Let's see how Miles reacts
C.J. Miles wasn't having a good night offensively Saturday, his second start of the season, but at least he was hanging in there defensively, and then boom! Off goes Martell Webster for 24 points in the third quarter of Saturday's 103-89 Portland win over the Jazz.
I've been working on a story on Miles and how the addition of Kyle Korver might affect his minutes. On Friday he was telling me how he isn't as paranoid this year as he was last year, he realizes some nights are going to go poorly, others are going to go well and he can't worry about that. All he can control is the effort he gives.
I have a feeling now we'll find out if he really believes what he was saying. Miles got burned several times Saturday and he knows it, so how is he going to respond? I was impressed with his demeanor after the game. Sure, you could tell he was ticked off that Webster got the best of him, and his teammates for that matter, but he didn't seem like a fragile, devastated mess either. He might have last year when he was still unsure of himself, so maybe his reaction is a good sign he is maturing.
The Jazz tried just about everyone they had on the bench against Webster and a zone and none of it worked. Miles seemed to recognize afterward that Webster's third quarter wasn't entirely his fault. I wonder if he'll come back and play like he believes that too?
A couple of leftover thoughts from the game:
Sloan: "They played like this game was a playoff game. The emotions they had in it, they were going at it. They hustled on the boards and they just take tough shots almost all night long."
On Portland's run: "That is when you have to have patience to stay within what you are doing and they took the patience away from us."
On Webster: "I don't think I've ever seen a player get so open in all my years of coaching. He got hot, but he was working his butt off too."
Miles: "Once he got hot, the rest of his teammates fed off him. Everybody got into the action. They got shots off swing passes, deflections, tips, everything started going for them."
Carlos Boozer: "It's not too many times you see a guy go for more than 20 points in a quarter. That obviously put a damper on things. We were feeling pretty good until that happened."
-- Lya Wodraska
I've been working on a story on Miles and how the addition of Kyle Korver might affect his minutes. On Friday he was telling me how he isn't as paranoid this year as he was last year, he realizes some nights are going to go poorly, others are going to go well and he can't worry about that. All he can control is the effort he gives.
I have a feeling now we'll find out if he really believes what he was saying. Miles got burned several times Saturday and he knows it, so how is he going to respond? I was impressed with his demeanor after the game. Sure, you could tell he was ticked off that Webster got the best of him, and his teammates for that matter, but he didn't seem like a fragile, devastated mess either. He might have last year when he was still unsure of himself, so maybe his reaction is a good sign he is maturing.
The Jazz tried just about everyone they had on the bench against Webster and a zone and none of it worked. Miles seemed to recognize afterward that Webster's third quarter wasn't entirely his fault. I wonder if he'll come back and play like he believes that too?
A couple of leftover thoughts from the game:
Sloan: "They played like this game was a playoff game. The emotions they had in it, they were going at it. They hustled on the boards and they just take tough shots almost all night long."
On Portland's run: "That is when you have to have patience to stay within what you are doing and they took the patience away from us."
On Webster: "I don't think I've ever seen a player get so open in all my years of coaching. He got hot, but he was working his butt off too."
Miles: "Once he got hot, the rest of his teammates fed off him. Everybody got into the action. They got shots off swing passes, deflections, tips, everything started going for them."
Carlos Boozer: "It's not too many times you see a guy go for more than 20 points in a quarter. That obviously put a damper on things. We were feeling pretty good until that happened."
-- Lya Wodraska
12:58 AM
| 
1 Comments:
CJ may have been getting burned, but his teammates weren't playing much help defense either. A guy gets knocked off his man by picks (possibly some that involved movement by picker that wasn't called) and you have to help. Trouble is that Okur and Boozer are useless help defenders, and not much better man-to-man unless they guard big, plodding guys who couldn't get by a tortoise.
Tom Calarco
Post a Comment
<< Home