Head Coach

[DusterBuster]

Indy is not quite rebuilding, more like refocusing. I think organizational the Blazers are a bit problematic also.

Why (re Blazers organizational)?

Will the owner spend, accepting penalties and fines? Will she stay with it or sell? Olshey is weak.

Jody Allen has seemed to put to rest the idea she’s going to sell the team. She’s been willing to spend and pay tax when asked. Our opinion of Olshey means nothing, he has managements backing and respect, so he’s not “weak” (whatever that even means).

Sorry, I’m not buying any of this as actual legit concerns that have been echoed anywhere outside of a web forum.

[The Sebastian Express]

If the Blazers hire Becky Hammond does anyone here really believe it's for any reason other than to "hire the first female coach" and score woketard brownie points? It would be for Jody Allen to get applause and her cocktail parties, not for the success of the team.

Well this post is gross, but figured it was a two man race before one of you or d-train went full misogynistic with a hot-take like this.

As I’ve laid out in another thread, yes, I do think there is other reasons than just that to hire her. She’s been learning as an assistant under arguably the best coach of multiple generations in Popovich… she’s been on his bench since 2014 learning from him. Pop has a good track record of producing solid HC’s from his bench roster. Some better than others, but none just flat-out bad. If we’re going with a first time HC, she’s got more experience and knowledge under a much better teacher than Chauncey does with his few years under Tyrone Lue…

Then why aren't we interviewing Mitch Johnson, Chip Engelland, or Will Hardy? Why are we interviewing that Dawn lady I've never heard of? They are clearly trying to score woke brownie points just interviewing a woman.

That you've never heard of Dawn Staley is on you. She's one of the best coaches in women's college basketball, is a Hall of Famer and is generally largely admired. Your ignorance as to who someone is doesn't mean others are trying to score brownie points for interviewing her. How disgraceful to narrow someone else's abilities and experience down to fit your lack of knowledge.

[DusterBuster]

Mikey D is getting a second interview as well, so looks like the coaching search is down to 3 finalists:

[Wickzki]

That you've never heard of Dawn Staley is on you. She's one of the best coaches in women's college basketball, is a Hall of Famer and is generally largely admired. Your ignorance as to who someone is doesn't mean others are trying to score brownie points for interviewing her. How disgraceful to narrow someone else's abilities and experience down to fit your lack of knowledge.

Amen to this. Not sure if op's desire was to be seen as an uneducated basketball bigot but that's how it comes across.

Dawn Staley is one bad ass basketball savant.

If it came down to career success Dawn would arguably be the favorite for the job.

As player:

• WNBA's top 15 players of all-time
• 3x Olympic Gold Medalist (1996, 2000, 2004)
• 2x World Cup Champion (1998, 20002)
• 1x World Cup Bronze medalist (1994)
• 6x WNBA All-Star
• 2x ABA All-Star
• 2x Honda Sports Award (best collegiate female player voted by 1000+ NCAA administrators)
• 2x Naismith College Player of the Year
• 2x WBCA Player of the Year
• 2x USBWA Women's National Player of the Year
• 2x ACC Player of the Year

As coach:

• Head coach of the United States
• 1x World Cup Champion
• 1x Pan American Games Champion
• 1x U19 World Championship
• 1x FIBA U18 Americas Championship
• NCAA Division I Tournament Champion
• 3x NCAA Regional Championship (Final Four)
• 6x SEC Tournament champion
• 5x SEC regular season champion
• Naismith Coach of the Year
• WBCA National Coach of the Year
• AP National Coach of the Year
• USBWA National Coach of the Year
• 4x SEC Coach of the Year
• 4x Atlantic 10 regular season champion
• 2x Atlantic 10 Coach of the Year

I remember revering her as a player because so often was she the difference in Australia falling short for the gold medal.

[DusterBuster]

That you've never heard of Dawn Staley is on you. She's one of the best coaches in women's college basketball, is a Hall of Famer and is generally largely admired. Your ignorance as to who someone is doesn't mean others are trying to score brownie points for interviewing her. How disgraceful to narrow someone else's abilities and experience down to fit your lack of knowledge.

Amen to this. Not sure if op's desire was to be seen as an uneducated basketball bigot but that's how it comes across.

Just par for the course with Sinobas.

Like I said, I'm not even remotely surprised that one of the two Blazer fans I have on my blocklist for ages now came out with this "edgy anti-woke hot take". Pretty much could have set my clock by it.

[PDXKnight]

That you've never heard of Dawn Staley is on you. She's one of the best coaches in women's college basketball, is a Hall of Famer and is generally largely admired. Your ignorance as to who someone is doesn't mean others are trying to score brownie points for interviewing her. How disgraceful to narrow someone else's abilities and experience down to fit your lack of knowledge.

Amen to this. Not sure if op's desire was to be seen as an uneducated basketball bigot but that's how it comes across.

Dawn Staley is one bad ass basketball savant.

If it came down to career success Dawn would arguably be the favorite for the job.

As player:

• WNBA's top 15 players of all-time
• 3x Olympic Gold Medalist (1996, 2000, 2004)
• 2x World Cup Champion (1998, 20002)
• 1x World Cup Bronze medalist (1994)
• 6x WNBA All-Star
• 2x ABA All-Star
• 2x Honda Sports Award (best collegiate female player voted by 1000+ NCAA administrators)
• 2x Naismith College Player of the Year
• 2x WBCA Player of the Year
• 2x USBWA Women's National Player of the Year
• 2x ACC Player of the Year

As coach:

• Head coach of the United States
• 1x World Cup Champion
• 1x Pan American Games Champion
• 1x U19 World Championship
• 1x FIBA U18 Americas Championship
• NCAA Division I Tournament Champion
• 3x NCAA Regional Championship (Final Four)
• 6x SEC Tournament champion
• 5x SEC regular season champion
• Naismith Coach of the Year
• WBCA National Coach of the Year
• AP National Coach of the Year
• USBWA National Coach of the Year
• 4x SEC Coach of the Year
• 4x Atlantic 10 regular season champion
• 2x Atlantic 10 Coach of the Year

I remember revering her as a player because so often was she the difference in Australia falling short for the gold medal.

while i wouldn’t respond to the extreme of sinobas i also think this lies somewhere in the middle. Yes that is an impressive track record on one hand but coaching women’s college basketball is somewhat relative to coaching in a lower level of basketball, maybe division 2 or 3. It’s not the same skill level, not the same challenge. Now undoubtedly staley is talented as a coach from what she’s shown so far but i think in order to get an nba job she needs nba coaching experience like hammon or at least men’s college basketball to be strongly considered for a job. Otherwise i’d say in terms of experience she’s an unproven commodity for an nba job. Worth consideration yes but maybe not a finalist sort of candidate at this juncture though that can clearly change with time

[The Sebastian Express]

That's ironic. Men coaching women's basketball are treated like savants, like Auriemma. Women coaching women's basketball?

Well, it's only like coaching high school basketball.

Okay then.

[DusterBuster]

Any first time HC is an unproven commodity. True for any sex. Plenty of great men’s NCAA coaches with long track records have turned out to be bad NBA coaches. Some have also been really good.

End of the story is that sex really should have nothing to do with it, all first time HCs are a gamble on some level.

[PDXKnight]

That's ironic. Men coaching women's basketball are treated like savants, like Auriemma. Women coaching women's basketball?

Well, it's only like coaching high school basketball.

Okay then.

lol if it was a man coaching women’s basketball i’d say the same. That guy at uconn women’s who is considered a legend i don’t think i’d give one second of consideration for an nba job.

[PDXKnight]

Any first time HC is an unproven commodity. True for any sex. Plenty of great men’s NCAA coaches with long track records have turned out to be bad NBA coaches. Some have also been really good.

End of the story is that sex really should have nothing to do with it, all first time HCs are a gamble on some level.

I think this isn’t justified here as I said nothing about the sex affecting hc quality, mostly level of talent coached as a fair assessment of a candidate’s quality level.

[JasonStern]

There's a lot more volatility involved with a first time coach. Some absolutely kill it right out of the gate, but many struggle. Stotts had an effective nine year run with Portland, but he did that as a third-try retread after failed stints at Atlanta and Milwaukee.

Now if Dame wasn't in his peak, I'd be supportive of Hammon, Billups, Udoka, Staley, etc. But given the likely desire to win as much now as possible with Dame, I'd much prefer the right retreat (like bringing Carlisle back to Portland) over chancing a first-time head coach. Ceiling might be more limited, but the floor is also much higher.

[Norm2953]

It should be a desired job in that you are all but guaranteed, assuming normal player health, at least 50 wins. I doubt if the 1st year expectations to go beyond such will exist.

Yeah, Norm is off on this one. Portland is considered one of the most desirable open HC jobs this summer. Amazing star player and guaranteed 50 win minimum is a great place to start. Dallas and Boston have talent but the organizations come with their own unique set of problems (Dallas toxic org culture, Boston race issues and players not wanting to play there). Other openings are just meh - Indy and Orlando both rebuilding.

If you look at the 7 open NBA jobs, Portland is a middle of the pack choice for The Pelicans with a young superstar in
Zion and a ton of draft picks will be #1. Dallas with another young superstar in Luka will be a good job and the Celtics
with their team history have a solid base of talent. In a conference with a lot of rising young teams, its no guarantee
Portland will be able to handle the Grizzlies with another young superstar in Ja Morant for while they have a top 10
player in Dame, they have no draft picks or cap space to more easily improve their team and their star is now in his
30's not to mention a mediocre GM in NO who might be on the hot seat if the team fails once again in 2022.

[Norm2953]

There's a lot more volatility involved with a first time coach. Some absolutely kill it right out of the gate, but many struggle. Stotts had an effective nine year run with Portland, but he did that as a third-try retread after failed stints at Atlanta and Milwaukee.

Now if Dame wasn't in his peak, I'd be supportive of Hammon, Billups, Udoka, Staley, etc. But given the likely desire to win as much now as possible with Dame, I'd much prefer the right retreat (like bringing Carlisle back to Portland) over chancing a first-time head coach. Ceiling might be more limited, but the floor is also much higher.

Totally agree with Jason for the Portland job will be a challenging job, especially with a GM who may be on the hot
seat if the team fails again. It's likely going to take a HC who can get as much as possible with the talent on hand
for if Powell walks, they have no means to replace him for they have no picks or cap space. That recipe likely will
require a retread coach who has to try to win with Dame/CJ again and have their fingers crossed Nurk/Zach can
stay on the court.

[DeBlazerRiddem]

Yeah, a rookie coach will be an easy scapegoat when we don't meet the high expectations that come with with this flawed roster. Someone like D'Antoni or Carlisle will have the record to say "hey this isn't on me"

[PDXKnight]

There's a lot more volatility involved with a first time coach. Some absolutely kill it right out of the gate, but many struggle. Stotts had an effective nine year run with Portland, but he did that as a third-try retread after failed stints at Atlanta and Milwaukee.

Now if Dame wasn't in his peak, I'd be supportive of Hammon, Billups, Udoka, Staley, etc. But given the likely desire to win as much now as possible with Dame, I'd much prefer the right retreat (like bringing Carlisle back to Portland) over chancing a first-time head coach. Ceiling might be more limited, but the floor is also much higher.

Agreed times 100! Experience and good experience in the case of carlisle is better for where we are at.

[Wickzki]

Yeah, a rookie coach will be an easy scapegoat when we don't meet the high expectations that come with with this flawed roster. Someone like D'Antoni or Carlisle will have the record to say "hey this isn't on me"

Agreed. Let's see if Olshey wants a scapegoat or if he's willing to put his reputation on the line.

[Norm2953]

We can scratch Ime Udoka as a candidate for HC. Combine that with Juwon Howard staying at
Michigan leaves Portland with fewer choices in their HC search with Jason Kidd early on removing
his name from consideration. If I were a candidate for Portland, I would demand a real voice in
crafting together a roster they can can coach so as to not be a scapegoat for NO

[Wickzki]

Brad Stevens going with the "well, if it doesn't work out, it's an easy cut and I can pull a Popovich" move.

[Norm2953]

I think in the end it will be Billips assuming he wants the job. BE has a story of Dame sitting on the zoom meeting with Billips and he's NO's guy. I would find it difficult to believe the team would say NO to Dame if he wants Billips and Billips wants the job, no matter what the owner wants.

[GEE]

Yeah, a rookie coach will be an easy scapegoat when we don't meet the high expectations that come with with this flawed roster. Someone like D'Antoni or Carlisle will have the record to say "hey this isn't on me"

My thinking is, if it is Hammon, it would be difficult to fire her after 2 years... unless she stinks as a coach, which I don't think will be the case. Olshey may think this too, and feel he might get a little extra job security if he hires her. I personally think she might just be the best coach available, but needs some really strong assistant coaches that have her back, and can make her job easier with their wisdom.

Udoka is now a Celtic.. weird to me that he was never mentioned as a possible candidate for the Blazers' HC gig. Oh well, I guess I'll keep up hope that Jody will spend heavy on a staff like this:

Hammon(HC)/Mike D(O)/Billups(D)

I really hope this doesn't take too long either. The ping-pong balls have magically dropped, the draft is about a month away, and more players may start changing zip codes soon. The new coaching staff and management will need some time to get their master plans in order before making their moves on players. Point is... Time's ticking.