* "Food gets stale. Fuel degrades. So does the business of basketball. Stotts may be right for some other upstart franchise, one in need of an offensive spark. Olshey may be perfect for some other NBA city, maybe one with more valet parking. But the duo currently feels like it’s out of good answers." ******************** * "I was alarmed on Tuesday by the post-game comments from Stotts, who said: “Chicago outplayed us. They played harder than us.” A big piece of that is on you, coach. The metrics for this team, in season No. 9 for Stotts, suggest defense still isn’t a high priority. Also, for a while I’ve wondered for a while if Olshey’s primary focus isn’t as much about winning games as it is crafting the narrative about his own job performance. He desperately wants to be known as a draft-day guru. He hit a home run on Lillard, who the franchise had already scouted and identified before Olshey was even hired. But his marginal picks and misfires often get too much patience, too many minutes, and too much money. Olshey’s vanity has hamstrung the overall effort." (that link above (in red) talks about what both Quick and Chris Haynes said at the time that the Blazer scouting staff had landed on Lillard as the target in the 2012 draft before Olshey arrived) ************************** * "When Olshey ran back Enes Kanter, Jusuf Nurkic and Carmelo Anthony this season, it felt as if it was stuck on repeat. Stotts has a good offensive mind, but the Blazers allowed the Bulls to score 66 points in the second half on Tuesday. Worst of all, nobody was shocked by it." ************************** * "Any good GM might consider shaking up the roster with a shape-shifting trade, but that would mean Olshey admitting he was wrong about some of his prized draft picks and off-season signings. Any other coach wouldn’t first point a finger at the locker room, but that’s what Stotts essentially did. Allen bought the Blazers in 1988 and stuck with coach Mike Dunleavy through 296 games. He gave Maurice Cheeks 301 before firing him. Nate McMillan got 535 games to try to win. Stotts is now on game No. 648 -- and counting. Stotts’ playoff record in Portland: 20-36. Same record for Olshey. I’d like to see something else soon enough. Maybe it’s just me but I left Tuesday night’s game thinking, “What would Paul do?” Because his old basketball franchise has gone stale and that starts with the coach and GM." https://www.oregonlive.com/sports/j...h-gm-braintrust-turning-into-a-stale-act.html I feel kind of dirty quoting canzano, but it's the busted clock theory at work I guess. Turn up the heat on the two doofus guys assembling the rosters and guiding them on floor
Simons being the “most talented player he’s ever drafted” is pretty telling. Simons is destined for China - he’s that bad. Ant’s numbers last year were literally one of the worst in NBA history and he’s on pace to be even worse this year. At least he struck gold with Trent.
Simons, as like a 19-year old rookie playing in one of his first games, scored 37 points. Soup Juggler has never surpassed 33 points in his, what, 8-10 years? I’m not ready to declare much re: Simons, but Waiters has never earned more than a waiter’s salary in a sea of millionaires.
Disagree. Simons is genuinely talented. He's just a headless chicken on defense. I think Zach Lavine is a good comparison - he'll probably find a home on some NBA team and score well for a shitty team. That occasionally beats the Blazers.
Unfortunately, Olshey's "prized draft picks" like Anf and Little and Zach have almost no value right now. His other prized pick would be CJ who he seems to over-value. His only free agent signings are Kanter (no value), Melo (no value) and Jones (modest value). Am I forgetting anyone?
Yes, you forgot Hood, who because of his injury status and still recovering from Achilles tear and contract status (can opt out next year) also has pretty much no value.
I'm not sure....considering the posters here, and who the top dog is, I'm just thankful there's no scratch-&-sniff feature
