The NBA sure handed the Blazers a candy-ass schedule for the month of November. And it continues this week. Tonight they host the Bulls, who are on their annual, always hideous Circus Road Trip, on which they lose five out of every six games. Then the 0-13 Nets and the hapless Grizzlies are here, on either side of Turkey Day. Right after the Griz, though, the Blazers get on a plane and fly to the soccer capital of the world, Salt Lake City, for a legitimate opponent.

With all these wimps on the schedule in the early part of the season, one intuits that there are going to be some brutal stretches toward the end of the season. Which may account for many knowledgeable Blazer fans' uneasiness about the team's progress so far. They're 10-5, but against some terrible competition. Their competition so far have a combined record of 64-82. Counting the next three games, it's 71-101.