Andre Miller and Your Hearts and Minds

I've been blogging about the Portland Trail Blazers for damn near three Earth years now, which translates into roughly 343 internet years. I haven't made a dime off of it yet. That sounds pathetic but is deceptive; I haven't spent a dime either. Breaking even in this economy easily makes me the envy of many Fortune 500 companies.

Now that I've demonstrated my value, thereby completing the first step of the D.E.N.N.I.S. system, I'd like to talk to you about Señor Andre Lloyd Miller. He has only been a Blazer for 39 games but has already been described as the hope, the curiosity, the victim, the problem, and the one with occasionally old-school Richard Pryor-esque hair.

Labels can always change quickly and often aren't fair. Especially in a town where citizens are already gearing up to take to the streets over the news that Deschutes Brewery is cancelling their Cindercone Red (Who's comin' with me?).

The thing is, since Andre Miller has been legitimately starting at point guard—by this I mean since Miller has been starting and Blake has not—Portland has been better. They've overachieved.

Considering all the injuries this team has endured so far, would this success have been possible had Miller not signed last summer? Would they be a game and a half behind the division lead if you remove Miller from the mix?

Of course the Blazers were also winning before Andre was starting and Blake was not. They won around 56 percent of those games. The also played the Minnesota Timberwolves three times, the pre-competitive Memphis Grizzlies twice, the New York Knicks, the New Jersey Nets, the Charlotte Bobcats, the Chicago Bulls, the Detroit Pistons, and the Indiana Pacers.

Portland is 9-5 since McMillan caved and allowed his main man be the real point guard. Those games included road wins over the Miami Heat, Dallas Mavericks, and San Antonio Spurs. Home wins have come against teams including the Phoenix Suns, Denver Nuggets, and the Los Angeles Lakers. When you consider the freakish injuries the team has gone through during that 14-game stretch, it becomes even more impressive.

I'm not claiming that Miller deserves the last batch of Cindercone for the team's play over the last 14 games. There is some other guy on the roster who has sort of put the team on his back and done some amazing things. My point is that Miller can't be as bad for this team as he's been made out to be.

Portland has improved since he was allowed a larger role, in spite of a significant loss of talent to injury. I have a hard time imagining the Blazers would have survived so well without him. Maybe it's time to think up another label for the guy. But I could be wrong. Remember, I've never made a dime off of this.