a virtually flawless post. McMillan = Anti-Phil Jackson. He is the worst psychological motivator, hot hand recognizer and substitution pattern coach I have ever seen. He may be an incredible young player trainer and good in time outs but he is plain horrible in player management. I’m scared to death this will trigger an Oden regression or worse his desire to play on a team that has a coach with an IQ over 90.

+2

       How about the Duncan-Parker Spurs with Manu coming
off the bench ? I disagree with your premise even though I
am the biggest GO fan around. I think he will be a starter, but
fans have short memories. Pryz had some unbelieveable rebounding/
defensive games last year, in addition to becoming a better finisher and
playing the tough guy to a T. GO’s MO has been his humble, team 1st
mantra since HS and even though I think he will play more minutes than
Joel per game, it’s only a matter of time. . .

     GO BLAZERS !! Pre season is a warm up &
                                                                                       COINCAST SUCKS !!!!!

I don’t know why Nate is tripping all over this… I mean, Coach Mac has been wanting to bring in solid veterans to compete and help mature and improve this team. The biggest Vet he brought in now is getting jerked around? Andre Miller is going to be very important for Portland, if not for any other reason, because his skills at drive and dish to the big man will really get our #1 Overall Pick Greg Oden involved in the offense. Here is my message to Nate: “Hey dude, you got a young post with unlimited potential who needs a PG who will penetrarate and draw defenders away from the big guy… and you got a proven winner veteran PG with elite BBIQ, surround B.Roy with the best players possible so start them both!”

I would also like to see Nicolas Batum continuing to be the starter at SF… not because he has outplayed Martell (Martell is clearly looking better all-around), but because with SOOOOO much offense already in the starting line-up with Roy, Aldridge, Oden and Andre Miller, having Batum’s Defensive Ace mentality and 20-year old energy out on the court to start each game on a mission to press and fatigue opponents top wing threats. I would bet that Martell will see more minutes than Batum, though.

I’ll just be disappointed that our three, G.O., LMA, & Roy, won’t be together on the floor most of the time.

That is the only axe I have to grind. PG & SF are a bit more unclear (whoever defends the best should start), but those three guys are our long haul, lockdown, absolutely keep core. I want them to always play together so they can get their games together, even if it is as difficult as a 1000 piece puzzle is to Paris Hilton.

Other than Quick thinking Nate does, who else really wants Przybilla in the starting spot over Oden?

Oden has a history of struggling with his mindset when his game falters. He had a trying season, between injuries and criticism, and I think “rewarding” the obvious strides and growth he made in the off-season with this is a terrible move. Nate knows these guys better than any of us, but from the outside looking in, I don’t see the sense in this

The team is supposed to take the next step not repeat what they did last year.

There is absolutely no reason to start Joel over Oden. Not only can Oden do everything Joel does and some things better, but he’s been the best player on the team this preseason. Oden has played great and shown more effort on the court than anyone not named Webster. He’s played without fouling or getting winded, there’s no reason to not start him.

As for Blake, he’s played bad. Really bad. Andre is earning that spot. For all the “fit” talk that goes on with the Blake vs. Andre debates Blake has not played well or help Roy any more than Andre. Andre is a willing passer who got Roy some nice shots and layups, it was Roy who was failing to execute. Roy even had a nice play with Miller when Roy was the playmaker.

The honest truth is that Andre and Oden have both more than earned their spots. Roy’s slump is on him an no one else. If Roy is the super star we know he is then he will pick it up once the season starts regardless of who he’s playing alongside in the back court. If Nate starts Blake and Przy that is sending the wrong message when it’s always been you earn your spot on camp and preseason. Nate is starting to look far too stubborn for his own and this team’s good. If Greg and Andre are not starting by the opener then Nate needs to be smacked upside the head.

Blake will pick up his play I have no doubt, but Andre deserves the spot come season opener.

Do you know that the team had a habit of starting very slow last season? So, I care who starts. You should too.

can you name 5 centers that are objectively better, and not just out of position PF’s? After all, if it doesn’t count when he beasts on out of position PF’s, then they should not count against him in a positional ranking. On a per minute basis, especially with his D and rebounding, I’d say very few are better right now.

Howard
Duncan
Oneal
Maybe Gasol.
Ming when healthy?

And when Yao comes back, Shaq will be done.
Al Jefferson (a true PF) has a great post game and rebounds well, but he provides little defense and he’s not a shot blocking/altering presence.
Stoudamire is a PF who cannot be bothered with peasants work like D
Bynum is OK, nice offense, wouldn’t put him above Greg until he is a presence on both ends of the floor.
Nene is a PF, and Greg should surpass him this year.

etc etc.

Yeah, I wouldn’t be surprised if Greg was a top 5 center right now and actually that’s what Hollenger projects.

       Exactly waht I’ve posted. Take a big DEEP breath folks, it’s
Pre-Season. We won 54 games last year without Martell, three
rookies playing significant minutes and GO in & out of the lineup.
GO & Miller will get their minutes and be a intregal part to our success
if they play hard and go with the flow ! TEAM CHEMISTRY !!!

<End sanity interlude. Resume calls for Nate’s head and general hysteria.>

We took Houston to 6 games with Yao playing. The Lakers hand their hands totally full with Houston minus Yao. We had a damn successful season with a pack of young guys last year.

But now all these Johhny come lately fans(?) (and other types too) are jumping all over Nate because he’s not playing their favorite players, i.e., a new guy to the team who has yet failed to mesh, and Oden a guy who’s always been held to unrealistic expectations and maybe still is.

Although there isn’t any doubt in my mind that Oden will soon start, this team would excell this year playing the same rotation as Nate played late last season.

Wow, I’m shocked by all this garbage we’re hearing about how Nate has it all wrong. I’ve been critical of Nate in the past too (for not running enough) but this is absurd. i

Are we really trying to say that if SA had Oden on their team they would bring him off the bench because TD and Parker needs more shots? I am willing to believe that a championship coach like Pop would find a way to make it work, and so should Nate.

That sums it up right there. Part of being a championship coach is getting your superstars to buy in to what will best help the team achieve it’s goals – Jackson and Popovich have both done this, although it hasn’t been pretty all the time (remember all the Parker trade rumors early in TPs career?). Nate needs to sit down with Brandon/LMA and tell them that in order for the Blazers to be a championship roster, it can’t be them and 3 npon-scorers. They will still be the focal points of the offense (as they should be), but it might mean 17 shots for Roy and 15 for LAM rather than 20+.

Also, I’m totally with your point on the offense. More ball movement/more possessions (increased pace) would create more scoring chances. The Blazers were efficient last year, but given their number of possessions, they had to be. A tweak or two could both increase the wiggle room and create more opportunities.

I am so frustrated by all this – I hope it works out well

Do you imagine Nate McMillen is some complete hack? Is that why he keeps getting hired to coach the US national team—and why those All-Stars invariably rave about him afterwards?

Nate’s far from infallible, and I certainly question this starting line-up decision. Promising starting slots to the guys who earned them, then reneging on that decision, is poor form for sure. But don’t try to convince me that Nate McMillen flat can’t coach. It’s easy to pick his coaching apart from the vantage point of our couches and computer terminals. We’re not at the practices or on the bench during games, seeing what he sees and understanding all that goes into the decisions he makes.

Nate McMillan is an extremely bright, hardworking guy who has played and coached NBA basketball for his entire adult life. Truth his, he probably knows more about NBA hoops than all of us BE posters combined. Part of being a fan is second-guessing the coach. But get real: Nate McMillen didn’t learn the game by reading “Basketball for dummies.”

We’re not putting words in his mouth or speculating. These are bush league statements by the coach of the basketball team.

But the whole rationale for drafting GO was to pair him with LMA as a new “twin towers.” By his own admission, KP has patterned this team after the Spurs, and he specifically pointed to the great Duncan/ Robinson combo when he announced his decision to draft Greg Oden. Two agile shotblocker/ rebounders can dominate an NBA game even when the team is cold at the offensive end.

GO and LMA, as a tandem, are still very much a work in progress. But both guys are unselfish, hard-workers with all the necessary tools: length, agility, speed, strength (especially GO), good hands, etc. I wouldn’t split these two up for anything. In time, they should dominate the paint at both ends. And domination of the paint is key to winning championships.

I would like it if he were!

      IT"S GO TIME !!!

fact: the lineup mcmillan wants won 54 games last year.

that starting lineup won 26

Fact is Oden has earned the spot and is the superior player to Joel. Oden fits with either unit better than Joel just because he’s better and there’s nothing Joel does that Oden can’t do unless you count taking charges.

Oden is supposed to be our franchise big, you don’t keep your franchise big on the bench when he’s clearly played his arse off and earned the starting spot exactly the way the coach wanted him to. That’s a pretty bad message to send.

Roy needs to learn to play with any back court mate, period. He is the superstar and it’s on him to be successful regardless oh who he’s got with him.

Roy is going to have to play with Miller whether he starts or not, and Oden will be playing with starters whether he starts or not. It’s not like the units are swapped all 5 at a time. The two guys have earned the right to start according to what Nate always says (spots earned in camp and preseason) and they need to be given their spots. The only debate at this point over who deserves to start should be at the SF position.

We’re not going to catch many teams off-guard this year. Doubling Brandon and LaMarcus was very effective for Houston during the playoffs. I think more and more teams will throw this at us if we keep the same starting five from last season. If we put forward a starting unit of say four or five offensively talented players we can then punish them for any attempted double teams.

The question is: who plays best with Brandon, bearing in mind that Miller and Oden are a pair…

Nate said he was planning to use the Dever/Utah games as a “dry run” of the regular season rotation. I hope he has changed his mind on this point, but the implication that he is leaning toward last year’s starting 5 is pretty clear.

Looking for better defense and more cohesion, Trail Blazers coach Nate McMillan strongly indicated on Thursday that his starting unit from last season will remain intact as the team approaches its Oct. 27 season opener against Houston.

McMillan said Sunday’s exhibition game against Denver will feature a starting lineup of Steve Blake at point guard, Brandon Roy at shooting guard, Nicolas Batum at small forward, LaMarcus Aldridge at power forward and Joel Przybilla at center.

The Denver game has long been a red-letter game, the contest in which McMillan told the players he will start to implement real-game rotations and allot real-game minutes.

http://blog.oregonlive.com/behindblazersbeat/2009/10/looking_for_defense_and_cohesi.html

Again, strong implication from Quick that Nate is leaning toward last year’s starters. When you said “creative journalism”, I thought this is what you were talking about.