PORTLAND — Basketball fans nationwide couldn’t wait to see just how the Big 3 would operate together after their collective talents landed in South Beach. But Blazers coach Nate McMillan had already seen it.
McMillan oversaw the trio in the Beijing Olympics as an assistant coach of the USA basketball team.
“I just remember the three together the year they won the gold. They were great. All of them,” McMillan said. “We had Howard and Boozer, but (Chris) Bosh was the guy who really played big. (Dwyane) Wade was like Superman off the bench, averaging like 20 off the bench. And LeBron became that quarterback. They were great. Not good, but great.
But is Miami the best team in the league?
“They’re playing the best ball right now. They’ve gotten their rhythm. They’ve figured out their roles,” said McMillan, emphasizing how difficult it is to guard the three-man pick and roll. “It’s a deadly attack.”
The much anticipated (or dreaded) moment
Nicolas Batum couldn’t have been neutral about his defensive assignment Sunday: LeBron James.
You’re either supremely stoked or scared silly about that match-up, but the Frenchman is still one of McMillan’s go-to stoppers. Not that he couldn’t improve a little bit.
“I think he could be better. I thought last year he was getting better at guarding. I think this year he came in focused more on scoring,” McMillan said. “He is a guy who could potentially really disrupt.”
Batum did have one particularly memorable moment Sunday. James beat him off the dribble and appeared to have an easy layup when Batum rejected it, eliciting a standing ovation from the Rose Garden crowd.
The other big assignment went to Wesley Matthews, who drew Dwyane Wade, a fellow Marquette alum.
McMillan was asked who the better perimeter defender was, Batum or Matthews.
Answered the diplomatic coach: “Depends on the night.”
