Blazers Fall at San Antonio, but Future Still Bright

Tony Parker could not be stopped Wednesday night as the San Antonio Spurs beat the visiting Portland Trail Blazers, 99-84.

San Antonio was without Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili, but they played their trademark defense to shut down the young Blazers, who looked tired on the second night of a back-to-back. All-Star Portland guard Brandon Roy shot poorly from the field, finishing 5-of-18 with just 14 points.

Meanwhile, his counterpart, Tony Parker, continued his torrid shooting from the field with a 39-point effort; he also added nine assists. In the two games Duncan has missed, Parker has scored 76 points and dished out 21 dimes.  

The Blazers are now 35-22 on the season and are two-and-a-half games back from the Denver Nuggets in the Northwest Division.

They have struggled to win on the road against the other teams in playoff contention in the West this year: They have a record of 1-11 against the eight other clubs with winning records in the Conference, the with the lone win coming when the Hornets lost Chris Paul with a groin injury in the third quarter.

Some of you may be asking what's wrong with the Blazers, but the answer is a simple "nothing." This is a young team that has the future, not the present, in mind. People around the league thought they should have made a move before the trade deadline to improve their team, but they are not willing to forfeit their bright future for immediate success.

They have both inexperienced and inconsistent play from vital parts of their team (namely, Travis Outlaw and LaMarcus Aldridge), but the fact of the matter is, at 13 games over .500, this squad is already overachieving.

It is too early to tell how good this team will be, especially considering Martell Webster went down before the season started. But at the very least, they'll make the Playoffs this year (it's a lock with Phoenix's Amare Stoudemire out). Reasonable expectations are a seeding between four and eight and a potentially winnable first-round matchup.

I like the patience the Blazers front office is showing; that plus the talent accumulating could make for a bright future for the Rip City faithful.