This is awesome. Anyways, “Nate McMillan is hardly the first coach to deal with an eager, talented, protective, perhaps headstrong, perhaps disgruntled player. That list would include…let’s see…every coach in existence.” is a great line. I agree 100%.

I’m actually rooting for AM. I’ve been talking him up to everyone I know.

If one guy pushing the boundaries destroys the Blazers’ culture then what they had wasn’t culture in the first place.

Well said. I think that gets lost in translation sometimes so I wanted to re-emphasize it in the comments.

I think the hardest thing for fans to accept is that we don’t have any answers right now, and won’t have any useful results for months to come. Speculation breeds more speculation in the meantime. As Tom Petty once said, “The waiting is the hardest part”.

Also, thanks for the well written and thought-out article, Dave. Your writing is what makes this site unique. Also, thanks for not stepping on the gas pedal of the Outrage Machine.

We have a good team,we are not the only good team,this season will be fun. If you are not having fun you might consider talking to one of our counselers.

Well said….

But what happens if LMA doesn’t get signed, Oden breaks his knees in half, B-Roy’s last three years were just a fluke and he plays like the last two games, Rudy dies during childbirth, Batum is killed in a hang glider accident, Bayless goes extinct during the next ice age, Pryzbilla has his hands chopped off in a cheese slicer (he’s from Wisconsin after all), Martell Webster gets caught in a bear trap, Travis Outlaw’s appendix explodes, Blake tries to dunk and the rest of the team is mauled by mutant, rabid wolverines that escaped from a mental institution. Huh?

What then smart guy?

Good write up Dave. The only thing that really has me on alert is LMA’s contract situation – whereas there was a .0001% chance of Brandon’s negotiations going bad, LMA is more in the 5-10% range. Not likely, but not so insignificant you can write it off. I think that was a big reason for the Millsap pursuit/Lee rumors – KP wanted a hedge. Given that Aldridge is unquestionably part of the “Big 3” the current franchise is built on, but probably wants more $ than the front office believes a very good, but non All-Star (as of yet) player is worth, I could see this causing actual problems (as opposed to the Miller “drama”, which will carry us through this week, tops), especially is LMA feels like he’s being marginalized from #2 to #3 if Oden takes a more prominent role (although I think GO is still one year away from being a true force offensively, or at least for him what will be his offensive ceiling).

I haven’t seen anything to make me think there’s a real problem. Everybody wants to be a starter – how unusual is that?

 We’re all anxious for the regular season to start, and tend to over-analyze every little thing for want of anything else to talk about. I’m just glad there aren’t any big problems to talk about. No mutant, rabid wolverines in sight…

The Blazers are going to have a hard time winning anything if all they know how to do is say, "Yes sir!" and "No sir!" I would prefer a little more, "Get out of my face," when it is appropriate. We need a group of confident and talented young MEN in uniform, if we want to win a title. Enough already with the Jailblazer baggage. These guys are not angels or saints, so why do we feel such a need to believe that they are?

Over controlling a man’s behavior is a lot like too much sugar. In the end it ruins a what could have turned out to be a pretty good thing.

Much ado about nothing, in my book. Obviously playing time will be an issue for some guys, as it is on any deep, talented team, but I firmly believe it will work itself out as the season goes on. I don’t see KP or Nate, or Brandon, for that matter, allowing any of this stuff to detract the team from the ultimate goal: winning.

As you said in your previous post, let’s just get the regular season started so we’ll have something real to talk about.

… unless the team is fighting against itself. If a player gets sick or injured, that is adversity the team can overcome. If an opposing team has somewhat insurmountable match-up concerns that is adversity the team can overcome. There are all kinds of underdog story lines that show the strength of character and integrity in the face of daunting odds.

Please notice in the midst of all Andre Miller’s self-absorbed tantrum (I don’t speak to the local media because I don’t care what anyone thinks and I’m a private person unless I do care what everyone thinks and then I’ll talk to the yahoo media so everyone will know my side which is that the coach is a liar and if he told me the truth I wouldn’t be here) the one guy you haven’t heard WORD ONE from is Steve Blake.

That’s because Steve Blake is a team first guy that is going to win or lose by his contributions, not by spouting off. Call it culture or chemistry but our talented and quality team won 54 games last year and will win more this year even without Andre Miller.

Let’s all own this: we don’t need this guy’s bad attitude. I disagree with Dave and the gist of this thread. Andre Miller is behaving like a prissy little baby and that attitude does not contribute in any way toward a quality team.

I’m a sucker for a good analogy, and the lantern / sunlight thing made me grin.

Ever watch west wing? Lemon Lymon. It was a fan blog site for one of the characters in the show named Josh. he goes in there to interact with his “fans” and they all turn into raving loonies because he didn’t cross a T or dot an I when he brain dumped on the blog, and they attempt to bite his head off like one of those candied pumpkins.

I feel this is the case with Blazer fans at the moment. over analyzing and believing they understand intent behind statements made behind closed doors. I’ve read a lot of people stating “well, he meant this” and ultimately we have NO idea whether that was the intent of the conversation or not. not only that, but a lot of things i see written are misquoted. Leaving out a couple words changes the entire intent of what was said.

The media plays some sound bite, blazer fans are bored, they look at it from 20 angles and then freak out.

Give these guys some peace, settle down, let’s see what they can do on the court and how they fit. After all, most of us can’t even watch the preseason games. Our judgment is mostly hearsay. For all we know Miller is awesome but stinks it up with Brandon because they’re not clicking. Or maybe they click like crazy and Nate talks about doubt so that scouts won’t know what Nate will do on opening night because Nate really hates Houston’s team scouts and wants to sucker punch them with a Miller Brandon Duo.

I don’t watch TV/Commericals/news because I grow tired of the drama. I’d like to not read that drama with my blazers please, unless there’s really an actual issue.

Is that they are the only team in town. This is also the bad thing, however, as any problems, no matter how small, get magnified by the media.

when he says he’s not going to change anything about his work ethic or gameplay if he comes off the bench. So no, I’m not worried.

And change shakes things up. Reading about Brandon’s confusion over McMillan’s experimentation makes me want to say, “it’s an new team, new season, with improved players and some new vet additions, esp. Miller, so please grow up and adjust Mr. Roy.” McMillan wanted a vet leader at the 1, rightly so, and he wants to see where he will be most effective. I’d be very surprised if he has not discussed this “evolving team” concept more than once to Roy. It’s preseason against real opponents, and a great time to learn what might work better than last year. Not comfy for the stars right now, maybe, but better for the team. 54 wins and first round in the playoffs is last year’s measure of success. Gotta raise that bar now. Aside from Miller’s role, #1 pick Oden may now be earning more touches, more minutes. Hope that’s alright Brandon, because truth is, he may be more key to an eventual NC than you or LMA individually. And it may take a guy like Miller to facilitate that, make the offense less one/two-dimensional, while improving team defense.

Besides, a little tension keeps things lively, minds alert, more creative. That would facilitate a more effective “winning” culture than team BBQs and slumber parties.

like a dairy processing a large herd of cows that haven’t been milked in two weeks, and the milk is yearning to burst from udders that are large and swollen with milk, and the dairy milking machines are clean and ready to hook-up with those swollen udders and drain thousands of gallons of warm, white milk, where it will be processed though the addition of a bacterial culture into tasty yogurt that will win numerous Larry O’Brien Yogurt Excellence Trophies.