Not sure why anyone would want to trade anybody on the Blazers right now,  untill we establish our center's abilities as they return.  I think we are 3-0 so far, nothing negative there.  Do we look like the best team in the NBA?  Not so much yet, but I would not rule us out just yet.  If we can get some better chemistry going with the players we have, I am betting my $40 bet for a championship this year has some merit.  I guess I am also betting that our centers will get most of the season in, that is the real gamble here. 

Two keys that I see as more important to concentrate on is LA and Andre's roll on this team.  LA is just not a power forward.  Power forwards can move with the ball, LA can not.  If the Blazers expect LA to create his own offense, well its going to be some ugly nights depending on who is guarding LA.  If you create some open shots for LA instead of posting him his game and the Blazers will reap the benefits.  Which brings us to how to get those open shots.  Andre is a Roy, two exactly the same players with slight differences in their abilities.  With the zone defenses of today, you have to have a quick point guard that can break the zone down.  Neither Roy or Andre are truly quick enough to achieve this.  My armchair coaching says to use your new fast young legs to play with either Andre or Roy.  Yes, there will be mistakes, but at the end of this season when we really need the wins the new guys will be more "go to guys" and that is what makes us a champion contender. Andre's roll should be to help Roy rest, play a few less minutes and establish himself as the team leader when Roy sits down.  Chemistry..........................it is what makes a champion, talent only gets you wins.  Ask Miami about that as the season is starting..........   Oh, and I am so going to get blasted calling Roy and Andre the same, but if you give Andre a 3 point shot, very similar players.......

 I'll make this short and sweet.  I love a lot of what Nate does, but this year he gets no kudos at all.  Yes, he has injuries, but even before the injuries Nate was lost.  From day one when he inserted players in last years winning rotation to start the season, instead of using what he knew worked then adding some new flavor, its been ugly.  I can maybe blame this on the front office, but Nate's lack of being able to see his players strong/weak points, or seeing the opponents strong/weak points almost this entire season is a bit scary.  Good coaches find ways to win.  How many times this season after a 20 second time out have the Blazers looked even less affective then before the time out?  When is Nate going to see LA is NOT a post up player?  When are we going to work for good jump shots?  We have good shooters, but they have to have confidence in what is happening before they shoot.  Do we even have ANY plays in our half court offense? 

So what do we need to do?  Keep Nate, and work on passing, picks, and creating the open 12ft to 15ft shot for everybody.  Nate needs to get some stuff set in concrete and work on using each talent of each player to the teams advantage.  This is where the REAL coaching comes in.  Not just lets rotate players till we feel good.  I am sorry but ALL of us armchair coaches can do that, Nate is way more than that as he started showing us.  I am with you Nate, but lets get back to some basics.  Since the Houston game last year when you bailed on what had been working all year, I have been becoming a Nate hater.  When your one of my hero's, thats tough. 

    Like all professional sports, being good on any given night is 90% in your head.  What made the Blazers good last year was Nate's steady rotation no matter what the score.  He depended on who was on the court to do their job and even when that wasn't happening most times he stuck it out to give the guys confidence in their game.  We were rated higher last year with less talent, so why are we struggling?  We can blame the new guys!  Nate needed to just start over from last year and add his new toys after we had established ourselves again.  Nate should have started Steve, Martell(for Nick), Lamarcus, Brandon, and Gregg.  Used his normal second squad rotation adding Andre for Roy and set the pace for the first few games.  Basketball is a job, you know your job and you win!  When nobody knows their job panic and confusion run a muck like 26 turnovers in one game and not a bit of offensive flow.  The Blazers will be fine, but they will be hard pressed to win as many games if Nate doesn't find some consistancy with his rotations and assign jobs like last year.  Where is that family feel we had last year, find that and you will find the wins easy! 

Ok, this is by far the best move the Blazer could have made, but WHY?  Not to replace Blake or Bayless, I think we should keep these guys!  What if Roy gets hurt?  Now you have another leader able to take control of the game with nearly the same stats as Roy and a whole lot more experience.  Blazer fans need to get behind who they have, we have other dead weight to lose.  Keep the young guys for some build time. Blake is not a star, but is solid.   Andre Miller or no one else can bring a championship, we still need time.  Lets grow another year,  the choices next year might be great! 

  Ok, screen name Lunatic for a reason.  Did anybody but me notice that Martell was starting to look more like Clyde Drexler than a pure shooter when he last played?  His few drives were looking very confident and impressive.  Forget the shooting aspect of this young man, think more of a Roy when Roy is shifted to point guard(or as I like to say " time to get the win").   A big guy with ball skills and a jump shot.  Its the NBA, so lets play BIG!  At times BIG is good.  The Blazers need someone that can drive and finish other than Roy.  It is why ZONE is such a bad word when we talk Blazers offense.  Yes we could use more point, but we have more Karma with this team than I have seen in ages.  Maybe being a top 5 rated team in the polls means we don't need anybody,  just practice!  Use Martell as No. 2 guard sometimes?  Crazy?  Maybe not..................haven't seen him play in over a year so YES I could be crazy or right, only time will tell.