Brand: It'll Be Different Without Miller

[ABM]

From: Philly Burbs

Elton Brand enjoyed playing with Andre Miller. The two spent a season together with the Clippers earlier in their careers and were also Sixers' teammates last season.

But with Andre Miller leaving to sign with the Portland Trail Blazers, Lou Williams is expected to succeed Miller as the starting point guard. While Williams is quicker and more of a natural scorer than Miller, he’s less of a true point than the veteran Miller.

“He’s a great player,” said Brand of Miller. “He really won a lot of ballgames for us. In coach (Eddie) Jordan’s system, the spacing is going to open it up for everybody because Lou can hit the 3-pointer, he can drive – no one can stay in front of him. He’s not a post-up guard, which Andre Miller was.”

 

[Natebishop3]

From: Philly Burbs

I really feel that a lot of fans will be surprised by the effect that Miller will have on our team.

 

[Shooter]

Nice find, ABM.

 

[fumanchu]

Wow, who is that girl in your avatar? I'm usually not into redheads, but damn!

 

[The_Lillard_King]

Wow, who is that girl in your avatar? I'm usually not into redheads, but damn!

I didn't even notice she had red hair.

 

[Shooter]

Wow, who is that girl in your avatar? I'm usually not into redheads, but damn!

Shay Laren.

 

[rocketeer]

I really feel that a lot of fans will be surprised by the effect that Miller will have on our team.

i agree that a lot of fans will be surprised, just in the opposite way.

of course when the blazers win 60 games this year, everyone is going to credit the "experience" miller and juwan howard brought to the team.

 

[MARIS61]

Brand sounds like he liked him as a friend but is now quite happy that Miller was replaced by a guy who can hit 3's and drive.

 

[TradeNurkicNow]

Brand sounds like he liked him as a friend but is now quite happy that Miller was replaced by a guy who can hit 3's and drive.

Louis Williams shot .6% better from beyond the arc than Andre did last season.

 

[PapaG]

Brand sounds like he liked him as a friend but is now quite happy that Miller was replaced by a guy who can hit 3's and drive.

Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. Brand seems to think the post will be more open this year. At least, that's how I read it. I'm not sure what the means, though.

 

[MARIS61]

Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. Brand seems to think the post will be more open this year. At least, that's how I read it. I'm not sure what the means, though.

I hope it doesn't mean less room in the paint for Greg and LaMarcus to move.

And Roy spends a good deal of time in there also.

OTOH, maybe a good thing on the bench squad as Rudy, Travis and Martell are fine with shooting from outside.

 

[TradeNurkicNow]

I hope it doesn't mean less room in the paint for Greg and LaMarcus to move.

And Roy spends a good deal of time in there also.

OTOH, maybe a good thing on the bench squad as Rudy, Travis and Martell are fine with shooting from outside.

So, you're saying Blake should start?

 

[rocketeer]

So, you're saying Blake should start?

i think he should. it makes more sense with the team the blazers have.

 

[Nikolokolus]

i think he should. it makes more sense with the team the blazers have.

If you assume that what's best for the Blazers is an offense designed around Brandon Roy I agree that Blake would appear to be a more natural compliment -- maybe -- but if on the other hand you'd like to see the bigs featured more prominently (not necessarily most prominently) then I think there's a better than average chance that Miller can help make Greg and LaMarcus better, while at the same time relieving some pressure on Brandon to be the only real facilitator on the team. I also tend to think that a lot depends on who emerges as the starter at the 3 and just how effective either Nic or Martell are at hitting the long ball.

Another important thing to consider is just how much is Miller allowed to push tempo and get easy baskets; if he's able to get the team functioning more fluidly in the transition game and if Nate trusts him we could see a fairly substantial shift in the way this team plays the game at times. I have no doubt that the bread and butter will still be a heavy diet of high pick and roll and/or pick and pop basketball with Brandon Isoed at the top of the key through long stretches. But if they can even get a 10-15% bump in their transition game with Miller's presence that would be enough for me to consider making him the starter, plus I also think Miller is a slight upgrade over Steve defensively.

I guess we get to find out in a couple of weeks just who works best with whom.

 

[rocketeer]

If you assume that what's best for the Blazers is an offense designed around Brandon Roy I agree that Blake would appear to be a more natural compliment -- maybe -- but if on the other hand you'd like to see the bigs featured more prominently (not necessarily most prominently) then I think there's a better than average chance that Miller can help make Greg and LaMarcus better, while at the same time relieving some pressure on Brandon to be the only real facilitator on the team. I also tend to think that a lot depends on who emerges as the starter at the 3 and just how effective either Nic or Martell are at hitting the long ball.

Another important thing to consider is just how much is Miller allowed to push tempo and get easy baskets; if he's able to get the team functioning more fluidly in the transition game and if Nate trusts him we could see a fairly substantial shift in the way this team plays the game at times. I have no doubt that the bread and butter will still be a heavy diet of high pick and roll and/or pick and pop basketball with Brandon Isoed at the top of the key through long stretches. But if they can even get a 10-15% bump in their transition game with Miller's presence that would be enough for me to consider making him the starter, plus I also think Miller is a slight upgrade over Steve defensively.

I guess we get to find out in a couple of weeks just who works best with whom.

i think andre miller not being on the team at all makes the most sense.

but since he is on the team, i think it makes the most sense to start blake, but play miller more (28-30) minutes. this way blake's minutes are as effective as possible playing alongside roy and miller's minutes are maximized because he gets all the minutes roy isn't on the floor.

 

[mook]

If you assume that what's best for the Blazers is an offense designed around Brandon Roy I agree that Blake would appear to be a more natural compliment -- maybe -- but if on the other hand you'd like to see the bigs featured more prominently (not necessarily most prominently) then I think there's a better than average chance that Miller can help make Greg and LaMarcus better, while at the same time relieving some pressure on Brandon to be the only real facilitator on the team. I also tend to think that a lot depends on who emerges as the starter at the 3 and just how effective either Nic or Martell are at hitting the long ball.

I think that you've hit the nail on the head on why rocketeer thinks that Miller doesn't fit it. He assumes we're going to be running a Wade/LeBron/Kobe (in the bad years) offense like we did last year, where a huge portion of everything we do goes through Roy. After all, that's how we won 54 games, so why not do it again?

The problem is that, although I like Roy, he's not as good as Wade/LeBron/Kobe. There's an upper limit of how many games you can win with Roy as the main focus. A championship probably isn't in the cards. Besides, even Wade and Kobe weren't able to succeed without involving some other key players more in the offense, and Wade's injuries have been the price paid for trying to do too much.

I'd actually like to see Aldridge lead our team in PPG, Roy second and Oden a close third. Ideally all three will be hovering between 17-24 ppg. Maybe not realistic this year, but it should be next year.

That kind of balanced scoring isn't going to happen if Roy is the primary ball handler. He's going to call his own number too much.

A fantastic example was that regular season game where Roy hit the miracle three at the end. People remember that shot as a measure of his greatness, but they forget that he took a number of really bad shots in that fourth quarter, when Aldridge and Rudy had been killing the Rockets all night.

If we had Miller that night Roy wouldn't have taken all those shots. We would have won that one by a dozen instead of relying on Roy heroics.

Adding in Miller is the next logical step in getting a more balanced offense.

 

[Nikolokolus]

i think andre miller not being on the team at all makes the most sense.

but since he is on the team, i think it makes the most sense to start blake, but play miller more (28-30) minutes. this way blake's minutes are as effective as possible playing alongside roy and miller's minutes are maximized because he gets all the minutes roy isn't on the floor.

You're whole line of reasoning pre-supposes that Miller and Roy are unable to coexist on the floor together. I make no claims that they will absolutely be able to coexist, but it's not like Miller hasn't been able to play alongside and even flourish with a high usage, facilitator on the wing (Iguodala).

 

[Minstrel]

it's not like Miller hasn't been able to play alongside and even flourish with a high usage, facilitator on the wing (Iguodala).

And Carmelo Anthony.

 

[Fender]

A fantastic example was that regular season game where Roy hit the miracle three at the end. People remember that shot as a measure of his greatness, but they forget that he took a number of really bad shots in that fourth quarter, when Aldridge and Rudy had been killing the Rockets all night.

If we had Miller that night Roy wouldn't have taken all those shots. We would have won that one by a dozen instead of relying on Roy heroics.

Adding in Miller is the next logical step in getting a more balanced offense.

Yeah but that made my year!

 

[rocketeer]

You're whole line of reasoning pre-supposes that Miller and Roy are unable to coexist on the floor together. I make no claims that they will absolutely be able to coexist, but it's not like Miller hasn't been able to play alongside and even flourish with a high usage, facilitator on the wing (Iguodala).

no not at all. they certainly will be able to coexist on the floor together and do well. if i was presupposing that, i would want miller on the bench any time roy was in the game. roy is a good enough player that he can coexist with anyone.

i just think roy is best off with a shooter next to him rather than someone who wants to take the ball out of his hands. and i think miller is also better off playing with the ball in his hands(which he will do some of with roy on the court) and that blake is better when there is another guy on the floor to create. combine those things and i feel blake should spend the majority of his minutes with roy.

 

[rocketeer]

And Carmelo Anthony.

not sure carmelo really counts as a facilitator. he's much better off when he's playing with people to do that for him so he can just focus on scoring.