no, he didn't. he has played in only 19 of their 45 games this season. AND he's 2.5 years removed from the injury, unlike Rodney, who is only 1 yr and 3 months from his.
the next season they went to the conference finals. Ain’t firing Stotts after that. Then last season was a weird year and they were banged up. If Nurk doesn’t get hurt they wouldn’t have played the lakers in the first round. And no one else beat them either. So when would he have fired Stotts?
three guard lineups are more common place now than ever. Toronto did it a bunch when they won the championship. We saw a bunch of it when we went to the conference finals with Curry sharing the court with Dame and CJ. It was the most effective grouping (along with Chief and Nurk) Curry was in that year btw, with a +18 net. And Powell is a much more dynamic scorer than him.
Paul was a smart guy. If people on this board can see that the team isn't really a contender and that our success in the playoffs two years ago was a fluke, I think Paul could see it too. Just because there seems to be this convenient injury excuse built into every season doesn't mean that the team at full health still isn't that good.
I know, I know. Man, if I can’t post a sarcastic zinger around here occasionally, why bother posting at all?
Zach Lowe thought he would start in place of Jones. I don't think he will, but he will finish games. I watched a ton of highlights of him playing WITH both Lowry/Van Vleet and it looked sustainable. But Dame/CJ are nowhere near the defenders that those two guys are. Not sure of the fit.
I don’t either, but I do think that we’re going to see plenty of the 3 guard lineup. It also means that there will always be at least 2 proven vet scoring guards on the court at all times. That’s a nice luxury to have.
Like I said, that’s when he should’ve fired him, but didn’t because of Dame. So how is that not having patience for mediocrity?
The saying is always “defense wins championships” and that’s mostly true, but the best way to counter good defense is with shot makers that create their own shots. The more you have in the stable, the better your odds. There’s no defense in the world that can stop Dame, CJ, and Powell getting hot at the same time.
I think Terry realistically gets fired last summer if Paul was still here. Our defense was shit. Our offense was unimaginative. Nothing had really changed in six years. Another first round exit. At the very least, I think after the playoff run we would have made a significant change to the team. It was obvious how good Dame is, but that we weren't on the same level as even an injured Golden State.
