Zombie Neil Deserves Respect

Discussion in 'Portland Trail Blazers' started by Fez Hammersticks, Nov 23, 2020.

  1. blazerkor

    blazerkor Well-Known Member

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    Even if he doesn't have unilateral power to remove Stotts, the salesman should be able to sell the rest of the organization on getting the guy out of here... so I still put it on him. He either has to be able to get rid of Stotts or bend his personnel moves to what Stotts does. All of this is a moot point because spending 70M on the worst defensive starting back court in the league, who in your head coach's system are redundant offensively is unforgivable.

    There's also the fact that if he doesn't get rid of CJ in the off season we'll either be starting three guys under 6'5' who are making around 90M per season or more likely Norm will leave and we'll have gotten nothing but a worse record in return for Gary. There's also the fact that he lost LaMarcus for nothing which should have cost him his job back then. He followed that up with the summer of love in which he gifted Leonard, Ezeli and Turner ridiculous contracts which would have gotten a lot of GMs fired. How about the fact that he let us play with only one guy over 6'7" for all of those games when Nurk and Giles were out this season when we had a roster spot open for a ten day? I mean, how many different reasons are needed to fire a guy after 9 seasons without winning a game past the second round?
     
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  2. Natebishop3

    Natebishop3 Don't tread on me!

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    It's because we don't have an owner. None of this would still be going on if Paul was still here.
     
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  3. wizenheimer

    wizenheimer Well-Known Member

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    I agree. If PA were still alive I'm convinced a new GM and new coach would be in their 2nd seasons on the job, at minimum
     
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  4. Minstrel

    Minstrel Top Of The Pops Global Moderator

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    Hello darkness, my old friend
    Why do we assume Olshey and Stotts don't see eye to eye on that? I don't know their working relationship from the inside, but from appearances, they seem to have a strong one. A GM doesn't keep a coach on this long, with no massive success to show for it, if there's tension in how the players are being utilized. My guess is that Olshey and Stotts communicate quite a bit on all of this and what we see is a shared vision--I think they're very much eye to eye on player utilization.

    Just using Melo as an example--people say, "I don't mind him on the roster, but he shouldn't be playing 25+ minutes! That's all on Stotts!" But Olshey was the one who said that he sees Portland as the guardians of Melo's legacy and the more he plays, the more his legacy rubs off on Portland. Does that sound like a GM who's unhappy with the number of minutes Melo is playing?
     
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  5. wizenheimer

    wizenheimer Well-Known Member

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    very good point Mr. Top-of-the-Pops

    which to me illustrates the massive inconsistency in those posters who are so aggressively anti-Stotts and turn right back around and be pro-Olshey. If defies common sense, IMO
     
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  6. Scalma

    Scalma Well-Known Member

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    because Stotts is on record saying he lets olshey bring in the players he wants and stays out of the way. It’s the most obvious after the draft when he barely knows anything about the players selected.
     
  7. calvin natt

    calvin natt Confeve

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    Some things they agree on, some they don’t. Pretty simple.
     
  8. Minstrel

    Minstrel Top Of The Pops Global Moderator

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    Sure, that means Stotts isn't involved in the talent acquisition side. It doesn't mean they're at odds over how the players are used. Even aside from the Melo thing, just the sheer length of time Olshey has stuck with Stotts suggests that he believes Stotts uses the players he acquires in a manner he approves of.
     
  9. Minstrel

    Minstrel Top Of The Pops Global Moderator

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    Right, like all humans. I was responding to the idea that Olshey needs to find a coach he sees eye to eye with. I think the evidence suggests he does see eye to eye with Stotts.
     
  10. Scalma

    Scalma Well-Known Member

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    Or he just doesn’t object. You really think Stotts’ ideal starting lineup would have non shooters like Derrick Jones in it?
     
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  11. calvin natt

    calvin natt Confeve

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    But he doesn’t on everything. Some guys are utilized in a way he agrees with, some aren’t. GMs don’t tell coaches how to coach. Which is why Stotts is gone when season is over.
     
  12. Minstrel

    Minstrel Top Of The Pops Global Moderator

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    I think he tries to make the best lineups he can with the players he's given and that he and Olshey probably confer. I don't think Olshey keeps Stotts around for this many years if he dislikes how the players are used. Mediocrity reflects on him too. If he felt usage of the players by the head coach was why Portland is mediocre, I doubt he'd stick with that coach.
     
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  13. Scalma

    Scalma Well-Known Member

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    Stotts was gonna get fired after the pelicans series, but Dame saved his job. The next year they went to the conference finals. Can’t fire him then. Last year they had injuries and covid but finished the season strong before losing to the champions. He’ll have a real reason to fire him now, and I’d be shocked if he didn’t. Stotts was a good employee. Give me $7m a year and I’ll rub Olsheys ego as well.
     
  14. wizenheimer

    wizenheimer Well-Known Member

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    that may be true, but how do we know it's really the case?

    Dame didn't say "I saved Stotts his job". Paul Allen didn't say anything about it either. Where does that narrative come from? who leaked it? Which ass does it cover? Who benefits by dodging accountability for Stotts still being in the job 4 years later?

    yeah, those are all rhetorical questions because I certainly have suspicions about the source of that narrative. But I don't know for sure if that narrative is true or where it came from, and nobody else here knows for sure either. But it's somehow become 'common knowledge"'
     
    Last edited: Apr 27, 2021
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  15. Natebishop3

    Natebishop3 Don't tread on me!

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    I know this is a typo, but it's still hilarious to think about Dame saving Paul's job :grin:
     
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  16. UKRAINEFAN

    UKRAINEFAN Well-Known Member

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    I do wonder sometimes how much Stotts and Olshey collaborate on certain decisions. Has Olshey come to Stotts and said "Look, now that we have Powell, we can't afford to pay Jones next year; so don't do anything that would encourage him to exercise his option." And of course this is all 100% speculation, but I'm looking at some of Stotts coaching decisions lately: playing Melo a lot when stats clearly show he has a negative effect on team performance; the game where he played three different guys with similar skills about five minutes each, and the crucial free throws by Lillard where he gave no instructions (so presumably no one on the team was on the same page)..... and I almost wonder if Olshey has told him "Look, we need to keep this lottery pick in this good draft year; it's for the good of the team. We're not going to be able to do anything in the playoffs anyway until Nurk and Zach are 100%".
     
  17. wizenheimer

    wizenheimer Well-Known Member

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    shit...good catch...you can be my editor

    if he did, that would make Dame the most powerful person in the NBA....even more powerful than Woj
     
  18. wizenheimer

    wizenheimer Well-Known Member

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    if Olshey actually believes that Zach is the key to Portland's future, he should be fired immediately
     
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  19. Scalma

    Scalma Well-Known Member

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    doubt it heavy. One, I don’t think they have that sort of relationship and two Stotts isn’t gonna lose games on purpose when he knows he’s getting fired after the season. What’s in it for him?

    Olshey brought in Jones but Jones is exactly the type of player Stotts hates. Melo isn’t. Melo is a vet that can get buckets. Stotts loves that, and the leash he gives him proves that. He will sacrifice defense for offense any day of the week, just look at how often he uses Simons, Melo, CJ, and Kanter together.
     
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  20. UKRAINEFAN

    UKRAINEFAN Well-Known Member

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    Well, I think his main motivation is that he is worried about looking bad for giving up this lottery pick in a good draft, but he is not going to say that to Stotts; I don't think they are that good of buddies. :)
     

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