Breaking down the Blazers......Part 2

Breaking down the Blazers by position....Part Two

Who is our point guard? And who do we want to be our point guard? These are two questions that have often been asked about our Portland Trailblazers over the last couple of seasons. We've had a number of players look to claim that spot over the years, Steve Blake, Sergio Rodriguez, Jerryd Bayless, Petteri Kopponen, to name a few. And we had another hopeful in Summer League camp in Patty Mills until he went down with an unfortunate foot injury.

Our point guards going into the 2009-10 season.
Andre Miller, starter
Steve Blake, backup
Brandon Roy, may pick up a few minutes here and there at the point
Bayless, not likely to see much time at this position unless there is an injury to Blake or Miller.

There may have been more questions about who the Blazers will use at this position than any other. Hopefully some of those questions were answered during the offseason with the free agent signing of veteran Andre Miller. Everyone knows that Brandon Roy will handle the ball, including our opponents. The guy got mugged in the playoffs last year and clearly needed some help. If you are one of those folks who insist Brandon Roy is the point guard on our team I respectfully disagree. He can fill that spot at times, but we are asking him to do so much already, in the long run its probably best if someone else initiates the fast break and starts the offense. Roy admitted as much after Miller was signed and said he was looking forward to fast breaking more. That was good news to me, and I'm sure to other fans who have been disenchanted with Nates ball control offense.

Despite what kind of smoke Nate was blowing around the wagons when he made his recent comments about Steve Blake being the starter, and not thinking it wise to tinker with the lineup of a 54 win team, Andre Miller is going to be our starter at the point guard position. We can say what we want about open competition in training camp, guys having to EARN their spots, or starters having secure jobs until someone takes them away......Andre Miller will take that postion, and he will do so because there is no one close to being as good as he is at the 1 on this team.

In our video locker we have some footage of Andre Miller. I like Steve Blake, but Blakey is not even in the same league as this guy. Has Blake Blocked Jermaine ONeal or Dirk Nowitzki? Nor does he have the inside game, fast break game, finishing ablility, or deadly mid range jumper. If you haven't watched Miller play all that much or aren't that familiar with his game check out the highlight reels. Andre can play. And he can play well enough that at one point signed a close to maximum contract with Denver.

The Trailblazers did not cough up the rest of their capspace on Andre Miller to give him the ten to fifteen minutes of PT, that last seasons backup Sergio Rodriguez got. Even though Miller was GM Kevin Prictchards third attempt at signing a free agent this summer he is still a player we wanted and who probably wanted to come here more than the other two did. He is a big upgrade over the incumbent Steve Blake and I, for one, and really looking forward to see what he can do with this team.

Miller is a smart player who has made every team he played for better. He is a leader. He is a teacher. He is a coach on the floor. And despite the fact that his arrival probably means Jerryd Bayless will again be sitting more than playing, Miller might just be the guy that ends up helping Bayless put it all together. Both are tenacious. Both are tough. And neither one of them is afraid of hard work.

LA and Oden probably don't know it yet, but Miller is going to make both of them better. If they get open they WILL get the ball. Put Miller and Oden out there together, and I guarantee you that we won't be seeing Greg wandering around wondering why no one will pass him the ball. He will get it. and he will get it on his way to the hoop where he can do the most damage with it.

Fans of Rudys special connection with his pal Sergio need not worry about missing out on those spectacular lobs and dunks. Miller is as good as anyone in the league with that pass. It won't take long for these two to work that play out.

Miller grew up in a very rough neighborhood in Los Angeles and was raised by a single parent. She worked hard to make sure he learned how to get the things he wanted out of life. She made sure he put in the effort necessary for him to suceed scholastically, and athletically. Neither one of those things was particularly easy for Andre. He had to sit out a year in college so he could become academically eligible. His coach Rick Majerus later said of him that school was so difficult for him that he had to put in A effort, just to get a C. Miller ended up graduating from Utah with two degrees.

For several seasons now Steve Blake has started at point guard. The coach likes him. Kevin Pritchard likes him. His teammates like him. Thats real nice, but the sentiment was always that we could do better at that position. I've heard it said many times that people thought Blake was great, but what they would really like is for him to be our backup point guard and that he'd be the perfect backup for this team.

I'm not sure "perfect backup" is the spot Steve Blake envisions for himself as a career goal. He has been a very important part of our team for the last few seasons, and has earned the respect our coach was giving him when he declined the opportunity to handover the starting role to Miller before training camp.

Blake is at times a deadly three point shooter and can easliy transition into a 2 after dumping the ball off to Brandon. Having enough gunners on the floor to help with spacing and keep opponents from clogging the middle is important for our team.

I'm just kind of wondering at this point how the minutes are going to break down because Miller really should get most of them. If Miller gets the minutes that Blake got last year, is the ten to fifteen minutes Rodriguez got enough PT for Steve? I'm not sure it is. Maybe you try to keep Andre at about 30 minutes, Blake ten to fifteen and the remainder to Brandon? Or do you give a few minutes each night to Rudy? Rudy can do a lot more with the ball than he was given the chance to do last season. Until Miller was picked up there was talk of playing him at the point either to start the game, like he did in the last game vs Houston, or having him back up Blake.

Your thoughts?

B. Roy: "I called Coach [McMillan] + he said Andre and Greg are coming off the bench. I said, 'Coach, you sure about that?' He said, 'Yeah!'about 10 hours ago from TweetDeck

http://twitter.com/blazersedge


I think what he says now and what he will end up doing later are two separate things.

uCatchtrout, great write-up. I think Nate is doing the spin on showing his locality to the starters that got him to the playoffs. He will let the play on the court dictate on who will start opening season.

Again, I wouldn't be surprised at all if Nate opens the season with Miller and Oden coming off the bench, but I think we will see Nate switch after the first 15-20 games.

I remember Nate doesn't like to mess with the lineup for the first 15-20 games unless the offense / defense struggles at the beginning.

If Oden starts then Miller needs to start. Blake just hasn't figure out how to play with Oden in getting him the ball in the right places to score.

I'm actually fine with Miller coming off the bench as long as Greg is coming off the bench, because Miller will make Fernandez, Webster, Outlaw and Oden all better players off the bench. Which isn't a bad thing especially if you can build a lead or cut the score when the team is behind.

Besides, it is the 4th quarter that we need Miller in the lineup with Roy, Fernandez, Aldridge with either Outlaw or Oden depending on opponent.

Roy is gonna be looking forward to sharing minutes. Brandon had to play relentlessly, in order to squeak out some wins last season. You could tell he was pooped by the last couple playoff games. If you can give other guys 6 or 7 minutes of Roy's time, as long as the Blazers are winning, I don't think you'd hear a peep outta Brandon chillin' on the bench. Even if his scoring average drops a little, Roy's a terrific team player.

Andre Miller? Are you serious? Blazers straight mobb deep!

I follow very few players that are not on the Blazer's rooster, however, Miller was one I have been watching for some time.. He was my #1 FA pickup this season. Miller's talents fill a big Blazer need better than Hedo and Milsap combined, and at a lower cost. I am very happy how the FA signings went and more than excited to see him in a Blazer's uniform. I believe a lot of fans will be very surprised and very happy with Miller after they see what he can do to help this team.

I believe Miller has found his home....

It does not matter if Miller starts at the beginning of the season or not. Let Nate experiment in the early games. I expect Miller to start and play a lot of minutes at the end of the season and into the playoffs with Blake being a great backup.

The PG position is now solid on the Blazer's team for the next three years...

I totally agree Ucatch, that Blake is not even close to being the same caliber player that Miller is.
Nate is a Joke. Cool that everyone and your star player, but maybe the 2 guys you are starting think you should stat someone else. I would bet anything KP and PA did not go out and get Miller to sit on the bench and they did not draft Oden to play behind Joel. You work you team for the starting line then fill in the gaps with the bench not the other way around. Oh well looks like an other year of falling behind early and then a super human effort to come back.

I think sometimes my cmment that camp will dictate gets misconstrued as me wanting Blake to start. I hope Clake is better than last year and Miller still can beat him out. That means Portland improved a ton...

I still do not understand the "Need" for Roy to get minutes at PG. If Miller is that much of a fit, Roy gets the Ball off a screen or on the wing to initiate the set.

Blake off the bench means his legs are fresh and his shooting is more deadly.

Even my comments are simply on paper at this pont.

Camp not only is where things are worked out, but chemistry is discovered. For instance. I played with a Post who I tried to deliver the ball on the move. It took awhile for m to learn he wanted to recieve it when he was set and use his hieght. He couldn't do anything with the ball on the move. Little things like that. Miller sems adept to many different players and styles.

The more I see about Miller, the more I think he can improve this team and the wins. Leads in Games mean more minutes for many and rested legs for the next night. I can see Roys Minutes going down and his productivity going up.

Hey, this is "On Papertime", so we can all dream a little, LOL

I agree that camp is where things get worked out, but if the coach is saying he has the line up set and that Greg and Miller are coming off the bench at this stage of the off season why work hard? If my boss told me i was not getting a promotion even if everyone thought I was the better worker, I know i would work less hard. It is silly to name a starter at any spot outside of Roy and LA. Why not tell the Rookies they wont get back up time over Travis? The this team won 54 games is a lame excuse and a cop out. We won a lot of regular season games but only 2 playoff games.

Mowearwolf,

Now I understand your Position a bit better. Nate naming a lineup and talking lik it is cast in Stone,

Heck Yes, the Guy who claims it will be worked out in camp does disagree with that approach for many of the reasons you state. I would say going into camp you start where you left off, but you definetly leave jobs open to change.

A Strange part of any camp is it also a time for your core group to get in sync and timing together down. So, it can be a balancing act of seeing who should start versus giving players a chance to get reacquainted.. Like With the Cowboys. Romo will get a boatload of snaps with Roy Williams...

However, i agree this is different in that Blake is not "Clearly better"..... I was focusing more on the "Giving the Keys to the New guy" before he has shown he even knows how to start this car... More than one guy was supposed to come in and be the answer and simply didn't fit in. They have to prove it.... But I agree they also need the chance.

We aren't that far off on opinions here, Maybe just talking about different sides of it more...


Thanks

Totally agree with you and anybody that thinks jobs should be earned in camp. But to tell the turtht some jobs are sold in gold before camp. Does anyone think if Roy has a bad camp and Rudy a good one that Rudy will be the stating 2?
I think Nates act is getting old by the minute. I know I am not the only one that thinks it it old. I may be the only one on here that wants to say it but that is how it is. I in no way think Nate is a bad coach I just think that he has brought the Blazers as far as he can.
I am sorry but I do not remember that one guy that was going to be the answer that came in and did not fit???
Miller is a clear cut better case than Blake sorry if anyone does not think that.

The only thing I would say to all this is, let's wait and see how it plays out.

If Blake winds up starting, then we have a valid complaint against Nate. Until then, let's give him the benefit of the doubt. Honestly, the guy has come in and steadily increased his win total every year, getting us to the playoffs. You can argue that he has had a good team assembled by KP (whom some have been very harsh on this summer)--and all that is true, but until the guy actually fails--until we have a significant drop in wins, until we fail to advance further, etc, I think we need to stop the Nate hate.

Has he taken a team deep into the playoffs before. Is he unsuitable for that role? I don't think anyone knows. This season we should find out--and in fact, failing to get out of the first round might well be grounds for Nate hate.

If my old memory is working this morning, I believe when Nate became the B's. coach, one of his first major roster changes, if not his first, was to sit Telfair down and start Blake. Guess we will find out how hard it will be for him to sit Blake and start Miller. Not sure Nate starting Blake will be out of loyalty, or being stubborn.

While I agree that we should wait and see what happens, I am working with all I have and that is Nate saying who will start. It is in no way anyone who thinks Nate is being a bit foolish fault, it is Nate. You do not just come out and name the starting line up in late July, when you have a new free agent who has proved a better player than you current and you have a young big man that you took with the first pick who is coming off his rookie season after a big injury.

The Primary Player I am remembering not being a fit was Walter daivs. He was brought in in the 91 Season as a guy who could be the Missing Scorer for Protlands Athletic Team. He never seemed to fit into the offense here. I remember it was like they'd run the offense and then at a point call a Play for Berry. It felt like the rest of the team stood and waited for him to score at that point. It wasn't personality as much as style of play never fitting with the rest of the team.

In the Draft, Walter Berry....