Starting lineup

It's actually pretty amusing now. I'm beyond getting pissed or irritated. Now I just think it's funny

 

Either start Andre or get him outta here. While it would be interesting and possibly beneficial to start him and let him actually run the team, I think the best option is to ship him away. Roy doesn't want to play with him and the PG position is really not an issue on our team (Blake and Bayless are perfectly serviceable next to Roy). We need another scorer. Someone who is going to make up for the loss of Outlaw, either to start in Webster's place or come off the bench. After December 15th, we should trade Miller for this guy. Someone who won't need the ball in his hands constantly to be effective. Let Roy handpick the guy. So much gets solved this way:

1) Blake can relax and know that the PG position is his. He doesn't have to look over his shoulder. He'll play better.

2) Bayless finally gets real minutes at backup PG. With Sergio being sent out, Bayless was ready to take on that role and then suddenly, we bring in Miller like a slap in the face to all of Bayless' hard work.

3) Brandon Roy is finally happy, can take charge of the team, and control the pace of the game, something that was considered one of his strengths from coaches and players around the league earlier in his career (y'know, back when he was winning Player of the Week awards?)

4) New player takes some scoring pressure off Roy when needed. Essentially, this new player is the new Travis Outlaw.

5) Finally, it begins to feel like "last year" again. And we get out of the first round this time because LMA & Roy are more experienced and Oden has improved. Plus, New Player delivers that extra punch of scoring that Travis failed to last spring.

And there. Everything's back to normal in Blazer land. No worries. Blake has shown that he can get the ball to Oden. In fact, it is Blake who has set up Oden for more wide open dunks than any other player on the team including Miller.

This would make me happy. Thoughts?

 

Ship him out for what?

If Miller goes, I'm in favor of starting Roy at point guard and moving Rudy into the starting five. Blake doesn't deserve to start right now.

 

Any available scorer. Fuckin Turkoglu would be really great to have now, but ah well. Who else could we get? Work the phones, KP. Get us the guy who will restore chemistry.

 

Turky is gettin paid too much.

I would love to see if we could work something for Caron Butler, Gerald Wallace, or Shane Battier.

Battier and Miller make almost the same money. It would be an easy trade.

 

I disagree. Let Roy and Blake redevelop their chemistry from last season. Also- let it be said that only two players had a + tonight. Blake and Oden.

 

Repped.

 

I wouldn't be against trading Andre if it ends up being that he is not the right fit here. But the guy just has been so misused since he's stepped onto the team.

In and out of the starting lineup, 30 minutes one night and 6 minutes another. He just hasn't been given the same opportunity that Blake has gotten to prove himself.

We still have not seen a lineup of Miller/Roy/Webster/LA/Oden yet. I'd love to see how that lineup would do over 10-15 games or so. And if you trade Andre, you better make sure you've found out everything he's got to give. And Brandon just has to man up and realize that Blake is hurting the team right now, and the dude won't be his sidekick in the backcourt forever.

 

Unfortunately, that's probably true.. It's going to take something drastic to see Blake moved to the bench. Argh..

 

Actually... the right chemistry can change everything. Make shots go in. Make players play harder on defense. All of that. It's true. If getting rid of Miller makes certain players happier (Blake, Roy, Bayless), that can change the whole feel of the team and then everyone plays better.

 

But Oden has publicly said that Miller has been a positive influence on him. Oden has played MUCH better this year. What if getting rid of Miller hurts Oden's game?

 

It won't. And we don't know the context of Oden's quote. He may be happy with Blake getting him the ball and then said it was a relief to finally see MILLER getting him the ball as well. Oden's emergence is not because of Miller. I see Roy and Blake getting Oden the ball more than I do Miller. In fact, Miller looks to score himself more than gettting the ball to anyone else.

 

But what if they don't believe said player can "make the team better?"

 

To be fair, GO isn't quite yet a reliable scorer in the post. He has a high shooting percentage off putback dunks and wide open dunks set up by Steve Blake. If we just threw the ball into him and expected him to throw up those hook shots, his percentages would go down.

 

This is the age of Cunningham now Denny. You can't bench Dante. He IS our offense.

 

Yeah, I was thinking about how things might have been different if LMA had played.

 

IMO the starting unit fixes part of it. It is the rotation that needs fixed, and it needs to be shortened. We need players to get used to playing with each other out there, and not swapping so many bodies in and out of the game.

 

That's actually one of the funniest things I've read. In a season on a downward trend, suggesting that some kind of change should be made, McMillan "considers" doing what is almost always the smartest thing: starting your best players. Then he decided against it.

It's like a person who can't swim has fallen into a deep lake but has steadfastly refused a life preserver, feeling that scrappiness will keep him afloat better than an inflated air bladder. After some time of expending all his energy trying to stay afloat, his head is about to sink below the water and he "considers" changing his mind and using the life preserver. And then decides against it.