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Truth be told, I'm on vacation right now. But dire times require dire blog posts from New York (where, by the way, the Knicks have a better record than the Blazers). For the sixth consecutive game the Portland Trail Blazers lost, falling 83-79 to a miserable Washington Wizards team. While the game should have been about the glorious return of Joel Przybilla, plus the easiest matchup of this road trip (Washington has not beat any opponent with a winning record), it instead marked a new low point of Nate McMillan's tenure as head coach. That includes his 2005-06 debut where Portland won all of 21 games, but that team was loaded with a cavalcade of superstars like Sergei Monia, Viktor Khryapa, Voshon Lenard, Charles Smith, Juan Dixon, Brian Skinner, and (of course) Ha Seung-Jin. In fact McMillan should have won Coach of the Year for milking 21 wins from a roster like that.
During this current slide the Blazers are averaging less than 39 points in the second half of all six loses. Portland's sheer offensive ineptness was made evident tonight when the team scored a whopping ten points in the third quarter. Oh yeah, it should be mentioned here that the Wizards have one of the worst defenses in the NBA. The Blazers' 79 points were 27 less than what the Wizards normally give up in a game. Portland's rigid offensive formula of jump shots (or else) means that the Blazers come nowhere near the charity stripe—in these half-dozen losses Portland has a freethrow differential of -46.
I know, I know, OdenkneemicrofractureRoykneeinjuriesgypsycurse, etc. It's impossible to ignore years of consistent/freakish injuries, but that can no longer be an excuse. When it comes to talent, this is not a 8-11 team. That begs the question, what should the Blazers do? Is it a matter of trading for new blood? But the team is too shallow off the bench to make up for losing Przybilla and Andre Miller (and their lucrative expiring contracts). Or do they let go of McMillan? Certainly members of the franchise have been fired for less. Regardless of what is done, this team has some big questions to answer in the coming weeks. Before things get worse.
