The Portland Trail Blazers have overachieved all season long after their starting lineup was dismantled over the summer, and head coach Terry Stotts has rightly drawn praise now that his team is in the thick of the Western Conference playoff chase.
Speaking to reporters Wednesday, Dallas Mavericks head coach Rick Carlisle said he believes Stotts is the "front-runner" to receive the NBA's Coach of the Year hardware, according to ESPN.com's Royce Young.
While it may sound a bit strange for Stotts to receive that sort of compliment on the surface considering the Blazers are just three games over .500 (30-27), context is crucial.
Portland entered the 2015-16 regular season with just one holdover (Damian Lillard) from last year's starting lineup after LaMarcus Aldridge, Robin Lopez, Wesley Matthews and Nicolas Batum all parted ways with the franchise via trades or free agency.
Not surprisingly, the team was rightly expected to suffer serious regression in the win column. But despite the tremendous turnover the Blazers have had to deal with, Stotts has had his team humming ...
Read Full Article at Bleacher Report - NBA
Article written by Alec Nathan
Rick Carlisle Says Terry Stotts Is Front-Runner for NBA Coach of the Year
February 24th, 2016 by Alec Nathan Leave a reply »
Advertisement