Even now it's not too late for a change. Honestly what are we doing? Is this leading anywhere? We are flat out terrible against good teams and there will only be good teams in playoffs. This coach is as stubborn as it gets to changing things so it will be the same scenario playing out again. At this point even the shock by a coaching change and a couple fresh ideas would help a ton. What are we gonna miss by Stotts after all? Is there some highly intellectual offensive play that only he can call or is it his amazing defensive tactics? I would take anyone over him right now just because he seems lost out there with no idea what he is doing. And I see much frustration by the players.
when you look at terry stotts as a coach, you see he cant coach defense and his offense is dependant on dame and cj mccollum iso plays, so what is he actually doing when it comes to strategy he has a good relationship with his players and thats fine, but i want to see the coach who has a strategy when it comes to how the team plays and portland trail blazers have none
i think neil olshey will talk to ownership when our season ends and suggest parting ways with terry stotts in order to save his job in other words, he will throw terry stotts under the bus and rightfully so, but i wouldnt mind him getting fired too
I knew why i didn't read the "we have to look in the mirror" article. Dame sorry, he is the worst defender in the nba, maybe he needs to start looking at himself. His heart and pride aren’t in it defensively. He’s an all timer on the offensive end but his words mean nothing defensively. Him and Cj and have been embarrassed defensively for years. How about they stop talking about doing something and actually do it? Blazers are all talk, no action. Starts with Stotts. He doesn't hold anyone accountable so why would the players in turn hold themselves accountable on the court? There is no fire with this team. Just a complacent malaise. Stotts voice after 9 years is hollow. CHANGE REQUIRED!! Yes i'm frustrated
Largest issue: You KNOW ahead of time good teams are going to blitz Dame 40' from the basket. Both know it is coming, know where it is coming and know when.....and for at least 6 years, everytime it happens, it seems like a complete shock and they are both completely unprepared which then affects the entire rest of the team. The lack of remedy for a problem with the above circumstances is beyong imagination. And yet we are treated to the same approach, game after game, year after year. At this point, Dame is just enabling Stotts which makes Lillard just as accountable. Love the guy, but this is ridiculous.
I'm absolutely done apologizing for Stotts. I want him gone. That said, there's really not a ton he can do right now to make adjustments. He ought to bench CJ, but that would not only be bad for CJ's trade value, it'd cause him to lose the team and it'd cause Portland a major loss of face. CJ is one of the most well-spoken players in the league, and he knows he's a starter. Shit will absolutely hit the fan if they bench him. He ought to never have Dame, CJ and Norm on the court at the same time unless they are all killing it, but they are all big minute guys and they won't like seeing minutes cut. He ought to bury Melo, but again that would be terrible for our team's reputation among players around the league. Players love him, and the team promised him minutes if he signed here and that we'd "protect his legacy." Which means not humiliating him like Houston did. He ought to install more of a ball movement offense, but Dame and CJ have never played that style and trying to do it at this point with no time to practice is basically impossible. He ought to run a lot more plays for Little, but that will come at the expense of Dame/CJ/Norm/Melo, and none of those vets will be happy to see shots given up to a 20 year old. He ought to play the guys who prove themselves capable of defending, but you can't bench Dame or CJ and they are the biggest offenders. Zach is injured, and Jones is a pretty good defender but is also one-dimensional on offense. Kanter is a sieve, but he's the only backup center we have and he's a rebounding machine. You just go down the list and his hands are tied by his own past decisions and management decisions. If you replaced him right now the next coach would basically be confronted with the same intractable problems.
@mook ....it's sad that in so many of the things listed above that Stotts 'ought to do', he doesn't do them even though it is what would be best for the team in the long run. So instead, the easy, comfortable way is taken....and we see the result.
Terry's postgame interview was aggravating. His justification for us not being in a funk was a win over Detroit, one of the worst teams in the league. His excuse for the Clippers and Jazz games were they are two of the best teams in the West. Loser's mentality. You can't find a solution if you don't see a problem. He needs to go.
Lillard has always been most comfortable when he has time to survey the scene and make a decision. Stotts needs to practice situations where everything happens quickly and Lillard has to act quickly.
there used to be a time when i used to think this stuff was just what he said to the media, but behind the scenes, he actually was a hard ass who tore into guys. the longer he has been here, the longer i feel like this is exactly who he is, even in front of the players. that attitude has permeated in to Dame's mindset too and i can't stand it. There is something to be said about not being too high or too low. But when the lows are this obvious and no adjustments are made for nearly a decade, you have to read the writing on the wall.
The bad news: Stotts and Nurk will not be fired or traded because they are Dame’s friend. Sad but true
You know what, if I was the team I would fire Stotts today but I'd fire Neil too. Tibbets is interim coach and Cronin is interim GM. Don't move on Stotts and let Olshey off of the hook. Fire them both.
btw probs to Jason Quick. I know some people don't like him, but since moving to The Athletic he became really good. His questions to Terry are great and he's the only one who is not afraid to ask critical questions.
It's time. Stotts has been here too long. Coaches get stale. Their coaching get's stale. Their relationships with their players gets stale. The way they use the roster that is mostly the same each year as the year before gets stale. Nothing personal, but Terry has nothing new to offer. Just ask other teams. Game in and game out, every team, their coaches, players, team physician, ball boy, towel girl, usher, ticket taker, janitor, everyone, knows exactly what to do to disrupt and destroy what the Blazers are trying to do. The games the Blazers do win are despite this glaring disadvantage. I like the Blazers roster this season. It's a good group of NBA talent. I would like a new coaching staff to take a fresh look at our roster and assets and use them in new and exciting ways. And not just Terry. Olshey must go with him. First, actually. I like Terry. So do his players. But it's time. It's past time.
It's like any job really. You should never do the same job for 9 years. It shows no growth, and as you said it gets stale.
What? Doctors, dentists, lawyers, architects, teachers. I HOPE they have the same job for more than 9 years.
