Which is More Significant: Finishing 3rd in the West or the Playoff Sweep?

I get your point, but Ruben Boumtje-Boumtje could "toughen up" Meyers. There is no place to go except up.

Although there are other experienced big men coaches I'd like to see the Blazers go after (Bob Thornton, bring back Kim Hughes, etc.), I wouldn't mind seeing Sabonis working with Nurk (especially) and Collins.

Unfortunately, he's already got a sweet gig repairing wrecked minivans down in Hubbard.



BNM

 

I wanted Laimbeer, but Sheed might be better.

 

At this point Chris kaman could be a huge help. Some one... anyone! I don’t understand how Collins is supposed to develop without any veterans or coaching

 

Back when Meyers VERY briefly looked like he was making actual forward progress he had Kim Hughes as his big man coach and Chris Kama (a former Hughes pupil) as his teammates and mentor.

Jim Moran seems like a bright, likable fellow that has helped develop our young guards and wings, but he's NOT a big man coach. The results speak for themselves. Meyers is ruined, Vonleh never developed. Let's not waste the potential of Nurk, Collins and Swanigan because Neil holds a grudge against Kim Hughes.

There is no limit on how many assistant coaches you can hire and their salary doesn't count against the cap or luxury tax. Why do we not have the best money can buy working with our young big men?

BNM

 

Exactly this. David fizdale has like 20 assistants in New York right now half of them ex players. What is stopping us from hiring a couple? If we’re not going to pay veteran players and we’re not going to pay for coaching wtf are we even doing?

It’s actually a miracle (some call it Damian) we aren’t the kings right now the way this franchise is being run...

 

And they can't even use the "we overspent on assistant coaches during the Summer of 2016 and don't have the cap space to sign any" excuse.

It's asinine that a team with so many young big men STILL doesn't have a proven big man coach.

BNM

 

I wonder if Sheed would be interested in coaching? I think players would listen to him.

 

https://www.nbcsports.com/northwest...zers-coach-terry-stotts-reaching-jusuf-nurkic

 

Still need a big man coach.

 

Absolutely. The lack of a proven big man coach on a team that has a roster full of young big men is baffling to me.

The coaching staff has done a great job developing guards, but all of our young big men, recent and present, have struggled to develop - especially on the offensive end.

Can you imagine how good this team would be if our bigs developed to the same level as our guards?

Meyers, Vonleh and Collins were all lottery picks. We've seen what happened to the first two. I'm really trepidatious about Collins' future without the kind of coaching he needs to meet his full potential.

Even Nurk still needs work on the offensive end. He was better when he arrived out of shape from DEN than he was after our staff got a hold of him. He went from the Bosnian Beast we saw during Nurk fever to tossing up weak, off balance, low percentage flip shots.

Jeezus Paul, pry open your wallet and hire the best available big man coach on the planet. Your spending hundreds of millions of dollars in salaries on these young big men. For less than 1% of that amount, you could actually maximize your return on that investment - unless, of course you're happy with the way Meyers Leonard and Noah Vonleh turned out.

And if Neil still has his panties in a wad over Kim Hughes talking to the media before Neil could put his spin on losing Aldridge for nothing, tell him he either hires a proven big man coach or his ass is fired. This is fucking ridiculous. In the 3 years since Neil fired Kim Hughes, not one single POR big man has improved on the offensive end. In fact, Meyers and Nurk have both regressed. Meyers is a lost cause. You had to pay CHI cash money to take Vonleh off your hands. You spent three first round picks in a deep draft on two more young bigs - both who are struggling mightily on the offensive end. Yet, still no big man coach. How can you possibly be this stupid????

This team will only go as far as our young big men take us. Dame and C.J. are great, but they are what they are. They, alone, cannot make this team a contender in the stacked Western Conference. Given Neil's inability to attract even average free agents, the development of Nurk and Collins is our only hope to ever be more than first round fodder for the real contenders in the West. You need to pour every penny you can into developing our young big men, because if they don't reach their full potential, this team has reached it's peak. Again, that's ok - if you're happy with how they performed in the playoffs against NOP. If not, DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT.

Neil talks and talks and talks about trying to get Dame help, but he has failed miserably at attracting the kind of two-way players this team needs in supporting roles. Well, guess what, you have two potential great 2-way players on your roster already. But, unless you do something, that potential, and Damian Lillard's career, will be wasted. Maybe you're happy with that, but I doubt if Dame is.

BNM

 

Time to start a Petition. Thanks for writing the proposal!

 

I would really like to see a reporter bring this up about the lack of a big man coach; and to be persistent about getting an answer. As frustrated as we are here; nobody seems to be listening!

 

There has to be someone on staff who’s job it is to work with the bigs right??? It’s weird, so weird. I don’t get why a team with one of the richest owners in sports doesn’t have a big great coaching staff...

 

Im sure they do. Why wouldn't they?

 

I don’t think they ever really filled the role after Hughes got fired for saying what everyone knew...

 

Maybe this: https://www.thepetitionsite.com/140/521/785/portland-trail-blazers-hire-a-big-man-coach/

 

Did they bring Hughes on for Just Leonard. I thought he was on staff before they drafted him?

 

I believe he was on staff before Leonard but he certainly was the one working with Leonard the most.
Since that firing You’d be hard pressed to find a big who has gotten better as a Blazer...

 

God this big man coach shit is so tired. None of us have a fucking clue what goes during a practice and the capabilities of our coaches.

And I still haven't heard a good argument for why Meyers and Noah just aren't very good NBA players. And don't tell me it's because their post games never developed. Very few bigs nowadays are skilled enough to be efficient on the block.

Those guys failings as players go far beyond coaching and both had physical and mental flaws that they weren't able to overcome. It's why some make it, but a whole hell of a lot more don't.

 

Ill be honest I don't think Hughes sticking around would have made a bit of difference with Leonard. He's not born passionate round baller and he will either get a bit better each year through osmosis or retire because he has no interest anymore other than the pay day.