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RipCityRevival's Blog

Return to blog listing -> What hasn't been said?
RipCityRevival

Dec 14

What hasn't been said?

By RipCityRevival Posted in: Blazers
What hasn't been said about this Portland team this season? "They aren't trying hard enough," so they all try harder. "They aren't getting along," so they have an all player meeting to clear the air. "They aren't pushing the ball," "they aren't establishing a dominant inside presence," "they aren't playing defense," "they aren't shooting well," what hasn't been said and what hasn't been addressed in practice?

I've tried to relieve the games so far this season and think about everything that has happened so far with injuries, losses, and the somewhat slow start they have had so far this year. I realize, it isn't that they aren't working, it isn't that they are making excuses, and it hasn't been the coaching. Basketball has finally become a job for these guys.

It starts with Brandon. He has a lot of responsibility as team captain and franchise player. He has taken his role very seriously, so seriously in fact that the game itself has become a job for him instead of the game he grew up loving so passionately. It is no longer the game he would choose to go outside and play in the snow anymore. They have lost their passion for the game. For guys like Greg and Martel, it has come through battling back from injuries, for guys like Miller and Blake it has come from the criticism of the opposite player's fans.

Guys like Joel, Bayless, and Cunningham still bring it everynight because they don't aren't polarizing. Joel, everybody loves because he just comes out and does his thing. He wasn't great when he came here and he has worked hard and become more than we ever expected in the first place. Bayless still appears to be trying to prove himself through a sea of minimal expectations by the fans. Cunningham is a delightful surprise since he is a rookie anyway.

The problem though is that out of our twelve regular rotational players (when injuries aren't an issue) it appears that only four or five may still have a glimmer of that old love of the game. Maybe we as fans can take a little bit of the blame for this because there is no fan base as passionate about their team as we are and that means that great criticism will come when expectations aren't met.

I challenge Rip City to find a way to encourage our boys, regardless of their injury troubles and other adversities, to find that passion once again. How, in the spirit of the holidays to come, can we give them the gift of that passion we still have for game. It isn't what we do for a living, our escape is their 9 to 5. Let's try to remember that and share our passion with them. Maybe we as fans can help them remember what it felt like to play the game because they loved it and not because money was involved.
Next Story: Dr. Nate

2 Comments

  1. Dude, what you're saying is so true. here's a website that has great insider blazer info, you should check it out. http://ripcityunited.weebly.com/index.html

    by kolbe055 on 12/14/2009 10:08 PM

  2. As a fan, I just want to see the guys with a passion that had last year. Have fun out there. All the expectations and pressures are gone with the Oden injury, so just play ball!

    I know I'll be there for every home game and never miss a road game..I'll be loud, but the team needs to give me something to be loud about :D!

    by DHawes22 on 12/15/2009 3:58 PM
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