Mike Brown as Coach?

[Brandon-Clyde]

Bjorkman as coach?

Do you mean Blazer assistant Nate Bjorkgren ?

[Blazinaway]

Bjorkman as coach?

Do you mean Blazer assistant Nate Bjorkgren ?

Yeah and "close enough" since he was head coach last 2 nights

[zzaj]

Just out of curiosity who are other potential coaching candidates? Are there assistant coaches ready for a promotion? College coaches looking to move up to the big league? Is there a Euro league coach who might be worth a flyer? I believe that getting the right coach next season to be one of the most important things this team needs to consider.

https://www.masslive.com/celtics/2024/10/celtics-lead-assistant-coach-named-best-in-nba-by-general-managers.html

I’m also a fan of poaching lead assistant coach’s from winning franchises with strong coaching talent. Any assistant under Pop, Spo, Stevens/Mazzulla, etc… get in the front of the line. Billups was so untested, hired on name only at both spots, and came from a losing franchise like the Clippers…. There’s no system/pedigree there.

Let's also not forget that a huge reason Billups became Portland's coach is because Lillard wanted him here. AFAIC, he should have been ditched as soon as Lillard was traded...

[DusterBuster]

https://www.masslive.com/celtics/2024/10/celtics-lead-assistant-coach-named-best-in-nba-by-general-managers.html

I’m also a fan of poaching lead assistant coach’s from winning franchises with strong coaching talent. Any assistant under Pop, Spo, Stevens/Mazzulla, etc… get in the front of the line. Billups was so untested, hired on name only at both spots, and came from a losing franchise like the Clippers…. There’s no system/pedigree there.

Let's also not forget that a huge reason Billups became Portland's coach is because Lillard wanted him here. AFAIC, he should have been ditched as soon as Lillard was traded...

HC jobs are hard to come by and there are a lot of personal relationships in this league. Billups is/was close with both Cronin and Olshey. So I understand why they didn’t kick him to the curb after Dame left, but… they should have or Billups should have quit (maybe quietly asked out in a way that worked for both sides).

Maybe he did quietly quit and ownership said no. Finish out your deal to get your full money or quit and lose on your deal… when he saw there was no obvious landing spot, he stayed… but he’s also now a lame duck coach who doesn’t want to be here, the team doesn’t want to keep, and both sides are just counting out the clock… that to me seems most likely, but I also don’t get that from either side. Billups would have other avenues of making money, even if he takes a short pay cut, I’m not in his shoes tho, so who knows.

[Norm2953]

Bjorkman as coach?

Do you mean Blazer assistant Nate Bjorkgren ?

Yeah and "close enough" since he was head coach last 2 nights

He's 2-0 as a head coach in Portland regardless of his name

[Butter]

Do you mean Blazer assistant Nate Bjorkgren ?

Yeah and "close enough" since he was head coach last 2 nights

He's 2-0 as a head coach in Portland regardless of his name

Sam Cassell!

[oldfishermen]

Hmmm, Memphis Grizz lead asst coach Tuomas Lisalo looks interesting.

https://youtu.be/qBmNEy0pJ2Y?si=RivC2r7WkJ85qgLl

[zzaj]

Hmmm, Memphis Grizz lead asst coach Tuomas Lisalo looks interesting.

https://youtu.be/qBmNEy0pJ2Y?si=RivC2r7WkJ85qgLl

Sure...Why not? I doubt the Grizz would allow him to go, though.

I don't know if the Blazers really have the roster talent to be playing 13 players fairly low-minute rolse effectively, but that "Gortat" cut is something that could be utilized bigtime between Scoot/Sharpe and Clingan.

[DaVoiceMaster]

Hmmm, Memphis Grizz lead asst coach Tuomas Lisalo looks interesting.

https://youtu.be/qBmNEy0pJ2Y?si=RivC2r7WkJ85qgLl

Sure...Why not? I doubt the Grizz would allow him to go, though.

I don't know if the Blazers really have the roster talent to be playing 13 players fairly low-minute rolse effectively, but that "Gortat" cut is something that could be utilized bigtime between Scoot/Sharpe and Clingan.

Assistant Ciaches leave all the time. Would any organization really keep an Assistant from promoting to Coach? That'd be kind of crappy.

[kdawg32086]

What's Kaleb Canales doing these days? I remember he was the popular pick when Stotts got the job.

[zzaj]

Hmmm, Memphis Grizz lead asst coach Tuomas Lisalo looks interesting.

https://youtu.be/qBmNEy0pJ2Y?si=RivC2r7WkJ85qgLl

Sure...Why not? I doubt the Grizz would allow him to go, though.

I don't know if the Blazers really have the roster talent to be playing 13 players fairly low-minute rolse effectively, but that "Gortat" cut is something that could be utilized bigtime between Scoot/Sharpe and Clingan.

Assistant Ciaches leave all the time. Would any organization really keep an Assistant from promoting to Coach? That'd be kind of crappy.

You're TOTALLY right...I was in the middle of making food when I responded. I was distractedly thinking "head coach of Grizzlies" not assistant when I responded.

IIRC, I think NBA coaching contracts (aside from Head Coach) have clauses that can't block assistants from taking HC positions...I might be wrong about that though.

[oldfishermen]

Sorry if my poor wording caused confusion.

Here is another breakdown of assistant coach Lisalo's offense. His style is way more fun to watch than the game played by most NBA teams. More player and ball movement is needed in the NBA.

https://youtu.be/LczeVbPYVXM?si=W5tYEvbUw4PaXRvO

PS.. Assistant offensive coach Lisalo's offense appears to be one of the reasons the Grizz are making a big leap up this years rankings over last season.

[JasonStern]

Eff Olshey. The Blazers never should have gotten rid of Stotts. Look at his winning percentage and the roster Olshey put around Dame, and tell me any of that is under performance.
But zero chance he'd come back to this ish-show.

As for Brown, it seems like it would be a lateral move. Not a Billups supporter, but you can easily make the argument that if your core's best players are Simons, Grant, and Ayton, Dr. Jack Ramsey couldn't turn that into a contender.

[zzaj]

FWIW, Mike Richmond mentioned on his podcast:

Nate Bjorkgren
Dave Adelman (DEN)
Micah Nori (MIN)
Sean Sweeney (DAL)
Chris Quinn (MIA)
Royal Ivey (HOU)
Tuomas Iisalo (MEM)
Trevor Hendry (CLE)

He also called out the Blazers saying that if they don't do their due diligence, and just hire Bjorkgren because he's the easy choice, it would be "Nonesense". That the Blazers need to "...cast the widest net possible to find the best candidates because you do an earnest search for the top candidates. The Billups hiring process was mostly a sham, and to do that again four years later would be...malpractice."

Of those names, I think Ivey is intriguing. Watching South Sudan was a bit of a revelation. He had his players running great stuff--stuff that complemented the strengths of his roster.

I also am intrigued by Iisalo...getting a 20-1 record in a very respectable Euroleague isn't nothing, and based on his success and unusual tactics as the offensive coach in MEM, I would say he's got something to offer. Apparently, his thing is partially predicated on pace, high 3pt volume and offensive rebounds. Blazers are good in one of those categories, and pretty bad in the other two...

I don't think anybody really has enough info on Bjorkgren to say whether he'd be a good hire. I know he works closely with HC (and Blazer assistant GM) Oliva on the Remix in terms of analytics. They've been seeing how far they can push "pace" on the Remix in order to try and cull anything useful. Who knows...