The Blazers have been under heavy scrutiny for at least five years. Five years have passed since the infamous game 7 collapse against the LA Lakers, marking a course of prominence for the Lakers and dreariness for the Trail Blazers.

But this is not supposed to be a bad story. The game 7 thing has been beaten to death, and with it, so have the Blazers. Maybe it’s time to shed a little light on the franchise that is trying so hard to be the team that Portland wants.

That’s not to say that some scrutiny has been unwarranted, but put that aside for a moment. It is time to look at some of the good that has escaped the views of many because the focus is on the negative. How about focusing on something such as lunch with Darnell Valentine?

The lunch was held a week and a half ago at the Trail Blazers practice facility. About 14 fans by my count were treated to a possible once in a life time experience to have lunch at the Blazers practice facility, sit down with a former player and current Director of Player Programs Darnell Valentine, and tour the facility.

Valentine talked to the group for close to two hours, eventually having to be cut off by some Trail Blazer staff who needed to move on to the tour. He was very upfront with his personal feelings towards the team and was willing to discuss fan’s biases as well as his own.

The majority of the conversations focused on the Trail Blazers young players, namely Darius Miles. Valentine admitted that Darius is a bit of a tease for coaches, that he has all of the athletic abilities and physical gifts anyone can ask for but he does not compete at the level the Blazers need every night.

Valentine talked about how his challenge in part is to help Miles become motivated to perform at a high level for more games. In his estimation Valentine felt that Miles competed at a high level for 15-20 games out of the season. While many in the group including myself wondered when about 10 of those games occurred, the point Valentine was making was valid: there needs to be a fire lit under Miles’ butt.

One suggestion was that a coach could do it, but Valentine did not seem to feel that a coach would be a cure-all for Miles and many of his young counter parts. In his estimation the Blazers still have role-players looking for a star talent to lead them to the promise land. He seemed adamant that the Trail Blazers still need to acquire that star caliber player that can bring all of Portland’s pieces together on the floor.

The impression Valentine gave the group was that Zach Randolph, and Miles might not quite be the star talent the Blazers truly need, and that Sebastian Telfair and Travis Outlaw might not reach that point. While I don’t think that Valentine was putting a cap on the young players capabilities, I think he was simply being frank about his feelings: the Blazers are more than a player or two away from competing.

As the conversation with Valentine drew to a close he focused on the fact that Portland is a difficult sell to the young players. Players such as Telfair, Outlaw, Randolph and Miles sometimes find themselves wishing there was more for them to do. Valentine’s challenge is channeling that energy into something positive for the players and the organization.

In contrast, Portland is attractive to players like Theo Ratliff who have young families and are looking to settle down in both their lives and careers. While Portland is a great family oriented town, the clubs, parties, celebrities and action just isn’t quite there.

I personally would like to thank the Trail Blazers for the opportunity to sit down and listen to Valentine address many of the fans. He was very personable and seemed to strive to say more than just the company line.

The Trail Blazers as an organization deserve credit where credit is due. There are not very many professional franchises in all of sports that would provide these kinds of opportunities. The Trail Blazers are working very hard to reconnect to the fan base that was once one of the most solid in all of professional sports. With more opportunities like this one, the Blazers have a very solid chance of succeeding.

good read... where was this from? Anyways, blazers are in as bad a situation as we are in more than one area. Hope they clean their act up, they (along with the jazz) should never have to be out of the playoffs for more than a few years