Another ESPN Article: "Don't Tell Stotts This Can't Work"

[Hey]

Love that we're playing so well that it forces them to continue talking about us.

http://espn.go.com/blog/truehoop/po...y-stotts-this-cant-work?ex_cid=espnapi_public

Portion of the article:

The Blazers have the best record in basketball, the best offense in the game by a fair margin and egg on the faces of every pundit in the land.

They were supposed to be mediocre, and 26 games in they have been stellar.

A caterpillar of a 33-game winner has emerged from the chrysalis of the offseason and taken flight, on pace to win [gasp] 69.

Somebody has some explaining to do. Three prevailing theories:

THEORY #1: MVP Aldridge
LaMarcus Aldridge has emerged as an MVP candidate, they say. And he has been fantastic ... but his performance isn't so different from what he has done in recent years. This is only part of the story.

THEORY #2: Roster upgrade
General manager Neil Olshey deserves major kudos for his offseason, most notably in bringing in starting big man Robin Lopez who has been a monster on the offensive glass, the team's best rim protector and, most importantly, the player who let Aldridge play his preferred power forward position. Olshey also upgraded the bench, to be sure.

But remember whatever is working in Portland must account for massive, not incremental, improvement. The Pacers, Thunder and Spurs are 0-3 against this team. Could that really be attributable to Lopez, Mo Williams and Dorrell Wright -- even as most people rank this year's top four Blazer contributors as Aldridge, Damian Lillard, Wesley Matthews and Nicolas Batum, none of whom are new?

THEORY #3: Dumb luck
It is undeniable. Lillard can scarcely miss with the game on the line, including Tuesday night's off-the-dribble shocker, which, as Brian Windhorst points out, was "a game-winning 3-pointer that he drilled from the edge of the center court logo with less than a second left." Matthews is shooting an insane 46 percent from 3. Not to mention, they've had a knack for encountering opponents at the right time, for instance when key players are out injured.

But the biggest luck they've had of all, if you are to believe Charles Barkley on TNT the other night, or nearly any other pundit, is that they've hit jump shots.

And, the story goes, that's not how you win in the playoffs, when rim attacks, post-ups and power basketball carry the day. This is well-worn territory of NBA commentary; Mike D'Antoni's Suns and Rick Adelman's Kings tried this high-paced 3-rich offense, and it was cute for a while, but neither won a title, proving it's an offensive approach that is more of curio than a strategy worth fearing. Like those other soft teams, the Blazers will eventually start missing, and beat themselves.

Meanwhile, Portland head coach Terry Stotts chafes at the notion there's anything gimmicky about what's working. "That," he says, "is the easy way out."

Click the link to read Abbots' interview with Stotts where he responds to the critics.

What excites me the most is that this system and roster is built to last. Aldridge has never looked happier. Batum is locked up. Lillard is still on a rookie contract that will get extended. We have Matthews and Lopez for at least another two years and I have no doubt we'll find a way to keep them or find better replacements. Free agent 3pt shooters will have their eyes set on Portland as a destination now. Bench has nowhere to go but up.

Even if we don't win it all this year, we'll be legit contenders for the next 4-5 years.

 

[DaLincolnJones]

Super read! Thanks!

 

[donkiez]

Nice read for sure, I would say that D'Antoni's Suns and Adelmans Kings could have won the championship, especially the Kings who were a few horrible calls away from having a chance. Not exactly like those example prove our offense can't work. Another point is that we are winning in every way imaginable and beating teams like the Pacer and OKC at their own game. We've won fast and easy, slow and grind it out, beat up basketball, finesse, defensively, offensively and just about any other way I can think of. So back to the drawing board ESPN.

 

[Reep]

I love what he says about defense, repeatedly.

To win a championship you have to be in the top ten in offense and defense, pretty much. We were outliers in Dallas, where we were 11th in defense, I believe. The other outlier is the Pistons, who were not in the top ten in offense. But if you're trying to be a champion, you have to be good in both.

 

[Haakzilla]

I love what he says about defense, repeatedly.

...Stotts understands what it takes to be a champion, this much is true! This team is only going to improve on the defensive end. They already seem to have that proverbial "switch" when it's crunch time and defense matters most. Rip MF'ing City!

 

[Blazer Fanatic]

Abbot feeling it's safe to come out of the closet on his Portland ties? lol