by halftime. Damn, 10? This is supposed to be time to shorten the rotation, right?

– Nic Batum was sensational at defending Steve Nash. But Batum is also one of Portland’s best shooters and he got just one shot — with Steve Nash guarding him. And he played only 13:59. What a joke. So often, he exited for Bayless — who gave Nash someone to guard. The entire season, the Blazers never figured out how to use Batum’s length to challenge Nash. What a totally wasted opportunity. Instead, we saw Bayless trying to take him to the basket — which the Suns finally figured out how to stop. Man, just have a big man drop off his man and go block the shot — Bayless isn’t going to drop the ball off to anyone, he’s just going to try to force something up.

– Greg Oden? Bizarre. That’s all I can say. We’ll have more time to talk about it this summer, but man, this kid has a long way to go.

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So does good ball movement and the Phoenix Suns’ inability to make shots. But also give full credit to LaMarcus Aldridge — who seems to need the whole town jumping on his case in order to get himself going. And of course, credit the presence of Brandon Roy for opening the court up for everyone.

It was a bit of a weird game. Portland once again won the battle of fast break points, by a whopping 16-4. The Suns quit making open outside shots all of a sudden. The Blazers once went about eight minutes without a field goal. The Suns opened the game with an avalanche of backdoor cuts for dunks. Portland failed for almost the entire fourth quarter to take advantage of Steve Nash defending Nic Batum — I mean, call a timeout, run Batum down the the low post and throw him the ball. He wouldn’t need any post moves — just turn and throw it down in the little man’s grill. Man, a coach like Mike Dunleavy would have made sure whoever Nash tried to guard he’d have a long day — especially if it’s a guy who stands 6-8.

But anyway, it was great to see Roy back on the floor, just eight days after his knee surgery. Among other weirdness, by the way — Rudy Fernandez didn’t play in the second half, Martell Webster played only 12:42 in spite of giving his usual consistent, solid effort, Batum was called for retaliating to a nasty elbow to his right shoulder delivered by Amare Stoudemire that ought to earn Stoudemire a fine, Channing Frye and Jerryd Bayless were both called for flagrant fouls that weren’t all that flagrant and the Blazers outscored the Suns 17-5 in second-chance points. And oh yes, I continue to be amazed that Nate McMillan insists he’s telling his defenders not to switch on pick-and-rolls and they continue to do it time after time. It put them in so many vulnerable situations that it was amazing they overcame it to win.

This is why I love the NBA playoffs. Stuff happens — stuff you don’t expect. This was the kind of effort from Portland I wish we’d seen on Thursday night. Even if the team loses after giving this kind of effort, you can’t complain.

I do believe it’s anybody’s series if Roy is back to stay and can quickly round into shape. If he can bring his game up a little more, move just a hair better and stay safe, the Blazers have a shot at this thing. And oh yeah, Aldridge has to keep rolling those big numbers, too.

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Yeah, I think Game 3 of this series Thursday night was worse than the first game of the Houston series last season. What a fiasco. And sorry, you aren’t going to read anything about gutty fourth-quarter comebacks here. If that’s what you came for, move on please. The Suns got so far ahead they quit paying attention for a few moments.

Dunks and wide open — and I mean WIDE OPEN — jump shots for Phoenix. And contested jump shots for the Trail Blazers. For. Ever. Or so it seemed.

I swear, at halftime of this one, Paul Allen, the Vulcans and the whole Trail Blazers roster should have been standing by the exits giving refunds to fans on their way out of the arena. I cannot remember seeing a home team go out and puke on itself like the Blazers did — uh, except that Houston game, of course.

Boos were raining down from the crowd with 20 seconds to go in the first half and my only question at that point was, “What took them so long?”

How could one team have been so poorly prepared for a home playoff game two contests into a series? It simply cannot happen. Hell, Oklahoma City was down 0-2 to the Lakers and went home and beat them. The Bulls came out down 0-2 at home to the Cavaliers and beat them.

Look, I know Brandon Roy isn’t playing and that Nic Batum is hurt. I’m not saying Portland can win this series. I’m just saying — there are still some talented players here and all I ask is that they play hard and smart. But it wasn’t even close to that Thursday in either department.

That was all Portland could muster in the Rose Garden? Against the Suns?

Sorry, Blazer fans, but that’s a joke. And questions have to be asked. Serious questions about the direction of this franchise and the way it’s been handled. Questions like this:

– Is there any real system for playing defense? Suns coach Alvin Gentry did a great job prior to the series setting up the Blazers — talking about how great their pick-and-roll defense is. Yeah, sure, Alvin — and your nose is growing quicker than LaMarcus Aldridge’s reputation for softness. I lost track of how many times ill-advised switching on that pick-and-roll ended up with Portland big men guarding little guys — or trying in vain to guard them. The Blazers — since Nate McMillan got here — have not been able to defend a pick-and-roll. It’s like a bad joke.

– And about that offense. I mean, you just can’t expect, in the playoffs, to rely on jump shots. It’s been said over and over and it’s true. Especially when you really don’t have good shooters in the first place. It’s an isolation team and in the playoffs, when teams have time to really prepare for them, the Blazers are sunk. Dead in the water. They can’t get anything going unless one player simply carries them on his shoulders, the way Miller did in Game 1. No ball movement. No player movement. How many times have I said that over the last few years? One more time with emphasis — NO BALL MOVEMENT AND NO PLAYER MOVEMENT!

– Rudy Fernandez, what the hell is going on, man? If you want to get yourself shipped out of here, you’re certainly on your way. In fact, I was surprised he wasn’t on a flight at halftime. Those fourth-quarter shots? Seriously — do it while it’s still a game.

– Nothing quite says “choke job” like 12 missed free throws, does it?

– LaMarcus Aldridge, what the hell is going on, man? You going to complain again about seeing double teams?You aren’t “the kind of guy” who is going to shoot over double teams? Well, uh, when you make that kind of money, you’re SUPPOSED to get double-teamed. That’s kind of how it works. And that grandstanding little set-to with Amare Stoudemire in the third quarter? Yeah, right. The guy tries to elbow you in the chops and you make a big show of doing something — well, next time why don’t you just wait until the next trip down and throw one of those ‘bows of your own?

– Yeah, I know — all those injuries. Well, sorry — that doesn’t explain away that game. Not in the slightest. Not in ANY way. Forget about that excuse. I made this point before, this team overachieved only a little during the regular season. There are still talented players here. This team won 50 games during the regular season amid a season that, on the morning of each game, was favored to win 48.

– Jason Richardson? Uh, fellas, he can MAKE that shot, OK? Might be a good idea not to leave him open every FREAKING time from the three-point line, don’t you think?

– I investigated this personally and I can report to you that it wasn’t those new compost bins every 15 feet in the concourse that were responsible for that stink emanating from the Rose Garden. Nope.

– The Suns were really dumb to engage in any sort of physical altercations with Portland in the second half. I mean, let sleeping dogs lie. And I do mean dogs.

– Oh well, Saturday’s another day. if the Blazers can muster enough courage to show up, it ought to be a better game. Well, just about ANYTHING would be a better game, wouldn’t it?

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Some players feed off the crowd much more than others. In fact, I’ve seen players in all sports who were seemingly impervious to crowds — both friendly and hostile. I always felt Michael Jordan was that way. He was above it all.

Others, though, benefit greatly from a friendly and raucous crowd. Portland’s Rudy Fernandez is one of those. I wouldn’t be surprised, if the fans stay with him, if Rudy has a bounce-back game tonight. He’s due — a much better player than he’s shown so far. But if he doesn’t start attacking Steve Nash tonight — early and often — he’s going to have to find a seat at the end of the bench for the rest of the series.

I have no idea what’s going on with this guy but it’s looking like one big pout from him so far. Why? I have no idea.

I would also expect Nic Batum to play. Maybe not a ton of minutes, but I bet he does. And that will help, quite obviously.

But what about LaMarcus Aldridge? Well, a lot’s on him, too. I know he’s facing some double-teams. Yeah, that happens. But it’s no excuse for not playing hard. For not going to the boards. For not contributing. He’s got to stay out of foul trouble, run the floor, rebound and get to the spots on the floor where he can score. It appears to me the Suns have been pushing him outside the places where he’s most effective with his jump shot. If that continues to happen he’s not going to be productive.

Man, if LaMarcus would start this game by throwing an elbow in Amare Stoudemire’s chops, he’d get a three-minute standing ovation. Sorry, that was just a dream. Ain’t going to happen.

All in all, I expect a real emphasis from the Blazers to come out strong at the opening — just to erase memories of that mess in Phoenix Tuesday night. Portland needs to immediately establish a defensive tone and regain control of the tempo. That’s extremely important against the Suns — who, as we’ve seen, are so much more comfortable playing fast.

Portland is going to have to ugly the game up a little bit. This game can’t be pretty for the Blazers to win it. In other words, bump and grind on defense, get after the Suns on the boards, slow things down, get to the foul line, make it a physical battle and then win that battle, get back in transition to cut off cheap baskets — in general, just muck the game up.

And fans, you’re really going to have to bring it. This is Portland’s Super Bowl week — the biggest sporting event of the year in this city is always the NBA playoffs. This can be the best homecourt advantage in the league and it’s going to have to be every bit of that to impact the veteran Suns. I mean, it’s going to take a lot to disrupt Steve Nash.

It ought to be a fun night.

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Well, Trail Blazer fans, at least they don’t tally NBA playoff series the way the idiots running soccer do it. You know, those “two-game playoff” series where they carry over the score from one game to another to determine the winner.

You lose a game by 1 or by 31 here and it’s all the same. Doesn’t matter.

I think more than getting clobbered in the game, the thing that really mattered Tuesday night in Phoenix was that Nic Batum injured that pesky shoulder. That will have more impact on this series than the margin of victory Tuesday.

But a few more observations:

– Man, Rudy Fernandez needs to PARTICIPATE. I mean, PLAY, man! He’s so reluctant to take a shot it’s embarrassing. Seriously — what’s up? You’re not any help if you don’t make shots. And to make them, you have to take them! Guy looks frightened.

– LaMarcus Aldridge was doing his best Clifford Robinson impersonation. You remember Cliff, right? He was legendary in his playoff impotence. Guy shot 43.8 percent from the field in a long NBA career. And 35.6 percent from three and 68.9 percent from the foul line. A very good defender and a distinguished player. But in a whopping 141 playoff games, Robinson made just 39.3 percent of his field goals, 29.8 percent of his threes and 62.9 percent of his foul shots. Man, that’s a Heimlich Maneuver poster right there. And yes, I hope LaMarcus’ 39.3 percent shooting and 3.5 rebounds-per game in this series is just a two-game fluke and not an indication of Robinson-esque problems in the playoffs to come.

– Phoenix was crazy good. The Suns will come back down to earth Thursday night. But Portland has to find a physical match for the Suns’ energy.

– Now THAT’s the Marcus Camby offensive game I remember from previous seasons.

– Andre Miller is going to have to assert himself more against Grant Hill. Don’t let the ball denial keep you away from the ball — and work him a little harder on defense so that perhaps he doesn’t have the energy to make every shot he takes.

– All in all, you write this game off and move on. Forget about it. The Blazers still have the homecourt advantage and my guess is, they’re going to be very difficult to beat in the Rose Garden.

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