OFFICIAL Around The NBA Thread- December 2020

Plummer, Grant, Beasley, Torrey Craig, Hermangomez. They lost a lot of vital pieces

 

Sometimes, I get frustrated with s2. Then, I visit facebook:
<insert stupid Rodney Hood + Collins + draft pick for Harrison Barnes shit>

 

George-Lillard Beef:
https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/30614082/the-brief-history-damian-lillard-paul-george-rivalry

got out of hand back in August:

 

Sacramento are definitely improved (Haliburton!) but let's not forget Denver were without Jamal Murray.

 

Spoelstra decided not to play Harkless or Leonard at all tonight and Miami (without Jimmy Butler) beat Bucks tonight after getting massacred last night.

 

The entire league is incredibly inconsistent right now. It's not just us. I think if everyone gives it until February the way teams are playing and the standings will make sense but it might be a bit of a winding road between now and then... especially right now.

 

I agree. Crazy swings in competition. The players are not playing the same in empty arenas. Players that are mediocre are cooking because it's like practice. Players that usually dominate are playing unmotivated. It's just weird and i wonder what we will see when fans are back in the arenas?

 

Wait a sec, so does Milwaukee suck again?

 

I think the Blazers should be on thinner ice than other teams who have shown more success in the recent years. Stotts is on season 9? That's insane. If we continue to be the worst in the league on defense then none of our acquisitions have changed a thing which leads back to the ineptitude in coaching.

There needs to be a sense of urgency.

 

I wish Paul Allen was alive he would have fired Stotts awhile ago

 

So Paul Allen did not fire Stotts while he was alive but since he has passed Stotts has taken the Team to the Conference Finals and then pretty much ran with a decimated team in the Bubble and still made it through the Play in tourney losing to the eventual Champions. But you think Paul Allen would have fired Stotts "Awhile Ago" after 4 games this season splitting to a 2-2 record and beating both Houston and the Lakers?
This is why you get called out Tunchi.

 

So more success in recent years means what exactly? I think i'm going to see what this roster brings after 20 games? I suspect 10-10 but would be pretty happy with 12-8. What are you expecting in the first 20 games? What would "Thicken the Ice" so to speak?

 

Stotts is maybe the longest tenured coach (same team) in the NBA without a ring. Doesn't make a whole lotta sense to me.

 

Nice to see the Wunderkind struggle a little:

 

Someone always has to hold that, er, title. If you fire a coach simply because they're the longest tenured without a ring, then you'll soon be firing the next longest tenured and so on. It's a vicious, totally pointless cycle.

 

The "Blazers" are never on thin ice. You think Stotts should be but think about what Olshey is selling to the Vulcans. Last time Stotts had a season not decimate by injury (the season before last) he had this team 3rd in the West and got them past the second seed to play in the WCF against a historically great Warriors team. How can that guy be on thin ice unless he had some sort of clash with Olshey who would then stop selling ownership/upper management on him? That's not going to happen and honestly if it did, the Vulcans might choose to keep Stotts (who is very likable) over Olshey.

I hate a lot of shit that Stotts does and a lot of his approach I find to be flawed but he also has a pretty flawed roster. I still think the Blazers have a good chance of doing what this roster should do which is get a top 4 seed and get to at least the second round and make that series competitive. Is that good enough for me when I consider what this roster could be and what it could do with better coaching? No it's not but it likely will be for management/the Vulcans.

It's a precarious time in the world and I think Jodi is probably not looking to grow the empire (I could be wrong) and so she'll likely be conservative (trying to conserve her brother's legacy) and very averse to change in all of her businesses including this one.

 

I think the team is for sale. Probably not publicly but i suspect so. This is just my opinion and i have absolutely no evidence one way or another. My feeling is if the right buyer came alone and the price was right the Blazers would be sold.

 

I really doubt that Jodi or the Vulcans advising her would want to sell in these tumultuous times but who the fuck knows maybe your feelings are right.

 

Dame where the hell u at?!