Nate Unreserved Regarding His Reserves

[ABM]

Behind Blazers Beat

The Trail Blazers have won 11 of their past 13 games, climbed higher than eighth place in the Western Conference standings for the first time in nearly two months and seem poised for another blistering stretch run.

Brandon Roy's balky right hamstring is a distant memory. Marcus Camby is becoming a difference-maker. Andre Miller, LaMarcus Aldridge and Nicolas Batum are bringing consistency and sometimes-spectacular play at the perfect time of the season.

But while the Blazers have overcome injuries to assemble a formidable starting lineup in time for the playoffs, a concern remains. The bench, comprised of players whose roles have shifted throughout this turbulent season, has been plagued by inconsistency and ineffectiveness during a roughly two-week rut.

"I want to see more," coach Nate McMillan said. "And I think we are going to have to see more. And what I mean by more is the bench. Our bench, we have to get them involved and get them in a flow and get that combination happening together. Where that first group is playing well and that second group is playing well." ..........................


.........................McMillan, who in a perfect world would feature a pair of different, yet dynamic units, became leery of playing any part of a game without Roy, Miller or Aldridge on the floor so that he can run the offense through at least one of them at all times.

"I don't feel were strong enough to have Miller, Brandon and 'L.A.' on the bench at the same time," McMillan said. "I think we can be more effective defensively, as well as offensively, if we have one of those guys on the floor that we can play through."

That said, McMillan made it clear he wants and needs more from his bench and is confident they can give him more. He told them as much in New Orleans over the weekend, stressing that it was important they stay ready and focused on the things they can control.

"I think the focus needs to be the minutes you get," McMillan said. "Be productive. The time to be talking about minutes is at the end of the year. If you don't like the minutes that you were getting, at the end of the year we can talk about that. But if you're talking about minutes now, as opposed to being productive and playing, then your mind is not in the right place."

So how do McMillan and his staff stimulate the "flow" and consistency the Blazers need?

"The game needs to do that," McMillan said. "This time of the year is a good time. Because the games mean something and you should be ready to go. Be productive when you get out there. This time of the year, the game should take care of you being fired up or you getting minutes or whatever. Because if you're ready to go and you're productive, you'll be out there." .........................

 

[Natebishop3]

My how times change. Not that long ago Miller could barely backup Steve Blake, and now look at him....

 

[BGrantFan]

I find it at least a tiny bit noteworthy that Nate calls Andre "Miller", while calling Brandon "Brandon" and Lamarcus "LA".

A familiarity tell? I'm not saying it's a bad thing, just that I've noticed it more than once.

 

[MARIS61]

It's a moot point.

Nate didn't even glance at the bench in the playoffs.

 

[BGrantFan]

It's a moot point.

Nate didn't even glance at the bench in the playoffs.

Plus one for Nate, then.

 

[handiman]

McMillan, who in a perfect world would feature a pair of different, yet dynamic units, became leery of playing any part of a game without Roy, Miller or Aldridge on the floor so that he can run the offense through at least one of them at all times.

"I don't feel were strong enough to have Miller, Brandon and 'L.A.' on the bench at the same time," McMillan said.

It pains me that Nate continues to think two distinct units is a winning formula and only veers toward the tried and true (by others) rotation when all else fails. I like a lot about McMillan as a coach, but it's really tough to give him the benefit of the doubt when he's so bull headed about something so obvious to most everyone else.

 

[rocketeer]

My how times change. Not that long ago Miller could barely backup Steve Blake, and now look at him....

pretty sure one of the main ideas behind starting blake over miller would be to make it easier to always have either roy or miller on the floor to run the team.

 

[barfo]

pretty sure one of the main ideas behind starting blake over miller would be to make it easier to always have either roy or miller on the floor to run the team.

I think you are right. It was a dumb idea of Nate's, and he tried it far too long, but that was his idea.

It's almost like Nate thought he was coaching a Whitsitt team, where you had 10 NBA starters.

barfo

 

[rocketeer]

I think you are right. It was a dumb idea of Nate's, and he tried it far too long, but that was his idea.

It's almost like Nate thought he was coaching a Whitsitt team, where you had 10 NBA starters.

barfo

trying to keep miller or roy on the floor is a dumb idea?

 

[J~Rush]

It's nice to see the players owning up to their bad play. Now if only they could play better.

 

[barfo]

trying to keep miller or roy on the floor is a dumb idea?

Not playing your best players in order to to have two separate teams, when you don't have enough talent for 2 teams, is a dumb idea, yes.

barfo

 

[rocketeer]

Not playing your best players in order to to have two separate teams, when you don't have enough talent for 2 teams, is a dumb idea, yes.

barfo

starting, not playing, is what was in question.

wanting to have two separate 5 man units is a very dumb idea. wanting to have a better player start on the bench to make sure one of your two players capable of running the team is always on the floor is not a dumb idea(though that doesn't say whether or not it ends up working out best in every instance).

 

[Public Defender]

Funny thing, though, is that if the Blazers were even a little more healthy - had either Greg Oden or Joel Przybilla - then I think Portland would have two units of solid, if not quite "starter-worthy" players.

First unit: Miller/Roy/Batum/Aldridge/Camby

Second unit: Bayless/Rudy/Cunningham/Howard/Oden (or Przybilla)

The problem is, without a true center, you're too small inside (Howard at C and Cunningham at PF), and that means the Blazers get exploited inside (also means you have to play Martell Webster, who I'm not a fan of...). And it means more made baskets and fewer transition opportunities - which, with Rudy and Bayless, is really the bench unit's forte.

The benefit of having Miller, Roy, or Aldridge on the floor with the reserves is that they have a snowball's chance in hell of actually scoring in the half-court. What I'd rather see is a second unit that can actually push the ball, the way Nate said (and I'll take him at his word) he wanted to do with the second unit, at the beginning of the season. But without better interior defense, it's hard to get stops, and therefore hard to fastbreak.

 

[Haakzilla]

Rudy
Webstee
J.How
J.Bay
...et. al.

 

[BlazersBlood]

Nate needs to pull Miller earlier and let Bayless run with Roy so Roy can facilitate the offense. Then Roy can catch a breather when Miller comes in for him. That way we always keep at least one of them on the court. Bayless isn't ready for prime time yet, and in the playoffs we can't afford to lose any possessions.

 

[Nikolokolus]

Nate needs to pull Miller earlier and let Bayless run with Roy so Roy can facilitate the offense. Then Roy can catch a breather when Miller comes in for him. That way we always keep at least one of them on the court. Bayless isn't ready for prime time yet, and in the playoffs we can't afford to lose any possessions.

I disagree ... in fact whatever formula Nate has hit on (whether by design or accident) it's working and the team is rolling. I'd love to think JB would blossom with just more PT, but he's really looked pretty bad out there in the past few weeks; the offense stagnates, he has trouble finishing now, and his outside shot is so streaky it's hard to count on him for much.

I want to see some consistent play in small amounts of PT, before Nate invests precious minutes trying to get Bayless going.

 

[BLAZER PROPHET]

Not playing your best players in order to to have two separate teams, when you don't have enough talent for 2 teams, is a dumb idea, yes.

barfo

I agree with this point, however, early in the season a coach should try and play a 10 man rotation to see how players are developing. Then, late in the season settle in on your playoff rotation.

 

[LittleAlex]

starting, not playing, is what was in question.

wanting to have two separate 5 man units is a very dumb idea. wanting to have a better player start on the bench to make sure one of your two players capable of running the team is always on the floor is not a dumb idea(though that doesn't say whether or not it ends up working out best in every instance).

I would say that it depends on how much better the more skilled player is. If Portland had Andre Miller and Billups then sure.

Portland had Miller and Blake. The difference between the two was way too big to risk having Miller not be in the game to start. Also, by not playing your best players you can end up playing from behind the whole game.

The only two teams that really pull off this type of thing are the Lakers with Odom and SA with Manu. Every other team (that I can think of off the top of my head) starts their best 5 guys so their team can get off to the best start possible.


In November it isn't a terrible idea to have a 9 or 10 man rotation to keep guys fresh. By this time in the season, that should go down to 7 or 8 since that is exactly what the team will go to in the playoffs.

 

[handiman]

I agree with this point, however, early in the season a coach should try and play a 10 man rotation to see how players are developing. Then, late in the season settle in on your playoff rotation.

Sure, but two separate 5-man units isn't exactly a rotation that can be whittled down later in the season. It's an all or nothing approach that doesn't lend itself well to tinkering... My take is, the season was a borderline train wreck until the approach was all but abandoned.

 

[hasoos]

This is why you want talented, versatile players in your lineup. You run a short rotations of talented players who can play many positions. Everybody is happy with their minutes that way, and you keep the players on the floor who will get you the win, and on top of it all, because the rotation is shorter the players are used to playing with each other.

 

[BlazersBlood]

I disagree ... in fact whatever formula Nate has hit on (whether by design or accident) it's working and the team is rolling. I'd love to think JB would blossom with just more PT, but he's really looked pretty bad out there in the past few weeks; the offense stagnates, he has trouble finishing now, and his outside shot is so streaky it's hard to count on him for much.

I want to see some consistent play in small amounts of PT, before Nate invests precious minutes trying to get Bayless going.

So where do we disagree? Bayless is struggling and the team needs either Brandon or Andre on the court at all times. The offense is terrible when neither of them are on the floor and having Martel out there with J-Bay only makes it worse.

 

[hasoos]

So where do we disagree? Bayless is struggling and the team needs either Brandon or Andre on the court at all times. The offense is terrible when neither of them are on the floor and having Martel out there with J-Bay only makes it worse.

I think the point that a lot of folks are missing here right now is that there are some things the second unit is getting right: hustle and defense. Yea they are struggling offensively. But a few weeks back, we were not getting the hustle and defense out of this reserve unit that we are getting now. IMO getting stops is more important than the rest, because getting stops feeds the offense. Getting stops feeds more open court opportunities. As long as that second unit continues to play hard, you will get at least that much out of them.

 

[jlprk]

You guys are acting as if the big adjustment came from McMillan. Getting rid of the 2-platoon system was possible only because Roy was forced to grow up. Roy now has to share the ball more. That's why he doesn't seem quite as good as last year, when he had his carte blanche cake and ate it too. (I tried to merge two metaphors.)

 

[rocketeer]

The only two teams that really pull off this type of thing are the Lakers with Odom and SA with Manu. Every other team (that I can think of off the top of my head) starts their best 5 guys so their team can get off to the best start possible.

in the preseason and early season this was discussed a lot. it was something like half the playoff teams from last year who didn't start their best 5 so they could bring one or more of them off the bench. this year there is the lakers(odom), mavs(terry), nuggets(jr smith), spurs(manu), cavs(varejao), and hawks(crawford).

in this specific case with the blazers, that strategy didn't end up seeming like it was working out the best. so it was switched. i was simply commenting that one of the reasons miller was coming off the bench at first was to make sure there was always a guard on the floor who could run the team.

 

[hasoos]

in the preseason and early season this was discussed a lot. it was something like half the playoff teams from last year who didn't start their best 5 so they could bring one or more of them off the bench. this year there is the lakers(odom), mavs(terry), nuggets(jr smith), spurs(manu), cavs(varejao), and hawks(crawford).

in this specific case with the blazers, that strategy didn't end up seeming like it was working out the best. so it was switched. i was simply commenting that one of the reasons miller was coming off the bench at first was to make sure there was always a guard on the floor who could run the team.

Many of those players listed above, are volume shooters who do not get along well with starting units. But in a second unit that would struggle to score otherwise, they fit in well. But if Jamaal Crawford was jacking up the shots he does in the beginning of the game when Joe Johnson and Josh Smith should be getting theirs, that would not go over so well.

 

[Nikolokolus]

So where do we disagree? Bayless is struggling and the team needs either Brandon or Andre on the court at all times. The offense is terrible when neither of them are on the floor and having Martel out there with J-Bay only makes it worse.

I guess I didn't get much beyond the "Nate needs to pull Miller earlier ..." part of your post that I quoted.