看完這篇,感覺Nate真的是很會帶人心的教練
其實我覺得他有越來越好了,希望他能更突破自己,成為一個總冠軍教練!!!
Nate McMillan, the Blazers' no-nonsense coach, molds a unified team
Posted by Jason Quick, The Oregonian April 17, 2009 15:30PM
http://tinyurl.com/cfevbq
The hard edges of Sarge, as Nate McMillan was dubbed
in his first season in Portland because of his no-nonsense approach, softened
this season. He became cutting edge. New age. Coaching hip.
His team is almost all hip-hop, choosing to listen to Young Jeezy and Lil
Wayne, while he leans mostly toward Luther Vandross and Patti LaBelle.
His team is all video games, and he is all books.
His team is all about sleeping in, and he is all about his 6:45 a.m. alarm.
Among the Trail Blazers, there is no doubting that when it comes to
old-fashioned tastes and principles, there's nobody more old school than
coach Nate McMillan.
But an interesting thing happened this season as McMillan directed the NBA's
second youngest roster to 54 wins.
Mr. Old School went New School.
In the first week of training camp, he took the players and coaches for a
team-building retreat in the woods.
In the first month of the season, he employed a Harvard doctor to examine the
team's sleep patterns and used the findings to change the team's travel and
practice plans for the rest of the season.
During the season, there were innovative one-on-one talks, which included
showing a then-sullen Greg Oden a television ad of himself as a
happy-go-lucky kid.
"Where is that Greg Oden?" McMillan implored.
There were out-of-the-box pregame speeches, like the one before a late-season
matchup with Phoenix, which started with rap music and finished with a
highlight video.
Throughout it all, McMillan compromised with the players regarding starting
times for shootarounds, and even whether practice was needed.
Jamie Francis/The Oregonian"It's always been about communicating, reaching
these young guys," said McMillan, celebrating above after the Nuggets victory
Wednesday. "It's just coaching."
The hard edges of Sarge, as he was dubbed in his first season in Portland
because of his no-nonsense approach, had softened. He had become cutting
edge. New age. Coaching hip.
"He has shown the ability to adapt or adjust to a bunch of 22, 24-year-olds,
and not be afraid of that," guard Brandon Roy said. "I think some coaches
could say, 'I'm already up here, I'm just bringing you guys with me.' But
with Coach Nate, it's like we are all growing together."
McMillan agreed that he has changed since his first day on the job in
Portland. But he shied away from the notion that he did anything more than
just do his job.
"It's always been about communicating, reaching these young guys," McMillan
said. "It's just coaching."
Whatever it's called -- new school, cutting edge or just coaching -- McMillan
in his fourth season has taken one of the NBA's most troubled franchises and
steered it back into the playoffs for the first time since 2003.
After finishing with an NBA-low 21 wins in his first season, the Blazers have
improved each season by increments of 11, nine and 13 wins. He has done it by
shaping a team that plays hard, smart and together, all traits that defined
McMillan as a standout point guard during his 12-year NBA career.
Jamie Francis/The OregonianMcMillan says the rebuilding project in Portland
isn't complete: "The next step for us is not only to get to the playoffs, but
to win ... win a championship."
But the ever-focused coach said his rebuilding project is not yet complete.
"The next step for us is not only to get to the playoffs, but to win ... win
a championship," McMillan said. "What we talked about doing when I came here,
we can see it now."
As his ultimate goal comes into focus ahead of him, McMillan can't help but
look in the rear-view mirror at the road he has taken.
Yes, he admitted, he has changed since those first days in Portland. And he
suspected before long he will change again. It's just the nature of coaching.
"I'll be what I need to be, when I need to be it," he said firmly.
Later, he chuckled about those first days in Portland. Matter of fact, it's
the first day that stands out the most.
"I guess that's when I came to be Sarge," he said with a smile.
'A little nuts'
When McMillan arrived for the first day of practice with his team, the plan
was set. Training camp would be held in McMinnville at Linfield College, a
45-minute bus ride from the team's facility in Tualatin.
Excited, but daunted by the task at hand, McMillan waited in the front seat
of the bus to get started with the rebuilding effort. He would build a team
on the foundation of togetherness and respect.
But in his first act as coach, he was disrespected.
"It's our first trip, and we have three guys who are late," McMillan said.
"But not just late, not even there."
Athletic trainer Jay Jensen turned to McMillan and asked what the bus driver
should do.
McMillan remembered not even hesitating.
"Hell yes, we're taking off," he remembered hissing. "We're gone!"
When McMillan arrived in Portland in the summer of 2005, he inherited a group
that lacked heart and discipline. The franchise had invested heavily in Zach
Randolph -- a player who had suckerpunched a teammate two years earlier --
and Darius Miles, a player who had berated the team's previous coach.
Both Randolph and Miles were among the three late. The other was rookie
Jarrett Jack.
When the team arrived in McMinnville, the players were paired as roommates, a
practice uncommon in the NBA. McMillan was hoping the tactic would accelerate
communication and camaraderie among the team.
Shortly after, the three tardy players found their way to the small college
town and learned of their room assignments.
The next item on the agenda was the team dinner, where McMillan would address
the team for the first time. Shortly before the dinner, the coach was
notified that two players checked out of their rooms.
"And I mean, this is the very first day. The very first day," McMillan said,
still incredulous. "I get to the dinner and said, 'Who checked out of their
rooms?'"
The hands of Randolph and Miles went up.
"I said, 'Get the hell out!' And that was it," McMillan said. "Just, 'Get
out!' So they got up and left, and we went on with the meeting."
The message had been sent. There would be no messing with McMillan.
"Do I remember it? How could you not?" said center Joel Przybilla, then in
his second season with the Blazers. "But it was exactly what we needed. It
was about time somebody put their foot down."
After the meeting, Randolph and Miles found their coach. They pleaded,
McMillan said, that they were grown men, that they didn't sleep with other
men. McMillan told them they were missing the point. He outlined his rules.
Told them his plan. And once again told them their roommates.
The first whistle had yet to be blown, the first ball yet to be bounced, and
McMillan realized he was in deeper than he ever imagined. He would have to be
tough. Stern. Unyielding.
He would have to be like a drill sergeant.
When the team finished the week-long training camp, it headed back to
Tualatin. In the first practice, McMillan booted Randolph off the court for
loafing.
In March, after another lopsided defeat, Randolph complained aloud that the
team had yet another practice.
"Sarge, he don't give no days off," Randolph grumbled. "Hell no. Not from
Sarge."
The next day, McMillan met with Randolph for 45 minutes, but instead of
taking offense to the nickname, he embraced it.
"It was appropriate at the time," McMillan said. "I was being me, and I love
Gomer Pyle. So when he talked about Sarge, I think of Sergeant Carter. I'm
thinking, 'Yeah, Sergeant Carter is nuts, and I'm probably going to have to
be a little nuts here for awhile.'"
Line of communication
Last week, as the Blazers flew to Los Angeles for a Saturday game against the
Clippers, McMillan heard rumblings on the team plane about the next morning's
11 a.m. meeting.
Eventually, Roy, the team co-captain confronted him. They had just beaten the
Lakers. It was about to be their fifth game in seven nights. Could they get
an extra hour of sleep and have the meeting at noon?
Four years ago, there wouldn't have been a soul brave enough to ask Sarge for
such a reprieve.
But as McMillan said, this group is different. They work hard. They listen.
And he has developed a cohesive line of communication with the team's
leaders: co-captains Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge, and veterans Przybilla and
Travis Outlaw. So McMillan moved the meeting.
"I want them to feel like this is theirs," McMillan said. "It's about them.
So I want to communicate with them. When we were practicing hard and long
years ago, shoot, we won 21 games. We are supposed to be in the gym. That's
how it works. You pay the price. And this group has."
Jamie Francis/The OregonianBlazers Travis Outlaw (from left) LaMarcus
Aldridge, Brandon Roy, Joel Przybilla and Steve Blake talk with coach Nate
McMillan during Wednesday night's home victory against the Denver Nuggets.
The foundation of togetherness and trust he hoped to build as he headed to
McMinnville his first day was cemented earlier this season, when he took the
team on a one-day retreat to a camp in the woods.
There were no cameras, no reporters and no mention of it by the players or
coaches throughout the year. It wasn't about publicity, it was about them
becoming closer.
As McMillan continues to look for ways to reach his players, he also knows he
has to keep up with the times. He tries to absorb their music, saying he
doesn't like the lyrics, but can feel the beat. And he proudly states that he
has become an official user of text messaging out of necessity of reaching
his players.
"Nobody picks up their phone anymore," he said. "But if you text, you hear
right back from them. It's just a whole different generation of players."
And somehow, someway, McMillan will find a way to reach them.
It's called coaching.
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