The Death March Continues
Andrew R Tonry | Thursday, December 2, 2010 at 7:45PM 
Depleted and depressed, the Trail Blazers picked up their rifles, gave a cursory dressing to the wounded, and marched silently towards Saigon with cigarettes ablaze.
I mean, wait a damn minute—to Washington.
They’re going to see a team almost as forlorn and weary as themselves, the Wizards—a fine mild lozenge to help the wayward Blazers step towards recovery or at least salvage the fleeting sense of self. But then again, that’s what many people—Vegas included—thought about recent visits to New Jersey and Philadelphia. They were favored.
Step back one year, now, the injury-plagued Lost Season. At that time, bringing home anything less than a 3-1 record from this same four-game Eastern swing would’ve been seen a substantial disappointment.
This is how far the mighty have fallen: a near-comeback against the checked-out Celtics that still resulted in a loss is toughed as a “moral victory.”
But I don’t believe in “moral victories.” Especially this one—with a sixteen point lead in the game’s final minutes Wednesday, the Celtics basically tuned out. They cared like high school seniors on Friday afternoon.
The Blazers have been that bad. And yet the Wizards are worse. They have not won a single game on the road. Perhaps worse, the Wizards are coming off a 19 point loss to the Raptors. That’s right. Toronto—perhaps the largest talent hole of talent in the NBA.
Maybe that’s the lesson here—in the National Basketball Association there’s always room to fall further.
(An Aside - If I owned the lowly Raptors, knowing I could not build a championship-level team in the cold Canadian snow—or even a decent playoff team—I would assemble a cast of all Canadian players. The lowly hucks would play for nothing but national pride. They would be horrible, but sell tickets. Someday a movie would be made about them, aggrandizing a improbable but otherwise meaningless regular-season loss. Instead of the Raptors I’d call them the Moose. If I owned the Wizards, I’d move the team—Washington is almost as cursed as Cleveland.)
Bahh, screw that.
The Blazers, who’ve lost five-straight for the first time since 2007-08, aren’t quite as bad as they’ve looked recently. Surely something is wrong must be remedied, but even with a hobbled lineup they’ve got more talent than to be falling short to the league’s cellar.
There a longer terms issues to sort out, but in the immediate perhaps a dash of Joel Przybilla, who hopes to finally return on Friday, will give the Blazers the emotional kick that line-up shuffles, Patty Mills and Sean Marks couldn’t.
The Wizards are equally lost and searching despite the solid play and excitement surrounding first overall pick John Wall, who’s averaging an impressive 18 points and nine assists per game. Aside from Wall, Andray Blatche and the corpse of Gilbert Arenas, the Wizards are basically fielding a D-League team.
And if Portland can’t beat that, well, forget the soul searching—it’ll be time to blow everything up and start again.
TIP-OFF: 4:00PM
TV: Comcast
RADIO: 95.5FM
VEGAS LINE: Portland -3.5
Reader Comments (6)
The one silver lining to massive losses in a row...possible new head coach.
Maybe one who would smack Roy upside the head for statments such as:
“It just depends,” Roy said. “Do we have enough to win a game here and there? Yeah. But we’re thin. I don’t think that’s a secret.
“I just think we have to be realistic with how we continue to approach these games. We’ve almost stepped back into a developing phase. We’re developing guys again. I think we’re developing our bench. I think that’s some of the frustrations we’re having.”
“Confidence is low,” Roy said. “It hasn’t been this low since my rookie year. It’s hard to say exactly what’s wrong, but I think some of it is definitely confidence.”
These are the words I want to hear from a max contract team "LEADER"...NOT.
It appears Roy is not feeling very good about the state of his knees...a very normal reaction. However, I do NOT appreciate his attitude about the team. Does he WANT the team to feel as bad as he does? Seems like it to me.
True Dat. Mediocrity is UNACCEPTABLE!
Przy will save us...I guess.
The more I watch this team, the more I'm thinking that giving Roy the year off "for the playoffs" (nudge nudge) is a good idea.
Fuck it. Let's blow this up and try again next year, save Roy some tire tread, and maybe flip coaches/personnel.
One thing I think folks have failed to point out is the fact this team isn't put together all that well, and not nearly as deep as we all imagined. There are four players who either don't, or shouldn't, see the court at all.
Sean Marks is about as bad of an NBA player as I've ever seen- the last kid on the playground picked, and the player team mates cringe when they must pass him the ball- He's a freaking nightmare.
Patty Mills looked like hell in his promotion, dribbling out the shot clock, playing Ruby style defense and basically looking like an average D-League player.
Who knows about Babitt and Armon, but why the hell would we be relying on low draft picks? Last year players like Webster and Bayless had moments that won games, even while half the team lounged in the infirmary. And let's not forget about the consistent presence of Juwan Howard and our now razor thin and weak minded front line....
Jesus, why again did we trade Bayless? 16, 6, and 5 in the fore mentioned Washington game, just sayin. Was this a result of Cho realizing the cupboards were a lot barer than he was led to believe? Did anyone mention they just gave a max deal to a superstar with no knees?
This team as it stands right now is, as Roy said, thin.... That's not the players fault, nor is it the coaches. Though I will say the team looked a lot more like a team those games Roy has sat, and what happened to the point/center Camby passing offense Portland flashed during those few games?
Again, just sayin......
As a fashion Coach Factory Outlet,I always wish that I had a Louis Vuitton Outlet range of LV Bags, covering all Coach Factory Outlet Online and Louis Vuitton Outlet. Coach Factory has released a series of fabulous fashion Burberry Scarf, and Gucci Chanel Handbags are no exception. The pair of Coach Outlet Online worn by the female model is a Louis Vuitton Purses rectangle frame Coach Outlet Store with Coach Handbags Outlet and Cheap Louis Vuitton Bags protection. The Coach Factory is a interlocking G detail on temple. The Louis Vuitton Handbagsconsists of burgundy plastic frame, violet Coach Factory Outlet Online lens and light gold Louis Vuitton.While the pair wore by the male model is a pair of small rectangle frame Coach Factory Online with Gucci trademark logo on temple. It is also 100% UVA and UVB protection. It consists of black plastic frame, grey lens and light gold hardware.