Game Thread GAME# 38: BLAZERS @ KINGS - JANUARY 1, 2019 - TUESDAY, 6:00 PM, NBCSNW

I like Stotts ...I think he's a top shelf coach.

 

I know you do.

 

I like Stotts too. I also liked Nate and Cheeks. They were all nice guys. Sometimes in life that isn't enough.

 

Well regardless you will get your wish by the end of this contract. Doesn't make much difference. Pretty sure there won't be much the same with this team in the next 2 years.

 

Lets take this response in particular.
What if i told you the NBA was an entertainment industry first and then a basketball league second in a close race for a profit and loss scheme?
What if i told you Championships are decided with the CBA and the coaches and players don't have anything to do with it?
What if i told you Good basketball isn't really exciting basketball and exciting basketball is rarely good basketball?

These are things people on fan boards rarely if ever actually understand.

 

I definitely disagree with this and I think anyone who watched Blazers' championship team or any of the Adelman teams would disagree also.

 

Then non-conspiracy theorists would expect you to explain the likes of San Antonio, Detroit, Dallas, and Cleveland. Hell, even Golden State sucked for a long time before hitting home runs in the draft. What's that have to do with the CBA?

 

he got us out of the first round for the first time in 14 years...I call that success...making the playoffs 5 years in a row with one star player and role players in the west.....and the west is a beast

 

I don't know if you meant to, but you just pointed out part of the conundrum here. Stotts is a better coach in the regular season than he is in the play-offs, where the scales tip toward coaches who are willing and able to adjust on the fly. The post season is like football - teams have more time to scout their opponent and come up with a specialized game plan. A team that is too predictable is at a huge disadvantage....and you can't deny that the Blazers are awfully predictable on both ends of the court.

 

I think most teams are predictable though....Golden State won three championships with a very loose gameplan...making ridiculous shots and they were actually pretty turn over prone....the difference is they made shots....when we make shots Stotts looks pretty damned good. Steve Kerr said the Blazers play a style very close to the Warriors style...I see our players go ISO crazy and stop moving the ball or shooting too early from deep in the shot clock and I blame the guards, not Stotts.

 

If the guards aren't running the game plan then as coach, Stotts needs to discipline them and make them play the right way. If he can't, he's already lost them and should no longer be the coach. It's pretty simple.

 

Stotts offense has nothing to do with the guards going into ISO mode...and we don't know what St0tts says to them in practice or off camera...I don't buy that Stotts has ever lost his locker room or the respect of his players....our problem isn't Stotts...it's execution on a consistent basis

 

Seriously!? This is ABSOLUTELY on coach. WTF. If he's not getting his players to execute his game plan then he is simply ineffective in his role as head coach. That's literally what a head coach is for. LMAO.

I don't care what Stotts tells them in practice or off camera, it's not happening on the court. HE takes the fall for that. Nobody else. He's the coach. He's responsible.

 

yeah...well good luck with that....he got this roster, yes this roster to the 3rd seed last season in the WEST......he's been great for Portland...he's also gotten this team to beat the best teams in the league....he gets a lot out of what he has to work with. San Antonio hasn't exactly owned the post season since Duncan retired...we've done well since Lamarcus bailed considering.

 

You do realize the rules are much different today right? Every player on the court would be fouled out or thrown out.

 

A bunch on here lost their favorite whipping post when they made it to the second round.

 

You absolutely cannot be successful in the post season if you don't get there.

 

You're misquoting me on purpose I guess to make your point? I didn't say he was ineffective. It was your assertion that the guards don't listen to him and execute his game plan. I'm saying IF that is true, which I don't think is, then he is ineffective if he can't get his players to play by his rules. You can't have it both ways.

I don't think he's worthless as a coach. For a team looking to rebuild like the Suns, he would be good. We've simply outgrown him and aren't going any further with him.

 

We have Dame, we dont have a problem getting there.

 

So you are essentially saying that if the team had more than just Dame then they would do better in the playoffs. I agree wholeheartedly. Not only that but Stotts would be doing better on pretty much every front if the team had more talent also. Look even Spoelstra got a chip.