Young Blazers Winning Without Greg Oden

Very few people gave the Portland Trail Blazers a chance to reach the playoffs in Greg Oden's rookie year. Literally no one considered them a postseason team without Greg Oden.

But seven weeks into the season, the young Trail Blazers have played with an unexpected exuberance that has them in early playoff contention courtesy of a .500 record.

The Blazers enter Monday's matchup against the New Orleans Hornets riding a seven-game winning streak, their longest since an eight-game run in December 2002.

"We are getting better as a team," swingman Brandon Roy said. "That has been the goal from the beginning of the season."

The beginning of this season was anything but promising for Portland , which went 32-50 in 2006-07 and learned late in the summer that Oden - the franchise's savior - needed microfracture surgery.

With Oden sidelined for the season, most prognosticators tabbed the Blazers as a likely bottom-feeder primed for another rebuilding year.

But after stumbling to a 5-12 start, Portland (12-12) has thrust itself back into the middle of the pack in the highly competitive Western Conference. The Blazers enter Monday's contest tied for ninth in the conference standings.

"We have a good rhythm now and we are playing good basketball on both ends of the court," Blazers coach Nate McMillan said. "Both of our units have been playing really well."

In the wake of Oden's devastating injury, Roy has assumed a leadership role both on the court and in the locker room. The reigning Rookie of the Year, Roy has taken his game to another level this season, averaging team highs of 18.7 points and 5.4 assists.

The 23-year-old Roy also has demonstrated a maturity and cool demeanor which has been overwhelmingly refreshing for a franchise attempting to rid itself of the "Jail Blazer" label it assumed in the late 1990s.

"He simply gets it," McMillan said of Roy in a recent interview with ESPN.

Roy delivered one of his best performances of the season Sunday, scoring 26 points and dishing out a season-high 11 assists to lead Portland to a 116-105 victory over the Denver Nuggets.

Channing Frye also was outstanding in the contest, scoring 20 points and grabbing nine rebounds while replacing injured center LaMarcus Aldridge.

"Everyone played unselfishly," Frye said. "I just shot the shots that I work on. Some games I might be the guy, but we have a lot of others - and that is what is great about this team."

Acquired in the draft-day trade which sent the disgruntled Zach Randolph to the New York Knicks, Frye is just one of a number of young players that Portland hopes to build its franchise around.

Another pivotal prospect is the 6-11 Aldridge, who currently is sidelined with plantar fasciitis but still is averaging 18.7 points in his second pro season.

Add athletic swingman Travis Outlaw and 21-year-old shooting guard Martell Webster to the equation, and the Blazers suddenly have a promising nucleus - even without Oden.

Granted, the Blazers still are a very long way from the postseason - they still have 58 games remaining this regular season.

But the fact that they are even entertaining thoughts of making the playoffs is one of the biggest surprises of this young NBA season.

"To come in and keep the streak going is pretty impressive," point guard Steve Blake told the Oregonian following the win over the Nuggets. "It's a step, a step toward getting to the goals we want to achieve.

"Every game we win, we gain more and more confidence and continue to believe in ourselves."

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