Before the past two games, it seems as if the Blazers' playoff chances were dust in the wind. However, after the Blazers encountered the two different LA teams these past couple days and all of that turned around an in instant. Brandon and James coming back from injury for the Lakers game sure helped, as did some resurgent play of Jarrett Jack to silence the haters. Watching the team play against the Lakers yesterday resembled the team that mustered the great December run. Can the Blazers bring back the cohesiveness and consistency and make a playoff push? The odds are heavily stacked against them, but if they can follow these steps then the Blazers might make the playoffs for the first time since 2003.

1 - Stay Healthy

If the team can stay healthy for the most part, the chances are far more likely for them to make the playoffs. Recently, the Blazers realized they aren't the greatest team if the whole team isn't together. As long as no rotation player suffers a major setback, the team should be fine.

2 - Bench Scoring

With the whole team healthy, the rotation is set and everyone knows what minutes they will get. That makes it a lot easier to produce for this young team if they are in a familiar role where they feel comfortable. Jarrett Jack struggled since James Jones went down, mainly because he had to play more of an off-guard and slasher, rather than the point with the ball in his hands. Travis needs to keep up his sixth man of the year candidacy to provide balance to the white unit. Travis, James, and Jarrett are the most important parts of the bench, and if they play good the team plays good. I'd like to see Von Wafer show us some more of his arsenal after his strong performance in the Clipper game. Sergio and Channing aren't key cogs in the bench scoring, but when they play within themselves they can make the difference in a game without a doubt.

3 - Brandon and Lamarcus

Brandon Roy and Lamarcus Aldridge are the two players that make this team what they are. Brandon needs the ball in his hands when the pressure is on for the Blazers to win. He is our most poised player, and also has the highest basketball IQ on the team. Lamarcus needs to consistently hit his jumper that he has shown great progress with this season, as well as toughen up and bang down in the post.

4 - Three point shooting

The Trail Blazers have a great shooting roster, and the hot shooting is what kept them in the win column almost all of December. James Jones and Steve Blake are probably the two best shooters on the squad, as their percentages show, and they need to hit their open shots for the Blazers to stay alive in the chase. Martell has been inconsistent most of the season, but when his shot is dropping there is no stopping him. He needs to find his stroke and deliver if he wants to stay a part of this team.

5 - Tough defense

Joel Przybilla is the only player on the roster that brings physical defense and hustle night in and night out. The rest of the team needs to rally behind the energy he brings and force turnovers and challenge shots.

6 - REBOUNDING!

The main knock on this Blazer team is their lack of rebounding. Its been an issue all season, but when the team rebounds well the results are good. If Joel, Lamarcus, Channing, and Raef can all step in and be an interior force on the boards. Our wing players such as Brandon, Travis, Martell, and James are pretty savvy rebounders for their position and any bit they contribute helps greatly.

7 - Hope for a lower seed team to slip

Pretty much what is said above. The Blazers have to play lights out to have a shot, and have to have Houston, Golden State, and Denver all play decently. If these teams continue on their good play as of late you can kiss any chances goodbye.

8 - Road wins

The Blazers don't have a favorable schedule these last two months of the season. They face almost all the teams ahead of them in the standings in the western conference. The record away from the Rose Garden this season hasn't been that great for the Blazers, and the team needs to deliver on the road for any chance. They don't have to win every game, because with all the quality teams they're facing there is no way they won't have even a minor slip up. The team just needs to win the games they are supposed to, and fight hard every game.

Now, with all this being said, let me repeat that the chances of the Blazers to make the playoffs are slim. It is likely they will have to win 15 or more to have a chance, and there are only 23 games remaining. 12 of the remaining 23 are teams in the playoffs right now, and 10 of those are western conference playoff teams. So the Blazers will have to play absolutely to their potential for this to happen. I posted the remaining schedule below for all of you to see.

@ Golden State

Phoenix

@ Milwaukee

@ NY Knicks

@ Cleveland

@ Minnesota

@ Sacramento

Minnesota

Phoenix

LA Clippers

@ LA Clippers

@ Seattle

Washington

@ Golden State

Charlotte

@ LA Lakers

Houston

San Antonio

LA Lakers

@ Sacramento

Dallas

Memphis

@ Phoenix

Alright, let me start off by saying that I am a huge Blazers fan. I live and die by them. But since our magnificent month of December the wins just haven't been coming as easy. James Jones getting hurt was of course a big blow to the rotation, as his presence on the court may mean more than his actual basketball abilities sometimes. The defensive spacing and veteran leadership that Jones brings are much needed on a young, inconsistent team.

However, since his injury it seems that most people blame our losing slump on the fact that we don't have Jones in our lineup. The Trail Blazers are a team that knows how to win shorthanded (see Greg Oden), and every other team plays a man down almost every night. I love it when the Blazers win, but the way I see it, the reason we are losing is because every team starts to step up after All-Star break. We all figured it was a matter of time before the Jazz and Rockets started to pick it up, and they have at teams like the Blazers expense.

Injuries are a part of the game, and everyone deals with them. I'm tired of hearing them as an excuse. Of course every team would be better if every player was healthy, but thats hardly ever the case. I look forward to seeing the likes of Greg Oden, James Jones, and now Brandon Roy (please make it stop) get healthy and seeing how the Blazers can play with a healthy roster.

Rip City, we need to stop making excuses for this team. To put it bluntly, the Blazers are not one of the better teams in the league. Losses are losses and wins are wins. A good team knows how to win games, and the team has shown flashes of greatness. I do believe in this team, and the core that KP and the gang have put together, but now simply is not our time. Wait for Greg to get some time with the team, and we'll go from there.