So Far So Good

Dear Kevin Pritchard,

The last time I wrote to you, my thoughts were so jumbled.  How could they not be?  Greg hadn’t done anything; people were a little scared.  Most of Portland hadn’t heard of Jerryd Bayless.  Channing Frye was loved by everyone.  Now in the middle of trade rumors, I don’t hear a lot of screaming about the possibility of shipping Frye for a certain Knickerbocker.   Times have changed.

One thing hasn’t changed: Martell Webster still isn’t fully recovered from injury.  You said that you would have made him your pre-season prediction for most improved player on the team.  If I respect your opinion as much as I do (which I do), that’s high praise indeed.  Steve Blake is no doubt a drastically improved player from last year, and Sergio can look downright brilliant when everybody is paying attention to Brandon.  Those two guys in particular clearly showed a drastic improvement in the offseason, and you’re telling me that your prediction would have been Martell?  I’m pretty excited to see this.

Speaking of Sergio, let’s talk about the trade.  Sergio is great when he doesn’t have to create all the shots, but we’ve seen what his offensive limitations do to us in the recent games without Roy.  Obviously our entire backcourt has not done an adequate job of filling in, but all the other guys are simply missing their shots.  Sergio isn’t as able to get those good shots for himself.  He would certainly flourish in a more spread-out offense (a la D’Antoni).  But would Rudy be okay without him?  I read one interview where in response to a question about his chemistry with Sergio, Rudy responded by saying that he could develop that kind of chemistry with other players on the team with more playing time (namely Steve Blake).  It was interesting to me that he chose to point that out.

Jerryd Bayless – well, I’ve already professed my love for him.  David Lee is certainly a valid consideration, so I don’t blame you if you’re in negotiations.  But we still don’t need to trade anybody.  I like the idea of letting it “bake,” as you put it.

Until next time…

Thanks K.P.,

Ian

Let Me Introduce Myself

Dear Kevin Pritchard, let me introduce myself.

My name is Ian Thackaberry, and I want to thank you for the Portland Trailblazers.

I listened to your discussion with Sean Meagher today, and I was inspired to tell you how much I enjoy watching this team develop. I feel like I waited SO LONG for the season to begin, and now that it has I’m excited for every possession of every game. I loved your points about not feeling like you have to do much. We have all of these tools; sometimes it seems like too many (especially when Martell gets back). Let’s let them develop and see what we have going on here.

It was especially great to hear what you had to say about Nicolas Batum. I could not agree more about him looking surprisingly comfortable; like he belongs in the NBA. He represents a very unique and valuable weapon to have on a winning team.

I’ve said a lot about Greg in my blog already, so I’ll just say this: I’m excited for the day he gets comfortable. In the mean time, it’s very fun to watch him affect each and every game in a positive way for the Blazers.

I have a lot of questions for you about the roles of Channing, Jerryd, and Travis, but you wouldn’t be able to tell me anything anyway. You’ve managed to build a team with chemistry second only to Boston, in my opinion. So, keep following your instincts; they’ve been spot on so far.

I think we (the public) forget that this is an every day job for you guys. You have to go in every day and work at it. And we can be greedy; no matter what the team accomplishes, we demand more. But the only reason we expect so much is because you’ve built a team that allows us to do so. Almost every NBA team has problems keeping them from growing, but we don’t have anything holding us back.

Mr. Pritchard, sometimes I feel like you’re the only one who really understands. Your modesty is something that we can all learn from as fans. Look to the playoffs. Let’s concentrate on improving and learning each game, let’s make the playoffs, and let’s measure ourselves when the time comes. We have plenty of time to make adjustments when we see what we truly have. I have a feeling we won’t need to make many.

Thank you again,

-Ian Thackaberry