Portland Trail Blazers Keys to Success: Will Roy and Miller Be Able To Mesh?

The talk of the Portland Trail Blazers' NBA season has been, well, injuries. But once you get past that, they are talking about the summer signing of Andre Miller.

Will he fit in?

Will he become a threat on offense?

Can Roy and Miller form chemistry?

Yes. Yes. And Yes.

Eventually.

For the 2008-2009 Portland Trail Blazers, chemistry was everything. Everyone felt comfortable in their roles on the team, and there was no pressure because they were young and winning games. But we'll get back to that later.

Andre Miller will make an impact on the Portland Trail Blazers' roster for the remainder of his contract. To what extent, we will not know. His positive impact for the team will be decided by the rate at which he and Roy develop on-court chemistry.

We caught a glimpse of what could come to be in small bits and pieces throughout the season.

On a night when Brandon scored 37 points against the Golden State Warriors, Andre pitched in with 23 points and six assists (four of which were played to Brandon).

Not only did the stats look great, the two players looked like they were able to play with confidence for the first time in the season.

The two had their moments while one was on the bench, i.e. Andre's 52-point performance. But, I didn't feel like they ever connected in those minutes because they were never given the chance.

Either Andre was coming off the bench or Roy was playing small forward for the first time in his career.

There was never a moment spent where at least one of the two players wasn't playing out of their element.

The Portland Trail Blazers will have to wait to see if their offseason signing was a success.

Just do yourself a favor. 

Don't compare the 2008-2009 team to this year's team because it's just not fair. 

Last year the players played without any pressure.

There weren't any talks of championships or serious playoff runs before the season.

The season was just one big game of "show me what you can do." If anything, the Andre Miller signing and one year of experience has added the element of expectations into the equation.

As a community, Rip City has very fair expectations for their franchise.

Last year it was the playoffs.

This year it is second round and beyond.

Who knows what it will be the year after next?

The signing of Miller solidified the Portland Trail Blazers' hopes and dreams of a championship.

As Edward R. Murrow said:

"The obscure we see eventually. The completely obvious, it seems, takes longer."

Getting a proven point guard on the roster was an obvious need. But I think it is odd that we doubt his ability to make this team better.

Maybe eventually we will see this obscure thought.

But only if we Allow Brandon Roy and Andre Miller to build that chemistry on the court, because you cannot build confidence unless you let them experience what they could be.

Playing time is the only remedy.