What I would like to see from Stotts is giving Nassir Little the task of being a starter and staying in the game for 35 minutes without fouling out and keeping the same energy. Little won't know how to do that until he's given a chance by the coach.
So they're tanking by killing Dame playing him big minutes? CJ's tanking by missing so many shots? Respectfully this is the dumbest post I've read today and there are some dumb ones.
Yeah. No. Someone already put up the stats. Siakam had like 16 points on 30% shooting and when Nassir left he murdered us badly. You couldn't be more wrong.
According to another Blazers board, Siakam shot 4/11 when Little was in the game. And 11/15 when Little was not. Ooof.
That's sort of what franchise players tend to do in 4th qtrs. though...Dame has sure done his share of it...Dame had 4 pts at halftime I think...the good is that losing allows us to find out what we have in Nas and Trent and get a long look at them against NBA talent...Nas is making a case for a solid rotation spot..that's worth a loss with a hobbled roster to me..Stotts is doing what a development coach would do....he's played the whole bench 11 games in with our injuries...I'm sure he looks at it as homework now...the NBA will scout for Nas and we'll see if he keeps up the same level moving forward...guys who haven't been scouted usually look really good as the G league Warriors squad did against us.
This is so incredibly obviously one of those confirmation bias things that it's not even worth discussing. If you're already a Stotts detractor: "Little was doing a great job on Siakam; he should have stayed out there." If you're already a Stotts supporter: "Siakam would have gone off in the 4th regardless of who defended him." Is there anyone in this forum whose view on Little not playing in the 4th is not reflective of the stance they've already expressed?
I wouldn't phrase my sentiments like this at all because Siakam did go off in the 4th and we don't know if he would've done the same against any defender we put against him...it's speculation. I think it's something that the coaches look in the film room after the game. Stotts made a choice, we lost. The folks who've NEVER liked Stotts system have been very vocal about it after every loss...I support the guy but it has nothing to do with my view of Nas or any of our 3rd string project new guys...this season there's just a lot of change to absorb and watch develop...which I find entertaining win or lose. What I don't find entertaining is constant negative affirmation. Struggling with injuries and chemistry early I find to be fortunate because it's "early" if it has to happen, better now than March...I think we'll figure it out halfway through the season and are in building mode.
The fact is we lost the game. A game in which Little actually did a really good job on Siakam. It sucks not knowing what would've happened if players actually got rewarded for their play on the floor.
A rookie getting a start in a home game is pretty good reward for playing well in short spurts on the road....I came out of the game feeling great about Nas and from what I heard everyone else did too. Nothing about that sucks....what sucks is we couldn't shoot well again. Dame struggled all game ...doesn't mean he should have been benched in my view. Stotts left Nas in when Nas bricked his first 3 corner 3 shots...he let him break the sweat and finally Nas made one....Nate McMillan would've pulled Nas after missing one shot. Terry is a very patient coach
I wasn't mad because i followed it closely during the game and i KNEW Terry would do it. How can anyone be surprised?
gonna be even funnier when he inserts Tolliver back in the rotation on Saturday. btw, where was Trent? He competed on both ends last game, and then gets 0 minutes yesterday?
Except I don't think @julius was being sarcastic. He might claim it was after the fact like you do KJ, he he.
They continue not finishing games and you can blame that on a lot of things the coach that continue to go small and we giving 2nd chance in bunches. It star players not trusting other around them to make a play. But Dame is doing a lot better in that area but CJ not so much. Defensely we are just bad in the last 5 minutes.
I swear i have got to put shit in Green Font almost all the time because i am very rarely not typing in playful banter. Guilty as charged!
