I think we’ll see Miller closing most games, and probably getting around 30 minutes a night on average. That’s starter’s minutes, even though he isn’t starting. I love the idea of him keying an up-tempo unit with Martell and Rudy on the wings.

The closing lineup will generally be Miller, Roy, LMA. Oden if he’s playing hot, Joel if we need stops more than buckets. The 5th guy could be any of Rudy, Blake, Batum, or Outlaw depending on matchups, whose got the hot hand that night, and whether we are playing to score or stop.

You know Miller can’t be happy. And it must be tough to try and learn to play with a guy (and pass the ball to him) who openly prefers your competition. But hopefully, we bring in him really quickly (ideally, him and Rudy) before the starting 3-4-5 are tired. Because Miller, Rudy, Batum, LMA, and Oden will be a ferocious fast break unit. (Sigh – it’d be so much easier if Roy would just come off the bench… but I know I’m in the minority with that opinion.) Hopefully, by the playoffs, this strife will just be an ancient menory.

…but I agree with your premise that in crunch time other teams aggressively work to keep/get the ball out of Roy’s hands and we need a strategy to counter these efforts. Last year we didn’t have one. But is Miller the answer? I hope so. But picture the game scenario. It’s crunch time and Brandon receives the ball for a key possession. The opposing team sends their two guard and small forward – two long, strong defenders – flying at him and keep him from penetrating effectively…

I have two questions at this point: Where do you want Miller during this time? I assume you want him spacing the court to leave the middle open for Brandon. If he is standing on the 3 point line will his defender respect this since he doesn’t shoot 3’s well or will he slide down to help stop Roy or to provide help if the ball goes to LA or Greg down low? If his defender doesn’t respect him on the perimeter, then Andre won’t be effective slashing to the hoop for a pass from Brandon. So where do you want to put him???

I would rather have Brandon with the ball, Aldridge, Oden and two 3-point shooters that the other team MUST respect. It could be Blake, Rudy, Martell, or Outlaw. Pick two.

If you insist on having Miller on the floor then HE must be the primary initial scoring threat. He won’t be double-teamed because of the others on the floor so can take his man off the dribble and attack the paint where he can finish, find Oden or Aldridge for the dunk, or kick the ball out for a three. I would of course have Roy on the court as a decoy and as a deep threat if Miller needs to kick it out to the perimeter.

For me, this scenario is a nice plan “B” to throw in just to keep other teams honest. So we have two crunch time sets, one with Miller and one without.

Am I off target here?

Miller is a godawful point guard in the last 4 minutes of games.

I watched him his entire Denver career and most of Philly and he is just a waste out there at the end of games.

Granted he is better than Blake in many ways but just watch, he will make so many bad passes and take so many bad shots that im predicting the blazers win total actually goes down this season. I was furious with the blazers this offseason for getting Miller for this exact reason.

He gets selfish and irrational at the end of games. Ever wonder why no Andre MIller team has won 50 games? Advanced past the first round of the playoffs? His inability in crunch time is where I point the finger.

Im not saying I wont root for the man, I just wont be suprised when he ruins games in crunch time with a bad pass or a 16-foot fadeaway with 15 seconds left in the shot clock. And neither should you.

even with Blake starting over Miller. I feel Miller will play more because of his ability to make Greg Oden better, and as this season progresses I believe Oden will become more of a center point of the Blazers offense. I believe we will see Blake start and play about 8 mins, the Miller will come in after Blake has established Roy and LMA, and feed Greg the ball in the post. As good as Miller is at feeding the big man, I see him and Greg playing together alot this year. Greg needs to be on the court 30+ mins a game this year, maybe not at the beginning, although I hope he is, but at the end of the season Greg better be or else this team just will not be as good as it can be.

Here’s how I analyze this. What would I do if I were the other team to stop the Blazers if they had B-Roy and Miller on the floor together. My comments above are a reflection of what I would try to do to stop them. I am excited to see how things play out!

… because I think there’s going to be an adjustment period that will last anywhere from a month to just about the whole season. I still look at this year as the final year of development, and the championship window opens next year. During that adjustment period, I expect the Blazers to win at about a 50-win-season pace. These players we have are just too talented, both physically and mentally, to fail. Once they get it figured out, it’s all going to fall into place and we’ll be enjoying a 60+ win/season pace.

Quick’s interview with Roy confirms some of the thinking I see posted here. Roy and Miller both like the ball in their hands, and both realize they are in a period of adjustment, and need time to work it out. We tend to forget that Blake and Roy also had a period when both needed time to learn to play to each other’s strengths, as well as to compromise on who has the ball when. In a practical sense, Miller needs to move from being purely a point guard to more of a combo guard – and likely will. But this will take some time. Miller does, after all, bring a very good scoring and penetrating skill set to the team, just as his pick and roll and passing skills improves Oden and our interior game. And there will be times when we want those skills on the floor with Roy. At the same time, Blake’s 3-pt shooting spreads the floor, and right now we also need that, as Webster is still not 100% and Batum is only in his second year. Ironically, Blake’s shooting opens up the interior game more, yet Andre’s passing facilitates Oden’s play as well. Just as happened with Blake during his first season with the Blazers, I suspect that as this year progresses, that we’ll see improved chemistry between Roy and Miller, and very likely see Miller starting some games, or playing increased minutes- whoever starts. Certainly, we’d like to see his passing on the floor with Oden, and how we mix it together will be one of the year’s top stories. At the wing, Webster, has to get his consistency back to break into the starting rotation, and even then, if Batum’s shot continue’s to improve as it did in Euro ball, his defense may well ensure that he still starts many games – particularly when the match ups on the wing warrant it. By mid-season, the Blake-Miller and Batum-Webster staring issues may become increasingly dependent on the match-ups.

Mac is right to let the players gel. And to take time to do so. Webster’s back – but not 100%, and Miller is new and still both learning our plays and working it out with Roy.
Roy also commented that he recognized that he and Aldridge also need to adjust.
Adding Webster and Miller, as well as watching the improvements of Oden and Batum make this team deeper – and provides more scoring options. – which we’ll want to use. And that will affect the number of shots that Roy and Aldridge will be able to take.

So, let the season begin.