The Blazers forward repeatedly directs a racial epithet at the team's coach, and a suspension appears a possible penalty Friday, January 28, 2005 JASON QUICK Trail Blazers forward Darius Miles could be facing a suspension today for berating coach Maurice Cheeks on Thursday during a film session, during which the player repeatedly called the coach a racial epithet. General manager John Nash said disciplinary action is "to be determined" and implied that if there was a suspension, it would be levied by Cheeks. "Coach is very capable of handling (suspensions) himself," Nash said. "And I support the coach in what he does. But this is an internal matter. I don't want to discuss it publicly." Miles' agent, Jeff Wechsler, spoke with Nash on Thursday after the incident, but, like Nash, he wanted to keep his comments to a minimum. "I'm not going to get into it," Wechsler said. "What happened in practice should stay in practice." Cheeks did not return phone messages Thursday night. Earlier in the day, Cheeks appeared weary and disturbed after he emerged from meetings with Nash and later, Darnell Valentine, the team's director of player programs. At one point, Cheeks completed a sentence by muttering under his breath, "if I'm still the coach of this team" -- evidence of a mood that has caused those close to Cheeks to wonder whether he will resign over the matter. Miles and Cheeks have a history of disagreements in practice this season, but none was thought to have reached this intensity. It is unclear what could have spurred the confrontation, but Miles has made it clear he wants to be a starter. He took over the starting small forward spot in December when Shareef Abdur-Rahim was injured, then kept it when Abdur-Rahim returned. But in his 10th game as a starter, after averaging 16.6 points and 7.1 rebounds, Miles injured his left knee, forcing him to miss eight games. He returned Saturday but has not started any of the three games since, though he has averaged 27 minutes. The confrontation might have been simmering from Wednesday's loss against Dallas, after which Miles gave a vague but biting commentary. "What have I learned about this team?" Miles said, repeating a question. "I learned it might be time for a change. Something just needs to change for us to win games. I'm not talking about no trades, no coaching changes. We just need to change something. . . . Maybe we need to change things in the fourth quarter. Maybe a different team in the fourth quarter, a different offense in the fourth quarter, maybe just a whole lot of stuff. Nothing against anyone, we just need to mix things up." Earlier in the season, Miles and Cheeks clashed when the coach would constantly push Miles, 23, during practice to get more out of the forward, who is averaging 12.9 points and 5 rebounds and shooting 46.9 percent from the field. At that time, Miles was struggling with losing his starting spot to Abdur-Rahim. But by Dec. 3, Miles said he was coming to grips with his role and Cheeks' coaching style. "We have our ups and downs, you know, we get into arguments," Miles said in December. "But it ain't to the point where I would dog him, or try to say something bad about him, because he is a good person, and he is looking out for my best interests. It's just that some days we communicate right, and some days we communicate wrong. I just think my IQ of the basketball game is so high -- I'm still learning, don't get me wrong -- but there is a lot of stuff where I feel I need to give my opinion." The Blazers have suspended other players for confrontations with Cheeks. Bonzi Wells was suspended one game in March 2003 for cussing at Cheeks during a practice. Later, in November 2003, Wells was suspended two games for a profanity-laced tirade to Cheeks on the court after he was taken out of a game at Dallas. "This time I'm fed up with it," Cheeks said of Wells' behavior at the time. "I'm just tired of it." Two weeks later, Wells was traded to Memphis. --

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