It's a given that the Blazers will not be getting better through the draft or free agency. The only available roads to improvement are trades and a new coach. Given that both paths are under control of Neil Olshey, they guy who got the team into this depressing state, that isn't saying much. Can anybody give me a cogent reason why an equally flawed (if cosmetically different) roster with a "meh!" coach (MDA, come on down!) can be expected to be any less mediocre next season? In other words, why should I have hope? (And out of respect for a fellow basketball fan, please avoid the obvious BS like claiming Collins is suddenly going to get healthy and play like an all-star. Give me something serious to cling to!)
You don’t really have to have hope. It’s the team we chose for fandom. So sometimes you just gotta deal with it.
Until we see CJ traded and then that new team play under whoever the new coach is, there is no reason to think we'll be any better. In fact, if CJ stays and Norm leaves we will be worse. That being said, I've never heard Olshey as low on CJ as he was during his presser and there are some exciting coaches out there (D'Antoni is even exciting if he comes with a young, aggressive, defensive minded associate head coach). So there is hope but it's hoping that Olshey does a complete 180 in order to save his job, which is definitely on the line.
And yet the Drexler led Blazers were built almost entirely through the Draft and one of acquisitions (Buck) was acquired trading a Drafted player (Bowie). That is how I think teams like Portland have to build....but we never have any Draft picks.
If they don’t make major roster changes and hire another meh coach then no, there isn’t reason for hope. They will have enough talent to win more than they lose. That’s it.
We will win 46 games and squeak into the playoffs and exit in the first round. No need to get upset if you look at it realistically. At least we won’t have to hear everybody bitch about Stotts anymore.
OK, I'll bite. How do you propose to draft someone with our nonexistent draft pick or sign someone with our nonexistent cap space?
People are really undestimating what a better coach could do for us. Also, no Melo/Kanter pairing off the bench will be huge. Plus, Ant and Nas should take a step up.
I don't think the assumptions are correct. We have seen teams do major turnaround with new coaches. Including Portland, which never got past first round until 90. Look at Phoenix this year.
Phil Jackson, a reincarnated Red Auerbach or John fucking Wooden couldn’t win a title with this roster. There is no need to be upset this next season if you go into next season realizing that. They need to take some chances with the roster and a new coach with new ideas and hope to catch lightning in a bottle.
Your first 2 points are really linked together. As long as Olshey is picking the new coach and controling what options the new coach has to work with he remains the biggest single roadblock to meaningful change. Stotts and Olshey BOTH needed to go if the team was serious about improving.
ive thought about this and was on your lien of thinking but them had to stop myself. My example was gonna be toronto with nick nurse. But then they also go kawhi. Your example? They also got a chris paul. im not saying the coach wont help and the. Maybe we get a key acquisition this summer s well to go with the new coach. Maybe powell is still new and good enough to help a coach make the right changes with current personnel?
Not having a first round pick today doesn’t mean not having a first round pick on draft day. Picks can be acquired through trades leading up to the draft like OKC did last week. Also, a trade with a team that does have picks can be agreed upon before the draft and they can make a pick for the Blazers and the player is acquired when the trade is completed later. Given that the Blazers are in a win now mode, I don’t think those types of moves are likely since they want experienced players at this point.
Let’s see: better health, trades for more complementary players, improving the bench, new coach who devises a better defense, new assistant coach who is a defensive specialist, player growth by young guys, Nurk learning not to make stupid fouls, CJ being put on a tighter leash with the over-dribbling. Those are a few things that come to mind.
ok in Portland's case, they traded Bowie for Buck Williams and added rookie Cliff Robinson. They also added Wayne Cooper at C and drafted Drazen Petrovich. Furthermore, Adelman was already on the staff and he took over halfway thru the 89 season. Those are some really significant changes, and adding Buck & Cliff were significant additions. Portland essentially added a couple of all-star level talents and the impact Buck had was foundational in the Sun's case, for chrissakes they added a 1st ballot HOF player in Chris Paul while the GM was actually showing the vision to add an MLE signing that fit the rotation perfectly in Jae Crowder those two teams are not good comps if Portland doesn't make any major roster changes. And right now, it could be the biggest change on the horizon for Portland is Powell leaving. That's the opposite of adding a player like Chris Paul or Buck Williams. Even if he stays, Portland is still the same team that just got blitzed, again, in the first round. And by an injured team that got swept in the next round expecting major improvements in results by just adding a coach without major roster changes does not seem realistic at all to me
BTW, has Powell said anything to indicate a desire to re-sign here? Has Olshey said anything about wanting to re-sign him?
