Following Up on Nate McMillan

Sunday’s column was about Nate McMillan and whether he is the coach to lead the Blazers to a championship. We didn’t reach any conclusions, because all the injuries make this a lost season when it comes to evaluating McMillan. But a couple readers took issue with this:

I have to fully disagree on this article. Although it brings up some compelling issues it says nothing about coaching abilities. If you can take a team that has lost its entire rotation and get them to the playoffs that should be enough to grade Nate.

That was part of an e-mail from Hg. I also received this phone call: “Maybe you should stop drinking and drugging before trying to write a column.” That was from Anonymous.

Hg brings up a good point: McMillan is doing a terrific job this year. And that reminds me that I didn’t articulate my thoughts very well. The idea of the column is that McMillan is doing a great job, but what he’s doing doesn’t give us any insight into the future. He might be the right person to coach the Blazers to a title, but this year won’t tell us anything we didn’t know prior to this season.

Another issue that didn’t make it into the column: How does Paul Allen’s willingness to fire Jim Mora after one season as the Seahawks’ coach affect McMillan? How does Allen’s questionable hiring of Pete Carroll reflect his thinking about the Blazers? We don’t know the answers to those questions, but it’s fair to think that the Seahawks’ situation gave McMillan pause.