Under the Umbrella

In Camp and Out of Shape

On Tuesday Andre Miller started his first Portland Trail Blazer training camp and his first training camp with Nate McMillan.

At training camp McMillan holds a conditioning test for all players attending. The conditioning test is five full court down and backs or ten lines. Dependent on your position you are required to finish in a certain amount of time, guards having the least amount of time to finish where centers have the most.

Out of all signed Trail Blazers, Andre Miller was the only one not to finish in the time given. He was allowed 61 seconds and finished at 69 seconds.

What does all this mean? Well first, Miller will be required to spend the next seven days with strength and conditioning coach Bobby Medina for 30 minutes a day. Second, it doesn't help that the ma

n competing with him for starting PG, Steve Blake, set a Blazers record finishing a blistering 37 seconds! Third, Miller is getting paid 7 million dollars a year for his time spent in Portland. Getting paid this much one would expect a work ethic and devotion to being the best you can.

Lets hope Andre Miller will realize that this team is serious and ready to win. Lets hope he wakes up and puts this behind him.

Other then Stevie Blake dominating everyone there were some great times posted. G.O. and L.A. tied for second with a time of 47 seconds. Another great sign that Oden is ready and willing!

Also notable, Webster who previously held the record, finished with 14 seconds to spare. A great sign considering he has been dealing with a foot injury for over a year.

G.O. on P.T.I

Greg Oden sat down with Tony and Micheal today for a short 5 minute interview on ESPN's Pardon the Interruption .

Oden emphaized the imp ortance of having fun in basketball. He said last season it was hard for him to find the fun in basketball because of injuries and the adjustments in the NBA game.

He said he came into the summer league looking to work strictly on defense and rebounding.

Currently he is spending some time in Columbus, Ohio relaxing and having fun.

The big question came towards the interview when tony asked G.O. if he regrets leaving after his first year. Greg said if he could do it all over again he would.

GO G.O.!

-Ryanhs

What about Bayless?

Last week the Portland Trail Blazers were finally able to make a splash in the 09 NBA offseason when they acquired former 76er Andre Miller. A steal at 2 years and 14 million dollars guaranteed with a third year team option.

The Blazers decided to fill the veteran void that had been missing in the playoffs last year. The Blazers also decided to upgrade their lack of leadership at the Point Guard position. Addressing what needed to be done all of last season.

Assuming, that Miller will be in the starting line up at the beginning of the season with Blake the primary backup it leaves little room to even discuss Jerryd Bayless. A second year guard now who is thought to be more of a combo guard then a true point.

Bayless was the thrid option last year at point behind Blake and Rodriguez. With Rodriguez being dealt away on draft day, it left a lot of hopefuls, hoping Bayless would be the future. That all changed July 24, when the Blazers decided to acquire 33 year old veteran PG Andre Miller.

With Miller averaging 35 minutes a game over his career, Blake as back up PG and Roy's desire to bring the ball up in clutch moments there is no time left for Bayless.

Only 11 points and 5 assists per game in 6 years in the league Blake has yet to prove himself. Missing key free throws in a regular season game last year and making key mistakes in the playoff series againist the Rockets proved hes not clutch nor is he ready to lead a team.

Going into his second season you are going to see a more confident Bayless, with a better understanding of the NBA. Better decision making, more confident in his shot and a better realtionship with his team.

But will this all be for nothing?

Will he sit on the bench and watch Blake try to improve on his already mediocre NBA career?

Or will Mcmillan finally trust in an untrusted player?

-Ryanhs

The Euro's are coming, the Euro's are coming

 

European players are a fixture in the NBA now and will continue to be until playing in Europe is more prominent.

After all the best basketball player in Spain (Pau Gasol) is now officially the third best player on the Lakers. Where contrastingly the best Futbol'er in Spain (Fernando Torres) is quite possibly the best player in the world.

That makes it difficult to get solid basketball development in Europe, especially when players can go pro at puberty.(Ricky Rubio) I don't want this to become a child labor piece so I'll not even get into how wrong I think that is. But every coach who has made the transition from the NCAA to the NBA will tell you, its hard to teach anything to someone who is getting paid to do it. Cash creates ego, that's universal.

Dirk Nowitzki is the most individually successful Euro of all time having been named the MVP in 2007. And still he is regarded as being "soft". "Soft" is is a phrase that is synonymous with Euro. Dirk has all the talent in the world, there is no arguing that. Actually most the European players in the NBA are incredibly talented. Let me put that out there right now because this could get ugly.

I just don't see the heart. Sure some of them are fiery and passionate, but thats not heart, not Rudy Tomjanovich "Never underestimate the heart of a champion" heart.

An average NBA player (Kenyon Martin) was able to completely make Dirk disappear at times in the second round in the playoffs. Kenyon got into Dirk's head by challenging his heart. Forcing over protective mother hen (Mark Cuban) to retaliate by calling Kenyon a thug. Nothing says heart like getting smacked around and having Mommy come to the rescue.

Hedo Turkoglu, the self proclaimed “Michael Jordan of Turkey”, chose to go to a lessor team for slightly more money, which in the end will be less money, as the cost of living in Toronto is significantly higher. Hedo has been quoted as saying the Turkish population and being 5 hours closer to Turkey were main factors.

What about winning?

I know Portland has never been a big free agent draw, but Toronto is terrible and likely losing Chris Bosh in the next offseason.

I'm just saying, would Jordan ever make such terrible basketball decision? Well I mean while he was playing anyway!

So you tell me know, how well would an NBA “All Euro” team fair in a playoff series?

Tony Parker – Point Guard

Rudy Fernandez – Shooting Guard

Hedo Turkoglu – Small Forward

Dirk Nowitzki – Power Forward

Pau Gasol – Center

I know that looks like a good unit on the surface, but that team would have to score at least 140 points a game to pull of a win. They surely aren't going to be winning 90 point battles let alone some scrappy 80 point wars.

I would be willing to put Andre Miller, Brandon Roy, Travis Outlaw, LaMarcus Aldridge and Greg Oden on the floor against them. At least we know that the Blazers can force you to play their brand of basketball, could a Euro team do that?

Euro players in the NBA will always have the talent, but really what it comes down to is there is no pride like that of an American. American pride equals “The heart of a champion!”

-Kurt Valentine