Actually. The players give a lot of credit to the knowledge that they have Dame on the court so they are always in a game. So, there's that. I don't remember which exact players said it.. but it has been said.
Okay, I certainly agree that Dame/Giannis would be pretty sweet. I have a hard time saying that Olshey blew that draft given that, IMO, he managed to use the 10th pick to get the player who I believe has turned out to be the best of the guys taken in the top 10 of the 2013 draft. NBAdraft.net's analysis for the 2013 draft listed Nic Batum as a comparable to Giannis: https://www.nbadraft.net/players/giannis-adetokoubo/ That seems pretty funny now, but it shows how much any draft is a gamble. Taking a flyer on a prospect with upside when you've got the 15th pick is a pretty smart move. Taking that same prospect with the 10th pick isn't a smart play at the time, no matter terrific it would look in hindsight. If Olshey had perceived that Giannis was worth a risk, the smart play would have been to try to trade down to get the 15th pick and maybe gain another asset from Milwaukee for giving them the honor of getting a more certain guy like CJ. As it was in the moment of the draft, there was probably a greater chance that CJ would become the next Curry or Lillard than there was that Giannis would become the dominant monster that he has. There are late picks in every draft that end up making GMs with top draft picks look stupid. It would be nice to get a GM-god instead of the flawed GMs that actually occupy those positions. Omniscience to know what every pick will become and omnipotence to get other GMs to play along with your decisions would be really handy attributes for a GM.
He's made some nice plays late in a couple games. Doesn't seem like enough to make a 20 place jump in the defensive ratings. That would imply he's dogging it super hard all game unless it's close late, which would be 100% off brand for Dame.
the "blowing the draft" was in the context of the discussion we were having about how the Blazers could have found a 2nd elite player to pair with Dame. As we were saying, the chances, in the draft, to add two elite players are far and few between. Like one every 25 years. That 2013 draft was Portland's opportunity. Successive drafts with the chance of adding Dame and Giannis (and Gobert). It doesn't matter to me how many other GM's screwed up on Giannis. That was Portland's big opportunity to have a contender, and they missed. all the defenses of Olshey I've read plenty of times before. I don't hate him as Portland's GM for one decision. But for a couple dozen decisions. Those outweigh the tsunami of excuses he's always surfing on
sorry, can't agree. Gobert is a two time DPOY who doesn't throw up useless shit around the rim. And Adebayo is better on both ends of the floor than Nurk, especially in his ability to go out on the perimeter and defend. he's a perfect C in small ball lineups and would be the front court passer Portland desperately needs beside, 'healthy Nurkic' is as elusive as bigfoot
I want Stotts canned, but I don't have any intense emotions about it - he's a great guy, and a welcome member of the community. It's not emotion, it's simple logic. Defense wins championships, and we have what's probably the 2nd worst defense of all time. What we don't have is a collection of the 2nd worst defenders of all time. So, that's on the coach. Bad Analogy: A company has a CEO who everyone loves, including the owner. However, the company loses $$ every quarter. After years of losing $$$, the CEO must be let go, regardless of anyone's feelings.
There is no reason for our defense to be as bad as it is. The main issue is effort. The second issue is Stotts sure loves to play all his bad defenders at the same time.
Absolutely. Change must happen, the situation is intolerable. So, you either 1) change the coach, or 2) change the personnel As the funny chart showed, Neil brought in 2 of the better defenders in the league in the offseason, so it's up to the coach.
Adebayo is a talented guy, but he's too small to handle the big guys that you have to get through in the West. Rudy is a defensive monster, but he's pretty challenged offensively. Obviously, the health department has been Nurk's big issue the past two seasons. I'm really hoping that he can shake the rust off, stay healthy the rest of the season, and remind us what the Bosnian Beast can be for this franchise.
If the Celtics let Brad Stevens go this summer, I would imagine Portland is one of the most ideal situations for him considering our talent right? Unless NOP fires Stan, which I can see happening. Does he go to Portland or New Orleans?
Is this 1995? What big western C's have monster paint games that consistently overpower other C's? Jokic plays high post and baseline. AD plays perimeter a lot and faces the basket. Gobert is more of a garbage-man around the rim like Kanter . The Clippers have Ibaka and Zubac. Phoenix has Ayton. Dallas has Porzyngis. Spurs have Poeltl there guys are not Wilt or Moses or Hakeem. Bam would hold his own out west just like he has against Vucevic, Brook Lopez, Drummond, and Embiid. And of course, the other side of that coin is that those bigger slower bigs will have to go outside and contend with Bam's dribble-drive-kick game, which is very good and a reason he is averaging over 5 assists a game...that's more than CJ besides all that I've had to endure 4 years of incessant optimism about Zach Collins. I've actually seen Zach get overpowered in the paint many times, certainly more than has been the case with Bam. Adebayo is 255 pounds with a sturdy base, and, he actually has a 2 inch wingspan advantage over Zach I get that you just like Nurkic more, but Nurkic is undependable
assuming Portland will fire Stotts? I would guess, if Stotts is fired and odious Olshey is still the GM, David Vanterpool would be a heavy favorite to become the new coach
Wonder why he wasn't selected by Minnesota? I mean he's paid his dues and players like him, maybe thats the problems, the Minnie owner doesn't want someone chummy with players? I really dont know why he was passed over?
This might just sound like a Stotts hating statement but I credit the discrepancy between our clutch time defense and our defense in all other situations to be indicative of a lack of discipline. That just means we are able to lock in on the defensive end, even when the other team is giving it everything they've got but we just don't give effort like that the rest of the game. Honestly it fits what I think about Stotts... the guy doesn't push his players hard enough or hold them accountable minute to minute. He's a great raw raw guy which probably means he gives a good pep talk in close games or the players decide on their own when and where they'll give their full effort. I think on this Stotts coached team the players decide a lot more things on their own than players do under other coaches around the league.
Also he's less likely to play our bad defenders in clutch time. You're not going to see Simons out there, or Kanter, but you will see Dame/CJ/and maybe Melo. Let's say you have Dame/CJ/Norm/RoCo/Nurk. That's three good defenders and only two bad defenders. But if he trots out his crap lineup of CJ/Simons/DJJ/Melo/Kanter, that lineup gives up buckets like they work at KFC.
Nightmare scenario... not Vanterpool, just the idea that Stotts is the scapegoat. Olshey should be fired first and the new GM should decide what to do with Stotts which in all likelihood will be to fire him too but Olshey shouldn't be given the chance after nine seasons to identify Terry as the problem. If Terry has been the problem then it's Olshey's fault that he's been the problem for nine years. For the record I don't see a fall off, this season, in Stotts's performance. As they say, Stotts is going to Stotts.
I bet they're both here next season. The only scenario that gets Stotts fired is if we get swept out of the first round and look absolutely horrible while doing it. Right now we would play the Clippers, so it's conceivable that we could get embarrassed. I actually would like our chances against Utah or Phoenix. The Lakers (if healthy) and the Clips would just smash us though. The refs wouldn't let us have a chance.
