A Ute in Portland. . .
Despite himself Kevin Pritchard has achieved, in my opinion the best possible outcome for his team this offseason. Andre Miller is exactly what Portland needed. Not Hedo Turkoglu, not Paul Millsap, not even Kirk Hinrich. This is the perfect fit. Signing Miller will have a huge effect on the team. Think the Chauncey Billups addition in Denver.
The real question is, why wasn't Miller priority number 1? Any answers Blazer fans?
The real question is, why wasn't Miller priority number 1? Any answers Blazer fans?
posted by b r christensen at 7/24/2009 01:26:00 PM
4 Comments:
Nell says it is because he doesn't have a good 3 pt. % and they would have to change their offensive set-up.
My counter-argument is that half the time it doesn't look like Portland has an offensive set-up to begin with.
Personally, I am pretty psyched about the trade. Gives me a reason to root for the home team.
Curious to see how the Boozer trade is going to happen.
In addition to the 3 pt. percentage and the blazer offense issue, him being "plan c" also had to do with his lack of defensive prowess-one of the things the blazers were lacking last year (I think we were ranked 12th or something). Next year, however, the "experts" expect Oden to have a much larger defensive impact, making this issue, hopefully less relevant. I really like the idea of Miller, because I liked pass first point guards, as well as his strength, but he was the third choice because Hedo had the ability to take scoring pressure off of Brandon and LaMarcus (something that messed us up in the playoffs), as well as a decent handle to pick up our point guard slack. Millsap was second because a) he was an FA the Blazers dug and who would have been willing to play behind LA-plus he's relatively young, so he would be able to grow with the team and have future value in trades and b) if we didn't get him, it would put pressure on Utah, which benefits us because they're a "northwest division rival." I also think pre-summer league, the Blazers still thought Bayless could be the back-up point guard of the future. Post-summer league, it was clear that Bayless needs to find a home somewhere where he can play the 2 and do what's natural. after watching Bayless in summer league, I definitely think Miller was the best choice...
Yeah I had heard the 3pt arguments, but with Roy and any Portland SF there will always be two guys on the floor who can shoot the three, the problem has been getting the ball to them. Which, I thought, was the real problem with the Blazers in the post-season last year, it was like perimeter pass to Roy, then isolation, or it was an entry pass to Aldridge, then isolation.
Roy is great with the ball, but he doesn't do much passing once he penetrates and will be great coming in behind Miller's drive as a trailer, or hanging out at the perimeter waiting for the dish.
I have not been impressed with the Blazers FO this offseason. It's obvious that they have talent evaluation down, but I'm not sure they understand what it takes to put together a team. What I mean is that they have a solid foundation already there, with a few gaps to fill in. But they spent their energy going after the "best available player" which is what a rebuilding team does, the Blazers aren't that anymore. I think they're pretty lucky that Hedo went elsewhere and that the Jazz matched the Millsap offer.
They're far better off adding Miller than adding either of those two.
So is Boozer going to Miami or what?
Poor DWill wants him to stick around for another year. At this point you have to think the Jazz are just going to have to bite the bullet.
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