Coach Nate to the Olympics.

Nate McMillan has been asked to be an assistant to coach "K" at the Olympics. I'd say this is certainly a step up for the Trailblazers. Clyde Drexler was the last Blazer to participate in the Olympics as a member of the "Dream Team". Congratulations Nate! This is a nice honor for Portland.

Hey Nate, please refrain from cussing out the team!

LINK

Ruben sent home.

I think Ruben may have sealed his fate. He lost his cool with Nate McMillan and went on a verbal tirade between the 3rd and 4th quarters of the Knick game yesterday. I really like Ruben and understand his frustrations but even I can say that this sort of thing is not going to fly far. In this case, it landed him back in Portland, while the team (that needs him) is on the biggest road trip of the season. He has effectively made himself the odd man out. This is bad news for Ruben fans.

Here is the statement from Blazers.com:

"Ruben Patterson has been placed on the inactive list and sent home to Portland for the rest of this road trip for his behavior both on and off the court.

We will not tolerate this type of behavior from any player. We will continue to demand a higher level of professionalism and personal responsibility from all of our players or we will continue to take appropriate action."

We're Number One!

Yes, this is correct. The Portland Trailblazers are numeral uno in their division. Last night's scrappy win over Chicago brought our record to 3-3. The Blazers are currently the winningest team in the Northwest Division.

Congratulations Blazers. Keep listening to Nate!

Sheeeeeeeeed, happens. The Blazers gave 100% effort and almost stole a win from Detroit. I am proud of them. In the end, Detroit's experience won out. It was a great game. 

Perhaps I gave the wrong impression.

I don't want anyone to think that I expect this year's Blazer team to win a championship, I don't. What I do expect to see is a team that plays with effort, plays to win. This is not what we had after Mo Cheeks was fired. I am not forgetting that management tossed in the towel and effectively gave up on the integrity of playing to win. They set a very poor example. I don't want this team to adopt those ideals. I want this team to follow Nate and play to win, in spite of the labels management is putting on them. What label? The label that young teams can't win. I am growing tired of hearing this.

The average age of our team is a non-factor to me. We have Ruben Patterson, Theo Ratliff, Joel Przybilla, Juan Dixon and Charles Smith. These guys have been around the block. Add in Zach Randolph and Darius Miles and you have two guys that are younger in age but they too have been in the league long enough to play with the big boys. We have Jarret Jack who may be just out of college but at least he played in college. That puts him ahead of Sebastian and others in the league experience-wise. The rest of the guys are capable players. Then, of course, we have our green bean, Martel Webster. This is not an all-rookie team. This is a team that can play.

There is always work to do on any team. This one will be just fine as long as management realizes that they must let Nate McMillan drive the Blazer bus. If they grab the wheel, like they have in years past, we are headed for failure once again. If they do not, we could be in for some great basketball.

Thank You Blazers!

The Blazers surprised me last night with a win over New York. I was preparing all day to see them get crushed. Blazer marketing has made me think this way. They have convinced me that this team will lose more than it will win. It has convinced me that this team is too young to expect much from. They have convinced me that young teams are for exhibition only. They have convinced me to not set high expectations. They have convinced me to not have hope.

Thank you Ruben, Darius, Zach, Sebastian, Theo and Joel for proving them wrong. Thank you for showing that you are veterans and that this is not a preschool team. Yes, we will lose games, but we will also win. I am tired of being programmed to expect the loss.

The Blazers have better ability than they are being given credit for.

Darius even played while hurt. I was impressed. I hope that he didn't over do it.

Ruben? As I keep saying, you ARE the man!

GO BLAZERS!

TEAM huddle. This is something that I have not seen in a long time. Nate has everyone in the huddle. Nobody is loafing, everyone is paying attention. This has been needed. 

Outlaw and Webster making some young fans very happy. 

Off to a Good Start

Even though the Blazers lost to Minnesota, I was very pleased with what I saw. As rough around the edges as this team is, they still gave the T-Wolves a hard fight.If the Wolves had blinked maybe 2 more times, the Blazers would have gotten the win tonight.

Darius played a good game. I really hope this is a glimpse of things to come and not an aberration of things past. Zach is clearly out of shape. I was impressed with Jarret Jack. It bothers me that after all the hard work Travis has put in that he is being denied playing time. Travis has earned it. Give it to him Nate. I want to see Outlaw on the floor in Denver.

All in all it was a good start. The Blazers played much better than I expected them to. I hope they continue to do so.

GO BLAZERS!