In last game, when Armon was killing it in the game, Andre was up off the bench cheering and yelling encouragement to Armon. And when Nate was going to pull out Armon at his high point, Miller told Nate to leave Armon in. I was impressed by Armon last night, but I was even more impressed with the team mentality and mentorship displayed by Dre. Honestly, I have been down on Miller due to his issues with Roy, and also the fact that he has been so quiet, I kind of took that as uninvolved or selfish. But the display last night certainly made me look the fool. Andre was completely selfless and was exactly what I like to see from a vet.
I have not seen the game - but I agree, I think Dre is working much better in the team concept this year and the fact that he came into camp in much better shape is a big deal. Good on him, good for the Blazers.
This is why people around here shouldn't attempt to judge a player by his body language, you never really know what's going on in a man's head. Great Post, Repped. Dre is the man, I hope we don't trade him. He's solid, clutch, and a great defender.
Yeah, I don't think many 10-plus year veterans would give way to a rookie -- much less a second-round pick -- in the fourth quarter when the coach asked them to go in. Andre's quietly had a pretty solid season so far with 12.4 ppg and 7.4 apg. He deserves some credit for hanging in there, especially after what happened at the beginning of last year.
I dig Dre, and his game, but calling him a great defender is like calling TrOut a great rebounder....I'm calling bravo sierra on that
Miller was a good defender, when he was younger. Now he's lost a step, so he's pretty suspect in man defense. He's still a very canny team defender.
He still better then 60% of the PG's in the league and I love his game. Can't shoot to save his life and still gets it done!
He playing like a PG this year, instead of the quasi-combo guard we saw for a lot of last season. Through 5 games (I know, small sample, but to me it reflects changes in Dre's game), Dre's FGA/36 have gone from 13.1 to 10.3, while his AST/36 has gone from 6.4 to 8.5. Plus, his usage has gone from 23.8 last year to 19.6 this year, and his PER has gone from 18.1 to 20.3. Bottom line? Less shooting + more distributing = better for both 'Dre and the Blazers.
We saw that because Roy was injured for a lot of last season. Miller is smart and capable of adapting to the situation. In the absence of Roy, Miller took on the role of initiator, both in terms of scoring and passing, from the perimeter. When Roy is healthy, I agree with that. To me, the bottom line is that the point guard should make decisions based on what's best for the team's offense and I feel that he did that last season and is doing it this season.
I know that the statistics show that me he is playing better this season, regardless of what excuses he had last season. It's pretty much across the board in terms of advanced statistics and per/36 efficacy. I feel that it is because 'Dre has finally figured out what role he needs to play to best help the team.
another fun fact after 5 games. Our starting and backup point guards both have a 20+ PER and an assist rate over 30 ... I doubt that can hold for a whole year, but it's nice to see a position that was so weak or in flux the past decade finally start to solidify.
I disagree, at least in terms of his overall improvement as I see it. 'Dre was putting up some big FGA numbers even with a healthy Roy last year. The Dallas game skews the 'without Roy' numbers, but that was basically a once-in-a-career night for Miller. Plus, even assuming a "scorer's mentality", Miller has better advanced shooting numbers this season, meaning he shouldn't try to alter his game, since he's worse offensively when he tries to be a primary scorer.
I agree that they show that, but a 2 PER difference over a 5 game sample is fairly trivial, in my opinion. His season last year was right in line with pretty much every season of his career. I'd love for him to improve over it this season, but if he does, I don't think it will be because he "figured out what role he has to play." Are you suggesting he should have been passing the ball to Roy last season while Roy was on the bench injured?
Go to basketball reference and check out some of Dre's "career" games, that 52 point explosion was certainly an aberration, but not completely out of character and it's not like he was taking shots out of the flow of the offense or to the detriment of the team. I've watched him play for years and the one thing that has always stood out to me about Miller is that he'll do whatever he thinks it will take to win games (for better or worse). On the M*A*S*H* team last year he morphed into a scorer for a lot nights once he was finally put into the starting lineup where he belonged. The one thing he's never been though is a backup and I don't think he was particularly happy or comfortable in that role and it showed in the way he played and carried himself.
That had to be my favorite part of the game last night. It seems like that team chemistry we had in 09 is starting to come back. I remember watching the replay and seeing Armon cheering on the bench, waving the towel towards the end of the first half, so maybe it's infectious?
Actually, per/36, he scored more points, took more shots, and had less assists than his typical season. No. I'm suggesting that he is playing better (5 games, I know) this season than he played as a whole last season. If you disagree, no biggie.
I will say this about Armon, I think he's got exactly the kind of personality you like to see in your point guard: Calm under pressure, encouraging, infectious energy and unselfish.
His PER, which is adjusted for minutes, was right in line with all his other seasons, so the combination of scoring and passing worked out to a similar level. With Roy out, the team needed Miller to take on a greater scoring load than he normally does and it's highly impressive that he was able to switch his play style a bit without suffering a decrease in play quality. Quite so. That "5 games" thing, though, is more than just a detail. As I said, though, I'd love for him to keep it up.
