I am glad Oden will start. Slightly disappointed that Miller isn't. I will say that Miller's play has not actually been tremendously better then Blake's. Miller's stats are better but the team plays worse when Miller is on the floor right now. And that is what has disappointed me more then anything this offseason.
i don't think running the offense through oden is a flaw. portland should start games establishing both aldridge and oden in the post. big men are always better when they get early post touches. i just think that roy should be the guy controlling the offense at the start and if opposing teams give him opportunities while trying to get the big guys going, he should take them. i realize that roy (like most high scoring stars who also are the main facilitator for their team) generally tries to get everyone else involved early and doesn't pick up his scoring until later in the game, but i don't see that really being a problem. and then when miller does come in the game, roy can focus more on just being a scorer while miller handles running the team. what's a lot more interesting to me than who starts the game is who finishes close games. right now i have a feeling that miller probably won't be finishing close games(though i'm not sure that blake will either. probably rudy and then one blake/miller/webster/batum depending on what the situation calls for).
I don't think the offense needs to run through Greg. I think he needs more touches than the starting SF and PG--whoever those may be. In my limited observation of the preseason, it seemed that Miller and Howard were the only guys who looked to get him the ball--aside from 3 minutes of the DEN game (below). Not "running the offense through him", just getting it to him every once in a while to get someone in foul trouble or to draw a double-team. The best Greg looked this preseason? The DEN game, for those magical minutes. He was passed the ball in position once by Howard (3-pt play) and twice by Roy (assists) between 6:56 and 3:01. Couple that with the two offensive rebounds (putback and fouls) and you get 12 quick points. Just by giving the dude 3 touches in 4 minutes.
Only reason Miller won't start is because of Roy. Roy will see that he gets the crap smacked out of him again because teams know that you only have to shut down Roy and Aldridge and our starting unit is toast. I was really hoping we'd get another offensive threat in starting lineup.
The guy has never been a workhorse during the summer and he's still one of the top 10 point guards in the game. He should demand a trade before he's ever played in a meaningful game for the team.
I think it's hilarious that Miller hasn't even played a regular season game for this team, and some fans are already vilifying him. Blake, Outlaw, and Webster have been here for years, so we have quite a bit of history to build an opinion off of.
If you're looking at any statistic outside of 3 pt%, it'd be nearly impossible for Andre Miller not to be on any top 10 NBA PG list in any given year since he's been in the league. I'm not gonna look it up, but if you can prove me wrong I'd be surprised.
paul, deron, parker, billups, nash, harris, rose, jameer. there are 8 guys that miller has absolutely no argument over. take into consideration guys like arenas, baron, calderon, kidd, rondo, mo williams, aaron brooks, mike bibby and there's just no way that andre miller is a top 10 pg.
I'll give you the first 8. Arenas and Davis haven't been healthy and haven't played so I don't consider them. Brooks, Bibby and Mo Williams aren't better than Andre Miller.
mo williams is, brooks and bibby are arguable, and then you still have calderon, rondo, and kidd that i mentioned.
I think Mo Williams is arguable also.. Rondo is definitely better and I would probably take Kidd over Miller too.
I'd replace Nelson with Rondo. I'd much rather have Rondo than Nelson. Arenas and Williams aren't really point guards, any more than Wade or Monta Ellis are. They're "combo guards" who can't play point guard full-time unless they happen to be in situations where a teammate can handle a lot of the distribution duties. Brooks isn't anywhere near the other players listed or Miller. I would much rather have Miller than Bibby. Miller, Calderon, Nelson and Kidd are about equal. So Miller is somewhere between 9-12, to me. That makes calling him a "top-ten point guard" either true or so close to true that the difference amounts to splitting hairs.
Arenas plays point guard full time and regardless if he has SG characteristics or not, he is a better point guard than Miller. 1. Chris Paul 2. Deron Williams 3. Tony Parker 4. Rajon Rondo 5. Derrick Rose 6. Chauncy Billups 7. Devin Harris 8. Steve Nash 9. Gilbert Arenas 10. Jason Kidd 11. Baron Davis 12. Andre Miller 13. Jose Calderon 14. Jameer Nelson 15. Mike Bibby Just my opinion. I'm just putting most of the players mentioned in this thread in order as I see it. I could have easily messed up towards the end and completely forgot somebody. I can see how Miller would be a top 10 PG in many peoples opinions but in my opinion he isn't.
Mike Bibby is potentially the one point guard I would start Blakey over. I'd rather have Dickau and Ridnour than Bibby---at least they know their place.
