Game 15: Portland vs New Orleans 5:00pm SNW/NBATV

[GEE]

Interesting take Fitz. More interesting is how he, or she totally avoided answering your simple question. Is that you Mrs. Stotts?

Anyway, I think this team looks frustrated and clueless as to how to win. Even Dame appears to be trying to figure it out, but just doesn't know what the answers are. To simply ask them for more energy, play harder and make their shots is not the answer. The players appear to be giving up, and I think Stotts has lost control of this team.

Also, the last couple times I saw Stotts interveiwed, his demeanor has been disgusting to me, smiling, and having an IDGAS attitude. I know Stotts just got paid, and maybe that has something to do with it, but I would be looking for his replacement YESTERDAY.

[d-train]

My guess is Epicurus has no connection to Stotts but enjoys the suggestion that he does. I recall Epicurus was an active poster here when McMillan was the coach. He would have to be clairvoyant to pick this forum because Stotts was going to be hired.

[Norm2953]

Team as currently setup is simply not capable of running the Stotts offense. It's going to take Stotts time
to change the offense and thats going to mess up Dame/CJ and now with Melo, there likely will be
more disruption. Team could flip one or both of the expiring contracts but NO set up this team to be
a player at either the trade deadline or this summer and I'd think he'd be more inclined to ride things
out for Dame/CJ are signed long term and the most important other pieces (Nurk, Collins, Simons
and Little) will be here for at least two more seasons. The team is setup well to hit the reset button
and finally be done with the mistakes from 2016.

[Sinobas]

Really doubt this team is going to have a seat at the playoffs when the season is over. Even if we get Nurk back and go on a run, we're going to be so far below .500.

We've been losing to crap teams who are without their main players. We've not even really played any of the upper echelon yet. And we saw what that looked like against Houston.

[Sinobas]

BTW, what is the "stotts offense"? It looks like he just tells guys to go out there and do anything they want. That's probably why Dame defends him so much.

[Epicurus]

http://coachjacksonspages.com/Terry%20Stotts%20Portland%20Trail%20Blazers9.pdf=====maybe this will help you to see some of what you are not seeing. Of course, this is but a small portion of the Blazers' offensive playbook, but maybe enough to help.

[Epicurus]

Rebound better, both ways, and don't allow the opponents to get to the foul line so much (especially when the Blazers don't get to the foul line that often comparatively). The major deficiencies throughout this early season. The foul line discrepancy with opponents is to be expected, I guess, with the newwness of the lineups. I don't understand why the rebounding is so poor compared to the past and to this season's opponents.

[BlazersBroncos]

One reason the rebounding is poor is that despite hitting 12rpg in 28mpg, Hassan at 21.5% rebound rate is the lowest of his entire meaningful career. He has been at least 23% since finding his home in Miami. Consitering the lack of rebounding outside Hassan, you would assume that his rate would be above the 25% he posted last season while on a good rebounding team. Then again, he may be facing extra attention with box-out as teams understand he is the only rebounder we field.

Little looks promising as a rebounder. Honestley, he should be getting more run than Melo, Mario and probably Skal. He is exactly what we need right now, but likely not enough of what we need regardless. But there is hope his effort and motor can set a tone.

[Epicurus]

Yes,maybe it is also as McHale noted last night that 21 feet of basketball players is on the Blazers' IR.

[Norm2953]

The Stotts offense is the offense this coach brought over from Dallas, that was best run with the 2014
team with LA, Dame, Matthews and Batum.

Most of us were frustrated with how inconsistent Batum was, but he had the size, ball handling skills,
could initiate the offense and could shoot. Matthews gave Portland what CJ does with plus defense,
and on last years team, Enes Kanter before his injuries gave a fair facsimile of LA with the 2014
Dame matched by the 2019 Dame. Last springs team had more depth with Aminu, Harkless and Curry.

I do think this team minus Nurk and Collins, is incapable of running the offense this coach wants to run and
it will be up to Stotts to figure out how this current team can win with the talent on hand.

[Epicurus]

1. All the returnees are shooting better (efg%) than their career averages, with the exception of McCollum, who is significantly lower.
2. All the replacement vets are lower than their career shooting averages, rather significantly, especially Tolliver, with the slight exception of Whiteside.
3. One and two suggest that you are correct that the new vets are not performing well in the Portland system.
4. The problem, of course, is that part of the justification for the turnover of personnel (beyond obvious financial ones) was that the new guys offered more dependable distance firepower, thus enable more operation room for our returning scoring ball handlers. In other words, they would make the existing system work even better, espeically in playoffs. It was not that their incorporation would necessity a "needed" change in the preferred offense system.