Okay, we're under .500, so let's do some controversy. The problem is Brandon. First, the obvious caveat -- B-Roy is probably the best player we've ever had this side of Bill Walton. But it's a team game and Brandon is holding the team back. For starters, this team has brilliant upside with a decent point guard. But Brandon says his game is better suited to Blake, and Nate goes along. So Miller muddles along on limited minutes trying to steer a host of combinations. The running game is dead, the floor spacing dreadful, and the confusion, well, it's become an epidemic. And it will not get better until Miller gets the bulk of the minutes and the Blazers get to practice and get to work under the ball-leadership of a true point.
Second, Roy's principal offensive contribution is one-on-one. He's brilliant at it ... just like Kobe was. But the Lakers didn't jell and excel until Kobe decided it was time to focus his brilliance more fully within the team concept. That is something Roy has never really done -- and it's been okay with me for the last three years as he has developed and refined his skills. But now we are approaching the final level -- championship (or at least championship contention) -- and the time for one-on-one throughout the game (I'm not talking the final minutes here) has come and gone. Roy must integrate his talents and his game with the rest of the team.
This means that he must stop convincing himself that Blake is the best option for this team because that simply allows one of the least talented players set the tone for everyone else. Blake may make Brandon better right mow, but Miller can make everyone else better real quick, and he'll make Brandon better, as well, down the road. To achieve this, Brandon and Nate must change their mindsets. The sooner the better.