Plenty of fish in the sea

With the long awaited results of the nba draft lottery the options for the Portland Trailblazers this offseason just became more clear. The future gm has many options as to where he wants to go with the future of this franchise. First on his to do list should be hiring a coach with a proven track record of coaching young players and a set game plan. The hodgepodge that was last season ended in a dumpster fire of despair. The problem with youth is the risk of inconsistency. Something blazers fans have unfortunately become accustomed to. As much as I like the players in this supposed "deep" draft, I wouldn't be against trading one or more of our picks in exchange for a serviceable veteran. Point guards are hard to come by, and there really doesn't seem to be a game changer in this draft. If there doesn't seem to be any options in free agency, perhaps a trade on draft day will be in the works.

What's going on?

Oregonian sports writer John Canzano has been writing columns about Paul Allen and his ownership of the Portland Trailblazers for years now. Some have been positive but most are overwhelmingly negative. I must admit that things have been frustrating these past few years. The firing of Richard Cho, Tom Penn, and Kevin Pritchard, the lack of a GM for almost a year, and the lack of contact with the general public have been questionable decisions and Canzano hasn't let the opportunity slip to write up his opinion. Allen is a shrewd businessman. The days of treating the Portland Trailblazers as his toy seem to be over. It's about dollars and cents now. Canzano keeps implying that Allen should sell the team to an owner who is a bit more hands on. I say be careful what you wish for. I was on the fence for a while on whether I wanted Allen out or not. On the one hand he is, in my opinion, the sole reason why Portland doesn't have an National Hockey League franchise. He's toyed with the idea in the past, but if he wanted to bring a team here he'd of done it by now. I've never had anything against Allen in the past. He has been more than generous with his money in order to put a good product on the court in the past. I believe he'll do it again. The franchise is at a crossroads, and it is because of this that Canzano wants Allen to sell the team so he has something to write about. He wanted a statement from Allen regarding his stance on the Trailblazers. What he got was this. Thank you Mr. Allen.You do what you gotta do. I trust you. Just one thing though, bring back the beard. Zing!

Disillusion

Some of my fellow Blazer fans crack me up. Whenever a disgruntled player is rumored to be on the trading block, the crazies come out in force to throw out a trade to have said player come to Portland. Just go to the blazer forum at oregonlive. Go ahead, I'll be here when you get back. It won't take long to find out what I'm talking about.
"Let's trade Kurt Thomas, Luke Babbitt, and a second round pick for Dwight Howard".

"I hear Tom Thibodeau's contract is up with Chicago, next Blazers coach?"

I suppose we've been spoiled with a free spending owner. But the reality is we don't have a gm, free agents don't like our small market (Turkoglu?), and our players aren't worth as much as the fans think. I keep hearing how valuable Batum is as a tradeable piece. Really? He's inconsistent. Maybe we're used to the consistency of laMarcus, but he's about the only consistent thing on this team. I remember people saying we shouldn't trade Rudy because of his upside. But how many more seasons do we have to wait for Batum's upside to reach its potential. I think we've seen it. He's not going to magically turn into Kevin Durant. You don't think the other gms around the league don't see that? He's not worth that much. It's his contract year and he still can't step up night in night out. My point is that I don't want to see us avoid drafting a great young small forward because we have Nic. I don't want to see us draft one and not play him because of Nic either. I say trade him and get what we can for him. And when the cry goes out because we couldn't get Kobe or Wade for him I'm going to laugh.

Spring Break

Spring break time is my favorite time of the year. It takes me back to my youth. It was a week featuring no school, my birthday, and Blazer games. My cousin, Rob and I usually spent this week together. We'd have the Blazers on, a game of Risk going, sports cards strewn about the living room floor and drinking tons of soda. The Blazers were good, life was good and I thought this would never end.

It did though, as all things do. Remember game 7 in the 2000 Western Conference Finals against the Lakers? Of course you do, it still stings doesn't it? That's where the Blazers of my youth ended. I was in my teens. I am now in my thirties and the Blazers have yet to win a playoff series since then.

With all the personnel shake-ups the Blazers did this season I am positive on where things are going. It's baby steps right now for the Blazers. At least it's steps in the right direction even if they are baby steps.

Spring break has come to a close and for at least one more off season (not mathematically eliminated yet of course) I'll have to re-live the days as a kid, when the Blazers were good.

Trade bait

Trade rumors are swirling around Portland tonight with talk of sending Jamal Crawford packing. From his quotes the past few weeks it seems to me he was one of the last guys still putting a positive spin on this season. I heard him saying we are only so and so games out of a playoff spot. I will say this that unless we're getting draft picks or a high level prospect I don't think we should be making any moves. All the armchair quarterbacks were only too happy to get rid of Andre Miller. How'd that turn out? Now they're squawking about this deal or that deal. I don't think any one trade can save this season. I might be wrong, but bringing in a new player won't solve the consistency issues with this team. The leadership is really lacking as well, so bringing in a mercenary isn't going to solve that issue either. The best case scenario for this team is clearly a first round exit. I'm not saying to tank the season, but the writing is on the wall.

Road Trippin'

Rip City was abuzz when the Blazers started out the season 7-2. I too was excited but I was waiting to see something before I totally bought how good we were. That was a winning record on our first real road trip. When the Blazers went 2-4 and hobbled back to Portland I rolled my eyes and said 'typical.' Didn't we just beat OKC on the road? How do we lose to Detroit? Oh, right, the inconsistency bug. It has bitten the Blazers for yet another season.

This seven game road trip is the 'make or break' trip of the year. I predicted a 3-4 road trip. I so far am wrong about Minnesota (what was I thinking?) and right about the Boston game. Going into Washington is a must win. It's more than that, it's a must destroy. I want the Verizon Center to be in ruins when we leave our Nation's capitol with a win.

If we don't win tonight. The season is done. Plain and simple. The wheels will be off the wagon so to speak (they pretty much are as it is) and we will be pushing that wagon all the way back to Portland.

'Oregon or Bust' was the moniker of the settlers heading West on the Oregon Trail. Every Blazer season starts out in my eyes as 'Playoffs or Bust.' The Blazers are so lost on their own trail to the playoffs it's been embarrassing. 'Playoffs or Bust?' This year it's been nothing but a bust.

Playoff nightclub

Well well well. We're a sub .500 team. First time in awhile that we've been here. Now what? It's time to rebuild. Any hopes of reaching the playoffs are dashed by pathetic 0-3 start after the All Star break. And if they're not dashed now, just wait for the seven game road trip.

Would you really want to see the Blazers in the playoffs this season anyway? I wouldn't.

The playoffs are like that swanky nightclub downtown. Showing up to the front door is the first round of the post season. Getting past the first round is getting into the club. If the Blazers get to that playoff nightclub it'd go something like this.

"Uh, I'm on the list."
"What's the name?"
"Blazers"
Without even looking down at the list the bouncer just stares back.
"No you're not, move aside."
And as the dumbfounded Blazers meekly step aside the bouncer's face lights up with a smile.
"Thunder! How ya been!? This party's jumpin'! Get your ass in there!"
Thunder and the bouncer high five.
The Blazers catch a glimpse of a party with successful teams.
*SLAM!* The door closes.

I am tired of the Blazers being turned away from the playoff nightclub. We want to be the ones getting the high five from the bouncer. We want to be inside that nightclub with the elite teams. It's time for a reality check. The Blazers aren't on the bouncer's list, and the playoffs shouldn't be on ours. It's time to rebuild.