Is Confidence High?

  …I think we know what is causing the cynicism or lack of confidence. Blazer management has undermined themselves. The way they have handled “The KP situation” has created the mistrust.
   2-3 years ago, we looked at a young roster of Brandon Roy, Aldridge and the opportunity to add Greg Oden who was suppose to be the next dominating N.B.A. center along the lines of a Tim Duncan or Shaq- quality center.

  Now we are faced with the possibilty that all this wonderfulness…might not pan out to be as wonderful as we hoped. Brandon might not be durable. Oden might be a total bust. Even Aldridge is hampered by perceptions of soft play.

  So while we might whistle past the graveyard…I think those are the root causes and reason for the concious or even subconcious unease of this off-season.

   It’s not a lack of information, it’s a lack of knowing direction. At some level what do you do? Brandon, LMA, Oden STILL imo deserve the chance to show if they can be a championship viable nuculeus. It’s premature to give up on that.

  So I guess we continue to hope for the best…and hopefully next off-season the slogans are a little less cynical.

…not trying to cause more unrest. But you say you are looking forward to it?

  Are you? I even sense in Dave…and his reaction to the KP debacle, a frustration voiced in so much as “Why Can’t This Franchise Just be Normal?”

  I can say I’m looking forward to definition…good or bad. But honestly part of me is growing tired of the process.

  All franchises go through build and rebuild…and the harsh truth is only 1 franchise a year is good enough to be the given champion…

  But The Blazers perhaps more than any other franchise are held to this standard of make us proud…win a championship…by the fanbase.

   It’s tough because rebuilding out of the Jail Blazers era, we wanted a return to playoff contention. But now the fanbase want’s more.

  It’s different for the Blazers perhaps than most other franchises. Not only do The Blazers have a rabid fanbase…but we also have mythology surrounding the team that is hard to deal with.

  Paul Allen…magical, unlimited resources…if he really wanted he could buy the N.B.A. and proclaim the Blazers Champions…..Or simply make Dwight Howard and Lebron James play for Portland and let the chips fall where they may….

  Reality? Paul Allen is human…a very, very wealthy human…but vulnerable to the same physical, emotional, and intellectual strengths and weaknesses of any human. Plus history seems to illustrate that while a huge advantage…a franchise saving and sustaining advantage…when the Blazer Humpty Dumpty falls? All the Allens Horses and All of Pauls Men cannot put Humpty back together again….

  Tie that reality with the hopes that were elevated when we won the #1 pick and obtained Oden and we could really be riding for a fall.

  Am I looking forward to it? Or am I just tired and wishing all the unknowns and questions would just go away? Is there a part of me that isn’t blaming anyone…but secretly wishes that we had just been a little less lucky 3 years ago and won the 2nd pick in the draft?

  Maybe….maybe I sense a collective frustration of Blazer fans and a collective…feeling sorry for ourselves.

  I do wish there were more reasons to make it go away.

If the only outcome that is acceptable to a particular fan is a Championship, that is a high standard to meet. For me, while I hope for a Championship, I expect the team to contend for a Championship. If we make it to the Conference Finals and the NBA Finals but not to the parade, I will be disappointed, but the disappointment will be outweighed by the excitement of having the team in the hunt.

Most of us remember 2000, that sucked. 1990-1992 were bad, as well. It’s like having an ice cream cone that you only get to lick once then the cold stuff falls off and into the rain gutter. It’s so easy to say “I’ll be fine if they just get to the WCF and lose” but when that time comes, it’s a punch in the gut that takes all summer to get over (or 10+ years, in some cases)

But you know what’s even worse? Being just good enough to make the playoffs but not good enough to win a series, year after mediocre year. Sure, there’s a measure of fun watching the team win some big games during the regular season, but if you’re sitting around watching the other NBA teams every May/June what’s so fun about that? There’s not even the draft to look forward to, because you’re stuck drafting in the 20s every June.

It’s better to take chances in the NBA, don’t sandbag and hope that your ship comes in someday. Fortunately, the Blazers have Paul Allen as an owner, and (despite the bad treatment that KP is receiving right now) the thing that we always know about PA is that he’s not going to let the grass grow through the cracks in the sidewalk. If the team has hit a plateau he’ll apply enough dynamite to turn the rut into a crater—for better or worse—at least it won’t be boring

When thinking of Blazer basketball, if the first thing that comes to mind is the Jail Blazers then that’s your problem not mine. I’m old enough to remember a time when this team was competitive for two decades. Twenty three straight post season appearances. I’m not sure if it still stands but at one time it was the longest running record of any team, in any sport. Not bad for lil ol’ Ptown.

I was just as embarrassed as anybody about the 4-5 years of mediocrity, and illegal activities, but I took it with a grain of salt because I knew it’s wasn’t a true reflection of what this organization was really about. Besides, you know what they say the bigger they are the harder they fall.

It’s funny though how many new found/reborn Blazer’s fans wanna point to hindsight whenever anybody is critical of GO, but isn’t that what we we do all the time with the Jail Blazer era. The truth is PA had a formula. That formula spit out Smitty, Pip, Brian Grant etc… PA has always been ready and willing to wheel and deal, not to mention open the check book to improve the team. It’s what got us to within 5 min of an NBA finals in 2000 with some of the afore mentioned class acts. It also got us into trouble with Kemp, Miles etc. Never the less the moves he made had every intention of putting a winning product on the court. It’s unfortunate that it blew up in his face.

To PA’s credit though, the organization learned from their mistakes, and made it clear that they would no longer sacrifice character for talent, and they haven’t. Even if Pritch never got the GM job, the players responsible for bringing shame to the organization would still be gone so I don’t see why change has to mean we’re going back to the Jail Blazer era. Even if Pritch is fired, you can bet the Blazer Brass will still be cautious of what type of person they’re bringing in, so to act like PA would be lost without KP is a little ridiculous. The truth is only KP and PA know how well of a job Pritch really did. The general public will never know ALL the possible trades that were offered, and which ones should have been accepted. If PA feels like the way to improve now is to trade some potential for bona fide players, and KP isn’t on the same page then it’s probably best they part ways.

as they players themselves are only focused on winning.

What would you prefer they be focused on? Joining hands and singing kumbaya?

Don’t fear a slide back into the Jail-Blazer era. Portland fans are about as paranoid re: that scenario as they are about the front offce trading way “the next Jermaine O’Neal”