Can Miller Make Nate Better?

by BlazerFanSince1970 on Jul 27, 2009 12:37 AM PDT

There's talk about Miller making Roy, LMA, Rudy, and Greg better. Can he also make Nate better?

I really liked the fact that Andre came to dinner and talked in detail about Nate's sets. He wanted the job (of course he was running out of potential teams with cap space) and came to the interview prepared. He only played us twice last year but he apparently knew our plays in detail. I wonder if he watched some of our game tapes to prepare for dinner? Now that would be a veteran move!

From KP's comments I got the impression that Miller was actually making suggestions about how to alter and improve Nate's sets, rather than simply saying what he could execute better than Blake. With 10 years of PG experience and ambitions of being a coach, Miller may be what we have needed to get a little imagination into Nate's offensive game. If he continued that into the season, he may help Roy, LMA, Rudy, Greg, and everyone else without even being on the court.

Business empires in the technology industry are sometimes created on the back of a napkin during lunch. Can a basketball dynasty begin on the back of a napkin over a pasta dinner?

Miller couldn't remember what they had for dinner -- perhaps -- "The stuff that dreams are made of." - S. Spade

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McDinner with Andre ???

by LaoTzu on Jul 27, 2009 2:07 AM PDT reply actions 7 recs

Ha!!! REC

"A bizarre and extremely rare hybrid Blazer/Laker fan, Timbo has always struggled to contain the Beast Within, like Dr. Jekyll, Bruce Banner, or Ted Kennedy." — Miled Animal

by timbo on Jul 27, 2009 6:15 AM PDT up reply actions

Nice! How many here get that ref?

Duct tape makes you smart.

by TTRocks on Jul 27, 2009 7:47 AM PDT up reply actions

Inconceivably great movie.

by pxilpooshr on Jul 27, 2009 2:58 PM PDT up reply actions

I have been waiting for the Dinner with andre jokes

finally someone comes through, thank you!

by twggyy on Jul 27, 2009 6:23 PM PDT up reply actions

Lol!

That’s clever, Lao Tzu!
I don’t know if many people saw that.

by jayfisher on Jul 27, 2009 2:20 AM PDT reply actions

I sure hope you're right...

With 10 years of PG experience and ambitions of being a coach, Miller may be what we have needed to get a little imagination into Nate’s offensive game. If he continued that into the season, he may help Roy, LMA, Rudy, Greg, and everyone else without even being on the court.

Nate does certain things very well as a coach, I can’t imagine a better guy to groom the young guys we’ve had over the past couple seasons. But an offensive wizard he is not. When the Blazers bog down it is because the 3s aren’t falling, and they do that sometimes. Then it is up to Brandon, and only Brandon, to get the ball to the hole — which is something that can be minimized if not totally stopped if you know it’s coming.

Miller is said to do his best work running. God knows SOMEBODY needs to teach these guys how to run…

Miller averaged 16 ppg. last year without taking (and thus missing) a lot of 3s. That means he is a midrange player. He gets the ball to the rack and he gets himself to the line — something that just doesn’t happen with Blake.

He has lead the NBA in assists before, which means he knows how to pass. Also good.

If Miller is somehow able to subtly morph Nate’s offense into something less 3-ball-centric AND manages to instill in these guys knowledge of how to run the break, that will be a very, very valuable thing.

"A bizarre and extremely rare hybrid Blazer/Laker fan, Timbo has always struggled to contain the Beast Within, like Dr. Jekyll, Bruce Banner, or Ted Kennedy." — Miled Animal

by timbo on Jul 27, 2009 6:21 AM PDT reply actions

...

If Miller is somehow able to subtly morph Nate’s offense into something less 3-ball-centric AND manages to instill in these guys knowledge of how to run the break, that will be a very, very valuable thing.

and I would just JIZZ IN MY PANTS.

"The successful man will profit from his mistakes and try again in a different way." - Dale Carnegie --- Same goes for the Blazers. Thanks Houston.

by blazerbeliever on Jul 27, 2009 8:40 AM PDT up reply actions

"The successful man will profit from his mistakes and try again in a different way." - Dale Carnegie --- Same goes for the Blazers. Thanks Houston.

by blazerbeliever on Jul 27, 2009 8:46 AM PDT up reply actions 1 recs

I like

This thinking.

RoadBlazer

by Roadblazer on Jul 27, 2009 12:02 PM PDT up reply actions

I think andre's more of an At the basket to 8 feet out kinda guy....

is that mid range or point blank… cuz he pulls up and shoots but …

he’s often deep …. not so … mid.. he’s almost always inside the “mid” range (basket to the 3 line)

stick aldridge out where he feels comfortable, post greg on the same side andre starts on….

imo andre is going to be the one who benefits from his signing the most…

This is one sick team now. We’re already reloaded for when we need to reload provided everyones guy shows up when they need to… batum, bayless, the travis 2.o kid… n my boy Webbby…. woot woot, reloaded before we even got loaded. now that we’re loaded…. oh my…..

scary what we can become….

what would it take for it all to fall apart…

sorry,… giggle just got off of work

The Faith don't panic, the faith freaks out, burns out farms, and torchs small villages in the name of The Faith.

"New Man Law: If you don't show up for the draft you don't get to come later if you're picked. If you believe in yourself, show up and sit there. If nobody else believes in you, take it and cry like a man...in front of the cameras."

-Dave

by faith on Jul 27, 2009 6:40 PM PDT up reply actions

"...to get a little imagination into Nate's offensive game"

Now wouldn’t THAT be nice?

Duct tape makes you smart.

by TTRocks on Jul 27, 2009 7:48 AM PDT reply actions

Perhaps

the most interesting part of this whole thing to me is how prepared and impressive Andre apparently was in the meeting. There is always a lot to be said for enthusiasm. Particularly intellectual enthusiasm. I look forward to seeing him as a floor general.

I give Blake pretty high marks in this department. Blake seems to have the coaches and his teammates trust as a leader. And his Red*ss fieriness is underrated on a team that could use some. How will Andre be met.? I suspect he will earn their respect. he seems to have everywhere he has been.

RoadBlazer

by Roadblazer on Jul 27, 2009 12:00 PM PDT reply actions

I had a similar thought earlier today related to Bayless. It went something along the lines of Nate will never change the offense to suit Jerryd but he would change it for a veteren he trusted like Miller. Of course it is great for Jerryd that his style of play is a lot like Andre’s style. If Nate does transition the offense for Miller that actually should be good for Jerryd longterm. Andre’s arrival this year will not be good for Jerryd’s minutes(unless he kills Blake?!?) but I can how it could be good for his role on this team a couple years down the road.

by danielfarrell on Jul 27, 2009 1:55 PM PDT reply actions

A little of both

Nate is still a relatively “young” coach. He too is learning on the job. Andre will surely bring new views to the table, and will augment Nate’s bag of tricks. Andre could also offer Nate a veteran sounding board to bounce ideas, and draw up new techniques. So yes, Andre will certainly give Nate the ability to grow, and we should all hope Nate grows from it.

I’d also be willing to give Nate more credit, and acknowledge that he has done a lot with a young team, and very little veteran leadership. The leader on the team (Brandon Roy) is a 3rd yr “veteran”. Steve and Joel while more grizzled are not the vocal leaders, and last year the team turned to Brandon for leadership. This really underscores the tough job that Nate has had to work with.

The team practices for two months against second string during the pre-season; and then plays 29 different first strings who are constantly trying to take you out of your game with different defensive looks, and varying game plans. There are just too many permutations of opposing defensive schemes, and there is no amount of practice that can prepare you for the on-the-fly adjustments that need to be made on the court. [Even playing on the road vs playing at home is different].

So in many regards, Nate has done well with what he has had to work with. Whats the stat — first time ever that a team that played 4 rookies for extended minutes has won 50+ games. These rookies were going up against the best of the best. This is no small feat.

Still, we are yet to see what Nate can produce with more veteran leadership especially at such a key “quarterbacking” position as PG. it will be an interesting year.

by FromAfar on Jul 27, 2009 2:31 PM PDT reply actions

"no amount of practice that can prepare you ..."

The team practices for two months against second string during the pre-season; and then plays 29 different first strings who are constantly trying to take you out of your game with different defensive looks, and varying game plans. There are just too many permutations of opposing defensive schemes, and there is no amount of practice that can prepare you for the on-the-fly adjustments that need to be made on the court. [Even playing on the road vs playing at home is different].

Yet there are still people here arguing that Bayless can learn to play PG while sitting on the bench for two years.

by BlazerFanSince1970 on Jul 27, 2009 3:57 PM PDT up reply actions

Same situation as Sergio, except Bayless has better potential for defense.

Bayless will have to show during practices that he is picking up what coach says, and coach will play him in specific situations. Much like Sergio in his second year (behind JJ), Bayless will get opportunities. He will have to make the most of his opportunities. Nate seems to value good PG decisions and tough defense. He will tolerate some boneheaded mistakes on offense, if he sees tough defense.

Because of Bayless’ potential for tough defense, he has pretty decent chance of getting decent playing time. If Bayless can cut down on ticky-tacky fouls, he might find playing time, when we’re getting burned by a speedier PG. Unfortunately the Blazers dont have a speedy PG for JB to work against. Not sure how he will grow here, and he may have to focus real hard on fundamentals, and learn on the job.

He will get his chances. He knew that he had chances that he blew last year and he was mad at himself. We get to see how he internalized those emotions and what transpires this year.

by FromAfar on Jul 27, 2009 8:02 PM PDT up reply actions

Bayless probably will get a few chances because there are always injuries.

But the situation this year is not like last year. Last year Bayless was the 3rd guard behind Sergio, who was so poor that we paid Sacramento to take him from us just to free up a small additional amount of cap space to make a run at Turk. Bayless got a chance twice, once when Blake was injured and once when Nate got disgusted with Sergio and tried to shake him up by playing Bayless for a couple of games.

This year is a totally different situation. Bayless is now 3rd guard behind two experienced, and valuable veterans. One of them started and played a key role on a team that won 54 games last year, and the other one is an even better player. Unless Blake or Miller go into some horrific slump, I don’t see Bayless getting anything but mop-up garbage minutes (which are not good learning minutes and don’t prove anything) and injury minutes.

by BlazerFanSince1970 on Jul 27, 2009 8:33 PM PDT up reply actions