Joe Soriano
O.J. LewisKevin Pritchard is Right
January 31st 2010 12:43
A month ago, there were questions about the Trail Blazer's organization. The big question was about newly acquired veteran point guard Andre Miller. It seemed that he was having difficulties with coach Nate McMillan. Dre wanted to be used more in the offense, and wanted to share less time with Steve Blake. It was a rather well publicized argument. This fiasco was only somewhat cleared up when GM Kevin Pritchard called it a common discussion between a coach and a player while he was on the Basketball Today podcast.
Pritchard also stated that it was healthy for a player to have a talk with his coach. I agree with this. It is always better to know what is going on and say something about it, than to just sit there and stay aggrivated. If you do the latter, then eventually all that pressure is going to explode. It's like Coke and Mentos, it is going to happen.
Last night, he blew up. Andre Miller was said by Pritchard to be one of their focal players. He is able to score, and to get the ball to his teammates while playing a huge leadership role. He showed just that. The Dallas Mavericks were torched by Miller as the Blazers road on his back to an overtime victory. In all, Miller scored fifty-two points. He got off to a bad start, missing his first shot horribly, but he was hot the rest of the way.
The 114-112 win came at the right time for Portland. Dallas is third in the Western Conference, while the Portland Trail Blazers are in sixth place. Portland's spot is not secure, however, because the Suns are just a half a game back of them.
Blazer's coach Nate McMillan, the one who had an "argument" with Miller, said, "We put him down in the post. Right off the bat, he established himself as a go-to guy."
The Trail Blazers won that game without their best player, Brandon Roy. I am certain that this helped Miller get his 52. Andre Miller had five rebounds and two steals, but just two assists. This year, Miller is averaging fourteen points and five assists per game. The point guard leads the team in assists and steals. He said of the game, "That's a good thing, but it's even better to get the win. That's all that matters".
He sounds like a better team player than some give him credit for. He came only two short of Damon "Mighty Mouse" Stoudamire's 54 point game, for the highest scoring game by a player in franchise history. He should. Miller needs to live up to his paycheck, because he is the second highest paid player on the team. This game headlined sports news for one day. In the three previous games before this, Dre never scored double digits.
Portland fans hope it is the start of a renewed year for Miller, but I think it is just one blowout game.
Pritchard also stated that it was healthy for a player to have a talk with his coach. I agree with this. It is always better to know what is going on and say something about it, than to just sit there and stay aggrivated. If you do the latter, then eventually all that pressure is going to explode. It's like Coke and Mentos, it is going to happen.
The 114-112 win came at the right time for Portland. Dallas is third in the Western Conference, while the Portland Trail Blazers are in sixth place. Portland's spot is not secure, however, because the Suns are just a half a game back of them.
Blazer's coach Nate McMillan, the one who had an "argument" with Miller, said, "We put him down in the post. Right off the bat, he established himself as a go-to guy."
The Trail Blazers won that game without their best player, Brandon Roy. I am certain that this helped Miller get his 52. Andre Miller had five rebounds and two steals, but just two assists. This year, Miller is averaging fourteen points and five assists per game. The point guard leads the team in assists and steals. He said of the game, "That's a good thing, but it's even better to get the win. That's all that matters".
Portland fans hope it is the start of a renewed year for Miller, but I think it is just one blowout game.
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