Aaron Childers's Blog

Feb 18

At the beginning of this shortened season the Portland Trail Blazers surprised even their own fans by starting out 7-2. Good for second place in the Western Conference at the time, raising eyebrows throughout the NBA community.

As of now, however, the 'zers have fallen to 17-15, about 53%, landing them 9th place in the conference and one game out of the post season if the playoffs started today.

Clearly the Blazers are capable of playing much better than their record indicates with 14 games being decided by 6 points or less,  where the team is 2-12. There's still plenty of time with 34 games left to play, but crunch time execution has been non-existent this season and fans are becoming restless with some calling for the firing of coach Nate while others demanding a trade of Raymond Felton. The only thing everyone can agree on is that something needs to change, but what?

Perhaps a simpler less drastic option would be to shake up the line up a bit. Reassuring faith in Felton would be a good move to restore confidence in his ability to run the team. Encourage Raymond to facilitate by driving and dishing and rely less on a shaky jumper. Also, look to ease Nolan into meaningful minutes behind Felton leaving Jamal to reprise his 6th man role at the 2.

Seeing the impact Batum has been having as of late, starting him would rejuvenate the offense with perimeter shooting and his ability to drive and finish strong. Crash coming off the bench would be ideal for the slashing/shooting combination that is him and Crawford.

There's plenty versatility on this Blazer roster and it's been a streaky season for more than a few teams so far this year. The x-factor will be not if but when the team gets hot.