McMillan for Coach of the Year?

[maxiep]

The ball movement right now is fantastic. It never sticks in the post with Aldridge, unless he's purposefully baiting the defense to react to him or get dunked on. Our perimeter guys are getting just wide-open shots at the three point line. LA is leading the league (by a really wide margin) in lob completions.

And when was the last time anybody complained about our inability to get it into the post? Remember the old Stoudamire days where we'd consistently burn off 17 seconds on the clock before the post man would even see the ball?

I think a lot of the good ball movement is just having smart, willing passers like Miller, Rudy, Aldridge, Camby and Batum.

But the coach should get credit too. And he'll get a lot more credit if he can work Roy into the current system.

Roy had a great interview with Mike & Mike where he said the same thing: We're shooting well because we're getting good shots through ball movement. More importantly, we're getting open looks where our individual players are able to hit the shots--e.g. Wesley from the corner three.

 

[maxiep]

It would shock me if Nate was back next year

Agreed. The difference is that I think it will be him leaving us and not us leaving him.

 

[Minstrel]

nate has changed his entire offensive philosophy, and is wininng and even losing games the way he should. Under the ISO offense, our team would have gone nowhere in the playoffs, EVER. the Blazers are FINALLY going inside out, which a lot of the people who have an issue with Nate were complaining about.

Those "people" who were complaining evidently didn't understand that the team didn't have a post presence capable of running an inside-out offense system around, until now. The elite player the team had was a ball-control wing who was both extremely productive and good at creating plays for other people, therefore McMillan used a system that put the ball in his elite creator's hands and let him work.

Personnel changed and therefore McMillan changed his system. It's not that those complainers that you reference were right...they weren't.

I certainly have had my issues with McMillan's decisions over the years, but A. I never thought he was as bad as his harshest critics, who never did a good job of arguing him being terrible and B. I think he's proving his worth this year, showing that he can adapt to losing his previous elite performer and gaining a new one with totally different strengths.

 

[maxiep]

I also think--with the exception of Monty--that McMillan's assistants are better this year than last.

 

[e_blazer]

I wouldn't be surprised at all to see Nate coaching the Lakers next year.

 

[hasoos]

I hope he gets re-signed this summer because I don't see a better alternative out there right now.

Ever heard of Jerry Sloan?

 

[Minstrel]

It would shock me if Nate was back next year

If he's not back, it would probably be due to his choosing not to return. I don't think the franchise is likely to be unhappy with his performance.

 

[Shooter]

Ever heard of Jerry Sloan?

I would love to see Sloan coach the Blazers, but he may be tired of coaching in general, not just in Utah.

 

[Dirty_F_Baby]

Coaches of Jordan, LeBron, Shaq, etc. have easy times winning COTY.

bron i give you, but shaq and jordan? seems like youre implying phil isnt a great coach...

 

[MickZagger]

Ever heard of Jerry Sloan?

I think he finally realized that the game has passed him. He's not meant to coach this era of basketball.