The Trail Blazers are a modest 20-18 this season. A solid record, good for 7th best in the Western conference through Friday’s games, but not spectacular. More was expected. But not a lot more. There’s no reason to think this squad should be fantastic this year. But perhaps a bit better than they’ve been. Should that put the coach on the hot-seat? Not in our opinion. But as for the local chatter, here’s NBC Sports Northwest:
Amid chatter that Terry Stotts is on the coaching hot seat and in jeopardy of losing his job, several Trail Blazers players said their coach not only has the team’s attention and respect, but has become a rallying point for the players.
“We all know what’s going on,’’ veteran Ed Davis said. “The guys on the team, we read about it, and I know Coach does … that ‘Hot Seat’ stuff and things like that. Everybody sees it, and I know while I’m here, (along with) a bunch of the rest of the guys in the locker room, we are going to fight for Coach. Every night. There is no quit in us. He’s our leader.’’
The Blazers (20-18) are seventh in the Western Conference, but have a losing record at home (9-10), and have scuffled for much of the season with inconsistent, disjointed play that several times has led disgruntled Moda Center crowds to leave games early, and in exodus.
Stotts, who is under contract through next season, has become a lightening rod for fan discontent as the team has struggled offensively and at times looked unmotivated as it dropped games to bottom-tier teams like Atlanta, Brooklyn and Sacramento.
Blazers Team Notes on Stotts
Now in his sixth season with the Trail Blazers, Terry Stotts was hired as the franchise’s 14th head coach on August 7, 2012. Stotts led the Trail Blazers to a 41-41 record in 2016-17 and has compiled a 243-205 record in fi ve-plus seasons with Portland. Stotts is the fourth-winningest coach in franchise history, and the fi rst Trail Blazers head coach since Mike Dunleavy (1998-2001) to reach the playoffs in four consecutive seasons (fourth overall in franchise history). Stotts was named the Western Conference Coach of the Month in March 2017 after guiding Portland to an NBA-best 13-3 record for the month. With Stotts at the helm, the Trail Blazers have ranked in the top-10 in scoring for each of the past four seasons (’13-14 to ’16-17).
