I think we should be a lot more careful with firing Neil than Stotts. Some will disagree. While I absolutely fault Neil for keeping Stotts this long, and maybe ownership has something to do with it, but he kept our team stacked. He's had some really good finds. He's also missed like everyone else. Before Prichard arrived, we fell into it with 2 really really bad GMs. That stuff fucks up your franchise for decades. Taking Telfair instead of Paul, etc. Neil is one of the better GMs in the league. A coach is less integral to the success of a team than a GM. If you draft bad, you're done. If you coach bad, your team talent might overcome it to an extent, like what's happening now. I don't think many coaches in the NBA could be doing worse than Stotts right now. GMs? There are many that are worse than Olshey. I'd be careful about replacing Olshey. Not against it, but replacing him has a high probability of going wrong. We've seen it before. Stotts on the other hand? I think hiring almost anyone would be an improvement.
Why do some people act like replacing Stotts mid-season would result in some big drop off? I dont see how a coach could coach much worse than simply running drop scheme constantly, and an offense consisting almost entirely of isolations and pick n roll. A new coach is gonna come in here and tank the team how, exactly?
I still think Stotts is still here because Dame wants him here and Bert & Jodi know it too. There will be big change after the season is over and we get pumped form the championship game. Then Jamal Crawford will be hired or they go after bettlejuice?
More likely it would be on of the assistant but what I heard Stotts don't pay to much attention to assistant so one them might have different ideas how the team should be run.
I agree, I wouldn't expect a big change in outcomes if Stotts were to be replaced by an assistant mid-season. Luke Walton went 39-4 running the system already in place with the Warriors.
IMHO this absolutely will not happen until the team sells. You can mince words all you want but it comes down to the exact same question. Who are you saying is going to make this decision? Jody? (Her executive Group????) Chris McGowan? The Vulcan's? Is that who you keep referring to? Exactly who? There is no way Jody Allen is going to conduct a coach and GM search in the NBA. She doesn't have the slightest clue. Is that who you want doing this? Chris McGowan is a bean counter. You want him searching for your next GM and Coach? The only person even remotely qualified is Bert Kolde. Maybe that is who you are thinking of? I guess by "Fairly Soon" you must have meant in the next couple years. Fair enough.
Maybe because the teams perennial All Star wouldn't want that to happen. I wounder why people think it would be just fine?
When I said, "plenty of time to right the ship" I wasn't saying we would right the ship but it will be plenty of time. So that will be an indictment on Olshey's management. That will result in Stotts going too. It's been my contention for quite some time that CJ and even Nurk to an extent are terrible fits on this team... that's with or without Stotts ball. I think at the very least CJ needs to be dealt at the end of the season but before that we have to have Olshey fired and then Stotts. So I don't think that we'll be better when our second and third best players get back. I think we'll tread water, get into the playoffs and likely lose in the first round but definitely won't make the kind of run that would justify keeping a GM/Head Coach regime for a full decade.
Dame is not going to go Harden on us. His brand would go to hell. On top of that I don't think Dame is the primadonna that you obviously think he is. He has said time after time that he understands that this is a business and he isn't leaving here unless the team wants to trade him. He's never said anything about CJ, Stotts or Olshey having to be here. He's just supported them like a great member of the team.
David Vanterpool is the only coach I could see us hiring as head coach that I think Lillard would be okay with.
I think he'd hate losing Stotts no matter what but I think Brian Shaw, given that Dame's known B Shaw (as he always calls him) since Dame was a kid, is a coach that Dame would be okay with. I bet that if Olshey was fired, then the new GM fired Stotts, Dame would be open to a lot of different coaches as long as the coach they hire is someone Dame respects.
Exactly. All these people acting like Dame is so sensitive and such a dramatic person that he's just gonna throw games if we hire a new coach or demand a trade and sit until one is made.
I don't think either of those guys is a bad fit at all. I think we could have a top 3 offense and a borderline top 10 defense with only a couple very minor tweaks to this roster and an elite coach. That's good enough for contention right there.
Nobody anywhere said that. But I can assure you that if the Blazers fire Stotts (And no it isn't going to be this year) and the new coach ends up no better or even worse (which is a very good possibility) this board will explode. Too many of you either were not around or too young to remember 6 GMs in 5 years and 4 new coaches. Believe me you may not like where they are now but the old "Grass is Greener" mantra is just that. Here is what i think is going to happen. Disclaimer- I am absolutely nobody and have absolutely no insight into the team. My bet is the coach has this season to make a run. He got a decent roster that he asked for. They should be back and fairly healthy for the end of the season. I also feel even injuries won't help if this team doesn't produce soon. I also feel this conversation has been had already between Dame and Stotts. Terry Stotts knows as well as anyone all things come to an end. They both know at some point there will be a new coach unless this team wins big. Dame will do everything in his power to make that happen. In the end 9-10 years in the league at any one place is a very long time. But just because a percentage of fans have vested a bunch of time into saying he needs to go and they no longer have a rational unbiased viewpoint is not and should not influence a decision. It won't take a miracle to get another year of Terry Stotts. Just a solid second round showing. The Team eventually will be sold. That is when you will see big changes. The Pandemic will hinder any possible sales and the team will not mess with a solid consecutive playoff record before this team is sold. From a business point of view this is simple. If the team makes the playoffs again or even makes the second round, the team is worth more than if it is "Small Market" and in total disarray because they have an interim coach and are on their third de-facto GM in 2-3 years while failing to make the playoffs at all with an aging All-Star and his side kick with an oft injured center. Good Business says you stand pat and hope for a solid run this year and then sell while the team is a piece or two away from contending with a new coach. Bert Kolde has been at this for a very long time. Over 30 years. He not only runs the Blazers but he also runs the Seahawks. Ultimately he is the hatchet man. For the last 20 years he has been the real influence on this team and still is. Remember. The Blazers are Entertainment. This is all a big business and in the end it's all about money. That is all opinion. Don't look for any changes this year and probably not before this team is sold which will happen when the Pandemic cools down. 12-24 months at the earliest.
So obviously most of us in here were around for the GM fiasco it was only 15 years ago or maybe I'm assuming a lot. I guess I was posting on O Live in my early 20s so there are probably some that don't remember that. It's kind of absurd to be referencing that in the throws of an unprecedented tenure for both a coach and GM that have never even won a game in a conference final. I really believe that wanting to have a coach with an unprecedentedly long and mediocre tenure fired is hardly irrational. What is probably irrational is to think that losing in the second round should be good enough to keep him around. If this is the roster that he wanted, he better damn well put out the best results he's put out. If he wants to make it to a full decade as the head coach of an NBA team, he better win a damn game in the conference finals. We shouldn't be the fans that have to put up with a coach that lacks the resume to justify his tenure. That's not irrational. Trying to rationalize unprecedented behavior that is without rational is irrational. I know you said this was all conjecture with your first statement in bold and my arguments are as well... just conjecture and opinions and I appreciate and respect yours. That being said, we have no clue what Mr. Allen asked his sister to do as the trustee of his estate. I know he asked her to donate a lot to charity but I haven't read any explicit instructions regarding the Blazers or Seahawks. So I don't see why, if there were no public talks about bids for the teams in 2019, we would think that she is planning on selling them off before she dies. They continue to appreciate in value and I would think that they would get the highest yield to give to charity, years from now when she's dying or dies suddenly. The Vulcans can handle the sale if she's gone. I just don't see Jody giving up the appreciation of this asset. It has appreciated by an average of 87% per year since Allen bought it now worth 1.9 billion after being bought for 70 million 31 years ago but that doesn't tell the whole story. It's appreciating faster now than ever in value not in percentage. In late 2018 when Allen died Forbes appraised the team's worth at 1.4 billion and now say it's worth 1.9, half a billion is a lot. Their won't be any selling these sports teams at a high point in her lifetime.
