McMillan, "Push, push, push"

[Nikolokolus]

http://blog.oregonlive.com/behindblazersbeat/2010/01/pregame_homework_for_miller_bl.html

When point guards Andre Miller and Steve Blake arrived at the Rose Garden on Wednesday before the Trail Blazers game against Milwaukee, they found an addition to their lockers: a 3x5 notecard.

The cards were placed by coach Nate McMillan, and they contained about five play calls, written in black pen, and the players McMillan envisioned being the beneficiary of the calls.

At the top of each card, McMillan wrote in cursive “Push, push, push.”

McMillan said because the Blazers were introducing Rudy Fernandez back to the lineup, and were gradually phasing Blake back into the rotation, it was a good time to refresh on the team’s key play calls. Although McMillan calls the majority of the team's plays, he says he would eventually like to get to a point where the point guards are calling their own game.

“I want us to run,’’ McMillan said. “I’ve been saying it for years now, and last night we got that. So yes, ‘Push, push, push.’ ’’

Is anybody buying this? By that, I don't mean buying whether or not he actually wrote the 3x5 cards, but this whole "I want to run and "I've been saying it for years." stuff? He never ran much in Seattle, He's always been hyper sensitive to turnovers. I dunno, color me skeptical.

 

[RR7]

It all comes down to the PG position, IMO. I wouldn't run either if I had Blake and Ridnour as my PGs, personally.

 

[Luther]

Ridnour can definitely run the floor....Blake might be the worst fast break PG in the league.

 

[LittleAlex]

Same old song and dance from Nate.

He seemingly wants it both ways. He wants the team to push the ball but he also wants to call every play.



Seeing is believing. No one has ever seen a Nate coached team run. No reason to believe that will change in the future.

 

[julius]

maybe Nate has a different definition of "push". Like, how Push can also mean a tie.

 

[UKRAINEFAN]

It seems that if those little cards had such a strong effect (and from watching highlights I think I saw Blake push harder on two plays than I have ever seen him before); then Nate could have employed other coaching strategies that would have made us more of a running team by now. My guess is that he really would like to see them run more but in practice he never gets around to it, because other things like defense, rebounding and running set plays are more important to him. maybe he doesn't actually realize that if you want to run in games , you gotta run in practices and scrimmages.

 

[Crimson the Cat]

I'm so confused. Either Brandon is pulling the reins or McMillan is bipolar.

 

[Mediocre Man]

I always thought the fine print was written on the bottom?


Nate can say it all he wants, but until his teams commit to it, I don't buy it. Until a PG who likes to run doesn't come out and say Nate likes to control the pace, I don't buy it. Until Portland is in the middle of the pack in fast break points, I don't buy it. Until Nate stops playing Blake, one of the worst fast break players in the league, more minutes than he should, I don't buy it.

 

[maxiep]

Nate has to learn to live with the mistakes pushing the ball creates. I think that particular part of fast break basketball drives him to distraction.

As an aside, that little back and forth break betweeen (I think) Alridge and Miller against MIL was the best fast break I have seen in a few years. The ball went back and forth between the two four or five times without ever touching the ground.

 

[Nikolokolus]

I always thought the fine print was written on the bottom?


Nate can say it all he wants, but until his teams commit to it, I don't buy it. Until a PG who likes to run doesn't come out and say Nate likes to control the pace, I don't buy it. Until Portland is in the middle of the pack in fast break points, I don't buy it. Until Nate stops playing Blake, one of the worst fast break players in the league, more minutes than he should, I don't buy it.

In the immortal words of Lloyd Christmas, "so you're saying there's a chance?"

 

[Crimson the Cat]

Just playing devil's advocate here, but with hobbled players and few available players, running probably isn't the most sound approach. There aren't many subs available when guys get winded and worn bodies shouldn't be flying up and down the floor.

HOPEFULLY, with some rested, healthy bodies, Portland can now "push, push, push".

 

[Boob-No-More]

Just playing devil's advocate here, but with hobbled players and few available players, running probably isn't the most sound approach. There aren't many subs available when guys get winded and worn bodies shouldn't be flying up and down the floor.

HOPEFULLY, with some rested, healthy bodies, Portland can now "push, push, push".

I disagree. Now is the perfect time to try running more. We don't have a center on the active roster, and are short bigs in general. With Rudy back, we actually have a surplus of guards (Roy, Rudy, Bayless, Miller and Blake). This forces us to go small more often than if we had Greg and Joel - and if you're going small you give up size for speed. Might as well use some of that speed to our advantage.

BNM

 

[Uther TheGardener]

lol he didnt push when he had the whole squad.....

 

[Crimson the Cat]

I disagree. Now is the perfect time to try running more. We don't have a center on the active roster, and are short bigs in general. With Rudy back, we actually have a surplus of guards (Roy, Rudy, Bayless, Miller and Blake). This forces us to go small more often than if we had Greg and Joel - and if you're going small you give up size for speed. Might as well use some of that speed to our advantage.

BNM

Well I was referring to when we had no Rudy, no Blake, and a banged up Roy. Pushing uptempo probably isn't going to work out well when you have only 7 or 8 players in jerseys.

 

[Crimson the Cat]

lol he didnt push when he had the whole squad.....

True.

He's made these comments a few times before and there have been rare moments when we've run, but it's just odd that if he wants to implement more easy fastbreak buckets, why it doesnt happen.

 

[Boob-No-More]

Well I was referring to when we had no Rudy, no Blake, and a banged up Roy. Pushing uptempo probably isn't going to work out well when you have only 7 or 8 players in jerseys.

This is a current article. We now have Rudy and Blake back. We probably won't run a lot with Roy, healthy or hobbled, but you don't need all five guys sprinting down the court to have a fast break - 2 or 3 is sufficient.

BNM

 

[Boob-No-More]

lol he didnt push when he had the whole squad.....

All the more reason to start running now. Get it ingrained into our system, so that when we get our bigs back the team just won't revert to slow ball all the time.

As I mentioned above, you don't need the entire five man unit sprinting down the court to run an effective fast break. No reason to stop running when Greg and Joel are back.

The greatest fast break team in the history of the NBA - the Showtime Lakers, featured an old slow Kareem who trailed those trailing the play down the court. Most fast breaks start with a steal or a defensive rebound. With Greg and Joel controlling the defensive glass, it's the perfect way to start a break. We just need to show them old tapes of Bill Walton throwing outlet passes and have them start working on it in practice.

BNM

 

[Boob-No-More]

True.

He's made these comments a few times before and there have been rare moments when we've run, but it's just odd that if he wants to implement more easy fastbreak buckets, why it doesnt happen.

He's never allowed Blake to call his own plays. It's kind of hard to run a fast break when you are looking over at the bench to see what play the coach wants you to run. Not that Blake is the guy you want leading the break anyway.

Andre Miller is a guy who is used to calling his own plays and pushing the tempo. Now that Nate is FINALLY starting Miller and playing him more minutes, hopefully he'll loosen the reins a little and let the team push the tempo when the opportunity presents itself.

That all sounds good. I'll believe it when I start seeing it.

BNM

 

[hasoos]

Ridnour can definitely run the floor....Blake might be the worst fast break PG in the league.

You mean besides Jarrett Jack? For years we had the worst PG in the league, period. No wonder we couldn't run.

 

[hasoos]

All the more reason to start running now. Get it ingrained into our system, so that when we get our bigs back the team just won't revert to slow ball all the time.

As I mentioned above, you don't need the entire five man unit sprinting down the court to run an effective fast break. No reason to stop running when Greg and Joel are back.

The greatest fast break team in the history of the NBA - the Showtime Lakers, featured an old slow Kareem who trailed those trailing the play down the court. Most fast breaks start with a steal or a defensive rebound. With Greg and Joel controlling the defensive glass, it's the perfect way to start a break. We just need to show them old tapes of Bill Walton throwing outlet passes and have them start working on it in practice.

BNM

And not to mention when we had Sabonis and he was the trailer. Or the Pistons who used Lambeer as the trailer.

 

[the ob]

It seems like there may be a disconnect between what McMillan wants (push, push, push) and the way brandon wants to play, which is to slow it down and start with the ball in his hands at the top of the key.

this is going to have to get figured out and someone is going to have to change.

 

[hasoos]

It might help if they actually practiced fast breaks in practice.

 

[LittleAlex]

I disagree. Now is the perfect time to try running more. We don't have a center on the active roster, and are short bigs in general. With Rudy back, we actually have a surplus of guards (Roy, Rudy, Bayless, Miller and Blake). This forces us to go small more often than if we had Greg and Joel - and if you're going small you give up size for speed. Might as well use some of that speed to our advantage.

BNM

I could not agree more.


Small and slow sure doesn't seem like a winning combination.
It's working so far but I don't know if that can last.

 

[hasoos]

I think a worthy goal would be to get to the middle of the pack in running. The main thing is get as many easy points as you can, but don't depend on the running game for your whole offense. We have too many guys which thrive on speed to not run. Half the reason we don't get as many points out of Aldridge as we should is because we don't run. That dude is always out in front of the pack and we maybe get him the ball 1 out of 5 times, at best.

 

[Blazer_Hippie]

I'm so confused. Either Brandon is pulling the reins or McMillan is bipolar.

ding ding

 

[hasoos]

Maybe that is why Nate is going "Public". It's a rare case when a coach uses pressure from the outside to get his players to do what he wants, but perhaps that is the case here.

 

[Paxil]

I think the reason the Blazers don't push more than Nate would like them too is because he also demands great D... and great D takes effort... and when you are expending a lot of effort on the defensive end you tend to try to rest a bit on offense... and vice versa.
You have to play a very deep roster if you expect 100% effort on both... something we have never done even when we had the bodies.

 

[hasoos]

I think the reason the Blazers don't push more than Nate would like them too is because he also demands great D... and great D takes effort... and when you are expending a lot of effort on the defensive end you tend to try to rest a bit on offense... and vice versa.
You have to play a very deep roster if you expect 100% effort on both... something we have never done even when we had the bodies.

I don't buy that. The whole purpose of playing great defense is to create the said running opportunties.

 

[Boob-No-More]

It might help if they actually practiced fast breaks in practice.

OK, I'm not claiming youth basketballl and NBA basketball are the same thing, and I'm not applying for Nate's job (should it become available), but...

I've spent 8 years coaching youth basketball and the FIRST drill I run at EVERY practice is a 3-on-2, 2-on-1 fast break drill. I started doing this about half way through my first season coaching. I do it for a couple of reasons.

First, after a little light stretching, this drill is a great way to get all the kids loosened up, handling the ball and running up and down the court.

Second, it instills in the kids the instinct to push the ball and attack the basket whenever they have an advantage. I found out early on that this carries over to the games. Prior to doing this, the kids just didn't look to run. Now, as soon as we get a rebound or steal the kids without the ball automaticaly start sprinting down the court and the player with the ball looks up to see where his teammates are and if we have an advantage. We went from getting no fast break points to it being a major part of our offense after starting this drill.

Third, I use this drill for conditioning during the preseason. I push the kids and we do this drill for about half of practice during preseason. They get in a lot of running, but since they get to handle the ball and shoot, it's not as boring as just running lines.

Most of the teams I've coached have been undersized, but even now with some bigger kids, I still run this drill every practice. It gets the kids in shape, gets them alert and looking for opportunities and they actually enjoy it.

Again, this youth basketball, but in my experience, what you do in practice definitely carries over to the games. If you want to run in the games, you need to do it, and do it regularly in practice until it becomes part of every players' mindset and an innate natural tendency.

BNM

 

[Boob-No-More]

I think the reason the Blazers don't push more than Nate would like them too is because he also demands great D... and great D takes effort... and when you are expending a lot of effort on the defensive end you tend to try to rest a bit on offense... and vice versa.
You have to play a very deep roster if you expect 100% effort on both... something we have never done even when we had the bodies.

Disagree. This team is deep enough (when healthy - and even now at the guard positions) and young enough that fatigue should not be an excuse.

When I play and coach, I always preach beating your opponent down the court in both directions. Push the ball when you have an advantage and bust your ass back on defense when the other team gets the ball. It creates easy baskets for your team and takes them away from the other team.

BNM