What it will take to get Stotts fired?

Stan van Gundy

 

Between him and Olshey I think Olshey needs to go first. Then let the new guy decide. Stotts has been underperforming for sure and has to go as well, but this time he was also dealt a very bad hand. Guy is forced to play Anfernee Simons and Hezonja in playoff games. He has to play Hassan+Nurk together like we are stuck in the 90s and you cannot really say it's a wrong choice. The roster construction is terrible really.

 

I doubt Bucks will make the Finals. Maybe if they had HCA, but I believe Raptors and Celtics are better.

 

You want to know the REAL story? Here it is: the ONE thing that will get him fired is FOR YOU TO PRAISE HIM. There, it's in your hands now.

 

Has he, though? Not compared with my expectations, that's for sure.

 

I like Stotts...only thing that'll get him fired is if Dame were to demand a trade. That ain't happenin' ... people who don't like him never have pretty much. Nothing new around here. This is an old narrative around the forum. The Knicks have had a million coaches and roster changes since we hired Stotts with less success...Kings ...same thing...change doesn't always transmit to success....Good chance neither the Lakers or Bucks win the championship in the bubble...Popovich didn't make the playoffs....I am proud of the Blazers loyalty and stability...we lost a couple games to the number one seed with them shooting 23 more free throws than us in the first half alone....that's hard to coach through...our 3 best defenders are out injured ...our best player has a dangling finger...second best player has a fractured back and Nurk hasn't played in over a year ....yeah....not going to be easy to get wins in the first round....Go Blazers! Everyone is welcome to their opinions so I prefer to just state mine and not argue about it....been there, done that

 

I agree

this Portland team is Olshey's vision. It's been 100% Olshey's vision since the Aldridge team disintegrated. It was Olshey's vision when he tried to give a max deal to Roy Hibbert; it was his vision when he tried to give max deals to Kanter and Greg Monroe; and when he tried to give max deals to Chandler Parsons and Hassan Whiteside. It was Olshey's vision when he gave a huge deal to Evan Turner; and when he matched Crabbe's offer sheet; and when he gave Meyers an extension. It was Olshey's vision that gave CJ that flexibility killing extension last summer. And it's been Olshey's vision every time he's given Stotts more years as coach

Olshey's vision works great in the bargain bins and dumpsters. When a team wants to dump a player, Olshey is first in line; and he sees well in the 2nd round of drafts.

but when it comes to bigger moves, Olshey's doesn't see as well as he needs to. He spends time mucking around with the lower levels of the rotation under the false impression that a change in 4th or 5th options will alter Portland's trajectory. Portland's big issues are at the top of the rotation, not lower down

and as always, the co-pilots in Olshey's plane every off-season are the excuses why the previous season fell short. Olshey is Mr. Excuses-is-Me

Blazers need a new vision and a new direction. They won't get one until Olshey is gone

 

Did the Blazers even run an offensive set last night? Our offense is so undisciplined and that's from the coach who lets them jack up contested jumpers instead of actually running a play for a good shot. Nurk is criminally underutilized. He's our best passer and we don't run the offense through him. Stotts is hot garbage and we see coaches with a LOT LESS get better results.

Time to move the fuck on from this mediocrity.

 

Too many times, this team almost forgets how to play basketball in the third quarter. Four seasons in a row where we are bottom 5 in assists per game. Add in the fact that he put both Mario and Simons AT THE SAME TIME. Now don't get me wrong, that shit had me laughing so much I started to tear up, but in all seriousness, that in itself is a fireable offense.

 

Yes, we ran multiple sets, most anyone would be able to indentify that.

 

Could Brett Brown soon be available?

 

Sometimes, a coach doesn't have to be "better."

If you brought in a coach that was even comparable to Stotts, things would get better for a few seasons just because he would be a fresh voice, a new point-of-view, and bring that "new job" enthusiasm so many coaches lose after a few years with the same team.

 

I would just like to have a coach that could figure out how to beat a trap.

Terry has had.... what.... five years? Still can't figure out how to beat this defense.

 

That's not Olsheys fault that they dont have Ariza, Hood, and Collins.

It makes no sense when people use the injury excuse for Stotts and not for Olshey. It should be the opposite way around.

 

Did we run any sets with a designed cut to the rim? Did we run any cross-screens, backscreens, UCLA cuts?

What'd we run against the trap?

 

That's extremely specific.

I dont understand how you can watch clips like this and say its personnel and not coaching.


Combined this with the lack of offensive actions that I stated above, and yes, its 100% coaching.

 

I think this is a pretty outdated view of NBA coaching. NBA coaches aren't like college coaches (which is why most college coaches crash and burn in the NBA). The best coaches, from Phil Jackson on, install a system, plug in players that they can trust, and then take a hands-off approach for the most part. The martinet, call plays every time down the court coach is a thing of the past. Every once in a while a coach tries it and he doesn't last. Boylen comes to mind.

Also: our "undisciplined" offense was the best in the bubble until it ran into a Lakers team that has a fantastic defense built around two all-league defenders.

This is the thing about Stotts: he's actually been amazingly adaptable in his time with us. When we've had the personnel, we've had really good defenses, even with a backcourt of Lillard and McCollum. But this year, on top of Lillard and McCollum, we had lead-footed Whiteside and old-as-dirt Melo. Pick who you think is the best defensive coach in history and see if he can make a silk purse out of THAT sow's arse. So what could he do but try to maximize our offense? And seems like he did a pretty damn good job of that, given our limitations.

 

Ever worked at a job where the boss keeps changing all the time? Let me tell you, it's hard to be committed to that job and morale goes down the tank.

I guess it's hard for people to really accept that the rules of the NBA preclude any but a tiny subset of teams being contenders and luck plays a MASSIVE role. Makes it hard to have someone to blame.

 

Stotts system is basically pick n roll and isolation, aka rat ball.

I do agree with the establishment of a freelance system. Look at Steve Kerr's offense. Problem is Stotts system is absolute shit and the sets he does call doesnt outside any interior looks. It works most of the time due to our offensive talent, but against contending teams or against top notch defenses in the playoffs, it goes to shit.

And did you really say Stotts has been "amazingly adaptable"? Hahaha.

 

but that seems to eventually happen every year in the playoffs for the Blazers

and wouldn't it be the case that the true test of an offense isn't when it faces unprepared weaker defenses in the regular season, but when it faces good focused defenses in the playoffs?