I think Stotts is a great coach in spite of agreeing about playing ET so much. There's way more to basketball than that. A much huger blunder was getting ET in the first place and paying Leonard so much. Not sure how much of a role Stotts played in those decisions.
Yeah, it's not the time. He's winning. So, why did we discuss it during the regular season when he was winning?
What a total cop out! Now is exactly the time to discuss Terry. WTF? I guarantee if they were down in the series 3-2 right now this place would be "Discussing TERRY". Give the man some due. And please refrain from the whole "Well anyone is better than Billy" shit. Get out of here with that garbage,
Cop out my ass. After Dame's AMAZING performance I thought it would be rather gauche to talk negatively about the Blazers - any Blazer (other than Turner of course). Terry didn't have his team ready for OKC in G5. A close-out game at home. It was thanks to Dame (and Westbrook) that we won that game. Terry sure as shit didn't have anything to do with Dame hitting ridiculous 3-pointers all game long. He was hitting those under heavy defense - you can't even credit Terry for getting him open shots. Get out of here with that garbage. That said, I do think he had a good defensive scheme for OKC. I would still rather save my criticism for Terry (and any non-Turner Blazer) for the off season. So please don't try to goad me into discussing negative traits at this point in time (unless it's about Turner). I'd much rather focus on how awesome Dame is, how gritty Kanter is, how Harkless/Aminu have been playing tremendous defense, etc.
That's easy for me to answer, Terry had proven that the team could win in the regular season it was the playoffs that most of us were concerned about. That's why the series was so important really for both teams, those two teams had both shared quite a bit of regular season success and seen almost nothing in the post-season the last couple years. Winning that series helps Dame, CJ, Neil, Stotts reputations for the post-season.
Why is now the time to do it? They aren't down 3-2 so...? Almost everyone who criticized the team, whether it was the Dame / CJ pairing, Neil, Terry, said the ultimate factor would be if they could have some playoff success this year. We had seen regular season wins and almost no postseason success. They won a series and looked good doing it, I think everyone outside of ET had moments of looking good too, so of course, those people who wanted to see post-season success are going to think now isn't the time to bash those guys. I'm good for this year, (hopefully, the team isn't) but I wanted a series win, especially after last year and then the Nurk injury I think this team did what it needed to do to show that staying the course is ok. I'd stand by that I think Stotts isn't a great coach, but a "good one", but also I said going into the series that Donovon isn't even allowed to coach in OKC and that us (myself included) who complain about Stotts are going to see a team that isn't really coached at all, because OKC is a star driven team. Malone is a good coach like Stotts and if we play Denver that will be an interesting coaching matchup. If we play SAS we have a roster advantage and they have a coaching advantage.
I'll summarize... It's Stott's fault, but not Dame's, that the Blazers lost in the first round in previous years. It's Dame's credit, not Stott's, that we won a playoff series this year. It's Dame's credit that we continually exceed expectations in the regular season but Stott's fault that we underperform in the playoffs.
No, they all share blame in it. Dame and Stotts both get credit for looking like they had figured out how to play against the trap this year too, especially in the playoffs. They attacked it very well. Dame even admitted to when the trap came he would retreat and he had to work on handling it better.
Make no mistake...Dame had an incredible game 5 but the TEAM and STAFF won this series....without Curry's steal, CJs tying it up , Mo's freethrows, etc...we wouldn't have been tied with a chance for Dame to hit the buzzer beater.
As an old fart NBA junkie Ive watched many teams over 65 years and saw that most of the good teams that finally won the whole enchilada, had to be humbled in previous years by teams that were a step or two in front as contenders or raining champs. The Celts, Lakers, Rockets, Bulls, Pistons, Sixers, Mav's, etc. all waited their turn through playoff defeats and humility. Dame is a very wise competitor as he knows in order to achieve and win at the highest level you must also experience the agony of defeat and sometimes embarrassment. The mental aspect of a champion usually is the result of great fortitude, persistence and as the Rudy T once said "never under estimate the Heart of a Champion." Id say this team has heart!
No where because Dame is a star in the NBA and Stotts is a coach... But you can go make one if you want, its a players league. Coaches are way more replaceable.
I thought he had a helluva series. Aside from a few bone-headed plays I have no complaints about him through the OKC series. He hit his shots (which is my only complaint about Moe - what happened to his shot?), and seemed much more focused defensively.
He is so improved on every aspect of his game (his finishing ability in the paint has been a revelation)-- in this new NBA, it won't be easy to find a guy with his size and versatility. If he can sustain a 37%+ 3pt % on decent volume, we absolutely have to bring him back, luxury tax be damned. I hope he can get him for a contract like Moe's.
True, but let's give the buzzer beater its massive due. If Dame doesn't hit that shot and the game goes to overtime, it's hard to say if Kanter is able to finish out the game on one arm. Or maybe the Thunder finally realize he's hurt and start a steady diet of Adams crashing into the paint. Either way, I'd hate to be looking at a Game 6 today against them with an injured Kanter.
