Seriously, Though.....

[ABM]

Andre has really come on strong for the blazers, but i am at a loss for words after last night’s performance against the hornets. sure he showed flashes of brilliance that confirm the opinions in this article. but he also felt the need to constantly try and back down marcus thornton and chris paul, only to throw up a pathetic two handed, fading to the side shot. the most prominent one that comes to mind was with 22 seconds left in the game and the blazers up by one. he, of course, missed the shot and chris paul somehow found himself wide open at the free throw line and hit the game winner with 3 seconds left.

seriously though, picture the fat kid at the playground who isn’t quick enough to get by his defender, so he drives right, realizes there’s no way in hell he can go around his defender so he backs him down and forces up an ugly two hander. that my friends, was andre miller last night.

(from thenatural - comments section)



From: DIME Magazine

A lot of people (including me) thought the Blazers were crazy when they gave Andre Miller that three-year, $21 million contract over the summer. After all, the team was already high on Steve Blake and people doubted that Miller’s style would fit in with Portland’s style. For the first few months of the season, it was proving to be a bad fit. Miller was unhappy with not starting and his chemistry with the teammates and coaches didn’t appear to be there. A trade seemed to be destined to happen.

But in the past month, Miller has started to catch his stride with Portland. Miller has averaged 18.4 ppg and 7.7 apg in 37.9 mpg in January. Up until last night’s game against the Hornets, Andre had scored in double figures in 11 straight games. While trade rumors surrounding Miller have been circulating the media since November, Blazers’ GM Kevin Pritchard made a bold statement about his starting point guard’s availability.

“We have no interest in trading Andre Miller. Zero. None. Write it,” Pritchard told the Oregonian recently.

Even with Pritchard’s endorsement and Miller’s encouraging play, all hasn’t been perfect in the Rose City. The Blazers have only gone 6-6 this month, but at the same time, they’ve been without Brandon Roy (who’s missed 5 games due to a hamstring injury) as well as obviously, Greg Oden and Joel Przybilla.

Currently, the Blazers are in fifth place in the Western Conference with a 27-19 record. But as we know, a two or three game losing streak could move them out of the playoff picture in this close and competitive conference. I think Miller is blossoming into the veteran leader they envisioned when they signed him. Although they will be without Oden and Przybilla for the rest of the season, Roy will be coming back soon and Rudy Fernandez has recently come back from an injury. Even though I was opposed to the signing initially, I have to admit that the Blazers are going to need Miller if they want to get good playoff positioning and have a successful postseason run.

Can you guys see Andre Miller being huge for the Blazers for the second half of the season and the playoffs?

 

[MARIS61]

It's Miller for a big.

 

[Boob-No-More]

(from thenatural - comments section)



From: DIME Magazine

It was Nate that called the Miller ISO repeatedly - and it was against Collison, not Paul or Thornton. Don't blame Miller for running the plays his coach called. It was Nate's play calling and substitutions that cost the Blazers the win last night (just like it was against Memphis on the 5th).

BNM

 

[Natebishop3]

It's Miller for a big.

And then what? Maybe you haven't noticed, but Steve Blake isn't a point guard and Jerryd Bayless enjoys scoring.

 

[Boob-No-More]

And then what? Maybe you haven't noticed, but Steve Blake isn't a point guard and Jerryd Bayless enjoys scoring.

Pick up Sergio off waivers after Sacramento cuts him, of course.

BNM

 

[Mediocre Man]

And then what? Maybe you haven't noticed, but Steve Blake isn't a point guard and Jerryd Bayless enjoys scoring.

I think it's fair to say that Bayless is a willing passer when he is allowed to be in the flow of the game. Since his start against SA, his assist average has gone way up. Since that game, Bayless has averaged 4.2 apg in 24 mpg. That would equal 6.3 apg with starters minutes of 36 mpg. Putting him right about 10th in the league in assists.

 

[Kaydow]

It was Nate that called the Miller ISO repeatedly - and it was against Collison, not Paul or Thornton. Don't blame Miller for running the plays his coach called. It was Nate's play calling and substitutions that cost the Blazers the win last night (just like it was against Memphis on the 5th).

BNM

This. First game in a while Andre couldn't get to the basket, but you have to give credit to Collison & co. for keeping him in check. I think if they were going to run plays for Miller they should have posted him up (rather than him trying to back Collison in - that was just developing too slow)

 

[Boob-No-More]

This. First game in a while Andre couldn't get to the basket, but you have to give credit to Collison & co. for keeping him in check. I think if they were going to run plays for Miller they should have posted him up (rather than him trying to back Collison in - that was just developing too slow)

That's exactly what I said in the game thread. Miller isn't quick enough to beat Collison off the dribble (Bayless is, as he demonstrated in the first half). If they were going to exploit the Miller/Collison match-up, they should have played to Miller's strengths, not Collison's. Start Miller on the box and dump it in to him where he can just turn and shoot over the smaller Collison. Of course, that would have required Steve Blake to make an entry pass...

A better plan would have been to bring in Bayless for Rudy at 1:42, instead of Blake.

BNM

 

[tlongII]

It was Nate that called the Miller ISO repeatedly - and it was against Collison, not Paul or Thornton. Don't blame Miller for running the plays his coach called. It was Nate's play calling and substitutions that cost the Blazers the win last night (just like it was against Memphis on the 5th).

BNM

That's a load of BS. ISO's don't mean you HAVE to shoot! Miller is overrated imo.

 

[Boob-No-More]

That's a load of BS. ISO's don't mean you HAVE to shoot! Miller is overrated imo.

The problem is, when Nate goes to his all ISOs all the time offense, the goal is to run as much clock as possible. That means the play doesn't even start developing until 6 - 8 seconds left on the shot clock (and that doesn't matter if it's Brandon Roy, Jerryd Bayless or Ande Miller who has the ball). The problem is every team in the league knows EXACTLY what the Blazers are going to do in those situations - they have the most predictable coach in the league. So, the defense stands around and rests for 18 seconds, waits for the player who has the ball to start his move, sends the double team and forces him to put up a bad, highly contested shot, or pass off to a teammate with less than two seconds on the clock who then either rushes to get a shot off, or gets called for s 24-second clock violation.

That's Nate's late game offensive game plan right there. Run nothing but ISOs and milk the shot clock down to the final seconds before attempting a shot. It kills all ball movement, kills all player movement, ends up with forced shots with the shot clock expiring, or worse yet, shot clock violations, kills all momentum and lets a team that's trailing and tired rest so they have the energy to mount a comeback and steal a win on the road. Works great, too - if you're the other team.

But sure, go ahead and blame Andre Miller for Nate's play calling if it makes you feel better.

BNM

 

[BBert]

So, I took my daughter to the Orlando game. She's nine. Repeatedly throughout the game, she would yell, "Shoot the ball! Why won't they shoot it!" Finally, as she's yelling for them to shoot it, Steve Blake gets a shot clock violation while he's desperately trying to get a shot off along the baseline. I believe it was the third violation of the game. My daughter was completely exasperated at this point. She turned to me and asked, incredulously: "Why do they keep waiting to shoot? Why won't they shoot the ball sooner, before it's too late?" From the mouth of babes.

 

[Mediocre Man]

So, I took my daughter to the Orlando game. She's nine. Repeatedly throughout the game, she would yell, "Shoot the ball! Why won't they shoot it!" Finally, as she's yelling for them to shoot it, Steve Blake gets a shot clock violation while he's desperately trying to get a shot off along the baseline. I believe it was the third violation of the game. My daughter was completely exasperated at this point. She turned to me and asked, incredulously: "Why do they keep waiting to shoot? Why won't they shoot the ball sooner, before it's too late?" From the mouth of babes.

In before the blind supporters say she doesn't know what she is talking about because she is only 9

 

[hasoos]

I actually thought that it was more of an issue that Miller looked tired than anything New Orleans did.

 

[Boob-No-More]

So, I took my daughter to the Orlando game. She's nine. Repeatedly throughout the game, she would yell, "Shoot the ball! Why won't they shoot it!" Finally, as she's yelling for them to shoot it, Steve Blake gets a shot clock violation while he's desperately trying to get a shot off along the baseline. I believe it was the third violation of the game. My daughter was completely exasperated at this point. She turned to me and asked, incredulously: "Why do they keep waiting to shoot? Why won't they shoot the ball sooner, before it's too late?" From the mouth of babes.

In before the Nate apologists say, "if she's so smart, why isn't she coaching in the NBA".

BNM

 

[tlongII]

So, I took my daughter to the Orlando game. She's nine. Repeatedly throughout the game, she would yell, "Shoot the ball! Why won't they shoot it!" Finally, as she's yelling for them to shoot it, Steve Blake gets a shot clock violation while he's desperately trying to get a shot off along the baseline. I believe it was the third violation of the game. My daughter was completely exasperated at this point. She turned to me and asked, incredulously: "Why do they keep waiting to shoot? Why won't they shoot the ball sooner, before it's too late?" From the mouth of babes.

Yes, I was at that game too. We scored 102 points. And won by 15. Nate did a terrible job.

 

[BBert]

Yes, I was at that game too. We scored 102 points. And won by 15. Nate did a terrible job.

Orlando sucked that night. I couldn't figure out why, looking at their roster. Plus I thought they were supposed to have a good coach.