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Before the start of Portland’s inter-squad scrimmage at the Rose Garden – one that saw the Blazers Black team beat the White team, 79-70 in front of 16,752 fans – Nate McMillan sat courtside explaining how expectations are expected to rise each season.
No doubt they will.
But as expectations for the upcoming season soar, the offseason debates about who should start at center, small forward and point guard in Portland are slowly fading away. McMillan appears dead-set on sticking to his “same starting five” mantra he preached back in July, and if we learned anything about Sunday’s “Fan Fest” event at the Rose Garden, it’s that one of those debates may still be worth keeping alive.
Both Martell Webster and Travis Outlaw maintain they’re not concerned with who starts and who comes off the bench at small forward. In the meantime, Nicolas Batum believes he should start – a point validated by his 18 point outing on Sunday. Not only has his shot improved but you can tell his confidence has equally grown as Batum’s clearly coming out of his soft spoken shell.
Besides, Outlaw will likely see more minutes at power forward playing behind LaMarcus Aldridge than he’ll actually log at small forward this season. We’ve seen McMillan plug him in at the four the past two seasons and even more so now with Webster back from his foot injury. And just seeing Webster out on the floor moving with ease and shooting in rhythm after sitting out much of last season is already a success story in my book. Hopefully he won’t simply settle for that outside shot though. I’m still wondering what would have happened had Webster actually put down that dunk from near the free-throw line. Joel Przybilla would have made a poster, I know that.
For me, an aggressive Martell is a deadly Martell.
I’m still not convinced Andre Miller is kosher with coming off the bench, particularly knowing how Miller said he was the starter when he first arrived in Portland and then turned around last week and essentially backed off that stance. But even though Steve Blake – Mr. MVP of Fan Fest - sets up Aldridge and Przybilla perfectly on pick-and-rolls and his shot looks as good as ever, there is something comforting about having a bigger point guard like Miller available when Portland has to muscle-up.
Miller will pick and choose his spots; his play wasn’t overly outstanding in his first outing in front of the Blazer faithful but you can tell the guy sees the court like a quarterback in the pocket who knows he still has time even with a rush coming.
One thing is for sure: when asked during player introductions why he chose to come to Portland as a free-agent, Miller began by saying because of “the fans and the environment.” It may have been his best move of the night.
Now, even with this being an open scrimmage and the culmination of nearly the first full week of Blazers training camp, one discussion remains open for some: who should be the center of attention?
Assistance coach Bill Bayno – who spent the summer working with Greg in Columbus, Ohio – put it perfectly when he said Portland may have the best starting and back-up centers in the league with Przybilla and Oden. But who is who?
Joel doesn't care. Oden does and management and the coaching certainly appreciate the desire. But it won't change anything.
Applying McMillan’s theory, that spot goes to Joel and deservingly so. But if you base it off potential, Oden is your man. What he did on Sunday – showed off the typically turnaround hook and good hands – is just the beginning of a fresher and hungrier Greg particularly if you believe the offseason and early camp reports.
That we won’t know until Greg goes up against guys not named Przybilla, Juwan Howard or Jarron Collins. We won’t know until we fully see his face-up game, if he can stay out of foul trouble, if he moves his feet and defends, and how he works and passes out of double-teams.
That test will come all season long. But the potential is there. Probability however doesn’t always factor into a coach’s reasoning to start a player.
At least not yet.
pic via: bleacherreport
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which guy deserves the starting role? Glad i'm not the one making that call, but which guys do i want Greg sharing the court with? That ones easy..