Watching KG dunk, swat, and talk his way through the Celtics/Pacers highlights this morning was a reminder that a player with that kind of on-court demeanor is often an important part of successful teams.

The questions for the Blazers right now is not what can take them from a lottery team to a playoff team, its what can take them from a playoff team to a contender. A bully on the court can make a huge difference for this Blazer roster, especially when teams try and take advantage of their youth and inexperience.

Consider that in the Hornets game last Friday night, David West fouled Brandon with a little something extra. To his credit, Brandon got in his ear and asked, "What was that about?" It was great that Brandon didn't just walk away. He needs to stand up to cheap shots. 

But if teams mess with Brandon during a November game, what will they attempt in May and June games? In the bigger picture, Brandon needs a Rodman to his Jordan, a Laimbeer to his Isaiah, a Bowen to his Duncan. Also, the bruiser role often comes with foul trouble, T’s, and even suspensions, which the Blazers can’t afford to have happen to their best player and team leader.

Ideally Greg, who unfortunately is getting every other dunk attempt rejected by an opponent or the rim, would would bring a hard-nosed attitude to the court, but it doesn’t seem likely he’ll develop that by the end of this year. At this point, though, it’s not a strike against Greg - he may be a sleeping tiger - its hard to know right now.

And in Greg's defense, its worth remembering, especially for Diesel-haters like me, that even Shaq submitted to Hakeem - like lap dogs do in the presence of my German Shepherd - the first time he made it to the Finals.

The 1977 Blazer team was the youngest team to win the title in the history of the NBA, and after Raef gets traded, this Blazer team will be the youngest in the league. Maurice Lucas, and the KG-esque attitude he brought to the court (or should I say KG's attitude is Maurice-esque?), was necessary to that team’s playoff success.

Case in point: In Game 2, "The Enforcer", used some 76ers’s face as a punching bag. The Blazers would go on to lose that game and go down 0-2 in the series, but then they won four in a row and had a parade downtown.

So could anyone else on the current roster fill that bruiser role? Since Bayless’ attitude doesn’t come in a seven-foot frame, the best candidate seems to be Joel. He doesn’t back down from anyone in the league, which is great, but would he be willing to put in elbow in Kobe’s temple or undercut Deron Williams?

Let’s hope so.