Andre Miller has been a very underrated point guard his whole career, and has career averages of 14.5 points, 7.2 assists, 4.1 rebounds, and 1.4 steals in 10 years in the league.  Miller has been using his strength and great vision to make up for his lack of athleticism his whole career, and this year has been no different.  He is averaging 13.8 points, 5.5 assists, 3.2 rebounds, and 1.1 steals in only 30.8 minutes per game.  He has been playing even better this month, averaging 15.8 points, 5.8 assists, 3.5 rebounds, and 1.8 steals while helping Brandon Roy lead the Trail Blazers to a 10-2 record in March.  They are currently only 3.5 games back of the second place Dallas Mavericks and are tied with the San Antonio Spurs and Oklahoma City Thunder.

Marcus Camby has injured not one, but both ankles in his brief time with the Portland Trail Blazers.  He injured his right ankle on February 23rd against the New Jersey Nets, only his third game with the Blazers after being acquired in a trade from the Los Angeles Clippers.  He missed just one game after that injury, but he injured his left ankle in practice only a couple of weeks later.  Camby again missed one game and returned last night in a 88-81 win over the Sacramento Kings.  Despite Camby being hobbled by his bad ankles, he has still been a force down low on defense.  In the seven full games he has played with the Trail Blazers, he has averaged 3.0 blocks per contest.  In his return against the Kings last night he had 5 blocks.  He has also averaged 8.7 rebounds and 1.6 steals.  He hasn’t been much help on offense though.  In those seven games he is averaging 31.4 minutes and only 3.9 points, including one scoreless effort against the Indiana Pacers.  Camby is obviously very injury prone, but the Blazers have themselves a great shot-blocker even when he is not healthy.

With their star player Brandon Roy out since January 22nd, the Portland Trail Blazers have needed a few players to step up their play.  One in particular is point guard Steve Blake, who has not really been playing as well as the Blazers have needed him to.  Last night in their 108-101 win against the red hot Phoenix Suns, Blake got the start and showed that he can be an impact player for the Blazers.  Blake finished with 20 points, 12 assists, 2 rebounds, 2 steals, and 1 block.  He played 38 minutes and went 7-12 from the field.  The Blazers need some more efforts like this out of Blake, as he has been playing nowhere near this level leading up to this game.  In his previous 5 games, Blake scored a combined 16 points and had two scoreless outings.  Granted he wasn’t getting 38 minutes a night in those games, but he had not been shooting the ball well and his effort on defense looked nothing like it did in the Suns game where he tormented Steve Nash into 6-16 shooting and 5 turnovers.  Now I don’t expect Blake to drop 20 every night, but if the Blazers can get him to play with that effort and efficiency on more of a consistent basis, it could really make a difference for them.

The talented 21-year-old Jerryd Bayless has been a very strong asset off the bench for the Portland Trail Blazers this season in his second year as a pro.  Bayless has improved in nearly every statistical category from his rookie season to this season, and is getting more minutes because of it.  Bayless still is not shooting for a very good percentage this year at 41% from the field and 30% from three-point land, but it is a big improvement from his rookie year of 36% shooting and 26% from three.  Last year he averaged only 4.3 points, 1.1 rebounds, 1.5 assists, and only 12.4 minutes.  This year he is averaging 8.9 points, 1.5 rebounds, 2.4 assists, and 18.2 minutes.  He has been playing even better this month, scoring in double-figures in 6 of 10 games, and has been getting even more minutes because of it.  Bayless looks to have a very bright future ahead of him and Trail Blazer fans should be excited for what is to come from Bayless.

Brandon Roy and LeMarcus Aldridge led the Portland Trailblazers to a win over the Sacramento Kings last night.  Roy dropped 25 points, 10 assists, and 5 rebounds and Aldridge also had 25 points, 9 rebounds, and 5 assists.  They shot 47% from the field, but Roy and Aldridge didn’t get too much help on the offensive end.  Jerryd Bayless was one of the few who did help on offense, coming off the bench for 14 points, 2 rebounds, and 2 assists.  Bayless was a much needed spark off the bench, as his aggressive play payed off and he got to the foul line a lot, hitting 8-10.  The Blazers’ defense was pretty good last night, as no Kings player scored 20 points or more.  Tyreke Evans led them with 19 points, 7 rebounds, and 2 assists while the Kings shot 45% from the field.  The Blazers did a great job defensively in the fourth quarter, outscoring the Kings 29-15 on their way to victory.