“Good Problems to Have”

Well, it certainly has been an interesting ride over the past two weeks.  The Blazers are 3-4 in preseason with two bad losses to the Clippers and Utah.  Uh oh.  It’s not quite “Chicken Little” time in Portland, but you can already see some of the more anxious fans freaking out.  At the end of August, I told you that Portland fans were “restless”.  Well, now they are anxious.  Anxious for the season to start, anxious for some on-court chemistry to appear between Andre Miller and his new teammates, anxious for the starting lineup to be sorted out – fans are just basically wringing their hands as the preseason mercifully comes to an end.  That’s what Blazers fans like to do lately… worry about their young team and how much of its immense talent will be realized.

Let’s go over the top four “Uh oh’s” that everyone is focusing on so far:

1) There’s only one “#1″ when it comes to today’s Blazer fan anxiety: The integration of the off-season’s one major acquisition (Andre Miller) with the Blazers core.  So far, it’s been rough.  Roy has been out of rhythm playing alongside Miller, shooting an awful percentage (38% in 6 preseason games).  You can’t put the blame solely on Miller, but the team has also done a dismal job taking care of the ball in 7 preseason games (average of 19 turnovers a game).  Slightly more worrisome, the team has had trouble defending opponents in transition, giving up a ton of easy baskets (chalk some of that up to the turnover rate, too).

We knew from the start that integrating Miller and Roy might not be a smooth transition.  Both like to dominate the ball, and both need the ball to be the most effective.  Any time you add a new play-maker, point guard or no, there is going to be a transition period where the team doesn’t fire on all cylinders.  Folks, that’s where we are right now.  Moreover, that’s what preseason is for.  Granted, the pace is such that there might be some spillover into the regular season, but it’s not realistic to judge regular season prospects by preseason results.  I’m also going to flip this concern and look at it from another angle: sure, the team has to sort out some issues with two play-makers now, but we also have two play-makers now.  That wasn’t the case last year.  Wouldn’t it be much worse if we still only had Roy with the ability to initiate offense, and we had to watch the Blazers lose close games against key opponents as they double-teamed the bejesus out of Roy in the fourth quarter?  With Miller, we not only have someone capable of taking the ball and making plays in those circumstances, we also have someone who’s expecting to do that and has been very successful in the role for an entire career.   Yes, the pecking order still needs to be established.  Yes, the two haven’t learned how to best utilize each other yet.  Still, the team has something it didn’t have last year, and that “missing something” cost them the big games that separated a promising team from a true contender.  What we have, Blazers fans, is a good problem to have.

2) The starting lineup isn’t sorted out yet, with Nate McMillan flipping players in and out of the PG, SF, and C positions.

Ruh roh, isn’t that going to piss off the “assumed” starters named Andre Miller and Greg Oden and potentially cause internal strife?  We already know that Greg Oden is a sensitive guy, and his psyche hasn’t exactly been ironclad so far.  Should we be messing with his new-found confidence?  Didn’t we go get Andre Miller so we could have an improved starting PG?  Will he be upset, or even regret coming to Portland, if we end up bringing him off the bench?  Do we want a controversy at any position going into the regular season (and we all know that there will be controversy if Miller and Oden are coming off the bench this year)?  This is the part where Blazer fans run and grab a bottle of Tylenol…

Once again, I’m going to flip this one and look at it from another angle.  Isn’t it good that we have a coach like Nate McMillan that won’t do whatever is assumed to be right, but will challenge his team and look at other options that might produce a better result?  Do we want a coach that backs down from his convictions just to make his players happy?  Isn’t it better to have a true leader as a coach that will consider options that might produce more wins even if it means some bruised egos?  Isn’t that what a head coach is supposed to be all about – taking a bunch of egos and melding them in the best possible way to win games (and ultimately championships)?  I’ll tell you right now that there’s about 26 NBA teams that would willingly swap their head coach for Nate McMillan.  Sure, his lineups and rotations might seem risky (or even annoying) to some right now, but it’s a good thing to have a coach that has the backbone to challenge his team and try different combinations, no matter who might be irked in the short-term, with the ultimate goal of growth and increased win totals.

3) The Blazers are loaded – maybe too loaded .  How do we keep guys like Rudy Fernandez, Joel Przybilla, Steve Blake, Jerryd Bayless, etc. – guys who would start on many other rosters, happy?

Joel Przybilla is a starting center on most NBA teams.  Imagine Przybilla on the Spurs (in fact, they pursued him heavily before he re-signed with Portland)… Yikes!  That would be nasty.  Przybilla is one of those players that teams covet.  He comes in and does the dirty work unselfishly, and he absolutely doesn’t need to score or to touch the ball to contribute.  This guy deserves as much credit for Portland’s 54 wins last year as anyone.  With Greg Oden poised for a breakout season, is there cause for worry that Przybilla will feel taken for granted?

What about Rudy Fernandez?  This guy has the aura of “star” about him, enhanced by his stellar international play for Team Spain (and a breakout performance in the Olympic gold medal game versus Team USA, highlighted by a facial of Dwight Howard that the whole basketball world is still raving about whenever they hear his name…).  More than half of the teams in the NBA would drool at the prospect of acquiring Fernandez and plugging him straight into their starting lineup at his natural position of shooting guard.  Those teams don’t have a Brandon Roy.

At the SF position, the Blazers are again loaded with young talent.  Nicolas Batum and Martell Webster are both athletically gifted and young.  Both have vast, untapped potential.  Throw Travis Outlaw in the mix, a player that was once at the head of the list when other teams talked about Portland’s young talent.  Who should start at this position?  Which player is the long term solution?  Should one of them be traded to fill other needs and to solidify roles for remaining players?

Loaded, loaded, loaded… the Blazers have a host of talented players competing for that “pie” that is the minutes available in each game.  Problem?  I guess.  Good problem?   *Chuckle*  That one was the easiest so far…

4) The Blazers front-line is undermanned, with only an elderly Juwan Howard to back up LaMarcus Aldridge.

Finally!  Finally, we have a real cause for concern.  This is perhaps the one biggest hole in the Blazers roster right now.  Juwan Howard has contributed admirably in preseason and I genuinely think that he’s going to help the Blazers this year.  In fact, his scoring, position defense, and passing have impressed me.  The old veteran has more left in the tank than I realized.  However, I don’t think that Howard does a good job of addressing the Blazers’ true needs at the backup PF position.  I would rather see them with a banger like Brandon Bass filling that role.  They need a guy who can go out, inflict damage, and get them the ball… someone like (groooooannnn), say, DeJuan Blair.  Ouch!

Okay, so if it’s a genuine cause for concern, how can it fit in the general theme of “good problems to have”?  I can give two reasons: The lack of a clear-cut backup PF means more court time for Joel Przybilla, who stands to lose minutes to Greg Oden at the center position.  I can see Portland falling into a steady 3-man rotation at PF and C that mostly features Aldridge, Oden, and Przybilla.  I think you’ll see more of the “twin towers” lineup as the season progresses, with Oden doing more on the offensive end (functioning as the PF of the two).  Oden has even demonstrated an improved face-up jumper in preseason, which would make this lineup more feasible in the half-court game.  Frankly, Przybilla knows that he would be a starter, or at least play “starter’s minutes,” on most teams.  The gap at PF means there will be more court time for Przybilla even in the face of a Greg Oden breakout.  That’s a good thing.  The Blazers need Przybilla, and he’ll be happier if he’s on the court, contributing.

I said two reasons, what’s the second?  Well, it’s a bit of a cop-out…  The second reason that Portland’s gap at the PF position isn’t a “bad problem” is that it’s relatively easy to address.  There are a number of veteran role players in the NBA that Portland could pursue in pre-deadline trades that would fill this need.  In fact, I’ve spent many afternoon’s chatting with my Blazer-fan friends about possible pieces that they could acquire…  You may think that reasoning is a bit of a “punt” on my part, but I do think it’s absolutely realistic that Portland could put together a mid-season trade to add some size and ferocity to their front court heading into the second half (and post-season).

The best news of all, for Portland fans, is that the season is only a week and change away from tipping off.  What “restless” (and now “anxious”) Portland fans really need is for the season to finally start.  I fully expect that all concerns about Brandon Roy’s preseason will be obliterated when he explodes out of the gate.  This is BRoy’s team, and he’s going to assert himself as the big dog once the games count for something.  Andre Miller is a veteran, and he’ll settle into his role.  I also expect that he’ll be doing that as the starting point guard.  Greg Oden will also be starting, but Przybilla will still healthy minutes.  Yes, there are going to be some other disgruntled players who want more court time.  However, winning cures all.  If Portland realizes its potential, I expect the whining to be at a very manageable level.  Also, the inevitable bumps and bruises of the NBA regular season mean that most of those talented players will get their chance to shine.

One more week of hand-wringing before tip-off, and plenty to be happy about (even when it comes to the “problems” in Portland)…  This Portland fan cannot think of any other issues that he’d rather have his team facing in preseason.  When you’re fretting about all the talent you have, and all of the options available, you’re in a good place.

Let’s hear from you:

Tags: Andre Miller, Brandon Roy, Greg Oden, Joel Przybilla, Juwan Howard, LaMarcus Aldridge, Martell Webster, Nate McMillan, Nicolas Batum, Rudy Fernandez, Steve Blake