Terry Stotts: The True Key to the Future

Midwest Perspective: Trail Blazers must learn from the Bulls coaching turnover

As almost everyone in the Portland area already knows, Terry Stotts is a candidate for NBA Coach of the Year. The Golden State Warriors are on pace to beat the Chicago Bulls regular season record, which will likely result in the award heading to Oakland. Even without the award, it shouldn’t detract from the season Stotts is putting together.

Just a reminder, there will be times in which Stotts’ team will not be up to par, but Chicago should prove as an example that a coaching change is not the greatest idea. Even with a record hovering around .500, Stotts is figuring out the team’s strengths and weaknesses. He is using the limited pieces he has to make this team better.

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A coach that can find those attributes that is going to help the team win are rare in this league. This is similar trait that Tom Thibodeau used on a nightly basis when he was coaching the Bulls. A big excuse this year is that injuries are hurting the Bulls record, but that has been a running issue of the past three years. Thibodeau was a coach that did not care how many minutes his starters would play as long as he got the win. As a person from the city of Chicago, I now see Jimmy Butler and Taj Gibson calling out the team for not having that same mentality from before. It almost seemed like it did not matter who was on the court when Thibodeau was coaching, they would’ve fought the opposing team on every play.

When it was sold to Chicagoans that the Bulls would be firing the former coach of the year and going with “Hoiberg Ball”, we were all excited to see an efficient offense. Fred Holberg (and the fans) were hoping this would be a similar situation as the Steve Kerr / Golden State marriage. Sadly, this year is bordering on a dumpster fire.

Mar 18, 2016; New Orleans, LA, USA; Portland Trail Blazers head coach Terry Stotts reacts from the bench during the first quarter of a game against the New Orleans Pelicans at the Smoothie King Center. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports /

The GM was preaching that Hoiberg would change all the offensive philosophy, but the culture was the biggest dynamic that changed. If anyone turns on a Bulls game this year, it is something that is very noticeable. The idea of culture is where Stotts is building the Trail Blazers into a contender, despite being in the middle of a hard reset.

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He is not making the mistakes that Thibodeau made when it comes to over playing players, all while still making the Trail Blazers a competitive team on a nightly basis. The idea that he tries to build a system around his players rather than trying to force a system for his players to strive in leads to this success. After this season Terry Stotts’ contract will expire and Neil Olshey should be offering him a huge contract. Lock this coach up. When was the last time you had a coach who went through a rebuild and still qualified for the playoffs in the same year? If you are looking for what the alternative looks like, just take watch the Bulls this year.