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Should Terry Stotts or Neil Olshey shoulder the blame?

By Nate Mann

PORTLAND, OR - JULY 7: General Manager Neil Olshey, Evan Turner, and Head Coach Terry Stotts of the Portland Trail Blazers pose for a photo during Turner's media introduction July 7, 2016 at the Trail Blazer Practice Facility in Portland, Oregon. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2016 NBAE (Photo by Sam Forencich/NBAE via Getty Images)
PORTLAND, OR - JULY 7: General Manager Neil Olshey, Evan Turner, and Head Coach Terry Stotts of the Portland Trail Blazers pose for a photo during Turner's media introduction July 7, 2016 at the Trail Blazer Practice Facility in Portland, Oregon. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2016 NBAE (Photo by Sam Forencich/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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Keith Feltner-Smith

When looking for the root of the Blazers’ issues, I don’t think all the blame can be placed on one set of shoulders, be that Olshey’s, Stotts’, or the players’. Truly, this is a situation with plenty of blame to go around. But there can still be a hierarchy of responsibility, with a certain name at the top!

I’d like to present a simple analogy to illustrate my blame-pyramid.

Think of this season as a family road trip for the Portland Trail Blazers, and each role in the franchise has its role in the journey.

The Players

Our core players are the Family; they’re the ones taking the ride (and like Family, you’re stuck with them!). The trip will be experienced through them, and if we as fans want to know how the trip is going, we look to the Family. They certainly bear a level of responsibility for how the trip turns out, but they can’t make it on their own.

Our role players are the Vehicle itself. No matter where the Family wants to go, they will be limited in part by what their Vehicle is capable of, and how smoothly it can get them there.

Coach Stotts

Coach Stotts is in the Driver’s seat. He’s the navigator, choosing the path that the Vehicle will carry the Family on for this trip through the land of Metaphor.

But while he can choose the path they take, that doesn’t mean he can predict or be prepared for everything down the road that they will be faced with. Stotts is in control of the Vehicle and the Family is along for the ride wherever he leads them, so he carries more responsibility for the quality of the trip than either the Family or the Vehicle does.

Neil Olshey

And then, there’s the man responsible for what Vehicle the Blazers are relying on.

Whether you want to assign him the metaphoric title of Car Salesmen or Mechanic or Automotive Engineer, Neil Olshey is the one who put Stotts and the Family in this Vehicle.

Much like Stotts driving us down the road, Olshey doesn’t have any ability to predict what we’ll run into, but he at least has an idea of what’s out there. He’s used his “GPS and vacation planning tools” (scouts and analytics) to predict the road ahead as best he could before the trip began, and it’s his responsibility to assemble a Vehicle that will securely transport our Family to the destination.

Family Trip

So while it’s the Family’s trip (and they could certainly make the trip more difficult by sitting in the back and horsing around or constantly nagging with questions like “Are we there yet?” or “can I drive for a bit?”), they’re really just along for the ride. Sure, they will ultimately be what determines whether the trip was a success or not, but they were never really in control. Neither is the Vehicle in control, nor Coach Stotts as the Driver.

Next: Blazers win second straight, top Magic 95-88

While they are all part of the trip and each play a role in it’s quality, the one most responsible for determining whether the trip takes the Blazers on a vacation they’ll never forget, or a matinee showing of an overpriced movie… has to be the one who put the Vehicle together, Neil Olshey.

And if my family vacation took place in an unreliable and overpriced clunker of a Vehicle… well, it could still be a great time, but I’m pretty sure it’s not gonna be the vacation in the tropics (let’s call it a “Championship vacation”) that I’ve been dreaming of since 1977.