I don't know about DE, but NBADraft.net still has old draft boards up. Here's Lillard's page: http://www.nbadraft.net/players/damian-lillard 2012: Aggressive in transition, always looking to make something happen ... 2010: Makes better decisions in the half court than full. Will need to become better on the break …
Good point. In fact, I don't even know why they have a regular season since only the playoffs have any meaning. They ought to skip the regular season and go straight to the playoffs. In addition, the point differential means nothing. It's assists that really count. Lastly, I'd like to add that someone pointed out already that the first 6 of those playoff losses were to the Warriors when they had the best record in the NBA, winning the championship one year and coming in second the other year. Nevertheless, I say we gather our pitchforks and tarry torches and gather in front of the Rose Garden where we ought to storm the place and run Stotts out of town, tarred, feathered and tied to a rail.
Agreed, but context is important. If he was weak in that area, at a fairly low level of competition, then he was probably really weak at it as a pro prospect. So, my guess would be, having watched him only in highlights (which can make Pryz look like an all-star!) his college improvement in transition was similar to his pro improvement in passing and defense...arrived at adequate at best.
Why would he be weak in that area though? He has the skills to be a great player in transition and on the break. Loves pull-ups, very quick, attacks the rim well... To me, it seems like more of a decision. We need a coach that pushes him to push to the ball.
"Playoffs mean more than the regular season" doesn't mean "The regular season has no meaning". I really hope you can see the difference there. What does point differential and assists have to do with each other? One is a facet of play, and is a product of play.. You're trolling, huh? So the logic is "It's okay if we get swept because it's okay that we can't even compete with the best"? We're trying to be the best, right? So I don't understand why it's acceptable that we lost 6 straight to Golden State. The more and more we get away from that debacle of a series, the more people will get back into the mindset that Stotts is a good coach. He's a nice guy, so people easily forgive and forget his mistakes, and search for other evidence as to why he's right for this team. If we have a great roster, and win 49 games in spite of Stotts, it's "We won 49 games therefore Stotts is a good coach". If we won 19 games because of Stotts, it'd be "We won 19 games because our roster is trash and it's not Stotts' fault". No matter how bad he could be as a coach, he'll have his defenders, defending him to no end. If you haven't come around to the realization of how he hurts the team by now, you never will. People who have always defended Stotts have stated they see the problem now and want him gone, they're just not vocal about it because all the Stotts-fans sit here and act like anyone who want him gone is unreasonable, and they discredit them by pretending they only want him gone because they're "over-emotional" and "over-reacting".
In the Draft express video transition play was listed as one of his strengths. Giving stats per 40. Nbadraft.net has always been the red haired stepchild of the Draft websites.
Why do some of you resort to personal attacks when you run out of logic? Why not stick to commenting on the post and not the poster? I've got my own personal theory but I'll leave it to others to conjecture on it. Can you summit a mountain without scaling the first part of the climb? If you're in a race, do you ignore the part that gets you into the pole position? Is the regular season worthless? Why is Stotts admired around the league but not in here with our experts? Are the people who make the big bucks in the NBA all stupid? Dwane Casey has huge respect for Stotts, does that make him dumb? I think we should fire them all and hire our experts, then we'd see just how great the NBA could be.
Unfortunately that video is no longer on youtube... WEAK... http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/Damian-Lillard-6152/
Where did I personally attack you? The part where I referenced that the only ones who still support Stotts are people that'll always support him? I'm not saying that makes you dumb at all, you made that up, I'm just saying that those who still support him will be in his corner no matter what. That's not an insult, that's not an attack. That just means you have our mind completely made up in regards to Stotts, as I do as well. I'm not changing, you're not changing..... Where did I personally attack you? And onto this....What is with people not reading lately? You quoted a post where I said: ...and then you ask me if the regular season is worthless? Cmon. You underestimate the collective knowledge of our forum. It's easy to say "He's an NBA coach, you're not, so obviously he's 10x smarter..." Basketball is basketball. Stotts has intangibles that posters don't have, there's a lot that goes into coaching the team.. but when it comes to the product on the court, the style of play, and schemes we run, everyone can see whats happening. Some posters can see problems that Stotts doesn't, and call for adjustments before Stotts realizes he needs to make them... And then Stotts makes them, and they work.
What's your point? Am I not a Blazer fan because I think the playoffs are more important than the regular season and that Stotts isn't a good post-season coach? Hah.
Sarcastic response that infers that those who want Stotts gone because of struggles in the postseason believe the regular season means nothing.... Makes stuff up to pin against us... Sarcastically implies that we're all angry and unreasonable. Mocks us. Yeah. Nice post.
No, you couldn't judge whether a person was a fan or not just on that. It's certainly a point worthy of discussion, I just happen to disagree with most of the conclusions I've seen reached on the subject. Does the post season count? Yes, of course. The only question is whether it's virtually everything or not as some in here have put forth. If you have found me disagreeable then I probably need to apologize 'cause that is not my conscious intent.
If you call a good hearted fan around here a troll....you get a response....respect people and respect comes back at you....you are condescending towards a lot of fans...you even made a list...then complain Olshey is condescending...whew....you've spewed this false sense of superior basketball knowledge at multiple forum members. You do have some knowledge of the game but that isn't a free pass to judge the opinions of many long time fans here. We got swept in the playoffs by a team steamrolling into the first round and playing lights out.....fact...Pelicans beat us....we didn't lose the series...they won it...Laker fans would claim they lost and never credit the team that beat them as winning...Pels won...it's over. Stotts was the offensive coach of a championship Mavs team....he's had some playoff success if you check it out...he's gotten us to the second round twice...first time he did it had been about 14 years...I tend to value that
Mock you? Emphatically no, I meant only to embellish my point. If you think I'm mocking you then perhaps my method was too over the top. It's difficult to look at one's foibles and I've certainly got foibles. Hey, that's a funny word, foibles. Foibles, foibles, foibles, foibles, foibles, foibles, foibles. Oh, come on, I think we should relieve the tension and lighten up.
