When people defend Stotts it's always yes but he makes this environment good, the players like him, etc. Never a single thing about actual on the floor coaching.
Of course the players like Stotts. They are getting paid (CJ reminds us of that quite often) and Stotts lets them do whatever they want. No accountability, little structure, and he will never criticize them. #cake
Of course Dame and CJ love him. He lets them do whatever the hell they want. Melo is in that category now too. He never holds them accountable for when they take horrible shots or don't pass the ball (or don't play defense.)
shots may "fall again", but that may exaggerate the margin for improvement on 2-point shots, Portland shot 51.4% last season, but is down to 48.1% this season. But last season, Dame had a career year from two. Can he repeat? And last season, Blazers got 11 FGA's/game from Whiteside, and he shot 62%. Nurkic's career mark from two is under 50%, and his career high is 52%. It sure doesn't look like he'll be setting any new career standards any time soon. Roco is posting his 2nd highest career mark from two's so far, so maybe not much margin from improvement there. Jones is way down from his norm so he should bring his mark up quite a bit, unless of course he's simply a bad fit in the Stotts offense, which was always a legitimate concern. I'd say there isprobably be room for improvement from two point range; but maybe not as much as we hope in terms of three's, Portland shot 37.7% last season (the best mark of the Dame CJ era), but is shooting 37.5% this season (the 2nd best mark of the Dame/CJ era). So, I'm not seeing a reason why these shots should start falling at a much higher rate. Dame should improve from his current 35% clip, and Roco will probably improve from 32% (although his career mark is only 35.5%). Jones is about at his average. But it's doubtful CJ will remain at 43%, or Trent will stay at 46.4%. And highly unlikely Melo will keep shooting 48% from three all that's to say that 'shots not falling' doesn't appear to be a major issue for the Blazers. Nor does it seem to be an area with a lot of room for improvement. But I suppose it's possible. I think the Blazers have other issues. On offense, it's stagnation due to poor and inconsistent ball & player movement. On defense, the problems are too many to list
Expecting Stotts to be fired and hoping for him to be fired are two very different things, my friend.
I think this team has problems that go deeper than Terry Stotts. I do think, if we're being completely honest, we have to start looking at Dame's role in this along with Olshey, Stotts, CJ, Nurk, etc. As great a talent as he is, it's becoming apparent to me that building a contending team around a player like him might not be as easy as we think it should be.
I hate to say it, but Dame (as the best leader in the NBA) is allowing/enbabling he and CJ to shoot a ton, but not play much defense, are keeping a coach whose time has long passed, and not helping the team get better. Stagnation mode for far to long. And now Dame will be on the wrong side of 30.
My fan instincts won't allow me to root against them, even though it probably would be the quicker path to getting out of this 20 year purgatory. Instead, I just find I largely ignore the team, which is sad. I rarely watching an entire game unless it's a close, well played contest or Dame or CJ's having a special game. There's nothing to learn by watching, it's the same everything and has been for years. It's going to take an incredible stroke of luck for Dame to win a title with the Blazers if we stay status quo. Something like adding a Sabonis like overseas player or Little evolving into a top 5 forward. What other far-fetched possibilities are there? A draft pick where we're picking would probably take 3 years to get to transcending ability. Bargain bin free agents and trading for guys other teams no longer want hasn't worked in the 7 years Olshey has been using it as his prime team building tactic. I know many will say simply swap coaches. Just my opinion, but coaches don't make that big a difference in the NBA, save for the elite ones that would never come here. Replacing Olshey would be a start, but we'd need to replace him with someone significantly sharper. Even if they couldn't "land a star", getting a guy who better understands how to find skillsets that complement Dame/CJ could make a noticeable difference. Imagine hitting (no matter how big or small the move) on 3 out of every 4 transactions vs the 1 out of 3 or 2 out of 5 success rate of Olshey throughout his tenure. That could make a difference. But alas, if they actually landed a good GM, they'd probably see the Dame window has insurmountable and would probably start over anyway.
I don't think i've been this down about our team in years. Even last year, there was some semblance of hope while we had our shit record because we were without Nurk. this is just snowballing. and i'm so tired of our coach's inability to do even the most basic thing. desperately need change.
Dame has been the biggest enabler for at least two years. For better or worse, he could singlehandedly get Stotts and Olshey fired. Could easily pull a Kobe; demand a trade even if he doesn’t actually want one. but he’s content with the current pillars in place. At least he acknowledged we get smoked by upper echelon teams and something needs to change. I think he’s just been in denial.
