Article on Stotts and Dame in the Athletic

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Buffalo Custard said:
There is one category where the Blazers always rate highly - excuses.

I believe it is small market guilt syndrome. Many Blazer fans act as if we don't have the right to expect excellence from the franchise.
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I disagree with this - this fanbase does have expectations - we're just also not blind to the fact that injuries have gutted our opportunities time and again. This franchise wins, almost always - not enough at times for all of us - but one of the most consistent winners in professional sports.
 
It's the point guard's job to make reads...coach prepares the gameplan...a player's coach trusts his floor general to make the reads and then he'll calls timeouts and subs...draws up plays for clock management and inbounding....it's a collective job to manage a game..post game Stotts will say he can't comment until he sees film...that's how he coaches. In the practice facility but show time, he trusts his floor general to carry out his plan.
 
This is a great article.

Dames comments are so refreshing in a league that shows no loyalty.

And I have absolutely no problem with how Terry has coached and developed Dame. The style works for Dame. The problem is how other players receive this style and Terry's ability to actually coach defense.
 
tester551 said:
The key here is that Accountability should result in a change of behavior (or change in play).... so regardless of how Stott's holds players accountable - we can look at the product to see if it is working.

IMO, things have gradually gotten worse and worse over the years in regards to the basketball fundamentals (making the right play, defensive rotations, etc)
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I don't agree things have got worse and I think to say the product isn't working is totally false. They are 2 years removed from a WCF run with a roster that probably ranked 7-10 in terms of talent.

Steve Kerr, who I think is a good coach, doesn't appear to hold his players any more accountable than Stotts. Pop is the rare exception to this rule, and he sure has been trending negative for years now.

I think the strongest argument to getting rid of Stotts is you believe a coach loses the ear of his players after so many years. I wouldn't sign off on that blanket theory.
 
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Rastapopoulos said:
Do all these Stotts critics really think we have world-beating talent and he's the only thing keeping us from multiple championships?
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Prepare to get blasted for saying that we don't have a championship level roster is you having your expectations too low.

I agree with you though. You'd be hard pressed to find a past championship roster that is anywhere close to the rosters we've put together since 2001.
 
illmatic99 said:
This is a great article.

Dames comments are so refreshing in a league that shows no loyalty.

And I have absolutely no problem with how Terry has coached and developed Dame. The style works for Dame. The problem is how other players receive this style and Terry's ability to actually coach defense.
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I agree with you totally the only problem I have with this equation is how Neil handles things. Stotts is a really good, if not great coach but some guys are just going to take advantage of his style of coaching. It's Olshey's job to identify those guys and move their asses. That's all it's going to take. I again am very encouraged by the moves Olshey made this off season but until I see him make a shrewd move with one of "his guys" I won't be impressed or too hopeful that we can make it all the way to a championship but I hope this team proves me wrong.
 
A whole lotta opinions on Stotts, good and bad. But the bottom line is that pretty much only one opinion is all that matters. Dame likes Terry, Dame wants to play for Terry (sounds like for his entire career if he can), so Terry is going to be coaching this team unless and until Olshey wants to piss Dame off (or trade him). And all the caterwauling from a fan site isn’t going to matter a whit. We can do (and have done.....Mo Cheeks anyone??) much worse......
 
UncleCliffy'sDaddy said:
A whole lotta opinions on Stotts, good and bad. But the bottom line is that pretty much only one opinion is all that matters. Dame likes Terry, Dame wants to play for Terry (sounds like for his entire career if he can), so Terry is going to be coaching this team unless and until Olshey wants to piss Dame off (or trade him). And all the caterwauling from a fan site isn’t going to matter a whit. We can do (and have done.....Mo Cheeks anyone??) much worse......
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I don't think Dame would be pissed. He's so smart and understands the business. He knows that without a championship that Stotts' tenure is almost unprecedented. I think Dame would be sad but it wouldn't have an effect on his dedication to this organization... he has said time and time again that this devotion is so much bigger than any one person or people... that it's about the city, his values and he's explicitly said that he will play for this team until they don't want him.

He has made the Dirk comparison so many times and Dirk had multiple coaches and his favorite teammates moved. Dame isn't going anywhere or half-assing it, if it's his decision. Dirk bided his time, saw many iterations of his team and won a championship late in his career with a far different team and coaching staff than he played the majority of his career with. Now respecting Dame's loyalty by trying to keep the people he wants is definitely a good idea but not at the cost of winning and at the same time the cost of his legacy.
 
Rastapopoulos said:
Do all these Stotts critics really think we have world-beating talent and he's the only thing keeping us from multiple championships?
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Olshey and Stotts are both part of the problem - but quite a few Portland fans object to blaming either one of them.
 
UncleCliffy'sDaddy said:
A whole lotta opinions on Stotts, good and bad. But the bottom line is that pretty much only one opinion is all that matters. Dame likes Terry, Dame wants to play for Terry (sounds like for his entire career if he can), so Terry is going to be coaching this team unless and until Olshey wants to piss Dame off (or trade him). And all the caterwauling from a fan site isn’t going to matter a whit. We can do (and have done.....Mo Cheeks anyone??) much worse......
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LOL - our slogan for 20-21 "Terry Stotts? Meh, we could do worse."
 
Buffalo Custard said:
Olshey and Stotts are both part of the problem - but quite a few Portland fans object to blaming either one of them.
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Yeah you can blame either one of them but I love what Stotts has that he brings to the team. So for me the problem is Olshey not realizing that Stotts has to have players that value the freedom he gives them and won't take advantage of it. Could Stotts demand that certain guys who don't pass or try hard enough on D do those things??? Who's to say he hasn't but I don't think he'll allow his relationship with the player or the team chemistry be effected by players that won't change. Olshey can quickly do something about that.

I will say that I don't think that Olshey's dogged loyalty and stubbornness mixed with Stotts' player's coach at all costs approach work well.
 
Stotts is never going to be that coach who gets this team over the top. He's a good developmental coach for a young team that is just finding their way. He's not a next-level Championship-caliber coach who is right for a team of veterans and contenders.

I wish we had cut bait with him two or three years ago. If he's still here, then he's likely not going anywhere.
 
Natebishop3 said:
"Encourage players to be themselves and play freely on court."

And that's the fucking problem. Right there. Sometimes you shouldn't play freely on the court. CJ is the case in point. It's pretty clear that Stotts has zero control over CJ. He does whatever he wants, whenever he wants, and often times to the detriment to our offense and our team. We're also seeing this with Melo and Dame.

We play like we're in a pickup game.
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Exactly, its playground ball, not professional ball.
 
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