State of the Blazers Address

President Bush gave his State of the Union Address today, so I thought I would take this opportunity to provide my State of the Blazers Address.

It is now half way through the season and the Trail Blazers are 17-25, just over 40%. We do still have a chance at the playoffs if we play some exceptional basketball for the rest of the season. I believe the Blazers just need to keep playing the attacking, fast-paced, (Sergio-based) style that we’ve seen in the last couple of games.

Playoff chances
In my 2007 Predictions I predicted that the Blazers would make the playoffs this year, and I think it is still possible. We need to play 60% ball, meaning we win 3 out of every 5 games (streaks of 3). The key is to win our division games!

People often ask why I think division games are so important. Division games are important because you play teams in your division so many more times… and in context of the playoff race, you go up a notch, but also, they go down a notch. Just look at the standings: With the exception of Detroit, the top 8 teams in each conference have winning records against teams in their division. All other teams have losing division records. This means we have 3 BIG GAMES coming up in the upcoming weeks: tomorrow against Minnesota, and next week when we play Denver twice.

Up-tempo vs Plodding
The biggest story-line for the Blazers right now is whether Coach Nate McMillan can adapt and develop a more fast-paced style. As the story goes…when Jack got hurt, Nate was forced to play Sergio Rodriguez. Sergio gave us a glimpse into the future. Sergio, somewhat defiantly, pushed the ball on every play, and delivered the ball to open guys. The rest of the team fed off of this and played some great basketball. We unselfishly passed the ball, we shot (and made) open shots, we attacked the rim, we played defense. Playing this open style finally let our young players finally use all that talent and potential that we’ve been told that we acquired.

With our personnel, an upbeat offense that pushes the ball just makes sense. I think everyone in Portland agrees. It’s funny, because ever since Nate became coach, we’ve had to listen to him constantly preach about slowing down the game, controlling the tempo, and insist that we don’t have the personnel to play an up-tempo game. Well, anyone that watched the Sacramento game saw the exact opposite.

I do think Nate McMillan is a good coach, but he cannot let his pride get the best of him or his team. If Nate continues to insist on playing a slow, plodding offense, and we do not do any better in the second half of the season, the fans will turn on him.

Talent-wise
A related storyline has to do with who fits into the future of our Blazers. In other words, the immense talent and potential of certain players is starting to overshadow other so-called ‘key’ players. Let me explain… at the beginning of this season, the Blazer media machine tried hard to make prop up Zach, Jack, and Outlaw as the main pieces of the puzzle. Nate backed this up by basically running the offense around those guys.

But as the season went on, certain players have emerged from the folds to show an almost unbelievable potential. These players are Sergio, Roy, Webster, and even LaMarcus Aldridge. They all have real talent, but even scarier, they have what seems to be unlimited potential. This combination of talent and potential just overpowers anything that a Zach, Jack, or Outlaw could ever provide. This trio is not essential to our team. The sooner Nate and Blazers management realize this, the sooner we can get on with developing a contending team.

The rest of this season rests soley on Nate McMillan’s shoulders. He has the power and influence to decide how his team will play (and trade). So the question from here on out is: Can Nate swallow his pride and let his players play the up-tempo basketball that everyone knows they should?

I can't wait to hear your comments...

-Blase31 (blazerstruth@gmail.com)