Rich Eisen’s Advice for Trail Blazers Guard Damian Lillard

[SlyPokerDog]

 

[SlyPokerDog]

I like Rich, miss his show not being on the radio in Portland anymore.

 

[KSF-ERIC]

Can't click on video right now. What did he say?

 

[blazerkor]

Can't click on video right now. What did he say?

He said don't leave like fifteen times. He said the team has to step up for Dame. One of the guys on the show said we'd need to trade CJ and possibly Nurk but Eisen didn't like that either but kind of conceded that something significant has to be done and that Dame shouldn't be the poster child for moral victories. That he deserves real victories.

Bottom line was he wants Dame to stay and the team to make it worth staying.

 

[Chris Craig]

Can't click on video right now. What did he say?

Basically told Lillard not to give up and that the ball is in the Blazers court to put a team around him.

 

[SlyPokerDog]

He said don't leave like fifteen times. He said the team has to step up for Dame. One of the guys on the show said we'd need to trade CJ and possibly Nurk but Eisen didn't like that either but kind of conceded that something significant has to be done and that Dame shouldn't be the poster child for moral victories. That he deserves real victories.

Bottom line was he wants Dame to stay and the team to make it worth staying.

You can tell Rich thinks the world of Lillard as a player and a person. And has followed him and his career in-depth for years.

 

[Hoopguru]

You can tell Rich thinks the world of Lillard as a player and a person. And has followed him and his career in-depth for years.

Its tough to think a free agent wouldn't want to play with Dame? As they said, what free would want to go to Portland? How much of it is, Players don't want to go to Portland? If that's the case Dame's in a tuff situation besides the money. You would hope, trade's & draft would be the easy fix. Id trade Nurk & CJ in a second if you could acquire another consistent player with size and defense. It would have to be a second legit all star in a position of need and Im just not sure we have the assets to acquire one?

 

[Phatguysrule]

Its tough to think a free agent wouldn't want to play with Dame? As they said, what free would want to go to Portland? How much of it is, Players don't want to go to Portland? If that's the case Dame's in a tuff situation besides the money. You would hope, trade's & draft would be the easy fix. Id trade Nurk & CJ in a second if you could acquire another consistent player with size and defense. It would have to be a second legit all star in a position of need and Im just not sure we have the assets to acquire one?

This is why we need to pay for the absolute best GM and coaching.

We have to pay more to compete with places which don't have income tax.

But I think the level of support here makes up for some of that.

My frustration is that we haven't done that. While it appears the Blazers do pay their coaches and GM well, they don't swing for the fence and just pay what it takes for greatness. And we really need greatness at these positions to compete for championships.

 

[riverman]

To me there has to be a great coach out there who knows he or she could win a chip with Dame as their pt guard...and that coach would want to do anything to get the Portland job....it's an attractive opportunity for any coach. Very tough for a rookie coach to follow 8 straight years of playoffs with their first season and Dame having 3 years tops to get a chip here. Rookie coaches would be under intense pressure to win now...

 

[Hoopguru]

This is why we need to pay for the absolute best GM and coaching.

We have to pay more to compete with places which don't have income tax.

But I think the level of support here makes up for some of that.

My frustration is that we haven't done that. While it appears the Blazers do pay their coaches and GM well, they don't swing for the fence and just pay what it takes for greatness. And we really need greatness at these positions to compete for championships.

To me there has to be a great coach out there who knows he or she could win a chip with Dame as their pt guard...and that coach would want to do anything to get the Portland job....it's an attractive opportunity for any coach. Very tough for a rookie coach to follow 8 straight years of playoffs with their first season and Dame having 3 years tops to get a chip here. Rookie coaches would be under intense pressure to win now...

agree
To me some the candidates that have been mentioned like Billups, Howard, Etc. are they better than Stotts or is it now anyone is better than him?

 

[Hoopguru]

This is why we need to pay for the absolute best GM and coaching.

We have to pay more to compete with places which don't have income tax.

But I think the level of support here makes up for some of that.

My frustration is that we haven't done that. While it appears the Blazers do pay their coaches and GM well, they don't swing for the fence and just pay what it takes for greatness. And we really need greatness at these positions to compete for championships.

Agree
So should they have a proven championship pedigree or just think they could be the best?
Guys like Billups hasnt proven to be in that fraternity as yet.

 

[Hoopguru]

Is Portland a spring board to a bigger market?
Do agents and players think as such!

 

[e_blazer]

To me there has to be a great coach out there who knows he or she could win a chip with Dame as their pt guard...and that coach would want to do anything to get the Portland job....it's an attractive opportunity for any coach. Very tough for a rookie coach to follow 8 straight years of playoffs with their first season and Dame having 3 years tops to get a chip here. Rookie coaches would be under intense pressure to win now...

I wonder if that's a realistic take on the situation though. Could Dame and a rebooted roster compete for a title next year? That seems like an outlier scenario given the strength of so many other teams around the league. Utah, Denver, the Clippers, the Warriors with Klay back, and the Lakers if they can get healthy are all well ahead of where the Blazers are right now. The Mavs, Pelicans and Grizzlies are all being constructed around really good stars and aren't going to be slouches next year. And that's just the West. The Lillard situation makes a backdrop of a ticking timebomb on the viability of this team as a contender. Dame can opt out in 2024 and, if he lets it be known that's what he's going to do, can probably force the team to make a trade after next season. It's really make or break this summer for Olshey to make the moves needed for the Blazers to become serious contenders. I think it's going to be tough to get a top-tier coach to take a the head coaching position here before there's a demonstration by management that there is a path to becoming contenders and keeping Dame a Blazer for life. Maybe that means that the coaching slot goes vacant until some moves are made, but right now, I'm thinking that Jason Kidd isn't the only guy who is going to say, "thanks, but no thanks".

 

[riverman]

agree
To me some the candidates that have been mentioned like Billups, Howard, Etc. are they better than Stotts or is it now anyone is better than him?

I'm a huge fan of Stotts....don't think we should have fired him at all but I don't think the grass is greener in the coaching ranks much....that being said they made that decision and I'll be curious to see how they think they'll end up closer to a chip with a new guy.....I think Mark Cuban is right about not firing your long term coach. Water under the bridge but I'd probably look to Chauncey or Howard for rookie coaches and Spoelstra for the dream coach if he were gettable. If a new coach wanted to appease Dame he could try to bring Kidd onto his staff as an assistant but Kidd is not going to be like in Portland in my view for several reasons....In an ideal world I'd like to have seen what Stotts would have done with a team that had a solid starting core that didn't change for 2 years in a row....he hasn't really had that since Lamarcus was here. Firing Stotts may have lost us Dame's loyalty...hope not but that's a possibility. If he wants Kidd, I don't see us doing that at all...I'm going to stay optimistic for now that this ends up working out well and doesn't end up blowing up the roster completely...if they really decide to blow it up.....Dame is our biggest trade chip ...nobody else on the roster will bring that kind of value in a rebuild....CJs value is in the toilet after the playoff series.

 

[wizenheimer]

the video shows he understands Dame, but doesn't understand the Blazer problems. Another reboot with Dame-CJ-Nurkic as the 'Big-3', and a new cast of role players isn't going to change anything for Portland

 

[mook]

the video shows he understands Dame, but doesn't understand the Blazer problems. Another reboot with Dame-CJ-Nurkic as the 'Big-3', and a new cast of role players isn't going to change anything for Portland

Exactly. There's no way CJ and Nurk return and everyone is happy. Certainly not the fans.

 

[SlyPokerDog]

Exactly. There's no way CJ and Nurk return and everyone is happy. Certainly not the fans.

Depending on the rest of the moves made, but I wouldn't have a problem with Nurk returning.

 

[mook]

Depending on the rest of the moves made, but I wouldn't have a problem with Nurk returning.

Me neither! I really like the guy and I love his game. I think he's on the auction block if the right pieces (aka, KAT) are available.

CJ absolutely has to go. There's no scenario I can see where I'm happy that he stays.

 

[Kano John]

I'm a big CJ fan but I have to admit that if they can package him in a trade that would bring in an all star wing player then they need to do that. If they do trade him they need to re-sign Powell and let him play in his natural guard spot and not as an undersized small forward.

 

[James lamphear]

Why does people thinks that CJ and Nurk can bring a all star back through a trade. Realistic I don't and tell me what all star player got traded for another all star it never happeneds. But you know to quality guys like our two probably won't back and all star and the only that happens is a all star what's out where there at like Harden but Houston didn't get all star back for him. Do I think CJ needs to be traded yes but to situation where we don't take back equal salary where it actually save on our cap. Now Nurk I still think he will be traded due to like to speak his mind to much about the team the Blazers will guarantee his contract and then traded him and probably will agree with Jones if he opt in that they will trade him too because Jones is not going to get another 9 million contract anywheres. But our biggest problem now is olshey he put this franchise where it is by over paying players or attempt to over pay players these got us we don't have and manuaver capabilities with the cap.

 

[Phatguysrule]

Agree
So should they have a proven championship pedigree or just think they could be the best?
Guys like Billups hasnt proven to be in that fraternity as yet.

I would prefer proven championship pedigree.

 

[Phatguysrule]

agree
To me some the candidates that have been mentioned like Billups, Howard, Etc. are they better than Stotts or is it now anyone is better than him?

I'm not excited about the prospect of any first time coach over Stotts at this point in Dame's career. I'll be optimistic and give them a chance, but that's about it.

 

[TBpup]

I'm a huge fan of Stotts....don't think we should have fired him at all....

After 9 years, bad to horrible defense for almost all of those, very few fast break points, few easy baskets off of turnovers, little passing, with minor exceptions, very poor playoff results.......what would a coach need to to more (or less of) to get actually deserve to be fired in your mind?

I'm respectfully asking to try and understand and see what I might be missing. Then again, my goal as a fan is to compete for a championship.

 

[riverman]

After 9 years, bad to horrible defense for almost all of those, very few fast break points, few easy baskets off of turnovers, little passing, with minor exceptions, very poor playoff results.......what would a coach need to to more (or less of) to get actually deserve to be fired in your mind?

I'm respectfully asking to try and understand and see what I might be missing. Then again, my goal as a fan is to compete for a championship.

With a solid core of starters that have been together long enough to have ball movement be second nature without hesitation and turnover you start to build a contender...Stotts was patching flat tires constantly since Nurk snapped his leg off....I believe today that if Terry had the roster chemistry and stability and a better bench he'd go the the finals....game 6 we didn't make a shot for 11 minutes in the most important game of the year....Stotts didn't miss those shots ....at any rate..he's gone now...I loved the guys approach to coaching .....think he had a string of bad luck the last few seasons and the covid seasons were hard to deal with for everyone....I don't think the last two seasons can be compared to pre covid seasons...I respect every coach and player who risked it and got tested a billion times to entertain us. I wish Terry were still here...everyone knows that. I accept that he got fired this season after losing first round...although I don't blame him for many losses this season....Terry didn't bench Melo and Enes and let young guys get a shot at playoff ball. That hurt his job security...I think a training camp with Norman and Nurk back and another season this roster would have clicked...covid didn't even allow practice on the road so we did ok on the fly but to contend...I like stability and chemistry to be rock solid. The revolving roster Terry coached was like being a G league coach..71 players in his 9 years is a lot of roster change

 

[TBpup]

@riverman ....Covid affected everyone's practice time and chemistry so to me, that is a wash around the league. Other teams adapted whole new systems or new players and seemed to do just fine.

They did miss a lot of shots in Game 6 but to me, part of that is the types of shots they were taking. They were shots out of habit...with far too little ball movement, ISO/hero ball types of shots that are more difficult in the Playoffs under pressure situations. That has been a Stotts trait and one that hopefully won't be missed.

 

[tester551]

@riverman ....Covid affected everyone's practice time and chemistry so to me, that is a wash around the league. Other teams adapted whole new systems or new players and seemed to do just fine.

They did miss a lot of shots in Game 6 but to me, part of that is the types of shots they were taking. They were shots out of habit...with far too little ball movement, ISO/hero ball types of shots that are more difficult in the Playoffs under pressure situations. That has been a Stotts trait and one that hopefully won't be missed.

You play how you practice. Stotts let's a lot of crap go unchecked all season long.
You cant just flip a switch and play differently for sustained periods.

 

[PCmor7]

Its tough to think a free agent wouldn't want to play with Dame? As they said, what free would want to go to Portland? How much of it is, Players don't want to go to Portland? If that's the case Dame's in a tuff situation besides the money. You would hope, trade's & draft would be the easy fix. Id trade Nurk & CJ in a second if you could acquire another consistent player with size and defense. It would have to be a second legit all star in a position of need and Im just not sure we have the assets to acquire one?

I've said this before ... there's no reason some really good players wouldn't want to come to Portland. Almost every player that's played for the Blazers has good things to say about the city and community. I just don't think Olshey understands the charm of the city to be able to pitch the advantages. Like someone said in the thread about Olshey's presser ... he's a New York guy, not a West Coast guy. I just think he thinks of what would appeal to him and he can't find anything in Portland that appeals to him. You can't pitch what you don't understand.

 

[Strenuus]

To me there has to be a great coach out there who knows he or she could win a chip with Dame as their pt guard...and that coach would want to do anything to get the Portland job....it's an attractive opportunity for any coach. Very tough for a rookie coach to follow 8 straight years of playoffs with their first season and Dame having 3 years tops to get a chip here. Rookie coaches would be under intense pressure to win now...

The job is probably unattractive because of Neil asshey. Dude sounds like a nightmare to work with.

 

[brooklynballer]

Depending on the rest of the moves made, but I wouldn't have a problem with Nurk returning.

I could be completely wrong on this but it felt at times that due to the poor relationship between Stotts and Nurkic, Nurk didn’t give 100% effort consistently and certainly not in the playoffs. He looked like a different player this season than the one the team lost to the leg injury in 2019. And the fact that he was doing things (hedging as an example) tells me that he and the coach were not on the same page. Perhaps the change in coach will bring back ‘Nurk Fever’ Nurk, which would certainly help this team.

 

[Fairly-Hard]

Sounds to me like Neil Olshey is the new Whipping Post.