Yes, Portland is playing like crap on the road -- I've personally decided to not watch anymore roadgames because they're so darn frustrating. I find myself trying to look for the moment when the wheels come off the cart and we've lost the game. In Sacremento it was in the 3rd quarter.

Anyway, to be a little more positive, I just checked out the road records of all the NBA teams, and there are only 4 teams in the west with a .500 record on the road or better. I'm not even saying a winning a record, just breaking even.

Oklahoma City 9-3
Denver 8-4
Minnesota 5-4
Dallas 5-5

Does this mean that Minnesota is going to be one the top 4 seeds in the playoffs?

NO! It means that this is a strike-laden season and we are seeing really crappy basketball by the majority of teams.

The Knicks went to the finals in the last strike-laden season, and they were the 8th seed.

All we have to do is get to the playoffs and see what happens. Do you really think that Utah is going to keep up their record when they're on the road? Do you actually think that Memphis is going to beat us for a playoff spot?

Stop worrying -- just watch the home games -- and see where we are at the end of the season.

While, again, we do stink on the road, we are far from being alone. Conversely the East has 7 teams at .500 or better on the road.

I keep telling myself that I'll stop yelling this at the TV, but I can't help it.

Most of the success we have on Offense begins with driving to the basket to either score or break down the defense and kick to an open shooter.

Still, for YEARS now I keep yelling "DRIVE TO THE FREAKIN'  BASKET" and all I see in crucial games is outside shot after outside shot.

Am I the only one who is utterly exasperated by this?

Well, the journey continues -- I'm moving to Toronto at the end of this year.  Another (final?) chance to see LA growing smaller in my rear-view mirror.  The one thing that kind of stinks is that we can pretty much count on the Blazers being in LA about 3-4 times a season between the L*kers and the Clippers.  Now, they'll be in Toronto only once a year!

Thanks for all the comments, by the way.  It's nice to see that there are other folks who know the trip I have been on as a fan -- let alone in real life.

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Original Post Below
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This may be off-topic, or too long, but I needed to get this off my chest.  I am what some of you may call a Band Wagon fan.  Things, however, are not that simple or black and white, in my view.  As of now, I see Kobe Bryant's Ron Artest's face on the Blazer's tickets I've got on the refrigerator door.   While most Blazer fans hate LA they are typically referring to the team -- maybe the fans, but not the city.  I started hating Los Angeles as a child growing up in the shadow of New York City.  A die-hard Knicks fan, I was fortunate enough to see the crappy Knicks teams of the early 80's and the awesome teams of the late 80's and 1990's.  Being from the East Coast, I naturally despised LA.  It was the antithesis of everything that was NY.

Then, I began my career in animation ( I actually am an Anim8rguy).  I moved out to the West Coast, but remained a Knicks fan.  I started in Vancouver BC, and went to the Grizzlies/Knicks game every season I was in that beautiful city.  The Knicks were still strong, and life was good.  Then, I took my first job in the LA Movie Effects business.   I truly did not want to move to Los Angeles.  I was flown down for an interview, and stayed the weekend.  Perhaps I never gave it a chance, perhaps I did.  Truth be known, they offered to double my salary, and it was too much to turn down.

I settled in a relatively nice part of LA -- Brentwood -- and remained faithful to my Knicks.  In the end, Los Angeles, and the FX biz were more than I could take.  The first chance I had, I left.  I took a pay cut in the face of three job offers just to leave Los Angeles.  As I drove North to San Francisco, I looked at my rear view mirror and spit out the window.  "Good bye, you hell-hole" I muttered as I moved on to newer and better things.

I lived in the East Bay and remained a Knick's fan.  It was tough because I didn't see as many games.  Still, when they played Golden State I always cheered my Knicks without question.  The Knicks magical post-season run at the NBA finals happened when I was there -- 1999.  It is impossible to explain the emotions of the roller coaster ride of that post season.  It took talent, luck, Marcus Camby and an absolutely miraculous 4 point play that is still my fondest basketball memory.  Little did I know that I had seen the high point of Knicks basketball.

Seasons came, and went.  The Knicks suffered trials, injuries, losses, mismanagement and Isiah Thomas.  Still, I maintained my focus.  They were MY team, dammit, and the misery would only make the ultimate victory sweeter.  That sweet taste, however, was not to be  as the Knicks began a downward spiral that would end deep enough to see the earth's core.  My own life took it's tumbles as well.  A recession forced me to leave my beloved SF Bay for the filthiest, ugliest, most vile place on earth in order to work.  Thus began my second Tour of Duty in Los Angeles.

This time I settled in another "nice" part of Los Angeles -- Pasadena.  I worked for a major animation company in a position I liked, only to given a different role that I could not stand.  The cruelest twist of fate was yet to come.  In his infinite wisdom Isiah Thomas decided to acquire Stephon Marbury for my beloved New York Knicks.  Stephon Marbury?  Really?  Stephon Marbury?  You have got be kidding me!!!  How much worse could things get?

For the first time, I no longer could consider myself a rabid Knicks fan.  I would read about them, but I could not get myself to watch a game.  I hoped for the team to work its way out of the deep hole they were digging, but they just kept digging.  The NBA began to drift out of my life, and I had finally had enough of LA yet again.

I quit my crappy role at Dreamworks and ended up getting a call from an old supervisor about a company in Portland.  It was funded by Phil Knight (Nike Phil Knight).  They were getting an experienced crew together to establish a new studio.  When studios try to get off the ground the biggest issue is always financing.  LAIKA had Nike funding them.  They had they money, so it could only fail if they wanted it to.  I decided to move to Portland, as did a bunch of other journeyman animation folks.

I again found myself looking at LA through the rear view mirror.  With absolute determination I promised myself I would never return to this place.  The city was miserable,  it made me miserable, and the heartless LA film industry was miserable.  I vowed I would never allow myself to come back.

In Portland, my first home was directly across the river from the Rose Garden.  Still, basketball was dead to me.  I put together a new life.  I met a girl, I bought a dresser, and I began to enjoy Animation again.  Life was good.  One winter evening I watched a Blazer game on TV.  I did not know it at the time, but the Portland Trailblazers had just started a 13 game win streak.  I saw Brandon Roy play, and I immediately saw an absolute superstar. 

Could I, however, actually ever love a team as much as my Knicks?  Probably not, but it was a long time since Ewing played a game.  The current Knicks team had reached the new low of being incredibly bad on the court and in it.  The team lost a judgment and were held responsible for sexual harrassment. Perhaps I could allow myself to admire the young Blazers and see a legend being born in the form of Brandon Roy.  They could be my Western Conference team.  I also knew that the next season Portland was going to be awesome.  They had the pieces, the attitude and they had an incredible player in the form of B-Roy.

I convinced my non-sports fan girlfriend to split 1/4 season tickets with me.  We were to sit in the 100 section for 10 regular season games.  I became mesmerized by the team.  She poured over Blazer's Edge -- and other less impressive blogs.  She grew to realize that Charles Barkley was an idiot, and she learned the meaning of being a fanatic -- that gut wrenching low you feel when the team loses, and the elated joy that comes from victory.

The game I had circled on our ticket schedule was February 8 -- NY Knicks@ Portland.  This season it seemed that the Knicks were turning the corner.  Isiah Thomas was gone, and Marbury was out with an injury.  They had a team on the floor that could score -- even if it couldn't  defend worth a lick.  They had a chance against almost any team on any night, which is something they had lacked for almost 7 long seasons.  I had actually begun to watch some games and I had read about them fairly regularly.  Portland, however, really needed a victory in that game.  They were struggling to keep their place among the tops in the West.  Meanwhile, NY was going to the lottery and needed nothing.

The game became a drubbing -- the Blazers were flat out burying the Knicks.  It was the best scenario for me.  As a Knicks fan I had little to cheer about, and Portland would get their win.  Still, it was almost embarrassing to watch NY get this badly spanked.  Even my girlfriend felt some pity.  This game was almost over by half time, as NY trailed by 13 points and looked flat.

Nate Robinson, however, did not agree.  He took the game over in the second half.  Suddenly NY was up by double digits.  The crowd was in stunned disbelief.  This looked to be a statement game.  I was strangely elated that NY didn't lay down and die, but a little concerned about the game's outcome.  Who had my allegiance?  I did not know.

The Knick's statement, however, didn't get through to the Blazers.  They fought back.  The game became tight -- and so did New York.  The shots that were falling so easily, hit the rim and bounced out.  Finally, the game came down to the last play.  NY was up by 1 with about 13 seconds to play (I think).  The energy in the arena was intense.  There was fear, delight, pain, apprehension and there was me.

I was in a strange place.  I was the calm eye of the hurricane.  As time wound down I found that I did not know who I wanted to win the game.  On one side, I had my childhood team -- my first love.  The cause of so much joy and anguish over so many years -- seemingly on the rebound.  On the other side, I had the fresh new faces of Portland.  They were talented and young.  They had caused me no strife (I knew not of the Jailblazers) and these players genuinely seemed to  be good guys.

This was to be a watershed moment.  I realized that was looking at this game from the standpoint of "Would I Rather Portland Win or Lose" as opposed to "Would I Like Portland or NY to Win."  It was a subtle difference, but one that made me see where my heart truly lay.  As Brandon made another miracle shot and the crowd went crazy.  I just sat heavily in my seat.  The Portland Trailblazers were now my team, but I was mourning the loss of my Knicks.

A few months later Phil Knight screwed me, my plans, and my friends.  Four days after the company Xmas party,  they called us into a room and said they were pulling the plug on our project.  Their  reasons were never truly revealed, and never understood.  They had the talent.  They had the money.  They had a great story by an experienced director.  Phil Knight and LAIKA only lacked the nerve to make a movie. The richest man in Oregon had gotten dozens of folks to pick up their lives to move to animation desert of Portland only to toss them to the curb at the drop of a hat.  This forced most people to leave Portland -- some with $40,000 losses on homes they had bought  due to LAIKA's alleged commitmemnt only to be forced to sell at a weak time in the market. 

I will never buy anything made by Nike as a result of this and I'll ask you to do the same.  A few days after he canned all of us folks that uprooted themselves for him, Phil Knight donated several  million dollars for the building of a college sports stadium.  Stadiums over people are not proper priorities, in my book.

After more than a year of struggling to find animation work in Portland I did what I never would have thought possible -- I took a job again in Los Angeles.  This time -- however, I had an ally.  My former girlfriend -- current wife -- relocated with me.  We have decided to make the best of it, and we remain Blazer's fans.

Still, l have a soft spot for my first love.  I cannot help but root for the Knicks to win a championship (although I would be unable to do that if they had signed Lebron James).  NY fans are amongst the most loyal in the league.  What it took for me to place them second was an incredible turn of events and legendary mismanagement.  I still remember the pleasure and pain of being a Knicks fan.   Mostly, however, I root for them because moments like this still bring a tear to my eye.

I've been driving in the morning recently, with my radio tuned to 95.5 The Game in Portland, and I've listened to the Jim Rome show for short snippets -- because that is all I can take of the guy.  Is it just me, or does anyone else wonder who the hell can listen this guy?

How the hell does this guy STILL have a radio show (and one on TV I think).  Are there any people who think he's funny, insightful, smart, or at least not obnoxious?? He has an annoying  low-tone voice that reeks of an insufferably condescending d-bag. 

Then, there's those callers who specifically call in order "talk smack."  It's like hearing some drunken fratboy ramble on about complete and utterly stupid crap.

Jim Rome helps put the local Portland sports guys into complete perspective.  Even listening to Canzano is about 5000x better than Jim Rome if for no other reason than the fact that Jim Rome's show is about 5% sports related content, 95% useless, unrelated crap.

Let me up front say that I love this team.  I really want them to win, advance and get their rings.  That being said, I am perfectly OK with them losing the next two games if they at least accomplish something.

I was at the game, and I heard the boos last night.  I think that people weren't booing the team, they were booing the effort by Portland: jacking up contested outside shots, missing free throws, and letting the Suns move around untouched.  Perhaps you can't stop a player from shooting the light out, but you can control what you are doing as a team.

I would happily watch Portland go down in this series if they at least show some signs of maturation and guts in this second trip to the playoffs. If they at least give me a reason to think that they belong in the post season than all the injuries and trials of the regular and post season will not have been in vain.  They just have to do a few things to keep the fans happy with their effort, I think.

1-Drive The Ball

Jacking up outside shots is obviously not going to work -- at least the way Portland is doing it.  What worked in game one was driving to the basket by Bayless and Miller.  What breaks down defenses is ball movement and getting them to collapse on the driver.  As a fan, I don't care if we get called for charges (if they are legitimate), but I do care that there is no effort to actually try to take it to the rim.

We also have players who can drive outside of Brandon Roy and Nic Batum -- we've seen it before.  Miller, Bayless, Martell, Rudy, and Mills CAN all do it.  There is no excuse. It seems we are trying to being the game shooting outside to open up the driving lanes, and it isn't working. 

Also It seemed like it took until the 4th quarter last night until someone finally started setting (or using) screens for Rudy when he started to shoot.

2-Play Physical

We saw it against Houston last season, and we are seeing it again.  Portland is getting bullied.  We are not giving what we are getting.  This isn't a skills competition anymore, this is the NBA playoffs.  You do not play to win, you play to BEAT the other team by whatever means necessary. 

Again, I do not care if we lose as long as we start getting Pheonix to realize that they are in for a fight.  This is now a game of toughness and intimidation, and Portland looks like the deer in the headlights.  I want  every Suns player to wake up after a game, and see the bruises that remind them that there is a cost for scoring against us.

There should be no easy baskets in the playoffs.  You either get fouled before you make one, or you get fouled after it.  Richardson had an epic game yester day.  Where was the hard foul on him when trying to get some offense?  Where was the hard pick on him after he made a 3 pointer?  Where was the reminder that this Trailblazer's team will make you earn your points.  Go to the free throw line,sir, but remember that we will beat on you again.  Going to the hole means you're going to get hit hard.

Again it took a while, and it seems like Andre finally got it when he nailed Amare right in the face.  On one level it might sound like I'm advocating playing dirty -- but I'm not.  There's a difference between a hard foul, and elbows when the ref isn't looking.

3-Make Your Free Throws

OK, you can't necessarily control everything the other teams does.  I understand that.  But when no one is guarding you, and you typically shoot almost 80% from the free throw line -- you have no excuse to keep jacking up bricks at the line.  It again shows a fear of losing. 

The fans had almost given up on this team yesterday, but then we finally got into in the 4th, and Portland made their run.  It wasn't until Martell missed his two free throws that the air finally left the building, and it obviously left the team since the Suns had a quick 10-0 run after that.

As a fan, I am paying this team's salary.  Oregon is hurting, lots of folks are out of work, and this team offers residents something to pin hopes and dreams on for free by watching on TV and participating in forums like this.

I can only speak for myself, but all we want is to see this team look and play like it wants to make a statement to the rest of the league in these playoffs.  "We are in your rearview mirror."  If we lose, so be it, but just give me a reason to think that next year you'll win.

I realize there has been a flurry of Batum stories, but I have adopted a wait and see attitude with him.  However, he does seem like he's becoming very consistent.  Also, please note that I doo support Oden and I'm confident that he will comeback from this freak injury and have a long basketball career.  That being said, however . . .

One thing many people point to is the idea of 3 reliable scorers on a team with supporting role players in order to win a championship.  Now, we drafted Greg to be one of our anchors on defense, with him growing into one of those 3 scorers.  Of course, we all know he went down with the patella injury and caused many people to assume that we cannot realistically just accept that Greg will be a healthy player we can count on for years to come.  It might happen (I think it will) but we obviously cannot put our cetner's eggs in the perverbial basket.

The way Batum has been playing, can it be argued that he might become that 3rd lynchpin in the championship Blazer teams in the future?  He is proving that he can score, and can play defense at a high level.  With him, Brandon and Lamarcus as our core we can then get a utility center that doesn't need to be the second coming.  Camby is working out very well, and as much as I like him he's not a hall of famer.

The Piston teams and the first batch of Jordan's championship teams had dependable, but not all-world, centers.  For example, with a healthy Brandon Roy, Lamarcus, Batum, Miller and Center, along with our current bench, do we have what it takes to be a serious Title threat, or is Greg Oden our Obi-Wan Kenobi (our last remaining hope, fo your non Star Wars folks).

I'll man up and admit I was wrong.  It appears that Brandon Roy has started either dealing with his Hamstring, or he's feeling better -- and that we are a better team for having him play minutes in the proper role.

I will admit that my earlier post is not valid, although I would ideally I would still like to see him rest it.  Now, let's integrate Marcus Camby and then, On to the playoffs!

UPDATE:

Portland went from a 25 point lead to an overtime loss with Brandon Roy.  Yes, people will say he scored 23 points.  Yes, he scored our first bucket of Overtime.  Still -- right now -- the team is doing worse with him playing in the game.  We were flying on all cylinders tonight after Brandon sat with 2 fouls in the fourth first quarter.  After he came in, the lead slipped and slipped and slipped until it was gone.

Perhaps he can score by getting to the freethrow line, but this is not helping the team play better as a team.  He is hindering the team's ability to play free and easy offense.  I love him to death, but it's tough to watch this team struggle due to his play.  When Brandon is well, he will take over the fourth quarter -- now he stifles the offense because he is getting the ball as though he was uninjured.

It seems obvious to me that the rest of the team needs to man up by playing -- and Brandon needs to man up by sitting down.  While it's obvious to me, I'm not basketball genius.  Is it obvious to anyone else?

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After watching him in the Boston game it must be painfully (no pun intended) obvious that Brandon Roy is nowhere near ready to play.  While he is a big part of this team, what is the motivation of the team to NOT rest him?

Was the goal of trading Blake and Outlaw specifically to try to make the playoffs, or to try to advance in the playoffs.  Is the rationale behind Brandon's playtime the desire to make the money off tickets and concessions in that first series, or to get this team to make strides in the playoffs.

In tonight's Celtics game we were utterly unprepared for top tier competition.  It was similar against Oklahoma City and the L*kers.  Brandon is hobbled, and he is extremely ineffective.  If we are going to be getting 9 points/4 boards/1 assist in 34:20, it is time to rest Brandon and get those numbers from anyone of our other resources.

Without Brandon Roy this team hovered at around .500 ball during the regular season, and perhaps its time for Brandon to man up in a way he's not accustomed to -- show that you have faith in your teammates to allow you to rest and heal, and still end up in the playoffs.

The time to reevaluate is done.  If you're going to play nominally with pain and an injury that will not heal without rest, you need to be given a long,long time to rest, let someone else play at least nominally without pain, and hopefully you'll be healthy at the end of the season.

Each day that this farce goes on, the higher the likelyhood of a more serious injury, and the less likely that Bandon is healthy by the playoffs.  Is it just me, or does anyone else think that it's time to bit the bullet and sit Brandon -- no ands ifs or buts -- for at least 5 weeks, probably longer.  No shootarounds, no practices, just rest.

The fate of the regular season rests squarely on the shoulders of the rest of the team since Brandon cannot physically perform, anyway.

Portland fan here.  God I thought we might actually come back and win last night with our outmatched roster of grit, duct tape, bactine and Brandon. I thought it was going to be a blowout after the first half, but it settled into an interesting game.  hated the outcome, but congrats on the win.  With no centers on our team -- I'm glad we don't have to play you again this season.

I do have a serious question, and I mean no disprespect.  I am curious about what the perspective is of the hyping LeBron James as seen by fans of his team.

Don't get me wrong -- the guy is a phenomenal athlete, and amazing player, and a proven competitor.  Outside of not shaking hands after the playoffs last season -- which was really a big non-issue -- I can't think of anything anyone would have against the man as a player or a human being.

However, if you're a fan of another team that is playing Cleveland -- especially during a nationally televised game like last night's -- the commentary borders on the moronic at times with such gems as "Lebron is making shot blocking cool again"

If you look at the ESPN hilights/recap of the game last night, not only is there not a single Portland highlight, they don't even mention that Portland came back from as many as 17 points down to tie the game in the fourth quarter.

http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=4814978&categoryid=2378529

Again, this isn't about Lebron James, he's not the person responsible for this.  Still, the coverage of him cannot but affect the feelings fans of other teams have for him -- perhaps pro as well as con.

I am just interested in what the feelings are about the crazy -- frequently insane -- hyping of Lebron by his own fans in Cleveland.

.

With the Donahgy book coming out, and his ensuing publicity tour, many more people are becoming conscious of the idea that NBA officiating is not imaprtial.  While almost everyone accepts that superstar players get the benefit of more calls, not too many people take the leap and realized that this fundamentally rigs the NBA.

Since the Lakers have Kobe Bryant, for example, they are pretty confident that their marquee  player will not be in foul trouble.  He also knows that he can drive with relative impunity since the calls will not go against him. Los Angeles also gets to count on being able to have their best player on the court when they need him, as opposed to him spending more time sitting on the bench with fouls.

I do not blame Kobe, he did not create this situation.  Still, this provides a genuine disadvantage to a team lacking a "superstar."  They need to play good enough to win by more than merely the score since 1 foul called or uncalled can amount to a 5 -6 point swing in the final minute of play.  Since the opposing team knows that Kobe will get a beneficial whistle they will not play the same type of  defense against him as they can with other players.  While everyone fundamentally accepts that "star player" officiating rules exist, no one is doing anything about it.

If they were willing to deal with steroids, isn't this the kind of thing that Congress should be investigating?  Basketball revenues are declining around the league.  I feel that it is partially due to the economy, but that also it is due to the belief that there is no integrity in the game.  If people start to feel that their team cannot get the calls against a Bryant, Wade, James or Garnett, then they are less likely to invest in their team.  When the deck seems stacked only the cheaters and the ignorant stay in the hand.

While many are prone to dismiss Donaghy's allegations as a convicted fellon trying to squeeze a little more time in the limelight, we all know that at the very least, some of what he is saying is absolutely true.  While it would be nice to hear his allegations from a reputable source, it is doubtful that an NBA ref trying to keep his pension and his job will speak out against the NBA.  As such we would get these stories from someone less than desireable -- like Canseco and steroids.

Since the NBA stripped Donaghy of both his pension and his job he doesn't have a reason to be silent -- but I acknowledge that this doesn't mean he is telling the truth.  Still, isn't there enough reason to petition congress to find out once and for all already?

He's injured again!  Can we expect anyone to notice that Bynum is a walking rehab visit waiting to happen while Oden is healthy?

After the national game against Duncan, I'd say the Oden haters have finally gone away (although they will return if he gets hurt again in the next 10 years!).   Still, we haven't really heard or seen much of the same type of negative press about Andrew Bynum being the brittle Mr. Glass.

While it is nice seeing Oden getting some props and respect, I'd like to see some folks actively start questioning whether Bynum is anything more than a waste of cap space.  Oden's injury issues last season were freakish injuries that invloved some kind of contact with another player.  Bynum just appears to be getting hurt by moving.  He is getting paid a great deal of money at a young age to play very few games each season.