<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Following the holiday weekend, the Trail Blazers were back at work on Tuesday, both on the track and in the gym in Tualatin. And, for the first time since nearly everyone arrived back in town, the head coach, Nate McMillan, got to shake a few hands and tell his players how pleased he is that they're back so early. McMillan, of course, has been with Team USA in Las Vegas, and has just been hearing second hand about what's been going on here in Portland with his team. He did tell me today he's thrilled with the fact that nearly his entire team arrived over five weeks early for training camp. He said he told his players "this is your time, not my time to have you. These scrimmage games are yours and not ours, so do things the way you want to do them, and keep working to get into shape." He then laughed and said he even told LaMarcus Aldridge, "L.A., if you want to play point guard right now, have at it. Martell, if you want to post up and play some five, go right ahead." During today's five-on-five games, McMillan watched for a while from the far corner of the gym as a spectator. Of course, coaches aren't allowed to coach during five-on-five drills or games right now. Nate's staff has been around to help with individual drills, but stand completely back when the games begin, as they are supposed to. Even though I didn't get his thoughts following the full-court games, McMillan had to be impressed with what he was seeing. As I have said many times in the past 10 days, the Blazer players all appear to be in tremendous shape, and the games that are normally a bit sloppy during this time, aren't. The competition is excellent, and the chemistry is growing, as these guys continue to push, and coach each other. Tuesday was the first time we've seen James Jones play in the five-on-five games. The Blazers were in need of a guy who can consistently stick it from long range, and Jones certainly showed his stuff. It was obvious today, the corner three is his favorite shot, and he knocked down just about everything he looked at. Jones was playing on the same team with Greg Oden, and gave the big man some relief from double teams with his ability to stretch the defense. It's early September, I realize, but Jones was very impressive. Oden went up against Aldridge once again today, and that was the highlighted matchup. They've been very good playing together, but it's been fun watching them go head to head. Last week, Oden seemed to bother Aldridge, and blocked several shots. Today, Aldridge took Oden away from the hoop and had a lot of success shooting over him. Oden still blocked a few of Aldridge's shots, but the adjustments Aldridge made paid off.</div> Source: Trailblazers.com
