I can't wait until we win a championship to see the posters on here say we did it despite Nate. A lot of know-it-all's.
I've been crazy about the Blazers balanced 1st n 2nd teams since Miller signed. . . these line ups have a great combo of offense and defense. There's only going to be one ball available on offense and to have all 5 of your best offensive players on the floor at the same time doesn't make sense if you could swap out a couple of them with good defensive players. The first team has enough offense already with Roy and Aldridge. Blake and Batum provide a whole lot of spacing and Prizz has been one of the most efficient rebounders in the league. Blake Roy Batum LA Prizz The second team looks absolutely studly. GO, Dre, Rudy. . . not to mention Martell and TO??? I'm totally ready to see GO completely dominate and esp. eager to see him get his confidence up. Dre Rudy Martell TO GO This is exactly how I'd play it if I were Coach Nate. Props to McMillan!!
Considering they're playing 4 on 5 on offense and have only one consistent creator they don't really have enough offense at all.
I've had multi-page threads arguing with people why Outlaw closing games, yet not starting, meant that he was above Webster in the rotation. Those people are mods here now.
So let's see . . . some of us are computer geeks, and some of us are academics, and some of us are engineers, but we all know how to run this team better than Nate McMillan. Is that about the gist of it? Personally, I trust McMillan to do everything within his power to win basketball games, and if that includes bringing Oden or Miller off the bench to start the season, that's perfectly fine with me. He's proven that he knows how to build a team and win games. Some of you need a good Pritchslapping to knock some sense into you.
I'll admit I don't know how to coach the team better than Nate. It doesn't hurt my board ego to say this.
I would like to come forward and say I am a nerd/geek but I do not profess to know more than McMillan. That being said, I'm not sure he has made the best decisions right away. But who does? ... (insert my favorite political figure you don't agree with here)!
Tell you what.... I'll coach during games, and Nate can do all the teaching and mentoring during practices. Deal?
I'd like to see those to teams playing against each other! That'd be entertaining! Hopefully Oden will dominate in TC and start during reg season or at least some time during reg season. For us to do really well especially in the playoffs Oden is going to have to be playing well enough to start.
I'm not too worried about this. Preseason and training camp is an overly long ritual that will give the team ample time to make the right choice regarding the starters. That said, Nate has always been a fan of the first second unit being a well portioned unit unto itself, and I wouldn't be surprised if Miller served as a hand holder to the young'ns in the second unit as a backup. Then when the chips are down, Miller stays in the game with the starters and ends up playing more minutes than Blake.
I promise you that was not an owning. MJ and Shaq have done a billion and a half times more than what Andre Miller has ever dreamt of doing
the goal should of every NBA team should be to win the game(s). Various strategies on how to accomplish this have been successful in the league including the ones you mentioned and bringing talented players off the bench and playing them more minutes then starters like I mentioned. But all successful strategies involve playing the club's best talents more then lessor talents. Like a lot of other posters, I'm thinking over the course of the regular season the creme will rise to the top and the rotation questions will work their way out. I'll be more concerned about things like pace come the playoffs. STOMP
Yah, and coaches never attempt to motivate players by dangling a bench/starting role in front of them, right?
True, but the point is pretty solid. When an upgrade in talent is brought in, whether it's Michael Jordan, Shaq, or Andre Miller, you don't sit them behind a lesser talent. Rip Hamilton was a lesser talent than Michael Jordan, Big Z is a lesser talent than Shaq, and Steve Blake is a lesser talent than Andre Miller.