Once again, he didn't take any timeouts to stop the run, or change defensive coverage in the first. We were running drop after drop and letting George shoot over guys 6-7 inches shorter than him without a single double team. What happened in the first quarter was by design!
If it's effort, get in their faces and challenge them. Coaching is both about strategy AND getting the most out of the players. Terry is useless on both levels.
Again, I'm not sayin Stotts is without blame for last night's performance. One example being he should have taken Kanter out within the first 3 minutes seeing how obvious the Clippers were in their exploitation of him every time down the floor. But I think putting 100% of the blame on Terry is incorrect.
The team is clearly capable of playing defense. It doesn't happen often, but they have proven it this year. I think the players need to be held accountable as well. Where was the personal pride in that first quarter? This is now the second time this year the Clippers have punked us. I'm sure Terry tried to motivate the team last night and he admitted he let them know their performance was embarrassing in the locker room, so we'll see if it falls on deaf ears tomorrow vs. Utah.
But all of this goes back to my original statement that I think the team is tuning him out. And that's the *real* problem. Even if we had Pop or Spo, if the team isn't listening, it doesn't matter who's at the helm.
Does the team internally know Terry's gone next year? Does the team just know that no matter what they do on the court, nothing will change ... no one is getting benched, no one will get shots taken away, etc.? Does the team disagree with Terry's strategies?
My first inclination that the team was tuning him out was when Nurk returned vs Orlando and immediately went rogue on defense. Regardless of where you fall on the Stotts spectrum, if he has lost the ear of his players, he needs to be replaced.