Blazer tries to get past a ‘sucky situation’

PORTLAND — Channing Frye dipped his head as he sat in front of his locker on Thursday and gave a bewildered sigh.

What was wrong with his game? It wasn’t easy to explain, the Portland Trail Blazers forward said. He could point to the reduced playing time, the adjusted rotations, the new teammates, and his failure to properly adjust to them. But it wasn’t just one of those things. It was a collection of changes to which Frye had not adjusted, building on each other and making it hard to find a comfort zone on the court.

And as Frye has struggled to find his place and perform, he has slowly seen his role dwindle until getting pushed out of the team's rotation Thursday — the ultimate sign that what he is doing is not working.

“I try not to dwell on it,” Frye said. “I try not to bring any of my teammates down or anything about the situation. But it’s like, you know, it’s rough. It’s one of those things where it’s, I don’t want to say impossible, but it’s kind of tough to just go in there and try to be productive in those minutes. And you feel like your leash gets shorter and shorter.”

As you might expect, Frye had much different plans in mind when the season started.
He had embraced his reserve role and openly spoke about wanting to become one of the Blazers’ key players off the bench. He pointed to the value reserve forward James Posey provided in helping the Boston Celtics win the NBA championship last season by bringing energy and production off the bench.

The Blazers, too, saw a valuable role for Frye. They figured his ability to spread the floor with his perimeter shooting would create matchup problems, and felt he would fit in perfectly with a reserve unit that was expected to be athletic, explosive and play a fast-paced style.

Instead, Frye had ankle surgery in September and missed most of the preseason, putting him behind other players who found opportunities to impress coaches. He returned from that surgery earlier than expected, but struggled to find any consistency.

One five-game stretch in late November, when he averaged 10.6 points in 19.2 minutes, revealed some of the Frye that the Blazers expected. But December brought some of the worst struggles of his career, with averages of 1.7 points, 0.7 rebounds and 25 percent shooting (5 of 20) in just 7.6 minutes over his last seven games.

He has looked lost in the offense at times, and played passively. His shots have come almost exclusively from the perimeter off kickouts, and he rarely created opportunities for himself. And since the Blazers’ power forwards are key decision makers in the pick-and-roll sets of their offense, getting lost and playing passively is a quick path to a reduced role.

And that is what has happened. Blazers coach Nate McMillan turned to Ike Diogu, who has been waiting for an opportunity to impress, and moved Frye to the end of the bench.

“He just looks a little hesitant,” McMillan said. “I think he has to just go out and play and not think, (but) react to situations.”

Frye insists he is not upset, but he understands that he is caught in a tight spot of the rotation — and it could get worse.

Frye believes there is nothing critically wrong with his game, and more playing time could help him find a comfort zone. But where would that time come? From Joel Przybilla, who is having the best season of his career? Or Greg Oden, Portland’s heralded No. 1 draft pick? Or perhaps LaMarcus Aldridge, the Blazers’ second-leading scorer?

“The easiest thing would be like, ‘Hey, coach, take a couple games and just leave me in there.’ You know?” Frye said. “Everybody wants to say that. But when you’ve got guys, you know, an All-Star and a No. 1 pick, you know what I’m saying? It’s almost impossible.”

And it could get even more so.

When Martell Webster returns from a fractured foot, McMillan could opt to give Travis Outlaw minutes at power forward, where he was most productive last season. Should that happen, the few minutes left to Frye and Diogu may vanish. And with Frye facing free agency this summer, losing an opportunity to showcase himself only adds to the pressure.

It’s something Frye said he thinks about, but tries not to focus on. Instead, he tells himself that there is still time in the season to turn things around.

“Everybody understands my situation with the team. And if L.A. wasn’t playing great, or if Joel wasn’t playing great, or Greg, I’d be in a totally different situation,” Frye said. “It’s a sucky situation, but I can’t let this hurt my confidence.”