There are reports out of Spain that Real Madrid wants to sign Rudy Fernandez for next season. And a part of the story is that Rudy is saying he’s not comfortable with his role in Portland.

As we’ve predicted, this is inevitable. While Rudy has not played well this season over any length of time, in his mind he can’t play well until he gets more consistent playing time. Make no mistake, this guy has been a star his whole life and he came to this country to be a star.

There’s no way he’s going to spend much more time as anyone’s backup. You can debate all you want how much he should play here — and really, he has not gotten the job done this season — but in his mind, he’s being misused.

What has to happen here, though, is the Trail Blazers to come to grips with the idea that eventually Rudy has got to be moved. Long term, it’s just not going to work.

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Tags: Dwight Jaynes, Portland Trail Blazers, Rudy Fernandez

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

Nobody said it was. And whenever I criticize Nate McMillan it always seems to fuel emotions, as it did yesterday.

A couple points I want to make: First, when I find fault with things McMillan does, it doesn’t necessarily mean I’m advocating he be fired. It’s just that it’s only fair to criticize things he does that I disagree with or think he’s wrong about — just as we all criticize players when they do something wrong. It’s part of the job.

But at the same time, there are a lot of people who don’t understand that coaches are always going to be graded on a curve. At a certain point, how many games you win means nothing. It’s how many you should win, given the talent level of your team. It’s how your team plays, given its talent level.

Every time people talk about McMillan, they find an easy defense of him with his win total over the last couple of seasons and the team’s improvement. But folks, the talent level has gone way up, too. He was supposed to win with these players, wasn’t he?

And it’s time to point out that this is big-boy basketball here. The expectations are high and that’s just the way it’s going to be. And it’s the way it’s always been for NBA coaches. That’s life in the big city.

Look, Doug Collins, who was a pretty good coach, jumped his win total in Chicago from 40 in 1986 to 50 in 1987. Then he won 47 in 1988, followed by nine playoff wins that year — and was fired. Del Harris won 61 games as head coach of the Lakers in 1997-98 and was canned 12 games into the following season.

That’s the way it is, folks. As they say, it’s a man’s game.

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Tags: Del Harris, Doug Collins, Dwight Jaynes, Nate McMillan, NBA coaches, Portland Trail Blazers

For me, it all came down Sunday night to that play — and I really shouldn’t call it a “play” because it wasn’t one — where Portland needed a three-point field goal to tie the game in overtime.

The inbounds pass went directly to Brandon Roy, who stood one-on-one against Deron Williams with really no chance of getting off an uncontested three pointer. Yes, he can make threes under duress. He’d even made one to begin the overtime.

But man, if you’re the coach you owe him more than that. Do you realize how difficult it is to get a good three in that situation? Unless your name is Kobe or Lebron, it’s pretty much impossible. Man, there are several things you can do there but the worst is to just inbound directly to Roy.

See, you have only such a small portion of the court to work with when you need a three. And penetration and kicking out to a shooter for a three isn’t going to work — the defense isn’t going to leave someone open.

Run Roy off a pick. And most likely, the Jazz will switch every pick, which would make it even harder to get him open. Put him on the baseline and run him up the lane — at least he can get a defender running at him hard, enabling a ball fake and a possible foul, or at least a more wide-open shot than he got. Better yet, inbound to someone else and let Roy run a little off the ball — if you get a switch from an off-ball screen, at least you probably have a better chance of him getting open against a lesser defender.

My point is, this team continues to use “We need another guy who can get his own shot in the fourth quarter” as a convenient excuse for not coaching. Man, watch the Jazz and see how often they just hand the ball to a player and ask him to beat the defense by himself. It just doesn’t happen.

And watch how easy it is for the good defensive teams — like Boston and Utah in the last two games — to lock in on Portland’s stagnant offense. You’ve got to move the ball and move bodies, which the Blazers so infrequently do, to get good shots.

My goodness, the Jazz had 50 points in the paint. It’s not because they’re handing it to one guy and letting him create his own shot, either. It’s because they pass, cut and move the ball.

Blowing a 25-point lead in the third quarter? It can’t happen unless a lot of things go wrong. Portland made only four of its last 27 shots over the fourth quarter and overtime. The Blazers, including Roy, missed a lot of big free throws.

And Nate McMillan continues to be so stubborn in regard to putting Nic Batum in the starting lineup. What is he waiting for? Batum had 14 points and seven rebounds in the first half. But by the time he made it on the court at the very end of the third quarter, McMillan had managed to cool him off. What kind of crazy stuff is going on here?

It’s already pretty much established that this is a developmental season — the team’s not going to the NBA Finals. So let’s get the kid in the starting lineup, playing with the best players, as much as possible — and get Martell Webster in his likely future role as a sixth man, shooter off the bench.

But at certain times this season I just shake my head. McMillan spent an NBA career as a bench player and he seems so overly concerned with his “second unit.” Man, it seems like a PE class out there some nights as he uses 10 players before the second quarter is over. Is he trying to make sure these guys get their varsity letter?

Seriously, trim that rotation. This season is getting down to the serious games and your team has already lost more home games than any other Western Conference playoff team.

Man, those McMillan-Jerry Sloan matchups are starting to remind me of the McMillan-Rick Adelman matchup we saw in the playoffs last season. And that’s not a pretty sight.

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Tags: Brandon Roy, Dwight Jaynes, Jerry Sloan, Nate McMillan, Nic Batum, Portland Trail Blazers, Utah Jazz

Seriously, what did you give up to bring the second-leading rebounder in the league here? Not all that much. Camby is Joel Przybilla with a foul-line jumper.

You could now make a case that the Trail Blazers have a chance to make a little noise in the playoffs. Now don’t go thinking they’re going to win a title or something, but they could end up being a tough out.

Camby solves a real big problem on defense and the boards and if Brandon Roy is healthy, this team can win a series, depending on matchups. And it’s a team you couldn’t say that about prior to this deal. Basically, two teams traded players who don’t fit their long-term future — and Portland came away with a big advantage.

But what about the future? Well, it isn’t likely Camby will stay — just as it wasn’t likely Blake or Outlaw would be around next season. But let’s just say Camby fits real well here. That he becomes an overnight success.

Well, in that case, I wouldn’t be surprised — even though right now it seems a longshot — if Portland wouldn’t have the means (that means Paul Allen’s possible willingness to spend money) to keep him here. But that’s a question for a few months from now.

For right now, I think this deal provides an opportunity to be excited about the playoffs. I would caution fans not to fall in love with Camby, because odds are, he won’t be back next year. But in the short term, he ought to be just the ticket.

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Tags: Dwight Jaynes, Joel Przybilla, Kevin Pritchard, Marcus Camby, Paul Allen, Portland Trail Blazers

Been getting texted  from all over the place tonight. The Trail Blazers are out there in the middle of a couple of things. They’re busy.

I wouldn’t be surprised to see some sort of shuffle of expiring contracts to a team that would address Portland’s big-man need. UPDATE: By now, you all know that ESPN is reporting this deal is official — the expiring contract of Marcus Camby exchanged for the expiring deals of Steve Blake and Travis Outlaw.

I’ll have some reaction to this tomorrow but overall, I like it for both teams. It balances the rosters of both teams well without causing any major future commitments. For the Blazers, it also means a quick look at Camby this season while Oden and Przybilla rehab injuries. Should either player struggle with the rehab Camby will be handy.

(I would not be surprised — and this is just a guess — if none of the players suit up for Tuesday night’s game. I saw it go down like that one other time.)

And they’re said to be working on something else, too. We will let you know as soon as we have something that’s nailed down.

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Tags: Dwight Jaynes, expiring contracts, Portland Trail Blazers, trade

We’re about a week away from the trade deadline and I think that this time around, the Trail Blazers are going to pull the trigger on something.

Two reasons:

First, the obvious — the team needs another big man. And make no mistake, this is a long-term need, not just a temporary fix. Last summer, Portland chased free-agent Paul Millsap — indicating the team felt then that there was a distinct need for another big body who could rebound, play defense and provide inside scoring.

Now, with Greg Oden and Joel Przybilla out for the season, that need is magnified. So there is a definite need for another “big.”

But on top of that, the more serious motivation for a deal is the pending logjam at the smaller positions as Travis Outlaw and Brandon Roy return to the lineup after the All-Star break. Already, there are too many players for the available minutes. We saw at the beginning of the season how hard it is to keep everyone happy with playing time.

It’s not fair to coach Nate McMillan to keep making him deal with those issues. And the team’s roster is seriously out of balance with way too many small players and not enough big ones.

And really, doesn’t this team know by now who it wants to keep and who it is willing to deal? I would certainly hope so. My guess is that Martell Webster, Outlaw, Steve Blake and Jerryd Bayless are all available.

Who will come back in a deal? Your guess is as good as mine. There are undoubtedly players out there available who we didn’t know about. Kevin Pritchard will find somebody. I would guess there’s a young big man, perhaps a little more untested than we’d like, out there who could grow with this young team.

With the deadline now less than a week away, it’s going to be a fun time.

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Tags: Dwight Jaynes, Jerryd Bayless, Kevin Pritchard, Martell Webster, Portland Trail Blazers, Steve Blake, trades, trading deadline, Travis Outlaw

You just can’t kill them, no matter what you do.

A great effort by the Portland Trail Blazers last night. When you consider that the Phoenix Suns had four days off prior to that game and that they were on a five-game win streak. And oh yes, the Blazers had lost nine straight in Phoenix.

A nice job of sharing the ball and bringing energy — which is hard to do on the second of back-to-back games. But for some strange reason, back-to-backs have been a real bonus for Portland, with 10 wins in 13 tries. No question, it’s a resilient bunch.

That said, man what a difference between the Suns and Oklahoma City Thunder in terms of defensive intensity. Huge difference. The Suns are all about selling regular-season tickets with their style of play. But the way they play is going to make it just about impossible to win a playoff series. You just have to have more understanding of team defense than what they bring. I’ve said it before but Terry Porter was on the right track in Phoenix.

The Suns didn’t like it one bit, but what Porter was selling — a commitment to physical team defense — was exactly what that franchise still needs. But the front office gave in and what the Suns are left with is an entertaining style that pleases fans, doesn’t tax players much but really — it just isn’t conducive to long-term winning.

Dismissing the Suns doesn’t mean the Trail Blazers didn’t bring a great effort to this game. Steve Blake was terrific and LaMarcus Aldridge had a tremendous first half to get his team going. It was a wonderful response to that awful home loss Tuesday night at home to the Thunder.

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Tags: Dwight Jaynes, LaMarcus Aldridge, Oklahoma City Thunder, Phoenix Suns, Portland Trail Blazers

The Trail Blazers had a 24-second shot clock violation on the first possession of the game last night against Oklahoma City.

Uh, how can that happen? Talk about a lack of focus. That’s just totally ridiculous. And embarrassing, Just how unprepared can you be for a game?

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Tags: Dwight Jaynes, Portland Trail Blazers

The Trail Blazers just didn’t bring much last night in that 89-77 loss to Oklahoma City — in a game that most of us thought was extremely important.

Look, nobody expects miracles out of these guys with Brandon Roy and the two centers on the sidelines. But what we saw Tuesday night against the Thunder was unacceptable, considering the importance of playing a division and playoff rival.

It was the worst exhibition of trying to feed the post I’ve seen in the NBA in maybe, well, forever. Twenty-four turnovers by a team that doesn’t run? Ridiculous! Over and over in the fourth quarter, players ran from open shots to try to force the ball into others.

The Thunder, statistically and every other way, is so much better defensively than the Trail Blazers that it’s ridiculous. And that’s a little scary given how young that team is.

And really, how often is Portland going to win when it goes 3-for-20 from the three-point line? The team is too dependent on jump shots as it is, but when it totally craps out from deep, there’s simply no way it can win — given the fast-break points are never going to be there to make up for it.

LaMarcus Aldridge had another one of those games where it was difficult to figure him out. He played 43 minutes and finished with 15 points and 15 rebounds. He was swarmed by the Thunder all night, double and triple-teamed. But that said, there were times when he seemed so reluctant to mix it up. He’d take a dribble or two toward the basket, draw a crowd and then kind of just bail out — stepping back out of harm’s way.

He looked contact shy, as if he just didn’t want to challenge anyone in a physical way. At one point, he was booed when he backed the ball out of the post area.

I don’t know, maybe they’re all just tired. I hope that’s it, because a nice rest is near. The alternative is that they’ve just run out of ways to win without Roy. And I guess I could understand that.

But man, that one was ugly.

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Tags: Brandon Roy, Dwight Jaynes, Oklahoma City Thunder, Portland Trail Blazers