Threat of Too Much Talent

It's been in the back of our minds for months now: The addition of Andre Miller, emergence of Rudy Fernandez and Nicolas Batum, and the healthy return of Greg Oden. The Portland Trail Blazers are working with a completely stacked 12-man roster. It's the most talented full roster in the NBA but there might be a problem.

Do the Blazers have too much talent?

The grumblings reported lately have mustered up negative thoughts for me. From Andre Miller's tell all with Marc Spears to Brandon and LaMarcus' questions about the preseason game plan. We have a ton of talent, and with that will inevitably come some sort of need for more playing time and more involvement on the floor.

Let's be realistic here, if guys weren't confident and didn't want more playing time or touches, would they really be here?  Professional basketball players should want to be a key cog on any franchise, and for Portland there are a lot of cogs who could, and frankly should, play. The question is, can the organization continue to instill the value of winning over personal accomplishments and major financial gains?

The article about Andre Miller explains a lot about how he's feeling. The media is over scrutinizing him for staying to himself. This makes fans think he's some sort of hermit that hates the outside world. It's not at all like that. Andre's been around the NBA for a long time and he does things his own way.

I for one love how he's carried himself so far. I'm glad that he keeps his private life private. It's his prerogative and we already know way too much about athlete's lives. Let's just let him be, because I know as the season goes on, every single fan is going to start loving his contributions. He is a true passer who is constantly under appreciated. I love his game, always have. I can't wait to see him in regular season form.

But getting back to the overall talent issue.

It doesn't matter who it is, Andre Miller, Brandon Roy, Nic Batum, or Rudy Fernanez. Every guy wants to be involved and play meaningful minutes. We have at least eight guys who could be a legit 2nd or 3rd option on a handful of NBA teams. Portland will be extremely lucky to keep this team together for 2-3 years, especially if we don't win a title, or at least come close to winning a title. Isn't that the reality of the situation?

Then of course we start to hear Brandon and Lamarcus getting perturbed about the direction of the game plan in the preseason. It probably doesn't matter, but obviously Roy and Aldridge are ready to get serious about their involvement in the offense. Once again this is a good thing and maybe a bad thing, but not necessarily. I want our guys to get serious but Nate also has a lot to figure out in the preseason. Nate's job will be tougher than ever this year.

All that I'm saying is don't read too much into every single comment or quote a player says. A great deal of information right now is speculation. The Blazers have become the cities personal reality show and if something shocking or interesting doesn't happen, people get bored and restless.

It's a given that every guy wants to play and of course would like to start. These guys are good at what they do, and they'll go out and compete with each other for the honor of competing against the rest of the league. A little healthy competition isn't bad, right?

As the day has gone on, Miller and Nate have spoken more about the situation and as expected the air has been cleared. It doesn't really matter though, I'm sure deep down Andre does think he should be the starter. But in reality he wants to be a major contributor, which is something we can all appreciate. Every guy wants their opportunity; it will be interesting to see how this season plays out for our Trail Blazers.