Forming Alliances

[PapaG]

"Thank you for your overly negative opinion of Miller" . . . would you consider that a genuine thank you?

Your kidding if you think by saying they should give one last chance and start Miller and then trade him is you being supportive of Miller . . . you are one of the biggest Miller bashers here, you don't see that?

If Miller starts and succeeds, good for him and good for the team. May as well see what that team has in him before deeming him a failure. I can see why no other team showed much interest in him this summer. I hope he proves me wrong. If I'm a "Miller basher", so be it. He was expected to come in and be an above average PG, and he can't even beat out Steve Blake.

 

[julius]

They need a practice where Steve Blake kicks over a bench, theres a brawl (but no one gets hurt) and a lot of cathartic yelling at the coach and team.

Or maybe we should just change the starting 5, and put Roy at the PF spot, LaMarcus at the C spot, Greg as the water boy, Blake as the PG AND SG, and Richie Cunningham as the ghost runner.

And don't forget Joel starting. We don't want to waste the fouls Greg gets. You know, he's only allotted a certain amount per-season, and if he uses them up early in the season, the league will suspend him later in the season.

 

[The_Lillard_King]

If Miller starts and succeeds, good for him and good for the team. May as well see what that team has in him before deeming him a failure. I can see why no other team showed much interest in him this summer. I hope he proves me wrong. If I'm a "Miller basher", so be it. He was expected to come in and be an above average PG, and he can't even beat out Steve Blake.

OK, I'll go along with that post and see the logic in it. I thought you were trying to build yourself up as a Miller supporter because you said you think he should start.

I share a lot of your same thoughts, so sorry if you feel like I was giving you a hard time.

 

[hasoos]

Rudy's minutes went down because he is playing like crap. Nate didn't limit his minutes until Rudy showed zero interest on defense and started missing shots.

Bayless is starting to see the court more. If Blake continues to stumble, I'm sure he'll be benched. That said, Blake wasn't the problem last night. He played OK.

I don't buy that argument for a second. The reason Rudy has struggled defensivly is they keep sticking him on SF types (like last night) who physically punish him from night to night. That is a coaching problem. Not his. Secondly you fail to recognize the fact that Rudy leads the team in steals, by far. Steals usually don't show up on individual defense. They show up by having a long fast player who get into the passing lanes. Steal=Easy buckets for the Blazers. But you have to be on the floor to get them.

See that is the thing that Nate does not get. Good players might have a bad quarter or two. But they will get it back for you later. You can't give up on them mid flight. You have to let them run their stuff.

 

[oldmangrouch]

This is begining to sound like the end of the Mike Schuler era. That team was also divided. One camp (eg Clyde, Kiki) wanted Schuler g-o-n-e. The other camp (eg Duck, Terry, Jerome) didn't want to rock the boat.

The team dumped Schuler and promoted Adelman - one of the smartest decisions in franchise history. The players quickly got over it and all rallied to the new coach.

Probably way too much of a fairy tale ending to hope for here.

 

[Natebishop3]

This is begining to sound like the end of the Mike Schuler era. That team was also divided. One camp (eg Clyde, Kiki) wanted Schuler g-o-n-e. The other camp (eg Duck, Terry, Jerome) didn't want to rock the boat.

The team dumped Schuler and promoted Adelman - one of the smartest decisions in franchise history. The players quickly got over it and all rallied to the new coach.

Probably way too much of a fairy tale ending to hope for here.

I don't know.... this team got along before, it can do it again.

 

[hasoos]

I don't know.... this team got along before, it can do it again.

My guess is it is actually getting along right now. Just the media is blowing this out of proportion to get web clicks and sell newspapers.

 

[Natebishop3]

My guess is it is actually getting along right now. Just the media is blowing this out of proportion to get web clicks and sell newspapers.

It's really hard to say. There's so much information out there, I can't get an accurate read on the team. The only thing we know for sure is that they are underperforming. Why? That's the big question.

 

[PapaG]

OK, I'll go along with that post and see the logic in it. I thought you were trying to build yourself up as a Miller supporter because you said you think he should start.

I share a lot of your same thoughts, so sorry if you feel like I was giving you a hard time.

I am a Miller supporter. I'm a supporter of every player on the team. I just get down on some at times when I feel they aren't producing as they should be producing. Believe me, I hope Miller ends up averaging 10 apg and wins a title here in Portland. I want him to succeed. Heck, the team NEEDS him to succeed.

So, do it.

 

[MARIS61]

I agree 100%. However, did you catch Joel's quote?

"If you have been around here in the past, you can just feel how it's different," center Joel Przybilla said. "There's a frustration ... You can feel it, you can see it in the guys' shoulders. It's like there's a monkey on our back. We're not the type of guys who will yell at each other, or throw things, but we have to find a way to get on the same page. I mean, we know the fans are frustrated, but trust me, we are too. But there isn't a better time for us to have three practices than right now."

I don't think he's talking about just the last 3 games.

He's talking about the effect of Sergio's departure/Miller's presence/Travis's absence.

Good chemistry, minus 2 real fun guys, plus a quiet loner who wants your minutes, equals team discord and failure.

 

[MARIS61]

How do we know it's any of it. Plus, who on the team besides Oden and Bayless (in limited minutes) is actually playing better than they did last season, Miller included?

Webster!

 

[The_Lillard_King]

Then explain why isn't the same treatment applied to Blake. For the season, Rudy is shooting a higher percentage from the FT line, 3PT line, and overall FG. Only category Blake beats him in is assists, and that's in 7 more minutes of playing time.


"Continues to stumble"? It's 20 games into the season. Blake has absolutely been shit. Yet, Nate has not shown any sign of cutting Blake's minutes. There's been no indication from Nate to point to that Blake just might be the problem. He benched Martell when Martell was playing decently as a starter. He moved Roy over to SF. Started Miller and then benched him again. All this so that Blake could remain a starter. Unbelievable.

All this so that Roy gets to start the game with Blake on the court.

IMO, this isn't about Blake and his skills, it is about trying to make Roy comfortable.

 

[The_Lillard_King]

Webster!

Don't forget Sergio

 

[MARIS61]

Rudy's minutes went down because he is playing like crap. Nate didn't limit his minutes until Rudy showed zero interest on defense and started missing shots.

Bayless is starting to see the court more. If Blake continues to stumble, I'm sure he'll be benched. That said, Blake wasn't the problem last night. He played OK.

Bayless seems to be playing in place of Miller rather than Blake, which makes sense since their styles are similar and Bayless has been better than Miller at everything so far.

 

[The_Lillard_King]

Even if this is true, which I'm not convinced of, it's on Nate. He's the coach. He's got to do what's best for the team. Appeasing your star player should not be a higher priority than the wellness of your team.

I agree that it is on Nate, but I don't think it is easy for any coach to go against what the star player wants.

Why I think this is about Roy was an Oreognian article where Nate explained why he was starting Webster and moving Miller to the bench. He spoke in terms of players needing the ball in their hands and "there is only one ball." In the same article Roy was saying things to endorse the decision, that led me to believe this is what Roy wanted all along.

I really think Nate is doing all this to get Roy back to his confidence level he had last year . . . but I realize we are all guessing here (and only HCP knows the real answer )

I'll go further out there, based on a 3 game losing streak and Roy's new comments that he isn't pointing fingers anymore and only going to concentrate on his play and not worry about otheres has opened the door to having Miller start without worrying about if it makes Roy upset. So my prediction: Miller starts next game.

 

[BrianFromWA]

All well and good, unless Blake's starting pushes Webs out of the lineup as well.