Posts tagged NateMcMillan at FanHouse

Imagine Nate McMillan's Olympic predicament. As an assistant on Mike Krzyzewski's staff, he had to concerntrate at the task at hand -- or at the very least, keep a straight face -- as Spain's Rudy Fernandez torched the Redeem Team's collection of All-Stars (and posterized Dwight Howard) for 22 points in fewer than 18 minutes.

Behind the stoic front, though, he was going nuts, just like most of the fans back in Portland. From Jason Quick of The Oregonian:

"I'm sitting there (in the gold medal game) with a straight face, trying not to smile," McMillan said. " (Spain) are the guys we have to beat, but I'm caught. That's my player and I want to (he claps his hands twice) but I gotta (he makes a serious face) because we are going up against him."

[...] "I was so impressed with him that it was to the point where after the second time I saw him, I didn't sleep that night because I was moving my rotations around," McMillan said. "I swear I did not sleep. I could not sleep thinking about him. Because I'm saying, 'We can put him here, do this with him, do that with him and Brandon (Roy), and do this... So he's playing for us. Oh yeah. I see that right now."

So what did he dream up? For now he's planning on using Fernandez on the second team alongside Jerryd Bayless and Travis Outlaw, although Fernandez will occasionaly share the court with Brandon Roy. If Fernandez plays as well as he did in Beijing (which isn't out of the question given the quality of competition he faced), can the Blazers keep him out of the starting lineup? I like Steve Blake as much as the next guy, but I don't see how they could.

Few teams have stronger blogdome presences than the Blazers. This serves to ensure that no tiny breadcrumbs at the end of beat writer notes columns ever go unnoticed. Via BlazersEdge, we get this nugget from Jason Quick's Oregonian column regarding Nate McMillan.

McMillan said he turned down an offer this summer to negotiate a contract extension with the Blazers. McMillan, who has two years remaining on a five-year, $30 million deal, said he wants to finish his five years before thinking about an extension. "I want to earn it," McMillan said. "We haven't done anything here yet, and when my five years is done, I want to make sure they want me and make sure I want to be here."

Coaches don't often refuse job security, as the position of 'NBA head coach' is one of the least secure in the country. The money's good, there's travel ... but no one does this job so they can stay with one "company" for a long time.

McMillan is one of the few young coaches in the league assumed to be in a position where he could keep his job a long time. It's no surprise Portland would approach him about securing the future. Why would McMillan refuse, though? (This assumes his stated reasoning -- he hasn't earned it yet -- is complete baloney. He has earned it.)

That last sentence -- "make sure I want to be here" -- seems telling. Does he think he'll be worth more next summer, should he take this young team to the postseason? Is there underlying friction between McMillan and energetic GM Kevin Pritchard? It's impossible to say, but it's worth considering so long as one side of the equation isn't keen to extend the commitment long-term.

The Blazers' future just got a little brighter today following the news that Rudy Fernandez, a first-round pick last summer, has decided to leave Europe to play in the NBA:

"They have pushed hard for me to join them and have assured me I will be an important figure for them," Fernandez said at the news conference. "It wasn't an easy decision to take but it is the time for a new challenge after a fantastic year with Joventut."

Fernandez will make about $900,000 as a rookie next year, or about half of what he could have made were he stay in Europe. As mentioned yesterday, the NBA rookie pay scale is an awfully big stumbling block for a lot of teams trying to convince their foreign draft picks to come over, but Fernandez is apparently willing to make the financial sacrifice to take on the challenge.

I'm sure the fact that Sergio Rodriguez is already on Portland's roster makes the decision even easier -- the two are teammates for Spain's national team, and even a quick search on YouTube reveals no shortage of Sergio-to-Rudy alley-oop highlights. That kind of chemistry can't be created overnight, and it won't be a surprise at all if Nate McMillan pairs those two up as much as possible.

In the fifth installment of handing out our end of the year awards, today's vote for Coach of the Year was by far the most wide open. A whopping seven legitimate candidates were featured on four of our experts' ballots, and here are the results:

1. Byron Scott
2. Rick Adelman, Mo Cheeks (tie)
4. Phil Jackson

The consensus here was ... that there really was no consensus. Byron Scott received two first place votes and one for second, but was left off the fourth ballot. Adelman and Cheeks each received a first place vote, but each were also left off of two of the ballots. Rounding out the voting were Doc Rivers, Jerry Sloan, and Nate McMillan, all of whom received one vote apiece.

My first place vote went to Adelman, because even though that streak thing (to me) isn't really all that impressive, the fact that he could keep this Rockets' team in the hunt for a top playoff seed out West after Yao Ming went down absolutely is.

To be honest, I'm a bit surprised that anyone would leave Byron Scott off of their ballot, given the job he's done in similarly keeping the Hornets near the top of the standings. But hey, I guess if people will vote for Doc Rivers, even though he's basically coaching a slimmed down version of the Eastern Conference All-Stars, I guess anything's possible.

Previously at FanHouse:

Who Is the NBA's Best Defensive Player?
Who Is the NBA's MVP?
Who Is the NBA's Best Sixth Man?
Who Is the NBA's Most Improved Player?

Who said Greg Oden wouldn't play in any games this season? It appears G.O.D.E. spent Wednesday night at Portland gym, likely getting picked first. One of the guys Oden played with (luckysonofaNutterButter) posted about the experience at BasketballForum.com; Jason Quick of The Oregonian caught wind and checked with the team, who confirmed. Coach Nate McMillan did not seem pleased.

"Young guys," McMillan said, shaking his head. "Right now, these young guys don't know their value. That's part of growing up and maturing. In a couple of years he will understand how stupid that was. I understand it, because I've done it. You are a pro, you want to walk into a building like that and feel good about yourself, you know, play with some guys. You don't move hard, you know, just shoot some jump shots ... yeah, I've done it. But we just have to remind him, especially in his situation, where he is coming off an injury. That ... that, you just can't do that."

NO BASKETBALL, G.O.D.E.! A bit refreshing though, isn't it? Dude's gone so batty sitting in the apartment he sneaks off to a 24-Hour Fitness as soon as the bosses go on a roadie. I'm betting he'll be summoned to attend all games with the team for the rest of the season.

(Oh, and this fellow who posted the account online -- apparently under his real name? Might want to find a new place to get some run, boss.)

The citizens of the greater Portland area are naturally enthused at the prospect that Rudy Fernandez, Spanish star point guard, et al, is going to join the team next year, making the Trailblazers, assuming the return of Greg Oden, one of the most dangerous young nuclei we have seen in a while. However, things may not be as stone cold-locked as they've seen, based partially on the way Nate McMillan has handled the playing time of Sergio Rodriguez, according to Rudy himself. (Note that this is from a translated interview.)

Have you spoken with Sergio Rodriguez lately?

No, I've tried calling several times but haven't been able to get in contact with him. To me, Sergio is a good player and it's very weird to me that the coach isn't showing much confidence in him. Honestly, it really scares me to think that McMillian could do the same with me.

Will you go to Portland next year?

I haven't decided yet, that's the truth. I don't know if I'll make the jump now. When the season is over we'll see what's best.

Rudy also said if Portland GM Kevin Pritchard came to visit him in Spain, he would be "very nice to him" but probably wouldn't be able to provide him an answer. I don't for any stretch of the imagination think that McMillan's job is on the line here -- Portland was the first half shocker in terms of overachieving teams. But at the same time, this is the team that Pritchard hand crafted. And they're a legitimate point guard (Brandon Roy at two, and all apologies to Jarrett Jack) and the health of their octogeneric big man away from contending, so I gotta think either McMillan plays ball with their foreign investment. Either way, something will have to give, and one would think Pritchard is tired of coming up on the short end of the stick with relation to these point guard transactions.

Greg Oden actually practiced with his teammates for about 45 minutes on Wednesday. I had no clue he was this far along in his recovery so hearing about it came as a total surprise. -- but as Jason Quick describes it in The Oregonian, I'm not the only one:

There was even a little drama to Oden's surprise practice. When coach Nate McMillan announced the players he wanted on the court to run through offensive plays, he named Raef LaFrentz, Sergio Rodriguez, Josh McRoberts, Von Wafer ... and Oden.

"There was somewhat of an uproar by the team,'' McMillan said. "Some of them said 'Greg?', and I was like, 'Yeah, Greg.' I think everyone was just excited to see him on the floor, just moving with the team.''

Even though Oden said he went through the drills at about half-speed, he looked much like the fluid, agile and coordinated big man before his September surgery, when he was considered a can't-miss prospect as the No. 1 overall selection in the 2007 NBA draft.

Oden finished the practice with a one-on-one workout with assistant coach Maurice Lucas, backing Lucas down repeatedly and finishing with dunks. Despite all of the running and jumping, Oden said that he felt no pain at all. So does this mean that GODE might actually get into an actual before the end of the season? Not at all. This is just a small step in a long recovery that's expected to culminate in him being ready for good in October. But still, it's great news if you're a Blazers fan.

If Kobe Bryant's an action movie, the Blazers are a bad movie cliche. Jason Quick of The Oregonian has a terrific tale about a vicious Blazers practice in a San Antonio gym a month ago. Joel Pryzbilla and Martell Webster insulted each other then nearly threw down. Steve Blake assaulted a chair. Brandon Roy cursed his teammates out. Jarrett Jack started jawing. The whole team combusted on each other, as Quick tells it. And it was exactly what Nate McMillan wanted.

When McMillan finally ended the practice, he huddled the team and released some of his own frustrations. He told them he liked what he saw during the practice, but he was tired of seeing this only in practice. He couldn't understand why the team would go at each other so hard, yet treat the opponent with such passivity.

The Blazers haven't lost since a defeat at the Spurs the next day -- 12 straight wins going into tonight's battle with Philadelphia. Quick unleashes a line of statistics which show the team playing tougher basketball (better shooting defense, more offensive rebounds, more fouls drawn). I'd venture to say McMillan's gambit worked.

It worked for my youth soccer team when I was 11 years old, too. Only instead of hitting rock bottom ourselves, we went to see The Mighty Ducks together. Good times.

This morning, we passed on word that temporarily decommissioned wunderkind Greg Oden got yoked, adding an estimated 30 pounds of muscle since Portland made him the #1 pick. Blazers coach Nate McMillan heard the news too, and he seems as worried as Western Conference centers about G-ODE's new weightlifting hobby.

"I would much rather have him be wiry strong than bulky, especially coming off a surgery," McMillan said. "When you're talking about putting on extra weight and having to carry that weight on a surgically repaired leg, that's not good. We want to be really careful with the weight training with him."

Damn, can't Greg do anything right?! Oden's off crutches but he isn't running or otherwise doing cardio yet. McMillan's right: You might want to wait until you can test the knee before making things more difficult on the wheels. You've got to feel for Oden, though -- he's just trying to do the right thing by the team he (wrongly) feels he disappointed by going down with an injury before a game was played.

There's something else that speaks to me, though. Remember all those comments that G-ODE wasn't as determined, hungry, addicted to basketball as Kevin Durant? All the psychoanalysis about the brain of Michael Jordan and how the greatest care about nothing but success? And how everyone said Greg was maybe too well-rounded? He may not be Jordan/Kobe-insane, but I think we can put to rest the 'he's not driven' storyline.

Thanks to my pharmacist barista, I feel like spreading more G-ODE silver lining. I admit Portland will be bad next season. Hell, they were already likely to suck; no offense to Oden, but the team was terrible with an experienced/crafty All-Star in the frontcourt, and Gregory wasn't entering the league at 25 points per game by any dreamer's effort. With Zach Randolph in New York, the Blazers were already going to have a problem getting together some offense. Only four players in the entire league used a larger share of their teams' offensive possessions than Z-Bo last season (T-Mac, Wade, Kobe, Melo). Brandon Roy was fairly consistent as a creator (for himself and others), but Randolph was statistically the centerpiece by a large margin.

If Nate McMillan is concerned about offense -- and he should be -- then his rotational decisions should be evident. The assumed frontcourt options are to start a tandem of LaMarcus Aldridge/Joel Pryzbilla or go with Channing Frye/Aldridge. Pryzbilla is actual allergic to shooting; the resultant hives are not pretty, I assure you. Frye, though disappointing in his sophomore Knickerbocker campaign, has shown elongated flashes of vast offensive efficiency. I doubt you need any convincing Aldridge has budding beauty in his core on that end of the court. And a Aldridge/Frye frontcourt could take some pressure off Roy in the halfcourt while providing gazelle-like targets for pass-minded Steve Blake and Jarrett Jack.

McMillan can one further to really give this team an offensive identity in Oden's absence: Start Travis Outlaw. When Aldridge and Randolph both sat during the last nine games of last season, Outlaw averaged 20 points a night on 31 minutes and showed zero hesitation in hoisting up the shots. (In the season finale against Golden State, he took 18 shots and 16 free throws.) I'm not saying a Blake/R.O.Y./Trout Law/Frye/Aldridge lineup makes you Phoenix -- but it sure as heck douses the G-ODEless sting a bit.