Stotts then gave the team a carrot. He told them they could be a playoff team if they accepted and adopted a commitment to defense.
The test of that commitment would come in the ensuing practices. He drilled them over and over and over. Nothing was allowed to slide.
“Man, he harped on it for a while. Every day in practice he preached it. Every day. Every day,’’ Davis said.
But the players gave him effort. They took his criticism. They listened to his coaching. There was a reason: they liked and respected him.
“If you have a d***head coach, you just don’t care,’’ Davis said. “It’s like if you have a boss you don’t like, you might not give 110 percent effort every night because you don’t like him. But he’s a personable guy. He’s himself. And I think him just as a person translates and players respond well.’’
Stotts in Portland has always taken great care into developing player relationships. He doesn’t like to reveal anything that goes on behind close doors with his players because he is fiercely protective of their privacy and the concept of team. And he never directs any attention to him or his coaching.
