I’ve been around this board for a long time and mainly just lurk… certainly never post, but it seems to be time to take a breather and watch progress not results.
There’s a lot of folks calling for Chauncey’s head, but what would you like instead or what realistically is this roster capable of?
There are few coaches that can simultaneously develop young talent and improve the win record. Off the top of my head I can only think of Pops, Spo, and Brad Stevens. One isn’t a coach anymore and the other two are not moving.
The other option is bring in a coach that only values wins, that means lean heavy on vets and shoot for 30 wins while the youth earns their reps in practice and in blowouts.
Last night there were 5 rookies and second year players getting meaningful minutes and at times played really well.
I remember Roy’s rookie year and the Spanish Armada. Those teams were baaad, but what they got known for early on was being a hard out in Portland. They were young and couldn’t play on the road to save their lives, but improved after tons of loses.
There is zero continuity with this team and our best player is out. We’re at the stage of trying to win quarters and mismatches, not games.
Watch for progress from the young guys, which the second year players are showing. I understand the frustration with not seeing clean run successful plays. But with guys just learning terminology, it ain’t happening.
Watch transition, watch the effort to get athletic players in space. Watch when things do work out, especially with the young guys. Ask, how were they confident to take that action?
When they get shutdown at the rim, like Toumani, Jabari, and Scoot watch to see if they learn from it and take a different tact in the next game.
With developing raw players, it’s more about learning how to adjust to the pace and size of the NBA than just running plays. yes is is vital, but not when you’re getting first run to a lottery team
If the young guys give up or stop showing improvement over the next few months, then talk about Chauncey. So far the second year players look vastly better than last year, some is talent, but plenty IS coaching.
What? Portland went 54-28 the one year Rudy and Sergio played together.
Roy’s rookie year we did only win 32 games, but after that he was never below .500.
You’re right, mentioned it earlier, but we got Sergio in 2006, then we swapped Phoenix for Rudy in 2007 and got him in 2008 after his incredible Olympic run. I was conflating that period into one year, more thinking about Roy’s first 2 years, not the third with Rudy. The hard out really started Roy’s second year, hell we were bad enough that year to draft Oden.
Forgive the rambling, more intended that it’s been awhile since we were bad and any competitive game felt like a light in the tunnel. It can be really fun seeing them grow