My how times change. Not that long ago Miller could barely backup Steve Blake, and now look at him....
I find it at least a tiny bit noteworthy that Nate calls Andre "Miller", while calling Brandon "Brandon" and Lamarcus "LA". A familiarity tell? I'm not saying it's a bad thing, just that I've noticed it more than once.
It pains me that Nate continues to think two distinct units is a winning formula and only veers toward the tried and true (by others) rotation when all else fails. I like a lot about McMillan as a coach, but it's really tough to give him the benefit of the doubt when he's so bull headed about something so obvious to most everyone else.
pretty sure one of the main ideas behind starting blake over miller would be to make it easier to always have either roy or miller on the floor to run the team.
I think you are right. It was a dumb idea of Nate's, and he tried it far too long, but that was his idea. It's almost like Nate thought he was coaching a Whitsitt team, where you had 10 NBA starters. barfo
Not playing your best players in order to to have two separate teams, when you don't have enough talent for 2 teams, is a dumb idea, yes. barfo
starting, not playing, is what was in question. wanting to have two separate 5 man units is a very dumb idea. wanting to have a better player start on the bench to make sure one of your two players capable of running the team is always on the floor is not a dumb idea(though that doesn't say whether or not it ends up working out best in every instance).
Funny thing, though, is that if the Blazers were even a little more healthy - had either Greg Oden or Joel Przybilla - then I think Portland would have two units of solid, if not quite "starter-worthy" players. First unit: Miller/Roy/Batum/Aldridge/Camby Second unit: Bayless/Rudy/Cunningham/Howard/Oden (or Przybilla) The problem is, without a true center, you're too small inside (Howard at C and Cunningham at PF), and that means the Blazers get exploited inside (also means you have to play Martell Webster, who I'm not a fan of...). And it means more made baskets and fewer transition opportunities - which, with Rudy and Bayless, is really the bench unit's forte. The benefit of having Miller, Roy, or Aldridge on the floor with the reserves is that they have a snowball's chance in hell of actually scoring in the half-court. What I'd rather see is a second unit that can actually push the ball, the way Nate said (and I'll take him at his word) he wanted to do with the second unit, at the beginning of the season. But without better interior defense, it's hard to get stops, and therefore hard to fastbreak.
Nate needs to pull Miller earlier and let Bayless run with Roy so Roy can facilitate the offense. Then Roy can catch a breather when Miller comes in for him. That way we always keep at least one of them on the court. Bayless isn't ready for prime time yet, and in the playoffs we can't afford to lose any possessions.
I disagree ... in fact whatever formula Nate has hit on (whether by design or accident) it's working and the team is rolling. I'd love to think JB would blossom with just more PT, but he's really looked pretty bad out there in the past few weeks; the offense stagnates, he has trouble finishing now, and his outside shot is so streaky it's hard to count on him for much. I want to see some consistent play in small amounts of PT, before Nate invests precious minutes trying to get Bayless going.
I agree with this point, however, early in the season a coach should try and play a 10 man rotation to see how players are developing. Then, late in the season settle in on your playoff rotation.
I would say that it depends on how much better the more skilled player is. If Portland had Andre Miller and Billups then sure. Portland had Miller and Blake. The difference between the two was way too big to risk having Miller not be in the game to start. Also, by not playing your best players you can end up playing from behind the whole game. The only two teams that really pull off this type of thing are the Lakers with Odom and SA with Manu. Every other team (that I can think of off the top of my head) starts their best 5 guys so their team can get off to the best start possible. In November it isn't a terrible idea to have a 9 or 10 man rotation to keep guys fresh. By this time in the season, that should go down to 7 or 8 since that is exactly what the team will go to in the playoffs.
Sure, but two separate 5-man units isn't exactly a rotation that can be whittled down later in the season. It's an all or nothing approach that doesn't lend itself well to tinkering... My take is, the season was a borderline train wreck until the approach was all but abandoned.
This is why you want talented, versatile players in your lineup. You run a short rotations of talented players who can play many positions. Everybody is happy with their minutes that way, and you keep the players on the floor who will get you the win, and on top of it all, because the rotation is shorter the players are used to playing with each other.
