Game Thread GAME# 11: BLAZERS @ KINGS - NOVEMBER 12, 2019 - TUESDAY, 7:00 PM, NBATV & NBCSNW

The people that have criticized Stotts have consistently outlined his weaknesses. Please tell me what you feel Stotts excels at as a coach

 

He's got COTY votes 2 out of the last 4 years. He got 2nd one of the years. I wouldn't bring up COTY as a measure of how good a coach is, but please name all the horrible coaches that have got votes 2 out of the last 4 years.

 

Olshey did find him players but it's Stotts responsibility to find the players that will work in the rotation. He's still sticking to Tolliver like he owes him something.

Go look at where the Blazers rank in assists season after the season and get back to me. Proof is in the pudding, Pudding. ;-)

 

probably. But that doesn’t mean you win. I think they are a mashup of players right now and guys everyone expected to be significant contributors, aren’t. I think Hassan is a stat collector but doesn’t help you win. Disappointment. I can’t for the life of me understand Tolliver playing. They don’t have a backup PG. they have injuries to main guys. Losing on the road to anyone doesn’t surprise me whatsoever.

 

Semi-educated guess: coaches in all sports tend to favor mediocre-to-lousy vets over untested youngsters. Some people argue it is a matter of choosing predictability over hope. Others would argue it is more a matter of blame. A vet screws up, many fans/media just blame the player - a youngster screws up and they blame the coach for playing him. Keep in mind that fans in a forum like this are not the norm.

The irony of the Blazer situation, is that Stotts has tremendous job security and injuries have given him a bullet-proof reason to experiment with the younger players. Instead, he is sacrificing the potential good to the proven mediocre (or worse). If he was desperately trying to save his job, I might conjure up some sympathy. Instead, I am just disgusted.

 

1) He's earned the trust/respect of the teams best player (huge in the NBA)
2) Found a way to get a team to the WCF with one of the worst starting forward combos in the NBA.
3) Coached a team projected to win about 30 games to the 2nd round on the NBA playoffs.

I could make claims about how great he is gameplanning or what he does at practice, but I don't have access to their practices and timeouts like some people here must to validate their claims.

 

When you have the 2 best players on the floor with one being an all-NBA guard while the opponent is missing not one but 2 of their best players, you absolutely have to win that game. No excuses.

 

He's not a terrible coach. He's average...

He's a nice likeable guy so his reputation gets elevated because of that. He generally has great repor with they players.

However, he's not a detail guy. He doesn't have the team focus on the 'little things' to make a good team great. Admittedly - its extremely hard to get from a good team to a great team

 

This is a horrible possession. We have scored of that exact set A LOT over the years. Certainly we can't take one good clip or bad clip and say that is proof of anything.

 

Completely agree with this. I would like to add that simply throwing someone into the rotation isn't enough. Putting them in a position to succeed requires you actually mold your offense to take advantage of their strengths. Stotts doesn't do that. NOT ONE BIT.

It's completely by luck and Damian that Nassir had a breakout game. Tonight he played but didn't even get passed the ball. We're wasting Skal and his mid-range game. It's what he was known for in college.

 

It's not either/or. The GM and the coach need to be on the same page.

 

I will not defend Tolliver, because he's a garbage vet min guy. What player should get more PF minutes in his place?

I never said where the Blazers ranked in assists. I said it is false that they go 1 on 5 nearly every possession. There's a big difference between the two.

 

When's the players only meeting?

 

I think he's pointing out the execution. Look at how useless Whiteside is there. Not even making contact on his supposed screens.

 

I agree with your first two points.

Statements like the last one you make are the ones that are major head scratchers to me. What inside knowledge do you have of the details (or lack of) that he communicates with the team? We got to the WCF last year. Do you think he knew all these details last year but magically forgot them over the summer?

 

making it worse, in my view, is that Dame came in averaging 38.6 minutes and he played 38 minutes tonight, 2 nights after playing 44 minutes, and there's a trip home tonight followed by a game tomorrow night. And following that is a road trip of 6 games in 9 nights with a back2back

Stotts is grinding Dame down just to post a losing record. He's burning thru energy that Dame will need later in the season. it's fucking stupid

 

I can't speak for Bones, but I believe he defends Whiteside to some degree, so it would be off brand for him to be trying to make this point, especially given the message he quoted. I do agree with you that Whiteside set a horrible screen in that clip.

 

Skal? Hoard? Mix it up. It doesn't mean those guys will work out but the guys we are using definitely aren't so have an open mind and try something new, coach.

Disagreed. If we weren't going 1 on 5 all the time we'd be getting more assists. And it isn't just this season where we're not getting assists, it's last season and the one befoer that. This coach doesn't encourage ball movement.

 

How many minutes would you like Dame to play? If we reduce his minutes are you ok with us losing more games? Yes is an acceptable answer, I'm just curious if that's where you are at with this season.

 

BTW, I think we can all agree that Olshey took a huge gamble on Whiteside. The obvious explanation is that he thought the combination of a contract year and Dame's leadership would make a difference. Can't blame Stotts for that, and I can't even blame Olshey too much.