<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Wednesday could be an important day to look back on in chronicling the story of development and maturation on this season's Trail Blazers. While flying home on the team plane after Monday's 24-point loss at Seattle, Zach Randolph called a players-only meeting, which was to be held before Wednesday's practice (the team had Tuesday off). That meeting was held today at 10 a.m. in the team's locker room at the practice facility in Tualatin - and, as Jarrett Jack pointed out, all 12 active players showed up on time (Absent were Darius Miles, who is rehabbing his right knee, and Raef LaFrentz, who was out of town seeking medical advice on his injured left calf). There will be a story in Thursday's edition of The Oregonian, but because of space restraints, I couldn't get everything everyone said about the meeting. (Space was tight because of Portland State's genius hire of Jerry Glanville as its football coach. I will tell you this: For the first time in the 13 years I have lived in Portland, I can guarantee you I will watch my first Vikings home game this fall). Back to Randolph and the Blazers. First, an account of what transpired. The Blazers get drilled by the Sonics on Monday, and nobody outside of Travis Outlaw and LaMarcus Aldridge play anywhere near their capabilities. Randolph was among the worst, finishing with 11 points and eight rebounds on 5-of-13 shooting. Nate McMillan says he tore into the team at halftime, and when Nate goes as far as to admit he was hard, believe me, it was probably a pretty scathing speech. After the game, Nate vented some more of his ire, directly calling out Randolph, Jarrett Jack and Jamaal Magloire for allowing such a beat down to happen. On the plane ride home, McMillan had what is now probably his 782nd sit-down with Randolph. Nate tells me he asked Randolph if he understood where he was coming from in his halftime and postgame speeches (Randolph said he did), while also asking his co-captain how he sees his role on this team, what he expects from the team and where he thought the team was. McMillan also said he told Randolph that he could help the young players. McMillan said that Randolph eventually told him he was going to call a team meeting, after which Randolph spread the word to the back of the plane where the players sit. "It wasn't my idea, it was something he called,'' McMillan said. "He said he was going to call a team meeting and I said 'Okay' and didn't ask any more questions.''</div> Source
