mediocre man

I bash him all the time, but last night I thought he did a wonderful job of coaching. Here's why.........

Zach was shooting jumpers in the first quarter. The second quarter on he was abusing everyone in the low post, and Lenny Wilkins remarked that Nate told him to get his body down low and punnish people or he would bench him....To Zach's credit he did just that.

Nate went small. You all know my feelings on this subject, so I was naturaly excited. Again Lenny Wilkins was pointing out that whenever the Blazers went big they fell behind, and to Nate's credit he adjusted and played more of a smaller line up. That is when we made our runsat the Sonics and eventually overtook them.

Nate rode his hot hands instead of sticking with a set substitution patern. Juan on one was hot last night, so Nate stuck with him and it really paid off. I'll be interested to see if he is quick to pull him when he is not so hot though.

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gatorpops

In support of Nate, this is maybe the first game he has gotten to "coach".

When asked some question about "coaching" last year he said that "he hadn't gotten to coach yet, he was just teaching". Something on that order anyway.

Last night he got to coach and man, did his kids ever listen and do what was asked. Great job of coaching and playing.

Go Blazers. Play-offs here we come.

gatopops

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"It was tough when what’s his name got hot"

...they've got to be a pain to prepare for defensively.

mgb

Nate said this year it's different, the players listen to him and do what he says.

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"Happiness is not a station you arrive at, but a manner of traveling."
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wastro

In that first quarter, I was so angry with Zach -- all those jumpers! Glad to see Nate got through to him and got him to go with what works.

But yeah, Nate did a solid job last night.

Zybot

The substitution of Udoke late in the game ended up being brilliant. The team actually seems to have chemistry, for the first time in a long time. Last year the Blazers would have found a way to lose this game by 15 to 20 points after being down 9 points with 5 minutes left. This team kept fighting and got a win.

Public Defender

Nice, mm. It's great to see you sing the praises when they're warranted, as well as offering the criticism (which is often warranted as well).

I agree that McMillan did a great job of coaching last night. I certainly had times where I was wondering - what's he doing with Dixon in there? And then Dixon would nail two shots in a row. Or I was wondering with the game on the line - why is he bringing Udoka back in? And then, when Rice mentioned that it would help spread the floor and take away the double-team on Zach, I just nodded my head.

Nate did an excellent job of putting his team in position to win. From there, it's up to the guys on the floor. Between the clutch foul shooting (Randolph, Roy, Jack), and the offensive rebounds (Udoka), and the fine defense (Roy and others), the players Nate assembled and directed came through. Great start to the season. Now, if they can only string a few of these together...

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SheedSoNasty

Nice post, mm.

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yakbladder

Props to you MM for breaking out of your "I dislike Nate and all things Nate" posting style...for one night at least...

GOD

Are you kidding, Nate did a terrible job. He coached us right out of the Oden draft.

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Webster's Dictionary

But you know that if Udoka missed either or both of those freethrows, or had it somehow been Rashard that hit a shot to win the game or they had gone inside and scored, some of us would be piling on Nate right now for running too small a lineup or have Udoka in there at the end.

For fans, me included, if we win the coach did a good job, if we lose he made a lot of mistakes.
In reality coaches make good and bad decisions during the whole game, every game. It's just the ones at the end we watch, and we only look at the good if we win, and the bad if we lose.

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It's_GO_Time

It's great that you are giving Nate props, but I'm confused. You have repeatedly said throughout the summer and pre-season that Nate should not be coaching this team, do you still feel that way?

yakbladder

I agree. And after last night's game I still kind of wonder whether Ime should be in there. The only problem is, we need a spark off the bench and Travis is more suited to that role. But I was definitely questioning the wisdom of the substitution at the time.

mediocre man

Yes. I don't thnk he is the best coach in the world by any means. I'd much rather see someone else here, but I have an open mind. If he coaches differently from last year then I'll be his biggest supporter.

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Former Blazer Alaa Abdelnaby on being a student athlete at Duke. "The only way I could get 5 A's at Duke was to spell my name"


I'm Mediocre Man, and I approve this message.

B_&_B

Wow... cant believe this was posted by the nacho loving happy fat guy!

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