In fairness I don't think you speak for the Stotts fans on the board....just saying. You can be 100% supportive of a coach and not actually melt down if he loses his job....might want to make that part of the narrative. What is a "lifetime pass" anyway?
You'd also have to fire Olshey because he's absolutely NOT going to ax Stotts while the team is still competitive and still has the support of Dame, CJ, & Nurk. Firing both Stotts and Olshey mid-season and hiring interim guys would be a total chump move that loser franchises pull off. I see no way that happens unless Stotts loses the support of the team. I totally get that you and others around here see Stotts and Olshey as the primary obstacles to the team getting better. That may be the case. I don't have any allegiance to either of them at this point, but if the Blazers are to make such major changes, they need to do it in a logical manner that is designed to get the best talent available to come to Portland and take those jobs. That's only going to happen in an off-season.
I would like for us to bring back DV from the Wolves bench and let him be our defensive coordinator again
the reasons are many and I'm all for firing him...have been for 5 years but your fear of interim replacements is misplaced in my view. I'll remind you that it was an interim GM, Chad Buchanan, who traded Crash for the 6th pick, and it was his scouting department that identified Lillard as the #1 target for that 6th pick before Olshey ever arrived. Portland probably wouldn't have Lillard if it wasn't for an interim GM
There's a big difference between "fear" and disinterest. I'm not afraid of new coaches in Portland...have seen plenty but I'm not interested in blowing up the front office now with a loyal and solid group of Blazers under contract that are going through an injury riddled season. This season is challenging for everyone with the pandemic and no crowds first of all....the NBA could easily be shut down...for these guys to show up and put in the work to entertain us is something I am really grateful for to help me get through the winter of lockdown. Draft picks are crap shoots...Chad Buchanon lucked out trading Crash...he wasn't a great interim GM in my view...Olshey has done a whole lot more to keep the team in contention after the Roy Oden era.
Last season was an injury riddled season as well. At what point do you stop being able to use that excuse? Nurk and Collins were injured most of last season. They're going to be injured for most of this season. That's on the GM for continually putting faith in those two guys as being a part of our rotation. At some point we have used up all of Dame's prime counting on a bunch of guys who can't stay healthy, and a coach who is extremely mediocre.
Wait, we've been in contention... have you really felt like we've been in contention for one moment under the Olshey/Stotts administration? Maybe it seems like we have been because Dame is so great that we should have been but we haven't. Also it wasn't Olshey that brought in the current bedrock of this franchise. Sure he was just hired but the decision had been made by Buchanan and his staff to draft Dame.
yes....getting to the western conf finals is contending...in my view making the playoffs is contending and we've been consistant at that...we weren't under the Chad Buchanon era....or Larry Miller era I don't expect to win a championship this season nor last but do expect to see us give it a hell of a try. Until superstar stacked teams stop occuring those teams are going to win most championships...I accept that but it also makes the prospect of upsetting them much more exciting..I love the Dame era of Blazer basketball and Stotts is part of that....I've listened to his detractors since he signed with the team.....they have been very consistent in doubting a player's coach was the right system for success....that's the real issue here...if you don't like that...you will not like Stotts at all.
My position: the team should fire Stotts (and Olshey) as soon as they've identified replacements they believe will be better. That could be a veteran coach or an up-and-comer. But they shouldn't fire people until they have some idea of where they're going next--I want the franchise to operate with a plan, not by the seat of their pants.
a lot to unpack there last thing first: Portland is not in contention. They are not a contender...they are a pretender and that's been the case since Olshey arrived. The reason Portland has been in the playoffs for 7 straight years can be found, occasionally, shooting from the logo. Olshey isn't responsible for that success, Dame is, and Dame wouldn't be a Blazer if not for Buchanan and LOL at Buchanan getting "lucky" compared to Olshey's apparent skill. Yeah right, it was just luck that Buchanan dealt with Billy King and pulled off the most consequential Blazer trade in 25 years. Meanwhile, it was Olshey's skill that gave out all those idiot contracts in 2016. It was Olshey's skill that gave Portland Zach Collins when they could have had Donovan Mitchell, or Bam Adebayo, or John Collins. I wish Olshey had Buchanan's great luck because his skill is pretty average. Maybe if he had that luck the Blazers would have Giannis instead of CJ, or Siakam instead of 30 games of Afflalo
Go out on a limb and tell us who'd you like to see take over as GM and coach? At least give some idea of what you want to see other than just replacing the three you mention. That's the easy part right?
Here's where you can stop unpacking....if this is your parameter then the Nets and Lakers should be your team to cheer for....upsetting the major market stacked teams is the great part of small market fandom. I don't fault Olshey for Zach Collins injuries but I do blame Olshey for Festus Ezili and Pau Gasol...those are two of his blunders in my view. If you think the Blazers now are pretending to compete...why bother? I project they'll beat the Lakers next game....we beat them with Lebron and AD....pretenders don't do that....we swept Philly...same thing. If ever there was a season for patience given circumstances...it's this one but it's all good....I've said my part in the Fire Stotts thread
I heard this morning on the radio that Stevens has earned the opportunity to get things right. He was to be thew second coming of POP and look at the talent they've had there over the last few years. They a couple games under 500? How does that happen in year like this?
I look at the team the same way that I look at my own career. I have parts of my life where my career is booming, and parts where it slows down, but as long as I'm always moving forward and improving towards my goal, I'm okay with it. If I was stagnant and no longer moving forward, I would feel like it was time to make some major changes. I have had that happen a couple times. I felt like I was at a dead end and needed to make a major change. One of those changes was cutting bait and going back to school. The team is the same way. I don't expect us to always contend, but as long as I feel like the future is bright and we're moving towards contending, I'm okay with bad seasons or dips. The problem is that we have been rolling with the Dame/CJ/Stotts combo for 9 years now and we are not a realistic contender. We haven't been a realistic contender since LMA left. That was fine when Dame was in his mid 20s, but he's 30 now. Time is running out. The window is closing. And when Dame runs out, the party is over and we're back at square one.
I hear ya and agree and commend you for making a change. I don't really have a problem with advocating big changes but what Id like to hear more of, how are you going to do it, objectively. Just saying change the GM is the easy part, tell how and what you are going to replace him /her with, give me names of guys you like that could be realistic targets, what is there strengths, what is their history? When I had my team present improvement plans, for the year, I asked how they were going to achieve the goal they set. Dont just say, well we had a shitty year, fell short of goals. So for this year dont just say Im growing the business by 20%, thats doesnt tell me how you will accomplish it, what tactics and time lines, how are you going to measure against your objective goal? To much, well, lets fire their ass's, been the same crap different day! I want to hear realistic GM & coach replacements, and why?
Step 1: We need new ownership. I get that it's romantic to still have the Blazers owned by an Allen, but this team feels like it's asleep at the wheel. When Paul was alive, we had direction. He was very involved in the team and he held the team accountable. There's no way in hell Paul would have let this team continue to treadmill the way that they have. Step 2: New management. Neil simply hasn't shown an ability to take this team to the next level. He seems completely averse to taking any real risks. You're assuming that the best candidate is someone that's known to us, but I would say that there are candidates out there that I'm sure none of us are aware of. Why do we need retreads? Step 3: New coach. This team needs some new ideas. New blood. The team is extremely stagnant. I want to at least see what the team as it is currently constructed can do with a fresh set of eyes. Step 4: Break up Dame and CJ.
For those of you that give Stotts the benefit of the doubt due to injuries, I hope you afforded the same leniency to Nate McMillan. McMillan had to deal with even more catastrophic injuries to his franchise pillars in Brandon Roy and Greg Oden. Yet McMillan couldn’t even last a full season after Roy’s career in Portland ended. He was fired mid season after Roy was done. Not to mention, McMillan had to deal with Raymond Felton on his team in his final season.
McMillan was fired midseason because he had lost control of the team. Here's a quote from a CBS Sports article at the time: "Which players did McMillan lose? More like: Which players didn't he lose on this patchwork roster full of competing interests? Starting point guard Raymond Felton has been atrocious on and off the court it since he arrived via trade on the night of the 2011 NBA Draft.Fellow guard Jamal Crawford, signed as a free agent in December, was visibly frustrated with his changing role, shots and minutes under McMillan. Forward Gerald Wallace -- acquired at last year's trade deadline and then traded to the New Jersey Nets on Thursday -- provided inconsistent production all season. Center Marcus Camby -- acquired two deadlines ago and shipped to the Houston Rockets on Thurdsay -- took out his evident frustration with flashes of homicidal rage during the team's current road trip, getting ejected for shoving Washington Wizards forward Kevin Seraphin to the ground and then getting a flagrant foul for decking New York Knicks forward Landry Fields on a dangerous play in transition. All the while, franchise forward LaMarcus Aldridge has taken on the glazed look of Chris Bosh circa 2008, going through the motions on offense and in his bland post-game comments. The last time Aldridge looked genuinely excited came when he was named to the 2012 All-Star team. Together, the Blazers haven't looked worse in years. 20-23 on the season and resting in the Northwest Division basement, Portland is 2-6 in March, its only wins coming against the lowly New Orleans Hornets and Washington Wizards. The losses, including a number of blowouts, have been embarrassing. McMillan called the team's performance "unprofessional" after a 17-point loss to the Indiana Pacers in which the Blazers set an all-time franchise low with just five assists as a team. Portland followed that game up by scoring just 29 points against the New York Knicks in the first half, on their way to a 42-point loss at Madison Square Garden." Does any of that sound the least bit like the current situation? No. Dame, CJ, Nurk, Melo and, as far as I can tell, everyone else on the roster all support Stotts and the team is overachieving despite injuries.
Blaming McMillan for a "patchwork roster full of competing interests?" Sure, that makes sense. So it was McMillan's fault that Felton underperformed and was a malcontent. It was McMillan's fault that he didn't want to protect Jamal Crawford's legacy? This team had just lost it's leader and franchise player in Roy. I'm sure the morale was low. I don't think blaming McMillan for that to be logical. I didn't see anyone blaming Stotts for Whiteside being a malcontent last season. Imagine if Stotts ever lost Dame...The ONLY reason Stotts is still here is because Dame wants him here. That's it. At the end of January last season, Portland was 16-24. Stotts still had his two franchise players in Dame and CJ.