I hate when the Blazers play like this. It just takes all the fun out of being a Blazers fan.

Games like last night are just so boring. I mean, there's no drama, no second-guessing, and hardly any room to gripe and complain about what the team should have done differently. Where's the fun in that?

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With all the summer's purported "disappointments" on the Free Agent market, it'd becoming clear that the "Big Splash" the front office was hoping for is not going to happen. Barring a sweatheart deal with a team looking to offload salary, we may be better off at this point merely shoring up our bench with a veteran roleplayer or two.

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I was fortunate enough to be selected by my company to attend the NAB (National Association of Broadcasters) national convention in Las Vegas, Nevada last week.

As a loyal Blazer fan, I thought it only fitting to wear my Blazers gear for as much of the week as my work schedule would allow. This had some interesting results.

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The Oregonian is reporting that Rudy Fernandez has won the fan voting, and will be the fourth representative in this year's Dunk Contest at All-Star Weekend, alongside Dwight Howard, Nate Robinson, and Rudy Gay.

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While no Blazer player really stands out in the major categories (Points, Rebounds, Steals, Assists, Blocks), there are a number of Blazers who stand out statistically. Here's some interesting figures showing how our players are getting the job done in less flashy ways.

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It's been all over the media this year. Golden State is fielding a younger team than Portland, so we're only the "second-youngest team" this year.

Well, that may have been true on opening day, when some reporter who was so inclined decided to do the math and check it out. However, there is a problem with that.

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I was at last night's game. Man what a fun game that was.

I got there more than 80 minutes prior to tip-off. There were, as always, a number of players shooting around as the crowd filtered in. (Thank you to the Blazers for opening the Rose Garden 90-minutes prior to tip rather than 60 minutes like last season.)

Alongside Blake and Shavlik Randolph, a clean-shaven Martell Webster was there shooting  threes.

He looked very good. He wasn't running or cutting or anything, and it's hard to judge true accuracy from a shooter when there's no defender there creating mischief. However, almost every shot was right on the money.

He didn't show any signs that his foot was bothering him any. If he's cleared to practice next week, December 5th seems entirely reasonable to me for his return.

I'm very excited to finally have the possibility of a 100% full (if not entirely 100% healthy, at least 100% PRESENT) roster.

The only downside I see is it probably means fewer minutes for Batum (like, probably NONE in most cases, unless we have extended garbage minutes like last evening). It could also throw a wrench into team cohesiveness, but that's already pretty up-in-the-air right now due to the Oden adjustment, so I can't imagine Martell's return is going to make waves that are any more noticeable than that. In any case, the sooner he comes back, the sooner we can work out the last kinks in our lineup, and finally see what we have.

If last night was any indication, this team could be ready to make serious waves RIGHT NOW. Go Blazers.

Okay, so we have gotten a taste of what kind of amazing player Rudy has turned out to be.

I'd say it's time to let the rest of the NBA (and the world) know it as well.

Rudy is not on this year's All-Star Ballot. I can't think of a more deserving player not listed on that form, however. Now it's pretty much a no-brainer who the two starting guards for the West are going to be this year (CP3 and K*be), based on reputation alone. This sucks, but hey, it's the way things are. It's pretty hard to argue with those selections based on the way those two guys play.

If Brandon keeps being Brandon, however, there's a good chance he'll be on the bench again, as voted by the coaches.

I say we make a concerted effort to draw attention to Rudy Fernandez, by writing him in. Sure, he's a shoo-in for the Rookie Challenge, but that's weak sauce. I say let's see if we can get him in the grown-up game as a write-in candidate.

This site is one of the most active fansites on the entire Internet. Let's show the world the kind of power we can generate by voting early (and often) for Rudy as a write-in candidate!

If Rudy's even on the radar as a vote-getter by January, then the coaches will be taking note. With the All-Star coaches, perception can be reality.The world saw what he could do in the Gold Medal game in Beijing. Let's make certain the coaches remember that moment. Let's make certain they take notice of this guy who is playing amazing ball, and making the NBA fun again.

Who's with me?

Edit:

Here is the direct link to the voting page on NBA.com:

http://www.nba.com/allstar2009/asb/eng/landing.jsp?cid=nba18

Rumor source here:

http://www.hoopsworld.com/HeadlineStories.asp?hd=20080629&lc=NBA#STORY_9771

I'm not exactly sure what to think about this deal. One the one hand, Steve Blake is the perfect fit for us right now. He provides stability and a steady hand for the next couple seasons while Bayless is learning the ropes, and showing us what he can do. Beyond that, Blake becomes valuable as an experienced backup, bringing good outside shooting, and hard work and energy off the bench. How could we even think about trading that away?

On the other hand, we'd be getting back David Lee. That's a heck of an upgrade in terms of talent. Lee plays the PF in NY, but could easily slide over and be our starting SF. Plus, we do have a glut of point guards right now, making Blake at least somewhat expendable.

What do you think? Does this deal make sense for Portland?