I see the Blazers at a crossroads.  I believe a major decision has to be made soon if the identity of this team is to be changed before these moldable, young players are cemented in some of their current ways.  I think a change is necessary and the ceiling of the current approach isn't high.

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1)  There's no such thing as a good rigid player rotation.  Pulling Greg and Martell, regardless of conditions, at roughly the same time in the 1st quarter of every game makes no sense.  It's the George W. Bush "stay the course" school of basketball.

2)  There's no such thing as a good second unit.  EVER.  Every other team in the league goes 8-9 players deep unless there's an injury or foul trouble.  Most teams keep 2-3 starters on the court at all times to prevent a talent cliff dive when the substitutions begin.  The Blazers consisitently go through 10-11 guys every game, interrupting the chemistry and flow that so many people think has been the problem this year by constantly shuffling cold players in and out en masse for short shifts.  This isn't hockey.  Stop the line changes.

3)  The excuse being put forth by Roy that he still isn't comfortable with the (1) new player getting regular minutes (who happens to be substantially more skilled than the incumbent) is exactly that, an excuse.  Someone needs to act like the leader of this team instead of complaining that everything isn't identical to last year.  Last year's result isn't the end goal.

4)  Pulling players due to foul trouble is directly impacting the team's game plan and talent level on the court.  This is done to prevent the possibility of a player fouling out, which would have the horrible consequence of...directly impacting the team's game plan and talent level on the court.  Why let the possibility of fouling out have worse consequences than actually fouling out?

5)  Nate isn't an Xs and Os guy, I think we all agree.  He's not really a good gameday coach as far as making adjustments on the fly.  The one HUGE strength he's always had is the guys have played hard for him.  That isn't happening right now.  Something has to change - he needs to find a way to remotivate them, or we all need to hope that Rick Adelman doesn't have his team option picked up next year.

I didn't even get to the Roy iso offense and the no-motion "motion" sets.  Oh well.  To summarize - jumpers: bad.  Shots from within 10 feet: good.

I think I covered everything my untrained eye saw in the Golden State and Memphis games, and were bubbling under the surface in many of the wins against the bottom feeder teams. 

Sometimes a guy just needs to rant.  Feel free to launch an all-out smiley faces, rainbows, and Steve Blake riding a magical unicorn assault on my overall negativity...I'll understand.