"Heated Exchange!"

[OSUBlazerfan]

Why couldnt Miller just tell Bayless to make the first free throw???? all of this would have been avoided

 

[BlazerCaravan]

McMillan doesn't like point guards that look for easy buckets, get to the foul line, nor push the tempo when the advantage is available. Miller should know to milk the clock in the last 3 minutes while holding onto a six point lead, silly guy.

Andre was Nate's choice for FA pick over the summer. That's been stated a few times. It's sad that it turns out they don't get along. THat's gotta be disappointing for all involved.

 

[bintim]

Can u spare a few coins plz? Thx!

After YOU caused this mess, I think not.

 

[BlazerCaravan]

What does he mean by that?

That the way Nate is limiting him is embarrassing? The way the press portrays him is embarrassing him? the way his teammates act towards him is embarrassing him? The play on the court is embarrassing him?

I don't get it?

Nate pulls players when they make mistakes; Andre lost the ball a couple of times on the fast break in the third, and was pulled. I think he may think Nate's "shaming him" or making an example of him.

To be fair, Nate may indeed be trying to do that. It works if you're young, but obviously Miller is used to a more forgiving environment. Nate does run a thigh-ass ship.

 

[Crimson the Cat]

Why couldnt Miller just tell Bayless to make the first free throw???? all of this would have been avoided

LOL

 

[jlprk]

Andre was Nate's choice for FA pick over the summer. That's been stated a few times. It's sad that it turns out they don't get along. THat's gotta be disappointing for all involved.

Blaming their personalities is nonsense. The conflict is that McMillan's system is so weird, that no Top-10 PG can fulfill it. McMillan's world is centered around Roy, to make Roy look good.

And I don't believe for a moment that Miller was Nate's top pick of all NBA FAs. That was said for the media, of course.

 

[BlazerCaravan]

Blaming their personalities is nonsense. The conflict is that McMillan's system is so weird, that no Top-10 PG can fulfill it. McMillan's world is centered around Roy, to make Roy look good.

And I don't believe for a moment that Miller was Nate's top pick of all NBA FAs. That was said for the media, of course.

Maybe you're right, but you're just making assumptions to correct my assumptions.

 

[MIXUM]

more insult to injury...

miller is hurt. questionable for tomorrow

if hes hurt... we cant even trade him. has anything gone right???

 

[BlazerCaravan]

more insult to injury...

miller is hurt. questionable for tomorrow

if hes hurt... we cant even trade him. has anything gone right???

Dude, is Nate going to NP-CD Miller to get revenge? Talk about some reality TV shit going down!

 

[blue32]

Blaming their personalities is nonsense. The conflict is that McMillan's system is so weird, that no Top-10 PG can fulfill it. McMillan's world is centered around Roy, to make Roy look good.

And I don't believe for a moment that Miller was Nate's top pick of all NBA FAs. That was said for the media, of course.

ding ding ding..

 

[maxiep]

Why did Bayless even mention what Andre said? Bayless made the choice to do what he did. Roy is the Captain, and I would assume calls the shots............doesn't matter what Andre said.
Sounds like pass the buck to me.

To be fair, if Bayless would have been able to decide, he would have hit the first one, too.

 

[maxiep]

Bahwawa...

For someone heralded as a guy who likes to dish, his individual achievements sure look like they are taking a front row...

Dre-Bo?

 

[Boob-No-More]

Makes you wonder why he was -11 for the game, don't it?

No it doesn't - not one teeny, tiny bit. What makes me wonder is why people who otherwise appear intelligent insist on continuing to misuse this stat. +/- is a TEAM stat, not an individual player, single game stat. Look at who Miller played his minutes with:

Roy - 9
Howard -11
Aldridge -8

Should we have sat all of them for the entire 4th quarter, too?

I am convinced the Blazers would have won the Memphis game if Andre Miller would have played more in the 4th quarter. When Miller is in, the Blazers have much better ball movement and get better shots. With Miller on the bench during the last 3:45 of the Memphis game EVERY stinking play was an ISO for Roy or Bayless. Totally predictable and easily defendable if that's the ONLY set you run. The result, the Blazers scored a grand total of ONE point over the final 3:45pm.

I blame Nate for the NOT paying Miller and a totally unimaginative, predictable, stagmant ineffective offense that lost the game for the Blazers.

I also don't blame Miller for being mad. Nate is a back stabbing liar. He tells his players, and even the media, that playing time is earned and will go to whoever plays best - yet he continued to play Blake over Miller for WEEKS after is was clear to anyone with eyes that Miler was the better player.

Nate has done nothing but jerk Miller around since he failed Nate's little preseason conditioning test. Shaq would not have passed that test in his prime. Nate is such a fucking idiot, I honestly believe he would have benched Shaq if he would have failed his stupid little test. The difference being, he would have gotten fired if he would have benched Shaq.

Now, Andre Miller looks like the bad guy. So, he'll get traded at below market value for a talentless big with a pulse, and we'll be stuck with Blake as our starting PG and Nate as our coach.

Nate was good at getting the young guys to play together and limit their mistakes. He has been HORRIBLE at taking the talent he's been given (when healthy) to the next level. He had trouble integrating both Oden (a dominant big man) and Miller (a proven PG) into his offensive "scheme" - which is basically ISOs for Roy and hurried 3-pointers as the shot clock expires for everyone else. Oden's injury postponed the need to figure out how to use a dominant big man. Nate pretty much admitted he didn't have a clue how to use Oden on offense before the season started when he publically said he wanted Greg to focus on defense and rebounding. And now Miller will be traded because our coach can't figure out how run an offense that utilizes his talents.

BNM

 

[hasoos]

It's not Miller's fault he can't hit from outside, nor that Brandon needs the ball in his hands for the majority of the fourth quarter. It's not the Blazers fault either. I'm sure they all thought that he would work better along side Brandon. They gave it a try and it's not working. This outburst is probably necessary to move on though. Either Miller and Blazers work together to find a role for Miller with the team that they can agree on or Portland sends him out via a trade. I believe they'll work closer to finding a suitable role and, in the end, be stronger for it.

Everybody knew what we were getting with Miller. I think everybody knew it wasn't really one of our targets in the free agency off season, but thats how it worked out. The big problem for the Blazers and their playing time problems is we have too many players of a similar talent level who are unable to separate themselves from the pack for playing time. If just one of these guys besides Roy would step up and play well for a long period of time, and make any arguments of playing time moot, this wouldn't be an issue. But we get a player haveing a good game or two, and then not having a good game or two. The solution, is to have players who are visibily better than the 2nd stringers and then the argument is moot.

 

[bintim]

To be fair, if Bayless would have been able to decide, he would have hit the first one, too.

Personally I think he made it by accident. It would be an oops, shit happens. As has been mentioned there was enough blame to go around to everyone for losing that game. No excuses.

 

[The_Lillard_King]

Nate pulls players when they make mistakes; Andre lost the ball a couple of times on the fast break in the third, and was pulled. I think he may think Nate's "shaming him" or making an example of him.

To be fair, Nate may indeed be trying to do that. It works if you're young, but obviously Miller is used to a more forgiving environment. Nate does run a thigh-ass ship.

Thanks

 

[jlprk]

miller is hurt. questionable for tomorrow

If Miller had an aching back in that game, he should always have an aching back. He's not that hurt. 1) They don't want to suspend him because they might need him, they're so short-handed, so they're keeping their options open by saying he might not play. 2) Also, claiming this back problem justifies Nate's keeping him out of the 4th quarter when he was having an historic game.

So the back nonsense kills 2 birds with 1 stone.

 

[LittleAlex]

I don't think Miller would have done as much rebounding had anyone else stepped up.


But no one did. Our front court should be embarassed that a 6'2" guy got twice as many rebounds as the next closest player.


Talk about blaming the wrong dude.

 

[maxiep]

Blaming their personalities is nonsense. The conflict is that McMillan's system is so weird, that no Top-10 PG can fulfill it. McMillan's world is centered around Roy, to make Roy look good.

And I don't believe for a moment that Miller was Nate's top pick of all NBA FAs. That was said for the media, of course.

I'm pretty sure Nate's world is centered around wins and losses. He happens to be of the mind that without so many weapons, having Roy be the focus of the offense probably gives us the best chance of winning.

 

[Fez Hammersticks]

I just hope he laid into McMillan for working the shotclock on EVERY possession!

 

[jlprk]

I'm pretty sure Nate's world is centered around wins and losses. He happens to be of the mind that without so many weapons, having Roy be the focus of the offense probably gives us the best chance of winning.

Then why did McMillan have this problem, even more than now, before everyone got injured? It was even harder then to shut down everyone's talent to make Roy look good. Roy complained that he was having to play team ball, and couldn't dominate with Oden and Miller there.

The cause of McMillan's centering the world around Roy is not the injuries.

 

[The_Lillard_King]

Doesn't Miller have some kind "games played in consecutively" streak currently going on?

 

[BrianFromWA]

I'm pretty sure Nate's world is centered around wins and losses. He happens to be of the mind that without so many weapons, having Roy be the focus of the offense probably gives us the best chance of winning.

I'm pretty sure it isn't, and hasn't been since he came here. He came to instill "culture" and "playing the right way". His first couple of years he won 21 and 32 games. I'm not saying he hasn't accomplished his goal, but the fact is that his shout at Andre wasn't "you're causing us to lose games!!!" (probably b/c Andre wasn't on the court in the 4th). He shouted "you don't play the way we play".

 

[Pinwheel1]

LOL Miller sitting the entire 4th qtr Tuesday after playing very well lately likely was perhaps a final straw

That was a tough call. Nate was in a no win situation there. Personally I was not sure what he should do. Both Bayless and Martel were playing well in the 4th until the 2-3 minute mark and by then what do you do? Put someone cold back in after sitting so long? It was a toss up IMO.

 

[hasoos]

I see too much focus by folks on the free throw incident. The facts are that after the first one was missed, the Blazers were pretty fucked anyhow. Yea sure we would have had a chance. Sometimes players miss free throws. Especially young ones. They also make mistakes sometimes too, especially when confused by their team mates.

The bottom line is, if Portland wins tomorrow vs LA, most folks wont' event remember that game.

 

[BrianFromWA]

Speaking of that missed FT....how many times has Brandon had the ball in his hands with the clock winding down, waiting for the pick to come so he could start the play? Why did he have to look back to the bench and let Mayo steal the ball?

 

[jlprk]

Doesn't Miller have some kind "games played in consecutively" streak currently going on?

Of course--he leads the league. That's games played. His other streak, his games-started streak of many years, was ended by McMillan, after many other NBA coaches thought he should start. McMillan's system is weird.

But I see your point. If he doesn't play due to the fake back problem, his streak will end.

 

[Boob-No-More]

He does if he wants to play in the fourth quarter. He's been good as a starter, yes, but not as a closer. He's a liability and we can't risk playing him for long spans in the fourth quarter. Guess what happens in the Playoffs. He'll have to sit the majority of a series. Opponents will sag off of him nearly every possession I predict.

Bullshit. You got this TOTALLY backwards. Miller is EXACTLY what we need in the 4th quarter of close games - and the play-offs. He's EXACTLY what we needed in the last 3:45 of the 4th quarter two nights ago. Every team in the league now knows that the end of the 4th quarter of a close game EVERY play the Blazers run is an ISO - usually for Roy, and apparantly now occasionally for Bayless. When the other team knows you're playing 1-on-5, it's not exactly difficult to stop.

Miller gives you better ball movement and another PROVEN scoring option. Miller can post up his man and score inside, and more importantly, he can draw fouls, get the other teams bigs in foul trouble and score easy points from the line.

Roy and Bayless also draw fouls, but Miller does it differently - he does it under control. Roy and Miller drive the paint, leave their feet, try to draw contact and hope and pray the ref bales them out with a foul call. It works more for Roy than Bayless, but even in Roy's case, it's not the automatic whistle that Kobe and D-Wade get everytime they enter the lane and leave their feet. Once Roy, and especially Bayless, leave their feet, they are totally at the mercy of the officials. Sometimes they get the call, many times they don't. When they don't, they are stuck forcing up a very difficult shot, which frequently gets blocked (especially in Bayless' case) or a turnover as they lose the ball out of bounds.

Watch how Miller draws fouls. He gets into the paint just as easily as Roy or Bayless, but he DOESN'T LEAVE HIS FEET. He stays on the ground and uses ball fakes and head fakes to draw the opposing bigs off their feet. He then draws the contact and the foul. If the big doesn't leave their feet, Miller still has options and usually just passes off to an open teammate. The point is, when Miller drives into the paint, unlike Roy ands Bayless, he is under control, not wildly flailing about hoping for a friendly whistle to bale him out.

Roy gets a few superstar "gift" calls, but not as many as some other superstars. Bayless basically still gets treated like a rookie by the officials. Unless he's blatantly tackled, the refs aren't going to bale him out. He needs to learn from Miller how to play under control, get the defense to overcommit, and keep other options available in case they don't.

BNM

 

[The_Lillard_King]

I see too much focus by folks on the free throw incident. The facts are that after the first one was missed, the Blazers were pretty fucked anyhow. Yea sure we would have had a chance. Sometimes players miss free throws. Especially young ones. They also make mistakes sometimes too, especially when confused by their team mates.

The bottom line is, if Portland wins tomorrow vs LA, most folks wont' event remember that game.

I agree, the odds of winning after Bayless missed the first free trhrow was very low no matter what Bayless did with the second free throw.

I think it is a big issue because of the way Bayless handled it. It basically made this a Roy v. Miller issue . . . and to top it all off, Bayless choose to follow Miller's advise. I think it was a big mistake for Bayless to say all this.

 

[The_Lillard_King]

Of course--he leads the league. That's games played. His other streak, his games-started streak of many years, was ended by McMillan, after many other NBA coaches thought he should start. McMillan's system is weird.

But I see your point. If he doesn't play due to the fake back problem, his streak will end.

It would be a shame to have that impressive streak end over a stupid dispute with a coach.