F*** YOU NATE MCMILLAN

[PapaG]

The entire center position got massively outplayed.

I agree, although for a back-up, Przy at least played a basically neutral role in this loss.

 

[B-Roy]

I agree, although for a back-up, Przy at least played a basically neutral role in this loss.

He was pretty bad to be quite honest. Let everyone outrebound him and did nothing on offense.

 

[PapaG]

He was pretty bad to be quite honest. Let everyone outrebound him and did nothing on offense.

Yep, he's a back-up.

 

[LittleAlex]

Portland lost for the following reasons"

1.) Fatigue - 5th game in 7 nights is a tough one to get.
2.) Turnovers - Everyone kept turning down decent shots to make a terrible pass.
3.) Backup Small Forward - Martell came into the game and sucked the energy out of the team.
4.) Non-Clutch shooting for everyone not named Rudy - Blake, Roy, LMA, Oden and Miller all bricked decent shots.
5.) Zone Defense - In an effort to hide the small lineup they went into a zone. The zone gives up 3's and defensive rebounds. What was it that killed Portland in the end?

I hate Blake, but the loss isn't just on him. The whole team pretty well stunk in the 4th quarter. Ran out of gas, simple as that.

 

[Ed O]

Well, to be honest, I can understand some of the criticism but man is it getting old. Yeah, Blake is slumping badly. But maybe we should just make sticky thread where people who hate him can voice there permanent displeasure, like a wailing wall.

Or maybe we should continue to post whenever he fucks up another game for us. Like last night.

Of course, some people (not necessarily you, yak) will continue to defend him and his 8.9 PER.

Ed O.

 

[Ed O]

Was it just me, or did going to that zone defense kill us? It seemed like every time we went to it they made a run..

It's very difficult to get defensive rebounds out of a zone and it tends to be easier to shoot over one, too, as far as I can tell.

Did the zone cut down on drives to the middle? Probably. Did it help Joe Johnson get better looks and the Hawks get more offensive boards? Almost certainly.

Ed O.

 

[PapaG]

Or maybe we should continue to post whenever he fucks up another game for us. Like last night.

Of course, some people (not necessarily you, yak) will continue to defend him and his 8.9 PER.

Ed O.

11 assists and the only player that attempted any sort of offensive flow + only starter with postive plus-minus for the game = scapegoat.

This place is ridiculous at times.

 

[magnifier661]

11 assists and the only player that attempted any sort of offensive flow + only starter with postive plus-minus for the game = scapegoat.

This place is ridiculous at times.

I am telling you that I am unimpressed with Miller and Blake this season. Just mediocre on the floor, with flashes of good things. Who knows, it may just be we suck so badly at SF, that it's making our guards play out of position most this season. As much as a fan of the Roy @ 3 I was, I will openly admit it's not helping.

There is nothing wrong with Blake, as long as he is a role player. The way he was used last night was as if he was our #2 option. Where was Aldridge? How come he wasn't feed in the post? How come Roy didn't get some easy back picks for a "catch and shoot"? These are all questions I ask Nate.

I can't blame "One player" for this loss. It was a combined "Team Effort"

 

[BlazerWookee]

Get over your stupid man crush on Steve Blake! What's the point of of getting Andre Miller if we're not going to play him down the stretch!???

Because Andre Miller is fat, slow, not very good at defense, and can't shoot?

 

[BlazerWookee]

On defense, Miller makes Blake look like Bowen.

 

[Ed O]

11 assists and the only player that attempted any sort of offensive flow + only starter with postive plus-minus for the game = scapegoat.

This place is ridiculous at times.

Blake's 8.9 PER is rocking your socks off, evidently.

This place IS ridiculous at times.

Ed O.

 

[BBert]

I have to admit that I am very disappointed with Miller's defense and shooting.

OTOH, I firmly believe the offense runs much better with Miller at the helm, and with Miller calling the plays on the floor instead of Nate. Miller gets it.

Andre Miller for player/coach!

 

[PapaG]

Blake's 8.9 PER is rocking your socks off, evidently.

This place IS ridiculous at times.

Ed O.

I never said that. At. All.

That doesn't change the fact that Blake did the job that Miller is supposed to do last night in terms of distributing the ball, does it? But let's focus our frustration on Blake, regardless of what his stat line actually looked like last night.

 

[Ed O]

I never said that. At. All.

That doesn't change the fact that Blake did the job that Miller is supposed to do last night in terms of distributing the ball, does it? But let's focus our frustration on Blake, regardless of what his stat line actually looked like last night.

11 assists doesn't say nearly as much to me as 3-10 (which is what Blake was, not including the last-second half-court attempt). It doesn't excuse no rebounds or steals or free throws in 40 minutes.

He sucked last night. He was one of the worst players on the floor and he played way too much. He was certainly not the ONLY reason for the loss, but he was more to blame than any other Blazers player. 8.9 PER over 12 games is horrendous and yet he keeps starting and has the third-most minutes played on the team. Once McMillan wakes up and reduces his minutes the team will be much better for it.

Ed O.

 

[PapaG]

I have to admit that I am very disappointed with Miller's defense and shooting.

OTOH, I firmly believe the offense runs much better with Miller at the helm, and with Miller calling the plays on the floor instead of Nate. Miller gets it.

Andre Miller for player/coach!

First 5 games - Miller off the bench - Blazers 95.2 ppg
Last 7 games, Miller starting - Blazers - 96.1 ppg, including one in OT. Take out the OT points, and the team is averaging 94.1 ppg.

 

[Ed O]

First 5 games - Miller off the bench - Blazers 95.2 ppg
Last 7 games, Miller starting - Blazers - 96.1 ppg, including one in OT. Take out the OT points, and the team is averaging 94.1 ppg.

Did you adjust for pace? Or for scoring differential, at least?

If the team has slowed down but is scoring about the same, then the offense is being run more efficiently.

Ed O.

 

[PapaG]

11 assists doesn't say nearly as much to me as 3-10 (which is what Blake was, not including the last-second half-court attempt). It doesn't excuse no rebounds or steals or free throws in 40 minutes.

He sucked last night. He was one of the worst players on the floor and he played way too much. He was certainly not the ONLY reason for the loss, but he was more to blame than any other Blazers player. 8.9 PER over 12 games is horrendous and yet he keeps starting and has the third-most minutes played on the team. Once McMillan wakes up and reduces his minutes the team will be much better for it.

Ed O.

His PER does suck, but the guy rarely has the ball in his hands, so I have to consider that when assessing his contributions. I think he should be coming off of the bench, but saying he "sucked" last night is an overreach, IMO. 11 assists doesn't "suck", IMO. Miller "sucked" worse IMO, because he simply is not distributing the ball. 5 assists and 3 TOs is not what I expect from a PG who is the primary ball-handler. I also expect more than a 14.0 PER from the primary ball-handler.

But go ahead and focus on Blake. You posted this, right?

Originally Posted by Ed O
Or maybe we should continue to post whenever he fucks up another game for us. Like last night

.

Don't backtrack now on that statement. Clearly you feel Blake is the reason the team lost the game, regardless of his actual contributions.

 

[PapaG]

Did you adjust for pace? Or for scoring differential, at least?

If the team has slowed down but is scoring about the same, then the offense is being run more efficiently.

Ed O.

No, feel free to do so. I would find it funny that that the pace is actually slower (which it may be, as I said, go for it) with a "running" PG starting, however.

I posted some stats. I didn't comment on them outside of posting them.

 

[Ed O]

His PER does suck, but the guy rarely has the ball in his hands, so I have to consider that when assessing his contributions. I think he should be coming off of the bench, but saying he "sucked" last night is an overreach, IMO. 11 assists doesn't "suck", IMO. Miller "sucked" worse IMO, because he simply is not distributing the ball. 5 assists and 3 TOs is not what I expect from a PG who is the primary ball-handler. I also expect more than a 14.0 PER from the primary ball-handler.

What you expect from Miller has nothing to do with the reality of Steve Blake. His PER is terrible. Whether you expect a better-than-14.0 PER from Miller is irrelevant.

Miller did more good things for the Blazers last night than Blake did, and he did them in only 75% of the minutes.

Don't backtrack now on that statement. Clearly you feel Blake is the reason the team lost the game, regardless of his actual contributions.

Who's backtracking? If he shot better, the team wins. If he got a steal or two, the team probably wins. If he got to the free throw line, the team probably wins. He was terrible and I'm not backtracking from that.

With that said, he is not the ONLY reason the team lost, and I never said that he was.

Ed O.

 

[mikeg]

11 assists and the only player that attempted any sort of offensive flow + only starter with postive plus-minus for the game = scapegoat.

A couple of missed wide open 3s and a costly turnover = scapegoat

I will just say this about Blake: I love him as a backup and totally want him playing 20 minutes a night. But right now we are doing the exact same thing that everyone in the NBA laughed at the T-Wolves for wanting to try: Playing two point guards at once. I see no reason, none, that this team, with the personnel it has, needs to resort to something that gimmicky. It leaves the second unit with no true orchestrator on offense and leaves our all-star SG playing SF and guarding 6-9 guys at the beginning and end of games. It is a joke. No other coach in the NBA would be trotting this crap lineup out there. You want better ball movement and spacing with the first unit? His name is Rudy and he's our second best guard.

We paid $50 million for an upgrade at a position of need. Play the fucking guy and sit Blake's obviously-a-good-role-player ass on the bench. Last night was the final straw for me.

 

[PapaG]

What you expect from Miller has nothing to do with the reality of Steve Blake. His PER is terrible. Whether you expect a better-than-14.0 PER from Miller is irrelevant.

Miller did more good things for the Blazers last night than Blake did, and he did them in only 75% of the minutes.

Who's backtracking? If he shot better, the team wins. If he got a steal or two, the team probably wins. If he got to the free throw line, the team probably wins. He was terrible and I'm not backtracking from that.

With that said, he is not the ONLY reason the team lost, and I never said that he was.

Ed O.

I take you posting that Blake "f**ked up" the game for "us" as assigning primary blame. I disagree, and I also never said a thing about Blake's 8.9 PER, a bad number which you appear to be obsessing over.

Also, Miller does have a lot to with the reality of Blake, considering that Miller is now the starting PG, and his 14.0 PER thus far is worse than Blake's 14.4 PER from last season as the starting PG. Miller did "more to help the team" even though he was the worst on the team in +/-, while Blake was second on the team at +2 (behind Webster, who barely played). So, while I accept your opinion that Blake "f**ked" up the game for "us", I strongly disagree with it.

 

[PapaG]

I honestly feel that Oden was more to blame than anybody else. He got outplayed by Zaza Pachulia, for Pete's sake. He also went 1-3 from the FT line. Make just one of those misses and the Blazers win.

 

[Pontius]

Outlaw out, Blake and Nate get the derision after an OT loss in the 5th game in 7 days on the road.

Some of you are predictable to a fault. Why even watch the team play? It just can't be fun to be so negative, can it?

You are kind of proving their point by calling it predictable. A loss happened for the very reason that people have been complaining. Who is proving who wrong here? I think you have it backwards.

 

[The_Lillard_King]

Man do Blake and Nate get a hard time here.

First posters knock Blake because apparently he doesn't play defense and doesn't know how to throw an entry pass . . . "all he can do is shoot 3s"

So last night, he starts the game (playing man defense against Joe Johnson), he leads the team to a double digit lead with throwing entry passes that led to 3-5 layups.

Now posters dog him for his shooting and claim he is a big reason they lost? Blazer lost their first big lead when he and Aldridge came out of the game. Did anyone notice how momentum died in the first half when Blake came out?

Blake can't catch a break. Leads the team in assists (by more than double anyone else), an area the posters say Blake sucks (doesn't know how to throw to the post . . . apparently he does) . . . and still gets blamed for the loss.

I don't think anyone in the organization, off or on the record, would blame that loss on Blake. I really think alot of posters watch Blake and only see the negative stuff he does. The reason Nate plays Blake is because he sees the positive Blake does. Bayless plays in the first half instead of Blake and Blazers are down by 15 going into half time.

 

[HailBlazers]

THIS^^^^^^^^^^^^^

 

[Pontius]

Bayless plays in the first half instead of Blake and Blazers are down by 15 going into half time.

What are you basing this on? Maybe, just maybe Bayless gets to the line 10+ times in the same amount of time it took Blake to get to the line zero times. That's at least 5 fouls, and probably more when accounting for non-shooting fouls. Maybe this causes foul trouble and softens up their interior defense. Maybe in the 4th quarter we ride Oden and Aldridge in the post. Maybe Blake isn't guarding Joe Johnson and "ole" an easy bucket with 14 seconds to play, putting Atlanta up one.

Just a bunch of maybes, I guess.

 

[The_Lillard_King]

What are you basing this on? Maybe, just maybe Bayless gets to the line 10+ times in the same amount of time it took Blake to get to the line zero times. That's at least 5 fouls, and probably more when accounting for non-shooting fouls. Maybe this causes foul trouble and softens up their interior defense. Maybe in the 4th quarter we ride Oden and Aldridge in the post. Maybe Blake isn't guarding Joe Johnson and "ole" an easy bucket with 14 seconds to play, putting Atlanta up one.

Just a bunch of maybes, I guess.

I guess Bayless could have done those things, but IMO, he doesn't out perform Blake in the first half.

I guess if Nate played Cunningham 30 minutes . . . "maybe" Blazers win the game, but IMO, I don't think so.

 

[VanillaGorilla]

Blake was NEVER the primary defender on Joe Johnson. He was on him a couple times because of switches and such.

 

[Pontius]

Blake was NEVER the primary defender on Joe Johnson. He was on him a couple times because of switches and such.

So what? Him being in the game allows for him to be matched up on Joe Johnson when switches do occur. Blazers are up by one and Joe Johnson drives right by Blake with 14 seconds to go and makes an easy layup. Yes, it was on a switch, but a superior athlete handles that switch while staying in front of his man. Webster or Bayless SHOULD have been in the game at that point for defensive purposes. McMillan fucked it up by leaving Blake in to defend. A good coach isn't so rigid in his rotations down the stretch of a game as to discount obvious advantages. Sadly, McMillan has a hard on for all things Blake does and quite clearly does not see benefit in playing winning matchups.

 

[RR7]

You want Bayless in for defensive purposes with 14 seconds left in the game? Sorry, that pretty much should eliminate your right to criticize Nate's thinking ever. Bayless would have just jabbed his arm out into Johnson, and put him on the line. He averages over 2 fouls a game, in under 9 minutes. No. He absolutely should NOT have been in the game.