Well, I decided to get this blog up and rolling again and try to narrow the focus of this blog and will primarily focus on the Portland Trailblazers and the rest of the NBA. I will also try and get in a few posts a week from here to at least the end of the season. For my grand comeback, I will focus this post on the Blazer's starting point guard: Andre Miller.
The biggest perceived issue with Andre Miller is that he and Roy can't work together. Throughout the beginning of the season, this was true; as Nate McMillian had Andre come off the bench. Brandon Roy's style of play best suited a point guard that could play off the ball, a la Steve Blake. It seems at first the Blazers tried to use Andre Miller in that role, a player to shoot the three from the pass from Blake, despite knowing that Andre was not a good shooter. The result? Andre had his highest three point attempts per game since 2003, while making his average.
Last year's Blazers were criticized for being a jump shooting team, and this year is no diferent. They are last in the league in points in the paint, while only 13th in the league in three pointers attempted. This just shows that the Blazers shoot a lot of jumpers. One of the few games I have been to was against the Golden State Warriors. Golden State shot out of the gate and were up 17-3 at one point. The Blazers eventually won that game, and Brandon Roy got, deservedly so, most of the credit for the win. What went under the radar, it seems, was how crucial Andre Miller was. When everyone else was jacking up jumpers, Andre attacked the basket, posting players up and drawing fouls. This kept the team in it long enough for Roy to take over at the end.
That game seems to have been the story of the season, the Blazers take a lot of jumpers, then Andre is the one tries to attack the basket. On a team that has an offnese centered around isolation plays, getting to the basket is a must. When Roy went down with injury, Andre was the only one who could do anything like that.
While Andre's numbers have decrease a little this season, Brandon Roy's have stayed the same with a year ago when he was named second team all NBA. Brandon's best stretch of the season came in late December-early January; a time that coincided with Andre Miller being reinserted into the starting lineup. I fail to see how Andre has taken away from Brandon's game and how he can't fit in.
Andre's strength is exactly what the Blazers need: a durable vet that can take it to the hoop. Is he a perfect point guard? No. Is he a perfect fit with Brandon? No. Is he a perfect fit with the Blazers? Yes
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