Thursday, September 28, 2006

Aaron Miles invited to camp for Blazers

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The Blazers have announced on their site that Portland native Aaron Miles has been invited to join the team at camp, bringing the number of players on the roster at camp to 14. Miles, who played sparingly with Golden State last season is a fantastic passer and will be looking to get minutes at backup point guard. Given the injury-cloud surrounding Dan Dickau and the inexperience of Sergio Rodriguez, he may be given an opportunity to hit the court in some stints.

10 comments:

derrenmatts said...

Aaron Miles, as a Kansas Jayhawk, reminded me too much of Eric Snow--an unbelievably boring player to watch. I do give him credit for having a successful career in Kansas, and he may turn out to be a solid 3rd string PG somewhere in the NBA (maybe for you guys).

mookie said...

Yep, Eric Snow = boring. Have to agree with that. Unfortunately, boring could be a good option for the Blazers as a backup option at point (ala Steve Blake last season).

derrenmatts said...

Well, now you have Dan Dickau. Not nearly as boring as Snow, but he may be able to be a steady PG option off the bench. I like Juan Dixon a lot. I'm baffled that he hasn't been able to really make a name for himself. If he played consistently, he could be one of the most underrated players in the NBA.

mookie said...

Thing is, Juan just doesn't seem to fit into the Blazers roster the way it is (with Webster, Roy and Outlaw coming up) -- so don't be surprised if he gets traded to the Celts as well!!

derrenmatts said...

Heheh, yeah we take all of the Blazers leftovers ;D

I view Dixon as a PG option. He's a combo guard for sure, but at Maryland and with Washington, I felt that he was a good enough PG to be able to make it work.

BTW, what are the Blazer's thoughts on Darius Miles? I view him as an underachieving player, but that's a far away point of view because I don't follow him closely to have an accurate picture of the guy.

mookie said...

Definitely. Miles is the ultimate underachiever. He has so much talent, but it's wasted because the guy seems to have no work ethic on the court and has a really bad mentality. The Blazers (and us, the fans) are hoping that this changes quick-smart. At the moment, he's a bit of a disappointment.

derrenmatts said...

Yeah, its really a shame to have such players like that. All the potential in the world, but no desire to put in the hardwork and the extra effort to take all that potential and make it a reality. On the other hand, you have guys like Brian Cardinal and Bo Outlaw, who don't have as many physical gifts, but they have tremendous work habits and they lay it all out on the floor every game.

I'm not sure how it is in Portland, but the Celtics are blessed with a ton of young talent who have been working hard all summer in Boston, working out with each other on the court and in the gym. They went beyond what Doc Rivers was hoping from them. He gave them all a list of things he wanted them to work on during the summer, and instead of finding that these guys went home (wherever they live), they remained in Boston and have been working on their games, their bodies, and conditioning all summer long.

That's what you want to hear and see from young players who have the potential to be good players and star players.

mookie said...

The good news is that Portland seems to be in a similar situation to Boston at the moment. We have a big group of young players who have been working hard over the Summer and are ready to combine well this season and into the future. Jack, Outlaw, Webster, Roy and Aldridge (prior to injury) were all combining really well during Summer League play and were commenting how much they were enjoying playing together. Zach Randolph was privately working out in a big way -- he may be a knucklehead at times, but he certainly is not afraid to work hard. Z-Bo even turned up to the Summer League games to cheer on the younger guns -- something you love to see from a guy who is slated as team leader.

Having a coach like Nate McMillan is a great thing too. The guy preaches hard work and doesn't accept any nonsense -- exactly what a team like this needs.

You guys have got so much potential in Boston. In particular I really like Ryan Gomes and Kendrick Perkins. Those two form an impressive front line with a load of potential. They both had great seasons last year and if you combine that with the addition of Bassy, it bodes well for the Celtic Green.

derrenmatts said...

If you like Perkins and Gomes, you are gonna love Gerald Green and Al Jefferson. They are the star caliber young players we have. Gomes and Perkins are future solid role players, but Green and Jefferson have stardom written all over them (of course, that's an optimistic Celtics homer speaking).

Anonymous said...

Aaron Miles is one of the athletes who I think can be successful on the court as far as sportsmanship, dedecation, performance and respect. He is one of the most talented players and my favorite player of all. I support him wherever he chooses to go in life and hope he does his best...and hope everyone else can see his talent and potential.