Pretend there is no trade until at least this off-season

Which could be the case for all we know....

What would you do if you put yourself as coach? (Besides ask for the forum to submit plays @SlyPokerDog)

1. I would play Vonleh much more than he is now. He deserves time. He is literally our best rebounder (yes even better than Plumlee). And might just be our only hope for the future (if Management/Paul Allen is allergic to trades).

2. Leonard would only come in the game if we needed a good freethrow shooting big man at the end of games or we were looking for 5 three point shooters on the last possession to tie or win a game.

3. I don't know what I would do with Ed Davis but somehow I would try to slap him out of whatever is going on with him. He was a force last year. This year is mind-blowingly bad.

4. Layman would enter the rotation (but not a huge amount of minutes).

5. I would not play Project Pat unless it was blowout one way or another.

6. I would go to Paul Allen and plead for him to get a new big man coach and/or defensive coordinator (preferably both). I would not have a ego about someone else stepping on my toes or getting too much limelight (of course easy to say from the couch).

And I would lose lots. Not because I want to lose just because that is what would likely happen. There is no magic pill that would magically make us a contender BUT I think our team would be better off next year with those two guys (I mentioned) getting minutes.

What are things you would do with our team (as it currently stands) if you were the coach?

 

If I pretended that, then I think I would start following the EPL a lot more.

 

I am sure some coaches in history have made this required reading for players or taught them these disciplines. Would be interesting to know which ones and do a correlation between them and their records. I think good players though trump (haha, oops didn't mean to put that) any homework. Like for example, Phil Jackson made some books required reading but also had star players.

 

I would give my new front line (Meyers, Vonleh, Harkless (incumbent)) lots of minutes. I would start Dame or CJ (probably Dame) and Turner/Quarterman in the backcourt. The goal would be to give these guys as many minutes as they could handle and see what happens on my way to a decent lottery pick.

In today's NBA I would also get fired after four games, but this is hypothetical. I am pretending I am owner too.

As much as I love these guys, I would sit Plumlee and Davis. They are not the future.

 

I'd start thinking about my post-NBA career.

 

Ya, I would be lucky to make it to the end of the season. But I think it is better than just going with the way we are now....

 

I think I will have a drink.

 

Indeed, a lot of them to put up with the losing. Sometimes you have to take a step back to take two forward though.

 

Orlando starts with an "O"

 

If I were Stotts, I would first talk with Olshey and see if he wants to give it to the deadline to make a serious playoff push. If so, I would get Dame and CJ together and tell them they have to do whatever is needed as team leaders to light a fire and make it happen. If they don't, or if Olshey is ready to go lottery mode, I'd play those two no more than 15 minutes a game and let the losses rack up.

 

They may as well just fire him then. The Owner sets the agenda, not the coach and GM. If they aren't living up to expectations, then expect heads to roll first.

 

I was assuming that Olshey has been in communication with Paul Allen. If he hasn't, all hope is lost for this franchise anyway.

 

Is that your equivalent to kickin' a dog? The dog goes and bites the lawnmower man.

 

I'm beginning to think that MB and the Wild One hired a voodoo practitioner as retribution to put a hex on this team.

 

That implies that they aren't already doing what they can to "light a fire." I don't think there's much either guy can do to will the team to victory. The team fundamentally lacks talent.

I'd also assume that Olshey and Stotts have constant communication (if they don't, then the franchise is dysfunctional) so they should already know what the other is thinking.

There aren't any quick fixes for a team that's completely unsuited, from a personnel standpoint, to play defense and has very little offensive talent beyond Lillard and McCollum. Barring a super-lucky strike in the draft, the choices are either to retool around the edges and aim for mediocrity over the next 4-5 years or else make changes at the foundational level, which means making Lillard and/or McCollum available in the right types of deals.

 

Agree on Vonleh. I've been calling for more minutes out of Noah for quite some time now. Also agree with Layman. We need to see if this kid has a future in the NBA.

Lastly, Bazzy needs consistent minutes. He just produces when he gets time.

 

It's the same team as last year. You remember, the one that played the Warriors five tough games and showed heart throughout? There's enough talent on this squad to be at least a .500 team. There's nowhere near enough talent to be competitive with the top teams in the league, but this team shouldn't have back-to-back blowout losses to the Magic and Wizards.