The Los Angeles Lakers are 13-19, are feuding with their coach and with each other, and their current two-game win streak consists of wins over the six-win Denver Nuggets and the eight-win Toronto Raptors.

	Can Rasheed Wallace be the go-to guy for Portland for the next four months?

With those meaningful victories, they have told us they are back to the team that won three consecutive titles. And we all believe them, ready to anoint them the champions for a fourth straight year.

Long live Kobe and Shaq. Long live the Kings. Oh, maybe that doesn't quite fit together, does it?

In any case, I don't know if the Lakers are correct or not. And personally, I think their proclamation of resurrection is a bit premature. But, hey, they have at least earned the right to say that and have us believe it, or at least want to believe it, until they prove themselves.

After all, a lot of us consumed a certain black bird that tends to fly in a straight line when we predicted the crumbling of the dynasty just because the two princes of Bel-Air were throwing right hooks at one another.

It is with the same respect that I bestow upon the Lakers because of their history that I cast a dubious eye at the recent exploits of the Portland Trail Blazers.

In case you'd missed it, the Blazers -- until a fatigue-laden, four-games-in-five-nights loss to the Tyson Chandler-led Chicago Bulls -- had strung together eight consecutive wins and moved into the upper echelon of the Western Conference, where as many as 11 teams are vying for the eight playoff spots.

It would be easy to say, "See, I knew this team, with all its talent, could piece together a win streak worthy of one of the best teams in the NBA." It would be easier still to speculate that the players took notice of the public backlash about their off-court activities, and banded together to prove everybody wrong, that this team could indeed win despite its many virtuous shortcomings:

If they don't love us for who we are, they probably said in their closed-door meeting, they will love us for what we do in our chosen profession.

	Portland Since Dec. 14
	Opp.	Score	High scorer
	at Wolves	98-92 (OT)	Anderson (24)
	Hornets	102-93	Wells (30)
	at Clippers	97-93	Wells (30)
	at Warriors	113-111	Wells (28)
	Sonics	81-80	Anderson (27)
	Jazz	103-98	Pippen (23)
	at Kings	119-113 (OT)	Wells 32
	at Pistons	85-74	Wallace 19
	at Bulls	87-102	Pippen 15

But I have to tell you, I continue to cast a skeptical eye toward the Blazers, simply because of their history. There are only so many times 12 boys can cry "Wolf!" before I possess perpetual doubt.

The Blazers, you'll remember, did this same thing a year ago, only for a longer period of time. Right in the middle of the season, they strung together 12 wins in a row, and we thought that head coach Mo Cheeks had finally found a panacea for all the petulant vices inflicting the team.

Eventually, though, the Blazers, the real Blazers -- the ones who are jealous about playing time, who hold a true dislike for teammates, who allow the needs of the individual to hold sway over the good of the team -- came sprinting to the fore. Then, and only then, the team with a payroll seemingly larger than our space program once again was cast out of the playoffs with hardly a whimper.

The Blazers' latest win streak came about, they say, because Cheeks finally settled on not only a set rotation, and because they came to the realization that a team needs one or two stars, not eight.

With that in mind, Cheeks called most of the plays for Bonzi Wells and Rasheed Wallace.

"I still call some plays for Derek Anderson or (Arvydas Sabonis), but for the most part I decided I wanted to put the ball into Rasheed's and Bonzi's hands," Cheeks told The Oregonian. "Because when they both have good nights, we are usually a pretty good basketball team."

Indeed, during the eight-game streak, Wells averaged 25.8 points while shooting 50 percent and Wallace averaged 19.6 points and 8.5 rebounds. Cheeks also settled on a rotation that leaves both Damon Stoudamire and Antonio Daniels on the bench, while the four players mentioned above, as well as Ruben Patterson, Dale Davis Scottie Pippen, Zach Randolph and Jeff McInnis, log most of the time.

But I can't help but think that while that may last during a win streak, eventually the Blazers' human nature is going to take over, and players who never have considered themselves role players are not going to want to stay with that speciality and all the stigmata that go along with it.

Pippen recently said he wants to play a few more years. If that is truly the case, he needs to showcase himself for other teams. When the trade deadline approaches, Stoudamire will undoubtedly begin making a great deal of noise. A young guy like Randolph will want to prove his merit. McInnis never seems happy.

And before you know it, the Blazers, in all their combustible glory, will re-emerge to present their true natures.

Hey, if this analysis is faulty, it is easily correctable and the Blazers should get their just due.

But at this point, an eight-game win streak is not enough to make us forget about the insipid plight of Team Turmoil over the past few seasons.

Though, if they win three titles in a row, we just might forgive them.

Frank Hughes, who covers the NBA for the Tacoma (Wash.) News-Tribune, is a regular contributor to ESPN.com.