To be fair, these are opinions, not facts. Your opinions seem mostly valid based off your observations and view point. My opinion is this is an injury plagued team and the remaining healthy players consist of a bad mix of players that would not win in any system. I expect us to lose a majority of the games unless there is a considerable roster addition.
Our bench wouldn’t make it in most other top quality teams - we get slaughtered nearly everytime when they come on. CJ is struggling and regardless of injuries the bigger issue we have is depth to support how we need to use our rotation and get the best from Dame and CJ. Both have struggled alot this year.
CJ has many opportunities where teammates are WIDE OPEN for shots...he just doesn't/won't pass them the ball. Is that Stotts' directive to ignore them? Highly doubt that. Stotts may not hold them accountable but I can't believe he is coaching them to be THAT Iso oriented to shun wide open players. Unless your shot looks like a catapult, NBA players for the most part make a good percentage of wide open shots. Look at the teams we play.....SMH.
No matter what system? How could you possibly know that? Last night when they built the 9 point lead in the 1st quarter it was almost entirely off transition. Then in the 2nd and 3rd quarter they don't run at all and barely pass in the half court. We've seen numerous examples (almost every game this year) where the Blazers get down double digits and start playing faster and with more urgency and cut into the lead. Why not try something like that from the beginning? I totally get why fans feel the way you do but to me it actually looks like the coaches have adopted those same excuses and don't think there is anything they should do about it.
I don't know, which is why I started the statement with "My opinion..." No way to know how 30 different systems would work with this exact roster, so it's just an opinion.
The NBA is a game of runs though. I think at times were all seeing what we want to see (myself included). Your a fan too, lets remember that. It cracks me up at times when the Blazers are scoring off of the same opportunities they were missing on and all of a sudden the commentators will start saying oh wow look at the adjustments, and its like well the adjustment was the ball went in. Almost all teams including the Blazers play with more “frenzy” when they get down. I dont know if there is a system these guys would be good in or not, apparently Stotts’ system isnt the one. The biggest difference between last year and this year is the roster / injuries. I think we all wish we’d see more fight from these guys. It should tell us something if their down by double digits in almost every game this season...
Ive thought for along time that if they'd push the ball more / play faster that it would create more opportunities. I do get tired of Dame slowly bring the ball up while eating up the clock. It reminds me of some of the teams I played against at the Milwaukie Elks league, where their ace always slowly brought the ball up and most the time went iso.
I mean you didn't even watch the game but are going to try and tell me I'm only seeing what I want to see? The Blazers ran a bit in the 1st and didn't at all in the 2nd and 3rd. They had 0 assists in the 2nd quarter and I forget how many they had in the 3rd but CJ, Baze, Melo, and Whiteside had a combined 0 assists for the game so it couldn't have been many. These are facts Tortured, not seeing what I want to see.
I have this thing called the internet and DVR's too. I was speaking more generally than just last night though. And yes, you can argue with it if you want but confirmation bias exists in all of us and you and I aren't above it.
Not all of it, but about 3 quarters of it at 2x speed. It was about what I expected (so my confirmation bias)...
Also, you keep talking about the 2nd quarter in the first 4-5 minutes they had a pass to a layup that GTR missed, CJ passed to a wide-open Melo who bricked a shot, a lob attempt that CJ threw to high, a fast break that amounted in nothing, oh and Simons bricked a layup (I'm not sure they would've given an assist there though).
Confirmation bias is an incredible thing we all deal with. Knowing you (or I) have to battle our own is the first step! I don't know if I'll ever fully get passed that step!
I'm not even really disagreeing with @hoopsjock though, sure a new system might help, it might not I don't know. I do know that it's my opinion that the way this roster looks right now I don't expect them to win, and I think there are very few teams they are more talented than. I don't know if the coaches have given up, but surely they could have. I've said for like two years I wanted a new coach as I don't think Stotts is good enough to lead to a championship.
I mean... I could but what would the point be? Im not sure what were arguing about. If a new coach could help? Ive already said it could, or if the team / coaches have quit and decided the injuries are an excuse? I suppose thats possible too.
From my "biased" point of view, this is what I truly believe is happening: The coaching staff and main two players (Dame and CJ) are approaching the situation in a way that they'll eventually figure it out and be fine. Just like in years past when they've had similar records and finished the season strong. Especially if they get Nurk back and maybe throw Collins in there too that everything will be okay again. Because of this I feel like the coaches are sticking with similar strategies and philosophies and style of play when the personnel (mostly due to the injuries) isn't ideal for that system. So my point is that when people say we don't know if another system would work or not it's true since there won't be a different coach this season but also false because the current coaches could adapt more to what they have and try different things. They could try something drastic like a "7 seconds or less" offense or a more pressure oriented defense or since we suck at rebounding just start sending guys to cherry pick when a shot goes up but because the team still believes they are and will be better they seem unwilling to change much. It's like they don't believe it's as bad as it is and won't continue being that way. Maybe they're right and I'm in the wrong, I just hate hearing that "the talent level sucks so what are they supposed to do?" There may not be an answer to that but I do know that playing with a lack of both focus and energy with very little urgency (Dame's words!) isn't going to help.
