http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/rumors/post/Portland-Trail-Blazers-shopping-Steve-Blake-?urn=nba,209172 1) Blame KP for forcing the issue on Nate? or 2) Blame Nate for weenie'ing out - not being a "decisive" coach? or 3) Blame Roy for being a prima donna - wanting things "his" way? or 4) Really, this is a non-issue and will reasonably work itself out.
I blame luck. We have had some bad luck this season. With all the bitching about Blake or whatever, that would have worked itself out if we had a nice healthy season. I blame the injuries mostly. The player personnel is a small part of it. I do think Nate needs to learn to try more things, I think Roy should be more accepting of new changes and I think KP still needs to learn how to deal outside the draft. But they aren't reasons why we had our struggles. We've lost 4 key players (Oden, Batum, Outlaw and Fernandez). We should be glad we are 4 games over .500
Yeah, probably. The topic isn't all that fresh so I didn't take the time to do that. I was just kind of intrigued by Nate's comment. Here, all this time, I though HE had the man-crush on Blake, Doesn't appear to be the case, though.
Uh, i have no earthly idea why Nate thinks he has to play Blake. If he's being truthful then it's either kp or PA. But it doesn't quite make sense. We have heard from quick and others that nate has vetoed or argued the contrarian side of personnel and style (and won) multiple times. T green. Starting Blake this year. Starting outlaw over batum (who kp loved) last year. Not trading at the deadline last year. Wooing miller. But now he's forced by kp or pa to play Blake heavy minutes?
I don't know why Nate would say that. Could it be that Roy made a stink to KP, then KP and Paul wanted to make him happy and forced the issue to Nate? Regardless, what works will work itself out in the end. Even with this fiasco, I suspected by Feb, we would have had everything all worked out. Now Nate has to work with the walking wounded. Hopefully we can muster a nice season, make the playoffs, and even possibly make it out of the first round. If that happens, with all that's happened, I will be a happy fan.
ABM, this is a recycled story which is based on speculation by Chad Ford in this blog post. http://espn.go.com/blog/truehoop/post?id=11554 See the difference in context? Feeling pressure and being "bugged" are two very different things.
I didn't interpret any involvement from KP at all when I read the quote. I read it as Nate plays Blake to keep Roy happy. To answer the question, I think it's a combination of 1, 2, and 3 but not any single one of them. KP needs to do a better job with bringing in complimentary players, and as has been discussed ad nauseum, a consolidation trade is long overdue. Nate needs to be more decisive and less wishy-washy. I've heard/read Quick talk about how he thinks Nate/Roy have the "best" star/coach relationship in the league. Maybe it's a little too close and is hampering decision making? Roy needs to adapt, plain and simple. The league moves and adjusts way too quickly to think that the same things will work year in and year out.
Aha. Yep, thanks for clarifying. I was slow to the dinner table.......................digging around at the scraps.
I think all of them should be held to some accountablility about this, but ultimately it's the coaches job to work with the players he has.
I am not sure what "clueless speculation" you are talking about Wook? Are you talking about the article, or the fact that Roy prefers to play with Soft Porn?
I didn't see a comment by Nate in that article, only a speculation as to what Nate might think; and based on what, I don't know. I have never heard him say anything near to that.
Not that it's saying much or how much I want to read into it, but Roy and Aldridge's game has seriously been much better lately. I think the biggest transition was Oden mainly. It wasn't blake, miller or anyone else, IMO. I think it was hard for Aldridge and Roy to adjust to Oden's improved offense. He became money down low, which was further along than many thought would happen. They knew his D would be there, but some of his post moves were fucking SICK! I think that was a nut in the gears.
This has just been one of those weird head-scratchers that will probably never get resolved. Why did we almost never start Randolph and Sheet at PF/C? Why didn't we try using Sheed more at C? Why did we sit Aldridge so much in his rookie year to play "Former All Star" Jamaal Magloire? Why was Damon Stoudamire always a starter on our team for 7 long seasons? Why was Steve Blake starting for the first quarter of this year instead of Andre Miller? Eventually you just let it go and move on, because the question will probably never really be answered. Or you could be like me and continue to literally gnaw on your wrist as a momentary catharsis of ever-increasing impotent rage. But if you do, wear long-sleeve shirts.
Wed Dec 16, 2009 7:01 am EST Portland Trail Blazers shopping Steve Blake? By Mark J. Miller Portland Trail Blazers guard Andre Miller(notes) has supposedly been on the trading block this season, but he's supposedly not on it right now because the team is offering up another guard to potential suitors, according to ESPN. Two general managers supposedly told the paper that Steve Blake(notes) has been offered to them when they called asking for Miller. One thing that apparently bugs Blazers coach Nate McMillan is that he supposedly feels like he has to play Blake even when he's struggling because Brandon Roy(notes) likes to play with him rather than Miller. Blake doesn't make that much dough and has a contract that will end at year's end so he'd be more attractive in a trade than Miller. The idea is supposedly to get Blake out of Portland so the Roy pressure is relieved and Miller has more room to gain confidence and playing time. Plus, the team would like to give Jerryd Bayless(notes) some more playing time, particularly since he's been vocal about his lack of time on the court. Bayless hasn't reportedly asked for a trade but is planning to if things remain the same. Source: ESPN So...nothing factual to report.
If you really want to blame someone for why Blake plays so much, don't look at KP, Nate or Roy. Look at the other guys competing for that spot. Miller and Bayless didn't exactly light up the pre-season and have played pretty inconsistently up until the last three weeks. You couldn't really say they played consistently better then Blake in the first 3 weeks of the season. It was up to them to take that job from Blake. In order to do so they had to play so much better then Blake that the team wouldn't have any choice but to bench him. That includes both offense and defense. Which both Miller and Bayless did for the last three weeks. Thus Blake goes to the bench. Last year was the same shit. Blake wasn't very good, but Sergio and Bayless were far worse. The sad fact is Nate isn't going to take someone out of the starting line-up just because another guy might play better there. He has to know, which means the player has to prove it. Now that Miller and Bayless have proven they are at least as good as Blake at the point and Nate has made the switch we could very well see Blake's minutes decrease even more. But that remains up to Miller and Bayless.
