21 Apr 2011  ::  End of the Road
This is the point of the season where any Blazer fan has to wonder where everything went wrong. The Blazers were the young team, active, average defensively, but savants on the offensive side of the ball. Great spacing, very good outside shooting, a clutch perimeter player. Now the Blazers are so much older and pinning hopes on two players who are injury owned.

It is worse than that simple sentence. Their size in the paint has been traded away, injured or simply aged. Instead of being rebound dominant, they are rebound even.

Some of their long and active perimeter players make up for the size deficit, but it seems that this swap has come at the cost of outside shooting, a must to be very effective in the NBA.

The Blazers traded the predictable isolation offense of the Roy Has Knees Era for the easily zoned offense of the brick layers.

I wanted the Blazers to defeat the Mavs, but rationally, I was less sure. When Roy is in now, he is a ball stopper and the offense stalls. Throw out Andre Miller, Batum/Wallace and Camby, the Blazers can't score in the half court. Take out Camby and the Blazers get small pretty quick.

So here we are, a team without its promise, its best hope to be a middling team in the Western Conference, acceptable offensively, decent defensively. A little older and more injured.

The Mavs will win the series, maybe even easily. The Blazers will come back next season and look the same, basically. I'd say it is time to rebuild, but the Roy contract cripples the franchise. I don't know what to look forward to.

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12 Apr 2011  ::  Societal Trust
Daily, people operate on the notion that the other individuals about them are working within a set of trusts. in most societies you trust that your neighbor isn't going to steal your stuff when you leave. I assume when the man in the gray corolla in front of me turns on his right hand blinker, that he is going to turn to his right, and I act accordingly.

I showed up at the Beanery today, then went about locating a place to sit, order a drink and set up the computer. My order was called as ready, and I walked over to snag it. When I sat back down, the man a table over asked if I minded watching his stuff.

I think this notion fascinating, as I usually shove my wallet deep into my backpack when here alone and have to use the bathroom. Because the coffee is a public area with a relatively stable cast of characters- people are not cycling in and out particularly frequently- that my gear will be very safe.

This particular individual did not feel secure enough to leave his stuff unattended for a brief bathroom break, but did feel safe in the idea that the man that just showed up would keep his possessions safe. I am not certain which is more risky- tell an unknown man that you are not going to be around your computer for the next three minutes, or simply leaving.

In any event, I did respond to the affirmative, proudly (and internally) noting that in the several instances in which a stranger has asked this of me, they have not had anything stolen. It also occurred to me that each time this occurs, the chances increase that my perfect record gets broken.

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