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Nature’s first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf’s a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.
“Nothing Gold Can Stay”
Robert Frost
Highs and lows are transitory, and don’t the Portland Trail Blazers know it. Everything passes eventually, but we aren’t told the velocity. For the Blazers, the glimpses of hope escape through wormholes while worst-case-scenarios pervade our consciousness until they are realized. And yet despite the inconsistencies between the positive and the negative, in a seemingly annual affair, the Blazers are once again good enough.
The Blazers’ performance against the San Antonio Spurs was a reminder. It was — in case the All-Star talk hadn’t resonated with you — LaMarcus Aldridge’s coming out party. It was an eye-opener for both the observer and the die-hard fan. Against the one of the league’s best, Aldridge showcased an assertiveness that hasn’t been there in years past: getting deep position and making decisive moves in the post, aggressively attacking the rim whenever possible, and creating plays out of double teams. The burden of leadership can’t be overlooked, especially for a team that has seen some vital pillars crumble before it. With all of the pressure hoisted upon him, Aldridge has escaped the malaise of the past two years and put together a stellar season, keeping a hobbling team afloat in unforgiving waters.
Aldridge has done everything he’s needed to and more, but there’s no way this Blazers team would survive if this crusade for relevance was a one-man operation. Wesley Matthews, who probably feels as much pressure as Aldridge trying to step into Brandon Roy’s shoes, has become a steady second option. His three-point shooting remains consistent as ever, a commodity worth its weight in gold considering the floundering accuracy of the team’s other primary shooters (Rudy Fernandez, Nicolas Batum). And as a defensive tandem, Matthews and Batum are unrelenting.
Aldridge and Matthews are running a seminar on crisis management. Individuals able to elevate their level of play in spite of circumstance help keep a team focused. The Blazers have been dealt death blows. Repeatedly. But a team’s duty is to compete. They still has the talent to defend, and they play with enough intensity to command upsets. This team, a shell of what it could be, has somehow maintained legitimacy. As frustrating as the losses (both in the standings and in personnel) have been, the Blazers still have a claim to pride. There are still reasons to fight.
This Blazers team is fighting for a future— a future, not the future, mind you. Because fighting for the future suggests that there is some sensible path in which this franchise is headed. The Blazers have suffered so many unforeseen disasters that there is no certainty in any venture. How well the team has done with depleted resources may issue hope that the team isn’t too far from self-actualization. We’ve heard that story before, but with the growth in Aldridge, management will have to at least consider the prospects of staying put for another season.
It’ll be a slog, no matter what direction the team takes. Roy’s cartilage won’t magically grow back. Greg Oden can’t control what fate has given him. No amount of wishful thinking will be able to reconstruct the yellow brick road the Blazers seemed destined to follow. Wherever the team is headed, it’ll be somewhere new; somewhere they haven’t been in the last few years. Whether new means a fresh cast of characters or not, it’ll (hopefully) put an end to this haunting narrative.
At least that’s the plan, right? To be great, not just good enough. To see a future, and not a future in jeopardy. To be anywhere but where they’ve been. Decisions will be made sooner than later, but undoubtedly, the Blazers need to distance themselves from the ever-present dark cloud. Uncertainty is abound as dusk approaches, but a new day could offer a new gold; one that might last.
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