Darius Miles or Shareef Abdur Rahim? Who starts?

Once again the infamous Blazer logjam is creating problems. The Blazers are stacked at the forward position and the conflict over who starts and who comes off the bench is beginning to boil. Reef and Miles both are deserving starters. Reef was promised the job, yet Miles seems to depend on it. Reef proved before that he can thrive off the bench. Darius has struggled. When Reef was injured, Miles started and his contributions increased. Even though Rahim and Miles are not publicly complaining, one would be an idiot to think that this situation makes either of them happy, especially when it forces to them to play outside their position, and decreases their minutes. Unhappy players are not the most productive players. Nash orchestrated this situation, and it seems, for now, he is content to force coach Cheeks to fix it for him. Fortunately for Mo, he won't have to make that decision tonight in Milwaukee, Reef won't be playing.

"...Normally there would be no question about the starting role, as Cheeks always has lived by the rule that a player loses his job because of his play, not an injury. And there have been no questions regarding Abdur-Rahim's play: he is the Blazers' second-leading scorer (15.3 points) and rebounder (7.8) while shooting 50.5 percent from the field.

But as Abdur-Rahim has nursed his sore elbow, Miles has emerged as a force as a starter, evoking memories of last season when his high-flying, up-tempo play injected life into the Blazers season after he was traded from Cleveland. In the first five games of this trip, Miles is averaging 16.8 points, 7 rebounds, 2.6 assists, 3.2 steals and 2.4 blocks, and is shooting 56.9 percent from the field...

If anything is clear, it appears that both Abdur-Rahim and Miles will handle Cheeks' decision professionally. In fact, Miles said there shouldn't even have to be a decision.

"He's the starter," Miles said. "He's one of our go-to guys. It ain't hard to see. He knows what it is. I know what it is. There isn't any need to feel me and there doesn't even need to be any bring-me-in-the-office type deal. That stuff is for the birds. When (Abdur-Rahim) says he is ready to play, put him in as the starter and see what he does. I know I've got confidence in him. It's his spot. It ain't my spot. This stuff is old."

Abdur-Rahim, meanwhile, appeared taken aback that there would be any suggestion that he would lose his starting job. "I guess Maurice has got to do whatever he has to do," Abdur-Rahim said. "I mean, what? What am I supposed to say? I will say I think I feel comfortable starting. But I'll have to adjust with a different role if it happens, I guess. But I have felt good in the role I have been playing...

But Cheeks acknowledges that it will be a sticky situation, one in which he probably can do no wrong, and no right..." Source: Oregonlive.com