I agree with all of this. With that said, I don't believe their mindset was tuned just right. I believe there was a deep sense of satisfaction after last series and the team just came out of an emotionally draining series. All of sudden throw in this barrage San Antonio is throwing at them and I think it seems pretty overwhelming if not feels impossible to overcome. They have tough to overcome and I'm sure this team has enough to do that.
You know as a fan, I wasn't burnt after round one. I was emotionally tired and def not charged when game one rolled around with San Antonio. I can assume what the players must have felt.
You guys all suffer short term memory and ADD. Before the season most thought we would be fighting for the 8 spot. Then the team had a great run so people said anything short of making the 2nd round was a failure. Now the team makes the 2nd round and before game 1 people are content saying anything more is just gravy. So here we sit 0-2 and now people think the coach is the wrong guy or the GM came up short. The answer isn't to shake this team up, it's young showing good development and getting a good education from the best playoff team over the last 15 years. Keep developing the guys who are showing progress, add a vet FA to bolster the bench and come back firing on all cylinders next season.
And no, this team wasn't built for a deep playoff run THIS season. It was built to be better than las season and as step 1 of building a team for that run.
Here's the thing Schilly, the Blazers did exactly what I predicted before the season so I don't get your point. I predicted 5th place and a little over 50 wins. I predicted at best second round. Our starting five is THAT good and all we needed was a better bench to see a significant improvement from last season. The Blazers lived up to my expectations, but now we are bumping up against our limitations. We have not been a good defensive team. I don't see that magically changing next season. It's a coaching issue, so either Terry is going to hire an assistant that knows how to coach defense, or we're going to see exactly the same thing next year. That's pretty much exactly what I've been saying. I'm not bashing the team, but I'm saying that we're hitting a ceiling. Most of us would have been thrilled to get to the second round, but I think we got caught up in the romance of the playoffs and we actually thought we had a chance to beat San Antonio. I at least didn't think we were going to get blown out. The Spurs are showing how far away we are actually being able to contend. Isn't that the goal? To contend? Changes will have to be made. We need to continue to strengthen the bench over the summer. I'm still not sure if we don't need to change the starting lineup though. Wes and Nic are too similar. They're both streaky. I'm fine with Nic being inconsistent, but when both Nic AND Wes are having an off game, we are pretty much sunk. I think we should look to upgrade the shooting guard position over the summer.
The Blazers held the Spurs to 44 points in the second half. They played defense. It was 99-91 with 5:37 remaining. The Blazers held the Spurs to just 29 second half points at that point. One game at a time. Hold home court, and it's a new series. Go Blazers!
Thanks Denny, these are my feelings exactly! We're learning as we go. It may be too late to win this series, but keep learning and playing harder and hopefully we can push this to 6 or 7 games, while gaining valuable experience from a playoff juggernaut.
This team is 2 years ahead of schedule if you go by the History of the NBA. what does that mean for next year? no idea. but i'm hopeful.
That would be a good hire. I really wish we'd hire Gary Payton. Does anyone else think GP would be a good head coach?
Stotts gets to decide who he wants on his coaching staff, if he wants Hollins the Blazers should spend the money to get him. I loved GP as a player but if he wanted to be a head coach he would have been one by now. Coaching is a hard time consuming job, some people just don't don't want to put in that kind of effort. He's got a good gig broadcasting, pretty much the same money but far fewer hours working.
Kind of agree with sly. broadcasting is a much more secure job than coaching. especially assistants... Not knocking people who want to coach, but there is no garrantee if you win 50+ games you won't be fired. George Carl was fired last year and now Mark Jackson. Who's next ? greg popavich? it's like.. How dare you coach us to the playoffs and a winning record! you are supposed to be tanking! we want draft picks! not more income from playoff generated revenue.....
No time to be throwing in the towel. Your team lost two road games and are heading back to your building where your crowds are great. As a previous poster mentioned if you when your home games the pressure is back on the Spurs. That being said, the Spurs may have played their best basketball of the year in the last three games. I hope this is them peaking at the right time.
Note to Mr. Allen: Please hire a defensive guru to assist our head coach. P.S. Nate McMuffin is not a defensive guru.
