More Glowing Reports On Miller..

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KingSpeed said:
He could stick with us for 6 more years and still be effective, I think. Like I said, his best seasons may yet be in front of him.
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I wouldn't bet money on it. I'll just be super happy if remains effective for the duration of his three year contract.
 
So who do you guys think is starting then in our first game? :) Blake or Dre
 
We just added the second best player from a .500 team.

And who was Philly's third best player?











Yeah, I had to go look at their roster too. Brand only played a handful of crappy games. It was Thaddeus Young.

This was not an especially deep or talented team. And we got one of their only two really good players without giving up anything. What's not to like? That he also filled a position of our greatest need is gravy.

This reminds me a lot of the Steve Smith trade, in that we gave up nothing of value (well, in that case we actually unloaded Rider) and got back a proven veteran who'd spent a fair amount of his career stuck on some really bad teams.

This is a far, far better acquisition than Hedo. The more I think about it, the more excited I am for the season to start.
 
mook said:
We just added the second best player from a .500 team.

And who was Philly's third best player?











Yeah, I had to go look at their roster too. Brand only played a handful of crappy games. It was Thaddeus Young.

This was not an especially deep or talented team. And we got one of their only two really good players without giving up anything. What's not to like? That he also filled a position of our greatest need is gravy.

This reminds me a lot of the Steve Smith trade, in that we gave up nothing of value (well, in that case we actually unloaded Rider) and got back a proven veteran who'd spent a fair amount of his career stuck on some really bad teams.

This is a far, far better acquisition than Hedo. The more I think about it, the more excited I am for the season to start.
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Nail. Head.
 
After reading the articles on Miller and digesting the idea of Miller at PG for the next 2-3 years . . . I'm not as excited as others but do believe this makes the team better.

My concern is that some posters say there is nothing to lose with a contract like that (2 year with team option third year). But my thought is this was the summer to add a key player with the core unit. An A+ role player, with great character to teach others and accept his role and bring in great skills to plug into a postion for 30 mins a night.

If Miller doesn't work out, it's true the Blazers can dump him after the second year and the costs haven't been too great. But it's not like the Blazers then get the salary cap flexibilty back to get another free agent that summer. This was the rare summer of salary cap space . . . 7 million/yr with increasing salary to bring in a key long-term player to the team.

I do think Miller could be a key player on the team . . . for how long is my concern. Either I hope the window for the Blazer championship is now or that KP can pull off a major trade in a couple of years, because he will be limited to the MLE for the next 5-7 years.
 
KingSpeed said:
Cmon. You know what he meant, right? Scoring was easier. That's a good thing. Trying to work harder doesn't necessarily make you a better player.
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Of course I know what he meant! The internet, and having to read things without listening to intonations and such can be a frustrating experience. I don't know how many fights my wife and I could have avoided back when we were dating because we could never tell exactly what we meant in our e-mails.
 
it's_GO_time said:
My concern is that some posters say there is nothing to lose with a contract like that (2 year with team option third year). But my thought is this was the summer to add a key player with the core unit.
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While it's always fun to imagine, you simply can't time all your good players to age and expire together. I'd have loved to add someone like Sessions who'd add to the core and all that, but the dream of an entire starting lineup that is all around the same age and hangs together for a decade just isn't realistic. You have to identify your core (seems like Roy/Aldridge/Oden) who hopefully will be of similar age and then complement them with the best talent fits you can find, young or old. Batum and Rudy are young. Przybilla and Miller are older. Miller helps the team compete in 2009-10 which has major value...it means a year of Roy and Aldridge aren't wasted.

If Miller doesn't work out, it's true the Blazers can dump him after the second year and the costs haven't been too great. But it's not like the Blazers then get the salary cap flexibilty back to get another free agent that summer.
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Not that summer, but they can always dump him that trade deadline or the next season's deadline as an expiring contract. His team option means Portland has two chances to trade him for a similar sized contract, depending on when his effectiveness starts to dwindle and when the best offer comes along.

Plus, Miller's deal is not much above MLE. Using the MLE and draft picks, Pritchard can also keep the talent pipeline moving.
 
KingSpeed said:
Billups' best seasons have been his 10th through 13th. Miller's best days may be ahead of him. Go Blazers!!!
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Billups took basically the same team Miller was on, to the WCF, while Miller was there they never made it out of the first round and there were chemistry issues. I sure hope it doesn't work that way for Portland, but it seems to me that Miller has to fit his environment, where Billups is much more "Plug and Play" for success. The reason being, Billups is a much better player. Period.
 
hasoos said:
Billups took basically the same team Miller was on, to the WCF, while Miller was there they never made it out of the first round and there were chemistry issues. I sure hope it doesn't work that way for Portland, but it seems to me that Miller has to fit his environment, where Billups is much more "Plug and Play" for success. The reason being, Billups is a much better player. Period.
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Miller's last year in Denver they were plagued by injuries... Nene only played in one game. Camby missed 26 games. Martin missed 26 games. Another way of looking at it: DerMarr Johnson started 21 games, Greg Buckner started 27, Ruben Patterson started 20 and Francisco Elson started 54. Heck, Earl Watson started 10, in spite of Miller playing in all 82 games.

The current Denver team, even setting aside Billups v. Miller, is significantly better than it was then.

Ed O.
 
Ed O said:
Miller's last year in Denver they were plagued by injuries... Nene only played in one game. Camby missed 26 games. Martin missed 26 games. Another way of looking at it: DerMarr Johnson started 21 games, Greg Buckner started 27, Ruben Patterson started 20 and Francisco Elson started 54. Heck, Earl Watson started 10, in spite of Miller playing in all 82 games.

The current Denver team, even setting aside Billups v. Miller, is significantly better than it was then.

Ed O.
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And totally decimated by injuries come play-off time. The had to play 5'5" Earl Boykins big minutes at SG in that series against the Clippers. I know everyone bags on the Clipps, but that year they had a pretty good roster and had better guys coming off the bench (Magette) than Denver had starting (Elson, Buckner) in that play-off series. When healthy, Denver would have had a hard time with that Clippers team, but without Nene and K-Mart in that series, they didn't stand a chance. Elton Brand just killed Elson and Najera. You certainly can't blame losing that series on Miller. He played well, but with Melo sucking, and a depleted roster with no one to stop Brand, there wasn't much he could do by himself.

BNM
 
hasoos said:
Billups took basically the same team Miller was on, to the WCF, while Miller was there they never made it out of the first round and there were chemistry issues. I sure hope it doesn't work that way for Portland, but it seems to me that Miller has to fit his environment, where Billups is much more "Plug and Play" for success. The reason being, Billups is a much better player. Period.
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no way. Carmelo has progressed quite a bit since Andre was there and Nene has taken quantum steps forward. Hell, JR Smith's game has matured too. I guess one could give Billups a little bit of credit (as their PG) for their games progressing, but a lionshare of that goes to the players themselves and the Nuggets coaches.

STOMP
 
Ed O said:
Miller's last year in Denver they were plagued by injuries... Nene only played in one game. Camby missed 26 games. Martin missed 26 games. Another way of looking at it: DerMarr Johnson started 21 games, Greg Buckner started 27, Ruben Patterson started 20 and Francisco Elson started 54. Heck, Earl Watson started 10, in spite of Miller playing in all 82 games.

The current Denver team, even setting aside Billups v. Miller, is significantly better than it was then.

Ed O.
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Thank you. Two totally different teams.
 
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writers/scott_howard-cooper/07/28/notes/

Andre Miller is a good pickup for the Trail Blazers. Andre Miller at $14 million the next two seasons plus a team option for 2011-12 is a very good pickup. Portland accomplished a summer priority by upgrading at point guard without having to pay close to the money it would have taken to land Hedo Turkoglu or Paul Millsap, the two near-misses in free agency. Miller should fit. But if he doesn't, he will be easy to move at that price and, even better, be an expiring contract in a year. Talk about having a tough offseason break right.
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STOMP said:
no way. Carmelo has progressed quite a bit since Andre was there and Nene has taken quantum steps forward. Hell, JR Smith's game has matured too. I guess one could give Billups a little bit of credit (as their PG) for their games progressing, but a lionshare of that goes to the players themselves and the Nuggets coaches.

STOMP
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Carmello did improve himself via the Olympics. They improved everybody on the olympic team I will give you that. But I think a lot of the other improvement, came from Billups and his leadership on defense. I know about their injury plagued past. But that doesn't explain it all. That one year wasn't Millers whole career there.

The facts are he wasn't working out there because of his outside shooting and his defense. The same knocks that are on him today. I used to remember playing the Nuggets and not fearing any outside shooting at all unless JR got hot. Billups provides that stone cold shooter and leader on defense that plays by example. He also provides the leadership to pull knuckleheads like JR Smith in line, because he is who he is. He is Chauncey Billups. NBA Champion, and in the conference finals 8 straight years.

Miller isn't the only one to compare too either. AI was there too. He didn't fit either.


I am not saying Miller is a loser. I am saying he has to be the right fit, like he was in Philly. If Miller is going to be successful here, Portland would have to pick up the pace. I just don't know if Nate will do that. Maybe having a PG he feels he can trust will bring that. If Portland plays him just like we have been playing Steve Blake, it's not going to work out.
 
hasoos said:
I am not saying Miller is a loser.
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Good, becuase he's not. He's been in the league for 10 years and made the play-offs five times - which is more than anyone else on the Blazers roster. Every team Miller has played for got better after he arrived:

Cavs:
Season before Miller = 22 wins
Miller's 1st season with team - 32 wins

Nuggets:
Season before Miller = 17 wins
Miller's 1st season with team - 43 wins (also added Carmelo Anthony)

76ers:
Before Miller = 6 - 19 (0.240 winning percentage)
With Miller = 29 - 28 (0.509 winning percentage)

hasoos said:
IIf Portland plays him just like we have been playing Steve Blake, it's not going to work out.
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Why would Portland play him just like Steve Blake? Steve Blake is far better at playing like Steve Blake than Andre Miller is. If KP/Nate just wanted someone to play like Steve Blake, why even sign Miller?

That said, I don't think the Blazers need to become a running team for Miller to be effective. The Blazers have plenty of other outside shooters to spread the floor. Miller is very good at penetrating, drawing the defense and then finding the open man. He is also very good at drawing fouls. Both of these attributes are valuable in the half court set and extremely so in the post season. In spite of his poor outside shooting, he can create easy scoring opportunities for his teammates in a slow paced, half court offense.

Of course, with guys like Aldridge, Batum and Rudy, I'd love to see the Blazers become an opportunistic running team. I just don't think it's an absolute requirement for Miller to be productive in Portland. Of course, Miller is capable of pushing the tempo (unlike Blake and Jack) without committing excessive turnovers (Sergio). So, maybe we will finally see the Blazers run when the opportunity presents itself.

BNM
 
hasoos said:
Carmello did improve himself via the Olympics. They improved everybody on the olympic team I will give you that. But I think a lot of the other improvement, came from Billups and his leadership on defense.
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You can contend you're right on the Nuggets roster being the same as much as you want. I (and apparently others) strongly disagree as several of their best players are not only healthy, but have improved greatly since Miller was there... none more then Nene. Dude has gone from a rotation level player to one of the best Bigs in the league. I give Billups about 1% more credit for this then I'd give Rocky.

STOMP
 
Boob-No-More said:
Every team Miller has played for got better after he arrived:

Cavs:
Season before Miller = 22 wins
Miller's 1st season with team - 32 wins

Nuggets:
Season before Miller = 17 wins
Miller's 1st season with team - 43 wins (also added Carmelo Anthony)

76ers:
Before Miller = 6 - 19 (0.240 winning percentage)
With Miller = 29 - 28 (0.509 winning percentage)
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you're wrong on this...

Clippers:
Season before Miller (2001-2) = 39 wins
With Miller = 27 wins

STOMP
 
STOMP said:
you're wrong on this...

Clippers:
Season before Miller (2001-2) = 39 wins
With Miller = 27 wins

STOMP
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True enough. There is no denying that the season with the Clips was the worst of his career. He didn't want to be there, and many of his team-mates were upset that he had been traded for the inexplicably popular Miles. Interestingly, he seems to have gotten along fine with Brand - the best and most professional player in the looney bin.

Personally, I am willing to take that season with a grain of salt.
 
STOMP said:
you're wrong on this...

Clippers:
Season before Miller (2001-2) = 39 wins
With Miller = 27 wins

STOMP
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Oops, you're right. I forgot about Miller's hellish season in Clipperdom. I'm sure he wishes he could do the same.

BNM
 
hasoos said:
Carmello did improve himself via the Olympics. They improved everybody on the olympic team I will give you that.
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having looked into this a bit more, last year Melo posted a 19 PER... his first sub 20 PER after 3 straight years over 20 without Chauncey around. So much for what you're giving me.

STOMP
 
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STOMP said:
having looked into this a bit more I've got to address this again. Last year Melo posted a 19 PER... his first sub 20 PER after 3 straight years over 20 without Chauncey around. So much for what you're giving me.

STOMP
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He also played with a significant elbow injury for a large stretch of the season but recovered his health in time for the playoffs and made one helluva run. When evaluated at full health, he probably had his best season as a pro. (no more high volume, low efficiency shots and considerably better passing and rebounding).
 
oldmangrouch said:
True enough. There is no denying that the season with the Clips was the worst of his career. He didn't want to be there, and many of his team-mates were upset that he had been traded for the inexplicably popular Miles. Interestingly, he seems to have gotten along fine with Brand - the best and most professional player in the looney bin.

Personally, I am willing to take that season with a grain of salt.
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you don't think he's pining for the days of starting next to Jeff McInnis?

besides the reported sulk that the Clips went into after losing Miles (who btw was probably at the peak of his career/pre knee surgeries), they had a very poor blend of talents. Lots of shoters but few outside threats, many disinterested defenders (including the mentioned 6'2 starting SG), the Kandiman clogging up the middle beside Elton, and the Clippers rich tradition. A bad mix on paper and a bad locker room isn't a winning formula.

STOMP
 
Nikolokolus said:
He also played with a significant elbow injury for a large stretch of the season but recovered his health in time for the playoffs and made one helluva run. When evaluated at full health, he probably had his best season as a pro. (no more high volume, low efficiency shots and considerably better passing and rebounding).
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http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/a/anthoca01.html

http://www.nba.com/playerfile/carmelo_anthony/game_by_game_stats.html

The contention was that Billups made him better. I'm not disputing the elbow injury, but could you show me where he elevated his RBs and Assts last season over the prior three... I'm not seeing it.

STOMP
 
Nikolokolus said:
He also played with a significant elbow injury for a large stretch of the season but recovered his health in time for the playoffs and made one helluva run. When evaluated at full health, he probably had his best season as a pro. (no more high volume, low efficiency shots and considerably better passing and rebounding).
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Blake played much of this season with a significant shoulder injury, yet had a career season.

What that means, I'm not sure, but all the bashing the guy gets seems a bit out of control.
 
PapaG said:
Blake played much of this season with a significant shoulder injury, yet had a career season.

What that means, I'm not sure, but all the bashing the guy gets seems a bit out of control.
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I'll say, the bashing he took led to a significant shoulder injury! But that's what happens sometimes when you play a physical sport that allows contact.
 
Minstrel said:
I'll say, the bashing he took led to a significant shoulder injury! But that's what happens sometimes when you play a physical sport that allows contact.
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Did barfo's less funny relative hack Minstrel's account?
 
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