I don't care about why you voted, just vote. I want to see what the forum's opinion is on blake's minutes played.
Spamming? Pshaw. We need every thread to be about "BLANKY". In fact, maybe Denny Crane could set up an all-BLANKY, all the time forum. I just can't get enough of reading repetitive opinions on how bad Charles Manson, er BLANKY, is.
Since we're short on bodies, I think Nate has to pay him more minutes. We don't have a better alternative with Martell slumping. If we were fully healthy, I voted 20-25.
I'm not sure which option to select, because I think the range selections are too small. I think he should get 15-25 minutes per game...more minutes if he's playing well, there's foul trouble, matchups that benefit playing more guards, etc. Less minutes in a tight game against a top opponent where the Blazers' best players should be playing heavier minutes. Basically, I think he's a good reserve. He should play significant minutes, but his role needs to be protean. The team's best players (in my opinion, those are Roy, Aldridge, Oden and Miller) should be playing as much as possible and the reserves (notably Przybilla, Fernandez and Blake) fit in around that. (I'm leaving Batum and Outlaw out of this evaluation since they aren't available.)
I posted 20-25 mpg. He plays decent defense on SGs. When he's hitting threes, he stretches the defense. He doesn't generally make terrible decisions. There's a reason he was a 2nd round pick. Physically, he's limited.
IMO there are certain players in the league that will find you a way to lose a game if given any minutes at all. Blake falls into that category for me.
We brought Andre Miller here for a reason - to upgreade the starting PG spot. Miller is clearly out producing Blake (PER = 14.3 vs. 9.5), but playing fewer minutes. It makes no sense to me. We need to ditch the 3 guard line-up, cut back on the isolation plays that grind the game to a halt (teams are simply doubling Roy out high were he can neither score, nor pass to an open teammate under the basket). Blake should be getting 10 - 15 MPG as our back-up PG - the role (and PT) Sergio had last season. The time for experimenting is over. That's what preseason is for. We're now 14 games into the regular season. Time to put our best players on the floor and let them learn how to play together. BNM
Miller actually is producing less in terms of PER (14.3) than Blake did last season (14.4), yet he is the primary ballhandler. Let's take a look at some other numbers, for the sake of comparision. TS% 2008 BLANKY 55.7% 2009 Miller 48.8% eFG% 2008 BLANKY 53.6% 2009 Miller 40.3% Asst% 2008 BLANKY 25.8% 2009 Miller 31.4% Steal% 2008 BLANKY 1.7% 2009 Miller 1.3% PER 2008 BLANKY 14.4 2009 Miller 14.3 Usg% 2008 BLANKY 17.0 2009 Miller 21.1 Drtg 2008 BLANKY 110 2009 Miller 102 *2009 BLANKY is at 103, and he's defending PGs, so not really an upgrade. Ortg 2008 BLANKY 118 2009 Miller 105 Offensive Efficiency 2008 Blazers with BLANKY at PG - 110.7 (#2 in NBA) 2009 Blazers with Miller at PG - 103.7 (15th in NBA) For the hell of it ... +/- 2008 BLANKY +392 2009 Miller +63 *2009 BLANKY is leading the team at +97 If Miller has been an upgrade thus far, I'd hate to see what a downgrade would look like. At this point, the Miller signing seems to be a complete dud, at least in terms of upgrading what BLANKY did last year as the starting PG.
Pace has gone from last under BLANKY to 2nd to last under Miller. Of course, the offense is much less efficient, so that isn't really a bonus either.
Miller has been a downgrade and he's aging. I think Roy would do fine with a PG who actually is distributing the ball. That said, Miller did a nice job of distributing last night. Hopefully he's finding his groove. Bryant, Johnson, and Wade don't play with "true PGs", either. A bad signing by Pritchard thus far, but there is time to get it worked out.
A true PG will work with Roy just fine, in the current offensive scheme, as long as he can stretch the defense and they can share ball-handling and catch and shoot duties. Miller is a true PG, but he is a horrible catch and shoot player. For Roy and Miller to co-exist properly - they need a different system. I am not sure it is a good idea to change the system to benefit a role-player. If you do not think that Roy and Deron Williams (who shoots much better than Miller from the distance) can not co-exist, I think you are wrong. Miller is just not a good fit given this offensive scheme.
