The Trail Blazers’ new coach, Terry Stotts, arrived in Portland Wednesday. He told reporters he'll draw on his experience coaching two teams with losing records as he guides the Blazers’ young squad. Stotts won a championship with the Dallas Mavericks in 2011 as an assistant coach.
Stotts says the offense he helped implement for that team emphasized passing. He says the experience reminded him of the Blazers’ 1977 championship team, coached by Jack Ramsey.
“I love the way that the Portland Trail Blazers won with their championship. Matter of fact, I called, I texted Coach Ramsey after we won the championship. That’s my ideal. It takes a lot of time and trust to do that. But it’s something that’s contagious. Once you start playing that way, you don’t want to play any other way,” says Stotts.
Stotts and General Manager, Neil Olshey, say it was Stotts’ idea to keep interim head coach, Kaleb Canales, on staff as an assistant coach.
Stotts has coached in the Northwest before. He was an assistant coach with the Seattle Supersonics, before they moved to Oklahoma City.
