a little harsh

such a professional

Speaking personally, I’d like to be part of the conversation but in my experience the things I do have to say tend to stop the conversation in its tracks. I’m that stranger in the strange land and I not only see things from a different perspective but I communicate things differently as well. I get the feeling Andre’s the same way because he seems to have a lot to say whenever someone approaches him and they’re open to hearing him out.

Maybe when Miller does speak out, he gets misunderstood. Maybe he sounds standoffish or whatever. Maybe Nate might take some time and ask Miller’s opinion on things if he values his opinion as a veteran. If the answers he gets don’t quite jive with Nate’s viewpoints, maybe he could find the patience to try and see where Andre’s coming from.

Often when I talk about important issues with my wife, the first couple things I say just make her angry. But because we’re committed she’s learned to be patient and hear me out. She waits for me to wind my way through my circular reasoning. Usually the first part came from miscommunication and it turns out we both see eye to eye more often than not. It works with my wife because she can’t get away from me, but with people at work I’ve learned that small talk is usually best. When they get the glazed look in their eyes, I just change the subject.

This does not really give me a good feeling about Nate. To be going on about all that crap to the media, sounds like he has something personal against Dre and is jockeying for position in the court of public opinion. Pretty lame, would be nice if Nate could just man up and take care of things internally.

Also, during games both on the court and on the bench Dre is one of the most communicative players out there. You can see him talking things over with Greg, giving feedback to players coming off the floor, gesturing and directing people on O and D, etc.

Nate envisioned Miller leading the 2nd unit (I believe since day-one) and setting up and running with Rudy, Travis, and Webster while still playing quite a bit with LMA and Greg (based on their substitution/rest patterns). After losing Batum and Travis, it compromised the rotation and the 2nd unit. So Nate seems willing to cut Miller some slack for the lack of 2nd team effectiveness (“it’s only Rudy out there”), but only a little (“we still could be sitting here saying the same thing” [about the 2nd unit being a non-factor without the injuries]).

It seems to me Nate is trying to explain the logic behind why they signed Miller, and maybe why it hasn’t worked (injuries), but that it might not have worked anyway (communications issues even without injuries). He says he hasn’t seen any progress in Miller fitting in with the Blazers (“No. Because that’s who he is. … The progress is — no, he doesn’t talk.”, and “Sometimes, being in a room and not saying anything can say just as much as someone who …”).

It sounds like Nate has given up on Miller (hard to believe he would say these things publicly otherwise), but in fact I think he is going to start Miller (especially if we lose to Houston) because what we are doing now isn’t working and there’s not much else left to try. Then if that fails, Dec 15 will be here and moving Miller will become the top priority.

If the Blazers should trade Miller I hope they don’t have to give up Rudy to get something of value back. I’d still like to see an entire year of Rudy before making a decision on his Blazer future. I see (still inconsistent) improvements in Rudy’s defense, and mixed (sometimes ugly) results with him trying to create his own shot more. I think you need a year to see where that ends up. But his turnovers are also up this year and his 3-pt shooting has been more streaky than last year (although his % is nearly the same, 39% vs 40%), so it’s possible KP could bite on a high-quality SF and 2nd/3rd string PG filler for Miller and Rudy. I’d rather see a Webster+Miller trade, but I doubt Webster would add enough sweetener for a really good SF.
 

He was signed to be the backup.