Definitely doesn't. We'll still (likely) have to deal with a trap, which we've shown no answer for. We had Aminu shooting an insane percentage on volume during that Pels series yet fans seem to still blame not having a "good enough shooter at the PF spot" as the reason we couldn't handle the trap. Well if our PF shot over 43%, then that's obviously not the reason. Having a low-post scoring C off the bench and an inconsistent scoring SG/SF doesn't fix that either.
I'd have more confidence in us gameplanning against the trap than Stotts. For some reason he can't handle it. He runs more high pick n roll when teams are effectively trapping. Makes no sense.
In an absolute perfect scenario the Clippers would keep winning, they are only 1 game out of 6th. If we pass OKC, which I think we will, I don’t see anyway we would lose to the Clippers in a first round matchup, in fact I would consider betting on a sweep. First round - Clippers(6) Second round - Nuggets(2) WCF - Warriors(1) I could see us making it to the WCF if that unfolded, or at least going the distance in the Denver series.
I did miss that. Sorry. I assumed that you were a good enough X’s and O’s guy to come up with something like that. Now, here’s my follow-up: You’re way too smart to actually think that Stotts and his seasoned group of NBA assistants haven’t discussed and considered everything on your list and more. They have way more basketball knowledge and experience than anyone here and their jobs depend on getting results. So, given that, why do you think that we haven’t seen more use of those things? Are there legitimate reasons why a coach would not want to make some of those changes during a series given the roster, the opposition, the amount of time it takes to change an offense?
Yes, your response is absolutely ridiculous as it was already explained it was a joke and yet you insist on trying to instigate.
You see this from coaches in every sport. Do you admit you made a mistake and change the gameplan - or do you stick with the plan and blame the players for not executing?
I think I missed the part where Terry blamed anyone. He also doesn’t seem to me to be a “my way or the highway” kind of guy.
Actually I heard an interview in the last couple weeks with Stotts (wish I could remember the exact game, I think it was around the Dallas/OKC back to back) but he basically said pick and roll is their best option and they were going to run it no matter what the defensive look was because that's what they do. That was the moment I realized that the players may be better but that they are going to run that pick and roll even if teams are playing it like the Pelicans did. You may say that one comment isn't enough to go off of but there are numerous examples of Stotts being unwilling to change things up. Before last season he said he considered changing his defensive philosophy but ultimately decided to keep it the same. They didn't employ any new strategies on defense last year, it was simply the addition of having Nurk for a full season that made our defense jump. So no I don't have confidence that they have been secretly working on ways to combat that in the playoffs. It seems to me they think having slightly better players is the answer. It may be! I just think that is a horrible way to go into the playoffs hoping doing the same thing will work this year when it was an utter failure last year. This team has also shown when the going gets tough, like in the playoffs and during in season losing streaks, they always resort back to bad habits of not playing through Nurk and letting Dame/CJ play hero ball.
He is not an abusive screamer type - but you can't deny that he is stubborn and slow to make changes. Again, this is not unique to Stotts or to basketball. A coach needs confidence to succeed, but too much confidence in your "system" becomes counter-productive.
I think people are also forgetting that Doc Rivers employed the same defense against Dame 3 yrs back and it was just as effective then until Blake/CP got hurt. It's no secret that Dame has never even hit a 20 PER in the playoffs throughout his career. In that Clipper series, Dame averaged 22-5-4 bout on only 37% FG and 35% from 3.
Seems to me you’re gonna be in trouble if you plan to throw a bunch of schemes into the post season, that you havent used at full gamespeed before. Who knows? I just hope this years playoffs isnt as bad as last yeard, dont really care how they get the results at this point...
