How do we upgrade the starting PG spot? Miller was solid in the regular season, but as his history shows, he can be contained over a 7 game series, due to his obvious shortcomings as a player. Who is available? Would Bayless be a better option? I know Steve Blake wasn't the answer, but Miller hasn't shown he is capable to leading a team to a playoff series victory. Would it be worth moving Batum to move up in the draft and try to grab one of the PGs? PG is a much bigger need position than SF in the history of the league.
SFs are role players, though, outside of LeBron James. Carmelo Anthony flamed out this year, and only won last year because Billups was playing at a high level. Look at the teams left. Orlando has Jameer Nelson. Phoenix has Steve Nash. Boston has Rajon Rondo. All are better players than Miller. Only the Lakers are the anomaly. SG is set. PF is set. C, if Oden is healthy, is set. SF or PG? I'll go with an upgrade at PG. We had the same problem this year as last year with Blake. The starting PG simply can't stop penetration and can't defend the pick and roll.
Honestly, if Nic Batum is already guarding PGs, can shoot the open three at least as well as Blake (and way better than Miller) and is able to initiate the offense at all when Roy isn't (I know the jury's still out on that, but if he can do it for the French National team in high-level int'l competition, then maybe...), why not find someone to put at the 3 (whether Webster for Defense and shooting, or someone like Singler or Hayward or Hobson or Pipe Dream Evan Turner who can handle the ball, pass and shoot) who can complement Roy and Batum at the 1/2?
We need someone who can guard the wings. That's the power position in the NBA. There aren't that many good PG's anymore. Williams, Paul, Parker, Nash and Westbrook? There are a ton of wings (or players that Batum can guard). LeBron, Kobe, Johnson, Anthony, Carter (yes, he's till good), Nowitsky, Durant just to name a few.
I think Andre was great this season. There is only a handful of PG's in this league better then him (Nash,Kidd,DWILL,CP3) and I would bet the majority of the league would consider him an upgrade to what they have. I say stick with what we got. AND he's not costing us shit!!!
Rondo? Plus, Nelson has a 27 PER this year in the playoffs after a 20 last year before his injury. Playoff PERs for starting PGs left in the playoffs. Rondo 20.8 Nelson 27.4 Nash 20.3 Fisher 10.4 (but with the triangle) Playoff PERS for starting SFs left in the playoffs. Carter 15.7 Pierce 12.4 Artest 10.0 Hill 14.1 It's obvious to me that PG is more important in this day and age than SF, at least in terms of advancing in the playoffs.
I think the most important thing or quality to be successful in this league is depth. The ability to overcome injury, plain and simple.
I agree with this. We didn't see our team in these playoffs. One of the main reasons I am targeting Miller is because others have targeted Nate, Aldridge, and even Roy. I just don't think that this playoff series is a fair assessment of where the franchise is in terms of progress. That said, Miller did not play well at all, so he deserves some of the blame as well, since it seems to be the fashion here.
I agree his #'s were not what we would have liked, but he needs to be judged on the whole season. This past year is tough to use as a measuring stick at all to tell you the truth. I am one of the few that would be happy to bring the same team back. This squad healthy wins 57 games!
New Orleans might be dying to get some value for Daren Collison right now. If they could pair him up with a big contract, they might bite.
worked out well for PapaG to leave right while Miller was at his best. His early season whining and bitching about Blake being better, and 54 wins was gone. Now, season is over, he's back, and bitch, bitch bitch. Miller would have been fine if Roy was healthy. But, stats, just stating facts, etc. fuck.
This thread is misguided- Andre Miller played excellent ball. We lost because our best player wasn't healthy- that's it. Our only real liabilities for next year (and Oden may fill it) are for some more post scoring from the 4 and 5 and, like everyone else in the league, some better perimeter defense. A 2nd strong wing defender would make us pretty solid defensively.
Did anyone but me really really like mills? Guy was FAST and when he is able to shoot the three fairly well. We never got to see him play that much except in garbage minutes so i'm not sure how good he is on defense because of his size and how well he sees the floor. I'm willing to keep Miller (who imo was the KEY kog in holding this team together threw all the injury's) and see if Bayless can improve, and be a PG instead of the undersized SG he seems to want to be, and how well Mills can be as a backup.
