It doesn’t sound like Nate McMillan is going anywhere.
After a weekend of speculation that Nate McMillan’s seat was getting warm after a slow start for the Trail Blazers and a recent six-game losing streak, team president Larry Miller threw water on that fire.
Miller went on 95.5 FM in Portland’s pregame show and sounded like a man not rushing to make any moves (transcription via Blazers Edge).We’re going through a little bit of a struggle right now. But I’m confident that Nate and the coaching staff and the team will get this turned around. And we’ll get back on track. Teams go through this. The Lakers just lost four games in a row. Teams go through these struggles sometimes and I would just want to make sure the fans will be there with us….
They are playing hard. They are giving effort out there. To your point, they’re scrapping, they’re fighting. For some reason, we haven’t been able to execute in the fourth quarter. It’s not for lack of trying. If that were the case, I’d be looking at this like, ‘Hey we’ve got a really, really serious problem.’ It’s not for lack of trying. They’re trying. Just the execution hasn’t been there….
I’ve been talking to Nate, he’s hanging in there, he’s doing everything he can to turn this thing around. To me, Nate is one of the best coaches in the league, without question he’s one of the best coaches in the league, and we’re fortunate to have him as our head coach here. Again, I’m confident Nate is going to figure out how to get this turned around. He’s in a pretty good mood, he’s in pretty good spirits as well as can be expected, he’s doing good.
I’m not convinced the effort has been quite as consistent as Miller said, but certainly other issues have been far bigger. Like injuries to stars. And that has impacted the execution.Several players also told the Oregonian that McMillan was not the problem and had not lost the team.
“He still has us. Just look at us, we are still playing hard, trying to win,” (Lamarcus) Aldridge said. “If he didn’t have us, then guys wouldn’t compete. I would say guys are competing, we just aren’t finishing games. Do you agree? Because if he didn’t have us, there would be teams scoring layups, everybody taking bad shots ... I mean, if the coach doesn’t have the respect in here, you are not going to play hard.”
“Yeah, I heard something that he said we are not listening to him ... I say bull,” Batum said. “We trust him. We’ve had success with him. Fifty wins. Fifty-four wins. Sometimes when you lose, you hear ‘It’s his fault. It’s his fault.’ But no. We believe in him. He has tried to keep a fire in us. And we have been up 10 in all these games we lost. So we believe in him. Trust me. Trust me.”Put it all together and it sounds like the Blazers are not rushing to make a move. That doesn’t mean something wouldn’t be considered if the Blazers go back to their losing ways, or next summer. But for now, nothing is changing in Portland.