Is Terry Stotts still the right coach for this team?

id rather have thibs.

 

The assistant coaches matter much more than our head coach right now. We need to focus on player development. A head coach can get you 5 less or 5 extra wins. That won't be very important next year.

 

If you see Ed Davis hanging out on the perimeter jacking up jumpers all day, then the answer is no. Terry has to go.

 

Well at least we will be confident that "Stotts leaving the most inefficient shot open" may pay dividends to whomever team Aldridge plays for.

 

I think one of the draws of our team in a few years will be the stability of Neil, Stotts and Damian. There are so many teams recycling management and GM's continuously. Better to build a stable organization. Terry did great with the old roster when it was healthy. Lets see how he does with a young group that should focus on player development and having fun.

 

I think a lot of that was our defensive schemes around Lopez and Aldridge. We have very different big men now so the schemes could be radically different. I'd expect more trapping and switching which could be interesting to watch.

 

I know bro. That was more of a dig. Yes I'm salty!!!

 

Stotts' system seems predicated on ball-movement and spacing through shooters on the wing. Who are our shooters now? Who can create offense besides Lillard and who is our bail-out scorer when everything else goes to shit?

I don't think Stotts should be fired, but I wouldn't expect him to be able to do much with this roster offensively next year. But that's more about Jimmies and Joes than Xs and Os.

 

Shooters: Dame, CJ, Crabbe, Biebs (and Connoughton, Diez)

I don't expect him to be able to get a bunch of just-assembled young players to play excellent offense or defense in the first year. However, the following year I expect to be much improved. Stotts (or any coach in this situation) really has his work cut out for him. The Jazz coach had them playing well after 1.5 years (or was it 2.5?).

 

We might actually have the physical specimens with the right work ethic for that to be worthwhile now.

 

We're going to be bad next year, may as well keep a coach that doesn't fit with the current roster so we can lose as many games as possible and get a top pick.

 

To be honest, I was tired of Stotts at the end of our season. I don't think he has what it takes to adjust to playoff basketball. Now we keep acquiring players who can't shoot to play for a coach who likes his players to shoot lots of 3s. It just doesn't make much sense to me. But then again, if we are just blowing it up and playing for ping pong balls, who the hell cares who the coach is?

 

For whomever team? =P It might if he gets hot. But LA only made about 40% of those shots. I'll take 40% for my defense any day!

 

I think a "free flowing" offense works just as well for penetrators as it does for shooters.

 

What about his system do you think is suspect with this roster?

I don't think anyone is going to fire him based on a vague notion like that he might have a system that will only work with exactly one kind of player in the league. He figured out a way to turn a mediocre offense and mediocre defense into top-tier units, that's much more concrete. If you have specific criticisms of Stotts and how he might relate to the current roster, that would be a pretty interesting discussion.

 

I think with the changeover, now is the time to change coaches. I agree with many others in here that Thibs would be perfect. We need hustle and defense. The skill comes later.

 

Fine, I'll hazard an answer: the current roster is inferior in both 3 point shooting and ball movement. At a stretch, Henderson and Plumlee might be as effective as Wes and RoLo. Aminu and Davis are way inferior to LMA and Nic as passers. As for shooting - do I even need to break it down?

I don't know about you, but I was sick of Nate's ISO offense and really appreciated having some ball movement.

 

Okay, but that seems like a criticism of the roster, not the coach. Are you saying that there's some reason to believe that Stotts will be worse than some other coach at figuring out how to create a good motion offense with this group?

I think the offense will revolve around a lot of Lillard/Plumlee and Lillard/Davis pick-and-rolls. While the team's shooting prowess has definitely dropped off, which is a problem, they have superior roll men in the pick-and-roll, which is very important. Hopefully, Olshey isn't done and finds another good shooter or two.