Going to start this off with saying, I'm not the biggest fan of the "Terry Stotts system known as "The Flow". I understand the concept of it, but to run it as often as they were and not take advantage of mismatches isn't winning basketball. With that said~ Plays are being ran for Mr 18m dollar a year bench player.(reports of meeting with Stotts on how to get Crabbe more engaged) Vonleh is allowed to play closer to the hoop, which helps with the 21 year old's confidence.(Plumlee doesn't need to occupy the same space on the floor anymore) Yes, yes I know Plumlee was on the top while Vonleh was on the baseline. But there is a difference between Plumlee at the top and teams packing the paint because they want him to shoot... And how teams play Nurk. Plays are being ran for Harkless more often, these plays often allow him to take advantage of his size. Nards is being put in a position to succeed on nationalTV(spurs), that he passed out of.... Hubie Brown said "come on big man take him down".(I think it was Hubie) Basically I give Stotts credit for deviating from his "flow offense", and taking advantage of mismatches.(For players not named CJ/Lillard) Speaking of CJ/Lillard... These two are giving the ball up when a mismatch occurs. They aren't just trying to beat their man off the dribble anymore. This imo has to do with Stotts talking to them. Portland is also running the P&R differently with Nurk than they did Plumlee. Is that due to Nurk's skillset? Some of it yes, but it shows Stotts making adjustments... However slight they might be. It's not a coincidence that Portland seems(especially these last two years) to take off after the all-star break. Stotts with time to sit down and figure out a game plan shows himself to be a pretty damn good coach. Would I like him to figure out how to game plan for the first half of the season? Yes... But I'd also like players(Aminu/Davis/Turner/Nards) to be healthy and not shitting the bed for the first half either. Credit where it's due, Stotts deserves some.
Good post but are you saying Dame and CJ both decided to do it so frequently on their own? I am guessing it was Terry's game plan in the first place. Now he feels he has other options. Next he needs to move Meyers off the 3 point line. At least more often.
Stotts coached a long time in the development league...he's good at adjusting to new players..I think he's a great coach given the tools to win, he'll win
FIFY I think Stotts spoke with Lillard/CJ about getting teammates more involved. Especially when a big switches onto one of them. As I was watching the replay of one of the two games I missed. I saw CJ call for Vonleh to post, who then got the ball from CJ and a double team happened. Vonleh panic'd but got the ball out and Portland scored. I don't think this would have happened earlier in the season voluntarily by CJ or Lillard. I think it has to do with Stotts saying "We need to take advantage of mismatches in the post".
Yes, I am sure there are a number of arm chair coaches in this forum that certainly think this anyway.
I personally take credit for his fish like drinking but the kicker was when I stood up to the Mike Connelly for Dame trade his rookie year....WINNING!!!
To me, it was impressive how quickly and effortlessly he integrated Nurk into the team, at both ends of the floor. Of course, Nurk has the talent, but Stotts recognized his skills and immediately began taking advantage of them. One reason GMs often state for avoiding mid-season trades is how disruptive they are and how difficult it is to integrate a new player without a training camp, preseason and little time for in-season practices. Getting Nurk here before the all star break helped, but it was still impressive how quickly the team adapted. BNM
True, no player currently on the team would be on our team if Neil took what we said. The minute after a bad game every one of our star players would be traded, and our coach and GM fired lol.
Terry didn't really have a choice, but to revise his system once Nurkic came along. Nurkic's abilities inside and on the pick and roll completely altered the flow on the floor. That said, Terry deserves some recognition for his ability to successfully implement a new fangled system with Nurkic collapsing defenses, the young guys stepping up, lifting pressure off of Dame and CJ.
