Yes, this quote and others from the Oregonian clarify Lillard's stance: “I’m going into it like, ‘Is this going to be the year that we shock the world?’” he said. “Two years ago, I thought it was going to happen … It just wasn’t our time. But every time we get here, that’s what my mind is on. Some people might look at it like, ‘oh they can’t do that’ or ‘they don’t have a team.’ Regardless of what’s the truth or not the truth, my mind is on the fact that I think we can do it. If everybody thinks that and everybody believes that, that’s when it happens. That’s when it can be done.” https://www.oregonlive.com/blazers/...nk-we-overachieved-by-anybodys-standards.html
Stotts seems to be patting himself on the back and not so positive as Lillard looking at the post-season. He is a cautious man who likes to manage expectations, in my opinion. “This might be, probably one of the bigger accomplishments in a regular season,” Stotts said, reflecting on his nine seasons with Portland. “The fact that Nurk missed half the season, CJ missed a third of the season. There were a lot of highs and lows, riding through some tough times. I thought what we accomplished is pretty gratifying because it was not an easy season.” “I think there was a lot of negativity out there and we persevered through that,” Stotts said. “I’m glad it’s done. I’m glad we finished where we did. I think we overachieved by anybody’s standards at the beginning of the season. I don’t think anybody had us winning 42 games. So, it was a very good regular season, all said and done, and now we’re looking forward to the playoffs.”
I think we need to advance into the WCF. This only gives Terry a “chance” to stay. All depends on how his coaching contributed to this series. If we go to the Finals, he stays. Summary: no WCF; no more Stotts. If we do get there - depends on any bonehead coaching moves that cost us from advancing to the finals.’
He probably thought he was putting in enough effort on defense. We really needed Norm's championship experienced. We have needed that for years. Dame has never been there. I'm proud if Dame for asking and for his response.
Funny that you mention that. Terry Stotts was a coach on a championship team. He should have been able to give Dame that advice. Long ago.
Yes. Making it to the final vs. just getting out of the first round are vastly different. He stays with the former, goes with the latter.
I don't know if that's necessary true. It's different coming from a player. An NBA coach can only push a player like Dame so far. At a certain point it has to come from the player. That's what finally got the bulls over there Pistons. Jordan decided he was tired of being bullied and bulked up. The rest of the guys followed. This is different but similar, IMO. Has to come from the players.
I don't know if I agree. If a player has gotten to the point where he doesn't listen to a coach, that coach needs to go. This is a pretty simple statement for a coach to make. "Dame, our defense is shit and you need to step up."
I'm proud of them all. I'm also okay with the two losses...both came on back to backs against quality teams that for the most part were healthy yet the Blazers played them well. This injury thing seems to be a constant knock around here on the Blazers' wins. Nearly every team in the league is nicked up right now due to the compressed schedule. You can only play the teams as they are scheduled and it's not like those other teams' records are also benefitting by playing teams with injuries. I'm curious as to what you think the Blazers' record would be if they hadn't played about a third of the season missing Nurk and CJ.
right...so they hire a new coach, then take the substantial risk of trading for Chris Paul. And in one season they go from 5 games under .500 to 30 games over .500 and were one win away from the best record in the league too bad they didn't just try to build something on top of their status quo
Yet it was pretty easy to bitch about losing to other teams with 2/3's of our starting unit out for 2 months.
Getting a win is great. That's not my point. We SHOULD beat Utah without two of their Allstars. Doesn't mean you can't be happy about it, and any team has the ability to beat any other team on any given night, but my point is that there wasn't really a single win in this 10-2 run that showed me we are a changed team and will make noise in the playoffs. Maybe Boston. I think they might have been fully healthy. If we had knocked off Phoenix that would have been a pretty decent win, but we didn't. The whole point of the thread is whether or not Stotts deserves another year, and using a 10-2 run where we beat a bunch of weak teams isn't evidence to me of things changing. Not yet. If we knock off Denver that will be a different story.
Kelly Oubre Jr., Ricky Rubio, Ty Jerome, Jalen Lecque and a 2022 first-round pick. Yeah, that was quite the risk.
Examples? We were winning a ton of games with CJ and Nurk out. We got blown out by certain teams WITH them and WITHOUT them.
it was a substantial risk because the Suns went undefeated in the bubble (and 10-2 over their last 12 games...sound familiar?) last season, and then traded two starters off that team. And, trading for a player with a max contract and a significant injury history added to the risk
Stotts had said that. If It were that easy there would be no bad defensive teams. I didn't say Dame wasn't listening to Stotts. I said a coach can only push a player so far. Jordan just didn't start listening to Phil Jackson all of a sudden. It came from him. He had to have the internal hunger to do the extra. The extra has to come from the player. Especially the "championship extra".
