Notice This is the worst Blazer team I have seen in my lifetime.

Oh with the way this team is under performing, just to keep the value of the franchise up and the tickets selling at the Rose Quarter the Vulcans would be wise to get a GM more ambitious than Olshey. There's a great chance that I'll be disappointed too but I honestly think if this team doesn't get past the first round, with all of the title talk Olshey's been spewing for so long, Olshey's head rolls and then there will be something akin to a blowup. The new GM will trade CJ, possibly Nurk, will replace Stotts and we'll have a new team that the new GM will be toting as one that gives us and Dame a chance for a title... or Dame says he's not on board with that and we have an actual blow up.

I just don't think Jody and The Vulcans (still one of the greatest names for a rock band with a female lead) are going to want to look like they are content with the image that the Trail Blazers don't give a shit about winning or that it's impossible to win in this market but hey maybe I'm wrong and we can all go eat shit as far as they're concerned.

 

Underperforming relative to what? Since you're talking about Olshey, you seem to mean the franchise as a whole is underperforming, not just that Stotts isn't getting enough out of the talent.

Aside from winning a title, I think the Blazers are probably in their revenue-maximizing range: not paying luxury tax, putting out a regular "winner" (above .500), making the playoffs most years, once in a while having a playoff run past the first round. Winning a championship would probably generate more money, but that's much, much harder--very few teams win the title.

Certainly, I'd rather my team(s) (to cover all sports) push for a championship rather than perennial okay-ness, but perennial okay-ness is what keeps a team relevant and people continuing to watch and buy tickets. It's bottoming out that kills a fandom. So I don't think there's a money-making urgency that you're suggesting to can Olshey and blow things up.

I don't think the Blazers have the image that they don't give a shit about winning.

I'm not at all a fan of Olshey, or Stotts. Or most of this roster. I just think you, like AldoTrapini, are projecting your desires on what the franchise thinks.

 

I think his playoff winning percentage you pointed out is far more important than the win percentage in playoff series losses. .344 is nothing to write home about.

The difficulty in comparing coaching win percentages is that the comparison is only valid if the talent level were equal. If a coach took the Hornets roster from the last 3 years only to get swept each season and you compared his playoff win percentage to a coach with 3 all-nba players who swept his opponents in the 1st round (due to superior talent) and got upset 3-4 in the 2nd round, the playoff winning percentages would tell you the the 2nd coach is better. I would make a case, the 1st coach is far superior.

I guessing if you compared Stotts to other western conference coaches who only had 1 below average all-star, he would not look fantastic, but he wouldn't look horrible either.

 

Realy really really good post!

 

So much discussion around GM when its the owner & some that control things. We are a junior training ground / profit center for the mothership.
We need to hear from Bert & Jodi.

 

We were sub500 last year. We are 600 this year. Looks like building to me.

 

We won’t be after the next 20 some games.

 

This is it. When the fall is only thing that's left, its how you fall.

The same. Show heart. Grit. Integrity. Where is the Rocky Balboa in this team???????

Is this season over and if not, whats the remaining strength of schedule?

Or were you intentionally comparing apples to oranges?

 

the Dame/CJ era looks like fairly standard variation of fairly static team

253-201 ---> .557 winning percentage ---> 45.7 wins/year on average

playoffs ---> 14-26 ---> .350 winning percentage

now, you could probably argue that the first two years are skewing regular season percentages down a little. But last season shows the team can drop to .500, or below, with just a hole or two on the roster, or a bit of adversity.

and I believe the schedule in front of them could drop them closer to .500. At the same time, Portland always seems to have a Dame-fueled win streak sometime in the season; maybe they have one coming

 

Id like to add that some other teams, when losing the best 1 or 2 still find a way to get back to the top even during a mid season struggle.

Lakers - without LBJ for how many games this season?

Brooklyn without KD for how many games this season?

Great teams endure.

Done with the injury excuses from people supporting this team. Its part of the game.

 

You realize when you remove players you listed above those teams still have 1st team all-NBA players left on their roster. We lose Dame, not only do we not have a 1st team all-nba player, we don't even have an all-star.

 

but Portland hasn't had Dame removed too often. It's been the non-all-stars

 

I think you can extend that through the 75-76 season as well. They weren't much better

 

they were also undefeated....glass half full

 

Pretty low defensive rating I'm sure but boy was that offense stagnant.

 

I've came around to this thread. It is actually the worst team I've ever seen in term of unrealized potential

 

It was the best of teams, it was the worst of teams, it was the age of shooting, it was the age of defensive foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Dame, it was the season of Stotts, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way—in short, this season was so far like every Blazer season, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.

 

A Tale of Two Rip Cities.