PORTLAND, Ore. James Starks Jersey . -- Now the work begins for the Portland Trail Blazers. The Blazers wrapped up their season of turmoil 28-38, their worst record since 2005-06. Portland heads into the summer with no permanent general manager or head coach, but plenty of cap space available for free agency and several picks in Junes NBA draft. Its the ultimate clean slate after a trying season that started badly with the abrupt retirement of All-Star Brandon Roy and eventually cost respected coach Nate McMillan his job. "Im optimistic," said guard Wesley Matthews. "Its been a crazy season." Thats an understatement. The lockout-shortened season started with the disastrous opening of training camp, better known to Blazers fans as "Black Friday." Roy surprisingly announced that he was retiring because of ongoing trouble with both of his knees. Hours later, news broke that oft-injured former No. 1 draft pick Greg Oden had suffered a setback with his surgically repaired left knee. To top it off, doctors examining forward LaMarcus Aldridge determined that he needed a procedure for Wolff-Parkinson-White Syndrome, a heart condition. The Blazers went into rescue mode, signing sixth man Jamal Crawford, veteran forward/centre Kurt Thomas and forward Craig Smith to shore up the roster. Around that same time, billionaire team owner Paul Allen granted a rare roundtable with local reporters, emphatically declaring that he had no plans to sell the team despite increasing rumours. The Microsoft co-founder said he was looking toward the upcoming season. "People will talk of handicapping the usual suspects at the top of the conference, but then there are a bunch of us right below that. Are we just barely a playoff team, are we going to have potential to get out of the first round and do more damage?" Allen said. "Thats what makes sports exciting. I will have to see how it all plays out." In the end, it didnt go well. Although the Blazers got off to a fast start, their deficiencies soon became clear. One was point guard Raymond Felton, acquired in a draft-day trade last year, who never seemed to mesh with the team. Felton even called out McMillan in one interview with Comcast SportsNet Northwest as one of the reasons he was struggling. The Blazers tried and failed to turn Crawford into a point guard. It was clear the Blazers had all but thrown in the towel after a 2-7 stretch to start March, capped by a 121-79 loss in New York to the Knicks. It would be McMillans last game as coach. The one real bright spot in the season was Aldridge, who was again consistently good until he was shut down for the season because of a hip injury in mid-April. Selected for the All-Star team for the first time this season, he averaged 21.7 points, 8.0 rebounds and 2.4 assists. His success was somewhat bittersweet to Blazers fans, especially after it was announced in February that Oden would undergo yet another microfracture knee surgery, his third overall. Many fans -- and even McMillan -- had hoped to someday see the trio of Aldridge, Roy and Oden lead the Blazers to another NBA championship. "My memory that really sticks out is the first time I had those guys over to my house for dinner. Im sitting there at the table and looking at these three and talking to them about the future and their opportunity and thinking that we have a great opportunity here to build something special," McMillan said after Oden was declared done for the season. McMillan always understood that he would have to provide results to keep his job. But even with the teams slump there was a general feeling that he would be retained at least through the end of the season. So it was a shock when the Blazers unexpectedly dismissed him at the NBA trade deadline. Utah Jazz general manager Kevin OConnor recently touched on the firing when discussing how he has run his team. "The key thing is you try and be patient in an impatient world you live in, and we live in an impatient world. The best example is Nate McMillan, all the success he had up there, dragging those teams through all the injuries and things and he had 2 1/2 bad weeks, and they fire him," OConnor said. "That to me, I dont understand it." The trade deadline proved to be the Blazers second defining day of the season. In addition to firing McMillan, Portland dealt starters Marcus Camby and Gerald Wallace, and the team finally waived Oden, finishing his five-season, 82-game career with the Blazers. But those moves helped set up an interesting summer. If Crawford decides to opt out of his contract in the off-season, it appears that the Blazers will have some $25 million in cap space to manoeuvr into free agency. It appears Portlands focus will be on re-signing point guard Nicolas Batum before going hard at an established point guard to complement Aldridge. Portland will also have as many as four picks in the draft, and could have as many as two lottery picks, depending on how the pingpong balls fall. But the Blazers first priority is to get a general manager. Rich Cho was fired last May after less than a year on the job, but the lockout and the short season postponed the search for a replacement. Recently, the team has started talking to prospects. President Larry Miller said that Portland hopes to have a general manager in place before the draft. The new GM would ideally have say on the new coach. Interim general manager Chad Buchanan, the teams director of college scouting, will be considered, Miller said. "Its been a challenging year, I would say," Buchanan said. "Theres highs and lows to any NBA season. You cant ride the waves of the ups and downs. Youve got to be steady and looking long term." The long term starts this summer. Davante Adams Jersey . During their talk, Lemieux was reported to have discussed with Crosby how a captains erratic behaviour can negatively impact the team.Lemieuex told Crosby... "You cant behave the way you did at the end of the game, it gives off a bad vibe to your teammates, it gives off a vibe that might be portraying you in a negative light, especially when youre struggling. Micah Hyde Jersey . The game has been rescheduled for Tuesday at 4:05 p.m. Tickets for Monday will be honoured Tuesday. The forecast Monday calls for heavy rain throughout the day.HOUSTON -- Gary Kubiak pulled the Texans out of the NFL basement and remains the only coach to take them to the playoffs. That wasnt enough to save his job, not with the Texans mired in an 11-game skid that has dropped them back to the bottom of the league. Houston fired Kubiak on Friday, one day after the Texans lost 27-20 at Jacksonville and continued their stunning fall for a team that expected to make a Super Bowl run. Houston (2-11) was flagged 14 times for a franchise-record 177 yards. The 52-year-old Kubiak was hired in 2006 and led the team to AFC South titles in 2011-2012, the highlights of his eight-year tenure as coach of his hometown NFL team. The Texans said they couldnt wait any longer to start turning things around, not with the losses and undisciplined play piling up. "Whats taken place with this organization is unacceptable," general manager Rick Smith said. "Weve got three weeks of an evaluation process left and weve got to right the ship." Kubiak thanked the team for giving him his first head coaching job in the NFL. "Though we came up short this season, the work, effort and sacrifice they gave me and this organization over the last eight seasons is not to be taken for granted," he said in a statement provided by the Texans. "We had a great run here and we will never forget our back-to-back AFC South championships. Coming back home was a dream come true for all of us. This will always be our home." Kubiaks overall record is 61-64, with a 2-2 mark in the playoffs. Owner Bob McNair said the decision to let him go was a hard one. "It was difficult for me because I think so much of Gary," McNair said. "Weve been evaluating it every game and asking the question, Whats in the best interest of the organization? Were at the point now where we need to go ahead and make some changes because losing like this is unacceptable." He added: "Were here to have a winning culture and this year has not contributed to that." The Texans said defensive co-ordinator Wade Phillips would serve as interim coach for the rest of what has been a miserable season. McNair said NFL and head coaching experience were important factors in filling the job, and that the 66-year-old Phillips will be considered. Kubiak suffered a mini-stroke Nov. 3 in a frightening scene, collapsing at halftime during a game against the Colts and being rushed to a Houston hospital. He suffered a transient ischemic attack, which occurs when blood flow to the brain is briefly interrupted, typically by a blood clot or narrowed blood vessels. Experts say they are often a warning sign for a future stroke, particularly within three months of a TIA. Kubiak returned to coach, but the Texans have been unable to rebound from injuries to top players including quarterback Matt Schaub, running back Arian Foster and linebacker Brian Cushing, who was lost for the second straight season. McNair pointed to messy play and the handling of second-year quarterback Case Keenum as reasons for the move before the endd of the season. Brett Favre Packers Packers Jersey. "I think the last straw was losing," McNair said. "Weve got a lot better talent than Jacksonville and to lose to them twice, to their credit they played harder, played smarter and to have them beat us on that is not acceptable. If a teams going to beat us because theyre better than we are, or have better ability thats fine, but we expect to go out and play hard and play smart, and we didnt play smart." Kubiak, a former NFL quarterback who calls the teams plays, has long been known as a top offensive coach, mentoring quarterbacks in Denver under Mike Shanahan and then Schaub and Keenum in Houston. He was hired in 2006, along with Smith, after the Texans finished a franchise-worst 2-14. Smith spent 10 years with Kubiak while the coach was offensive co-ordinator of the Broncos. Smith was Denvers defensive assistant for four seasons before moving into the front office for his last six years with the Broncos. The pair helped transform the Texans, which began play in 2002, from league laughingstock to contender. The team went 6-10 in their first year and 8-8 in each of the next two seasons. Expectations were high in 2010 after Houston finished at 9-7 for its first winning record in 2009. The Texans instead fell to 6-10, which led to many fans calling for Kubiaks firing. His original contract was due to expire after the 2010 season, but McNair defended him several times amid the bumps. Last year, the Texans announced contract extensions for both Smith and Kubiak, rewarding them for taking the team to the playoffs last year for the first time. Kubiaks three-year agreement has him under contract through 2014. McNair said at the time he offered Kubiak a four-year deal, but the coach preferred to make it for three. Kubiak made his mark as Denvers offensive co-ordinator under Shanahan, winning two Super Bowls. An eighth-round pick out of Texas A&M, he spent nine years as John Elways backup. He finished his career 4-1 as a starter, all in emergency relief of Elway. "You always hate to see guys fired," Broncos coach John Fox said. "It happens, its tough. But you never like to see that. Hes a good friend and a heck of a coach, a guy I have a lot of respect for and its unfortunate." The Texans also fired special teams co-ordinator Joe Marciano and replaced him with assistant Bob Ligashesky, who is in his 10th NFL season and first full year with Houston. Other recent departures from the Texans include assistant head coach Alex Gibbs (for Seattle) and offensive co-ordinator Kyle Shanahan went to join his father in Washington. Keenum, Phillips and the rest of the Texans will get three weeks to show what they have to McNair and company. With Kubiak out, it is clear that the evaluation process could have stiff consequences as the team tries to rebuild. "We have a young quarterback in Case Keenum and we need to find out if hes capable of being a starter or capable of being the backup," McNair said. "The way you find out about that is by playing him." cheap jerseys' ' '
