Andre Miller: The right fit?

[Loyalty4Life]

No one could have been more happy to see him in a Blazer uniform than me. I love all that he brings to the table. We've been needing an experienced, veteran PG for a while.

But I'm sad... I think Miller is taking too many shots. He isn't a great shooter to being with at all. He's not meshing with Roy on the court, IMO, as both need the ball to be effective. And I don't think Miller is getting enough minutes and probably feels frustrated or limited in what he can accomplish while he's on the court.

Overall, I don't see it working out with him, at least as a backup. This is just my preliminary thought, but I don't think the situation will change much for the better.

 

[1 Eye Jack]

I'm somewhat disappointed so far from what I've seen but it's way to early to make a decision on him.

 

[MAS RipCity]

Maybe he would be performing better if he was allowed to get into a rhythm. "Blakey" is taking up all his minutes. Dre needs to get 35 mins a night and let Jerryd pick up the rest.
I am SO done with Blake (not a knee jerk reaction, I haven't liked Blake since we first had him in 05)

 

[durvasa]

He's a poor defender, and his lack of range offset his skills in and around the basket. Never thought he was a great fit for the Blazers.

 

[RoyToy]

Nate McMillan could make Magic Johnson not look like the right fit.

Miller is fine.

 

[HailBlazers]

Overall, I don't see it working out with him, at least as a backup. This is just my preliminary thought, but I don't think the situation will change much for the better.

Your right he's not working out as the backup. He needs to start and learn to play with our big three, throw in Batum and were set for the better.

He's a poor defender.

Wrong. Did you see him guard Carmelo? Obviously not, him and Webster were the only ones who could effect him. Miller is all good.

 

[KingSpeed]

Miller is not good. He was never an All-Star and now he's past his prime. He's kind of better than Blake but not really. It was nice to see him score in the post and grab a few key rebounds, but he only had two assists to go with two turnovers. Blake, at least, had 6 assists. Basically, right now, our PG situation sucks. We threw money at it and got very little improvement.

 

[Natebishop3]

Why are we bitching about our backup point guard? I think this team has way many more problems than our backup point guard.

 

[NJNetz]

We threw money at it and got very little improvement.

No, Portland threw money at a veteran point guard that should be starting. At the moment, it's Nate's fault for Miller not contributing the way he should. Start Miller, and see where that leads you. Only then you can determine if he was the "right fit".

 

[VanillaGorilla]

No, Portland threw money at a veteran point guard that should be starting. At the moment, it's Nate's fault for Miller not contributing the way he should. Start Miller, and see where that leads you. Only then you can determine if he was the "right fit".

Why, in your opinion, can he not contribute off the bench as well?

I agree he should be starting, but that is mostly cause Blake sucks.. I haven't particularly liked what U've seen from Miller when he's been on the court.

 

[KingSpeed]

Why, in your opinion, can he not contribute off the bench as well?

I agree he should be starting, but that is mostly cause Blake sucks.. I haven't particularly liked what U've seen from Miller when he's been on the court.

Exactly.

 

[NJNetz]

Why, in your opinion, can he not contribute off the bench as well?

He will contribute to your squad, but not to the extent that Portland needs. Were you not seeking a starting point guard? As I remember, the Blazers were. Instead, Blake is starting, and as I remember, he received quite the amount of criticism last season.

I am, however, surprised with the amount of shots Miller is taking. I can't say I remember him chucking the ball in Philly.

But then again, Miller hasn't come off the bench in god knows how long, either.

 

[VanillaGorilla]

He will contribute to your squad, but not to the extent that Portland needs. Were you not seeking a starting point guard? As I remember, the Blazers were. Instead, Blake is starting, and as I remember, he received quite the amount of criticism last season.

I am, however, surprised with the amount of shots Miller is taking. I can't say I remember him chucking the ball in Philly.

But then again, Miller hasn't come off the bench in god knows how long, either.

We pretty much agree, Miller should be starting. Everyone I can think of in here thinks that way also.

This is Millers 12th season. In his first season, he started 36 of 82 games. Seasons 2-11, he started EVERY game except his first game after being traded to Philly. Ridiculous.

 

[Nikolokolus]

I used to think that Nate just made do with the roster he had over the past couple of years and that because there were so many youngsters on the team that was the primary reason he kept the sets simple and primarily needed a point guard like Steve to come in and offer a steady hand on the tiller (or least a steady hand off of it, so Roy could operate) by hitting open shots, playing low-risk, low mistake basketball in an effort to maximize possessions, so I mostly held my judgement on Nate when guys like Bayless and Sergio sat (I didn't mind Sergio sitting that much actually) and figured that if the team somehow could acquire a veteran, good or even great point guard of long experience and bona fide playmaking skills with a low turnover rate, that Nate would turn the reins over to that player and let them operate ... KP signs Miller in the offseason (supposedly with Nate's blessing) and the first thing he does is put him in bench role, instead of spending the entire preseason integrating him into the starting lineup and ensuring he gets comfortable with Roy, LaMarcus and Oden -- call me crazy but when you sign a guy for 7-8 million a year and you have a weakness at point guard this is just sort of logical.

All I know is that Nate's offense makes Miller look like a bad point guard ... If you want to know who to blame you have to ask yourself a couple of questions: did Miller go from an 18+ PER player 6 months ago to crap, or does Nate not have the creativity and vision to do anything but let his shooting guard play the high pick and roll and let eveybody else stand around waiting to play catch and shoot? Maybe it's a little of both, but I tend not to think age has overtaken Dre' in the span of one off-season.

 

[alex42083]

Our offense just seems so confined without any free flow or allowance to improvise that Miller is basically playing the same role as Blake.. and moreso, Greg is being put into the same role as Joel.

Frustrating.. and 2 freakin' fast-break points against Houston.. along with 15 TOs. Ugh.

 

[Natebishop3]

I used to think that Nate just made do with the roster he had over the past couple of years and that because there were so many youngsters on the team that was the primary reason he kept the sets simple and primarily needed a point guard like Steve to come in and offer a steady hand on the tiller (or least a steady hand off of it, so Roy could operate) by hitting open shots, playing low-risk, low mistake basketball in an effort to maximize possessions, so I mostly held my judgement on Nate when guys like Bayless and Sergio sat (I didn't mind Sergio sitting that much actually) and figured that if the team somehow could acquire a veteran, good or even great point guard of long experience and bona fide playmaking skills with a low turnover rate, that Nate would turn the reins over to that player and let them operate ... KP signs Miller in the offseason (supposedly with Nate's blessing) and the first thing he does is put him in bench role, instead of spending the entire preseason integrating him into the starting lineup and ensuring he gets comfortable with Roy, LaMarcus and Oden -- call me crazy but when you sign a guy for 7-8 million a year and you have a weakness at point guard this is just sort of logical.

All I know is that Nate's offense makes Miller look like a bad point guard ... If you want to know who to blame you have to ask yourself a couple of questions: did Miller go from an 18+ PER player 6 months ago to crap, or does Nate not have the creativity and vision to do anything but let his shooting guard play the high pick and roll and let eveybody else stand around waiting to play catch and shoot? Maybe it's a little of both, but I tend not to think age has overtaken Dre' in the span of one off-season.

Take your "logic" elsewhere. We do not need "logic" in this city.

 

[bintim]

Miller is not good. He was never an All-Star and now he's past his prime. He's kind of better than Blake but not really. It was nice to see him score in the post and grab a few key rebounds, but he only had two assists to go with two turnovers. Blake, at least, had 6 assists. Basically, right now, our PG situation sucks. We threw money at it and got very little improvement.

I agree. Miller's shot looks terrible. He shoots too much. Blake and Bayless would have been ok with me until we got a good shot at a point guard or one developed.

I'm tired of hearing about defense being a priority also. Don't talk about it, DO IT!

 

[bobf]

Linear regression adjusted (+/-) based on last 4 seasons weighted equally. Given that Miller is probably declining over this stretch and Blake improving somewhat, and given that Blake fits better, I'd say (this says) they are about equal. Still, an improvement over Sergio, but still disappointing.

PlayerName	Rating	O-Rat	D-Rat	Poss
Westbrook, Rus	+4.8	+1.3	-3.5	10,523
Felton, Raym	+3.1	+3.1	-0.1	43,741
Sessions, Ram	+2.9	+5.2	+2.4	10,298
Miller, Andre	+1.9	+3.9	+2.1	46,323
Hinrich, Kirk	+1.2	+1.1	-0.1	37,825
Augustin, D.J.	+0.1	+1.3	+1.2	6,944
Blake, Steve	-0.4	+2.0	+2.4	32,619

(+ defensive rating is bad)
(0.0 = average player)

 

[durvasa]

Linear regression adjusted (+/-) based on last 4 seasons weighted equally. Given that Miller is probably declining over this stretch and Blake improving somewhat, and given that Blake fits better, I'd say (this says) they are about equal. Still, an improvement over Sergio, but still disappointing.

Interesting. Did you calculate that, or is there another source?

Based on Steve Ilardi's regressed +/- (using 6 years of data, weighted heavily towards last season), Andre Miller very likely made his team somewhere between 3 and 7 points worse defensively over 100 possessions. That's very poor. I know someone who charted Miller's games very closely 2 seasons ago, and he agreed that Miller was a very bad defender. Maybe he performs better in certain matchups (e.g., Denver -- a team that should be familiar to him).

According to the same measures, Blake also rated very poorly as a defender (Blazers being somewhere between 2 and 6 points worse defensively with him). Better offense, however. I think people underestimate the importance of range shooting from perimeter players. Kyle Lowry, Rockets PG, rates very poorly offensively mainly (I think) because of his lack of shooting.

http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0AnGzTFTtSPx_dFVrZXdHNlNZQUJadllKUm1Ld294WkE&hl=en

 

[BLAZER PROPHET]

Nate McMillan could make Magic Johnson not look like the right fit.

Miller is fine.

Agreed 110%.

 

[PapaG]

Why are we bitching about our backup point guard? I think this team has way many more problems than our backup point guard.

You're right. Let's bitch about the backup PF!

 

[Fez Hammersticks]

He is the right fit.

Coach McMillan isn't....

 

[Rastapopoulos]

How much time have both Greg and Miller been on court together? I don't like that they're in separate units. Part of what excited me about Miller was his ability to feed the post and throw alley-oops. Either move Miller to the starters or let Prz start, but play Miller and Oden together as much as possible.