Here we are, 69 games done, lucky 13 to go. The schedule is stacked here on out...

Sun, Mar 20	@ Los Angeles
Tue, Mar 22	vs Washington
Fri, Mar 25	vs San Antonio
Sun, Mar 27	@ Oklahoma City
Mon, Mar 28	@ San Antonio
Wed, Mar 30	@ New Orleans
Fri, Apr 1	vs Oklahoma City
Sun, Apr 3	vs Dallas
Tue, Apr 5	vs Golden State
Thu, Apr 7	@ Utah
Fri, Apr 8	vs Los Angeles
Tue, Apr 12	vs Memphis
Wed, Apr 13	@ Golden State

Brutal. One gimme the rest of the way, two against the non-playoff-bound-but-always-troublesome Warriors, and the rest are in or competing for the Playoffs. Three more back-to-backs. Six games on the road, seven at home.

How do you see it play out? Pull out your crystal ball.

Today's deadline was full of last minutes deals, the greatest surprise being the Boston/OKC trade in which Kendrick Perkins and Nate Robinson were traded from Boston to OKC for Jeff Green and Nenad Krstic. The Thunder also made another move, sending Morris Peterson and D.J. White to Charlotte for Nazr Mohammed.

The trades mean the Thunder are undoubtedly bigger and more rugged. Perkins in particular brings a no-nonsense game to a team lacking in the tough department, and Mohammed is a crafty vet at this point capable of holding his own in the paint.

The reaction from Boston fans hasn't been good, and many in the media seem to think that Boston GM Danny Ainge is waiving the white flag on this season. As you might expect, the Thunder are being hailed as legit contenders who are looking to win now by fans and media alike.

Here's how the inbound and outbound parts fared statistically so far this year (I'm going to keep it less advanced):

OUTBOUND

•  
  • Jeff Green 15.2 pts, 5.6 rbs, 1.8 asts, 13 PER in 37 minutes as the starting PF (49 games)
    
  • Nenad Krstic 7.6 pts, 4.4 rbs, 0.4 asts, 12.6 PER in 21.7 minutes as the starting C (47 games)
    
  • D.J. White 2.8 pts, 2.3 rbs, 0.2 asts, 10.2 PER in 9.5 minutes as a backup big (23 games)
    
  • Morris Peterson 1.0 pts, 0.8 rbs, 0.3 asts, 1.7 PER in 5.8 minutes as a backup wing (4 games)

INBOUND

• Kendrick Perkins 7.3 pts, 8.1 rbs, 0.8 asts, 10.2 PER in 26.1 minutes as a starting C (12 games)
• Nate Robinson 7.1 pts, 1.6 rbs, 1.9 asts, 10.2 PER in 17.9 minutes as a backup wing (55 games)
• Nazr Mohammed 7.3 pts, 4.9 rbs, 0.3 asts, 15.9 PER in 16.7 minutes as a backup C (51 games)

The Thunder seem to have a few options for their starting 5 now, and it may take a few weeks for the regular rotation to be settled, but here's a rough look at their depth chart:

Starting Point Guard: Westbrook. Maynor and Ivey as backups.

Starting Shooting Guard: Sefolosha. Harden, Cook, and Robinson as backups.

Starting Small Forward: Durant. Sefolosha and Harden as backups.

Starting Power Forward: Ibaka. Collison as backup.

Starting Center: Perkins. Mohammed. Mullens and Aldrich as backup.

Nothing should change much as far as production from Durant, Westbrook, or Sefolosha, and there's no reason to see much of a change from their backups, either. Collison's role also remains the same. My guess is a promotion for Ibaka into the starting PF role, which should net an increase in his stats with the increase in minutes (with 10 more minutes on average, maybe 4-5 more points and a couple boards more per game). Perkins is definitely a superior defender to Krstic, though it's either Nenad's advantage or a draw on offense. The addition of Mohammed adds that 2nd solid quality player to throw out there. If Ibaka can hit 15 per game and Perkins hits his average, the Thunders' points-from-starters are at what they were pre-trade and they're better defensively. Nazr's 7 points per game and defense end up being the big difference.

After taking this all into consideration (and being as objective as one can be as a fan of a divisional rival), it does seem that the Thunder should be better, maybe even significantly so. So why doesn't it feel like the proverbial cherry on top to me? Am I alone?

I expect the Thunder to make a decent run in the playoffs, but I did before the trade, too, and I don't really see them being so much better now that they're THE team to beat. To me they're a 3rd consistently-high-scoring-starter or big-time-6th-man away from being that team. How do you feel? Did they improve enough to be considered better than before? Are they the best the West has to offer, or are they still in that 2nd, 3rd, 4th best area? Can they Will they make it to the Finals? And, maybe most importantly, how do they stack up to the new look Blazers and the other teams in the West?

The race for playoff positioning has begun. The current standings in the West show seeds two through eight are separated by only 5 games. Seeds four through eight are separated by only 3. There are still roughly 20 games to play. Given the number of games still to be played, the similar records amongst the teams, and the unpredictability of health and performance it's a huge stretch to assume the seeds are determined. Anything can happen.

As the Blazers are still in contention for a top 4 seed, would starting a playoff series with homecourt advantage be a benefit to this still fairly inexperienced playoff team, or would it be an albatross?

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This is nowhere near Trail Blazer news, basketball news, or even real sports news... my apologies for that. The events building up around this story have left a bit of a sour taste in my mouth and I find it worthy of discussion. And let's face it, it's the dead quiet of the off-season and there's little else to discuss anyway.

If you've only been getting your sports news from watching SportsCenter or by reading ESPN.com than you haven't heard yet...

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Fear not, Blazermaniacs! This isn't about Gregory Wayne. It's not about Comcast. There's no scandal involved. Actually, this problem isn't even ours; it's Houstons.

I'd like to present to the forum evidence that strongly suggests why it will be Houston who collapses down the stretch.

I giveth you:

13 Games In 22 Days... DUM, DUM, DUM!!!

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It seems a good time to measure the collective pulse of Blazermaniacs.

The All Star break gives everyone a chance to reflect on the happenings of the last few months. The dust has settled a bit. Our rotation has been shortened some. We've gotten used to life without Martell. It seems clear what to expect from certain players. We generally have a good feel for what the rookies can contribute.

So, who's your favorite Trail Blazer (just for you, bow4meow)? There are no parameters, no rules, no caveats. Just who floats your boat the most for whatever reason.

Me? Roy. Do I need to elaborate? The dude is just too legit.

It's obvious he has no idea what he's doing. He doesn't know what it takes to win games and his rotations are still whack... I mean, look at what he did to Sergio last night. Why would he do that? It's because he doesn't know what he's doing. And why does Travis keep getting playing time and plays called for him? Again, Nate doesn't know what he's doing. And why isn't LaMarcus going to be an All Star this year... this was supposed to be his big breakout year, right? Nate doesn't know how to develop big men and is holding LMA back. Same goes for Greg. What, you think it's just that Greg needs time to acclimate to the size and speed of the NBA game? Nope, it's Nate doing a bad job because he doesn't know what he's doing.

I bet you didn't realize it but this whole Miles debaucle is all Nate's fault, too. If Nate would've been a better mentor instead of "Sarge" when he came in as coach Miles would've been better equipped mentally and would be an outstanding citizen and teammate today. We'd all be laughing at how we got such a talent and community leader at the bargain price of $48,000,000. But Nate ruined him.

And we're totally underachieving at only 9 games over .500 when we really should be 11 or 12 over .500. Those 2 or 3 losses? Nate's fault... especially considering who we lost to... I mean, the freakin' Clippers?!? At home?!? Two or three games right now is the difference between 2nd in the West and 9th in the West, and we can't afford to let Nate ruin our shot at the second season.

Where have all of my fellow Nate-haters gone anyway? Just because we happen to be winning some games right now doesn't mean we should back off of him. We can't just call for his head when our beloved team has an off night and loses, we've got to be persistent in our pursuit of the best. He clearly isn't the best, nor a coach to lead this team to a championship or he would've done it already. It really is that easy, and that's why so many people end up being great coaches with winning records and championship rings.

Let's fire up the pressure! Ben, you did such an outstanding job with your Honor Terry Porter campaign... now that you've succeeded in you mission and have some spare time, maybe you could get the Fire Mr. Sonic campaign rolling?

Update: HAHA!!! After only one loss, this train is already moving along at a nice clip! BEdgers are throwing the coach under the bus left and right! Fact: Our guys had an off night offensively, and we were missing two of our top 5 scorers (for crying out loud)!!! Too predictable, fickle fans, too predictable! Cut Nate some slack already!

You may not be able to win them all, but some losses definitely sting more than others. Here's our losses so far listed in order:

1. Twenty (20!) point loss on national TV and GO gets hurt... oh, and it was to the freakin' L8kers in LA. Ugh.
2. Eleven point loss in Phoenix... we crumbled down the stretch in a game we were relatively competitive in otherwise.
3. Seven point loss in Utah... same story as the previous game. In it and withered late.
4. Lost by five points in New Orleans the same way, folding late.
5. Golden State beats us by five in their house. Again, we had opportunites to win late. The refs didn't help us any with this one.
6. Phoenix, in AZ... different game, same plot. Lost by 10. This was the 4th game in 5 nights.
7. Boston in Boston. National TV. Not competitive, not pretty. Lost by 15 but it wasn't even close. Might have actually been scary enough to induce nightmares.
8. Orlando in the RG... lost 8 point lead with 120 seconds to play. Off balance, fadeaway three caroms in off the backboard with .3 on the clock and no timeouts. The same type of heartbreaker that we've put on two teams this year.
9. At Utah, who was missing their main scorer, on national TV, lost by nine... wasn't even close.

Vote. Which one sucked the most? Comment why.