Count them out, and they come back. Give them nutshot after nutshot in the form of injuries, bad breaks, and lousy luck, and they just keep finding ways to win ballgames. For pete's sake, SEAN MARKS had meaningful minutes and contributions tonight. SEAN F'ING MARKS. That guy probably wouldn't make the end of the bench on 3/4 of the NBA teams out there. I mean... Patty Mills? Dante Cunningham? Who in the hell told these scrubs that they could play? But there they are... out there, balling their brains out, playing from tip-off to final horn at flat-out 100%. They seem to shrug off every bit of adversary thrown at them and smile, and continue to find ways to win, or at least compete. LaMarcus was the forgotten third man in the Blazer trio. Now look at him. Balling up a storm and angling for an All-Star bid. Rudy was left for DEAD at the beginning of the year, now he's the energy guy off the bench. Matthews, no one knew what to make of him when they signed him other than he was a decent backup to Roy. Now? He's playing his guts out, and proving he was the biggest free-agent bargain in the NBA last summer. Like I said in one of the MIXUM threads.... this team could win 10 straight, lose 10 straight, or go 5-5 in ten games... there's just no way to know, and I wouldn't be surprised by any of those outcomes. They battle every night, but some nights that's not enough. Tonight it was.
Two things: 1. I think this is a testament to how deep the team really was. The fact that they can sustain all these injuries, have guys like Oden and Roy go down, and still be competitive is pretty amazing. 2. Props to Nate for keeping the guys motivated. One thing I have always commended Nate on is his ability to motivate. I don't think he's a very good X's and O's coach, but his ability to motivate and work with the guys is really top notch.
i thought last years story couldnt be topped..... if this team makes the playoffs.... it will be topped.
This is where I think McMillan shows his value. He's good at keeping his players focused and motivated, even through adversity. I don't think he's an elite game planning coach, so I probably wouldn't tab him to handle a team that was highly talented and veteran enough to make a true title push...but he might be just about the best coach for the team during these tough seasons. He seems to get the most out of these short-handed squads he's been given.
With Roy out, the focus has changed to a team-sharing-the-ball concept. The ball moves around and everyone gets touches. The defense has picked up tremendously. These guys are having fun.
Credit KP for building this team. There's not a team in the league that could sustain these injuries and still play above .500 ball. Credit Nate for moulding it in his image. This team plays smart, hard and doesn't give up. It's not always pretty, but he wrings every bit of potential out of this team.
When will some of you guys who blame Nate for everything from bad weather to the economy finally start giving him some credit. The amount of games he's won over the past 3 seasons with little resources is astounding! He flat out gets the most from least in the league!
+1 - All the character focus was not just on keeping them out of jail - it was of being responsible adults that will do what it takes. Absolutely. Nate is a Man with a capital M.
Our bench is really no better than most teams. Most players good enough to make the NBA have some sort of value. It may be narrowly defined, but nonetheless skills are still there. Given a chance to play and utilize their skills in situations that is advantageous to them is the key. And this is what we're seeing- limited skilled players being used to their best advantage in displaying those skills and helping to win games.
I've always thought Nate was a high floor-low ceiling type of guy ... it's uncanny how he can pull a team up from what should be a 25 or 30 win season and add ten to fifteen wins to that total, but I agree with Minstrel that I don't think he's quite cut out for taking a great team to a lot of ultimate success -- defined as championship level. If you think about it though, he has teams play a low risk, relatively low reward style of play, limiting possessions for either team, methodically isolating a player either on the wing (Brandon) or in the post (now LMA) minimizing turnovers, keeping the score relatively close most nights and giving yourself a punchers chance of squeaking out a win against all but the most elite teams.
I would have liked to have seen Nate coach this group at 100% for an extended period of time. The group we thought would be a core never had an opportunity to develop chemistry with one another. I think GO will be 95% of what he could have been, which is why I want to keep him so badly. We're finally seeing a bit of what LA can be (IMO he hasn't yet reached his full potential). It's Brandon that's the heartbreak. He's the Bill Walton of the backcourt. A shooting star whose time was spectacular, but brief. I think Nate would have shown his ceiling as a coach is pretty damn high with that group.
I don't know whether Nate is an "elite game planning coach", whatever that is exactly, but I do think that he doesn't get enough credit around here for his coaching abilities. And I'm not just talking about his motivational skills. He's had to retool the offensive and defensive schemes multiple times the past couple of seasons as he's lost key players. Going from the Roy-heavy iso scheme to what we're seeing now with Aldridge playing in the paint and not missing a beat is pretty damned impressive.
Well, I have been hard on Nate in the past, but regardless of floors and ceilings, I just want to say - GOOD JOB!, Nate is doing quite well with this rag tag group. I admit that in our current situation, Nate is a very good coach.
I just think the team got too used to depending on Roy too much. They got complacent. When Roy comes back, in whatever form it is, he will find a much different team than when he left, which I think will be a good thing. Roy was a mesmerizing player. So who could blame them.
