I'm sure there were promises in OKC and Houston too but what does it show a team when someone doesn't have to earn their minutes and/or does things detrimental to the teams' success while on the court but still plays. What does it tell all of the young guys on our team? That their hard work doesn't mean anything? What would be more detrimental to this team's image around the league, getting a washed up HOFer to play his role if he wants to play at all or pandering to him to the detriment of his team and teammates? No one should have minutes owed to them, not because of a contract and not because of their previous accomplishments. Every minute played and when it's played should be assigned by the coach to give the team the best chance to win every game. Unless the coach is experimenting with rotations but that again would include not owing any single player any minutes at any time.
Who are you saying clearly deserves minutes at the backup PF spot ahead of Melo? Giles looks to me to be the only other option until Collins is cleared for action. IMO, Giles hasn’t shown enough consistently enough to warrant a decision to bench Melo after just two poor performances. This place is so fricking knee jerk over-reactive.
Who says you need a "back up" PF. It seemed like we did a great job against the Lakers using lineups that had Hood or Gary playing forward next to either RoCo or Jones. I'm not saying anyone should or should not get minutes. I'm saying that those minutes need to be earned not owed. I wouldn't bench Melo... I just wouldn't be beholden to him for anything ever. I wouldn't be afraid to tell him that his playing time is contingent upon him playing his role and I wouldn't be against pulling him from the game if he went iso a few times instead of moving the ball the way we were without him.
You seem to have overlooked the last few sentences of my original post. While I think there were agreements between the team and Melo about what his role would be here, I don't think that they outweigh the overall importance of competing for a title. If he can't hold up his end of the bargain, his minutes will go to someone else. Two games is a pretty small sample size to be making that call. Iso players seem to drive some people nuts. To me, whether it's Melo, CJ, or back a decade ago, Brandon Roy, it's about production when a player goes into isolation sets. Melo has had a long career as a pretty effective isolation player, but so far he's not looking good this season when he does that. Maybe he's lost a step or two, or maybe he's just been off. I think playing against bench players, he should be able to be effective with bully-ball moves, but he's going to have to show that he can perform that way at his current age.
I went back and looked at it just now and you're right I didn't really process what you said at the end of that first post. We're a lot closer to being on the same page than it might seem looking at all of the posts together. It was the beginning of the post that was too close to home and I also see happening with the team. In the interview after the last game Stotts said that Melo won't be losing his spot in rotation... and it didn't seem like he was saying right now, it seemed like he was saying that it's not up for review any time soon. Stotts was then asked a follow up question about if that was because of what Melo had done in the past more than what he might be doing right now and Stotts said yes and went on about not only it being his career but what he did last year. I don't give a shit about his career or last year. I just don't. Especially for a player with that many miles on him that has always had the attitude and game he's had. So all of this frustration I have isn't towards you or even a summation of your comments but more what I see happening with our team constantly (whether it's Melo or CJ or Ant the other night). Terry gets stuff stuck in his head and is in no way flexible about it quick enough. I agree with you that there are way too many knee jerk reactions in here... and I complain about that a lot myself, in and out of game threads. That being said Terry needs to react to situations quicker. It's one thing to have faith in your players to work their way out of situations but it's another thing to tell the world that you are going to blindly play a guy based on his Hall of Fame status and what he did for the team last season, when the fact is that the team salvaged his career last season more than he salvaged the team's season.
We’re at the point that every day that the Blazers retain Stotts, the opportunity cost of keeping him just increases exponentially. If they don’t make a move soon, by the time they realize Stotts isn’t the right coach, Dame will be well past his prime and they would have wasted Dame’s prime years.
It's been a long time since I bashed Stotts for being a puppet. This season gonna be even better, cos of Melo. Hierarchy in this team was well established before. Lillard owns this team, then his best friend CJ and there was Stotts. Now Stotts went down to fourth man and Melo is jumping like a ponny. At this point I'm starting to put blame on Lillard. There suppose to be culture in this team. Instead, Lillard brings his cousin to the game (and forgive me, I got nothing against this guy and wish him luck, but there is no backup for this signing). I thught that Stotts is a nice guy, but I got enough. I think he is "just a white guy on the bench". Could be Nurk bit unhappy if Stotts giving him a hard time and lettin Melo do Melo? Will Giles ever see minutes? Is Simmons quiet guy, that isn't evolving cos of BAD CULTURE this team has? Well, if Lillard wants to win something, he should try a coach. Coach that could at least be second in this team, not fourth and seemingly going even lower.
Lillard does want to win but he shouldn't be tasked with coaching or GM responsibilities. I very sincerely doubt that he is taking those responsibilities but is being given them. If we had a GM and/or a coach with a backbone, nothing in Lillard's history says anything other than he would get in line. Yeah the guy would still assert himself but he wants to see himself and be seen as selfless and coachable so he wouldn't become belligerent or a problem if given more structure. That lack of structure and leadership starts with Olshey and then Stotts. It's not Dame's fault he is left to pick the leadership role up off of the floor where Olshey and Stotts have neglectfully left it.
Bump. I've seen enough. He does not coach winning basketball. Sure, we may go on a win streak over these next few home games but it'll be off of isolation, contested 3's. This type of basketball isn't fucking sustainable. We don't run any offensive sets, make extra passes, or attack a vulnerable defense. How many times do we see opposing coaches attack Kanter in the high pick and roll when he's in? It's damn near every time down the floor. Tonight, Chicago had nine healthy bodies, and I would argue not a single rim protector was in that bunch. Instead of attacking the paint, getting to the free throw line, and getting an already depleted Bulls roster into foul trouble, we decided to attempt FIFTY ONE 3-point shots. Don't get me started on the defense, allowing 66 second-half points to the Bulls. In our four losses this year, we: - Lost by 20 on Opening Night to a division rival - Got punked by 30 to the Clippers - Allowed Curry to score a career-high 62 - Lost at home (again) to a nine-man Bulls roster
We have the worst coach in nba for last 5 years streight. I hate stotts with all my passion. It just seems its impossible to fire him.....
yup. Worst thing to happen was make the western conference finals. That bought him years of time that he didn’t deserve. Crazy thing is that WCF appearance was completely pointless. We got swept lol
I love that the poll for this thread constantly reminds me that 51 people on this forum think Stotts is a Top 10 coach. This is why he has been able to last here this long. Microcosm of the entire Blazers fan base.
