It's not time to panic fellow Blazermaniacs.

记住我们won 54 games last season after starting with the exact same record of 2-3.

In fact looking through the game logs we were actually outscored by 35 points overall in 08/09 through the first five games. Of course the Laker game is a bit of an outlier. They won the championship. But even if we erased that win we were still outscored by 15 points. The games have been much closer this season than people think. The loss to Atlanta last night was the worst of this season and only by 6 points. Why then are some fans panicing? We didn't just automatically get better by adding Miller over Sergio and starting Oden/Webster. Young teams don't have a great track record of improving immediately after major roster changes.

Consider the following dramatic differences when you think big picture.

- Greg Oden is now a starter. Joel is averaging 10 less minutes/game this season vs. last.
- Martell Webster (a pure scorer) replacesNicolas Batum(defender who plays well w/o the ball).
- Andre Miller (a scoring PG who looks for his own shot) replacesSergio Rodriguez.
- Rudy Fernandez would like his role expanded.
- Travis Outlaw's future is undecided with the team.

..and then consider who we've played so far:

Houston is an underrated team given injuries. They hustle, play big and are well coached.
Denver was in the western conference finals last year.
Some have theThunderstealing that #8 seed in the west this season.
Hawksare probably the #4 seed in the east right now.

So rest easy everyone. Give Nate some time. If the team is sub .500 heading into late December, go ahead and hit the panic button. Our first major back to back is 12/19 & 12/20 at ORL/MIA followed by 12/22 & 12/23 at DAL/SA. If we don't have our act together by then, I'll be very worried. I know we're all expecting last season's late effort this year. But the team was different last season. Our effort hasn't been there at times but we'll figure it out. Nate is a really good coach and he's surrounded by guys who WANT to win. They really do.

此外,一个有趣的补充说明:

1. Both of our wins this year Oden played pushing 30 minutes/game.
2. Both of our wins this year Outlaw played OVER 30 minutes/game.