If Kobe Bryant's an action movie, the Blazers are a bad movie cliche. Jason Quick of The Oregonian has a terrific tale about a vicious Blazers practice in a San Antonio gym a month ago. Joel Pryzbilla and Martell Webster insulted each other then nearly threw down. Steve Blake assaulted a chair. Brandon Roy cursed his teammates out. Jarrett Jack started jawing. The whole team combusted on each other, as Quick tells it. And it was exactly what Nate McMillan wanted.When McMillan finally ended the practice, he huddled the team and released some of his own frustrations. He told them he liked what he saw during the practice, but he was tired of seeing this only in practice. He couldn't understand why the team would go at each other so hard, yet treat the opponent with such passivity.The Blazers haven't lost since a defeat at the Spurs the next day -- 12 straight wins going into tonight's battle with Philadelphia. Quick unleashes a line of statistics which show the team playing tougher basketball (better shooting defense, more offensive rebounds, more fouls drawn). I'd venture to say McMillan's gambit worked.
It worked for my youth soccer team when I was 11 years old, too. Only instead of hitting rock bottom ourselves, we went to see The Mighty Ducks together. Good times.
