Interview: Blazers' Miller — 'There's a lot of hope'
Miller on whether he sees hope for the team:
There’s a lot of hope. It’s still early.
On possible lineup changes:
They’ve got so much pressure on them right now with the amount of injuries, it’s an adjustment for everybody. So, we’re just going to support the coaches. And whatever decision they make, we’ll find a way to rally around each other and figure the season out.
On whether he’s heard anything about lineup changes:
Nothing yet. It’s our first day back at practice. We just talked about the road trip and just getting back to the fundamentals.
On how he feels in the offense:
I feel fine. I understand you have to be patient as a point guard coming into a new system. You don’t want to be patient too long, as far as wanting to run a team. That’s a coach’s decision. I support that. For me, I’m going to support the players. I think this is a time, we don’t want to split up as a team, separate.
On the offense:
It’s a struggle. We could point to a lot of things. But right now, it’s not even really our offense. It’s our defense. The games that we have lost, the teams are shooting high percentages and not allowing us to play easy basketball. So, when teams score the ball and do it easy, it makes it harder on the offense. So, if we can figure out our defense and get back to controlling teams and not letting them get over 100 points, then we’ll be all right.
On playing without injured center Greg Oden and changing the offense:
At that time, we could throw the ball down low and try to double team and swing it around and try to get a good shot. But sometimes you’ve got to mix it up a little bit. And I think that’s what the coaching staff is trying to figure out, in order to get through this injury season.
On playing late in the shot clock:
But that happens at times. This is a first for Brandon. He takes a lot of pressure on his shoulders, and we don’t want him to do that. I think we’ve just go to continue to stick together. It’s an injured team right now, it’s a hurt team. So we just can’t take it upon ourselves. We’ve got to relieve pressure out of everybody and figure out ways to get easy baskets, create easy baskets, whether it’s forcing turnovers, the energy, all that stuff.
On staying positive:
I’m staying positive because I like this team. Regardless, you’re going to have ups and downs in your career. Situations that you have to learn to adjust to. And I’m not the type of guy that’s going to walk away from a situation ’cause it ain’t going my way. I’m going to take it as a challenge and adjust to it. I don’t open my mouth. I just observe. And when the time is to step out and get it going, then that’s what happens.
On whether it helps to have a veteran’s perspective:
Definitely. We’re in the second quarter of the season. Nobody said this month was going to be easy. You looked at the first month, the first month was decent, where we could’ve won more games, we could’ve lost. But we maintained. And then you got to the second month of the season, and you lose some of your go-to guys, key guys. Then you hit a stretch in the schedule where you’re taking two long road trips against good teams. So, it’s going to get tougher as the season goes.
On dealing with adversity:
I can deal with it because I’ve learned to adjust. I think everything in an 80-game season isn’t going to go great. You’re going to have struggles. You’re going to have shooting struggles, you’re going to have defensive struggles, you’re going to have disagreements with coaches; I know all that. So, I just know to try to stay level and maintain and not step out of character. And, right now for me, it’s more of a self thing. Look in the mirror and say, ‘What can I do to better myself and help the team.’ You can’t really worry about pointing fingers or everybody else. Just get myself together — quick. And keep it moving. Miller on whether he sees hope for the team:
There’s a lot of hope. It’s still early.
On possible lineup changes:
They’ve got so much pressure on them right now with the amount of injuries, it’s an adjustment for everybody. So, we’re just going to support the coaches. And whatever decision they make, we’ll find a way to rally around each other and figure the season out.
On whether he’s heard anything about lineup changes:
Nothing yet. It’s our first day back at practice. We just talked about the road trip and just getting back to the fundamentals.
On how he feels in the offense:
I feel fine. I understand you have to be patient as a point guard coming into a new system. You don’t want to be patient too long, as far as wanting to run a team. That’s a coach’s decision. I support that. For me, I’m going to support the players. I think this is a time, we don’t want to split up as a team, separate.
On the offense:
It’s a struggle. We could point to a lot of things. But right now, it’s not even really our offense. It’s our defense. The games that we have lost, the teams are shooting high percentages and not allowing us to play easy basketball. So, when teams score the ball and do it easy, it makes it harder on the offense. So, if we can figure out our defense and get back to controlling teams and not letting them get over 100 points, then we’ll be all right.
On playing without injured center Greg Oden and changing the offense:
At that time, we could throw the ball down low and try to double team and swing it around and try to get a good shot. But sometimes you’ve got to mix it up a little bit. And I think that’s what the coaching staff is trying to figure out, in order to get through this injury season.
On playing late in the shot clock:
But that happens at times. This is a first for Brandon. He takes a lot of pressure on his shoulders, and we don’t want him to do that. I think we’ve just go to continue to stick together. It’s an injured team right now, it’s a hurt team. So we just can’t take it upon ourselves. We’ve got to relieve pressure out of everybody and figure out ways to get easy baskets, create easy baskets, whether it’s forcing turnovers, the energy, all that stuff.
On staying positive:
I’m staying positive because I like this team. Regardless, you’re going to have ups and downs in your career. Situations that you have to learn to adjust to. And I’m not the type of guy that’s going to walk away from a situation ’cause it ain’t going my way. I’m going to take it as a challenge and adjust to it. I don’t open my mouth. I just observe. And when the time is to step out and get it going, then that’s what happens.
On whether it helps to have a veteran’s perspective:
Definitely. We’re in the second quarter of the season. Nobody said this month was going to be easy. You looked at the first month, the first month was decent, where we could’ve won more games, we could’ve lost. But we maintained. And then you got to the second month of the season, and you lose some of your go-to guys, key guys. Then you hit a stretch in the schedule where you’re taking two long road trips against good teams. So, it’s going to get tougher as the season goes.
On dealing with adversity:
I can deal with it because I’ve learned to adjust. I think everything in an 80-game season isn’t going to go great. You’re going to have struggles. You’re going to have shooting struggles, you’re going to have defensive struggles, you’re going to have disagreements with coaches; I know all that. So, I just know to try to stay level and maintain and not step out of character. And, right now for me, it’s more of a self thing. Look in the mirror and say, ‘What can I do to better myself and help the team.’ You can’t really worry about pointing fingers or everybody else. Just get myself together — quick. And keep it moving.
