Cheeks, fans can stand only so much
Fran Blinebury of the Houston Chronicle describes the Portland Trailblazers as "the most rudderless ship in the NBA." If only he knew how accurate a description that is.
Let's see, currently you have three of the 12 players on the roster due to be arraigned on December 6th. Another, Bonzi Wells, is a head case looking for a place to go off. Scottie Pippen is a self-centered, self-absorbed asswipe who woke up on third base and thought he'd hit a triple. Jeff McInnis, a man lucky to merely have a roster spot, is complaing about (what else?) a lack of playing time. And it gets worse. Pity poor Maurice Cheeks, the coach and ringleader of this 12-ring circus.
There are times Maurice Cheeks isn't sure whether he's a basketball coach or a fireman.
Even in the best of times, the Trail Blazers are a surly, snarling, difficult group.
These are not the best of times.
Not with a 7-7 record after Tuesday night's ugly 77-71 win against the Rockets. Not with forward Ruben Patterson arrested and charged with felony domestic assault. Not with forward Rasheed Wallace and guard Damon Stoudamire cited on misdemeanor charges of possessing marijuana three days earlier. Not with forward Bonzi Wells having served a one-game suspension for spitting on the Spurs' Danny Ferry at San Antonio on Nov. 9.
"I'm not necessarily equipped to handle this," Cheeks said.
Who is?
Today's professional coaches are paid exorbitant amounts of money to control athletes over whom they really have no control. They are expected to have all of their focus on the X's and O's of winning games, while juggling the constantly increasing distractions of modern life.
The players coming into the league keep getting younger. The contracts keep getting larger. The responsibility gap keeps growing wider.
"It's a tough situation for Ruben, for his family," Cheeks said. "We have to give him time to work with his family.
"I feel bad for everybody involved. But I really feel bad for the fans who are still trying to support us through all of this. You know, it's pretty tough for the fans. I feel bad for them because despite everything, they come in here and cheer and stand behind us."
Yes, but for how much longer? The Rose Garden, a venue the Jailblazers regularly sold out in better (less criminal) times, looked as if it was not even half-full last night. The Blazers are the only major-league sport in Portland, and it says a lot when the fans aren't showing up. Portland has for years lived and died with the fortunes of it's basketball team.
It is a town with one big-time sports franchise, one outlet for the pro sports fan. But in Portland, in every city, there has to be a line that eventually is crossed.
I lived in Portland for almost 15 years. When I first moved there in 1983, people were still living off the fumes of the Blazer's 1977 NBA championship. The team sold out the old Memorial Coliseum for years. When the Blazers played (and lost) in the NBA Finals in 1990 and 1992, the city almost literally ground to a halt. The team's roster was populated with good people who were popular in the community- Drazen Petrovic, Buck Williams, Clyde Drexler. They were accessible, recognized their role, and represented the community well. That can't be said about the current group of miscreants, criminals, crybabies and losers that take up roster spots. No wonder Portland is jumping ship.
The Blazers virtually have ignored questions of character in assembling a team that has been more notorious for its antics and arrests than its achievements.
Even when Patterson was signed as a free agent in 2001, he was a potential problem. In the preceding 14 months, he had been convicted of misdemeanor assault for breaking a man's jaw in Cleveland and sentenced to 15 days in jail after entering a plea on charges of forcing his children's nanny to perform a sex act.
"In our profession, they are grown men," Cheeks said. "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."
Or risk losing the public trust, that blind loyalty that, at times, seems stretched to the limit. The Blazers won another game but maybe lost a little more ground.
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."
Pity poor Maurice Cheeks. He's a class act who quite frankly deserves better, but he's not going to find it in Portland. It's time to clean house. I don't care if the Blazers go winless over the rest of the season and 3-79 next year. All I want is my team back, with players on the roster who aren't an embarrassment- to their fans, to the city, to themselves, and to the game itself.
Can't we just start over? I don't care if Paul Allen cans Bob Whitsitt and brings in 12 rec-league players with beerguts. Is it too much to hope for some character?
&*%$#+@ morons....
