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Burning down the Blazers

by Chad Ford

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Also Below: Will Kobe and Shaq join Team USA? | Random Game Notes | Peep Show

Insider Fantasy File: Nov. 26

NBA Scouting Report: Kobe or T-Mac?

Ruben Patterson

Small Forward

Portland Trail Blazers

Profile

2002-2003 SEASON STATISTICS

GM PPG RPG APG FG% FT%

13 7.8 4.5 1.4 .513 .477

You know it's a slow news day when the most noteworthy thing that happened in the NBA Tuesday night was that every member of the Portland Trail Blazers managed to make it through the night without getting arrested.

The Blazers are are on the verge of self combustion. Rasheed Wallace and Damon Stoudamire are up in smoke. Bonzi Wells can't seem to spit out the fire. And the only thing Ruben Patterson isn't beating is his mile long rap sheet. Is it time to blow up the Blazers?

The allegations are just that — allegations. But do the Jail Blazers (quit with the e-mails Blazers fans, they deserve it) really get the benefit of the doubt? The courts, the constitution and Blazer brass have to say yes. But if I'm a Blazers season-ticket holder, I'm walking.

Here's an excerpt from an e-mail from one Blazers fan (sent just before the season started) that demonstrates the depth of the denial.

"The Blazers are quickly moving away from the dysfunctional reputation that media hacks like yourself have bestowed upon them. They're working very hard to win their fans back. ... " -- Brian K., Portland, Ore.

The Blazers' front office has been hard at work. Its "One Fan at a Time" campaign featured Ruben Patterson, among others, going door to door urging fans to go out and support the team. Here's its reward:

Bonzi Wells, fresh off a new, multi-million dollar contract, spit on Danny Ferry. Jeff McInnis got into a fight on the sidelines with a teammate. Rasheed Wallace and Damon Stoudamire were arrested for marijuana possession. And now Patterson was arrested for allegedly assaulting his wife.

Coach Maurice Cheeks has to put up with all of this grief for a .500 team? Is he the Blazers' coach, camp counselor or parole officer? We'd like to see his credentials again.

"I'm not necessarily equipped to handle this," Cheeks told the Houston Chronicle on Tuesday night.

Is anyone?

All Cheeks can do is write some plays on the chalkboard, put an arm around his wayward sons and pray for the best each night when they leave his care. His job is an impossible one. He can't control them off the court. And on the court, he doesn't have enough minutes to keep them happy.

Damon Stoudamire

Point Guard

Portland Trail Blazers

Profile

2002-2003 SEASON STATISTICS

GM PPG RPG APG FG% FT%

11 6.4 3.1 3.8 .326 .667

He has two point guards who expect to start. Two starting shooting guards. Two starting small fowards. Two starting power forwards. Two starting centers. Cheeks resemblance to Noah is uncanny. Not only does he have two of everything, the smell coming from inside the bowels threatens to knock you out on a nightly basis.

Unfortunately for owner Paul Allen, the team can no longer hide that smell from the fans. Blazers fans aren't stupid. They know, by now, that Sheed is never going to be the superstar he could be. That Bonzi ends with an "I". That Patterson's thuggery on the court also follows him off it. That no team in its right mind will take Stoudamire off their hands. That promising young players like Zach Randolph and Qyntel Woods are being corrupted beyond repair.

Bob Whitsitt's willingness to give a guy a second chance used to be charming. But how many "second chance" guys can you have on one team. The Blazers' obsession with "bad boys" borders on the ridiculous. The talent is there. But the chemistry and just about every other intangible you can think of is eaten away by a rotten core.

Still, the fans come. Even Cheeks is wondering why they do it.

"I've got a sympathetic ear for these fans, because I think they're more the issue here," told reporters. "Every time you look in this arena, there's 17,000 people. Despite something happening here, something happening there, still 17,000 are here."

"In our profession, they are grown men," Cheeks added. "We can't keep passing the buck here, passing the buck there. We have to be accountable for the things we do, the things we say."

Who would blame fans in Portland, anywhere, if they eventually had enough?

"I don't know if I would blame them," Cheeks said, hanging his head. "I would understand. Yes, that's their right."

It is. And they should exercise it. The Blazers will change only when the fans force them to. Whitsitt keeps adding talented players with huge rap sheets because the fans keep coming. They keep cheering, buying jerseys and tuning in to watch the freak show.

The Blazers' disaster control team, one of the most experienced in the business, is already at DEF-CON One.

Whitsitt came out Tuesday claiming that the team will be more careful in making future player personnel decisions.

"It's fair to say we've probably been more on the aggressive side in terms of giving guys opportunities," Whitsitt told the Oregonian. "You really have to look at each player case by case, situation by situation. Are we as aggressive, and will we be aggressive (in the future)? I think the answer to that is no. But does that mean you won't still look at things in the future? You have to look at all opportunities. But let's face it, I don't want to call it bad luck. We've had a bad string of situations here, and it's not what we want to go through, so we have to be extra careful going the other way."

I guess that rules out the rumored Latrell Sprewell trade. That, in many ways, is unfortunate. Spree, when compared to the crew in Portland, has been a model citizen.

Rasheed Wallace

Forward

Portland Trail Blazers

Profile

2002-2003 SEASON STATISTICS

GM PPG RPG APG FG% FT%

14 18.5 7.8 2.3 .428 .740

Whitsitt has to do something. The Blazers need to thin out, identify two or three players to build around and send everyone else packing.

Derek Anderson has been the team's one model citizen. Randolph and Woods have promising futures. Everyone else should go.

That includes the team's best player, Wallace. While no one denies his talent, his rudderless leadership isn't getting the Blazers anywhere. He has only one year left on his contract and would be a great addition to a team with a strong leader like the Nets, Wizards, Sonics or Magic. His value around the league is still relatively high and you may be able to package him with an undesirable like Patterson, Stoudamire or Wells to get the ball rolling. Dale Davis and Jeff McInnis also need to go. And even Scottie Pippen, because of his contract status, is worth shopping if Allen is still willing to carry a bloated payroll.

Burn down the ship and send a message to the fans. It's not just whether you win or lose ... it's how you play the game.

Cheeks, fans can stand only so much

Fran Blinebury / Houston Chronicle

Latest missteps don't appear to diminish team's support

Jim Beseda / The Oregonian

Imagine that: a Blazer lecture on truth & light

Steve Duin / The Oregonian

Will Kobe and Shaq join Team USA?

Larry Brown is in. Phil Jackson is out.

Jason Kidd, Tim Duncan, Tracy McGrady and Ray Allen are in. Chris Webber, Kevin Garnett, Allen Iverson, Paul Pierce, Gary Payton, Antoine Walker, Steve Francis, Karl Malone and Jalen Rose have volunteered their services.

Will Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant be joining them this summer in the Olympic qualifiers?

Kobe Bryant

Shooting Guard

Los Angeles Lakers

Profile

2002-2003 SEASON STATISTICS

GM PPG RPG APG FG% FT%

15 27.3 8.9 6.4 .428 .787

They're both playing coy. Bryant claims that he wants to play in Athens in 2004. But he isn't sure he wants to be bothered with the qualifier this summer. USA Basketball is asking players to give a two-year commitment to the program.

"They don't play in June," Bryant told the L.A. Times. "I'll wait a little longer to decide."

With a baby daughter due in February, he'd prefer not to spend several weeks in an Olympic-qualifying tournament this summer.

"My decision on the Olympics, I'm playing in the Olympics," Bryant said. "As long as I'm healthy, I'm going to Athens."

Of course, it isn't really Kobe's decision is it?

"People are really trying to take this and turn this into a bigger deal than what it is, like it's some unpatriotic deal," Bryant said. "It's a bunch of B.S. I want to play. Everybody knows I want to play. ... The NBA knows what my stance is."

Shaquille O'Neal

Center

Los Angeles Lakers

Profile

2002-2003 SEASON STATISTICS

GM PPG RPG APG FG% FT%

3 18.7 8.7 1.3 .500 .476

No one knows what Shaq's stance is. O'Neal playfully grabbed his knee — the left one, this time — when the issue came up. He has said he would play only for Jackson and would have a knee injury if anyone else was coaching.

And yet ...

"It's two years from now," O'Neal said. "A lot can happen in two years."

In other words, he's not traveling to San Juan or Toronto this summer. But if USA Basketball sees fit to let him play in Athens anyway . . . well . . .

Lakers cloudy on Olympics

Howard Beck / Los Angeles Daily News

Attacks on Shaq forget his Olympic service

Karen Crouse / Palm Beach Post

Olympics in 2004 lure Payton

Danny O'Neil / Seattle Post-Intelligencer

Random Game Notes

Tuesday's debut of Dajuan Wagner had me licking my lips for more. Wagner was clearly rusty, but there's no denying the talent. He's tough, quick and a pretty solid shooter. He may not have a position, but his uncanny ability to get it to the basket evoked the obligatory Allen Iverson comparisons after just one game.

"He looked good for the first time out there in the league," Kings guard Bobby Jackson told the News Herald. "The guy has tremendous talent. I see him being another [Allen] Iverson. I think he's a better shooter than Iverson, but his game resembles Allen Iverson to me."

Cavs coach John Lucas wasn't nearly as impressed. "He was average," Lucas said. "This guy has unbelievable ability and he's going to be a very good player. I have to try to get him in positions where he can be successful. Tonight he was not close to what he can do. He was good, but he can be so much better. He's not the same 'Juanny' that is going to be out on the court in a month. He has to get more aggressive and in an attack mode when he's out there."

And despite the Cavs' desperate need for a point guard, Lucas is sticking by his decision to keep Wagner at the two. "Why would you take a guy who scored 100 points in a game and have him run plays for someone else?" Lucas asked.

The big question on everyone's mind right now is how Ricky Davis and Wagner will mesh. Both players are two guards and with Darius Miles anchoring the three, there won't be many minutes to swing. Davis, like Wagner, likes to dominate the ball, isolate and then take it to the basket. Lucas started them both Tuesday night. Can the two co-exist?

"We're going to see him and Ricky [Davis] together on the court. If it doesn't mesh [with Davis], I have to find a way to make it mesh. It's time for him to get his feet wet."

The Hawks could be the first team in a long time to field three players with scoring averages of 20 ppg. Believe it or not, the last team to do it was the 1990-91 Warriors led by Chris Mullin (25.7 ppg), Mitch Richmond (23.9 ppg) and Tim Hardaway (22.9 ppg). The Bucks and Mavs were both close last season, but this year it looks like the Hawks may actually accomplish that feat.

The Hawks beat the Sonics at their own game Tuesday. Seattle has a plethora of scorers -- Gary Payton, Rashard Lewis, Brent Barry, Desmond Mason, Vladimir Radmanovic — but only two of them, Payton and Lewis, are really capable right now of averaging 20 points a night.

The Hawks, on the other hand, are getting nightly performances from Glenn Robinson, Shareef Abdur-Rahim and Jason Terry.

Tuesday night they were even better. Robinson ended with 37 points, Abdur-Rahim chipped in 31 and Terry dropped in 15 points and 10 assists. It's tough to combat that.

Sonics coach Nate McMillian is hoping that Mason, who had a spectacular 23 points Tuesday night, eventually develops into the team's third big scorer.

"Anytime you have three guys who can score you play off them," McMillan told the Tacoma Tribune. "Any team would want that. We have two in Gary [Payton] and Rashard [Lewis] and we're working on getting another, hopefully in a year or so, that we can develop."

If Charles Barkley vowed to kiss Kenny Smith's butt if Yao Ming scored 19 points in a game . . . can you imagine, had someone dared him, what he would've done if the Nuggets won three straight? The Nuggets shocked the Spurs Tuesday with yet another last-second shot, this time by rookie point guard Junior Harrington.

The Nuggets have won three in a row with the game-winner coming in the final 10 seconds. Denver won Friday against the Los Angeles Clippers on a game-winning shot at the buzzer by James Posey. The Nuggets won Saturday against Phoenix on a game-winning lay-up by Ryan Bowen.

What in the name of Juwan Howard is happening in Denver?

"I'll tell you one thing, they've opened up their eyes and their ears are popping," Howard, who scored 23 points, told the Denver Post. "Now, maybe they are starting to take us seriously. Maybe some guys, some writers, some people in the NBA picked us to be last. We don't get into that. Hey, you never know what can happen. No one expected [New] Jersey to do what they did last [season]. No one expected Boston to do what they did last [season]. You never know what can happen in this league."

The Nuggets' defense has been superb and they're getting just enough from Howard and Posey each night to get it done. When Marcus Camby comes back in January, will the Nuggets be a force to be reckoned with?

"This team just guts it out," Posey said. Yes they do. After the team's top two scorers, Posey (15.6 ppg) and Howard (14.8 ppg), its next-best scorer is rookie Nene Hilario at a paltry 7.6 ppg.

Jeff Bzdelik has taught a bunch of rookies to hustle. Jerry West is hoping to get the same thing out of Hubie Brown, but Bzdelik came a lot cheaper.

Good debut by Wagner spoiled

Bob Finnan / Willoughby News-Herald

Lucas: No kid gloves for rookie Wagner

Burt Graeff / Cleveland Plain Dealer

McMillan covets 'big three'

Dave Dondoneau / Tacoma News Tribune

Denver makes it three

Marc J. Spears / Denver Post

Peep Show

Raptors: Antonio Davis apologized to reporters Tuesday for blowing up recently after another tough loss. Davis was angry that a Toronto Star columnist quoted his wife as saying that Davis wanted out of Toronto. "I don't think that was ever a question," Davis replied when asked if he'd ever considered leaving the team. "I never thought about it, I never mentioned it, it was never an issue whether or not I wanted to be a Toronto Raptor. "I'll never be that frustrated, where I'm saying 'Trade me,' just because we lose a couple of games. If that was the case, I really would have been saying it last year. And I never said it. And you never will hear me say it."

Nets: Dikembe Mutombo approached coach Byron Scott and asked him for more minutes Monday. "He's aware of the situation," Mutombo told the New York Times. "I want to see some changing." But Scott wants to see Mutombo change, too. Since the season started Scott has said he wanted to limit Mutombo's minutes from 25 to 30 minutes to keep him fresh for the playoffs. Scott said today that he is keeping Mutombo on the low end of that minutes' estimate because the new center does not know the offense. "I told him exactly what I told him months ago, that it's going to be between 25 and 30," Scott said. "I told him that as the season goes along and he gets a little more familiarized with what he's doing on the offensive end, then his minutes go up."

Suns: Stephon Marbury doesn't like the Suns' new motion offense. "The question was posed to me, and I answered the question, '[Why] aren't you scoring like last year?' Well, the offense doesn't allow me to score like last year." Through 11 games, Marbury is averaging 17.5 points and shooting 39.1 percent from the field. "It just doesn't put myself in a situation where I'm able to create," Marbury told the Arizona Republic. Coach Frank Johnson isn't changing a thing. "He has said, 'I don't like this offense,' " Johnson said. "But he's been a man, and he's come to me about it."

Mavs: Dirk Nowtizki said that three days of rest has done wonders for his Achilles injury. "It's feeling good," he told the Dallas Morning News. "I shot a lot [Tuesday] with no pain at all. I took Sunday completely off, which was good. Then I lifted [weights] and rode the [stationary] bike on Monday." Nowitzki was asked if he or the Mavericks were concerned that the ailment might turn into something more serious. "Not at all," he said. "This is nothing."

Pacers: It didn't take long for Reggie Miller to find his stroke. Miller made his way off the injured list and back into the starting lineup on Tuesday. He scored 13 points in 28 minutes. Still, Miller cautions against big expectations. Miller said the bone bruise in his ankle won't heal until he has postseason surgery to remove the spurs that have built up around it, although the pain usually disappears after he warms up. Although he's been practicing with the team for two weeks, he feared waiting any longer. "The more I waited, the more out of sync I was going to be when I did come back," he told the Indianapolis Star. "It will never be 100 percent again. I'd even take last year's ankle at this point. But I don't have to play major minutes on this team. That's one luxury I have."

Clippers: The team's injury problems got worse Tuesday when it learned Corey Maggette needs arthroscopic surgery on his right knee and will be out four to six weeks. Maggette had been playing with a slight tear of the lateral meniscus cartilage in his right knee, and an MRI showed surgery was a must, the L.A. Daily News reported. "I think he pushed it to the point of losing his effectiveness," coach Alvin Gentry said. "And one thing about Corey, if he says he's hurt, then he's really hurt."

Lakers: The team put forward-center Samaki Walker on the injured list Tuesday and activated forward Mark Madsen. Walker suffered a strained lower back during Sunday night's win against the Milwaukee Bucks and apparently suggested to the Laker staff that he'd need at least the five games required on the injured list. "We just felt, given his demeanor and his mentality about it, it was probably best," coach Phil Jackson told the L.A. Times. "We kind of left this one up to him."

Warriors: The team waived point guard A.J. Guyton Tuesday and is back in the market for another point guard. GM Garry St. Jean told the San Francisco Chronicle that the Warriors are interested in signing a more experienced point guard, an indication that he is not counting on Bob Sura's comeback anytime soon. The Warriors released a statement saying Sura strained his lower back while rehabilitating the strained right-calf injury sustained Oct. 7. They provided no timetable for his return.

Bucks: George Karl said rookie Marcus Haislip may have played his way into more minutes. Haislip grabbed six rebounds in 19 minutes Monday night in a loss in Phoenix. The Bucks need all the help they can get on the boards these days. "If he's the one who is going to clean up our rebounding, he's going to play," Karl told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

Bulls: Chicago Tribune columnist and de-facto Bulls assistant GM Sam Smith is getting on Jerry Krause again. This time he's after the Bulls to bench their young players, especially Eddy Curry, until they start playing better. "Take either Curry or Chandler out of the starting lineup, probably Curry, who could build some defensive confidence by playing against second-team guys. Get veterans on the floor sooner in games and deal for another one. Get rid of some of the backup kids -- there are too many babies around. That's not the way to build a team. Four is enough. Eight is too many."

Davis faces the music

Jennifer Quinn / Toronto Star

Nets' Mutombo Reads Agate Lines for Clues

Liz Robbins / New York Times

Motion offense dashes Marbury's lofty hopes

Paola Boivin / Arizona Republic

Rested Nowitzki gets some tendon loving care

Eddie Sefko / Dallas Morning News

Pacers activate Miller, start him right away

Mark Montieth / Indianapolis Star

Maggette to have knee surgery

Joe Stevens / Los Angeles Daily News

Asked and Answered: Walker on Injured List

Tim Brown / Los Angeles Times

Team forced to deal with Sura injury

Brad Weinstein / San Francisco Chronicle

Bucks rookie earns praise from Karl

Tom Enlund / Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

Quit coddling the big babies

Sam Smith / Chicago Tribune

[beav]

actually that seems like a pretty fair assessment of what is going on with the blazers... all of the good moves that whitsitt made when he first started (strickland for rasheed), have been erased by the absolutely horrendous trades (jermaine oneal for dale davis) and signings of absolutely reprehensible a**holes (ruben patterson)...

but whitsitt is paul allen's guy, and I don't think that allen would ever fire him... short of whitsitt getting hit by a bus or having a rare flash of conscience and stepping down (about as equally likely) then we're stuck with him indefinitely...

[cyman3]

i would be frustrated like crazy if i was a PORTLAND fan rite now...

in my opinion, i dont see the BLAZERS going anywhere now or in the next 3-4 years... they have NO FUTURE. shoot, even the BULLS and GRIZZLES have a brighter future in the next 3-4 years than the BLAZERS.

I think its best for them to TRADE ALL THEIR PLAYERS!!!! Wallace has the MOST TRADE VALUE... u can get good quality starters with him.... trade WELLS too!

[beav]

I don't think that it is as bad as all that... the blazers still do have a lot of talent... and given all of the problems cheeks has done a pretty good job keeping the lid on (they did win last night against the rockets)... they are so incredibly deep and talented that they will make the playoffs regardless, so if your definition of not going anywhere includes the playoffs I don't think that it is that dire... (what they do after that will probably not be impressive)

if they can find anyone stupid/desperate enough to take stoudamire off of their hands (hello scott layden?) that is a nice step.... also the embarassment of having patterson needs to be addressed by cutting him plain and simple if they cannot trade him... however it is unlikely that will happen...

Plus the blazers are the only game in town!

THE FANS: Latest missteps don't appear to diminish team's support

11/27/02

JIM BESEDA

Well, it's not as though the Trail Blazers have never gotten into trouble before.

Portland fans have had other opportunities -- unfortunately, plenty of them -- to express support or disdain for the Blazers in the aftermath of their scrapes with the law.

So, the anticipatory atmosphere Tuesday night at the Rose Garden wasn't unprecedented. It was natural to wonder how the fans would react toward Ruben Patterson, who was arrested and charged with felony domestic assault Monday, three days after Damon Stoudamire and Rasheed Wallace were cited for marijuana possession.

Patterson took the night off, and the fans who showed up for the game -- and attendance appeared far lower than the announced figure of 18,088 -- generally seemed forgiving and willing to separate the Blazers' on-court effort from their off-court lives.

Again.

"Well, I think they're wonderful," said Lola Gannon, a season ticket-holder from Gladstone. "You know, they have their ups and downs, but they're still our Blazers and I'm proud of them.

"Our own children do things that we wish they wouldn't do, but that doesn't make them bad people. There are going to be people who wish they hadn't done what they did, and I'm one of them, but they did it and so what? It's no big deal."

Roy Bonnett of McMinnville said he had reservations about calling himself a Blazers fan in light of recent events.

"It takes my breath away," Bonnett said. "I mean, it really does."

The Blazers, he said, "really need to step up to the plate. I don't know whether it has to happen in the front office, but somebody needs to get ahold of what is happening. This team is self-destructing in the eyes of the fans."

Patterson was given the night off to deal with his personal problems, and Harlan Hardy of Gresham was among those disappointed that Patterson didn't play.

"I love the way he plays. I think he's a great player," Hardy said. "His domestic disputes or whatever, we all have them. Maybe not to the extreme that maybe he had; I don't know. I'm not going to let it change the way I feel about him. I like the way he plays on the court."

Blazers coach Maurice Cheeks said before the game that he sympathizes with fans who are disenchanted with the team, and he hopes recent events don't turn into a distraction on the court.

"We hope that it does not come to this again," Cheeks said. "But we will find a way to get through it, and I hope the fans will find a way at some point -- maybe they won't do it now, but at some point -- to forgive us, because we will at some point do it the right way.

"We will find a way to get through this particular situation. And if another situation comes about, we will find a way to get through it."

Blazers guard Derek Anderson said before the game that the players were treating Patterson's absence as if he were out with a sprained ankle.

"What if he's injured and not playing? What's the difference?" said Anderson, who bailed Patterson out of jail Monday. "He's not there. We just go on with what we have."

Anderson said Patterson has the support of his teammates.

"It's like your family," Anderson said. "Y'all have problems in your family, but y'all stick by each other. And that's what we do with this team, we stick by each other no matter what happens. That what we do here.

"We don't care about whatever happens with any other organization. We care about ourselves, and that's all we do. We're one family. If a kid gets in trouble, you go get him, you talk to him, and you try to make sure he makes better decisions."

Blazers president Bob Whitsitt met with reporters about three hours before Tuesday's game and apologized to fans for his players' off-court indiscretions.

"This is embarrassing, it's frustrating, it's disappointing and I'm sure we've got a lot of angry fans, because we've got a lot of angry people inside the organization, too, and rightfully so," Whitsitt said. "I'm not here to be the judge and jury in this situation, either. I'm just here to tell you I don't want to be talking about this. We shouldn't be talking about this."

Commentators on ESPN's "NBA 2Night," including respected former San Antonio Spurs forward Sean Elliott, wondered when Blazers owner Paul Allen would just throw his hands up and say enough -- presumably meaning dismantle the team. Elliott was critical of the Blazers acquiring too much talent, saying an eight-man core with role players is about right.

Even before the latest incidents, Whitsitt had been criticized for acquiring players with problem-ridden pasts.

Certainly, that was the case with Patterson, whose previous brushes with the law included a conviction on misdemeanor assault charges for breaking a man's jaw in Cleveland and allegations that he forced his family's nanny to perform a sex act while he was a member of the Seattle SuperSonics.

"It's fair to say we've probably been more on the aggressive side in terms of giving guys opportunities," Whitsitt said. "You really have to look at each player case by case, situation by situation.

"Are we as aggressive, and will we be aggressive (in the future)? I think the answer to that is no. But does that mean you won't still look at things in the future? You have to look at all opportunities.

"But let's face it, I don't want to call it bad luck. We've had a bad string of situations here, and it's not what we want to go through, so we have to be extra careful going the other way." Jim Beseda: 503-221-8380; jimbeseda@news.oregonian.com