Recovering

I was on the phone for half an hour yesterday getting my MacBook squared away. I should be receiving a box today or tomorrow in which to send my computer to Apple. Then it should be back, in proper working order and in my hands, in another five to seven days. This is good news because the term is ending, but it's also good news because I've missed blogging. I'm still frustrated that I've been posting so infrequently, but I think that has mainly been because of the computer problems.

While I've been recovering from my ear infection and my cold, and my computer is getting ready to recover from its severed head, my fantasy basketball team and the Blazers are going the other direction. In two of my three leagues I've had at least one big injury (Dwyane Wade) and at least one or two other tough injuries (Baron Davis--forever, Lamar Odom, Carlos Boozer finally came back, as did Antawn Jamison). As much as I care about fantasy basketball, I care more about the Blazers. That makes the injury situation tough for me to figure out. I really like Joel Przybilla, and I think he can get back to top form, but his injury and Raef LaFrentz's combine to give LaMarcus Aldridge a bigger chance. Of course he took full advandtage of that chance on Thursday last week against the Bobcats. But it also eases some of the tension that might have been building because of Jamaal Magloire not being traded. Now Mags is the only real big man other than Aldridge and Zach Randolph, so his minutes will be higher than they would have been otherwise. He still scares me most of the time he's in the game, but we didn't trade his expiring deal for junk and now he'll be happier and still playing hard so he can sign with someone during the offseason.

It has been good to have Sergio Rodriguez back, who is so much fun to watch (more on this in the next paragraph). And I'm happy that we get another chance to see what Travis Outlaw can do, even if I'm already leaning toward letting him walk this offseason. The one injury I forgot to mention is Martell Webster's shoulder. He left the Kings game on Saturday night hurt, but I haven't been able to find more information. I think that means he's probably alright. We need more from him.

Yesterday I watched a Phoenix Suns game just for the pleasure of seeing Steve Nash play. I lived in Phoenix for a year and couldn't stand most of the Suns fans, so this made me really dislike the team. I also didn't think Nash deserved either of his two MVP awards. I stick to all of that, but I also say this: I think Nash does deserve the MVP this year. I think that his help defense is a little better than his man-to-man defense, but I've come around to the consesus that his offensive game is good enough to make up for that. Even the turnovers he makes--which he does make, despite the way the announcers were talking yesterday--are made in a way that you know he was doing the most he could to get his teammate into great position to score. I had already floated the "Rodriguez is a little like Nash" line earlier this year, but after having seen quite a few of Rodriguez's highlights and some full games and then comparing them with the Nash I watched yesterday, I don't think that's too much of a stretch. This kid could do those same types of things for his teammates. Of course, it doesn't hurt Nash that he's playing with my other favorite guy to watch in the NBA, Amare Stoudamire. Can LaMarcus bulk up and turn into that sort of presence? Can we get the makeup lottery we deserve and land Oden or Durant? Does it even matter, now that this nucleus has shown their possibility? It really is good to be a Blazer fan again, and part of it is that these questions are fun instead of just frustrating.