I hope Stotts turns out to be our Pop. Look at the teams that keep swapping coaches (SAC, HOU, MEM, ORL, NYK, LAL, MIN, etc.). They aren't making forward progress. They are either treading water or backsliding. There is a lot to be said for continuity.
In places like SAC, they let the inmates run the asylum and that just doesn't work. They are totally wasting Boogie's career because they keep trying to find a coach he can get along with. They have such a fucked up culture. In 8 years under Adelman, they made the playoffs every single time. In the 10 years since Adelman left, they haven't won more than 38 games or sniffed the post season. In 8 years under Adleman, they were 395-229, a .633 winning percentage. In the 10 years since he left, they have gone through 8 coaches and just hired their 9th. In that 10 years, they were 277-527, a .344 winning percentage. Of course, they have also made some bad roster moves during that time, but I can't imagine they would have possibly done worse than 277-527 if they had kept a proven winner that had a good system in place. They have had some serious talent since Adelman left, but no continuity, no culture of winning and no system in place.
Stotts is building a system here. He's not Pop yet, and he's still learning, but look at what he's done over the last three seasons. Three years ago, we won 54 games and took everyone by surprise. The next year we won 51 games, in spite of injuries that caused 4 of our 5 starters to miss at least 11 games. And then this year, the Blazers were the biggest surprise the NBA has seen in years. In spite of losing 4 starters and two key bench players, the team exceeded all expectations and continued to overachieve in the playoffs.
He has developed young talent. Dame and C.J. are now widely considered the second best backcourt in the entire NBA, second only to the 73-win defending champs. A year ago, C.J. wasn't even a starter, now he's a borderline all star. Harkless, Plumlee and Aminu all improved under Stotts, both during the season and the playoffs. We were a very different team in May than we were in December. To see that much improvement in so many players over the course of a season, where practice time is limited, is a huge testimony to Stotts' system and his staff.
He has also wisely and judiciously used veterans, both on the court, and on the bench for the good of the team. When Chris Kaman arrived here, he had a reputation as a malcontent that butted heads with multiple coaches over his role and his playing time. Now he's the exact opposite. He barely played this year, but didn't complain once. Even his body language was a complete 180 from when he played for the Lakers and New Orleans. You could see him on the bench cheering on his teammates and mentoring players during timeouts. You wouldn't have seen that same transformation under just any coach. It's another testament to Terry Stotts, his system and his staff.
Again, he's not Pop yet. But, we saw some great adjustments in both the LAC and GSW series. We also saw vastly improved defense over the course of the season. Stotts is a smart guy with a young roster, but the entire team has bought in, like SAS for the past two decades. This is the start of something special. It will only get better as Stotts has a full off season, training camp and preseason to continue to mold and teach these young players. He has a system in place that gets the most out of individual players for the good of the team, again like SAS. Players like to play here and we will now be able to attract the right kind of player needed to build on our success. Of course, Pop had Duncan, Parker, Ginobili and Leonard, all home grown, but he was always able to attract veteran role players and get the most out of them - because of the system.
Any rumor of Terry Stotts leaving Portland is pure bullshit. He's happy here, owner, the GM, the players and the fans are all happy. Terry Stotts isn't going anywhere anytime soon. This isn't SAC. This is POR where we believe in loyalty and patience. It's paid off big time over the last three years as we've seen our team overachieve and our young players blossom. Will we ever be SAS North? Who knows, but right now, they are in transition, with age finally catching up to Duncan, Parker and Ginobili. As long as Pop stays, they will continue to compete. They won't fall off a cliff, but they won't be as dominant as they have been (unless they get Durant or LeBron). They will weather the retirement of their big three and continue to win due to the system they have in place. We have a chance to build a similar system in POR. We have the owner, the GM and the coach to do it. We have a young talented roster with lot of flexibility to add more talent. We have established a winning culture and a great environment for any player who wants to come here and be part of something special. Terry Stotts is a huge part of that. He's not going anywhere.
BNM
