wow this just keeps getting worse... Trail Blazers coach Nate McMillan said he apologized to his team Friday morning for letting Thursday's heated exchange with point guard Andre Miller reach the levels it did. "What happened yesterday, that was on me, and I apologized to the team for the way that was handled,'' McMillan said. "We handle things different in situations like that, and I have to control that and I didn’t do that. That is behind us, and our focus is on the Lakers and playing that game tonight.'' Miller addressed the media for more than eight minutes and was as jovial as he has been all season, smiling often and offering no evidence of hard feelings. "I feel fine. Coach feels fine,'' Miller said. "Players and coaches go through this stuff all the time - disagreements, agreements, that’s just a part of the business. We are around each other like a family and we want to keep it that way.'' Miller will start tonight at point guard against the Lakers along with Brandon Roy, Martell Webster, LaMarcus Aldridge and Juwan Howard. Steve Blake (pneumonia) will not play. McMillan said he not only apologized to the team, but he also met one-on-one with Miller. The point guard said everything has been cleared up. "It was something we cleared up as a team - man-to-man,'' Miller said. "It was definitely nothing to be made a big deal out of. This happens to every team and it wasn’t a big deal to me. We just want to move past it. We learn from our experiences and move on.'' The exchange in Thursday's practice lasted for 30 minutes and at times involved yelling and cursing. Miller said it was a healthy event. "You want to have an open dialogue, point guard to coach,'' Miller said. " As players we are still going to stick together and what matters most is representing the organization.'' Transcripts of interviews with McMillan and Miller will follow. http://blog.oregonlive.com/behindblazersbeat/2010/01/nate_mcmillan_comments_regardi.html
yeah...how is that getting worse? The cat is already out of the bag, they are doing a valiant effort at damage control
Well, no matter how much I believe Miller is putting on a mask when delivering those quotes, I feel better after reading them.
My only hope is that this was a sincere effort to mend bridges ... I don't really think for second everything has been resolved, but ...
Yeah, this whole thing is a mixture of damage control and genuine communication. It is in everyone's self-interest to get this behind them as fast as possible. Also, all reports were that Miller was in good spirits today...sometimes a good screaming match helps to clear the air...for a while.
I've thought this since it happened, this makes us stronger. Better things were said now than wait and have this shit stew. It's done. Changes probably will be made by one party or the other, or both.
Good to see everyone's happy...but in the transcripts it was a bit troubling to see Nate completely disregard that anything's been "building" since training camp and putting it on "you guys" (I imagine Quick and the gang). Does he really think that this is in retort to an isolated incident Wednesday night or Thursday at practice?
Miller had some comments as well: http://www.columbian.com/weblogs/bl...nterview-blazers-miller-during-morning-after/
Uh oh. Miller was smiling and jovial with the media? Answered every question? Talking about doing things "the right way?" That's it -- he's been reprogrammed.
I think Nate did the right thing apologizing; it is on him to keep things civil. And he did the right thing having a one-on-one with Miller; the cathartic event is ok as long as they soothe hurt feelings afterwards. So I feel good about how things were handled.
