I suppose it’s a good thing that normal people aren’t given the reigns of their favorite sports teams or else it would be nothing more than a collection of over-amped, brow-sweating schlubs overreacting to every tiny detail when things weren’t going their way for too long – that being said, I still consider myself to be an even-keeled fan that is remarkably subjective.
I bring this up because for the past month and a half I have been pounding the drum within my inner-circle of friends that will listen to my opinion (which is both vast and shallow at the same time. And by “listen to my opinion,” I of course mean, “at least in the realm of talking sports,” and “until it’s their turn”) that the Blazers should be trying to find Nate McMillan’s replacement right now. Yesterday, in fact.
It’s not that I don’t like or appreciate what Nate has done for the franchise, I do. As a lifelong Blazer fan I can say that besides Rick Adelman, Nate has done the most for this franchise as a coach than anyone else in the modern era (obviously Jack Ramsay is on a tier to himself). I also realize me making that declaration is about as shocking as someone telling you they wouldn’t mind seeing Scarlett Johansson naked.
However, I do believe (or did. Or, still do. I don’t know) that Nate has used up his time with this group of players and unless you’re going to move half the roster (which Portland could have done any year before this, but now they seem to all be damaged goods) it’s him that should go. His unwillingness to flinch from a slow down game has been nothing short of frustrating while actually moving into the realm of the agonizing – like watching a child play with a toy the “incorrect” way, but you can’t take it away because they had it first. His “defense first” mindset is nice except that that is more of a player’s attitude than anything, and it seemed like their attitude had become soiled against this coach.
Six years and really nothing to show for it can have that effect.
Now of course since I am simultaneously a Blazer enthusiast and a realist, I understand that injuries have been this teams, um, Achilles heel; I’m also aware that his teams have overachieved despite all that’s gone wrong, but I had simply put all that aside and was hung up on his unwillingness to change the tempo which, given the current roster, needed to be updated.
Then, all the sudden, something happened: Roy went down for sure. (This will be the true test of whether Nate has actually changed or not, when Roy eventually comes back next season.) And while that should have further crippled this team’s psyche, it didn’t. Instead, Lamarcus played big in the post (Arguably, if he had done this the past two seasons, the team’s history would be a little different); Wesley Matthews and Rudy start flying around; Patty Mills is taking away fourth quarter minutes from an eleven-year veteran in Andre Miller (*Cough* Trade him, Joel, and a first round pick – or two! – for Steve Nash. *Cough*); Not to mention the team is finally doing what it couldn’t earlier in the season and hitting shots – even in the fourth quarter.
All the while, they’re still playing defense.
So Nate changed his approach. He adapted to his personnel and found a way to save what could have been a lost season. Now what am I suppose to believe? How am I supposed to justify replacing Nate? (Mind you, I never thought he should be fired. I just thought that it was probably time to move on.) Now I flip-flop between just “seeing how this year plays out” and “could Nate be the next Jerry Sloan and stay with one club for twenty years?”
This isn’t out of the realm of possibility either because, by all accounts, Nate gets along with management above him (The same can’t be said for the late great GM/Draft day thief, Kevin Pritchard); The players seem to respect (even like) him; and really, if you prove your system works, the respect comes from that and the fact that you own your post, much like Sloan. Plus Portland, much like Utah, is a fan base that respects quality and doesn’t necessarily rate success by number of championships. Whether good or bad, that’s how it is.
All that understood, coupled with Portland’s seeming resurgence, I honestly don’t know what I believe anymore.
The only thing I do know is that I will quiet down the drum I’ve been using to gather the posse because as long as Nate can continue to change his offensive mindset and open up the playbook, there’s no reason not to keep him.
(Of course, as a Blazer fan, I’m also more than ready to again have my heart crushed in a predictably unpredictable way.)
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