Why I think this is Terry Stotts last game as a Blazer coach

Discussion in 'Portland Trail Blazers' started by Blazer4ever, May 9, 2019.

  1. Blazer4ever

    Blazer4ever Finding a Way BANNED

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    I would try to make this to the point and about basketball as much as possible, no rage, no personal insults, I've already come to terms with us probably losing this series and the way we did, so this is about basketball and why we couldn't win without substituting to an adequate coach.

    It's ok to try and fail. To tell yourself, hey, Kanter is injured, maybe we'll try him on Milsap and Aminu on Jokic, failed experiments is fine, you can't succeed without trying and sometimes it doesn't work, but if you're a worthy coach you react to the game. Jokic didn't have his biggest numbers game against Aminu but our team lost by 25, the starters lost their minutes by maybe 30, Kanter was forced to guard Milsap at the 3 point line and we had no rim protection whatsoever, we simply had no chance. Think of how little stops we've got, of how many points they scored against our starters and yet, at no time during the game, did Stotts do the respectable thing, that would show he can actually react and understand what's going on on the court, and switch Aminu back on Milsap and Kanter back on Jokic. You think he would even switch them back for the next game? I'm telling you I would be devestated but not surprised to see the same defensive lineup as in game 5 start the next game and I'm telling you if this happens, the season is over.

    This isn't the only thing, it's the little things that you can understand the logic but that aren't really working. It's substituting Harkless for Hood that scores once or twice, maybe on Murray, Hood is a better offensive weapon, but we're left without our best one-on-one and all around defensive player. In the final minutes of game 4, leaving Harkless on the bench cost us the game.

    We have a superior team. They have Jokic and Murray and Milsap and Barton but we have more weapons, better players, a much deeper arsenal, but our coach is losing us the series.
    I've lost confidence in him, I never had confidence in him. After winning game 3 I thought this could be the most amazing thing if we could win a championship with Terry Stotts. I actually applauded his game management, I said he's growing, he's no longer the worst coach in the league. But more than anyone else he's responsible for choking games 4 and 5. And we deserve better, I think that this year, with the team Olshey assembled (Olshey in my opinion is the best GM in the league), with Golden State not looking that great, with Houston being maybe tough but not unbeatable, that we could actually contend. And we could, if we had a better coach. If we at least had a coach that at least me personally wouldn't feel that I have superior basketball understanding to his. And before you're all on me for saying that and who do I think I am, realise that I don't like feeling that way. I don't like seeing the defensive assignments of game 5, realising they're absolutely killing our chances in the biggest game of the year (maybe of few years) and not trusting my coach to even fix them for game 6. I'm watching my team simply go down the drain before my eyes for this so with all due respect to Stotts, I've been a fan before he became our coach and I'll be a fan after he's gone, if he's jeopradizing my team he's my enemy. I wish, I wish we could do the impossible and win it all with such a coach but if we can't, Neil needs to make adjustments and make sure the team and the players aren't being set up to failure at least for next year.

    I tried to make it civil, I understand that my anger and my frustration after our losses insulted some of you and I'm sorry. But please in this thread, the same way I tried to clean up my act, respond to the point, if you reply make it about basketball. Lets hope there's still a chance, at least, please god, that I wouldn't have to tune in for the game and once again see Aminu on Jokic and Kanter on Milsap. If I do, I would watch this final game of the season and then make everything in my power as a fan and here in this forum to make sure this is Stotts last game as the Blazer coach
     
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  2. mook

    mook The 2018-19 season was the best I've seen

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    I think you are delusional. Denver has more talent.

    Stotts wasn't the reason we have $48m in salaries tied up this year and next in guys who are completely unplayable (Turner/Leonard). Look at Denver's salaries--the guys they are paying the most are playing the most. To be fair, NO has made up for those mistakes with some nice cheap rentals in Hood/Curry/Kanter, but just think what we could do if we'd spent more wisely.

    I was completely doom and gloom after our second best player broke his leg, as were many of us. Portland won a series without him, and we at least made the second round competitive for a while. You take away Denver's second best player, and we win this series running away.

    I judge NBA coaches based on:

    1. Team performance relative to talent: How did we do vs how did everybody think we'd do.
    Nobody thought we'd win the first round, and we won pretty handily.

    2. Player performance after they leave our team: Does a player improve when put on a different roster and unencumbered by our coach?
    How do Plumlee, Crabbe, Aldridge, Matthews, Batum, etc look? The only guy I can think of who got significantly better was Pat Connaughton. Is that because Stotts held him back, or Giannis just creates a shitton of wide open threes?

    3. Coach's ability to reach players: Do players bitch a lot or fight with the coach? Do young players seem to develop well?
    Widely regarded as one of the best lockers in the league. Portland is loaded with guys who were overlooked/underappreciated. We don't have a single player who is doing worse than expected from when they first joined the team. Guys like Crabbe, Connaughton, Napier and Layman have come out of nowhere to surprise people.

    4. Team ability to play a "modern" game: The NBA constantly evolves. Does our team reflect current best practices?
    We run a guard-oriented pace-and-space team that's pretty much what everybody is trying to do.

    5. Team organization in-game: Do we take advantage of 2-for-1s? Do we run out of fouls frequently? Do players play too much/not enough? Do we make adjustments?
    Some of this is pretty subjective. I hate how much we play Turner, for example, but on the other hand maybe the coach sees things on the court or in the locker room that I don't. But overall on the objective stuff (timeouts, out-of-bound play effectiveness, 2-for-1's) Portland is actually really, really good.

    Certain things about this series are definitely frustrating me. But when you look at his body of work and my criteria, it's really hard to argue we'd be better with most other coaches. We spent a decade in coaching hell with Cheeks & McMillan. Run them through my criteria and it's pretty obvious how good we have it now.

    Stotts isn't a top 5 coach. If we could get one of them, hey, I'm all for it. (If we can give up CJ and get back Giannis, well, sign me up for that too.) But realistically the Blazers aren't going to be a magnet for that kind of coaching talent. We've got about as good as we're likely to get. I'd rather the team focus on roster improvement and developing youngsters, and leave a system that mostly works in place.
     
  3. BonesJones

    BonesJones https://www.youtube.com/c/blazersuprise

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    He's not going to get fired. Winning the first round guaranteed that. But this is actually the most well-thought out post you've had, and I definitely agree with portions of it.
     
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  4. BonesJones

    BonesJones https://www.youtube.com/c/blazersuprise

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    Im tired of our offense being isos, postups, and pick n roll, with little to nothing else.
     
  5. crandc

    crandc Well-Known Member

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    I f you want Stotts gone IMO you have to say who available would do a better job
     
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  6. Chris Craig

    Chris Craig (Blazersland) I'm Your Huckleberry Staff Member Global Moderator Moderator

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    Stotts will be back next season which is the last of his contract. He has one more year.
     
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  7. BonesJones

    BonesJones https://www.youtube.com/c/blazersuprise

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    I was advocating hard for Budenholzer last summer. Hes a top 3 coach. Im a big fan of Ettore Messina too.
     
    Last edited: May 9, 2019
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  8. dviss1

    dviss1 Emcee Referee

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    Why does he keep making threads...?

    Especially without understanding how arrogant and pompous he sounds.

    What, you tryna kick knowledge?

    Thanks for educating the forum. I don't know where we'd be without your wondrous insight.
     
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  9. BlazerWookee

    BlazerWookee UNTILT THE DAMN PINWHEEL!

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    "Us," lol...
     
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  10. dviss1

    dviss1 Emcee Referee

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    Haha...
     
  11. kjironman1

    kjironman1 Well-Known Member

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    This is the wrong time for a thread like this.
     
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  12. DameLill379

    DameLill379 #DameTime

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    We’re down 3-1 and definitely saying goodbye to our season if Terry doesn’t send Hood in quadruple OT. I have been really hard on Terry Stotts in the past, particularly last year. But this year he has coached very well. Stotts is NOT a bad coach.

    We need the two best games the Blazers have ever played right here and right now. Forget all that firing bs. Let’s focus on what we can do to make sure Moda is the loudest and hardest hardwood floor to play on.
     
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  13. B-Roy

    B-Roy If it takes months

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    YIKES
     
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  14. HailBlazers

    HailBlazers RipCity

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    Nice knowing you NOT , GTFO of our forum and NEVER come back
     
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  15. HailBlazers

    HailBlazers RipCity

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    BYE
     
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  16. Blazer4ever

    Blazer4ever Finding a Way BANNED

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    If I leave this forum all you have here is white people. I'm not the racist, I tell it like it is.

    The reason you didn't like TRob, the reason you like Stotts
     
  17. royo

    royo Well-Known Member

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    I was on fire Stotts side since I remember. But something changed. There are some decisions he makes that I don't like at all, but team was better lately. We went from "fire everybody from this patethic team" to "we could go to the finals this year" in few weeks. I'm not sure how much this improvment is on Stotts and how much on Lillard. Team, apart of last game - run out of gas - was so fukin nice to watch.

    There is one important thing: With Nurk, with healthy Kanter we could make this series much easier. We could be legit contender. So, what will happen when we change coach when the cake is almost ready? Could ne coach ruined it and push us back for next few years trying to learn team new system?
     
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  18. Blazer4ever

    Blazer4ever Finding a Way BANNED

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    You want me to call Putin Ukraine fan?
     
  19. Wade Garrett

    Wade Garrett Exactly right.

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    Is this guy for real?
     
  20. PtldPlatypus

    PtldPlatypus Let's go Baby Blazers! Staff Member Global Moderator Moderator

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    I'm locking this thread until it can be reviewed further. Some of the posts in here (since deleted) by Blazer4ever were undoubtedly unacceptable.
     

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