Midseason Grades
Ezra Ace Caraeff | Sunday, January 17, 2010 at 2:17PM 
We have reached the midseason point of the 2009-10 season and the Portland Trail Blazers are currently resting in second place in the Northwest Division with a 25-16 record. Normally this is where we would cull our vast professional knowledge and write a midseason report. But, truth be told, we're pretty drunk from this Mark Sanchez drinking game (take a shot every time someone mentions his "poise") we're playing right now.
That being the case, you want you—yes, YOU—to comment below on what grades you would give this current lineup. Other than the incompletes for Greg Oden and Joel Przybilla, what would you give LaMarcus Aldridge? Andre Miller? The newly improved Martell Webster? Get out your red pen and start grading. We'll sober up enough to comment along with you.
Reader Comments (5)
Ok, here we go. I'm a hard grader, but the grades all get pulled down a bit due to how Portland played in November. Also, the grades are not perfectly comparable to each other. Each player is graded based on their own expectations.
Brandon Roy: B+. His amazing second quarter is mitigated by his early season struggle,s and the problematic play alongside Greg and Andre, though there were mitigating factors. Very likely he'll end up with an A by the end of the year.
Aldridge: C-. It may get retroactively changed to "Inc" if it turns out his play was due to his ankle problems. This felt like a reversion to his rookie season a bit.
Miller: B. Miller moves into the starting lineup, and suddenly Portland doesn't have 1st quarter deficits anymore. He can't get a higher grade because there have been problems integrating into the team, and it drops when you complain publicly, regardless of whether the complaints were reasonable. He's probably the most mis-used active player.
Webster: B+. He had a tough streak (possibly due to his changing role), but he's made through it nicely. He's made a big difference this season. His defense is a revelation. If he keeps this up, he may have an A at the end of the season.
Bayless: B-. Up and down. But good progress, and that grade is likely to rise as the season moves along.
Blake: D+. Just a bad start to the season. He's had good games, but a number of poor ones. And you can't avoid that creeping feeling that, if he wasn't on the court at all, the team would improve in the short and long term.
Juwan Howard: B+. Zero expectations, and he's done lots more than expected. Plus he seems like a good guy, and loves bringing energy to the court and making a difference. Sure, he's not doing as much as Joel or Greg would, but we needed everything he's offered.
Dante: C+. Good energy, but very close to an incomplete, so judgments are hard to make.
Pendergraph: B-: He's bringing energy and toughness. When I hear that he's entering the game, I perk up.
Incompletes: Rudy, Greg (A- before he went down), Joel, Patty, Shavlik, Travis.
Team grade: The grade for November would be so different than December and January, it's too early to call.
Coaching grade: Ditto.
This is in response to Tim...I do NOT think you are an easy grader AT ALL!!!
I think that Juwann Howard should get an A+ for one thing. (response to Tim) How is B+ an EASY GRADE for Juwann???? The guy was supposed to play minimum back up minutes. In addition to playing >30 minutes a game he is coaching the rookies...A+ in my book.
A few comments before the grading begins: It's important to remember that grading is subjective and mid-season grades are really a measure of expectations. Based on that, here are my grades for Portland:
Roy: A- He is carrying this team and not letting down any expectations for a two time all-star. It would be a solid A if not for the injury concerns.
Aldridge: C. He's not stepping it up. Besides aches & pains, is he having big contract let down?
Miller: C+ It would be a D- if not for the month of January. He wasn't getting the playing time to get back into shape and is just now getting comfortable.
Webster: A- Rough start to the season, but for how long he was out he has adjusted nicely. Can't wait to see what he can do in the coming years if his play can stay consistent.
Bayless: C+ He's just too inconsistent. I get nervous every time he touches the ball. He's shown flashes of brilliance (starting in place of Roy), but I'm not convinced he isn't just reckless with some luck.
Blake: C- He's just not been in this season yet. I'd like his flaming bag pass numbers go down and his shooting percentage to stay up.
Howard: A. This guy has stepped up big time. He could've been taking it easy coasting through these twilight years at the end. Instead he's working his tale off and coming in clutch. Did anyone predict Portland fans would be buying Juwan Howard jerseys at the beginning of the year?
Cunningham: C. Portland brass had high hopes for him coming in. He's handled the surprise of playing time well, but it's too soon to tell what he'll become. He's very athletic and it would be great if he could play a little more physical.
Pendergraph: A- He has amazed everyone with the role he's taken on this team (you'll find him in the middle of the pre-game circle getting everyone worked into a frenzy). He plays with such intensity and is carrying Joel's spirit of toughness.
Fernandez: C. Didn't get into a rhythm before he got injured and will need some time before getting back into the full swing.
The rest of the injured guys & Patty don't get grades since they're out of the picture all together right now. One comment on Joel & Greg though, it's just bad luck. The Blazers have to plan their future around LA & Roy. Anything they get from Oden is gravy and will help tremendously, he just can't be relied on.
Coaches grades:
McMillan: A. Solid grade for handling a freakish year and keeping this group together. Also, extra credit for getting onto the court and sacrificing his Achilles for the sake of the team.
Monty Williams: A+ He stepped up huge on the east coast trip without Nate and got the team to stop navel gazing. The job offers are going to start coming in for him to get a top dog spot with another team any day now. This is a healthy sign for the Blazers. Good coaches reproduce good coaches (think Bill Parcells).
Team Grade: C+/B-
Too many bad losses to bad teams. Memphis is big, but making Zack look like an all-star in unconscionable.
The Clippers are The Clippers.
The Wizards? Come on. Philadelphia. The Knicks. The Warriors.
The Blazers have looked unprepared far too often, and the injury thing is no excuse for not knowing one's role, where the ball should go, or who should be taking which shots.
Even the big wins have come with question marks attached.
I don't think one big victory has come when the opponent played particularly well. See: Mavs, Spurs, Lakers, Magic.
Remember Atlanta? They beat the Blazers with relative ease, both here and there.
Cleveland made them look like Miami, one good player and several lost souls.
Still, as presently constructed, the Blazers are lucky to be where they are.
This is not a Blazer bash session, but rather a testimonial to Brandon Roy's greatness.
He is truly remarkable, yet everyone else has been much less so, with the possible exception of Howard.
Martel totally sucked until just recently. Andre: confused, yet eager to shoot a bad shot. Blake: no confidence in his shot. Aldridge: discombobulated. Bayless: great one day, terrible the next.
The rookies are eager, but is this what Blazer fans should be talking about? 2nd round rookies?
Yeah, I'd rather be spouting Odenesque platitudes, but life is what it is, no?
A return to the lottery is not all that unlikely.
Think about it.
The West is very, very good. One look at the standings and simple math dictates that two pretty good teams will be staying home. To my personal chagrin, Portland could easily be one of them.