Apparently that was Stotts' fault. I agree with @WesleyMatthews above though. I hope the program brings Terry Stotts in and finds something he likes to do. The dude is Portland personified. Probably my favorite coach since Rick Adelman. Though I'm liking Billups as well.
What? Noah Vonleh just signed with one of the league's best teams for his defense. Wenyen Gabriel was also a gifted defender. Both of which got rare opportunities under Stotts. That's just two examples. I believe the majority of what Olshey got was what Stotts wanted. Most GMs work with their coaches to find what will fit them best. Stotts clearly valued spreading the floor more than defense. It's why he jokes that no one wants to listen to his analysis of NBA defense.
Playing Mario Hezonja and Anthony Tolliver in front of Gabriel and Little was definitely his vault. He wouldn't develop of any his guys and rode Damian and CJ to the ground where they got outclassed nearly every series in the playoffs. He was a loser with two different teams before he got to Portland. He owes his bank account to Damian.
The GM needs to know what the Coach wants to do and get players who make it work. When Olshey did that we had good defenses. But the guys he brought in were hopeless on offensive or they'd still be in the league.
There's no such thing as getting 'exposed' not trusting your team to get results. Predicting bad results has nothing to do with being a 'bad' fan, you're just expecting your team to do bad which is totally ok. One might even argue that on the opposite, watching every games of a team you expect to be bad shows Real commitment and fandom.
His response was one of an insecure person. Tells me he wishes he wasn't so wrong. Nobody said anything about being a "bad fan."
Little was injured most of the time. Gabriel isn't exactly lighting the world on fire... It didn't work out forever, but he had a good run, and I loved the vibe in Portland under Stotts. It would make me happy if he were happily here long term in some capacity.
Has Terry Stotts ever been known for defense? Just like Cronin communicated with Chauncey to get his players, Olshey did the same with Stotts. Stotts never held players accountable for defense because defence was an afterthought. His strategy was to outscore the opponent with his two guards. Olshey got what Stotts wanted. They both should have gone a lot earlier but I'm glad Olshey gave us Chancey and Watford before he left.
How good was Chauncey's defense last season? Having a legit athletic 4 makes a huge difference. It doesn't matter if Stotts was known for defense. He coached good defenses when he had the horses.
But now we're moving goalposts. Gabriel didn't have to be lighting the world on fire to be better than the no defense guys he was playing. And yes, Little had been injury prone. But when he was healthy, Stotts opted for Tolliver and Hezonja. Simply idiotic. It never worked out and I wouldn't call burning the prime of a top 75 player as a "good run." He had a run longer than most dictators with half the success. I'd be happy to never to see him near this franchise again.
Are you comparing one injury riddled season with Chauncey to more than 10 seasons as a head coach to Stotts? Really?
I'll give credit where it's due. The initial rebuild after LMA left, but it was down hill from there. The worst part of Olshey's legacy is having let Stotts been the head coach for as long as he did.
We had the worst defense in the league when we were healthy. That's the opposite of good. And it wasn't Chauncey's fault. He didn't have the horses.
How many games was that? Agreed. So he went to the GM to get the horses. 9 seasons of Stotts and you don't think he had input on the acquisitions Olshey got him? That's unbelievable and naive.
Who's expectations? National media? Sure, but that's easy to do when you're Portland. In the regular season, sure. In the post, they came way under expectations nearly every season under Stotts.
I don't expect my coach to do the job of the GM. I expect him to do the best he can with what he has. The Coach works for the GM, not the other way around.
