Fire Stotts Eventually

[wizenheimer]

.Chad Buchanon lucked out trading Crash...he wasn't a great interim GM in my view...Olshey has done a whole lot more to keep the team in contention after the Roy Oden era.

a lot to unpack there

last thing first: Portland is not in contention. They are not a contender...they are a pretender and that's been the case since Olshey arrived. The reason Portland has been in the playoffs for 7 straight years can be found, occasionally, shooting from the logo. Olshey isn't responsible for that success, Dame is, and Dame wouldn't be a Blazer if not for Buchanan

and LOL at Buchanan getting "lucky" compared to Olshey's apparent skill. Yeah right, it was just luck that Buchanan dealt with Billy King and pulled off the most consequential Blazer trade in 25 years. Meanwhile, it was Olshey's skill that gave out all those idiot contracts in 2016. It was Olshey's skill that gave Portland Zach Collins when they could have had Donovan Mitchell, or Bam Adebayo, or John Collins. I wish Olshey had Buchanan's great luck because his skill is pretty average. Maybe if he had that luck the Blazers would have Giannis instead of CJ, or Siakam instead of 30 games of Afflalo

 

[Hoopguru]

a lot to unpack there

last thing first: Portland is not in contention. They are not a contender...they are a pretender and that's been the case since Olshey arrived. The reason Portland has been in the playoffs for 7 straight years can be found, occasionally, shooting from the logo. Olshey isn't responsible for that success, Dame is, and Dame wouldn't be a Blazer if not for Buchanan

and LOL at Buchanan getting "lucky" compared to Olshey's apparent skill. Yeah right, it was just luck that Buchanan dealt with Billy King and pulled off the most consequential Blazer trade in 25 years. Meanwhile, it was Olshey's skill that gave out all those idiot contracts in 2016. It was Olshey's skill that gave Portland Zach Collins when they could have had Donovan Mitchell, or Bam Adebayo, or John Collins. I wish Olshey had Buchanan's great luck because his skill is pretty average. Maybe if he had that luck the Blazers would have Giannis instead of CJ, or Siakam instead of 30 games of Afflalo

Go out on a limb and tell us who'd you like to see take over as GM and coach? At least give some idea of what you want to see other than just replacing the three you mention. That's the easy part right?

 

[riverman]

They are not a contender...they are a pretender

Here's where you can stop unpacking....if this is your parameter then the Nets and Lakers should be your team to cheer for....upsetting the major market stacked teams is the great part of small market fandom. I don't fault Olshey for Zach Collins injuries but I do blame Olshey for Festus Ezili and Pau Gasol...those are two of his blunders in my view. If you think the Blazers now are pretending to compete...why bother? I project they'll beat the Lakers next game....we beat them with Lebron and AD....pretenders don't do that....we swept Philly...same thing. If ever there was a season for patience given circumstances...it's this one but it's all good....I've said my part in the Fire Stotts thread

 

[Hoopguru]

I heard this morning on the radio that Stevens has earned the opportunity to get things right. He was to be thew second coming of POP and look at the talent they've had there over the last few years. They a couple games under 500?
How does that happen in year like this?

 

[Natebishop3]

Here's where you can stop unpacking....if this is your parameter then the Nets and Lakers should be your team to cheer for....upsetting the major market stacked teams is the great part of small market fandom. I don't fault Olshey for Zach Collins injuries but I do blame Olshey for Festus Ezili and Pau Gasol...those are two of his blunders in my view. If you think the Blazers now are pretending to compete...why bother? I project they'll beat the Lakers next game....we beat them with Lebron and AD....pretenders don't do that....we swept Philly...same thing. If ever there was a season for patience given circumstances...it's this one but it's all good....I've said my part in the Fire Stotts thread

I look at the team the same way that I look at my own career.

I have parts of my life where my career is booming, and parts where it slows down, but as long as I'm always moving forward and improving towards my goal, I'm okay with it. If I was stagnant and no longer moving forward, I would feel like it was time to make some major changes. I have had that happen a couple times. I felt like I was at a dead end and needed to make a major change. One of those changes was cutting bait and going back to school.

The team is the same way. I don't expect us to always contend, but as long as I feel like the future is bright and we're moving towards contending, I'm okay with bad seasons or dips. The problem is that we have been rolling with the Dame/CJ/Stotts combo for 9 years now and we are not a realistic contender. We haven't been a realistic contender since LMA left. That was fine when Dame was in his mid 20s, but he's 30 now. Time is running out. The window is closing. And when Dame runs out, the party is over and we're back at square one.

 

[Hoopguru]

I look at the team the same way that I look at my own career.

I have parts of my life where my career is booming, and parts where it slows down, but as long as I'm always moving forward and improving towards my goal, I'm okay with it. If I was stagnant and no longer moving forward, I would feel like it was time to make some major changes. I have had that happen a couple times. I felt like I was at a dead end and needed to make a major change. One of those changes was cutting bait and going back to school.

The team is the same way. I don't expect us to always contend, but as long as I feel like the future is bright and we're moving towards contending, I'm okay with bad seasons or dips. The problem is that we have been rolling with the Dame/CJ/Stotts combo for 9 years now and we are not a realistic contender. We haven't been a realistic contender since LMA left. That was fine when Dame was in his mid 20s, but he's 30 now. Time is running out. The window is closing. And when Dame runs out, the party is over and we're back at square one.

I hear ya and agree and commend you for making a change.
I don't really have a problem with advocating big changes but what Id like to hear more of, how are you going to do it, objectively.
Just saying change the GM is the easy part, tell how and what you are going to replace him /her with, give me names of guys you like that could be realistic targets, what is there strengths, what is their history?
When I had my team present improvement plans, for the year, I asked how they were going to achieve the goal they set. Dont just say, well we had a shitty year, fell short of goals. So for this year dont just say Im growing the business by 20%, thats doesnt tell me how you will accomplish it, what tactics and time lines, how are you going to measure against your objective goal? To much, well, lets fire their ass's, been the same crap different day! I want to hear realistic GM & coach replacements, and why?

 

[Natebishop3]

I hear ya and agree and commend you for making a change.
I don't really have a problem with advocating big changes but what Id like to hear more of, how are you going to do it, objectively.
Just saying change the GM is the easy part, tell how and what you are going to replace him /her with, give me names of guys you like that could be realistic targets, what is there strengths, what is their history?
When I had my team present improvement plans, for the year, I asked how they were going to achieve the goal they set. Dont just say, well we had a shitty year, fell short of goals. So for this year dont just say Im growing the business by 20%, thats doesnt tell me how you will accomplish it, what tactics and time lines, how are you going to measure against your objective goal? To much, well, lets fire their ass's, been the same crap different day! I want to hear realistic GM & coach replacements, and why?

Step 1: We need new ownership. I get that it's romantic to still have the Blazers owned by an Allen, but this team feels like it's asleep at the wheel. When Paul was alive, we had direction. He was very involved in the team and he held the team accountable. There's no way in hell Paul would have let this team continue to treadmill the way that they have.

Step 2: New management. Neil simply hasn't shown an ability to take this team to the next level. He seems completely averse to taking any real risks. You're assuming that the best candidate is someone that's known to us, but I would say that there are candidates out there that I'm sure none of us are aware of. Why do we need retreads?

Step 3: New coach. This team needs some new ideas. New blood. The team is extremely stagnant. I want to at least see what the team as it is currently constructed can do with a fresh set of eyes.

Step 4: Break up Dame and CJ.

 

[OneSport3]

For those of you that give Stotts the benefit of the doubt due to injuries, I hope you afforded the same leniency to Nate McMillan. McMillan had to deal with even more catastrophic injuries to his franchise pillars in Brandon Roy and Greg Oden. Yet McMillan couldn’t even last a full season after Roy’s career in Portland ended. He was fired mid season after Roy was done.

Not to mention, McMillan had to deal with Raymond Felton on his team in his final season.

 

[e_blazer]

For those of you that give Stotts the benefit of the doubt due to injuries, I hope you afforded the same leniency to Nate McMillan. McMillan had to deal with even more catastrophic injuries to his franchise pillars in Brandon Roy and Greg Oden. Yet McMillan couldn’t even last a full season after Roy’s career in Portland ended. He was fired mid season after Roy was done.

Not to mention, McMillan had to deal with Raymond Felton on his team in his final season.

McMillan was fired midseason because he had lost control of the team. Here's a quote from a CBS Sports article at the time:

"Which players did McMillan lose? More like: Which players didn't he lose on this patchwork roster full of competing interests?

Starting point guard Raymond Felton has been atrocious on and off the court it since he arrived via trade on the night of the 2011 NBA Draft.Fellow guard Jamal Crawford, signed as a free agent in December, was visibly frustrated with his changing role, shots and minutes under McMillan. Forward Gerald Wallace -- acquired at last year's trade deadline and then traded to the New Jersey Nets on Thursday -- provided inconsistent production all season. Center Marcus Camby -- acquired two deadlines ago and shipped to the Houston Rockets on Thurdsay -- took out his evident frustration with flashes of homicidal rage during the team's current road trip, getting ejected for shoving Washington Wizards forward Kevin Seraphin to the ground and then getting a flagrant foul for decking New York Knicks forward Landry Fields on a dangerous play in transition.

All the while, franchise forward LaMarcus Aldridge has taken on the glazed look of Chris Bosh circa 2008, going through the motions on offense and in his bland post-game comments. The last time Aldridge looked genuinely excited came when he was named to the 2012 All-Star team.

Together, the Blazers haven't looked worse in years. 20-23 on the season and resting in the Northwest Division basement, Portland is 2-6 in March, its only wins coming against the lowly New Orleans Hornets and Washington Wizards. The losses, including a number of blowouts, have been embarrassing. McMillan called the team's performance "unprofessional" after a 17-point loss to the Indiana Pacers in which the Blazers set an all-time franchise low with just five assists as a team. Portland followed that game up by scoring just 29 points against the New York Knicks in the first half, on their way to a 42-point loss at Madison Square Garden."

Does any of that sound the least bit like the current situation? No. Dame, CJ, Nurk, Melo and, as far as I can tell, everyone else on the roster all support Stotts and the team is overachieving despite injuries.

 

[OneSport3]

McMillan was fired midseason because he had lost control of the team. Here's a quote from a CBS Sports article at the time:

"Which players did McMillan lose? More like: Which players didn't he lose on this patchwork roster full of competing interests?

Starting point guard Raymond Felton has been atrocious on and off the court it since he arrived via trade on the night of the 2011 NBA Draft.Fellow guard Jamal Crawford, signed as a free agent in December, was visibly frustrated with his changing role, shots and minutes under McMillan. Forward Gerald Wallace -- acquired at last year's trade deadline and then traded to the New Jersey Nets on Thursday -- provided inconsistent production all season. Center Marcus Camby -- acquired two deadlines ago and shipped to the Houston Rockets on Thurdsay -- took out his evident frustration with flashes of homicidal rage during the team's current road trip, getting ejected for shoving Washington Wizards forward Kevin Seraphin to the ground and then getting a flagrant foul for decking New York Knicks forward Landry Fields on a dangerous play in transition.

All the while, franchise forward LaMarcus Aldridge has taken on the glazed look of Chris Bosh circa 2008, going through the motions on offense and in his bland post-game comments. The last time Aldridge looked genuinely excited came when he was named to the 2012 All-Star team.

Together, the Blazers haven't looked worse in years. 20-23 on the season and resting in the Northwest Division basement, Portland is 2-6 in March, its only wins coming against the lowly New Orleans Hornets and Washington Wizards. The losses, including a number of blowouts, have been embarrassing. McMillan called the team's performance "unprofessional" after a 17-point loss to the Indiana Pacers in which the Blazers set an all-time franchise low with just five assists as a team. Portland followed that game up by scoring just 29 points against the New York Knicks in the first half, on their way to a 42-point loss at Madison Square Garden."

Does any of that sound the least bit like the current situation? No. Dame, CJ, Nurk, Melo and, as far as I can tell, everyone else on the roster all support Stotts and the team is overachieving despite injuries.

Blaming McMillan for a "patchwork roster full of competing interests?" Sure, that makes sense. So it was McMillan's fault that Felton underperformed and was a malcontent. It was McMillan's fault that he didn't want to protect Jamal Crawford's legacy? This team had just lost it's leader and franchise player in Roy. I'm sure the morale was low. I don't think blaming McMillan for that to be logical. I didn't see anyone blaming Stotts for Whiteside being a malcontent last season.

Imagine if Stotts ever lost Dame...The ONLY reason Stotts is still here is because Dame wants him here. That's it.

At the end of January last season, Portland was 16-24. Stotts still had his two franchise players in Dame and CJ.

 

[Tince]

Budenholzer and Malone both made a conference Finals. That gives them a lifetime pass according to the always-Stotts crowd.

See how that works both ways?

If people think they deserve a lifetime pass or not, doesn't bother me any. I've never said Stotts gets a lifetime pass, so personally I don't subscribe to that thinking, but to each their own.

Let's focus on building a roster of championship players!

#IndifferentStottsCrowd

 

[Minstrel]

Blaming McMillan for a "patchwork roster full of competing interests?" Sure, that makes sense. So it was McMillan's fault that Felton underperformed and was a malcontent. It was McMillan's fault that he didn't want to protect Jamal Crawford's legacy? This team had just lost it's leader and franchise player in Roy. I'm sure the morale was low. I don't think blaming McMillan for that to be logical. Imagine if Stotts ever lost Dame.

I don't think the question is whether he was to blame or not. The point is that McMillan was in a very different situation--considering he had lost the locker room (his fault or not), there was no downside to firing the coach midseason. There was no chemistry to risk. Firing a coach midseason has some downside risk when the coach is liked and respected by the players, it could cause disruption that affects the product on the court even if the next coach is a better coach.

I'm not saying it's impossible to fire Stotts now, just that McMillan isn't a great comparison point.

 

[Scalma]

Soon (please)

 

[Tince]

My position: the team should fire Stotts (and Olshey) as soon as they've identified replacements they believe will be better. That could be a veteran coach or an up-and-comer. But they shouldn't fire people until they have some idea of where they're going next--I want the franchise to operate with a plan, not by the seat of their pants.

You want us to make calculated moves with a higher (than not) likelihood of improving? That sounds like the most reasonable and not emotional take possible! I co-sign!

 

[Tince]

Last season was an injury riddled season as well. At what point do you stop being able to use that excuse? .

When it stops being a reality.

 

[kjironman1]

My position: the team should fire Stotts (and Olshey) as soon as they've identified replacements they believe will be better. That could be a veteran coach or an up-and-comer. But they shouldn't fire people until they have some idea of where they're going next--I want the franchise to operate with a plan, not by the seat of their pants.

I get this. I really do get the idea. You want things to be looked at and set. You want "Someone" to make a solid decision that will keep the team on a solid foundation while looking for a better

The problem is you are saying "Olshey and Stotts". Who does that leave running the show? Chris McGowan? Are you thinking Jody Allen is going to make these decisions? So you want Vulcan Inc to make these searches while Olshey and Stotts are still here?

Can you say complete Chaos? Seriously. What you want is new ownership. You want a Mark Cuban type owner to come in and make solid decisions and changes. Anything less than that is a recipe for a total disaster. A disaster bigger than the Pritchard Saga. If that happens plan on losing Lillard because he isn't going to sit around and deal with a bunch of back stabbing bullshit that cuts not only Olshey's throat but Stotts as well. This franchise has barely lived down the jail Blazers as it is.

My take on this entire issue is nothing will be changed until the franchise is sold.

 

[Strenuus]

Actually, I think to accurately reflect what we need to do to make this organization better is to call it:

"Fire Stolshey"

 

[BonesJones]

Is there an “always Stotts” crowd? I don’t recall anyone posting anything saying he gets his job in perpetuity. I’m in the “you don’t change coaches in the middle of a pandemic-shortened season, especially when the team is overachieving while missing two critical starters, because that would be fricking stupid considering the new coach would have zero practice time to implement his new system and he’d be likely to be only an interim coach anyway because no sane good coach is going to walk into a job like that when the current GM’s neck is also likely to get chopped if the team underperforms the rest of the season” crowd.

The team is not overachieving by beating sub-.500 teams

 

[riverman]

For those of you that give Stotts the benefit of the doubt due to injuries, I hope you afforded the same leniency to Nate McMillan. McMillan had to deal with even more catastrophic injuries to his franchise pillars in Brandon Roy and Greg Oden. Yet McMillan couldn’t even last a full season after Roy’s career in Portland ended. He was fired mid season after Roy was done.

Not to mention, McMillan had to deal with Raymond Felton on his team in his final season.

I cheered for Nate but Nate didn't play his bench players or rookies at all and he did overplay his main rotation guys...and play them hobbled....yeah..I think Nate learned a big lesson after Portland about load management. Has nothing to do with the way Stotts uses his bench...Stotts plays young guys and gives them a lot of rope to develop confidence. Just bad luck recent seasons with Terry's roster...not to say Nate's wasn't bad luck either.....if Dame was sidelined there'd be a comparison because he's the guy Terry plays huge minutes..Nate also had lost his lockerroom and had players that didn't like each other much....it's why we lost Andre Miller for Raymond Felton really...Miller questioned Nateball....

 

[BonesJones]

I heard this morning on the radio that Stevens has earned the opportunity to get things right. He was to be thew second coming of POP and look at the talent they've had there over the last few years. They a couple games under 500?
How does that happen in year like this?

Short turnaround after the conference finals? Denver and Miami have struggled as well.

 

[e_blazer]

The team is not overachieving by beating sub-.500 teams

The current Blazers' roster is a .500 team at best. They have wins against the Lakers, Warriors, Sixers (x2) and Mavericks, all of which are at .500 and above, You have to beat the sub-.500 teams in order to have the 5th seed in the West. Doing that with only one true center and without the team's second best scoring option is overachieving in my book. You're welcome to your own assessment.

 

[OneSport3]

The current Blazers' roster is a .500 team at best. They have wins against the Lakers, Warriors, Sixers (x2) and Mavericks, all of which are at .500 and above, You have to beat the sub-.500 teams in order to have the 5th seed in the West. Doing that with only one true center and without the team's second best scoring option is overachieving in my book. You're welcome to your own assessment.

I agree that the current team with the injuries to CJ and Nurkic is definitely overachieving. You can't lose your 2nd and 3rd best players and expect to win many games. I don't expect any coach to be able to overcome injuries to your 2nd and 3rd best players. This team currently has a negative net rating, mostly due to the pathetic defense. So the longer CJ and Nurk are out, they'll eventually regress. We already are starting to see it with the current 3 game losing streak. I think the 6 game winning streak was definitely a statistical outlier.

 

[Minstrel]

The problem is you are saying "Olshey and Stotts". Who does that leave running the show?

They don't need to be fired at the same time. Ideally, Olshey would be fired first and a new GM would be involved in the process of finding a new coach to replace Stotts. Again ideally, the franchise would already have some kind of candidate list in mind for whom they believe to better coaches, but the new GM should certainly have input.

That said, franchises have found success in cleaning out both roles at the same time. The 49ers let their GM (Trent Baalke) and head coach (Chip Kelly) go in the same off-season and hired a new GM (John Lynch) and head coach (Kyle Shanahan) in tandem, and it wasn't complete chaos--it's worked out fairly well. But that's probably unusual and not necessarily the easiest way to do it.

But yes, at some level, the owner (and his or her executive group) need to be responsible for the overall direction of the franchise and be capable of leading these types of searches and deciding when to cut bait with their existing hierarchy. Whether Jody Allen and her people are capable of it, I have no idea. If she's not, hopefully she'll sell fairly soon to someone who is capable of getting these sorts of moves right.

 

[wizenheimer]

Go out on a limb and tell us who'd you like to see take over as GM and coach? At least give some idea of what you want to see other than just replacing the three you mention. That's the easy part right?

and....? what if I don't name somebody...do they get to keep their jobs?

 

[kjironman1]

Again ideally, the franchise would already have some kind of candidate list in mind for whom they believe to better coaches,

You are making the same mistake here. Who is them, they, the franchise? Are you Thinking Jody Allen is going to do this? Chris Mcgowan? Who? The illusive VULCANS?

franchises have found success in cleaning out both roles at the same time.

No the Niners fell totally apart and it didn't go well for the Cowboys, Knicks, Nuggets, Sonics, Lakers, Suns... And the list goes on and on.

If she's not, hopefully she'll sell fairly soon

No team is going to get sold during a Pandemic. It ain't gonna happen. Try to understand here. This will not happen this year.

Stotts will not be fired this year. Olshey will not be fired this year. The team will not be sold this year.

This thread has 84 pages and will most likely have 100+ more before these kinds of moves will happen.

 

[blazerkor]

They don't need to be fired at the same time. Ideally, Olshey would be fired first and a new GM would be involved in the process of finding a new coach to replace Stotts. Again ideally, the franchise would already have some kind of candidate list in mind for whom they believe to better coaches, but the new GM should certainly have input.

That said, franchises have found success in cleaning out both roles at the same time. The 49ers let their GM (Trent Baalke) and head coach (Chip Kelly) go in the same off-season and hired a new GM (John Lynch) and head coach (Kyle Shanahan) in tandem, and it wasn't complete chaos--it's worked out fairly well. But that's probably unusual and not necessarily the easiest way to do it.

But yes, at some level, the owner (and his or her executive group) need to be responsible for the overall direction of the franchise and be capable of leading these types of searches and deciding when to cut bait with their existing hierarchy. Whether Jody Allen and her people are capable of it, I have no idea. If she's not, hopefully she'll sell fairly soon to someone who is capable of getting these sorts of moves right.

Yeah, I don't want to finish out the season with these two at the helm but that's just me being impatient. The season will play out and then (unless this team and coach do something amazing that proves that they belong and therefore so does Olshey) it's time to fire Olshey. The Vulcans can fire Stotts at the same time if they want but the new GM is going to do that for them if they don't.

Lynch was hired a week before Shanahan. So they gave Lynch the opportunity to sign off on who they already wanted. That's the way, I'd like to see it done. I doubt it hurt that Lynch played for Shanahan's dad for the last four seasons of his playing career.

Unless we hire a bumbling moron as the next head coach he will do better than Stotts... or the exact same. Stotts is a players coach but he is also a hands off players coach who let's the players dictate a lot of what's going on. You can have a players coach that has control of the team. It's not a Stotts or Thibs binary choice. In fact every coach in the league falls somewhere in between those two. So if we hire an amiable guy who wants to have the final say in the direction of games and schemes then we will have a Stotts like attitude with some direction and push.

I like the idea of Brian Shaw as the head coach because he's one guy that hasn't been part of this system of mediocrity, that Dame will feel comfortable with. He seems like a players coach but is from the Phil Jackson coaching tree so you know he will be running things.

 

[Minstrel]

You are making the same mistake here. Who is them, they, the franchise?

Please actually read my post before replying, I've already answered this:

But yes, at some level, the owner (and his or her executive group) need to be responsible for the overall direction of the franchise and be capable of leading these types of searches and deciding when to cut bait with their existing hierarchy. Whether Jody Allen and her people are capable of it, I have no idea. If she's not, hopefully she'll sell fairly soon to someone who is capable of getting these sorts of moves right.

Ultimately, these things come down to the owner and his/her executive advisors.

No the Niners fell totally apart

Nope, I'm afraid they didn't. They had an extremely orderly off-season and draft and began building a Super Bowl contending team despite Shanahan and Lynch inheriting a terrible roster.

No team is going to get sold during a Pandemic. It ain't gonna happen. Try to understand here. This will not happen this year.

Please try to understand: I didn't say it had to be this year.

 

[Hoopguru]

and....? what if I don't name somebody...do they get to keep their jobs?

yep they do...so give some realistic names that would be targets and could turn us into perennial contender's?

 

[James lamphear]

What Jody needs to hire someone that's in the basketball business to over see this team that has authority to fire the GM or the coach. Because right now I don't see that person in this organization. So a long we continue to make the playoffs then I believe there jobs is going be save. Now I wasn't paying attention that Olshey has give majority is first rounders away. Will this be another mistakes by Olshey like when he over paid players I believe 2016. Now Stotts if he winning with short handed roster I believe his job going to be safe because what they will do make the excuses of all the injuries. Now my opinion I think both needs to be let go at the end of the season and the reason needs some new eyes on this team because right now I just don't see us winning a championship the way we operate now.

 

[blazerkor]

What Jody needs to hire someone that's in the basketball business to over see this team that has authority to fire the GM or the coach. Because right now I don't see that person in this organization. So a long we continue to make the playoffs then I believe there jobs is going be save. Now I wasn't paying attention that Olshey has give majority is first rounders away. Will this be another mistakes by Olshey like when he over paid players I believe 2016. Now Stotts if he winning with short handed roster I believe his job going to be safe because what they will do make the excuses of all the injuries. Now my opinion I think both needs to be let go at the end of the season and the reason needs some new eyes on this team because right now I just don't see us winning a championship the way we operate now.

The good news is that CJ and Nurk are reported to be healing up. We will have them back with plenty of time to right the ship and be ready for what should either be a serious playoff run or the end of the Olshey/Stotts era. I just don't think, injuries or not, that you can roll with a head coach and GM for an entire decade without a finals appearance, in this league. Maybe Jody and the Vulcans will sadly prove me wrong but I don't think so.

Forget Zach Collins. If this team, is the best that Olshey could put together in his time here, minus one major role player, and can't put together a serious playoff run... if they can't beat or take to a game seven the Lakers, Clippers or Jazz... why in the fuck should Neil get yet another chance. If there are more injuries, I will be furious because then Neil and Terry might be able to sensibly weasel their way out of getting fired again. If no one else goes down and CJ and Nurk come back... we either get to the conference finals and win some games or off with their heads.