Trail Blazers guard Brandon Roy stands by himself in the tunnel prior to games instead of being on the court during the National Anthem.

For the past two seasons, Roy has left the court before "The Star Spangled Banner" is performed.

Some fans have asked the Oregonian's John Canzano whether Roy is making a political statement, but Portland's star says he is not.

Roy, who says that he loves America, never really thought anything of it.

"It's not me doing some (star-treatment) thing," Roy said, "Kobe Bryant is out there for the anthem. It's just something I've done for the last two years to have a quiet moment to myself."

Trail Blazers center Greg Oden has struggled to remain on the floor this season because of foul trouble.

Portland head coach Nate McMillan had instituted a one foul per quarter rule, meaning that Oden would sit in the first half once he accumulated two fouls.

However, McMillan has changed his strategy and wants Oden and forward LaMarcus Aldridge to learn to play in foul trouble.

"He's going to have to figure it out," McMillan said. "Both he and LaMarcus have been in foul trouble. I've been thinking about it, (and) they have to learn to play with two fouls and stay out of foul trouble. We need them on the floor."

Oden is averaging four personal fouls in 24.2 minutes per game this season.

Portland coach Nate McMillan is starting to use Martell Webster to help keep opposing defenses honest.

With Andre Miller and Steve Blake on the floor at the same time, the opposition has double-teamed Brandon Roy, LaMarcus Aldridge and Greg Oden often.

"You need a guy who can keep that defense honest," McMillan said. "If they don't, (Webster) has the ability to hurt them with the 3-point ball. If they play single coverage, our guys should be able to take advantage of that. He really helps when you have guys out there spreading the floor."

Webster had season-highs with 21 points and 13 rebounds in Portland's 106-78 victory over Minnesota on Saturday night.

The Trail Blazers are thin on the wing with both Nicolas Batum and Travis Outlaw lost to injuries.

Outlaw will miss three-to-five months with a stress fracture in his left foot. Batum is expected to miss four months with a shoulder injury.

"We've talked about our situation and you look at guys possibly coming back. We need bodies," McMillan said, reports Beyond The Beat.

"But that's not just something you ... we made a commitment to the 15 guys. It's unfortunate that we have four of them that we didn't expect to be on the inactive list. You are talking about eating money and a whole lot of other stuff that comes into play in that scenario."

In addition to Outlaw and Batum, the Trail Blazers are without rookies Patrick Mills and Jeff Pendergraph.

"We are aware we are missing two guys, two rotation guys. But you find that guy or find someone who is going to come in and play and help you. That's going to be more than you possibly releasing someone. That's going to be some major moves," McMillan added.

The Blazers lost in Oakland for the 11th straight time on Friday night.

Beyond the losses, it has been home for many other unfortunate instances for the organization.

'It's where Bonzi Wells blew out his knee in April 2001, disrupting the Blazers' starting lineup for the playoffs,' writes Jason Quick of The Oregonian. 'It's where Shawn Kemp informed the team he needed to enter rehabilitation for cocaine abuse. And it's where Rasheed Wallace and Wells fought with the Warriors in 2002, which led to Wallace trying to get into the stands and Golden State's Chris Mills trying to enter the Blazers' postgame locker room. Unsuccessful at that, Mills blocked the team bus as it left the arena.'

Trail Blazers forward Travis Outlaw will undergo surgery Wednesday to repair a stress fracture of the fifth metatarsal bone in his left foot, the Trail Blazers announced Tuesday.

A timetable for his return will be determined after the procedure.

Portland owner Paul Allen has been diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and is undergoing chemotherapy.

Allen, who also owns the NFL's Seattle Seahawks, is a Microsoft Corp. co-founder and billionaire investor.

He battled another form of immune system cancer, Hodgkin's lymphoma, more than 20 years ago.

Allen "is optimistic he can beat this, too."

RealGM is live from Philips Arena and will be tweeting during tonight's matchup between the Atlanta Hawks and the Portland Trail Blazers - two of the hottest teams in the NBA.

The Hawks are the best in the East in the current standings with an 8-2 record, including a perfect 4-0 mark at home.  The Blazers are riding a six game winning streak.  Their last loss came against Atlanta on November 3rd at the Rose Garden.

Follow RealGM's Brian Reynolds for up to the minute news from the game by visiting http://twitter.com/BReynolds404.

The Trail Blazers are estimating that Travis Outlaw will be out for six to eight weeks.

The forward broke a bone in his foot during Portland's 80-74 victory over Charlotte on Saturday night.

The injury is very similar to the ailment that kept Martell Webster out for a majority of the season last year.

Trail Blazers forward Travis Outlaw suffered a stress fracture in his left foot against the Bobcats on Saturday night.

Outlaw, who is averaging 10.9 points per game this season, played just one minute against Charlotte and was set to return to Portland for further evaluation.

Blazers teammate Martell Webster suffered a similar injury last season, causing him to miss a majority of the year.