Some of the TOs is because some players, especially rookies, don't expect the pass. I disagree about Miller not being able to play with Roy when Roy takes it to the basket and then passes out for a shot. Those shots don't have to be 3 pts shots they can be mid range jumpers. Miller can hit those no problem. That is a art that has been lost in the NBA because of the 3 point line.
Nice to read. However, at some point it'd have been nice if Quick had asked Nate if he still felt he made the right decision at training camp, and that he still felt that the best players were playing from day one as he had promised. Too much of this article seems about Miller's growth, when this was really all about Nate. Nate fucked up in preseason by not starting Miller. Miller gets pissed off and demoralized. The Blazers lose too many games. When all other bad options are exhausted and Miller blows up, Nate finally does the right thing. Miller unsurprisingly goes right back to doing what he's done his entire career--playing really good point guard basketball. And somehow this about Miller's change? Whuh?
Miller also would make a really lousy center or power forward or color commentator or Blazer Dancer or team mascot. Thank god we don't have to waste another 30 games to establish that too.
This article perfectly illustrates why I hate the Oregonian's Blazer coverage. Quick sees the world in terms of toddler psychology. He likes the word "pout." His fetish for body language knows no bounds. He mentions it 3 times in the article. What an infantile performance.
Why did it tale so long? A half a season? This is why many smart GM's don't make mid season trades. It does take time. I think it was clear from comments from those who were at practice in the fall, that the combo of Roy and Millers was not a smooth transition. So Nate elected to go to what had worked in the past. Was that really foolish? It might have been wrong, but certainly it was not obvious at the time.
The reason it took so long was it was never given a chance to work in training camp, preseason or the first month and a half of the regular season. Yes, integrating a new player takes time, that's exactly what training camp and the preseason are supposed to be for. The biggest problem was Nate went against his own public policy of the playing the players who deserve the minutes. Even when Steve Blake was playing absolutely horrible basketball (PER = 8.3), Nate continued to play him over Miller, who was clearly better (PER = 14.7 at the time). To answer your question - That's why it took so long. BNM
If you want to look at his turnovers in a vacuum, then sure you could say it's "too many", but he does so many other things that off-set them that I'm not really too concerned.
That was not my question that was your question. You missed my point which was that it often takes a few months for players to get used to one another. Again.... that is why some GM's don't make mid season trades. Personally I am still not convinced they do play well together. But it certainly was getting better.
Then those two months should have been October and November. Nate should have not waited until mid-December to start his best SG and best PG together at their best positions. You may not be convinced, but go back and look at Brandon's stats over the course of the season. He was absolutely struggling earlier in the year when Blake was starting over Miller. Brandon's play returned to near MVP level, and stayed there, after Blake was replaced in the starting line-up by Miller. Brandon has played much better with Miller in the starting line-up than he did with Blake. The problem is Blake is one-dimensional. All he can really do is knock down open jump shots with his feet set. He's not good at creating his own shots and he's not good at creating for others. And, when he's not knocking down his open shots, it frees up opposing defenses to focus on stopping Roy. And, that is exactly what was happening. With Blake shooting the ball horribly over the first month and a half of the season, he was hurting, not helping Brandon's game. Andre Miller may not have 3-point range on his shot, but he can score in many different ways. He can drive to the basket and create shots for himself. He can draw fouls on opposing bigs and get to the FT line. He can post up other PGs. He can also push the ball and create easy scoring opportunities for his temmates in transition. Blake cannot do any of those things. Miller is also much better at driving, drawing the help defense and them finding the open man. Miller does not have Blake's range, but he can knock down the 12-15 foot midrange jumpers. The point is Andre Miller is a versatile enough offensive player that opposing defenses can't just ignore him and focus their attention on Brandon Roy. That is directly reflected in the way Roy was playing prior to his hamstring injury. Since Andre Miller has become our starting PG on December 15, I have yet to see a time where his presence on the court has caused Brandon Roy to have a bad game - quite the opposite, in fact. Miller's presence and ability to create for his teammates has also greatly benefitted the development of Martell Webster. I'm looking forward to seeing how well Nicolas Batum plays with a PG who can get him easy looks. BNM
I don't understand why it's so hard for some people to admit that Nate was wrong on this one. He was wrong, many of us called him on it, and we were proved to be right. The people who blindly defended him then are the same people who are blindly defending him now. I guess I'll never understand.
Even Blake has played better with Miller starting. It's like Nate was trying to hot wire a car when he had the key in his pocket.
Yep, Miller starting and Blake coming off the bench is the natrual order of things. They are both now in a position where they can succeed - for the benefit of the team. Based on their histories, it's not rocket science to see that this would have been THE BEST USE OF BOTH PLAYERS FROM DAY ONE. Nate is a great motivator, and great at keeping young guys focused, but he really, REALLY screwed the pooch on this one. I just hope he learned from the experience. It's really simple - play your best players and play them at their best positions. The rest will take care of itself. BNM
Nothing new here. Miller was hired to be a BACKUP for 2 years, 3 if his aged body held up. He was never envisioned (by KP or Nate) as the starter on this young but experienced team, and every second he plays that band-aid role puts us closer to another season wasted without getting our PG of the future.
