All true. I even noticed how we didn't HackaDrummond once when we needed it, but one game does not a coach make. Even Pop fucks up on occasion. The development of our youngins has definitely earned Stotts some credibility and leeway, especially this year. Let's hope he learns from it. Horrible game all in all, So glad there's another 24hrs later.
Problem is this is not first time that Stotts didn't make in game adjustment and it won't be his last.
This is one of those teams, were you may as well skip the first 3 quarters, because apparantly no lead means shit with these guys.
Bad losses with young teams are par for the course some nights. The way Van Gundy defensed Damian is frankly what I expected to see more of right from the jump from other teams and was one of the keys to my initial feelings that this team would probably win about 33% of their games. As for the rest, Perhaps doubling Drummond would have led to a different outcome, but frankly with the way the guards were getting abused by Jackson I don't think it would have made much of a difference - those two points of stress were enough to sink the ship down the stretch. I wouldn't expect this bad loss to destroy their confidence and send them on a 20 game losing streak, anymore than I would expect the thumping they laid on the Grizzlies to spark them to a 20 game winning streak. Personally, I expect the whole season to go like this - nights where the Blazers put it all together and others where they completely get overwhelmed and loose their composure, and some night where it's a bit of both. Youth and inexperience is almost never served in the NBA and we've got both in abundance right now; this year was always going to be about seeing what you've got and hoping a few guys emerge that are worth carrying forward and one bad game doesn't change that.
Stotts is a good coach much like LaMarcus was a good player. Very solid and upper echelon but does he lead you to where you want to go? It is a players league and if you have the best players (healthy), that team usually is contending for a championship. I'm just not sure Stotts is who I want developing these players. They need opportunities to grow that might not lead to wins right now and Stotts is still coaching to win every last game. I can't blame him but that is at the cost of making players better by learning. Throw Meyers and Vonleh the ball on the block once in a while. Run a proper backdoor lob. How about something once in a while that isn't the weave we all ran in high-school. I get that Dame and CJ are good at creating looks off of that but we already know what they can do. Let Aminu and Harkless run a PnR once in a while and even if they fail, give them a chance to get better. Wins save jobs and Stotts is trying to win. But that may not be what is best long-term when it comes to development.
If the team performs about like I expect them to, then I think it probably becomes a fait accompli that Stotts gets the heave, or at least Olshey will be able to use lack of performance as an excuse to get rid of a coach coming off back-to-back 50 win seasons. I sort of suspect that in the near future we're going to hire a "developmental" coach to help bridge that transition, but I just don't think it's realistic to expect that to be this year.
IMO the biggest "adjustment" is to stop turning the ball over, I am sure some adjustments can help so guys don't get trapped as much but my god take care of the fukkin ball! when we do we have a very good chance to win
I don't know what was more to blame: defensive or offensive ineptitude. Certainly the offensive ineptitude was more obvious (and the incredibly sloppy turnovers) but I think the defense is the deeper-rooted problem. Not much we can do about the backcourt -we're rolling with Damon and CJ and neither is good - but it would be nice to have better rim protection. I was wondering idly what happened about all those Larry Sanders rumors.
No I didn't say fire Stotts but if continue not be able adjustment through then he might be the wrong guy for the job. But I will give him a shot at it due to this is a young team.
Fire Stotts! Hire Thibs!! (After the season, though. And only after gauging whether Thibs is a draw or a repellent to any prospective FAs.)
Teams seems to be clamping down on Lillard in the 4th. We just couldn't find points last night when we really needed them.
I listened to Wheels during the broadcast... was CJ out there? Could it have been possible to run dame off screens or something? I mean, we have two legit scorers... we should be utilizing and deploying different looks for the defense with two players who can get their own shots.
It's definitely a chemistry process with the new roster...they just overthink and hesitate more than they should..when they let that go, they play some great ball..the key is patience this season
Credit the Pistons...the way they played in that 4th qtr they would have shut any team down. Seriously maybe the best qtr of Piston basketball I've seen in over a decade
