Andre Miller was lied to

[DPG21920]

http://nba.fanhouse.com/2009/10/10/andre-millers-arrival-in-portland-not-quite-rosy/

Even skeptics chalked up Portland's Andre Miller acquisition as a win. Miller, one of the best distributors of this decade, figured to augment an already lethal Blazers offense while providing a jolt of veteran leadership. Even if you don't believe in the power of savvy, Miller's passing skills sit on a different plane than those of Steve Blake, the incumbent.

What Portland probably didn't count on was Miller causing drama ... in the preseason. Blazers coach Nate McMillan has been insisting Blake is the starter for now. But Miller told Yahoo!'s Marc Spears that coming off the bench wasn't a part of the deal when he signed with Portland. And we have a problem.

Here's what Miller says about his perceived role upon signing his three-year, $21 million contract:

"If I was told right out when I had my meetings that I would be a backup, then I wouldn't have come here," Miller told Yahoo! Sports this week.

Back in late August, Miller told Brian T. Smith of The Columbian that he expected to be the starting point guard ... but that he understood it was a spot he'd have to win.

I'm going in there as the starting point guard -- there's nothing else to it. Steve Blake is a great player ... he's done a good job. And I look at it as a challenge. Nothing is handed to you. So I have to go in there with the right attitude, knowing that, this is a point guard spot that is going to have to be battled for. I think I've earned the right in this league as a point guard to be a starter. I just have to go and prove it again.

It seems that going into training camp, Miller knew he wouldn't be handed the job. But perhaps he expected more deference ... like getting the call in the first couple preseason games. (Blake started Portland's first two preseason games, and Miller started the third.)

The starter-reserve problem is the chief problem, as Spears writes, but not the only problem. McMillan had previously told local media that Miller was the only player who failed the team's conditioning test at the start of training camp. Miller says a few players told him privately that they had also failed, but team staff "fixed" their times so that they would not have to suffer a week of extra conditioning work as Miller did.

In Spears's story, Miller also bemoans the lack of respect he commands in the league. You have to wonder if he's still miffed about the low interest he drew as a free agent this summer. And you really have to wonder what all this tension is going to do to the otherwise cordial Blazers roster.

[Culburn369]

Ruh, roh.

[Muser]

Ruh, roh.

No kobe/sans daddy or 4-1 comment?

[Culburn369]

No kobe/sans daddy or 4-1 comment?

No, there ain't nobody takin' shots at Lakerdom so I granted grace.

[lil_penny]

Lies! Lies! Lies!

[Culburn369]

So, he didn't say it, lil?

[lil_penny]

So, he didn't say it, lil?

Oh I'm sure he did..... id be frustrated too if I were him and was comming on the team assuming I was the starter. Just going to have to wait and see how this turns out.

[lil_penny]

Well, he did come into to camp looking like a sailor. Your PG should be your fittest player. Nate played his cards right.

That's a good point, he also was way slower then blake in all the tests and blake seems to be wanting it more, as is miller seemed to think (or was told) it would be handed to him.

[DPG21920]

I don't see how you can fail a fitness test then complain.

[monosylab1k]

You mean Tlong wasn't going to post this story?

[iggypop123]

tlong stop hiding . comment on the story

[The Franchise]

I don't see how you can fail a fitness test then complain.

Pretty much says it all.

[Lars]

Sounds like Boozer in Utah.

[redzero]

Finally, a good Blazers topic.

[resistanze]

That's what he gets for being fat and anti-social.

[baseline bum]

LOL @ Dre pulling the same crap he did with the Clippers.

[WildcardManu]

You mean Tlong wasn't going to post this story?

:lmao He's been trying to cover it up.

[Spursmania]

Where the hell's tlong?:lol

[Findog]

How come tschlong didn't post this article?

[sribb43]

Blake over Miller... :lmao

[The Franchise]

A Blazer thread without tlong. Is this a first?

[djohn2oo8]

How come tschlong didn't post this article?

he's on suicide watch

[WildcardManu]

he's on suicide watch

:lmao

[Samr]

he's on suicide watch

Since Oden, or since Miller?

[tomtom]

Wow that's kind of obnoxious of Miller but I can definitely understand the frustration. Still I think its a good move by Nate, it should push both Blake and Miller harder

[Spurs Brazil]

http://blog.oregonlive.com/behindblazersbeat/2009/10/trail_blazers_andre_miller_and.html

Trail Blazers' Andre Miller and Nate McMillan discuss Miller's role, controversial comments
By Joe Freeman, The Oregonian
October 11, 2009, 3:40PM
After Sunday's Trail Blazers practice, point guard Andre Miller addressed the comments he made in this Yahoo Sports story and discussed a host of other issues, including his treatment by the Portland media, his desire to be in Portland and his relationship with coach Nate McMillan.

Miller:
You were quoted in the story as saying “If I was told right out when I had my meetings that I would be a backup, then I wouldn’t have come (to Portland).” Is that accurate?
“Yeah, that’s accurate.”

Are you cool with your situation here? Is it a work in progress?
“That’s the mentality that every player should have. If it doesn’t go my way, it doesn’t go my way. But I’m going to continue to work hard regardless of the situation. So the coach runs the team and whatever decision he makes, I have to live with it. But I’m not going to change my work habits and my work ethic. I’m going to continue to work hard and that should be every player’s goal going into the season, setting goals to be on the court as much as they can. I wouldn’t be in this position if I didn’t have that mentality. So I understand the situation. It’s a new situation and I don’t want to mess up the thing that’s going on here. I just want to come in and help and however I can help the team, whether coming off the bench or starting. That’s just what I have to deal with.”

So is it safe to say you’ve changed the opinion you expressed from the summer?
“I like the players. I like the coaches. I like the management. I’m here to win. However they’re going to use me, I have to deal with that. And, like I said, whatever the coaches say, I have to do. But that’s not going to change my work habits. I’m a team player. It was nothing bad as far as what I said about starting. That’s just a goal. Like I say, if the coach goes in a different direction then I have to live with that and that’s my job to continue to come out and support my players.”

Do you feel this situation right now will improve?
“Yeah, it’s going to improve. Regardless of the situation, this is a talented team. I’m not here to cause any controversy. I’m here to play basketball. Whatever goes on off the court, I’m not going to worry about that. I’m here to play basketball and be on the court.”

Judging by your comments in the story, you feel as if you’ve gotten a bad rap from the media. Is that accurate and would like you to comment on that?
“Yeah, pretty much. I normally don’t say anything to the media. I’m even tempered. When I saw what was put in about me in the paper, then I did the article with Marc (Spears) to have my say. I didn’t want it to be one sided where people get a bad vibe about me coming to Portland. I came here to help the team. I didn’t come here to bring the team down.”

Miller confirmed he is upset with Quick’s story about the Blazers' conditioning test and my story about his reserved personality.
“Yeah. Because it’s a first impression thing and that was the fans first impression of me — the conditioning test and the other article about me being a private person. It kind of felt like me coming in (that I) was not a team player, if you want to call it that, or I don’t get along with people. I didn’t mean it like that. I get along with all the players and we’re not even a week-and-a-half into the season. For the fans, for me coming here, I want the fans to judge me by what I do on the court. What I do off the court doesn’t matter.”

You can’t start over, but would you like this situation to be improved in general?
“It’s dead. It’s dead. That’s in the past. So whatever went on in the paper, it hasn’t effected my practice habits or what I do on the court. So that stuff doesn’t even matter. So the purpose of me even talking to Marc Spears was to just be able to have my say, rather than it to be one sided, where people get an idea or a feel about me that I didn’t feel was a positive feel. So I wanted to just put everything out there straight and, like I said, the basketball stuff is going to take care of itself. I’ve never complained about any situation that I’ve been in when it comes to basketball. I just went out there and played.”

Are you and coach McMillan on the same page?
“Yeah we are. As long as I’m here practicing and working hard, I feel that I can contribute to the team. It’s his job (and) I can’t control where I fit into that situation. So I’m not going to speak on that. I’m going to continue to work hard, I’m going to continue to be a team player and whether it’s five minutes or 25 minutes, I’m going to be out to contribute. And I think he knows, understands me as a veteran. I’m not going to get caught up in the situation. (This was) something by me having my say.”


McMillan:
What do you think about Miller’s comment? (“If I was told right out when I had my meetings that I would be a backup, then I wouldn’t have come (to Portland)?)
“My office is open to my players and I didn’t read that. I really won’t comment on that because until that is said to me then it’s not something that I’m going to concern myself with. My players, we’ve talked about my door being open, and they can come to me if they feel if there’s a concern or they don’t understand or they don’t know a role. Then I’m here everyday between 7:30 and 8.”

Has Miller revealed any displeasure to you?
“If that was the case, I would let you know. But no. I put him in the (starting) lineup the other day to look at that combination of players. I’m going to probably go with that lineup again to take a look at that. But, no I have not heard that from any player.”

Miller also said in the story that two or four other players did not pass the conditioning test and the times were fixed. Your thoughts?
“Again, I can’t comment on something that I don’t know to be true. It was written and the players know (where) we (stand) on that. And we can talk. That, again, that’s conversation; it may or may not be. But the lines of communication are open with the group.”

How do you think Miller has looked so far?
“It’s not just Andre. I’ve played him with a lot of different combinations. As a group, we have to get better. And he’s trying to learn a whole new system, what we do and how we do things and so he’s trying to absorb a lot. We’ve given them a lot and he knows how to play but he still has to learn how we play. On both ends of the floor. And you don’t get that in two or three weeks.”

[2Cleva]

Here's also the original article by Spears


Miller searching for right fit in Portland

By Marc J. Spears, Yahoo! Sports
Oct 10, 3:40 pm EDT

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – With 3:31 left in the first quarter, Andre Miller(notes) finally shed his warm-ups, left the Portland Trail Blazers’ bench and stepped onto the court. Miller’s delayed entrance to the game wasn’t because of injury; as the NBA’s reigning ironman, he hasn’t missed a game in more than six years. Nor was Miller being punished for violating a team rule.

The reason for the benching was simple: The Blazers aren’t ready to call Miller their starting point guard, even if he was the team’s most significant acquisition of the offseason.

Instead, Miller finds himself battling for the job with Steve Blake(notes) – the same guy for whom the Blazers spent the summer searching for an upgrade. After coming off the bench for Portland’s first two preseason games, Miller started Friday against the Los Angeles Clippers. He played well and is expected to start again in the preseason, but Blazers coach Nate McMillan still seems to like the idea of bringing Miller off the bench.

For Miller, the unexpected competition is only one of a handful of issues that have made it challenging for him to get settled with his new team.

“If I was told right out when I had my meetings that I would be a backup, then I wouldn’t have come here,” Miller told Yahoo! Sports this week.

McMillan has said he told Miller during their summer meeting in Las Vegas that he very well might make him a reserve. Miller doesn’t remember the meeting quite the same way. What is clear is that Miller wasn’t Portland’s first choice on the free-agent market. The Blazers initially thought they had a deal with forward Hedo Turkoglu(notes) only to see Turkoglu leave for Toronto. They then signed forward Paul Millsap(notes) to an offer sheet the Utah Jazz matched.

Through it all, the Blazers also wanted to find a veteran floor general to help lead one of the league’s most talented, yet youngest, rosters. The Blazers inquired about trading for Steve Nash(notes) and expressed some interest in signing Jason Kidd(notes), but both players stayed with their respective teams, so they gave Miller a three-year, $21 million contract. The $7 million third season is at Portland’s option.

“He’s such a talented player,” Blazers All-Star guard Brandon Roy(notes) said. “We’re just trying to see where he’s best, because that’s how he’s going to help our team. …We needed him on this team.”

Miller has shown flashes of how he can help the Blazers. He’s a smooth, smart point guard who throws a great lob pass. He should help the Blazers, one of the league’s slowest-paced teams, improve their fast break, even though he’s not exceptionally athletic himself.

Miller has started every regular-season game but one since his rookie year, but McMillan is seriously considering having him lead the team’s bench. Greg Oden(notes) also got his first start of the preseason on Friday, and the opening lineup looked ragged at times. Miller is clearly a better all-around point guard than Blake – who is a much more dependable 3-point threat – but McMillan says it’s more important who closes games than starts.

“We will look at what works for this team,” McMillan said. “He’s played well with the starting group as also the group he’s coming off the bench with.”

Miller has long believed he is one of the NBA’s most underappreciated point guards, which makes the current situation even more difficult for him to swallow. He averaged a well-rounded 16.3 points, 6.5 assists and 4.5 rebounds for Philadelphia last season and has played in 530 consecutive games, the league’s longest active streak.

“I feel like I have to continue to prove myself,” Miller said. “I don’t think I’m respected as a player. I have no idea [why].

“There are only so many point guards you can talk about and their accomplishments and stuff like that. I have a pretty good, solid resume, but I don’t think it’s respected. Head up, I think I’m just as good as any point guard in this league, defensively and offensively.”

The biggest knock on Miller is that he has never won big. He’s made the playoffs five of the past six seasons, but has never advanced past the first round. He’s not a good 3-point shooter and few people remember the last time he dunked, so wide-spread popularity has never followed him.

“Dre is a baller and he knows how to play the game,” McMillan said. “I would put his IQ up there right with the top point guards in the league as far as knowing what to do in this league on the basketball floor with the players that he has.

“You look at guys like a [John] Stockton, who give the ball to the players and understand the time and score situation. You’re talking about the top guards as far as basketball IQ and taking advantage of what they do as well as their teammates can do.”

Miller arrived at Portland on Sept. 14 to get acclimated to his new teammates and city, but his first month in town hasn’t endeared him to the locals. The Oregonian reported Miller was the only player with a guaranteed contract who didn’t pass a conditioning test at the beginning of training camp. Miller admitted he didn’t pass the test – which required running baseline to baseline and back 10 times within a minute – by eight seconds, but he also said he wasn’t the only player that failed. While the paper reported Miller was punished with a week of extra conditioning with the strength and conditioning coach, Miller said he actually chose to do the work.

Miller said he weighs 213 pounds now, hopes to be in the 203-206 range during the season and is in the same shape that he’s always in this time of the year. He also points to the fact that he’s missed only three games his entire career as evidence that his conditioning has never been an issue.

“I know I didn’t make it,” Miller said. “And if I didn’t make it, there were probably two to four other guys that didn’t make it. And afterward, those guys came to me and told me that their times were fixed.”

The Blazers have a collegial spirit to them that is unique in the NBA. Miller is a self-described loner, which has raised questions about how he’ll fit in with the we-are-family franchise. The Oregonian reported Miller didn’t have a lengthy conversation with Roy during the first week of practice and Miller has been slow to discuss his private life with local reporters. When a caller to a Portland radio station said Miller didn’t sign an autograph for his son at a mall, that sparked further questions about his affability.

“I just come get the work done, go hoop and go home,” said Miller, who, at 33, is much older than most of his teammates. “There are a couple other players probably quieter than me. Nicolas Batum(notes) don’t say nothing.

“I’m sitting on the baseline and I’m hearing fans in the audience say, ‘Sit with the team.’ I just got here. [The fan] said, ‘Sit with the team. Stop acting like that.’

“I was like, ‘Damn.’ They wouldn’t have said that if [the media] didn’t give a false impression. I never have had any problems with any fans. I socialize with fans at appearances and in public.”

Since the end of the “Jail Blazers” era, Portland fans are understandably sensitive about the character of their players. If it makes them feel better, Miller has a young son, is not married, loves dogs and has stayed out of trouble after being raised by his mother in the tough streets of Watts in Los Angeles. Miller hopes the fans will focus more on what he can do to make them a championship contender than how he would choose to spend his time on a deserted island.

“I’ve always been a team player, always been about winning,” he said.

Miller maintains he wants to be in Portland, and why wouldn’t he? The Blazers have surrounded him with the best collection of talent he’s had in his career. He just wants to focus on the job at hand.

“The big thing for Andre is we know who he is,” Blazers general manager Kevin Pritchard said. “He just has to be Andre. He is the most cerebral player we’ve had in a long time.

“And trust me, the city will embrace him and wants to embrace him. We are known for the mantra of, ‘Keep Portland weird.’ Dre will fit in.”

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_ylt=AiKcNdmafdZ.4SKK.xvPqq28vLYF?slug=mc-millerblazers101009&prov=yhoo&type=lgns

[Killakobe81]

TLong is too busy polishing Oden's "game balls" and the mantle for Oden's 2009- -2010 MVP trophy to comment! LOL

[Culburn369]

[[[“My office is open to my players and I didn’t read that. I really won’t comment on that because until that is said to me then it’s not something that I’m going to concern myself with.]]]

McMillan, doing his stand up pile-of-shit routine...and a keen impression of a hall-way rug.

[DPG21920]

Work ethic, lol. Coming in last and being the only one to fail the fitness test shows your true work ethic. I think Andre was a good pick up, but he needs to get his head out of his arse.

[JamStone]

So now we found tlongII's kryptonite when it comes to starting a million Blazers threads. Just post one negative Blazer thread that he'll have trouble responding to and he'll be ghost for a few days.

[duncan228]

A Brief History of Andre Miller's Feelings (http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=tsn-abriefhistoryofandre&prov=tsn&type=lgns)
SportingNews

Andre Miller is a mild-mannered guy—a decent guy, even. A valued starting point guard, a veteran in this league, an admirable pro whose one sin is being viewed as more of a playmaking ace than he really is. Miller can pass, but he also likes to shoot. Still, he's exactly the kind of no-drama piece a contending team would want, right?

You'd think so, which is why the Blazers came to their senses and signed him, which instantly solidified them as the young team ready to contend. I'd been excited. Hadn't you? Over the last week, though, it's looking like Andre Miller—of all people—with the Blazers, of all teams—might not be getting along as swimmingly as you'd hope, or be on quite the same page.

It's the preseason, when every move and word is amplified to fill space; the NBA approaches, but there's really nothing to say. Yet the news out of Portland is more than a little disturbing. Now, I am not in the eye of the storm. I am just a fan who has watched the bizarre ebb and flow of Andre Miller's career for the last decade. Here, though, in the most family-friendly of organizations, Miller is in an existential pickle that rivals his time under Donald Sterling's yoke.

It all started back at the end of the September, when the admittedly aging Miller failed a conditioning test. In Portland, there are no secrets—sometimes magnanimously, sometimes maliciously—and so The Oregonian reported it. Miller, who had thought he'd come to the feel-good capitol of the NBA, was taken aback, even suggesting that other starters' times had been fixed.

Things only went downhill from there. The Blazers, as rational as they are familial, were experimenting with bringing Miller off the bench. It's unlikely they'll go that route—frankly, it would be idiotic—but to a player already feeling beset upon by the media, this was insult upon injury. Miller didn't exactly get rich or drown in suitors this summer, yet he had to feel vindicated by this signing. He was an essential ingredient in Portland's championship dreams. Now, before the season even starts, he might be relegated to a supporting role.

That was when Miller opened up to Marc Spears at Yahoo (http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_ylt=AqASELXwES9GKWO0iKek.JO8vLYF?slug=mc-millerblazers101009&prov=yhoo&type=lgns)!, perhaps telling us more about the real Andre Miller than whatever double-cross might be going down in Portland:

“I feel like I have to continue to prove myself,” Miller said. “I don’t think I’m respected as a player. I have no idea [why].

“There are only so many point guards you can talk about and their accomplishments and stuff like that. I have a pretty good, solid resume, but I don’t think it’s respected. Head up, I think I’m just as good as any point guard in this league, defensively and offensively.”

To be fair, the ever-excellent Spears wrote a really extensive piece that allowed all sides to weigh in and featured plenty of complimentary quotes from his new teammates and coach, among others. But the article leaves you with the lingering sense that Miller does have, if not a chip on his shoulder, at least an insecurity complex. He thought he'd been accepted in Portland; instead, he's being put through the paces, if only because that's the Blazers way.

Ah, the Blazers way. Spears believes that "self-described loner" Miller might not be entirely at ease with the team's "collegial spirit." You can see how this culture explains everything about how Miller's been treated by the team, if not the media. Given Miller's personality quirks, it could only make things worse. The guy wanted some security and respect, darn it, and here he is having to subsume the quiet ego and grown man's confidence that he finally got on track in Philly.

We all know that Miller will end up starting, or taking most of the minutes, for Portland at PG, and he will make them a better team. But will he be happy? Clearly, even the suggestion that he wasn't the guaranteed starter has rubbed MIller the wrong way; as he told Spears, "If I was told right out when I had my meetings that I would be a backup, then I wouldn’t have come (to Portland).”

That's the kind of things that can stick, albeit in subtle ways. Plus, with Greg Oden's mood already expected to figure prominently into this team's effectiveness, can the Blazers really afford to worry too much about a veteran point guard's state of mind? This isn't really an ego thing, but more about whether or not dude feels appreciated, stable, loved and all that. On a team, no less, that has a rep for everyone getting along and really digging each others' vibes. The young players were reared in this culture, but from the outside, it doesn't make a whole lot of sense.

In case you needed proof that this could matter, the Blazers have deployed the forces of damage control. The Oregonian gang (http://blog.oregonlive.com/behindblazersbeat/2009/10/trail_blazers_andre_miller_and.html)talked with both Miller and McMillan in an attempt to straighten things out (or whip up more drama, who knows). You get Miller retreating back into his shell without letting go of that lingering concern. McMillan stuck to his guns while emphasizing that it was nothing personal; Blazersedge (http://www.blazersedge.com/2009/10/11/1080444/in-managing-andre-miller-nate) had Nate recounting what happened when, as the Sonics incumbent PG, he had to deal with the arrival of rookie Gary Payton. The message: flexibility, humility and don't take anything too seriously. Then we can all be friends and have fun.

The important issue is whether or not that philosophy registers with Miller? And if not, is it time to start drawing distinctions between different kinds of "good" or "character" players, or teams based around these qualities? No one would question Andre Miller's abilities or attitude. Likewise, the Blazers are a nurturing, feel-good team, not some kind of cult.

Sometimes, though, no matter how good the fit, regardless of all the common interests, sometimes the chemistry just isn't there. Even when you're talking about folks all on the side of the good and pure.

[tlongII]

Non-issue.

[The Franchise]

Non-issue.

You're alive!!! :lol

[Culburn369]

At least t showed up for a moment.

[Morg1411]

Bravo, T!

[SenorSpur]

Bolt the windows and lock up the medicine cabinet.

[Flux451]

Blazers are mad that Miller went to media day looking like a stoner. Their players are supposed to hide the fact they partake in some bomb greenery. How could you not smoke living up there?