No, but I have him in the top 10. I think he's an excellent coach although I disagree with some of his strategies. The important thing is that I believe the players like and respect him. We are still capable of having an excellent season. I would not want to disrupt that.
Not disputing the overall premise, but LMA doesn't belong on this list. His best years were 2010-2012, when McScribbles was ensuring his butt stayed in the paint. When Stotts came here, LMA became an unholy mix of K*be's lack of conscience, Dirk's love of the midrange J, and a <40% clip at making it.
That's not even close to being true. His best years were clearly under Stotts when he was averaging a double double:
They were his worst years in terms of FG%. He just took more shots. And it's arguable that Rolo was responsible for the rebounding. Also, if you look at the advanced stats, those years have his career-highest usage rate, and also lowest "value over replacement player" in his career (outside of his rookie year). In short, definitely not "clearly his best years", and arguably some of his worst in terms of actually helping his team.
I disagree. We can look at stats but we can also look at the results which matter much more. We made it to the 2nd round with Stotts as coach and TT as our "best player". Nate never went past the first round. During those years he averaged the most points and rebounds in his career.
What I see in Stotts is a good offensive coordinator and often a very poor strategist when faced with in-game adjustments and end-of-game situations. Blake Griffin making the game winning 3 was a great example. The guy torched us in the 2nd half yet there was little effort to deny him the ball on the last possession. Ok, so he catches it. So, wouldn't you run 2 guys at him, make give it up, go into full rotation super hustle mode and make one on the other guys (that hadn't shot in about 7 minutes) beat you? It defies logic. Make Blake pass, make the Clippers move the ball under pressure, be in scramble mode and their odds go way down. Instead, they let the only guy that had scored heavily in the quarter shoot the last shot. DUMB. You'd never see that from Pop, et al.
I don’t think it’s a coaching problem. The only thing that usually rubs me wrong is that Lillard takes bad shots and no one seems to be able to change him. So either he isn’t coachable regarding his shot selection or we don’t have a coach who has his ear OR they don’t think it’s a problem. Whatever it is it isn’t smart basketball.
- that being said no team takes more “bad shots” than Golden State. They just have so many guys who can make them and so much talent it usually doesn’t matter. Their margin for error is huge. Portland doesn’t have that luxury. Every trip down is important. No throwaway possessions.
Agree to disagree. Averaging 3 more shots to get less than two more points is NEVER a good thing for a team. And if we're being stat-based, the best play of his entire career was in winter of 2010 until the All-Star game of 2012.
To me Stotts is the Andy Reid of basketball. Great coach, one of the top 5 in the league. Yet the general consensus he has an issue with game management. Stotts like Reid could make the perfect move 99 out of 100 times. Yet because of that one mistake, people would be all 'see told you so he can't manage the games'. I remember watching one play last year before the break. Other team called a time out and Stotts wanted Plumlee to deny the in bounds pass. Players return to the court only to have Plumlee defending the big in the paint. Portland lost this game, and people were all over Stotts until csnnw posted an article talking about this. Stotts up until last night imo has made some pretty good adjustments. Portland isn't always sagging and chasing the pick and roll over the top anymore. They're switching, they're doubling, they're hedging, etc. No one on this forum will tell me the coaching staff didn't talk about getting up and defending the 3 last night. They're professionals, they're not stupid. IMO it's on the players that Griffin got such a clean look, not the coaching staff. However it's easier to blame the coaching staff.
nice list, I like Fizdale, Snyder, Clifford and that ATL coach ORL coach has done nice job at IDN and is doing fine with ORL so far all in all, theres like 15 coaches Id like at POR if theres no Tery Stotts
I don't see any point in thinking about canning him now. I have some serious disagreements with how he coaches, but I can't argue too much with the results.
If you go on the Jazz boards, they believe Snyder is one of the shittiest coaches in the league. Utah got to the second round despite him trying to sabotage their games. ATL is pretty shitty this year. I'm not a huge fan of Fizdale, don't think he's made that team any better than they were with Hollins or Jeorger(however you spell his name) Grass is always greener.
I like Stotts....I like that he's calm and not a Doc Rivers whiny bitch...he's a players coach and a winner....I also like stability in the front office....he's proven to me he knows how to develop players and keep a healthy locker room culture...nobody demanding trades or bitching about minutes in Portland! Life is good!
I agree with some of this......not the Top 5 coach part though, sorry. I personally think he's middle-of-the-pack as far as NBA coaches go. Occasionally he draws up some spectacular plays, but not enough for me to dismiss the same mistakes I've seen year after year after year. And after last night's game, I see that they're still happening. Such as in-game switches on odd players, like Dame on Blake, without adjusting and switching onto someone else, or making the right move to adjust that particular play so that it stops happening. He's had this particular problem numerous times the past three years, where Dame will get saddled on plays with guys who are twice or three times his size. We are also still giving terrible screens, and the players seem leaderless and lost at times. Like not noticing Beverly sneak in past two Forwards and a Center for the second-chance point, when no other Clippers players are near you in the paint. Now, some of that can be placed on the players, however, when they happen year after year after year, eventually, you have to start looking at the coaching staff, and ask yourself why they aren't addressing them in practice. And it's obvious that they aren't addressing them, otherwise, they'd be cleared up by now. And they aren't cleared up; it's the same stupid mistakes as they've made last year, and the year before that. Stotts has also been out-coached numerous times by anyone with a 40+ win team. Doc Rivers is a total headcase, and we could have won that game by exploiting his bipolar coaching style. But no.....year after year after year, Rivers pulls off a victory, leaving Stotts standing there on the sidelines with a blank look on his face. Like he can't be fucked or something. He's got to go. I'm pissed off that Dame's best years have been all but wasted with this coach. It's time for a fresh mind and playbook. But that being said, I freely admit to having no clue whom that new coach would be. I don't watch college basketball, nor any other NBA basketball besides Portland games. But it's not like Kerr or even that pussy hat-wearing headcase Popovich is coming here, so we're gonna have to find someone probably from College, who's esteemed and preferably Defensive-minded.
