Nate McMillan Appreciation Thread

[C_note]

If they were healthy Nate would still be here, obviously.

Thank you, for admitting none of this is Nate's fault, and he was only fired to distract from PA's failure to replace his 2 stars whom he has known for years were not going to last.

Yet another classless move by a classless owner.

You've got to be kidding. By ALL ACCOUNTS, Nate lost the locker room and had his own guys turn on him. It is COMPLETELY his fault.

At the end of the day, players gotta play, but...when they hate you so much that they quit, its your fault. YOU are the head coach of an NBA team. It's your fault, period.

Can't believe you would argue in favor of Nate. He wasn't fired ONLY because the team was losing. He couldn't even control his own locker room.

 

[C_note]

Present your case.

Which season are we talking about?

You want to know which season we had a good roster? Easy.

Any season Roy was on the team. Yet we still failed in the 1st round. Even with HCA.

 

[blue32]

The usual experts can't even allow one positive thread to pass without slamming Nate.

Says a lot about those posters.

Here's a tissue....

 

[Nikolokolus]

I will appreciate the fact that Nate was always a pro. He got guys to play hard for him about 90% of the time out of the 6 and a half seasons he was here and not every coach who has stuck around long enough for a cup of coffee can say that.

I'd be lying if I said I'll miss him, but I do wish him the best of luck where ever he lands next.

 

[BoomChakaLaka]

+1.

A monkey could've coached a team with a prime Brandon Roy and done just as well. I say good riddance. Nate got more credit than he deserved.

This season has made it painfully obvious how GREAT Roy was. #3 SG in the entire league when he was healthy.

Roy was the real coach. Roy kept the team and the locker room together, even when he was out last year. I realize this nowmore than ever, although he has always been a noted leader.

He retires and this team blows out of the gate on fumes and then utterly collapses when no one is there to bring it together. Only a bunch of crying vets whose best leadership qualities are being the first ones to bitch and moan.

Shame on NATE for never having true control over his own team and letting this happen. He deserves it.

 

[MARIS61]

You've got to be kidding. By ALL ACCOUNTS, Nate lost the locker room and had his own guys turn on him. It is COMPLETELY his fault.

At the end of the day, players gotta play, but...when they hate you so much that they quit, its your fault. YOU are the head coach of an NBA team. It's your fault, period.

Can't believe you would argue in favor of Nate. He wasn't fired ONLY because the team was losing. He couldn't even control his own locker room.

You're taking the word of a hack with an unnamed source who supplied no actual account of anything of the sort.

 

[MARIS61]

You want to know which season we had a good roster? Easy.

Any season Roy was on the team. Yet we still failed in the 1st round. Even with HCA.

Pick one season so I can show you for the liar you are. Any one. Quit trolling and state your case.

Or STFU.

 

[Pinwheel1]

Nate was class at all times. Sometimes I would scream for him to bitch more at the refs, but that was not Nate. He was always focused, prepared , and under control. And until this year so were his players. 7 years was a good run.

 

[oldmangrouch]

And all of them had far more talented teams, except Nate who never had 5 starters for even 1 season.

Not one of those other coaches has ever won anything without a boatload of talent on their team.

Just a reminder: Porter was the 24th pick. Duck was 33rd. Cliffie 36th. Jerome 46th. Who developed those lightly regarded players? Who took a guy labeled a bust (Strickland) and turned him around? Yes Adelman had talent - talent he cultivated.

If you honestly think Nate is under-rated, fine.....but this martyr act is growing tiresome. The franchise showed more patience and loyalty towards Nate than they did to coaches like Adelamn and Wilkens. Eventually, even good coaches have a limited shelf-life.

 

[C_note]

Threads like these always separate the true fans of the game from the immature trolls.

A Tip of the Cap to the best coach the Blazers ever had.

Sorry PA never gave you a decent roster to work with.

Dude you are such a joke. Let's just examine this post I've quoted, even though it is a complete waste of time....

And you wanted me to pick a season. Fine.

2009

Paul Allen gave Nate this roster:

(By extension of your quote, this is
"Not a decent roster")

Roy ----Perennial All-star (at the time)
Blake
Przy
Aldridge -----Above average, future perennial all-star
Batum -----2nd best player on our current team
Outlaw
Webster
Bayless
Diogu
Frye
Oden -----Dont need to say anything. At the time, huge potential
Rudy

I'm not gonna even comment on the rest. We know what they are. This team went 50-32.

Paul Allen, that mother fuckin douchebag, why would he give us a roster with 2 all stars and loads of back up talent? Son of a bitch.

You're right, I concede defeat. Nate masterfully crafted this batch of scrubs into a first-round exit. Excellent job.

It must be hard to sit back and tell your star player, the #2 SG in the league, to handle the goddamn ball every possession and tell the rest of the team to scrap more.


/Thread

 

[The Professional Fan]

Much love for Nate. He was a catalyst in turning around a franchise that had lost it's true identity. He played a huge part in bringing pride back to Rip City. Only Ramsay and Adelman have more wins than Nate in Portland. Give him the proper respect he absolutely deserves. He navigated injury after injury after injury and still had success. Nate will not be unemployed for long. What does that say about his coaching abilities?

However, It's time to move on, and I understand why he was let go.

 

[Boob-No-More]

You're taking the word of a hack with an unnamed source who supplied no actual account of anything of the sort.

Who cares about what the media was saying, it was obvious from the results on the court that Nate had lost this team. I mean come on, down 37-7 against the Lakers in the second quarter, down by 35 at the half to the Celtics, losing by 42 to the Knicks - who had last six in a row. I have never witnessed a more obvious, more glaring example of a coach losing his team. And then the day after he's fired, they beat one of the best teams in the league, short handed, on the road by double digits. Who cares what the media said, the results on the court speak for themselves.

BNM

 

[Boob-No-More]

Dr. Jack won an NBA championship with Bill Walton (PER = 22.9), Maurice Lucas (PER = 18.3) and a bunch of role players. That team, with no previous playoff experience, beat the 2nd seed in the West, the 1st seed in the West and the 1st seed in the East - all without home court advantage.

In 2009, Nate couldn't get the Blazers past the first round with Brandon Roy (PER = 24.0), Aldridge (PER = 19.1) and a healthy Greg Oden (PER = 18.1). They lost to the 5th seed in the West and Nate was totally out coached by Rick Adelman.

He was also totally out coached by Alvin Gentry the next season.

I'm not trying to bash Nate here, but to claim he was a better coach than Hall of Famer Jack Ramsay is just insane - even for you.

BNM

 

[MARIS61]

Dr. Jack won an NBA championship with Bill Walton (PER = 22.9), Maurice Lucas (PER = 18.3) and a bunch of role players. That team, with no previous playoff experience, beat the 2nd seed in the West, the 1st seed in the West and the 1st seed in the East - all without home court advantage.

In 2009, Nate couldn't get the Blazers past the first round with Brandon Roy (PER = 24.0), Aldridge (PER = 19.1) and a healthy Greg Oden (PER = 18.1). They lost to the 5th seed in the West and Nate was totally out coached by Rick Adelman.

He was also totally out coached by Alvin Gentry the next season.

BNM

LOL. Oden played 61 games that year, and basically none any other year. He was never better than 60% healthwise, as anyone who watched him in college can attest to. He was far less of a force than Sabas was when we had him in the twilight of his career.

They were beat by far more experienced, more talented teams all three times Nate managed to get them to the playoffs.

Check out the NBA record for those former coaches minus their Blazers records which were padded by having superstar veteran teams. Pretty abysmal.

 

[magnifier661]

LOL. Oden played 61 games that year, and basically none any other year. He was never better than 60% healthwise, as anyone who watched him in college can attest to. He was far less of a force than Sabas was when we had him in the twilight of his career.

They were beat by far more experienced, more talented teams all three times Nate managed to get them to the playoffs.

Check out the NBA record for those former coaches minus their Blazers records which were padded by having superstar veteran teams. Pretty abysmal.

Oden may of only played 66 games, but he still had an amazing per. If he's 60%, that's still damn good!

 

[Boob-No-More]

LOL. Oden played 61 games that year, and basically none any other year. He was never better than 60% healthwise, as anyone who watched him in college can attest to. He was far less of a force than Sabas was when we had him in the twilight of his career.

And Walton only played 65 games in 1976-77 and was never more than about 60% healthwise in his entire NBA career.

They were beat by far more experienced, more talented teams all three times Nate managed to get them to the playoffs.

And in 1977, the Ramsay coached Blazers, without prior playoff experience. beat the three best teams in the league, all without home court advantage. The Nuggets, Lakers and 76ers all were veteran teams, with lots of playoff experience. Ramsay coached his team up to defeat higher seeded teams, with more talent, more experience and home court advantage. Nate's team lost to a lower seed and couldn't get past the first round.

Check out the NBA record for those former coaches minus their Blazers records which were padded by having superstar veteran teams. Pretty abysmal.

Jack Ramsay had a better winning percentage with the Blazers than the other teams he coached. Exactly who were these superstar veteran teams he coached? The average age of the Blazers top 10 players in 1977 was just 24 years - and that's back when they all went to college for four years. Most of the key players on that championship were second (Gross, Hollins) and third year (Walton, Lucas) players with no prior playoff experience. Probably the closest thing Jack Ramsay came to coaching a superstar veteran team was his first year in Philadelphia - the year AFTER they traded Wilt. He also coached some truly terrible, talentless teams in Buffalo and Indiana. Yet, he has a higher career winning percentage than Nate, a better playoff record, and an NBA Championship. Yet, you still think Nate was a better coach?

Seriously, the harder you try to dig yourself out of this hole the deeper you get. I'm not really sure if you think that highly of Nate, or you're just trolling. Sorry to be so suspicious, but anyone who can actually claim Nate McMillan is a better coach than Jack Ramsay either has some ulterior motive, or has lost all touch with reality. Or, I suspect, both.

BNM

 

[jlprk]

Thanks for helping bring the Blazers back to respectability, Nate. Things didn't go as planned with Roy and Oden in terms of a Big Three, but coaching not one, but two players to an All-Star level, with them playing different positions, with Nate as their only coach, says a lot to me.

Good luck in the future to Nate, and at this point, I'm sure that Nate, Cho, and KP are a lot happier than they were when they worked for a Little Girl named Paul Allen.

You start the thread classless, then you later complain that it's classless. What did you expect when you set an example like that?

Most NBA coaches last 2 years. If they last over 6 years like McMillan, they should be a great coach, with practically nothing that anyone can criticize, like an inability to coach uptempo even with an experienced, injury-free team.

I like constant change. A new roster every year is what keeps me interested. That's why I liked Bob Whitsitt.

 

[Mediocre Man]

Best coach Blazers ever had?

34 year old former unpaid intern, Kaleb freaking Canales, just instituted an entire new offensive set in 45 minutes that kept his all star forward from being double teamed and had the offense attacking from different spots that kept the defense off balance.

Nate might not even be the best Blazer coach this season

 

[C_note]

Nate might not even be the best Blazer coach this season

I think he was bad enough to the point where ANYBODY replacing him will be better.