I clearly know nothing about basketball

[Phatguysrule]

Has Terry Stotts ever been known for defense? Just like Cronin communicated with Chauncey to get his players, Olshey did the same with Stotts. Stotts never held players accountable for defense because defence was an afterthought. His strategy was to outscore the opponent with his two guards. Olshey got what Stotts wanted.

They both should have gone a lot earlier but I'm glad Olshey gave us Chancey and Watford before he left.

How good was Chauncey's defense last season? Having a legit athletic 4 makes a huge difference.

It doesn't matter if Stotts was known for defense. He coached good defenses when he had the horses.

 

[Sheldon Shape]

Little was injured most of the time. Gabriel isn't exactly lighting the world on fire...

But now we're moving goalposts. Gabriel didn't have to be lighting the world on fire to be better than the no defense guys he was playing. And yes, Little had been injury prone. But when he was healthy, Stotts opted for Tolliver and Hezonja. Simply idiotic.

It didn't work out forever, but he had a good run, and I loved the vibe in Portland under Stotts. It would make me happy if he were happily here long term in some capacity.

It never worked out and I wouldn't call burning the prime of a top 75 player as a "good run." He had a run longer than most dictators with half the success. I'd be happy to never to see him near this franchise again.

 

[Phatguysrule]

But now we're moving goalposts. Gabriel didn't have to be lighting the world on fire to be better than the no defense guys he was playing. And yes, Little had been injury prone. But when he was healthy, Stotts opted for Tolliver and Hezonja. Simply idiotic.



It never worked out and I wouldn't call burning the prime of a top 75 player as a "good run." He had a run longer than most dictators with half the success. I'd be happy to never to see him near this franchise again.

It worked out better than predicted with the talent he was given almost every season...

 

[Sheldon Shape]

How good was Chauncey's defense last season? Having a legit athletic 4 makes a huge difference.

It doesn't matter if Stotts was known for defense. He coached good defenses when he had the horses.

Are you comparing one injury riddled season with Chauncey to more than 10 seasons as a head coach to Stotts?

Really?

 

[Sheldon Shape]

It worked out better than predicted with the talent he was given almost every season...

I'll give credit where it's due. The initial rebuild after LMA left, but it was down hill from there. The worst part of Olshey's legacy is having let Stotts been the head coach for as long as he did.

 

[Phatguysrule]

Are you comparing one injury riddled season with Chauncey to more than 10 seasons as a head coach to Stotts?

Really?

We had the worst defense in the league when we were healthy. That's the opposite of good.

And it wasn't Chauncey's fault. He didn't have the horses.

 

[Phatguysrule]

I'll give credit where it's due. The initial rebuild after LMA left, but it was down hill from there. The worst part of Olshey's legacy is having let Stotts been the head coach for as long as he did.

Blazers beat expectations nearly every season under Stotts.

 

[Sheldon Shape]

We had the worst defense in the league when we were healthy. That's the opposite of good.

How many games was that?

And it wasn't Chauncey's fault. He didn't have the horses.

Agreed. So he went to the GM to get the horses. 9 seasons of Stotts and you don't think he had input on the acquisitions Olshey got him? That's unbelievable and naive.

 

[Sheldon Shape]

Blazers beat expectations nearly every season under Stotts.

Who's expectations? National media? Sure, but that's easy to do when you're Portland. In the regular season, sure. In the post, they came way under expectations nearly every season under Stotts.

 

[Phatguysrule]

How many games was that?



Agreed. So he went to the GM to get the horses. 9 seasons of Stotts and you don't think he had input on the acquisitions Olshey got him? That's unbelievable and naive.

I don't expect my coach to do the job of the GM. I expect him to do the best he can with what he has.

The Coach works for the GM, not the other way around.

 

[Phatguysrule]

Who's expectations? National media? Sure, but that's easy to do when you're Portland. In the regular season, sure. In the post, they came way under expectations nearly every season under Stotts.

They only lost to a team they were favored to beat once or twice. They also beat teams they were expected to lose to several times.

I consider that meeting or exceeding expectations overall...

 

[Sheldon Shape]

I don't expect my coach to do the job of the GM. I expect him to do the best he can with what he has.

The Coach works for the GM, not the other way around.

It's not an either, or. It's a collaboration. If we're using this logic, we wouldn't have Jerami Grant because Damian is just a player and it's not his job to recruit players.

 

[Sheldon Shape]

They only lost to a team they were favored to beat once or twice. They also beat teams they were expected to lose to several times.

I consider that meeting or exceeding expectations overall...

Except it wasn't just losing. It was getting swept repeatedly or close to it. That is absolutely under performing.

It was a national embarrassment.

 

[Phatguysrule]

It's not an either, or. It's a collaboration. If we're using this logic, we wouldn't have Jerami Grant because Damian is just a player and it's not his job to recruit players.

That's false equivalence.

I never blamed Dame for our lack of Jerami Grant caliber players. Just like I don't blame Stotts. I blame Olshey for his own failures.

 

[Sheldon Shape]

That's false equivalence.

I never blamed Dame for our lack of Jerami Grant caliber players. Just like I don't blame Stotts. I blame Olshey for his own failures.

He has plenty. But so does Stotts.

 

[Phatguysrule]

Except it wasn't just losing. It was getting swept repeatedly or close to it. That is absolutely under performing.

It was a national embarrassment.

Swept by the same team who swept nearly every team they played in the same playoffs or after devastating injuries to our players.

I don't go out of my way to hate my own team. We didn't have enough weapons to compete with those teams in a playoff series. Scheme can't overcome that.

That's what happens when you punch over your head. Eventually it catches up to you.

Under Stotts we routinely punched over our heads. That's not a knock on the Coach.

 

[Phatguysrule]

He has plenty. But so does Stotts.

Sure, just not as many as most other Blazer coaches. And more positives.

 

[Sheldon Shape]

Swept by the same team who swept nearly every team they played in the same playoffs or after devastating injuries to our players.

I don't go out of my way to hate my own team. We didn't have enough weapons to compete with those teams in a playoff series. Scheme can't overcome that.

That's what happens when you punch over your head. Eventually it catches up to you.

Under Stotts we routinely punched over our heads. That's not a knock on the Coach.

Dude, what?

They got swept by the Pelicans and the Jamal Murray-less Nuggets.

Utterly embarrassing.

No amount of facts is going to change your mind. That's okay. You like Terry as a person and I'm sure he's nice, but he should have been been our head coach which is on Olshey. He was horrible with other franchises as well.

He nearly made Damian ask for a trade. After the very much injured Nuggets destroyed us. He doesn't know how to coach in the post season.

Agree to disagree.

 

[Sheldon Shape]

Sure, just not as many as most other Blazer coaches. And more positives.

Agree to disagree.

 

[Phatguysrule]

Dude, what?

They got swept by the Pelicans and the Jamal Murray-less Nuggets.

Utterly embarrassing.

No amount of facts is going to change your mind. That's okay. You like Terry as a person and I'm sure he's nice, but he should have been been our head coach which is on Olshey. He was horrible with other franchises as well.

He nearly made Damian ask for a trade. After the very much injured Nuggets destroyed us. He doesn't know how to coach in the post season.

Agree to disagree.

The Pelicans were one of the best teams in the league when healthy. We barely finished ahead of them because Davis was injured most of the season.

We only hung with them during the regular season because Davis was injured. We didn't have the horses to guard him. And they had a player who defends Dame about as well as anybody in the league. I didn't think we'd win that series. Anybody who thought we had a chance in that series (without Davis going down) wasn't paying attention.

And we lost to the Nugget team with the MVP (another big we didn't have the horses to guard). And Nurk melted down.

Olshey nearly had Dame asking for a trade. Not Stotts. That's why Dame was seeking out meetings with ownership. He doesn't need ownership to deal with the coach.

Yep. We'll agree to disagree.

 

[andalusian]

When were the blazers swept by the nuggets? They lost 4-2 in 2021 when cj played like crap, nurkc could only stay 28 minutes per game on the court and Portland's 3rd most played player was Robert barf Covington...

It cj looked like an average starter in this series (he had a PER of 12.8 in that series, and that's a stat that favors offense...) - that series was competitive while nurk managed to stay on the floor thanks to dame being inhuman and nurk looking like a starting caliber player when he was not in foul trouble.

The problem was that cj was really bad in that series, Covington was doing Covington things and Portland's 3rd best player in that series was Powell that was just traded to the blazers. This series was lost on the roster as well

 

[STOMP]

His response was one of an insecure person. Tells me he wishes he wasn't so wrong.

good grief what crap

STOMP

 

[Irish Trader]

Surprise for me how well Eubanks is playing. Having a good deep bench is really a surprise. Also defense emphasized and being played along with pushing the ball.

 

[HailBlazers]

Luckily you aren't alone platy

 

[Sheldon Shape]

good grief what crap

STOMP

Do you just copy and paste the beginning of your responses?

Your faux outrage is not compelling.

 

[Sheldon Shape]

The Pelicans were one of the best teams in the league when healthy. We barely finished ahead of them because Davis was injured most of the season.

We only hung with them during the regular season because Davis was injured. We didn't have the horses to guard him. And they had a player who defends Dame about as well as anybody in the league. I didn't think we'd win that series. Anybody who thought we had a chance in that series (without Davis going down) wasn't paying attention.

And we lost to the Nugget team with the MVP (another big we didn't have the horses to guard). And Nurk melted down.

Olshey nearly had Dame asking for a trade. Not Stotts. That's why Dame was seeking out meetings with ownership. He doesn't need ownership to deal with the coach.

Yep. We'll agree to disagree.

You're ignoring the fact that Damian repeatedly said that with our healthy team and what the Nuggets had out on the floor, we absolutely should not have got swept like that.

In that statement alone, he's speaking to coaching, not personnel.

But you agree to disagree with Damian too.

Cool.

 

[Phatguysrule]

You're ignoring the fact that Damian repeatedly said that with our healthy team and what the Nuggets had out on the floor, we absolutely should not have got swept like that.

In that statement alone, he's speaking to coaching, not personnel.

But you agree to disagree with Damian too.

Cool.

Did coaching make CJ play like shit? Did coaching make Nurk melt down?

No. Dame's teammates let him down.

Did those teammates turn the corner and get it done for Billups? No.

Yes, I've disagreed with Dame in the past as well. If he thought Stotts was our biggest problem he was wrong.

Again, I blame personnel problems on the GM, not the coach or the superstar (unless that superstar is pulling strings like LeBron).

Is Billups better than Stotts? Maybe. I'm liking what I'm seeing. It was time for a change. Stotts had lost the locker room, and I agree, Dame was ready for a change as well.

 

[THE HCP]

How are your predictions doing?

Not too bad @SlyPokerDog , thanks for asking FAMS.

 

[THE HCP]

I was one of the only ones who thought this would be a top 4 team in the West.

YES YOU WERE.

 

[THE HCP]

I'd have the same reaction too if I was exposed as not having faith in "my team."

What do you mean by this? I'm just seeing this post? What does "having faith in my team" even mean bro. Expecting 60 wins a season no matter what the talent level is. Fuck 'outta here with shit like this.