Sports Column

Fans say Miles to go

On Sports

By dwight jaynes

The Portland Tribune, Jan 18, 2008, Updated Oct 30, 2009 (19 Reader comments)

Blazer forward Darius Miles’ recovery from knee surgery isn’t so much a question, but his future with the team is.

SAM FORENCICH / GETTY IMAGES

You’ve spoken, Trail Blazer fans. But not many of you have spoken up on behalf of Darius Miles.

A week ago, I asked you to tell me what you thought should happen when the Portland forward recovers from his microfracture knee surgery and is ready to play. Should the Blazers use him? Or send him down the road?

About 76 percent, voting by regular mail and online, said, most commonly, “Don’t let this man anywhere near the team.” Many left comments on our Web site, and the tenor was usually the same – fans don’t trust Miles not to mess up the great chemistry on this year’s team.

Only 24 percent asked that Miles be given a chance to play.

What’s likely to happen? Neither, actually.

I don’t think Miles is going anywhere, at least this season, and I don’t think he’s going to play. I expect he’s going to continue to rehabilitate his knee and exist outside the team’s active roster.

He is going to be the captain of the all-limbo team.

“We’re going to do absolutely everything we can to get this guy on the basketball court,” General Manager Kevin Pritchard said Wednesday via telephone from Boston. “He’s had a long road back, and he’s worked hard. Hopefully, he can get back on the court, but he’s still a ways away.”

But I’m betting that doesn’t necessarily mean he’ll ever get there. Pritchard is too smart to let it happen and too crafty to say anything that could get him into trouble later.

Chemistry is a delicate thing, whether you’re talking about basketball teams or mixing volatile compounds in a laboratory. And nobody in charge of the well-being of this franchise wants to be responsible for anything that might cause the Blazers to implode.

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