The Blazers are down to one game in this season, and when it is all over I think there is no way fans can be unhappy. A few more wins and we would have gotten a first round playoff series. Lets be honest, this team is not Finals material. Not yet. Tonight's game is proof, though, that it is coming. Finishing five hundred, at the least, is a huge step. Brandon Roy's All-Star performance was another. Getting rid of Miles, for once and all, is proof that this team is looking to the future, and that they are serious. Two years ago it was the Blazers on the receiving end of blowouts. The other teams starters on the bench, with everything after halftime being garbage time. This time it was Josh McRoberts and Sergio Rodriguez getting cheers, Brandon Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge on the bench, and the Blazers finishing out their home season with a twenty point victory. If not all these players are back for next season, which is likely, at least they have come a long way in two seasons.

The term Rip City is being thrown around a lot to describe this team. As much as I feel like this team needs its own identity, its nice to see that the city is back on board. Its hard to imagine people not enjoying these guys. Next year with Oden, and any of the players that the Miles deal frees up, is going to be something special.

My thoughts on what needs to happen this off season are as follows.

1. Keep all the bigs. It is a unit that plays well together. Tonight Channing Frye found a great rhythm and showed that he can be an important part of the team and needs to stay. LeFrentz could go, but who knows how much his being a veteran will help GO. My guess: A lot.

2. Get Martell Webster healthy. This is pretty simple. Find out what's wrong and fix it.

3. Lock up James Jones. He needs to be a Blazer!!!

4. Think hard about who is going to be the future point guard. I have no suggestions except to say that whoever we decide to get better be a lot better than whichever ones we decide to let go. I would like to keep Steve Blake over Sergio or Jarret Jack, but they all have their upsides and downsides.

5. Don't do anything stupid. Don't trade LA for Shaq, don't trade Roy for TMac, that kind of stuff. We have the right group they just need time to get better.

Here we go '09. We should shoot for top six, that way eight will fill like a let down, and the finals next year will feel like redemption. 

Last night the Blazers were officially eliminated from the playoffs, and by the Lakers no less. Its sad. We all wanted to be back in the playoffs this year, even if we knew that it was unlikely at best. This is a process, and has to be thought of that way. At least we were eliminated from the playoffs in the last month of the season. Two years ago we had the worst record in the NBA. Each season has to be seen as a stepping stone. If the Blazers want to get back into the playoffs and stay there, and WIN!, its better to build little by little. We have the owner who can buy any player that he wants, but, if not making any trades, except for Wafer, shows anything, its that we care about the future. 

There are seven more games of the 07-08 season. Then its the offseason. Time to get GO ready to play. Get Roy healthy. Figure out who our new point guard is going to be. We were close this year. The run at the beginning of the season shows that we can play with anyone. The victory over LA late in the season at the Rose Garden has to be one a highlight. We are going to be ready next year. Probably more ready than any other team in the league. Will that gets us into the playoffs? Who knows, but at least we aren't in last place anymore. If we continue to improve the way we have in the last few years then the future looks bright. 

Although I was not in attendance, by reading both Oregonlive and Blazersedge, it is pretty obvious that Saturday's loss to the Charlotte Bobcats was something that doesn't need to be remembered. The good things that can be taken away from it are mentioned in the Blazersedge, so lets just say that without Brandon Roy this team is lucky when it doesn't fall apart. If the win of Washington is an example of what the Blazers are capable of without their leader, the loss to Charlotte is the same example but in the other direction. Lets hope that when GO is back Roy doesn't spend too much time on the bench. Even though he may be a great player, GO not Roy, which remains to be seen. Its obvious who the Blazers need to lead their team.

Apparently Greg Oden made an appearance at a 24 hour fitness in Tualatin and showcased some of that talent that could belong to the Blazers next season. The incident got a sweet write up on the internet, which of course made its way back to Blazer brass. Coach McMillan let Greg know that playing pick up games with hacks at a gym wasn't part of the prescribed rehab regimen. I agree, as do the many people that commented on Jason Quick's article on Oregonlive. One thing can be said about GO. He is young. He needs help coming around to what his life means now that he is a professional. I heard that when he first moved to town he was fond of throwing big parties. Obviously someone in charge let him know that sitting out a year doesn't mean that you get to party all the time. If GO learns something from this experience, which I'm sure he will, or if he doesn't it will be learned for him, it should be that everything he does from now on will be seen and scrutinized. GO belongs to the Blazers and the city of Portland. If he messes up and doesn't get to play this city will never forgive or forget. On the plus side, at least he wants to play. GO is no DMiles. We should be thankful for that.

Brandon Roy goes out in the first half, LaMarcus Aldridge doesn't play, Portland blows out the playoff bound Washington Wizards. Without their two top players, playing against a surging team, tonight's game could have easily been a give away. Instead the bench stepped up and not only got the win, but got it convincingly.

The Blazers have to win out to make the playoffs, and with upcoming games against Houston, San Antonio, and Los Angeles, it is unlikely that they will get one of the top eight spots. That said, next season is on everyone's mind. Tonight's game was a good example of what is possible in the next few years. Imagine Webster getting 23, Outlaw 20, Pryzbilla pulling in 17 boards, and Roy, Aldrige, and Greg Oden also playing. Its unlikely that the Blazers will need their role players to step up every night next season, but its got to be comforting for Coach McMillian to know that when his best players are out his second string can get the job done. Imagine how he feels knowing what's coming next season.

My player of the game: Raef LaFrentz. 19 mins. played, 3 blocks, 7 rebounds, and six points, two on a dunk that brought the crowd to its feet and the Blazer bench onto the court. James Jones also had some good minutes. He hasn't had the same stroke since his injury, but the more he shoots the better he gets. Of the players that the Blazers need to keep going forward, Jones is at the top of my list. 

One of the stories coming out of last night's loss to the Sonics is the blow to the Blazer's chance of a winning record. Another is the Blazer's shooting woes, something that has plagued the team all year, if they don't shoot well the don't win. With Oden coming next year, giving an inside presence that could be capable of easy baskets in the paint, that problem could be solved.

Those stories notwithstanding, the thing I think is most interesting about the game was that it is possibly the last matchup between the Seattle Super Sonics and the Portland Trail Blazers. If Seattle loses the Sonics, which is looking more and more like the inevitable, Portland will be the lone NBA team representing the North West. Having grown up a Blazer's fan and a citizen of the Pacific North West I must say that if the Sonics leave I will be sad to see them go. I never felt that the Blazers and the Sonics were rivals. Just as I've never felt that Portland and Seattle are rival towns. To be a rivalry there has to be a level of contempt between the two groups proposed to be rivals. Boston and New York is a good example of two cities that hate each other and each others sports team. Because Portland and Seattle are the only two cities of their sizes for almost two entire states, because the states are so similar, and because the cities are so different but still similar, I've always felt that Seattle and Portland were allies, not rivals. When it isn't basketball season, the only pro teams I favor are the ones from Seattle. When the Blazers are falling I've looked to the Sonics as a team to support. One of my favorite basketball players of all time is Gary Payton. He went to college in Corvallis, where I grew up, and played his best basketball in Seattle. The best player on the Blazers, Brandon Roy, grew up in Seattle, and played all of his basketball, at every level, in Seattle. If he had a choice of where to play his pro ball, I'm sure he would have chosen Seattle. The two cities and the two States they represent are linked in a way that is more in friendship than in animosity. 

Its tragic that a historical franchise like the Sonics might be moved. I think that its more tragic that the North West, a part of the country with only four professional sports franchises, might lose one of the pieces that make it what it is. I really don't see last night's game as the end of a rivalry, but more of the end of a friendship between two cities, and two basketball teams. 

The month of March has been a continuation of the ups and downs of the months after the 16 game winning streak of January. After switching off wins and losses and dropping five in a row February, last weeks home and home series with the Clippers was a sign that though the playoffs may be off the table, the Blazers are going to finish the season strong. Friday's game, though not spectacular, was a gutty performance, and a game the Blazers, for reasons of pride alone, could not afford to lose. Saturday's game showed that though they may be almost mathematically eliminated from playoff contention, they are going to fight until the end of the season.

Pryzbilla, on Saturday, set a career high in rebounds, and may have tied the franchise record for boards in a regulation game. 

Tonight's game against the Sonics will be proof of how far this team has come this year. Durant may be the league Rookie of the Year, but what the Blazers have done this year is create a foundation on which to build a future. Its really too bad the same can't be said for Seattle.