Travis Outlaw isn?t usually available immediately for interviews after home games. He normally lifts weights for about a half-hour before showering.

?I?m playing a lot of power forward, and I need to get stronger,? says the 6-9 Outlaw, who weighs 210 sopping wet. ?I guess it?s a mind thing.?

Outlaw has scored 20 or more points in five of the last seven and six of the last 10 games after not hitting the mark once in the first 14 games of the season.

Let teammate Joel Przybilla make the first nomination, ?Travis is definitely up there among candidates for sixth man of the year. My first year in Portland was his second year here. To see him grow and mature since then ? he?s become a heck of a player in this league.?