It feels like the team has stopped listening to Nate.

Nate WANTED Andre Miller on the team. He actively sought him out and was vocal about the management acquiring him. Miller is the last person on Earth that McMillan can throw under the bus. Either he’s not being used properly (by the coach) or he should never have been recruited in the first place (by the coach).

Also, when did we start benching our PG’s for playing bad?

“I don’t know. That’s why coaches coach,” Roy said. “I just go out there, you know? He’s the coach.”

Blazers Interim Coach?!?!

I jest, but still…

The "You Thought We’d Take Another Leap, But Instead We Went Backward Because Expectations Were Too High, We Tinkered With Our Chemistry And Our Young Guys Tuned Out Their Coach" Team – Bill Simmons about the Blazers in his season preview. He also predicted 41 wins and finishing behind OKC, which I still don’t believe. In fact I bet on it.

blake plays poorly the entire season save a few games, he starts

The Blazers players are most concerned about the offense, which has undergone a decided change from last season, when Roy and Aldridge dominated the ball and shots with pick-and-roll variations. This season, with Oden becoming a formidable and effective option, the offense more often revolves around entry passes to Oden.

McMillan says it is up to the players to figure out how to make that dynamic work

Wait… so he is offering no advice and benching all the good players? Well good luck figuring that out.

Jerryd Bayless: 9.2 minutes played per game, .474 shooting percentage, .710 free throw percentage, 2:1 Assist to Turnover ratio, 5 points per game, and he draws fouls like fat kids love cake…or something like that. Oh and I keep hearing that his defense is only “adequate”. Well if last nights performace was adequate then I’ll take a player like that instead of the 30 year old turnstile that Steve Blake has become.

If you look at the first 1/4 of the 2009/2010 season and compare Blake to Bayless there is absolutely no reason Binkie should be eating up Bayless’s minutes.

Unless the life of bust known as Andre Miller turns into a Disney movie where he eats magic rocket dust and reverse ages 5 years, the development of Bayless needs to be a priority for this franchise.

Our window is closed this year. There is no way we are going to win, as the road team, against the Suns, Lakers, Nuggets, and Magic this postseason. We have no chance to win 16 when the regular season finishes.

Get well soon Nic Batum

Miller is just a scapegoat for this team…a team of no identity, no clear direction and lack of fundamental soundness….they are a team that is not having fun, lacks athletic skills and quickness….They also lack a skill in a coach that can get the most out of what players he has……this team doesn’t even hustle and scrap for loose balls….there is something wrong with this team that is deeper than most people would like to admit…..Sadly, Roy and Aldridge (the stars?) are at the forefront…..It’s getting more and more apparent that we have not assembled a good team….maybe they just aren’t that good, but pouting doesn’t help (this is a team that is not happy and their play is not entertaining because of that…..instead of going out and playing the game, they keep miring themselves in high expectations (a recipe for disaster)

I agree with a previous post….Andre has been nothing but the scapegoat for this team. Drives me crazy…all he did was get hired. What has changed from that wonderful dinner meeting in Vegas with Andre they gushed about til now? They knew who Andre was, has been, what he could and could not do….what gives? Not like it was a secret or anything. Now Brandon is wondering why Andre gets benched? Oh please Brandon STOP your passive agressive BS!! Funny how when “your team” is not performing it is your buddy McMillans fault. Andre is shining the spotlight on problems that were here before he came. I think the team is with Andre and his value and Brandon is the lone wolf who now is backtracking…Brandon you are NOT a vet….stop trying to act like one…Greg’s gesture with Dre speaks volumes to me…

It seems to me that Nate has a game plan in mind and regardless of whether or not that works in the actual game he seems to stick to it. Sure, he’ll change people in and out seeing if any of them can do better in the scheme he already put together, but usually I don’t see him totally changing directions in the middle of a game to try something else.

If it is broke, fix it… preferably before the game is lost.

It can’t all be on Nate and it can’t all be on the players. Both of them need to take a look at themselves to see where they aren’t getting the job done, but I’ll tell you one thing: If Roy, LA and others are having a hard time figuring out what their roles are this far into the season then Nate needs to realize it isn’t exclusively an effort problem.

Is Nate losing this team? The players saying they haven’t talked to him is also a little concerning. A win at home vs the Heat would sure help this drama right now.

darn guy can’t shot to save the team.

Somebody else besides Nate should be taking those critical jumpers. Nate should at least take it to the rack more if he can’t find an open teammate to shoot it…

Would somebody just bench Nate already?

At the end of the 1st quarter, Brandon got the ball with 9 seconds left, and the Blazers were down 15 points but with 3 quarters still ahead of them, and a chance to get a tiny bit of momentum and cut the lead to 12 or 13.

9 seconds is plenty of time to get a good shot, push the ball down get into the paint, draw some double teams, find open shooters—to make something happen by expending a little energy.

Instead Brandon walked the ball down the court as slow as possible, crossed half court with 3 or 4 seconds left, dribbled a few times while standing still, and then with about 1 second left, passed the ball to Andre Miller who was standing, guarded, 2 feet outside the 3-point line, who was forced to chuck up an contested three.

At 11:50 of the 1st quarter, our star had already given up on the game, and wasn’t even trying to hide it—his disgust, and perhaps even contempt, was on display for all to see.

Something is going on inside the team, and only the team knows what it is, and it is serious.

Is that when a bench player plays badly for 3 minutes he benches them for extended time periods. He did it last year with Sergio and is doing the same with Miller now. Problem is, somebody like Miller who has proven time and time again that he can get the job done, doesn’t play well when he feels questioned by the coach at all times.

People like Blake get a longer leash because they’re “veterans” or something. Bottom line, Nate has very little patience with some players, and its working against him now.

Geez, I thought I was concerned until I came over here to BE. The team may have serious issues. But we won’t have a clue until they get some much-needed rest and practice, and they’ll be getting that this coming week.

Most likely, the team will work out the kinks, get some fresh perspective, and come out firing on all cylinders. The key is that you’ve got talented players with good character. They’ll work it out, even if the coaching staff doesn’t have all the answers.

At least, there’s still plenty of reason to think that way. I KNEW the guys were starting to run out of gas after that New Jersey game. They’ve played a lot of games in a short period of time, and that’s going to catch up with you. The teams they’ve been playing have been well-rested in comparison. But that dynamic is about to change.

I thought a coaches job was to put together a winning game plan (system) for their players to execute and then put their players in a position (thru practice and rotations) to win games when they execute on that game plan.

(Anecdotal Side Note: My coach used to say, I will give the other team our playbook because if we execute properly, it cannot be stopped. I agreed and I’ve always felt this way about basketball. It’s no mystery what LA does, or Cleveland, or Boston, or Orlando. If they execute, you cannot stop it).

So what is Nate’s system? What is Nate’s winning game plan/playbook that the players are supposed to be executing on? I feel just as lost as most of the players on this team…

I do blame him for Miller being left shooting long jumpshots with time running out. Thats on Nate and so are a lot of other things.

Miller should have been benched. He makes horrible turnovers at the worse time, and his defense is a guessing game. Bayless is already a better defender, and he doesnt make the stupid turnover. When you are down you need ball security, defense, and three point shooting. Playing Bayless made sense.

so he takes him out early to put back in with the 2nd group.

I have a better idea to greg and andre together: Start Miller and let Oden play 11 minutes of the 1st.

Another lackluster effort, another clueless stretch of hoops, more finger pointing, another game I turned off at halftime.

Bill Simmons might’ve been right. I already see half the team tuning Nate out.

to stir the pot after a couple of losses to sell news.
Since I don’t have anything nice to say about the last 2 games, I will say that, I do seem to remember that Miller wasn’t the only Blazer normally playing more minutes, to sit in Utah.

Sounds like instead of Sergio/Rudy now, it’s Sergio/Casspi over there.

Clearly they didn’t fit Nate’s system. Just as clearly they are NBA players who are able to contribute and the Blazers never found a way to make that happen.

Blake has gottin’ his minutes—-even when being consistently outplayed by Miller and, lately, even when fairly ineffective in his shift. Blake always gets back in there though, even if the guy he is replacing is having a great game.

That said, Miller has not looked right the last couple games at all.

I agree with all the talk here, it’s time for a change and I’ve done some research to help the Blazers plan for the future. I picked up a copy of NBA 2K9 the other day, that’s over fourteen dollars out of pocket, and once we win a few rings I expect a refund.

I moved things forward to this season and used the Xbox as a Magic Eight Ball (the most powerful clairvoyant tool of all) to see what the finals hold. And I kid you not, the future was foretold and the finals will be: Kings vs. Nets. Also, Steve Blake ended up in Cleveland somehow but that’s beside the point.

With this new information I think it’s critical that we trade rosters with the Nets before the deadline. Ours is imploding while, as my Xbox clearly shows, they are going to peak not in November or December, but in June.