http://www.blazersedge.com/2012/3/11/2862220/washburn-mcmillan-says-blazers-organization-needs-to-self-assess Nate how about you stop making excuses and take responsibility for this shit team? You have managed to coach all but two players, making them well below their career averages. Stop blaming injuries, when you already knew that Oden was probably not coming back and Roy was going to be a "shell of himself". I'm tired of this shit and your arrogance that this isn't your fault. FUCK YOU!
Some more quotes that aren't selectively edited. It's actually refreshing to hear somebody within the organization face reality.
I'm sorry I'm not on the Nate bandwagon anymore. But this reeks excuses excuses to me. Roy was gone and he knew it. He already knew oden was gone too. He had ample time to prepare for the losses. This team is much better than their record and Nate can't win on the road. He needs to be held accountable for this dysfunction. Last season he had way less talent and did so much better. He is to blame.
Sounds like he's given up on the team that's given up on him. Of course, if he was counting on Greg Oden and Brandon Roy as cornerstones of the team this season, he was more delusional than the average fan. Rather than lamenting about the ancient past, how about coming up with some new offensive sets to take advantage of the players you currently have, not the one that is retired and was a shell of his former self all last season (other than one magical 4th quarter against Dallas)? This team is currently underachieving and getting embarrassed far too regularly. At this point, blaming their current shitty play on the Oden and Roy injuries is a total CYA move. With a healthy Oden and a healthy Roy in his prime there would be championship expectations. Without them, expectations have been greatly lowered - and the team is still not living up to those expectations. Is it really too mach to ask that we not get down 30+ points in the second quarter whenever we play on national TV? Is that really too much to ask given the talent you have to work with, the same talent that started the season 7-2 and 11-1 at home? Rather than crying about what would have been, how about focusing on what is and get your team prepared for the next game so they don't embarrass themselves yet again? BNM
I don't read that at all and think of nate trying to save his job. It's more he's discussing the state of the Blazers as an organization, and hinting at rebuilding and retooling, because what we thought we'd have, we do not. I don't see him saying it as an excuse to keep his job, but as an excuse to why we have to look at moving in a different direction.
Yeah, how anybody could take it that Nate was shocked that Roy and Oden wouldn't be the players they thought they drafted for this season after reading that article is puzzling to me. Somebody would have to have an extreme anti-Nate agenda to see it as anything other than Nate commenting on the current state of the organization, and how the long-term plan toward a championship needs to be altered. Is it time for Nate to go? Sure, I guess. Is the team struggling primarily because of bad coaching by Nate? I find that notion to be simplistic, at best, and dishonest, at worst.
Not getting your Nate-anger on this one, Mags. This looks to me like a pretty reasonable assessment of where the Blazers are at, not an attempt to ask for an excuse for the team's recent crappy play. Whether Nate remains the coach or not, the state of the team is still the same: They planned on building around a Big-3 of Roy, Aldridge & Oden and now, through no one's fault, there's only a Big-1 and it's time to start in a new direction.
Thread fail! The title clearly should have been, Fucking Nate grasping on fucking injuries to save his fucking job!
It's nice to see Nate offer something more than the boilerplate "Need to scrap more" or "Need to play the right way" He gave a dead-on accurate assessment of this team and why it is where it is. The only thing that sucks is that it took him (seemingly?) so long to come to this conclusion.
I disagree with your assessment of this team and last year's team comparison. You have that backwards. This team is just not that good and I'm at a loss to see what these players have ever done to make you think they are special. I mean, how good can a player really be if some "inneffective" coach can make him miss shots, forget how to set picks or throw accurate passes, get him boxed out by his opponent, never be in the right place at the right time to get rebounds or loose balls, and never get a call from the ref? This is the least energetic, least inspiring roster in the team's history.
Last season we overachieved with most players playing better than their career averages. This season it's flipped. Almost all the players are well below their career averages. We are definitely under achieving this season.
your team is average at best. sure you have the best pf in the game but you are average to sub par at every other position. in fact, without l/aldridge u would have the worst roster in the league.
Sorry, Nate. Mags is right. It's been almost 2 years since we could count on Roy, and we could never count on Oden. McMillan has had all the time in the world to adjust his system, but creative flexibility is not exactly his forté.
I knew that he's a high school-quality coach, but I didn't know that he's also a crybaby using injuries from ancient history as his excuse. He is admitting he can't make adjustments after a season, yet PapaG argues thst he makes good adjustments after a half-game.
That's what I'm saying. Oden has been out of commission for over 5 years. If you make a game plan to suit him, then you are even a worse coach than I imagined. Okay I get Roy going down, but he had all summer and fall to figure that out. Even the average fan knew Roy days of old was already over. So yeah fuck this lame excuse he is trying to make. I can't believe I used to support him blindly. Serves me right I guess.
Maybe he's a lame duck so he can say what he really thinks instead of blowing sunshine up your skirts.