The Trail Blazers have lost 6 of their last 9 games. Each loss to a winning team. Each win against a losing team. That’s usually not a great formula for playoff success in the NBA. Teams make big pushes and surge near the end of each season. This isn’t the case for Portland, looking defeated before ever entering the stadium. Fans can point to roster construction, lack of perimeter defense or Damian Lillard’s absences the past two games as reasons for this failure. Each more viable than the last. But there’s also a question hanging around Portland that needs to be answered before this team hopes to get anywhere in the playoffs;
Has head coach Terry Stotts lost this team?
We’re not here to declare Terry Stotts a terrible coach. If anything, the guy’s leadership can be attributed to Damian Lillard’s dominant offensive mentality and the development of Jusuf Nurkic (when healthy). The issue lies in timing. After more than seven years coaching the Trail Blazers, it seems the locker room has tuned coach out.
No better example can be referenced than the Charlotte game.
Portland allowed their opponent 44 points in the 1st quarter. This was a game they were playing without Damian Lillard, on the road. Displaying a burst of energy from the beginning would have obviously helped.
Stotts also listed Derrick Jones Jr. on the DNP list which created confusion. The head coach opted to start Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, just signed to a ten-day contract, and disturb the flow of an already shaky defensive starting five.
Everyone seems to be checked out. Now, it’s time to see how far Portland will fall with this mindset.
