Team Records with Miller and/or Blake Starting Miller only 8-2 Miller and Blake 7-2 Blake Only 7-9 But Blake fits better right?
I think the (extremely unnecessary) debate over whether Miller should start has been put to bed. Even with Blake coming out of his shooting funk, there doesn't seem to be any question about inserting him back into the starting lineup. He's now fighting for backup minutes with Bayless (and now apparently Mills), which is where he belongs.
Good point. The real argument, anyway, is not between Blake and Miller, it's between Bayless and Miller. We all knew that Blake is not the greatest individual player, but it is hard to fault his fit when year in, year out his win% is among the highest on the team. The real question is - when does Bayless become consistent enough to say that the Miller transition period is over and he can be sent away...
Sorry, I didn't mean to sound like it was a moot question. Perfectly valid to bring it up. It just seems pretty well decided (at least in my mind). I'm really intrigued by this Mills kid too. When Rudy and Batum come back, we could have a lot of guys contending for PT. Roy: 35 mpg (at SG and SF) Miller: 30 mpg (at PG) That leaves about 80 minutes to divide up between Batum, Bayless, Fernandez, Blake (and potentially) Mills. I think you have to give Batum at least 26 mpg. So that's 54 minutes for Blake, Fernandez, Bayless and Mills. Could get interesting.
If you're going to include Bayless and Mills, I think you'd probably have to include Webster also, correct? EDIT: Nevermind, I'll start a new thread without derailing this one.
Blake's win % might be good. But he isn't a good distributor. He can't create a shot for himself or anybody else and he doesn't get to the line. The only thing Blake does better than Miller is shoot three's. One can argue he is better on defense but they are both below average defenders so it's pointless. Blake isn't even close to Millers level as a floor leader or a basketball player in general. Miller isn't going anywhere.
Fantasy basketball is very nice. But it does not really work that well for real basketball situations. If Miller regains the production he had in previous years, I suspect we will see more of him. Last game was a very nice step in the right direction. But, overall, his production this year was not a good return on investment, even if he is a better player, individually, than Blake. At the end of the day, you pay $7m per year for Andre Miller, but since he is really worth it when he dominate the ball, something he can not do here without taking the ball from Roy - maybe it is not the best use of the investment.
But we don't need a distributor as much as a shooter??? Brandon is our distributor, finisher, our playmaker. In order for him to be the most successful, he needs shooters around him. This was why we won so many games last season. Blake, Travis, Lamarcus, Nic, and Rudy opened up giant lanes for Brandon to drive through.
You can make all the arguments you want. What it really comes down to is, do you envision any of the players as having the capability to play on a championship contender. Opinions and roles may vary. IMO Blake would be great as a backup, and maybe not even with any guaranteed minutes. Bayless still has a lot of growth. Miller is only effective if you play un uptempo system IMO, and I don't believe Nate will ever change, so I don't think he is a great fit here.
OK, one more time: Roy generally gets off to slow starts. In the first quarter, the team needs someone else on the floor who will step up and be aggressive. That is Miller or Bayless - not Blake. Even if you firmly believe Blake is what we need on the floor with Roy in the 4th quarter, that doesn't mean he is what the team needs in the 1st.
In hindsight, given what we know now, I agree. But, they were not sure, so that explains why they signed him. Also, you have to remember that Miller is traditionally a slow-starter for the year, so he can still prove to be well worth it down the road as the season progresses.
