A second look at Nate

The only thing I don’t like about him is he leaves the starters in too long during blowouts. That’s not even a big deal. Don’t blame Nate, blame KGW.

But Nate is doing an excellent job right now.

Look at the absolute CRAP he had in Seattle, that team was DREADFUL and he took it to the playoffs.

As much as we love our talent, some praise needs to go to Nate and his system. The guy gets ZERO credit, but apparently he must be an offensive genius (which is hilarious, considering how he is typically portrayed as a defensive minded coach) when you consider he has taken Roy/LMA and a dash of Outlaw+Rudy and turned it in to the most effecient offense in the NBA.

I mean serious, I love my Blazers, but even I don’t wear that deep of rose colored glasses to believe that our talent level RIGHT NOW (not future potential) is on par with teams like LA, Utah, Cavs, etc… But yet Nate has these guys playing as the most effeceint offense in the association, unbelievable.

was the Cavs game. Seriously, why put single coverage on Lebron in overtime? Make someone else beat you. Other than that, Nate has done an excellent job, especially in his personal relationships with the players.

I’ve seen the results of their discussions manifest themselves immediately after on the court. For example, when Roy’s knee was hurting, Nate told him to play hard and let Nate worry about the minutes. Roy seemed to be holding back out of fear of hurting the team, but he played loose after that conversation. Also, Roy has felt comfortable speaking for the team when they needed a little more time to rest. You know Roy’s not the kind of person to try and take advantage of that power, but the fact that he has it solidifies his role as the team leader.

I still worry about our D. I want it to be significantly better next year. Up to this point, I’m very satisfied with Nate’s results though.

First off I was a big supporter of bringing in Bayless before the draft and some may complain that he has not gotten enough burn, which may or not be the case but Nate has not seen it in practice and I think that even few people in here have seen in on the court, save for a few brief flashes here and there.

I think that Nate is doing the exact right thing with this PG situation. Even though I faulted him last year for Sticking with Jack as much as he did, I now see the folly of my ways. WIth the PG you have to have only 2 players, the starter 30min and the backup 18min. There is no room for 3 and he was/is letting Jack/Sergio play through their mistakes as being a PG you are going to have some TOs but you cannot look over your shoulder and benching Bayless to allow Sergio to make mistakes was the right call.

As for Nate what is impressive and starting to come through is that, the way Nate does it, he lays such a strong foundation that sometimes it takes a while to see the results, much like working out, you do not see immediate results, but in the long run it is better overall. I think that some shortsided people were looking for immediate results, but if you are doing it the wrong way, it will not last as long and with as young a team we have that would be a BIG problem.

What is great is that now all of those small, but correct steps are starting to yield fruit as we are playing great basketball (40 min of the clipper game removed) and what is great is that if you look at the team it is setup for longterm success. With the type of players we have there should not be anyone who wants to rock the boat and cause problems, PT or $. They all buy into the concept of the team and that is a testament to Nate and KP.

Lastly Nate will stay here as his relationship with Brandon is so strong and if one leaves the other will want to leave. Brandon has his finger on the pulse of the team and if there was a rift between them there would be a problem with the team vs Nate and there is isn’t.

I agree that it is difficult to argue with the 53 or 54 wins he has gotten out of this team. I couldn’t argue with the 41 he coaxed out of last year’s group or the 32 he put together with duct tape and baling wire the year before that. I think he has done an amazing job with what he has been given and for every player people complain about not developing (or at least not as quickly as hoped), you can point to two that have developed or that keep improving with age.

Defense has been the major problem that many people have had with Nate. I think it has been lacking because of all the turnover and youth that he has had to overcome here in Portland (I know, he sucked in Seattle and will never be a good defensive coach…) As this team ages and gels and the additions become veteran role players instead of young projects, the defense will be better and more consistent. And I do not say this as a blind homer with no evidence…just watch the last third of this season. (I know, I shouldn’t believe what I have seen without some stats to verify…I will look them up later or trust that someone will club me with some shortly.)

One of the best defensive units in the NBA in the next five years will be Oden, Aldridge, Batum, Rudy, and Roy as coached by Nate.