If you are regularly dismayed, as I am, by comparisons between Oden and Durant, especially by the national media and especially during the Rookie-Sophomore game, check out Canzano's new column. It's good balm for sore spots.

If you are someone who regularly criticizes the Blazer's pick and Oden's development, read the column. The points are these: (1) the jury on the Blazer's pick of Oden is not out yet. Canzano, who frequently irritates me, this time hits the nail on the head on how to make that judgment. (2) the Blazers are in the process of building a team that contends for championships (plural). To achieve this goal after being the worst team in the league in 2006, short of a miraculous trade like landing KG and Ray-ray for an instant but short few years of fun, takes years of discipline. This is KP's vision. I share that vision. We're building a team with a distinct identity - a team whose talent lies in its cohesiveness, not in its conglomeration of talents. Past Blazers teams (particularly Whitsitt-era teams) did the latter for years, and most of the rest of the league does that. These Blazers are attempting something different.

So it does not unnerve or anger or frustrate me that Oden and many other Blazers' performances are all over the map and even - gasp - "underwhelming." It frustrates me that their defensive learning curve is slow, and it frustrates me that they are indeed missing a player or two. It frustrates me that Oden carries high expectations so heavily. It would disappoint me if we missed the playoffs this year, which we still have a significant risk of doing. These are issues that need to be addressed. But let's try to keep our hopes and judgments within the context of the big picture.

"We feel Oden could win 10 championships."