In a fascinating piece released mere minutes before Neil Olshey was fired by the Trail Blazers, Jason Quick of The Athletic details how he views head coach Chauncey Billups as a poor schematic fit with Portland’s flawed roster — constructed by Olshey.
Even before star Damian Lillard was announced as being injured, it was clear that Portland was not functioning as a cohesive unit. Quite the opposite, in fact. Quick writes that it had grown accustomed to ex-coach Terry Stotts‘ freedom on both ends of the court, and Billups wants to instill more structure and accountability, with a more aggressive defense and more ball movement on offense.
However, Billups’ stern exchanges have seemingly demoralized the group, and Quick asked Billups how he thought it was going over with the players.
“I think pretty good, but at the end of the day, it’s not easy,” Billups said. “It’s not easy all the time to hear when you are not doing what you are supposed to do, especially from the coach. All I care about is I believe we should play one way. I know what wins, I know what’s important. When we don’t do it, obviously I’m going to always bring it to the table, to those players, to those people. And I know it’s not always going to be well-received.
“But I know it’s the best thing for the team, it’s the best thing for the player and at the end of the day, if you are mad or upset, if you actually really want to win and be a good teammate, you go home and think about that, look yourself in the mirror, and you are going to realize what I was saying was right, you know? With no agenda at all other than for us to try and get better. So, I can ride with that. That’s just kind of who I was as a player, who I am as a person, and I will be consistent there.”
Quick believes that while it is a talented group of players, the roster that Olshey built doesn’t make sense under Billups. He specifically mentions the fact that the Blazers have three 6-3 guards (Lillard, CJ McCollum and Norman Powell) all starting, which leads to being exploited defensively. Quick also says that Olshey’s infatuation with McCollum and refusal to trade him hurt the Blazers. He thinks a roster shakeup is absolutely necessary in order to break Portland out of its early season funk. The Blazers are currently 11-12.
It’s a great article from Quick and worth reading in full for subscribers of The Athletic.
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