The first thing I thought yesterday when I learned that our French friend Nico was gonna be on the shelf for "3 to 5 months" with a torn labrum was "Man, that's ironic." That's the term, isn't it? I mean, it was EXACTLY twelve months previous, you no doubt recall, when the guy who conveniently "made way" for Rookie Nic, Marty Blazer, went down with a broken wheel.

Now the worm had turned. It was time for Nico to go under the knife while his replacement grimly nods and makes solid, team-first comments to the press about how much he will be missed...

Nate McMillan has called the coincidental alternating season-crushing injuries "Creepy," and that about sums it up. It's Halloween, baby... There is some sort of cosmic equalizer afoot, it would seem. Nic got his big break with Marty's foot; now Marty was gonna push his way into the starting lineup with Nico's shoulder... Weird, wacky stuff, Maynard.

Of course, injuries are part of sport and the Blazers have had their share, like anyone else. A few years ago it was Brandon Roy's heel so, hey, it could be worse. Knock-knock-knock. Pro basketball is show biz and we know all the old clichés about worthy understudies. Every time that something bad happens, people need to step into new roles and perform at higher levels — and they generally somehow do. 

Here is my quick view of how the red-and-black dominoes fall...

(1) Obviously, Marty Blazer moves into the starting lineup. The job is his to lose until Nic comes back, and I have a hunch it would take a bad night with a guy wearing a pig's head and wielding a chainsaw for Martell to lose the spot. That's axiomatic, eh?

(2) Travis dances a little jig, saved from the executioner's sharp axe. If Marty Blazer starts, there's nobody to back him up at Small Forward. That's Trav's natural position, and he'll do very nicely, thank you very much. Now it's Travis who gets to play second violin in the Andre Miller Orchestra.

(3) But Travis can't back up LMA at Power Forward (sic.) and Martell at Small Forward at the same time. The white unit runs 5 guys, see. Nate MIGHT mix and match his substitutions to cover both roles, but even if he does that, the door opens for Juwon Howard to get some time at the PF spot. All over Blazerland there is much rejoicing.

(4) And that, in turn, creates an opportunity for a "fifth Forward" to assume the comparable role that Rex Bayless plays with the Guard spots... The guy who moves up the depth chart from the ranks of the nattily-dressed to the potential players when injury rears its ugly head again? Dante "The Inferno" Cunningham.

Now nobody is saying that the Blazers will be JUST AS GOOD after the loss of their top on-ball defender for half or two-thirds (or more?) of the season. But they'll survive, of course. And they'll prosper, I feel safe in adding. One thing I encourage you all to keep in mind is the way that bad things make opportunities possible. If something really terrible hadn't happened to Martell last year, many people probably never would have even heard of Nic Batum, let alone lived to rue his loss this year.

It's pretty clear to me now that we're going to see extended run for Juwon Howard because of this injury, one last chance for the man to shine in the spotlight. And it's very highly probable that we're going to get a real taste of The Inferno as well.

Out of random bad events, good possibilities open for others.

Let's all hope they make the best of them.