Off the Glass

Portland players blaze their way toward mediocrity

Bonzi Wells could be a valuable fantasy player if he only got some a few more minutes per game. Victor Baldizon/NBAE/ Getty Images

By Paul Forrester, Special to CNNSI.com

OTG remembers it as clear as yesterday's meat sandwich. It was about 10 years ago and we had settled into the comfort of a couch that needed a shower to watch a regular-season-dominant Portland Trail Blazers finally dismantle the Los Angeles Lakers of Magic Johnson in the Western Conference Finals. With Clyde Drexler, Jerome Kersey and a Terry Porter in his prime, the Blazers were sure to dispatch with the fan-favorite Lakers before dealing Michael Jordan a loss in the Finals. The proceedings would be even sweeter for an official OTG supporter known as the Big Man, whose upbringing along the Oregon coast engendered him with a love of the Blazers we doubt anyone outside of the state shared.

Too bad Clifford Robinson was born in Buffalo.

For almost simultaneous with the ball bouncing off of Robinson's hands underneath the Lakers' basket -- thereby paving the way for a Magic-versus-Michael Finals -- the mild-mannered Big Man (outside of that thing with the seagull and the Pop Rocks) arose from his seat on an adjacent couch, grabbed a nearby chair and tried to send it through a balcony door that separated the couches from the outside world.

The event gave OTG a whole new understanding of why Portland is known as Clutch City.

Unfortunately for fantasy owners the world over -- and the Big Man --the moniker is still appropriate. What fan wouldn't want to strangle the Blazers? On an individual basis, no team has more talent. Yet as a group, no team has produced more disappointing results: a game below .500 in the standings, a fan base that is growing increasingly disenchanted and a player rotation that has depressed stats.

Mailbag

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Only two players on the team average 36 minutes or more a night (Rasheed Wallace and Damon Stoudamire), a factor that essentially pours water on a fire that's been dying since the season began. Consequently, we are subjected to a Derek Anderson scoring three fewer points a game than he did last season in San Antonio and missing more than 60 percent of the shots he is taking. We are also left to watch a declining Dale Davis struggle to put up nine points and eight boards while seeing fewer than 30 minutes of court time.

And what about Bonzi Wells? Despite his devil-may-care attitude toward the fans, he is hitting almost 50 percent of his shots, grabs six rebounds a night and scores 17 a game – all that in only 32 minutes. Some quick calculating via the OTG abacus and we figure that if he played a not unreasonable 38 minutes a night, Wells would yield 20 points and seven rebounds, those might account for a jump in the standings of a few fantasy owners. Ironically, the poster boy for Portland's troubles is Wallace, who has managed a career-best 19.6 points and 8.5 rebounds a game while adding a steal and a block. The points have come at a price, though, as the career 51 percent shooter has slipped to a very pedestrian 45.

While anything can happen as the trade deadline fast approaches, we have little faith that GM Bob Whitsitt will be able to jettison enough without bringing in an equally questionable mix of talent. What else can we think when Nick Van Exel's name has been dropped as one possibility. Wonder how Nick at Night will take to spreading the ball around to Scottie Pippen and Derek Anderson?

The Catch-22 for the fantasy owner is that if the Blazers were to truly play as a team, the big numbers out of Wallace and the middling numbers out of Wells would probably take a dip while the team's win totals would bend upward. As that doesn't appear to be even close to a possibility, Portland looks "poised" to keep frustrating everyone who watches the club. Just keep the Big Man away from the furniture.

Mailbag

Where do you think Marc Jackson will end up? Is he worth having on a fantasy team?
-- John, Boston

Signs have him in Orlando, but until any deal goes down, everybody is just shooting darts. As Jackson has approval on any trade, the final destination will be up to him. Of course, when you only see playing time in the few weeks before the trading deadline, isn't any location better than Golden State?

Should Jackson find a new home, his ideal numbers should be around 14 ppg and eight rpg. The limitations Jackson will exhibit depend on his new team (we don't quite see him notching consistent scoring totals with Tracy McGrady and Mike Miller hoisting up shots in Orlando) and on his productivity in a style based outside of the low post. Friend of the column, The Tax Man, was the first to pinpoint Jackson's lack of presence down low after watching an inordinate number of Golden State games last season after habitually arriving home late from work. Consequently, Jackson's block totals (about one every two games) are abysmal for a man who's 6-foot-10. But in a league in which more than one team is thirsting for the services of Leon Smith, a former rookie-of-the-year candidate who can score, board and shoot consistently like Jackson is someone to go after should he be let loose.

What's up with Jalen Rose? His recent shooting slump and reduction in playing time has really hurt my roto team. Should I wait and see or offer in a trade?
-- Tim, Florida

Isiah Thomas, that's what's up with Jalen Rose. To be a bit more precise, though, it's what's down in Rose's case, which is everything -- minutes, points, shots and, most importantly, respect from his coach. Rose is squarely in Thomas' doghouse, in equal parts because of lackadaisical defensive play on the court and lackadaisical work habits off the court -- or so Thomas has subtly and not so subtly hinted at times.

The end result is the proverbial double-edged sword: Rose won't produce for you if you keep him and he won't produce much for his services if you trade him. That said, your window for trading Rose is closing fast. Should trade talks involving Rose produce an actual transaction, his value should jump a bit in anticipation of a fresh start. If Thomas has a change of heart and retains the former Fab Fiver, though, you might take the risk that he somehow wedges his way back into Thomas' good graces. The risk might be worth more than you can get for him on the open market.

I picked up Theo Ratliff and dropped Zydrunas Ilgauskus. I'm thinking about Jahidi White for Brendan Haywood. Was either one right move? Is there a better move to make? -- John Haskins, Winston Salem, NC

Both good moves. A healthy Ratliff is a block machine (twice the number the Z-Train will get) and shoots better than 50 percent from the floor. While the health question is something that seems destined to dog Ratliff throughout his career, the risk can't be any greater than the one that accompanies the Cleveland center every time he takes a step on those feet made of porcelain.

Haywood has been one of the key ingredients to Washington's rise in the standings -- and OTG's latest bout of groveling before the soon-to-be-divorced one. As we mentioned last week, the North Carolina pedigree and some steady numbers off the bench have made Haywood the golden child in Michael Jordan's eyes and should put a gleam in the eyes of fantasy owners stuck combing the free-agent wire for any substance resembling a big man.

 

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