Out of the Picture

It's All-Star Weekend, and the Blazers are out of the playoff race, with a brutal upcoming schedule and deflated optimism. Long gone are the days where being competitive with upper echelon teams was a given.

What went wrong? Why are the Blazers losing seemingly every time they take the floor?

Here's what I think:

Word got out - the Blazers are pretty good.
Teams used to come to Portland expecting an easy victory. No more. Remember, the Blazers won thirteen games in a row before the playoff race heated up. Now, with essentially 20 teams fighting for playoff position, every game matters, and every team is bringing at least their 'B' game.

James Jones is hurt.
Although Portland ranks top-five leaguewide in three-point shooting, Jones was the only player that was consistent. Webster is incredibly streaky, and Steve Blake doesn't shoot well under defensive pressure. Plus, everybody keeps talking about Jones' locker-room leadership and "presence", and his role as the elder statesman. I don't really put too much faith in that, but at the very least, I can imagine eyes rolling when the younger Blazers have to put up with listening to Jones talk about fishing all the time.

They're overplaying the youth angle.
I have a feeling that these losses aren't affecting the Blazers as much as they should. We are constantly playing the "we're young and inexperienced" card, when in fact we are playing with a lack of effort and, at times, complete carelessness. Also, when Roy missed a couple games due to a death in the family, we completely mailed it in, eliciting numerous "Well, that's what happens when you don't have Brandon Roy in the lineup!" excuses.

Jarrett Jack sucks.
Even I'm tired of reading myself complain about this guy, but Jarrett Jack has just been terrible. I need to find out what Portland's record is when Jack plays over 20 minutes a game. 1-15? 3-20?

I haven't written in a while because I am just outright disgusted after watching or listening to the Blazers this month. I got used to winning, and developed a mindset where if the Blazers won, it's what was supposed to happen; if they lost, it was the Blazers who were not living up to expectations. 28-24 after 52 games? I would have taken that at the beginning of the season in a heartbeat. But I would have been surprised to learn that the majority of our losses have been the result of a plain lack of effort. At times, the team looks like Maurice Cheeks is still at the helm, as evidenced by the outright lack of plays, nonsensical substitution patterns and outright favoritism by the coaching staff.

To have a shot at the playoffs, Portland will need to post at least a 20-10 record for the rest of the season.

Possible. Not bloody likely.

TJH