i was gonna say. How often is powell in the facilitator position? He is often getting kickouts for threes or driving to the hole. He has a good knack for rotating to the open spot so he is then open getting passed to. Not the one trapped needing to pass.
Yeah he doesn't take a lot of shots so he is not a black hole. He just doesn't get many passes in first place.
Bump. It just got dispiriting watching the game last night as the Jazz toyed with us, moving the ball until they got a WIDE open three, while our guys exhausted themselves like headless chickens. Then Dame tries to take over and just runs around exhausting shot clock without ever getting a clean look.
When is he likely to get the ball? Not sure, but it seems when he is open for a three or at least open enough so that he can drive past the guy jumping at him, So I think he usually has a good scoring opportunity when he has the ball. Maybe if CJ was gone he would be used differently?
Maybe, maybe not. Chances (Chaunces) are that he's in the vast middle tier of coaches that comprise 90% of NBA coaches. But it's impossible to suss out whether he's a good coach with a roster like this that just cries out for triage decisions constantly. It's hard to know if someone is good at construction if all they have to work with to join stones together is glue and Scotch tape. All you can tell is "genius" (somehow still makes it work) or "not genius" (predictably can't make it work). Billups isn't a genius, but that doesn't mean he couldn't be a decent coach in the right environment.
I like that Chauncey isn't pretending to be something he's not...I think he questions his own coaching after every loss and tries to correct it....he wouldn't have this pressure on a lottery team but watching our offense slide down a hill has to be bothering him and there's no consistency on defense...I like Chauncey but try and remind myself he's a rookie thrown in the fire this season.
Would this be a fair assessment: Stotts looked at our roster, asked "how can I maximize what I know they're already good at and minimize the harm of their flaws?" Chauncey says, "I know the right way to play and I will make them play it, thereby making them better players"? The latter approach is ideal (a) if you're a college coach, or are coaching a very young roster, or (b) if you're a hall-of-fame coach being brought in to institute a system that you've shown to be amazing (e.g. Phil Jackson with the Lakers). Where it rankles is if you've never fucking coached before, and you're telling a bunch of pros (like RoCo) who've had success at various stops around the league "you're doing it all wrong, do it this way."
I'm also a little baffled that Billups has already taken the step of trashing his team in public. That's usually a desperation step, taken by a coach who sees the end nearing, not by a first year coach who presumably still has some leash. I could see him being harsh with guys behind closed doors, but questioning their heart and desire to reporters seems like saying either "I've lost this team" or "I don't care if I lose this team." It's "fine" (not particularly reasonable, IMO, but fairly common) for fans to do it, but a head coach generally looks to maintain relationships with the adults he's coaching. Maybe Billups will prove to be an inspirational genius, or maybe he'll be a PJ Carlisimo/John Callipari trainwreck. I guess we'll see how it goes.
i don't think it's some elaborate ruse to try to deflect blame. i think chauncey is just being who he is and doesn't know any better.
While I agree with this to an extend, there are plenty of coaches around the league that do exactly what you mentioned (trashing the team in public) as a means to motivate the team. Popovich does it (although rarely), but I understand there is some leeway due to the nature of his tenure and his history as a coach. Michael Malone also does it, and does it quite regularly. Just saying it's a different type of coaching from what we're used to with Stotts. And it may work less well with some players than others.
I didn't realize Malone does it a lot. I know some extremely established coaches do it in certain spots (Popovich/Thibodeau), but Popovich is one of the several greatest coaches ever and Thibs seems to lose his team every few years. And I doubt any of them (maybe Malone did? No idea) did it a couple months into their first job.
Popovich also criticizes himself, and also stands up for his players a lot. Has Chauncey said anything to the effect of "I'm not doing my job or the team would be better"?
Maybe Malone can get away with it because his star player is Serbian, and those guys are used to their coaches treating them like something you'd scrape off the bottom of your shoe.
yes...Chauncey on a couple of occassions has said he needs to be better and is still learning how to coach...it's what I love about the guy...he doesn't pretend to know it all.
It also doesn't help your (i.e., Chauncey's) case if his defensive scheme is openly questioned by commentators who know what they're talking about. Again, if you're a college coach and you can spin this into "you've got to learn how to do this one thing right before we can learn these other things" then you can defend doing X more than any other coach in the league. Chauncey not so much.
He's in a tough spot right now...the front office that hired him is gone...his best players are banged up and he's got some tough choices to make concerning effort by starting players...Scott Brooks is no rookie so he does have experience on the bench to help him along. A new GM is going to be a quick transition for him and his staff...things have gotten shakey in Portland and he's just trying to coach the team. I thought this would be seamless but it's a work in progress...