Stotts being a good assistant coach doesn't make him a good head coach. I don't miss Stotts and I won't miss Billups. So you ask, who will? From the latest GM survey https://www.nba.com/news/2024-25-nba-gm-survey?os=0&ref=app -- Who is the best assistant coach in the NBA? T-1. Sam Cassell, Boston – 17% T-1. Micah Nori, Minnesota – 17% 3. Sean Sweeney, Dallas – 10% 4. Chris Quinn, Miami – 7% Which active player will make the best head coach someday? 1. Chris Paul, San Antonio – 30% 2. Garrett Temple, Toronto – 20% 3. Mike Conley, Minnesota – 13% T-4. T.J. McConnell, Indiana – 7% T-4. Fred VanVleet, Houston – 7%
I think what you do with Stotts is you find his replacement and move him up the chain. That would have been the right way to handle things. If we were going to bring Billups in we should have brought him in as an assistant first. Let him move up the chain with his replacement taking over and if the replacement fails starts can step back in and help. Stotts is the kind of guy that the Portland Trail Blazers should be built around.
That survey being taken before Stotts is an assistant even one real game is not really telling. Unless they are considering his stint before being a head coach which he was one of the primary reasons Dallas won a chip. Not sure how much credence I would give that at this point?
Olshey fired Stotts because Neil is a dick. That being said if the organization would have done the right thing and hired a new front office after a much more complete candidate search for GM... the new GM would have fired Terry anyway. The new GM would have had their head coach and system that they wanted and probably new players around Dame or just would have been straight up with Dame about wanting to rebuild.
Probably. We can all agree that Neil was a dick. And you're right, a new management team may have fired Stotts. Or maybe they wouldn't. Again, in that situation I would look at moving Stotts up into management to maintain continuity and all the positive things that he brought. Because he brings a lot of positivity and he has some real skills and great ideas. A new management team was not going to bring in a better coach than Stotts, IMO. Not at the point Stotts was fired. They weren't going to be able to bring in better talent probably. So a better or more proven coach wasn't going to be interested in the job. So at that point, you're almost talking about just being honest with Dame that you're going to have to move him. And if you're going to tear it all down why not keep Stotts around? Unless you're simply not interested in a transition plan toward a management position. I don't know. I feel like this whole rebuilding process could be much better if we had somebody like Stotts on board as well. So, I'm not holding it against Cronin at all. I definitely hold it against Neil. And I definitely hold it against Jody, because she should have just sold the team. That would have been the responsible thing to do for the fans. It just sucks that a quality guy and popular coach who has some real skills and knowledge isn't a part of this organization any longer. That continuity and connection is valuable, IMO. I think Stotts would be better off here and I think we'd be better off with him in some capacity, even if he had moved into management by this point.
I will never miss Stotts. I prefer Chauncey as a personality and believe he’s personally and emotionally more invested than the young players development than any coach we’ve had here before. Granted he doesn’t really have a choice but he embraces it all.
Most of the best coaches in sports history never really played much. Maybe they played in college for a small school or had brief professional careers. Being a good player <> being a good coach, but it seems more and more these days, coaches are being drawn from the ranks of former good players. And who are the top coaches right now? Popovich, Spoelstra, Nurse, Malone...
Had I thought about it, I probably wouldn’t have been, but I was surprised when they said Stotts was 2nd in games coached and won for the Blazers
Yes. I absolutely miss Stotts. I have no doubt that Scoot and Sharpe would be more effective and better developed under Stotts.
He seems like a super nice guy. Sure I miss him. Very very happy for him to be in a top flight organization. Speaks volumes about him.
Adelman only coached the Blazer for 6 seasons; Stotts 9 seasons; Ramsay 10 seasons playoff wins: Adelman 36 Ramsay 29 (14 in one magical season) Stotts 22
If you factor in the number of All-Stars coached per season, I think Stotts stands up just fine in comparison with Dr. Jack and Adelman.
