What will it take for Chauncey to get fired?

I can say what I want. Terry Stotts is the reason why we lost. Plain and simple. Get over yourself now.

 

I thought living in a basement was a requirement for posting in this forum.

 

I wish Stotts wouldn't have played to the strengths of his opponent's rosters.

 

Shaking it up and taking a chance at someone better was what they needed. They were never winning anything without a better playoff coach AND a better roster. Unfortunately, they got neither, and here we are.

I really don't think Hart/Grant was that much better than Aminu and Harkless. As individuals, sure, but Aminu & Harkless's combined defensively versatility and how solid they were on that end made those rosters competitive defensively. Stotts had a better 6th/7th/8th man with Curry/Hood/Collins than last years team had and the Blazers might not have won the first round without Curry nor the 2nd round without Hood.

But this is why I don't like evaluating coaches purely off results. There's a lot of factors there that are all debatable that can be used to talk about a coach positively or negatively.

 

That was Olshey's mess, but are we sure Cronin doesn't also have the same love for small guards and possibly played a part in those roster constructions? Cronin had 6'4 SF Josh Hart, brought in 6'2 SG/SF Gary Payton II as his biggest FA signing, and then talked about how they needed more size yet drafted 6'3 PG Scoot Henderson to supposedly pair with Dame, Simons, and Sharpe.

I want Alex Sarr. A 7'1 PF/C sounds so nice.

 

I think he probably would have changed things up if he had enough quality basketball players.

But he was never given that luxury, so we just don't know.

I wish Olshey and Jody would have put him in position to make that choice.

 

Should've ran more side PnR to force rotations across the key to the roller with Nurk having more of a lane towards the rim instead of having to play in the middle from the arc down. Baffled me why the coaching staff went three straight playoff games with the same issues without adjusting... I get wanting to run PnR but they didn't even mix that up much at all after watching Dame get trapped to death.

 

He did in Games 2 through 4 of the WCF against GS and it was more effective despite the Blazers not practicing it all season long. The rotations weren't even on time or all that good behind it and it started to get picked apart a bit in 2nd halfs (part of the collapse) but it was still better.

Even if you have a team built to play one way, it always made sense to work on more than just drop during the season so that they'd be ready to guard Steph in the playoffs...

 

Getting a worse coach certainly wasn't going to be helpful.

There was absolutely no way Billups was going to be a better coach than Stotts with 1 year of assistant experience. Maybe there was a very slight chance, but what a horrible gamble...

 

I agree, should've got a better coach.

I bought Billups stock. He said the right things. And given that Kerr had come in with no experience and immediately turned GS into a championship team with a lot of the same stuff I was hoping a new coach would bring Portland, I was optimistic.

I don't think Billups nor his assistants know how to get them to actually execute what they want. The lack of identity on both ends is glaring, because even bad rebuilding teams at least have a specific style of play. Billups seems to have switched up on some of the philosophies he was preaching coming into the job, too.

 

And again, if he had the benefit of a stacked roster like a San Antonio or LA or any of the other actual championship contenders he may have done that. As it was they were scrimping for every win possible so they could try to get home court advantage in the playoffs and avoid the warriors altogether.

 

Yeah, it's always easier to coach with stacked rosters. They were never going to avoid the Warriors altogether.

 

Good point. I guess I meant avoid them early altogether. They got Golden State where they wanted them when they got them in the WCF. They just didn't have the talent to overcome it.

I don't think Stotts had the luxury of risking losing games in the regular season by putting his players in a position they weren't capable of playing effectively.

Again, those guys were getting big minutes in the Western Conference Finals then they were out of the league in short order.

 

100% you can say whatever you want. And when you're saying things that are incorrect, people will provide those receipts, like what has happened here.

 

I think we agree on half the stuff. I also didn't love the Hart/Grant forward combo, though I think it was better.

Also agree you can't evaluate coaches strictly off record. I think those who constantly were pointing to Stotts losing in the 1st round were greatly overlooking just how marginal of a roster he was working with. It appears the inability to even make the playoffs with the Dame/CJ/Hart/Grant/Nurk team(s) how made that obvious to some.

I know we agree that if/when Billups is fired, we both hope the next coach is given a better roster, configured to actually contend and have the option to be versatile. It's been a decade since this franchise has had something to really work with.

 

that may very well be the case with Cronin. I suspect he may have something like the blind love Olshey had for CJ when it comes to Ant. Hart was an ok exchange for CJ in terms of size and he played much bigger than his height. Payton was a purely stupid MLE signing

 

Agree. I’m not sure who is holding a flame for Olshey in here, respectfully.

 

Difference was that Kerr was a cerebral player. He didn't have the strength or athleticism Billups had.

And he had 6 years of experience in PHXs front office as owner, president, and GM. And he had done a pretty good job.

I would have honestly been surprised if Kerr had been less than a good coach.

Billups was purely and obviously a desperate gamble. A circling of the wagons. That's on Jody mismanaging her brother's toy, IMO.

 

Agree 100%. IMO, We're still being screwed by Olshey because Jody is a shit governor.

I guess that's where my frustrations lie.

 

Billups is the most famous NBA person in Portland. He is a household name, he's a charming person. Chauncey seems extraordinary nice, and brings spirit and smiles to everyone around him.

Portland can't lean on Lillard anymore. Scoot's getting there, but still too young to be team captain. Simons Grant Ayton Sharpe Brogdan are quiet assassins.

Here in lies the Alpha dilemma. Coach Billups is the leader, until one of his guys rises up to take control.