The players we have to develop are Brandon Roy, Martel Webster, Lamarcus Aldridge, Travis Outlaw, and maybe Jarret Jack.

Lucky for us, those guys are the one we need playing to get us into the playoffs. And all those guys are really young and need more games, need more experience. Roy may seem like a veteran, but he's only played 118 games in his professional career. Aldridge has played 123, and has only started 82.

The fact that the Blazers have a legit shot at the playoffs in the brutal west and they have something big to play for every night is HUGE for the development of our young stars. No offense, but I wouldn't sacrifice these extremely valuable last games to get fringe players like Sergio, Von Wafer and McRoberts time. Those are the guys you play to improve your draft position.

enough games to eliminate us from the race, we should (like I proposed in a recent diary) shut Jones and Blake down, cut LMA's and Brandon's minutes to about 24 each, and put Martell at the 2, Travis at the 3, JJ and Sergio at the point, and Fry at the 4. These guys have been playing out of position all year, and we need to see them in their natural positions for awhile to see where our strenghts and weaknesses are. Can they be better at their natural position, will they improve with extended minutes, etc. How do we know who to draft, trade, and keep, if we still aren't sure who our best backups are? Is Travis or Fry the best backup 4, who is capable of playing the 3 (is anyone totally sold on Martell's performance) can Martell score better as a 2, can Sergio play if given more time and a longer rope, can Jack play point? I think we know their strenghts and weaknesses at the positions we have put them in this year

The best thing we can do for the team is develop and winning attitude, we should always play to win and fight to be in every game.  I agree that the players that we need to develop are already playing anyway and they will have the summer to rest.

The only thing we may want to do is experiment with some line ups.  I would like to see us go big for short periods and use Roy at PG, webster at SG, Outlaw at SF, and LMA and Joel at the bigs.  I think finding out if Travis can function at the 3 and Martel can play the 2 is much more important than getting McRoberts game experience.

When we have less than twice as many games left as we are out of the playoffs.  If we're six games off the pace, that means when we have 10-11 games left.  Up to that point, you keep hoping, at that point, you have to acknowledge it's gone.

What should we do differently?  Reduce Brandon's minutes, so he doesn't get hurt.

Showcase the guys who might be traded.

While we want to see guys play, Nate and KP have been seeing them in practice.  They know pretty well what we have.  We don't know, and would like to, but they know.  So there's no point in playing guys to learn about them, that's not really part of the picture.  Play guys that you want to keep because they are projects for the future and can use the experience, and guys you are prepared to trade.

There's no real benefit in playing Raef, unless you want him at center so Frye can play PF.  McRoberts?  Well, we'll get nothing for him in a trade, so only play him if you think he's got a decent chance to stick around.  Wafer?  Forget it.  He won't be here next year, so there's not really much point.

Jones?  Not if his knee is still sore.  Let him rest.

the sooner the better.

Also, I'd like to spoil somebody's playoff party by giving them some losses in April.