I don't think it's the players. They're the players they always were and in some cases (Lillard, McCollum) are better than we might have expected. I don't think it's Stotts - I think he overachieved last year and now the rest of the league caught up. But I don't think there's a coach out there that could magically transform this roster. Is it Paul Allen? Possibly, but hard to tell. So I'm going to lay this flaming bag of shit at Olshey's feet. Yes, it's not his fault that he couldn't persuade stars to sign here. But he shouldn't've set it up so that we'd be screwed if they didn't. I have never been impressed with a trade he's made, and most of his drafting has been mediocre at best. I think we could've and should've kept Batum. I think he needs to go. I think he would already if he wasn't so slick and Allen wasn't afraid of looking stupid firing so many GMs so fast. Come to think of it: maybe it is Allen. He fired Cho because Cho wanted to tear it down and rebuild and that would've been the right decision.
What makes me super frustrated is that the cupboard is pretty much bare. Look at Denver: a shitload of young players developing nicely. And the best of the best, the guy who may be better even than Towns and Porzingis, the New Pau Gasol, was a second round pick. Worse: look at San Antonio. They have been consistently better than us, and yet they manage to restock on the way. Dejounte Murray scored over 20 points in a win last night. For fuck's sake he even COMES from the Pacific Northwest. And they take Pattycakes from us and make him better. Okay, I'm back to blaming Allen. With all his money we should have a medical staff as good as Phoenix's and scouting and development like Utah and San Antonio.
I voted Terry but it really isn't him (or least only him). It is the coaching staff in general and I guess a lot of that falls on Blazer Brass (Olshey included but I don't think he makes the full decisions on who is hired as coaches). So really it isn't as much Terry as it is Terry not getting a better staff (Big Man Coach and Defensive Coordinator). This falls on Terry at least some as he should know he needs those things this year to be more successful.
Other - Chris McGowan By getting rid of Mike and Mike he got rid of our heart, our soul. We are now damned, lost in purgatory.
I blame us for fostering a society, a world, in which this Blazers team could exist as a concept. But I voted for Olshey.
I don't blame the players, they are what they are. I blame Neil and Paul for pushing the issue too much and insisting on making this team the best 3rd tier team in the league.
I voted Olshey because the roster composition is ultimately his responsibility, but there's plenty of blame to spread around.
I voted other because I do not believe this was the roster the owner, gm and coaches believe in as the final iteration. Last summer was an asset acquisition / retention phase. I do not believe the roster is where the "team" was aiming at as the target. As such, it is a transition state. The sorry state the team in is because of time or phase of the rebuild process. Going forward we will be seen what happens.
I voted Stotts. But 2nd place would be the players. We can and should do much better. We have two excellent backcourt scorers, the best scoring duo outside of Steph and Durant and can't get above 500. Are the other players not good enough? Are the rotations and lineups not good enough to maximize our abilities? Do we play with no passion, intensity? It's on the coach and the players
