The reason CJ and Dame don't want Stotts gone another coach might stop all that free lancing this 2 do in games. It is alright take someone off the dribble once in awhile but this 2 does it to much especially if there shot not going down. This team doesn't run offense majority the time but when they due by moving players around and good ball they been getting good shots.
If true, and I’m not disputing that it isn’t, this is another reason why this franchise will never win a championship with this current group of players and management. It’s analogous to the old “lunatics running the asylum” expression. There’s a reason why players are paid to play, coaches are paid to coach and managers are paid to manage. If somehow this has been distorted and that power has now almost exclusively shifted to the players (who coaches them, how they’re coached, the offensive and defensive sets they run, the personnel they bring in, etc) then the entire management team (Olshey, assistant managers, Stotts, assistant coaches, etc) must go IMO.
We, like 80% of NBA teams, are stuck in the middle-ground. Not consistently bad enough to get high picks (and of those teams, most fuck it up anyway) or one of the lucky couple of teams that are "destinations" for FAs, like the Lakers or Miami. We luck into the odd very good player chosen not in the top 3 (as have the Bucks, for example) and we do what we can with him. We're actually luckier than most because he hasn't demanded to be traded. If we lucked into the next generational talent (as have the Bucks and the Mavs), then you start worrying about the coach.
what makes you think it was just luck? 14 other teams could have drafted Giannis , but Milwaukee made the choice. For all we know they might have made the same selection if they would have had the 3rd pick. Teams make their own luck, good or bad. The Blazers could have Dame and Giannis; instead, they have Dame and CJ as far as Dallas and Doncic, Cuban was maneuvering for months to get into a position to draft Doncic. Dallas traded a 5th pick and a 10th pick in order to land Doncic. That's doesn't look like luck but rather, excellent management.
Stotts is .558 with Portland. I don't fault him for the terrible situations he was saddled with in Atlanta and Milwaukee.
Question for everyone (not directed at just you @Rastapopoulos): If a team doesn't win a championship with a generational talent, was that player really a generational talent or is it the organization's fault (or is it a case by case basis)?
Well lets use Giannis and Doncic as our case studies since those two were brought up. If those guys don't win a championship for their current teams.
* Jerry West didn't win a championship till his 12th season when Wilt was there * Elvin Hayes was 32 and playing for his 3rd team in his 10th season before he won one * Julius Erving didn't win one till his 12th season * Shaq was a generational talent but he didn't win one in Orlando, however he departed early * Lebron is a generational talent and he didn't win a championship for Cleveland before he signed in Miami, and it took him 9 years to win one * Durant? he played 9 years for OKC without winning a title Charles Barkely? Karl Malone? George Gervin? Oscar Robertson? now, you could set a real restrictive definition of generational talent, and maybe it could be justified
You forgot one there's a reason why fans are made to cheer and not make decisions. When it comes to decision making I will bet on the players over a fans opinion 10 out of 10 times.
Id say their are a few caveats, what teams did they go up against, there were some phenomenal players in the 90’s that never won because they played against the Bulls. Also length of time at a franchise matters a lot too, like Dallas took years and years to finally get Dirk a ring, but some guys dont stick to it that long.
Also got me thinking how many “generational talents”, have the Blazers had, Bill Walton (who was never healthy), and...?
Sabonis definitely was, but he never played here in his prime or before major injuries. I can't imagine what would've happened if he came to the NBA at 19 like Luka did.
Because NOBODY could have predicted how good he'd become. With players as young/raw as he was, any pick is a gamble. That's why you get picks like Milicic at #2 or Jokic at #41. And when your gamble pays off, you're lucky.
Clyde was pretty special - he was just unlucky enough to coincide with Jordan. Who knows what Oden could've been like? Likewise pre-injury Sabonis. But probably Walton was the best. But that's about it. I remember when Roy was at his peak somebody said he was the #7 best player in the league, and that seems about right.
