I said at the beginning of the season that Stotts needed to limit minutes of Lillard and McCollum. I understand why he feels he must play them so much, but he is really enabling the strategies of other coaches to work.
I can forgive the fans for getting ahead of themselves and thinking the team was better than they were (haha - no I can't! dummies!), but for management to be hoodwinked by such an ill-gained advance to the 2nd round is inexcusable.
Great post. I agree with most of it. Though I don't agree with the "getting paid" part. The guys from last year that got paid aren't that worse from last year. But yeah...why do we have Aminu jacking up so many 3s? Also, I thin part of it is how the d scheme doesn't give player guards much help off screens.
Because of this: 2015-16 3P%: .361 Last year, Aminu was a Portland sensation because he played solid defense at the 4 and added an extra three-point shooter to the floor. Great! Problem is--last year was the first year of his career that he shot even halfway competently from range, and this year he's gone back to his sub-.300 three-point shooting ways. The Blazers have been slow to adjust to this new/old reality.
I think we overachieved last year, maybe some guys got complacent in the offseason, and opposing teams are taking us more seriously and have figured us out. I wouldn't discount how losing Kaman and Henderson might have affected things, either. I think Kaman was a good locker room presence and someone the bigs on the team could look to for help. Henderson had an edge to him that I am not sure Turner has, even if Turner might be a better all-around player. Confidence is clearly shaken, and I don't think it's just with the players. I think even the coaches don't really have an idea what they want to do. The unstable playing rotation just smells to me like there is no process being followed.
