McMillan doesn't deserve a free pass By Dwight Jaynes The Portland Tribune, Mar 9, 2007 Now that the Trail Blazers actually are talented enough to keep their games close against most teams, you get a chance to analyze a few things about them that you couldn’t see when they were getting blown out every night last season. Like the coaching. Nate McMillan has brought old-fashioned values and discipline to the team and for that, the franchise forever will be indebted. More than anyone, he’s been responsible for transforming the team’s image back to something close to wholesome. But that said, I have to tell you that on many nights this season, the Trail Blazers have not looked much like a well-coached team. There are several areas of concern: ‧ In a good many games, you look at the box score and find that the Blazers managed fewer than 10 fast-break points. Against San Antonio Tuesday night, they had just two. It’s extremely difficult in the pro game to win consistently without at least double-digit fast-break points. In the NBA, you need cheap baskets – dunks and layups – if you want a consistently high shooting percentage. To make up for a lack of fast-break points, you must have excellent halfcourt offensive execution and play very stingy defense – two things this team also does not do. And what’s so bothersome about this is that when the team does, infrequently, get a fast-break opportunity, it often botches it. Jarrett Jack seems totally lost in the open court, and his teammates never seem to fill the lanes in an appropriate manner. On many nights this season, this has been one of the most inept fast-break teams I’ve ever seen in the NBA. My goodness –do they ever run 3-on-2 drills in practice? Not only is a lack of a running game not conducive to winning, it runs counter to what fans want – wide-open, free-flowing basketball with dunks and clever passes in the open court. ‧ The team seems clueless on defense much of the time. For all his offensive talent, Zach Randolph at the defensive end is more suited for a job as one of those guys holding a flashlight in front of the Rose Quarter parking lots – waving people to drive past him. He can’t guard the door to a phone booth. And the rest of the team – especially without Joel Przybilla blocking shots behind it – seems without much of a clue. Seriously, usually when you play perimeter defense as poorly as the Blazers do (witness all those wide-open 3-pointers down the stretch against San Antonio), how can you also play such mediocre interior defense? I mean, you ought to be able to play one or the other, right? The team doesn’t handle pick-and-rolls well and can’t consistently double-team and find a defensive rotation that extends to the open 3-point shooters. That means the good teams will shoot well against you –which usually means you lose. ‧ Last, and most troublesome, I just don’t understand how McMillan arrives at his choices of who to play and when to play them. There is no reason not to be playing Sergio Rodriguez at least 20 minutes per game – none. This is a player with a chance to be a star – but on a team headed nowhere, he’s not getting enough playing time. I swear, he’s the only player on the roster who knows when and how to throw a lob pass that leads to a dunk. What frightens me, on the whole, is McMillan knows Rodriguez will push the pace and get the team into an up-tempo game, and that’s exactly what the coach doesn’t want. It’s pretty obvious McMillan doesn’t want to lose control. He doesn’t want the players to be creating much on their own. He doesn’t want to run. And I’ m not sure that’s the direction you want to go with these talented young players. I think he needs to turn these frisky kids loose. http://www.portlandtribune.com/sports/story.php?story_id=117339154352124000 現在國外有很多球迷都猜不透McMillan在想什麼， 批評聲浪也比去年還要多很多， 這位專欄作家Dwight Jaynes也講出了自己的想法， 包括他不知道為什麼McMillan不讓Sergio Rodriguez上場超過20分鐘 --

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