Poll: What To Do At The One?

the obsession with trying to upgrade Blake? This team wont lose in the playoffs because of Blake. They’ll lose if Oden, the bench and Batum play like they did last year. Blake’s not going to keep Oden out of foul trouble and healthy. He’s not going to give Batum the ability to beat people off the dribble. Should have gotten a player like Heinrich instead of Miller who obviously doesnt fit with Roy.

Though this preseason, with all the discussion about who fits with Roy, Roy needing the ball, etc, etc, I am beginning to think about revisiting the old start Roy at PG idea. That way Roy gets his shots and controls the ball, and on offense nothing changes much. If I remember, the reason we havent done this is probably for two reasons: First, Roy shouldn’t have to always bring the ball up, and Second, it would be tough for him to defend oppsing PGs. Since it seems pretty clear he is going to be controlling the ball, and even isn’t comfortable playing with a true PG, it doesn’t seem like the first reason is that big of a deal. Second, on defense, if we are going to end up starting Blake, then we are killing ourselves anyway on defense at the one spot.

So, I would consider going all ‘06-’07 on this, and saying Roy should start. Rudy gets more minutes, Rudy can hit the 3 like Blake and so much more, so it improves the problem of 1st quarter offense, and meanwhile a defensive backcourt of Roy and Rudy, to me, is not significantly worse then Roy and Blake. This way we can also get a lot closer to a traditional rotation, instead of bringing in a whole bench unit, we can sub in Blake and Miller at the guard spots depending on the opponent, bring Travis and Martell off the bench for stretches, and have a 3 big rotation of Oden, Aldridge, and Przy, while keeping at least 3 starters on the floor most of the time. (This would basically be starting what our 4th Q lineup will probably look like.)

But if we are still set on not having Roy be PG, and are going to continue with the whole 2 units thing, then I would say start Miller, and give it some time.

Nate has said this is what he was going to do all along, and it’s the right choice. Miller is a better player than Blake, but his abilities don’t match as well with the starting unit, and Miller is a player who dictates the style of play when he is on the floor. It will take time to integrate Miller, and to find the best ways to use everyone’s talent TO WIN GAMES. It’s not about who the best 5 “ballers” are, it’s about WINNING GAMES. This combination gives us the best opportunity to win now without a doubt. I guarantee Miller will come into some games and save our bacon, but this starting unit is the best performing group we have so far, so we have to go with it.

I want to see as much Andre on the floor as can help the team win. If that means he gets more PT than Blake, that’s fine, if it means less in some games, fine. I suspect his PT versus Blake’s will increase over time, but at the end of the day, it’s about chemistry, player combinations, and match-ups. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Andre play big-time minutes against some teams, and Blake big minutes against others. I also think Blake has a chance to keep the starting spot as long as the team is winning.

I also think you will see Andre really take command of the second unit, and start to make those guys look great, which will only make our team as a whole great. It was nice to see, or at least hear the Blazers playing like the Blazers again.

And it isn’t a money thing.

1) He and Roy will have to learn to coexist or else Miller’s talents will be wasted on 18-20 mpg in the middle.

2) If we start Blake and then later in the year pull him because Miller is better, even if Blake did nothing to lose the job, there could be locker room problems.

3) We got Miller for another perimeter player who can create his own shot in order to take the pressure off Roy when he gets bottled up on the perimeter. It’s really hard to do that from the bench.

Need to take a page from the Euro Leagues. Instill a culture that doesn’t care about who starts but rather who finishes. If Blake helps get the offense started great. If Miller is better being the first sub in the game and changes the flow 6 minutes in, all the better. Miller will get plenty of time to play along side Roy even if he is coming off the bench.

To avoid having to adapt his game to a real point guard? Hate to think it, but it’s like as soon as Nate announces that he’s going with Blake, suddenly Brandon can play?

I sure hope we don’t have an egomaniac leading this team….

I voted for the “Start Blake until (or if) he becomes a liability.” I don’t think he will become a liability. I still think Miller should play a little more minutes. Maybe Miller plays 26, and Blake plays 22. Miller and Roy will play a lot together no matter what, so they will have to learn how to play together. I don’t think Roy has to learn to play with Miller, or Miller has to learn to play with Roy. They have to learn to play together. Why I say that is I don’t understand all the people upset with Roy for not adjusting his game. I don’t think Roy is stubbern, and I think he wants to develop an on court chemistry with everyone. I guess when things aren’t going perfect, some folks just want to point a finger at someone. Interesting that they pick our 2 time all star, the player some consider one of the top 10 in the NBA, as the problem. Wow.

Turns out, it was Miller vs. Roy. Roy is better than Miller, therefore, Miller is on the bench. Blake is content to play 1/2 PG 1/2 Off Guard. Miller is not a good enough shooter to play Off Guard.

Off guards (sometimes called “shooting” guards) play off the point guard. Roy doesn’t play off anyone in the half-court set.

In the Blazer (Roy) system, someone besides Roy needs to bring the ball up, lead fast breaks, defend the opposing PG, and shoot spot up 3’s. Very rarely do we ask the off guard to breakdown the defense and set other players up.

Bayless has the potential to be a much better fit for this team than either Blake (defense issues; 1-dimensional offense or Miller (3-pt and defense) issues. That hypothesis is predicated on Bayless becoming adequate at 3-pt shooting and learning to play defense with his feet. Athletically, however, he is far and away the best potential compliment to Roy.

This is also why the Blazers toyed with the idea of having Rudy play off guard to Roy (can he bring the ball up, run the fast break and defend PG’s????)

If we want a PG to fit with the rest of the starting unit, being able to spread the defense with 3-point shooting is probably more important that being able to create shots off the dribble. Blake is just a much better fit with the starters, and Miller is a much better fit with the other players who come off the bench. However, eventually Rudy is going to be able to play the “Blake” role better than Blake can, and at that time he should take over Blake’s spot in the starting lineup.