If one visits 82games.com, and checks out Portlands top 5 man units (http://www.82games.com/1112/1112POR2.HTM ), one can see that Batum is involved in many of our top units. In fact, out of the 13 positive (+/-) line-ups, Batum is tied with Aldridge as being part of 10 of them. Wallace and Crawford come in second with 9 out of 13 of the positive +/- line-ups. Matthews and Felton are in 8 of them. This would suggest that Batum is one of our top contributors, even at a much lower usage than our other main rotation players.

With Camby out, there is no excuse to be starting Thomas. Batum is the one who needs more minutes, and after posting 29 points, 8 rebounds and 4 blocks last night (as well as the upcoming contract negotiations), it only makes sense to get as many minutes as possible for the young player.

Finally, it is absolutely ridiculous to ignore the hot hand in crunch time. Nate should get his fair share of criticism for going away from Batum at the end of last nights game. Of course the Rockets made it tough, but Nate ended up using Batum as a distraction rather than a weapon.

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Listen, I have been known to blow my top then and again at Blazer games at the RG, and I have dropped an F bomb a time or two, but I prefer to not do that to players on the opposing team, I only curse our team because the simple matter of fact is that these guys should perform at a level above what I can do, and I should expect that out of them.

However, these two jacknapes decided it would be a good idea to heckle a guy who was on a long road trip and was going to play in a hostile environment anyways, and threw gasoline on the fire:

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/sports/orlando-magic/os-magic-glen-davis-portland-allegation-0115-20120114,0,989247.story

I will say that it was ludicrous of them to believe that you can hurl expletives and act like an idiot and then to expect not receive the same back to you, but I guess since they sent the letter to the teams and the NBA, that they don't feel the same. Trail Blazers fans, I urge you to please show some class and decency that you expect out of all players that you would show yourself, and don't be that guy.

I would personally invite these two to a nice sitdown and teach them that acting inappropriately does not give you the right to expect the same, and should they read this, please contact me anytime, I will gladly give you or anyone else that believes their actions were not out of whack with what we expect of our fellow blazer fans a nice lesson in manners and logic.

Well here we are at 7-5 with 3 losses in a row and make that 4 more games to go on the road. Weve seen some great early season play and weve seen some absolutely horrific basketball. We cant seem to get a road win to save our souls. Our team at times looks really good, but on the road we become seriously lackluster and just plain dumb. I read all the comments last night, most of which were negative, few were positive. It got me wondering, what is the right course of action for this team. Also, One question I certainly have is when does its "still early in the season" quit being an excuse for us? We are over 1/6 of the way done and have played a dozen games together. Anyways, some games have made us look like the best team in the NBA and other games make us look like my JV squad back in 8th grade! So I ask you, should we blow this team up, trade away everyone but LMA, Batum and Wes? Or, should we stay the course, let this shortened season play out - even if we suck all season, let the chips fall where they may? Is it still too soon to ask this question?

Marcus Camby's injury got me thinking. With injuries being a part of the game, especially with the Blazers, it seems like the team goes from deep to shallow if just one key rotation player goes down. It seems to me the Blazer's do have money to sign a decent bench player.

Should we even bother, could Pryzbilla be the quick fix, or could Patty help us the most?

Either solution has its ups and downs.

Lets look at Patty. If we choose to sign him, it could mean having a backup PG or another guy sitting on the bench. We don't know for sure if Patty has improved in China and Australia, and if he hasn't, then Nolan will probably get the few minutes ahead of him. Even if he doesn't play, he is the joy of the team and can bring smiles and energy to the team, especially Nic and Wes. If he has improved to where he can play 5 or so minutes a night consistently, then his value skyrockets. Right off the bat, he brings energy to a team looking for sources of energy. He can shoot the three with accuracy, and most of all, maximize Jamal's play, something the team is relying on but isn't getting. Although he isn't a very good defender, I think he is better at D than Nolan and knows Nate's style.

Pryzbilla on the other hand is proven and will give what is expected. He would probably act as Kurt's white twin, and give a decent 10 to 15 minutes off the bench at C or PF. Although he does get injured, between Marcus, Kurt, and Pryzbilla, having one injured at a time wouldn't be all that bad. He doesn't seem so old compared to 37 and 39, and also knows Nate's style of play. He would fit in with the second unit well too, which seems to be slower paced with Kurt, Jamal, and Craig in there (exception: Batum). He isn't a long term solution, but the team isn't made for the long term either. Plus, he could fill out a couple of those empty seats with long time Vanilla Gorilla fans.

Finally, the most likely scenario is signing nobody. Hoping that injuries don't plague the team, Jamal will learn to play a little more PG, and Craig continues to play at around the level he is at, the team seems fine for a deep playoff run given chemistry increases and people start playing to their potential. The season could be rough and tiring, but we have people fighting for minutes and trying to find their roles as we know it.

There doesn't seem to be many other interesting FA left out there, but if there are, comment below. And if signing Patty isn't even possible, please let me know. I kind of assumed at that part.

I have tried to watch every game but I can't seem to recall how often Felton, Aldrige, Wallace, Wesly and Batum play together. Anyone know of a website where I could find this analysis, I feel like there may be one.

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I am trying to think who will have the break out game tonight. I checked out some previous game stats of Felton, and Crawford on their previous teams vs the Spurs. It seems both have had pretty good success, but I think Crawford will have better success tonight. I am still not totally sold on Felton. I still miss Dre.

I would like to see more Felton/Crawford playing together instead of using Jamal as the point. I think he is better at taking shots in crunch times than trying to run the offense, and get his shots. It is too predictable for other teams even though most times he is pretty unstoppable.

A nice backup point guard would be nice. Nolan just isn't going to cut it, and don't even get me started about Armon or Patty Mills coming back. As much as I hate to say it I think we may want to offer Batum to another team for another point guard. I think Batum as good as he is just isn't fitting into the team minutes these days. He should have quite a good value to another team, and it would balance our team even more with a veteran back up point guard.

Will Camby have a good night tonight? I am thinking for some reason he is going to be in foul trouble, and have limited minutes. It sounds like the Spurs are more of a perimeter team, and I am not sure an inside presence is what we need tonight. Tim Duncan is not producing the same numbers, and probably doesn't require a double team these days.

How about Gerald Wallace? He has had some big games against the spurs, and I see him having a pretty good game tonight. I think his aggressiveness will pay off.

I have two things to say:

a) Don't fret if the Blazers have a 4-game losing streak to go to 7-6
b) Because, I wouldn't be surprised to see them run off with victories 12 out of the next 14 games

As I do each year, I try to predict each game, just to see what our playoff chances look like, and to give me some perspective when we hit a rough patch. (It also helps me pick my 1/8 season ticket games)..We could be at 19-8 about a month from now. I pick this stretch of the season because it could bring two really good wiunning streaks. After that it gets more .500-ish.

See the game by game breakdown of the games ahead, and weigh in on the poll, after the jump..

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This team is a compilation of active Players who went to school in the Northwest, or grew up in the Northwest, or was born in the Northwest.

PG: Luke Ridnour. Mario Chalmers (AK), Aaron Brooks. Nate Robinson. Isaiah Thomas. Avery Bradley

SG. Jamal Crawford, Jason Terry, Rodney Stuckey, Klay Thompson, Ronnie Brewer, Brandon Roy*,

SF. Mike Dunleavy, Quincy Pondexter, Martell Webster, Terrence Williams, Austin Daye, Ime Udoka, Josh Davis

PF. Kevin Love, Carlos Boozer (AK), Marvin Williams, Brian Scalabrine, Jon Brockman

C. Spencer Hawes, Ronny Turiaf

What do you think? Let Me know if I missed any.

_______________________________________________________________________

Potential 2012 draftees

Terrence Ross (SG), Tony Wroten Jr. (PG), Terrance Jones(PF), Robert Sacre (PF/C), Abdul Gaddy (PG), Mike Moser (PF)

With him not extending his contract for two years, I think Wallace is going to be able to demand a five year deal. The question is do we want to be overpaying Gerald in four or five years?

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