It should have been a multiple section list since both KP and Nate are at fault. KP for bringing in a guy who clearly doesn't fit the way the team plays. Miller is an uptempo guy signed by the slowest team in the league. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see this wasn't going to work from the begining. KP should never have bought the line of bullshit Nate spews every off season about playing a faster game. He has never done so and he isn't ever going to do so. Believing otherwise is foolish. Nate for being extremely unflexible when it comes to style of play. When your team is as small as Portland is now it seems like you would want to speed up the game a bit. When you have one of the more athletic forward tandems in the league it sure seems like you would want to use their speed. When you claim that Miller is your guy shouldn't you at least let go of the reigns just a tiny bit. Not if your Nate you don't. Instead you talk about a "fast second unit" then proceed to call every single play anyway. You give lip service to the players deciding who will play, then you start whoever the hell you wanted to in the first place. Nate has done a hell of a job getting his team to compete every night. I would say Nate is a master motivator and a very good defensive coach. His offense is ass. Perhaps he should do what Doc Rivers did in Boston. Brought in an assistant that was strong where Doc was weak. In that case, a defensive guy. In Nate's case, someone who can run the offense.
Everybody knew what we were getting from Miller when we got him. I don't blame him for signing the contract from the only team that offered him one.
How can you blame Miller? He is who he is, and have been, for a long time. Good individual player, never a star, never making his team go deep and far. Can't really blame anyone other than Hedo and Utah. KP knew he was not a great fit, that's why he was last resort. Can't blame Nate for playing around his star and not around Miller. It is what it is. What can you do? They had a last chance opportunity to use the cap they had, and they made the right choice - spending it to see if it will help. Going forward, you can blame them if they do not fix it now that it was proven it can not work - because a 11 years veteran that can play one way leading to mediocre team success is not going to magically turn into a difference maker when he has to play on a team that does not play to his strengths...
It's not Miller's fault unless the team colapses because of today's practice (unlikely). I don't know, 22-15, with all the team's injuries . . . I 'blame" the heart of the team for the record.
This is all true, except Miller and Roy have played just fine together the last few games. So the idea that Nate was catering to his stars game isn't all that true. Instead Nate never really made much of an effort to get Miller and Roy together on the court. Up until recently we didn't have any idea if they could co-exist. It turns out they can get along just fine. Not finding that out sooner is on Nate and no one else.
Define "all this". If it's the shouting match, then Miller. His nose is out of joint because he thinks he's better than the system. If it's Miller-not-fitting, then blame all the other teams who somehow, despite Miller's awesomeness, failed to sign him this summer, leaving him as the only piece the Blazers could sign before their cap space disappeared. And then you could go further and blame all the people who whined so loudly about RLEC expiring, so that Pritchard essentially had to sign SOMEBODY. But then you could blame Pritchard for not having the nads to stand up to a bunch of whiners. Plenty of blame to go around, really.
Nope, the pieces are all here (when healthy). We just need to find a coach that knows how to use them. If Nate has proved one thing this season, it's that he has no idea how to incorporate a dominant center into his offense - and that happened way before, and is much more important to the future success of this team, than any Andre Miller playing time controversay. BNM
Miller had 3 good individual games. We won 1 of them, thanks to a god-like performance by Roy against a dumb team with a dumb coach (GSW). If this is what happen when Miller plays good - I want to go back to Miller playing like Crap, Roy dominating and us winning a lot.
Miller has proven himself to be a high quality NBA player. If Nate can't figure out how to use him, that speaks volumes about his coaching. (and I say this as someone who used to be a Nate defender)
Wow, one game and Miller + Roy sucks? Look, they have won games with both Miller and Roy starting. They have won more then they have lost. I don't care if Miller has fantastic numbers in those games. The contension was they couldn't play together. Winning games while Miller and Roy start gives lie to that idea.
In spite of the recent hearbreaking losses, the Blazers are still 15-6 when Miller starts. This whole idea that Miller and Roy can't play together was total bullshit fabricated to justify starting Blake when he was clearly inferior and quite frankly sucked balls. BNM
i think the blame goes around to basically everyone....i would type it all out but the points have been hammered..
More or less, that's it. As a G.M. you can't micro-manage a season. That's too much interference with a coach. You can "suggest" philosophies. You can question, "how do you see so-and-so's roll". You can give him pieces and "hope he sees things the same way as you do". But, you can't tell him who to play and when, or critique him after one particular loss (the Memphis game being a microcosm of the problem Nate has had in using Andre Miller properly). As a G.M., you also can't let anyone, Brandon Roy, Kobe Bryant (though Roy's no where near that type of talent), or any other player dictate game management. What Kevin should have done, was get rid of the problem by shipping Blake away from the team, but he had to do that with the approval of Paul Allen, who may not have given it to him after Nate asked Paul Allen that he wanted Blake around. Kevin then was left between a rock and a hard place, with only respectful suggestions left for him to work with. There's a power struggle going on between Nate and Kevin. Andre Miller is just a pawn in it. It was going on with Jarrett Jack, whom Kevin wanted played over Blake. Pritchard understands that basketball is a simple game: Either shoot a higher percentage than your opponent or take more shots. Jack got to the foul line. Steve Blake does not. Jack gives up a few more turnovers, but his trips to the foul line opens up easier shots for others by drawing other teams, takes defenders off of the floor with foul trouble, and takes some of the physical pressure off of Roy. Pritchard succumbed to Nate's wishes and got rid of Jarrett in his pursuit of a better version of Jack, and he got his target, Bayless. But, Nate stuck Bayless at the end of the bench instead of giving him Sergio's minutes, and he tried to turn Bayless into a clone of Blake. Bayless isn't a 3-pt shooter, not last year, not this year, and probably not next year, either. Either way, Nate refuses to even try Pritchard's philosophy of winning basketball. So, Pritchard got what he thought was a no-brainer as far as someone who would force Nate to put Blake on the bench and reduce his minutes. But, Nate's convinced most of Portland (hometown fans are easy to dupe), along with Roy's support (Roy's gigantic ego can't live with Andre Miller having the ball in his hand as much, while Blake feeds Roy's ego all it needs) that Andre Miller "isn't a good fit both socially and while on the floor with Roy at the same time. That's all B.S. by Roy and Nate. Outside of Portland and 97% of anyone with half a brain knows that Nate's anal-retentive nature is what this is all about. He can't stand letting anyone other than himself control a play. With Blake and Roy, Nate knows exactly what's going on at all times. Andre Miller should be pissed off. He should be in yelling at Nate. Nate deserves every bit of criticism he's getting, and a whole lot more. Now Blake's coming back and things are just going to get worse. I wish Blake would just go away, followed by Nate. Roy needs to temper things down, too. You know, Roy isn't this goody-two-shoes guy he makes himself out to be. He goes to strip clubs (in Seattle) just like most other NBA players. He has his "favorite" girls. He's just smart about it so that it doesn't get in the papers. Roy doens't realize that he'd be a better player with Miller than Roy. His gigantic ego can't let him see that. Roy becomes a better player by getting to the NBA finals. Miller can help get him there. Blake can't. So here we are ready to jettison the best point guard on the team, the best penetrator of the basketball, the guy that raises the overal Field Goal percentage of the team better than anyone else, just because Nate's anal-retentive and Roy's got a huge ego. Get rid of Blake, first. See if Nate changes. If he doesn't, then get rid of Nate. Pritchard is by far, the best G.M. in the NBA and understands exactly what it takes to win an NBA title, and Allen needs to support that and let him do it and let him get rid of Blake. What the heck is Blake even doing on the team when we have Andre Miller, Brandon Roy, Rudy Fernandez, Jerryd Bayless and Patrick Mills....all players who can handle the ball?
