Editor's note: Each week during the NBA regular season, Dr. Jack Ramsay makes a house call with an ailing team.

This week's team: Portland Trail Blazers.

The Symptoms
Considered by some to be among the preseason contenders in the Western Conference, Portland now has a 10-9 record after Tuesday night's emphatic win at Washington and has edged into the West's eighth and final playoff spot. Although the Blazers averaged more than 100 points in their last two wins, they remain among eight teams in the league that score fewer than 90 points a game. The Blazers rank 23rd in the league in points scored and allow only 87.8 points a game (fifth-best in the NBA). But they are just average in the other major team statistics -- 10th in percentage rebounding (.506), 13th in turnovers (14.9), 11th in field-goal percentage (.443) and 13th in field-goal percentage allowed (.428). Those statistics reflect the level of mediocrity at which the Blazers play.

	Coach Maurice Cheeks may have found a way to make GM Bob Whitsitt's loose parts work.

The Blazers have been models of inconsistency. The win over Washington put them above .500 for the first time since their opening-night win over the Lakers. Their 19-point win at San Antonio was followed by losses at Dallas and Houston. They then beat Houston and lost to New Jersey and Dallas in a short homestand. Portland has now won three straight -- the latter two coming on the road.

The win over the Wizards was solid. Six players scored in double figures, the team shot 50 percent from the field and handed out 24 assists against only 13 turnovers. The ball movement was crisp and unselfish. Portland's defense was aggressive, making 12 steals and out-rebounding the Wizards. The Blazers looked good. There was no evidence of bickering between players and coach Mo Cheeks that occurred in some previous games, and the bench players appeared to accept their roles and the playing time that was allotted to them.

The question is: Can the Blazers keep it up?

The Diagnosis
Portland has good, not great talent. Other than Rasheed Wallace and Bonzi Wells, the rest are just good NBA players. Wallace has exceptional skills and ranks with Tim Duncan, Kevin Garnett and Chris Webber as the best big forwards in the game. He scores inside and out (second in the league in 3-point percentage), and is an outstanding defender. Wells is developing into a top-level swingman. But Scottie Pippen, once among the league's best all-round players, is no longer at that level. The same is true of Arvydas Sabonis and Dale Davis.

The Blazers are overstocked with guards and small forwards and they're limited in big-man strength. With Damon Stoudamire, Derek Anderson, Ruben Patterson, Wells and Pippen, the team had a nice balance at those positions that would have made for an easy distribution of playing time. But general manager Bob Whitsitt then acquired Antonio Daniels and Jeff McInnis -- both accustomed to playing significant minutes -- before this season. As a result, of the 11 players in Cheeks' rotation, seven play at the perimeter. It creates an impossible situation for the coach.

Stoudamire has railed against his reduction in minutes -- he's gone from 32 minutes last season to 24 this season and no longer starts. Daniels averages 14 minutes compared with 25 last season at San Antonio; McInnis gets only 16 minutes a game compared with 37 minutes a game with the Clippers. In the last two games, the latter two players scarcely got off the bench. Whitsitt doesn't appear concerned with that situation, but it's a problem for Cheeks that leads to the erosion of team harmony. I see it as a major reason for the team's inconsistency.

After Wallace, the other big men have come up with less than spectacular performances. Davis gets seven points and six rebounds; the hobbled Sabonis, now 38 years old, averages six points and five boards and young Zachary Randolph averages about six points and three rebounds. It's not a front line that intimidates opponents.

Another factor contributing to the Blazers' inconsistency is the off-the-court problems Blazers players have had and its negative impact among the fans of Portland. Wallace, Stoudamire and Patterson have been involved in law violations. Scorching columns in the local print media have been written about team management and its players. Whitsitt apologized to Portland fans and said that mangement wouldn't condone it. Cheeks has said that the situation is a problem. One downtown store posted a large sign calling for fans to "Boycott Blazers." That atmosphere is not conducive to enthusiastic, high-level team play.

The Cure

	Starters Rasheed Wallace, left, Scottie Pippen, Derek Anderson and Bonzi Wells are part of the Blazers' winning mix.

This road trip may be just what the doctor ordered. The Blazers are 2-0 so far with stops remaining at New Jersey, Milwaukee and Minnesota. Cheeks has reduced his player rotation and the team appears to be playing with more unity. The players who lost their minutes -- principally Daniels, McInnis and Stoudamire -- are just going to have to accept their fate, as disappointing as it may be. It's not the coach's job to please all of his players -- that's an impossible task. It is the coach's responsibility to do what's best for the team. Cheeks appears to have taken a step in the right direction.

A contending team in the NBA comprises five players -- each skilled at his position and play effectively on offense and defense -- and three to five role players who carry out the game plan at a high level so that there's not a sharp loss of performance quality during the time they're on the floor. At the moment, Cheeks starts Pippen, Wallace, Davis, Wells and Anderson. Patterson, Stoudamire, Sabonis and Randolph come off the bench. That combination has the potential to work well. It's the Blazers' best chance to shake off the lethargy that's afflicted them since the beginning of the season.

If that doesn't work out, then Trader Bob must get busy again. This time, he needs to acquire some big-man help.

Dr. Jack Ramsay, who is an NBA analyst for ESPN, is a regular contributor to ESPN.com.