The Portland Trail Blazers are entering a new era. That isn’t new information, as head coach Terry Stotts was let go after 9 years at the helm. However, we now know which era it is: That of Chauncey Billups as head coach. The 2004 NBA Finals MVP is making his head coaching debut after one year as an assistant with the Los Angeles Clippers.
Blazers wants and needs
It didn’t come as a surprise to anyone: Terry Stotts had to pack his bags after an extremely disappointing first round exit at the hands of an injury-riddled Denver Nuggets team. The Blazers had become predictable, stagnant, uninspired and all too reliant on Damian Lillard’s (late game) heroics. It was time for a change, and based on the results of the past few years, change was perhaps long overdue.
4 first round exits in the last 5 years, with a Western conference finals loss in 2019 as the exception. The drop coverage on defense, the lack of ball movement (and off-ball movement) on offense and the inability to adjust to traps on Dame were long-standing problems in Portland, and Stotts just didn’t have the answers.
Last season was the last drop. The Blazers ranked 29th in defense, last in assists, last in share of open 3-pointers and thus logically first in share of contested 3-pointers. Having a good defense and designing plays to get open shots are the main responsibilities of a coach. Some might say that the personnel wasn’t good enough, but being the worst in 3 of those 4 categories and being second-worst in the other is unacceptable no matter how you want to spin it, especially given the amount of teams that were openly tanking their games and that had significantly less talent and experience than the Blazers.
A deep playoff run might’ve saved Stotts, but it’s needless to say that the brand of basketball the Blazers played didn’t translate to postseason success. Even with Damian Lillard having the greatest game in NBA Playoff history, the Blazers found a way to lose that crucial game 5, and subsequently lost game 6 after blowing a 13-point lead late in the 3rd quarter to end their season.
It was the final nail in the coffin for Stotts, and for a very brief moment, it looked like Damian Lillard’s unwavering loyalty had reached its limit, with a rather cryptic post on the superstar’s Instagram. In his end of the season press conference, Blazers GM Neil Olshey said Dame wasn’t going anywhere and that they would be looking for a coach that would hold players accountable on both ends.
Now, a few weeks later, Olshey has found his guy, and it’s also Damian Lillard’s pick. Olshey has a long-standing relationship with Billups, dating back to 2011 when he picked up Billups from the waiver wire as GM of the Clippers. Lillard’s camp leaked his preferred choices – Jason Kidd and Billups – immediately after Stotts’ firing. Barring any unforeseen circumstances, both will now have their way.
Billups
Judging a new head coach based on one season as an assistant, or even based off an illustrious playing career, is rather impossible. However, they can give you an indication of what to expect, definitely since Olshey made it known which type of coach they’re looking for.
Over his playing career, Billups was seen as an exceptional leader wherever he went, with the pinnacle of his career coming in 2004, when he led the Detroit Pistons to a 4-1 upset in the Finals against the Lakers, winning the Finals MVP for his efforts.
The ’04 Pistons had an exceptional defense (seriously, look up some of the stats and you’d be blown away), and while it would be impossible to recreate that defense due to rule changes, different playstyles and lesser defensive personnel, Billups can implement a part of the defensive philosophy into this Blazers team. More importantly, he can create a culture on defense, which was non-existent in Portland over the past few years (unless you count scoring as much as possible – to limit fast breaks – as defense).
This season, Billups served under Ty Lue as an assistant in LA, and the Clippers statistics from this season are very promising. They shot 41.1% from 3 as a team, averaged 35 PPG off the catch and shoot, shooting at a 42.8% clip on those shots, and shot 47.2% from the corner. All 4 of those numbers led the league, by quite a large margin too. A day and night difference with the Blazers, who are amongst the league leaders in pull up 3’s, unassisted 3’s, 3’s from above the break and many more similar stats.
Lue and his staff have also never shied away from making adjustments, something Stotts didn’t do until it was often too late. This season alone, the Clippers came back from down 2-0 to win the series, twice. They even have a chance to do it again this series, as they just won game 3 against the Suns. Their rotation isn’t set, and the starting lineup isn’t either, which keeps everyone on their toes, gives the opposition something to think about and adds the element of surprise.
Terrence Mann’s breakout shows that the staff isn’t afraid to use young players either, which might mean more opportunities for guys like Nassir Little and Anfernee Simons.
Now, again, Billups is an assistant in LA, so it is yet to be determined how much of all of this he will use in Portland, but it seems unlikely that he gives up on everything that makes the Clippers successful. One thing is certain however: Olshey, Billups and Lillard can now work together on building a team that can compete for championships.
Courtside 