The Portland Trail Blazers exceeded expectations with last year's 42-win season, earning the seventh seed in a strong Western Conference. It's even more impressive given the adversity they overcame, both off the court and in their roster construction.
Interim head coach Tiago Splitter took over just one game into the season, ending a four-year playoff drought and leading this young core to their first collective playoff appearance. Not to mention, the Blazers were one of the most injured teams in the league, with a backcourt that suffered one injury after another.
For some reason, that still wasn't enough for the Blazers front office to want to retain Splitter in a more permanent role, and he's now the head coach of the Chicago Bulls. At least they brought in Micah Nori, who has a rare combination of NBA experience and creativity in first-year head coaches.
Blazers' late-game execution will improve under Micah Nori
At his introductory press conference in June, Nori already came in with a plan to improve a Blazers team that had exceeded expectations and reached the postseason. With training camp fast approaching on September 29, it's worth revisiting those areas of improvement to see if Portland can make a deeper playoff run next season.
Surprisingly, Portland reached the postseason considering how relatively poorly they performed in crunch time. Nori pointed out that the Blazers hovered around .500 in games that were within two possessions with five minutes remaining.
"Also at the end of games. This team last year was 21-22 in two-possession games with five minutes to go," Nori said. "At the end of games, we can't guarantee makes and misses and stops, but I'll tell you this: they're going to have to make shots and we're going to force them to make tough shots. We're not going to hope that they miss."
Nori points to the defensive side of the ball, but it should also help tremendously having Lillard back as one of the most clutch shot makers the league has ever seen.
Overall, Splitter did a great job given the unprecedented circumstances, but late-game execution was one area he struggled with, particularly in ATOs. Creativity won't be an issue for Nori, compared to the "Ted Lasso of the NBA."
Those late-game struggles weren't entirely on Splitter. He did the best with what he was given, which was a team that rarely had all its ball handlers healthy. Still, there were far too many end-of-game inbounds where (usually Toumani Camara) forced the ball into the corner, only for someone to be trapped or unable to handle the pass and see it go to the other team. Low-IQ basketball plays you can't blame on talent, as these players sometimes don't even have the opportunity to touch the ball. My former YMCA team (coached by my dad, shout out pops) did a better job at understanding how to effectively space the floor.
Nori wasted no time pointing out this flaw that quietly plagued Portland last season. They overcame it and survived the play-in tournament, but the margin for error will be thinner next season with an even deeper Western Conference.
Morant and Lillard are the obvious headliner additions to this roster and will help in the late-game execution. But don't overlook the impact Nori's hiring will have on the Blazers' late-game execution, the biggest area Splitter's inexperience exposed.
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