All-Access with Blazers Head Coach Nate McMillan

Unless the Portland Trailblazers have some sort of colossal meltdown in the second half of the NBA season, Nate McMillan should win the NBA's coach of the year this season. To think that after it was announced that Greg Oden would miss the entire season to now where the Trailblazers are sitting at or near the division lead was almost unthinkable back then. This is an ESPN all-access feature with Nate McMillan and the rest of the youthful Blazers. Watch the video and read my thoughts below,



I still remember reading earlier in the year when the Blazers were 5-11, McMillan was frustrated and was doing a lot of directing and yelling. Instead of going maniacal, he decided to take a step back instead and realized, what his team needed most, was a teacher. This was an extremely young team, 24 years of age on average, they needed someone to show them the basics, how to run a fast break, how to play defense. More teaching, less directing.

You can tell that McMillan is just a great teacher and student of the game. Much like a Hubie Brown, he's smart and he knows how the game is suppose to be played. That's not easy to teach when you talk about NBA players, where ego and style sometimes appear more important than winning. And even more difficult when you talk about young players that haven't even gone to college.

Nate McMillan gets my vote for the NBA's coach of year, hands down...