Lillard calls out team after GSW loss

[KeepOnRollin]

At the conclusion of a 45-point thumping at the hands of the Golden State Warriors on Saturday evening, a livid Portland Trail Blazers All-Star addressed his teammates in the locker room.

Damian Lillard didn't mince words in criticizing his team, telling ESPN the Blazers' performance was "ridiculous" and that the team's recent slide "is on us," not the coaches.

"Man, it's OK to turn the ball over, it's OK to make mistakes, but we have to play with some damn heart and compete out there," he said of his teammates.

http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/...ocker-room-blowout-loss-golden-state-warriors

 

[TBpup]

Glad he did that but that also includes him and his BFF CJ. They have to bring it on the defensive end as the leaders of the team or those words will fall on deaf ears. Tough to ask more from your teammates when your own man is blowing by you at almost every turn.

 

[SheedSoNasty]

Trade him.

 

[julius]

Im glad he did it, but until he and CJ are held accountable, why would others put forth the effort?

As or right now, Maurice Harkless is the only one who plays semi consistently on both ends.

 

[blue9]

To not lay any blame at the feet of Stotts is ridiculous. Yes, the players certainly need to play with more effort - but with the system we run, a lot of that effort will just be spinning wheels while going nowhere.

 

[Trackjack]

Yes both of these guards has to play better on D at least slow the other guards down. They have to figure it out or it be very long season.

 

[Rastapopoulos]

What is really killing us is our 3-point defense. Over the past ten games teams are shooting >40% from 3 against us.

 

[LuckyShot]

Just stating the obvious at this point, and a few weeks late. It's not like we didn't see last night coming. I'll believe they really care when I see it.

 

[Rastapopoulos]

To not lay any blame at the feet of Stotts is ridiculous. Yes, the players certainly need to play with more effort - but with the system we run, a lot of that effort will just be spinning wheels while going nowhere.

Funny how it worked fine when we had Batum, Wes and Lopez.

 

[Rastapopoulos]

I think it's silly to say they don't care. They just aren't very good at defense. Defense is a skill like offense. People think you just have to try hard, but there's more to it than that. We have about one really good defensive player now and he was out last game.

 

[Rastapopoulos]

Here's a question for you: how come Houston is so hot right now? They play an exaggerated version of our offense and their star player is even worse at defense than any of ours, but they're 10-0. Is it their role players, Ariza, Capela and Beverley? Or are they just outscoring people because of Harden, Anderson and Gordon?

 

[blue9]

Funny how it worked fine when we had Batum, Wes and Lopez.

Stotts: a coach who relies entirely on the individual skills of his players.
Our offense only works (sometimes) because of the greatness of Dame/CJ.
Our defense only worked (kinda) when we had two of the better defensive wings in the league.
The simplicity of our offense is laughable. The stupidity of our defense is embarrassing.

I'm not sure if you were suggesting that Stotts isn't the problem, or whether your comment is tongue-in-cheek.

 

[Scalma]

Funny how it worked fine when we had Batum, Wes and Lopez.

Exactly. You can't be good defensively without good defensive players, just like how you can't be good offensively without scorers. We don't have a center. Our best defender is injured, and our backcourt is undersized. Now of course they should be playing better than they are despite these flaws, but what's the ceiling of this current team defensively? Average?

 

[Rastapopoulos]

Stotts: a coach who relies entirely on the individual skills of his players.

I disagree. In fact, I think Stotts has a system that allows players who looked like scrubs in other systems to flourish. Nobody said "oh sure, you're going to do fine now you've got the individual skills of ROBIN LOPEZ to exploit!" when we acquired RoLo. They said: "oh that guy. I forgot he was still in the league."
Pretty much the same with Aminu.

 

[blue9]

Here's a question for you: how come Houston is so hot right now? They play an exaggerated version of our offense and their star player is even worse at defense than any of ours, but they're 10-0. Is it their role players, Ariza, Capela and Beverley? Or are they just outscoring people because of Harden, Anderson and Gordon?

I haven't watched them, because why would I? I suspect that they move the ball towards the hoop on a semi-consistent basis. I suspect that the vast majority of their passes aren't confined to lateral passes above the 3-point line. I suspect that players make a variety of cuts/screens that create open shots. Basically, I suspect that they have a much more robust offense.

 

[blue9]

I disagree. In fact, I think Stotts has a system that allows players who looked like scrubs in other systems to flourish. Nobody said "oh sure, you're going to do fine now you've got the individual skills of ROBIN LOPEZ to exploit!" when we acquired RoLo. They said: "oh that guy. I forgot he was still in the league."
Pretty much the same with Aminu.

So your evidence that Stotts is a good coach is that he lets players, who are purposely left open by opposing defenses, shoot the ball? If that's your argument, I wouldn't use Lopez - or especially Aminu - as your examples. Plumlee is the only guy who Stotts actually modified his offense for.

 

[Rastapopoulos]

So your evidence that Stotts is a good coach is that he lets players, who are purposely left open by opposing defenses, shoot the ball? If that's your argument, I wouldn't use Lopez - or especially Aminu - as your examples. Plumlee is the only guy who Stotts actually modified his offense for.

I wasn't just talking about 3 point %. RoLo's main contribution (and the reason he went on to score a big contract) is his defensive impact.

 

[Minstrel]

To not lay any blame at the feet of Stotts is ridiculous. Yes, the players certainly need to play with more effort - but with the system we run, a lot of that effort will just be spinning wheels while going nowhere.

I don't think Stotts is any kind of defensive genius, but when you have a roster this devoid of useful defensive players, scheme is the last of the problems. There is no magic scheme that turns bad defenders into good defenders. Schemes enable talent, they don't create it. The Blazers currently have very, very little defensive talent. The idea that they would be able to execute a more sophisticated defensive scheme is implausible in the extreme.

 

[illmatic99]

Dwight Jaynes was in Oakland last night. As were Freeman and Richman.

Why did they not get these quotes?

 

[jlprk]

As or right now, Maurice Harkless is the only one who plays semi consistently on both ends.

I try to not let Hurd's love of Harkless affect me. All we hear from him all game long is praise for Harkless. Are you possibly being affected by it?

 

[illmatic99]

"I'm a soldier," he said. "I feel like if I die, I can come back to life and win."

Lmao

I saw Dames interview after the game. He looked calm as usual. And measured. Where did this rage come from? Haynes making up shit again?

 

[Sinobas]

To me, CJ looks like a worse defender than Dame. Dame gets caught up on screens a lot and doesn't get much help, but I think he does a decent job of keeping his man in front of him 1 on 1. But I think CJ has a bigger problem stopping penetration.

 

[tester551]

Glad he did that but that also includes him and his BFF CJ. They have to bring it on the defensive end as the leaders of the team or those words will fall on deaf ears. Tough to ask more from your teammates when your own man is blowing by you at almost every turn.

Exactly. That's part of why I think there is beginning to be an internal divide in the locker room

 

[julius]

I try to not let Hurd's love of Harkless affect me. All we hear from him all game long is praise for Harkless. Are you possibly being affected by it?

No. I have the weird ability to think for myself.

 

[riverman]

No. I have the weird ability to think for myself.

That's a really rough road in the OT section...trust me, I've tried

 

[illmatic99]

This is baffling. We are not even competitive

 

[TBpup]

This is baffling. We are not even competitive

Therein is one of my biggest issues with this team. Last year with basically the same squad they were very competitive the last half of the season. We expected that to continue and get even better, not regress to something perhaps even worse. Last year when they lost, they weren't getting run out of the building nearly as often.

Either Luis Montero was simply the best #15 guy in the league, or Kaman was the true coach.

 

[UKRAINEFAN]

What is really killing us is our 3-point defense. Over the past ten games teams are shooting >40% from 3 against us.

This statistic indicates to me that it is not the coaching scheme (since it emphasizes stopping three point shots) or lack of athletic ability (since defending against 3 pt shooting is mostly about effort, focus and awareness, i.e. not leaving good 3 pt shooters wide open).

 

[oldmangrouch]

What a friggin' joke!

I got run out of this forum for saying the team is fundamentally flawed and needed a complete tear down. This team sucks...and frankly, it is the team many Blazer fans deserve.

 

[riverman]

it is the team many Blazer fans deserve.

Some of us are not fair weather fans.....if you can't handle this roster, you must have loved the Felton era