What were your expectations for the season? Development. We had lots of young players. Expected that the players would improve, and so would the team. That's what coaching is--helping players and teams get better. We never put a number on it How has this coaching job differed from Milwaukee and Atlanta? I've been very fortunate with the players I've been able to coach here--talented vets, a ROY in Lillard, solid vet FA's. Young, hungry players who wanted to improve and benefited financially from that Advice for any GSW opponents? We had an outstanding offensive night. Best way to beat them is to play your game. No one way to beat them Have you ever seen a better team than this GSW team? Difficult to compare this team with 96 bulls outside of domination. That team was physical, could wear you down. Game's different now Does COY honor matter to you if you win it? Any award is flattering, but whoever wins it will deserve it, and I know all 30 coaches in NBA work very hard. Describe atmosphere at Moda with Blazer fans. Great home court going back to 70's. Knowledgeable fans. Every night I remind myself how fortunate I am to coach a team with such a great fanbase. Do you realize you're the 7th-longest-tenured coach in the NBA? The story I like the most is that in Atlanta, after 14 months, I was the longest-tenured coach in the Eastern conference. Coaching turnover is very common--it's part of the profession.
Who gives a fuck about GSW when talking to the Blazers coach. Same reason I hate when they are interviewing someone talking about the team and then say "So, how about Kobe?". I don't give a fuck.
I thought the same thing. It suggests to me that they didn't do a whole lot of prep for the interview, so they were kind of grasping at things to ask him. He'll do another interview tomorrow morning on Rip City Mornings--it will undoubtedly be much more interesting since those guys actually know Coach Stotts.
My beef was with the "have you ever seen a better team than the GSW team?" He ain't the coach of that team, who cares?
Oh you must not be aware, Warrios are about to secure the record for the best regular season team ever.
Terry Stotts is the coach of the Blazers. No need to go on. When I'm listening to a coach of a team, I dont care about the western conference, or other teams in the playoffs. It's lazy reporting and lazy research.
This interview treats our victory over the Warriors as recent news, so I think it was recorded 51 days ago. Since our fluke 52 days ago, they have beaten us twice.
JM: To improve upon last year, you have to get better at ____? TS: We improved our defense the second half of last year, but we have to get more consistent. JM: That seems to be the case for every team, yes? TS: Well, you always want to improve that. Bothers me when people say defense is only about effort. JM: After signing Turner/Ezeli, what kind of rotation do you expect? TS: Dame/CJ will play similar minutes to last year. Everyone else will get minutes. Versatility of lineups allows for many options. Who finishes is most interesting to me. JM: Do you still feel like you can compete with the Warriors? TS: I hope we play them in a 7-game series. When we play them, we're going to feel like we can win. They added an MVP to an MVP, but lost other players (like Ezeli). JM: How do you feel about "super teams"? TS: I don't have a problem with them. Celtics had Bird/McHale/Parish, Lakers had Magic/Kareem/Worthy--best teams are going to have best players. Barkley wanted to play in Houston. Only difference from then and now is more free agency. I don't begrudge any FA going where he wants. JM: Does Olshey talk to you before he makes moves? TS: Neil has a great eye for talent. I don't get involved in the draft, but we have a lot of communication on trades/FA. Then they talked about Jay Mohr's giraffe tattoo.
Yeah, I think this in account for the East sucking for so long. All of those years with half the eastern playoff teams 25 games below .500
