Blazer Coach Nate McMillan got some attention after the team lost at home to Charlotte about 10 days ago. The coach called out his team, questioning their effort and suggesting they'd quite on the season.
It wasn't one of McMillan's finest hours: Portland had outrebouded the Bobcats 57-32. Charlotte only shot 55 percent from the free-throw line. Sure, it's frustrating to lose under those circumstances, but you're not mailing it in if you outrebound your opponent by that kind of margin.
Still, McMillan may have brushed up against a hard truth about this young team. It's one that becomes obvious against Houston. The Rockets have gritty, sharp-elbows guys like Carl Landry and Luis Scola who do a lot of the grinding work of blocking out and establishing position on defense.
The Blazers? Not so much. It's particularly obvious when Joel Przybilla's not in the game. Przybilla's the only big man Portland has who'd rather block out than block a shot.
That role will be filled next year, everyone hopes, by Greg Oden. But McMillan's got to be a bit disheartened by the lack of scrappiness this team has showed over the past month.
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