TrailBlazers Cho inquires in availability of Crawford as team continues to struggle

"I don't know how people want us to play, because this is the personnel we have," Brandon Roy said. "I wasn't that slow until you put a guy who is kind of slow next to me. I've always been kind of slow ... not to be controversial at all, but I was slow my rookie year, and now it's ..."

Frustrated, Roy shook his head.

"A lot has changed. That's why it's just delicate. With how I was able to play early in my career, I always said I was happy because of the situation I came into. I had this, this, this, and I didn't have to change. Now that we have to adjust ... some of it is we are running into rhythm problems, consistently."

When asked if the team's personnel has to change, Roy raised his eyebrows.

"We are 12-13, and I don't see that it was great tonight," Roy said.

Aldridge, who hit four of his first six shots and had 13 points at halftime, was forced to the bench with his fourth foul 1:08 into the second half. Aldridge, who has overtaken Roy as the team's leading scorer at 17.4 points a game, was asked if the pieces on this team fit.

"I'm not a GM, so I can't really say that. It's not my job," Aldridge said. "When we won the last three games at home, it wasn't an issue of us fitting was it? So I can't look at it as we lose one or two, then it's 'Do we fit?' I can't think like that. I have to think, 'these are my teammates, and we have to make it work.'"

The curious part to all of this has been what appears to be a relatively loose locker room after two latest defeats. There have been easy conversations, laugh-out-loud moments, and what appears to be a general uninterest in the team's surprising struggles.

"We are definitely concerned, don't let the loose talk fool you," Camby said. "I know I'm concerned about it, because I feel our record should be a whole lot better."

Determining whether Cho is concerned will have to be left up to his actions. The first-year general manager has been reluctant to go on the record with his thoughts, perhaps subscribing to the notion that communicating with fans led to the demise of his predecessor, Kevin Pritchard.

But if Cho isn't talking, he at least appears to be working the phone lines. One Blazers player and one source within the organization said Cho has inquired about the availability of Atlanta guard Jamal Crawford, only to be rebuffed by the Hawks.

That, of course, raises another question: The Blazers may very well want to shake things up, but it takes two to trade, and just how much interest is there around the NBA in the Blazers' roster?

Or maybe this is just a spell of poor play that is common to every NBA team throughout a season, as Miller and Camby suggest could be the case.