Raw interview notes: Miller, Roy, McMillan, Demopoulos on Miller and Roy

Raw interview transcript notes following interviews last week with Portland Trail Blazers’ Andre Miller, Brandon Roy, Nate McMillan and Dean Demopoulos about the relationship between Miller and Roy.

Roy

It was unfair, because I’d played two years with Blake.

At the moment, when the questions were asked, yeah I was more comfortable with Blake — I’d never played with Andre.

It got blown out of proportion outside of the team. I don’t think the team ever blew it up. Like, ‘Oh, Brandon and Dre: (Roy) likes Steve, and there’s a beef there.’ … I’m glad it’s over with.

I’ve got to be smarter with how I say things, because people will run them. But I’ve always made the statement that, as me and Andre play together, we’ll get better. And I feel like from January we were rolling.

I think Dre, he knows that I’m open in the locker room. He knows that if he ever felt disrespected by it, then I’d rather me and him address it, or me and coach talk about it. It’s just too hard to explain to millions of people what you’re thinking.

Missed 15 games. … Now, I’m back in a good flow.

We didn’t face much adversity last year. And I give Dre a lot of credit, because I think his consistency has been the biggest difference in us handling adversity much better.

You look back at it, and I’m like, ‘Man, the NBA season really is long.’ It really puts it in perspective how long the season is.

We’ve played great basketball the last month. … This is the most comfortable I’ve felt with the starting lineup in a long time. We look like a good team, and we look like we’re enjoying ourselves out there.

Oklahoma City trash talk:

Laughed: I was kind of like, “Ah!”

With Dre it’s hard to tell. But he’s talking. He’s not looking at the guy. He’ll say something and run down the court. And I’m like, ‘Get it, Dre!”

We’ve never had a one-on-one. I don’t think that’s how you grow with him.

Dre: “Let’s get another stop!”

If I get that sense that you care, you’ll get an even much better effort out of me. And I think he feels the same way.

Camby: He’s another one of those guys you don’t want to let down.

Showing hard on screens, diving on the floor.

That mentality is just contagious.

Blind trust: You’ve got to trust that he’s going to be there.

Miller/Camby — Aldridge: That helps our relationship. We’re starting to develop that. If a guy says he’s going to do something, then you’ve just got to trust that he’s got to do it. If you’re got to show (on a screen), don’t worry about your man, because we’ve got it covered for you. I think we’re slowly getting that.

We’re in a grown-man league now.

Miller

It’s definitely slowly building. There’s some good chemistry. Not just with him, but with the rest of the guys.

We had to figure out ways to get easy baskets. … Get through the season.

We didn’t put too much on (Roy’s) shoulders. Kind of just let him ease his way back in and get into a rhythm. And I think he just fell into his groove that way.

We’re just reading off of different players. And that just comes with maturity and having a feel for playing basketball.

We’ve built this second half of the season. The trade for Marcus gave us some stability in the paint, to where we’re a little bit more versatile all around. So it definitely can be a positive if we handle it the right way.

It’s never changed. It’s just about getting comfortable. I’ve always thought with the opportunity, I can help guys get better. It just takes a little time. Sometimes, we get stuck in our ways and don’t want to adjust to something different. And I don’t know if that was the case. But I think he was open from the start, it just takes time.

Keys: Easy baskets, defense, transition between full-court and half-court offenses.

(Roy) knows when he has to come out and be aggressive, and when he has to work his way into the game. And that’s about being a professional and having a mature approach.

We know down the stretch, when it’s time for plays to be made, (Roy’s) going to have the ball in his hands. And that’s what we want. When he has it going, we’re going to give him the ball and ride him until he starts missing. And if he keeps missing, he’s still going to shoot, because that’s what we want.

Demopoulos

We have an order, and it’s much easier to get rhythm when there’s a certain order. And they know and understand it. And then time: You put the order there, and the time to repeat it over and over. And then you get comfortable with it — especially when the repetition breeds success.

Carpenter — tool

We learned that (Miller) had an open mind, because he’s adopted our philosophy on all fronts, and has adapted his playing style to it.

For an older player who’s been a very successful player to tweak his approach speaks volumes about who he is, and it’s made us better. Now we’re seeing the fruits of it.

McMillan

I felt they could play together. Miller knows how to play and so does Brandon. It was just a matter of time; of those guys learning to play together and learning to play off of each other.

Everybody was talking about Dre and Brandon, and it was more the team — Dre, Brandon, L.A., Greg. All of our guys.

Andre was brought here because we felt he could be that general that could get everybody involved, as well as still being aggressive and attacking at that point guard position.

Both of them have got to have an open mind to it. It’s not just Andre having to have an open mind; so does Brandon. Because Brandon has been the guy who has handled the ball a lot for us. Now, Miller is handling the ball a lot and running the offense. And sometimes it’s Miller who is posting up and Brandon who is spreading (the floor).

He now knows that Miller can take advantage of smaller guards and he plays off of that. It’s a trust factor, when you’re talking about that chemistry.

It’s working out.