Like many Blazer fans, I spend a lot of time thinking about the future of this franchise. The team seems to be stuck in a pretty bad place right now. An assemblage of talent that doesn't quite seem to fit. Players who like each other and seem to be good citizens, but who lack key leadership on the floor at crucial times. A team that's usually slow out of the gate and then gathers steam as the game goes on, only to fall a point or two short at the end. Coaching staff that doesn't seem to have the answers.

Listening to Paul Allen talk at his recent meeting with reports makes me wonder if his heart is still in owning this team. One of his comments really stuck with me: he said he still is committed to owning the team, but that he doesn't have the stomach for another re-building effort. So, just why, I wonder, hasn't he hired a GM for all of these months? Is he really that cheap? Somehow, I don't think so. Why else would you not hire a GM if you're truly committed to moving ahead and winning? One possibility, of course, is that the "right" guy simply isn't out there. But, since recent trade moves don't seem to have worked out for the team, one would think the guy we have (Chad B.) sure isn't the right guy and that would amp up the urgency to find someone who's at least better at the job if not the "right" guy. But, Apparently not.

I don't know about you, but it feels like the team is going sideways and backwards at the same time. Allen's lack of communication about the team doesn't help. Larry Miller is...I have no idea what he does. I'm no fan of Nate, but I have to wonder if even he knows what Allen's plans are and that must feel pretty un-settling. To me, Nate acts like someone who's just waiting to be fired, but no one can even make a decision to do that. Very unsettling for all concerned.

I've been a Blazer fan for a long time, and like many of us, suffered through the "Jail-Blazer" years, almost ready to jump ship for good. I guess the current situation's not as bad as that was, but someone, it this seems like just another version of hell for Blazer fans...