Terry Stotts puts forward team strategy for next season in introductory news conference – NBA News
Terry Stotts conducted his introductory news conference after taking up the position as head coach of the Portland Trail Blazers on Thursday, and was cautious about not letting the moment get to him and make promises that might
be difficult to uphold.
Instead, Stotts talked about helping this young team improve and setting the right culture in the franchise.
Stotts has been a long time assistant coach in the NBA, and has had two previous head coaching assignments. He was the head coach of the Atlanta Hawks from 2002 to 2004, and then the man in charge of the Milwaukee Bucks from 2005
to 2007. He has a 115-168 win record over his tenure as a head coach, and will be looking to improve that next season with the Trail Blazers.
Stotts was the offensive co-ordinator of the Dallas Mavericks under Rick Carlisle for the 2010-2011 NBA season, the season in which the Mavericks won the NBA championship. He will take up his new assignment with an offense minded
approach, and briefly spoke about the type of basketball he is thinking of running next season with the new team.
"I think they are going to play an exciting brand of basketball," Stotts said. "And the young players will improve. I think we will be better in April than in November. That will be the measuring stick. There's not a player on
this roster who is not going to try and make the playoffs this year ... but my concern with this team, and especially the young players, is getting them better every day, and every month."
Stotts has a young and talented team at his disposal, with the likes of LaMarcus Aldridge, Nicolas Batum and Wesley Matthews on the roster. Aldridge is by far the best player on the team, and has the potential of becoming one of
the most dominant forwards in the league as well as the franchise player.
He is coming off a great season that was shortened by injury, causing him to miss a chance of playing for team USA at the London Olympics in what would have been his first such appearance.
With Aldridge and Batum in the front court, Stotts said that he is looking to running a fast paced offense next season, with a great deal of emphasis on three point shots and over dribbling not encouraged. This will mean that their
offence will be looking for the first open shot, and they will look to control the pace of the game and outrun the opponent.
Stotts comes into the Portland team at a time when they are making moves to bolster their chances of qualifying for the playoffs next season. However, he emphasizes that the success of the team next season will not be measured
by wins or loses, but rather by improvements.
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