Sam Smith: "Nate is Top of the Second Tier"

Discussion in 'Portland Trail Blazers' started by Tince, Jun 14, 2010.

  1. Tince

    Tince Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Oct 14, 2008
    Messages:
    14,729
    Likes Received:
    14,095
    Trophy Points:
    113
    That's what he said on Courtside. Basically said he's no Phil Jackson, Jerry Solan, Larry Brown, but he's the best of the next level.

    Is having the best second tier coach good enough for us?
     
  2. julius

    julius Global Moderator Staff Member Global Moderator

    Joined:
    Sep 16, 2008
    Messages:
    42,404
    Likes Received:
    30,001
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Occupation:
    singer songwriter
    Location:
    Washington
    Pfft..what does Sam Smith know? Mediocre Man coaches kids basketball!

    ;)


    (and I'm not a fan of Nate..but someone was going to make a crack at MM)
     
  3. TripTango

    TripTango Quick First Step

    Joined:
    Jan 7, 2009
    Messages:
    3,235
    Likes Received:
    95
    Trophy Points:
    48
    Location:
    Boston, MA
    Unless and until a top-tier coach becomes available, yes.
     
  4. Tince

    Tince Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Oct 14, 2008
    Messages:
    14,729
    Likes Received:
    14,095
    Trophy Points:
    113
    That's kinda how I feel. Why trade in your B+ car when you can't afford an A car?
     
  5. B-Roy

    B-Roy If it takes months

    Joined:
    Oct 14, 2008
    Messages:
    30,244
    Likes Received:
    22,997
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Because it's an assclown. :devilwink:
     
  6. Draco

    Draco Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Sep 22, 2008
    Messages:
    9,315
    Likes Received:
    3,003
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Pretty much my opinion. I question some of Nate's decisions, he definetely has room to improve.

    But if Larry Drew is getting head coaching jobs, I'm not sure there is a realistic better alternative.
     
  7. Driew

    Driew Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Oct 15, 2008
    Messages:
    2,824
    Likes Received:
    2,949
    Trophy Points:
    113
    And this is why I say we don't understand just how good of a coach McMillan is--certainly beats Cheeks...
     
  8. jlprk

    jlprk The ESPN mod is insane.

    Joined:
    Sep 25, 2009
    Messages:
    30,059
    Likes Received:
    8,157
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Occupation:
    retired, while you work!
    This changes everything. What he says goes. Sam Smith said that I am at the top of the third tier of basketball coaches, but he forgot to say Simon Says.
     
  9. Mediocre Man

    Mediocre Man Mr. SportsTwo

    Joined:
    Sep 23, 2008
    Messages:
    42,642
    Likes Received:
    24,138
    Trophy Points:
    113


    "Kids" makes it sound so cheap.......I prefer the term high school
     
  10. Mediocre Man

    Mediocre Man Mr. SportsTwo

    Joined:
    Sep 23, 2008
    Messages:
    42,642
    Likes Received:
    24,138
    Trophy Points:
    113

    I didn't hear the comments, so I can only go by what you wrote.

    So Sam Smith thinks Nate is better than Pop, SVG, Alvin Gentry (who outcoached Nate in the playoffs), Rick Adelman (who outcoached Nate last year in the playoffs), George Karl, Doc Rivers (on the verge of winnig his second title. Why is Nate considered better than Mike Brown or Mike Woodson? Both finished with better winning %. Scott Brooks showed he is a good coach too. What makers Nate better than him? He has some hardware that says differently.


    The answer is no. Nate is not good enough for this team. He has shown that the last two years.
     
  11. BLAZER PROPHET

    BLAZER PROPHET Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Sep 15, 2008
    Messages:
    18,725
    Likes Received:
    191
    Trophy Points:
    63
    Occupation:
    dental malpractice claims adjuster
    Location:
    Portland area
    I would pretty much agree that Nate is a good coach, but not a top tier one. But it's also the players that wins games. Nate is probably good enough to win a title with the right players.
     
  12. PtldPlatypus

    PtldPlatypus Let's go Baby Blazers! Staff Member Global Moderator Moderator

    Joined:
    Nov 10, 2008
    Messages:
    31,952
    Likes Received:
    40,230
    Trophy Points:
    113
    I'm sort of with MM on this one--there are several coaches other than Jackson, Sloan, and Brown who are better than Nate, or have at least proven more than Nate. I'm willing to bet there are also several assistant coaches who have not yet had an opportunity, but would be better head coaches than Nate is.

    However, I don't think there are any coaches out there who are obviously, demonstrably better than Nate and are available, and I don't think we necessarily know for certain that Nate is/isn't a championship coach, so I can't necessarily justify jettisoning him...yet.
     
  13. Sug

    Sug Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Oct 30, 2008
    Messages:
    1,991
    Likes Received:
    55
    Trophy Points:
    48
    What were those guys before they were first tier? How old were they when the reached that first tier? How many seasons did it take them to get there? How many of them had an MVP player on their team? Duncan, Jordan, Malone, Kobe? Larry Brown is a tough one to call tier one IMHO. Great players can make a coach look pretty good though.
     
  14. craigehlo

    craigehlo Elite Wing

    Joined:
    Oct 15, 2008
    Messages:
    6,199
    Likes Received:
    2,327
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Top of the second tier is generous. I'm just very unclear at what Nate does WELL. People that seem to defend him just regurgitate the "50 wins" mantra without any evidence it was the coach and not the personnel that got the Blazers to that supposedly magic number. I saw a lot of games bailed out by Andre, Camby and Roy in that 50 when the offense couldn't get players open shots, or the defense couldn't get stops.

    We've had two straight seasons where we could analyze the Nate in a playoff situations and I'd argue he was an unmitigated disaster in each. Poor substitutions, players unprepared, offensive schemes that don't adjust to the opposing coaches moves.
     
    BBert likes this.
  15. BBert

    BBert Weasels Ripped My Flesh

    Joined:
    Sep 24, 2008
    Messages:
    26,296
    Likes Received:
    19,787
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Occupation:
    Selfless Public Servant
    Location:
    South Blazerlandia
    I agree. As far as I can tell, the only thing Nate does well is get his guys to limit mistakes and never give up. By virtue of those two things, they squeek out some extra wins. While that is admirable, it isn't enough to make him a "good coach" imo. I'd welcome a change. I think there are a lot of basketball guys out there who could get just as much or more out of the players on our roster.
     
  16. Nikolokolus

    Nikolokolus There's always next year

    Joined:
    Sep 19, 2008
    Messages:
    30,704
    Likes Received:
    6,198
    Trophy Points:
    113
    I would call a Nate a top fifteen coach in the league. He's done a pretty good job, especially motivating and sometimes getting blood from a stone, but I still have serious questions about his ability to make adjustments in a playoff scenario; this year should answer these questions once and for all.
     
  17. Tince

    Tince Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Oct 14, 2008
    Messages:
    14,729
    Likes Received:
    14,095
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Sorry, I didn't make it more clear. I don't believe Sam Smith listed off every coach he thought was top tier, but I'm near confident Pop would be in that category for him. I doubt any of the other coaches you listed were, but that's just a guess.
     
  18. handiman

    handiman Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Oct 15, 2008
    Messages:
    5,503
    Likes Received:
    3,612
    Trophy Points:
    113
    When you list it out like that, slightly above average sounds about right... Which I guess is basically what the team is, being a 1st round and out'er the past two years, and more than half the teams in the league make the playoffs, so that distinction puts you right around average. (Give or take, with the conference disparity.)
     
  19. craigehlo

    craigehlo Elite Wing

    Joined:
    Oct 15, 2008
    Messages:
    6,199
    Likes Received:
    2,327
    Trophy Points:
    113
    To me it really boils down to this: Good coaching force you to play their style of game. Bad coaching allow the opposing team to get away with it.

    Nate is in the latter category more often than not.
     
  20. MrSelfDestruct

    MrSelfDestruct Louie, Louie, Louie

    Joined:
    Apr 2, 2009
    Messages:
    945
    Likes Received:
    24
    Trophy Points:
    18
    Occupation:
    Buying
    Location:
    Sammamish, WA
    So basically, yesterday Sam Smith states that the Blazers could get involved in the LeBron sweepstakes and he's called "clueless" and has "zero credibility." Today, he calls Nate top of the second tier and we are supposed to agree.

    Interesting.

    FWIW, (as usual) I'm in 100% agreement with Nik.
     

Share This Page