Exactly, you need to curtail your defense both for specific teams and situationally throughout each game. For the most part we have one strategy no matter the opponent.
Changing your defensive schemes depending on what team you're facing ? Now that would just be cheating !
As a lot of you probably know (I didn't) Portland is by far averaging the fewest assists per game. If this isn't dictated by coaching/offensive mentality then I don't know what is. I think CJ et al are doing what Stott's wants them to do: a lot of iso/dribbling then gunning up a three or driving for a floater. It's clear that Stott's offense (assuming it's being carried out to his "design") is meant to be hero ball.
You can't just remove Dame and say "lottery". You know better than that. Someone would have been playing the position. That person would have a "win share". Obviously there is also the fact that the more wins the team gets the more win shares there are to be allotted.
did you read what I said after the list? it's right there at the bottom of my post and yes, someone would be playing PG. Maybe they could have brought back Nolan Smith, Mr winshare himself
This is from basketball-datascience.com: "Assists and assists percentage alone are not good indicators of win-loss records because there are many other factors that can contribute to wins other than good movement." Citing assists as a measure of good/bad coaching is a lazy argument and the data backs that up. Under Stotts, Portland's adjusted offensive efficiency has been up near the top. Having said that, Stotts should get the majority of credit/blame for the success of the team. What's different from last year and this year? It's not our best player, it's not our coach, it's injuries and the supporting cast. If you want to blame the injuries on the trainer, go ahead (but that would be unfounded). If you want to blame someone for the roster, I think you know where to look.
When you integrate 9 new rotation players with 3 core players you can expect passes to be off the mark or guys to not see them coming...that's going to take court time to smooth out
My problem with Stotts (if that's the guy were going to blame), is his defensive schemes. Their defense is so bad at times and it was last year too. He basically requires a big who can do just about everything, gives up a lot of easy looks, lets guys get going. The thing about NBA players is if they get rolling it's gonna be a long night. The offense sure at times I don't like it, but they normally score enough to win, it's when they can't get a stop, it's when they keep trying the same defense over and over and over. It's when a player is getting just absolutely LIT up and they keep getting put in that position. Some of my favorite memories as a Blazer fan is GS coming down every play in the playoffs, getting a screen and Ed Davis our CENTER getting stuck on STEPH FREAKING CURRY and giving up like 14 points to the guy. Or Steph coming off a screen and the big sagging about 5-10 feet off every play and literally stepping into a 3 point shot. I probably sound like an angsty teenager right now, I'm not that mad, I just feel like Portlands been a mediocre (at best) defensive team, and Stotts has to know this and seems to do very little about it other than saying they need to play good defense. Defense IMO is the one thing in basketball that is almost all team-oriented, it's people being on the same page, it's knowing your assignments, it's playing on a string, I could go on, but it boils down to the coach implementing a plan that works and the team executing it. Either his plans don't work defensively, or his team can't execute it. If they can't execute it, IE when they don't have a guy like RLopez, or Nurkic WITH a lengthy PF, it's his job to implement something they can execute. Not expect a bunch of guys who aren't capable of playing that style to play that style.
Dave Joerger doesnt have a job right now. Not sure he fits with players like Dame and CJ who need the green light all the time, but i'll take him over Stotts.
Not sure how I feel about Joerger but I was sort of surprised that he got fired in Sac. The young players were coming a long.
He showed flexibility too, from running a slow-rigid-defensive system in Memphis he decided to implement a fast-gunning team in Sacramento because he realized his personnel was different. Stotts came to Portland from Dallas and decided LaMarcus was going to be Dirk and everything else will fall into place. About Joerger losing his job - No one can tell for sure, but this game and his relationship with Hield played a role in his departure: Because Joerger is basically Anti-Stotts, he's pissed that Hield didnt make a solid play and instead chose to fire a deep three with a hand in his face on a cold shooting night. (of course Hield is an idiot because he had a teammate completely open below the basket on the last play to tie it). Stotts (or D'Antoni for that matter), would never do such a thing because they rate their player confidence and the final result BEFORE solid team play and player accountability. Will be an interesting coaching switch for sure in my opinion, i think CJ and Dame are old enough to understand that point of view now.
I agree and I’m sure the team will show grit and rally down the road plus there could be a trade or two and who knows when Nurk will be back.
Well... I think that might be a bad example. They literally have one of the best passers in the history of basketball on their team, and he’s averaging 11 apg right now.
Eh, just because you aren't yelling at a player in front of 18,000 fans and teammates doesn't mean you aren't holding guys accountable. Personally, I always respected managers who would work with me one-on-one rather than try and make an example of me. I think that's generally Stotts' style too. It has its pros and cons. I think if a guy just needs some tactical changes, behind the scenes is better. If somebody is doing something that runs counter to what the group stands for, public often works better. But you also have to factor in the player (or employee's) overall value. If you are managing NBA stars or heart surgeons, you better do EVERYTHING behind closed doors, because frankly they matter more than you do. Unless, of course, you are Popovich, in which case you pretty much do whatever you want.
Are you insinuating that Stotts holds elaborate video sessions in which he explains to players what they did wrong?