The inevitable finally happened. After another first-round exit (sounds familiar, Pacers fans?), their fourth in five seasons, the Portland Trail Blazers decided to part ways with longtime head coach Terry Stotts. Now, with the veteran looking for his next sideline opportunity, the Indiana Pacers are linked to the 63-year-old should they close the door on Nate Bjorkgren.
Envisioning Stotts coaching Indiana is too good to be simply classified as heat-of-the-moment speculation. After all, the veteran head coach has strong ties with the city, being inducted into the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame for his high school basketball stint in Bloomington. And with the Pacers noncommittal to Bjorkgren, the prospect of him as the man at the helm has a solid chance at fruition.
Stotts has been a head coach in the NBA for 13 years with stints in Atlanta, Milwaukee and Portland, qualifying for the postseason nine times. While he has a less than stellar playoff resume, going just 23-44 in his career, he has championship pedigree as a part of Rick Carlisle’s coaching staff when the Mavericks won the title in 2011. Overall, he is 8th among active coaches with 517 wins against 486 losses.
The Indiana Pacers will surely be aggressive in the coaching hunt should they let go of Bjorkgren which, at this point, is more of a when than if. As one of the clear-cut favorites for the job, what could Terry Stotts bring to the table for the Blue and Gold?
Terry Stotts will inject an even more modern offense to the Indiana Pacers
Despite public criticism on his isolation-heavy schemes in Portland, there’s no doubt that it worked with their personnel. Under Terry Stotts, the Trail Blazers finished at least 3rd in offensive rating in the past three seasons.
The Indiana Pacers already trot out a squad that can be more dynamic offensively compared to Stotts’ previous team. With a high-scoring backcourt consisting of Malcolm Brogdon and Caris LeVert, a highly efficient scoring wing in TJ Warren and a nightly triple-double threat in Domantas Sabonis, the Blue and Gold will not be short of scoring under the seasoned coach.
Stotts’ offensive philosophy is not rocket science. He values the freedom of players on the court, leaving it to them to read the floor and make apt decisions. His offense does not generate a lot of assists (dead last in the league), but it also does not yield many turnovers (first in the association).
He strongly emphasizes the importance of three-point shots, a must in today’s game. While the Pacers improved on that front, they’re still in the bottom half of the league in attempts. He also advocates for taking the first quality shot, which will mesh well with Indiana’s 4th-ranked pace in the recently concluded campaign and their abundance of potent shot creators.
Terry Stotts can bring out the best from the Indiana Pacers’ unsung heroes
The offensive framework by Bjorkgren improved the team’s scoring attack, but it still could be a lot better than a 14th-ranked offensive rating. Oftentimes, his run and dish attack resulted in lot of indecisiveness, making possessions look forced. When the fast break opportunity was not present, his half court sets were largely predicated on Domas’ shot creation and playmaking, pushing scorers to wait-and-see mode.
That doesn’t happen with Terry Stotts. He is a huge believer that all five players on the court should be threats to score. He had limited offensive players, but his devotion to making them more than mere utilities on the court has paid dividends. He was the first to maximize Nicolas Batum’s passing. He basically breathed life into Al-Farouq Aminu’s offensive game. Most recently, he laid the platform for Carmelo Anthony to regain his footing in the league.
Hopefully, Stotts can unlock the scoring potential of the team’s oft-ignored pieces on offense, especially with Myles Turner whose aggressiveness has waned in recent seasons and the inconsistent Aaron Holiday. Even Goga Bitadze and Oshae Brissett can benefit from his freedom-laced scoring attack. His hands-off approach and letting the offense organically develop on the court worked very well in Portland. In Indiana, it can get to another level.
Terry Stotts can build a strong team culture with the Indiana Pacers
The Portland Trail Blazers have an argument for being the most overachieving team of the decade. Despite playing in the West with only one All-Star for the most part, Terry Stotts guided the team to uncharted levels and shocking playoff runs, such as their semifinals finish in 2016 and their conference finals run in 2019 without Jusuf Nurkic.
There’s a reason why players love playing for the veteran coach. Aside from the empowerment, he seeks ways to maximize each player’s strengths the way few coaches could. For example, he made Enes Kanter a viable team performer, deploying him as a primary option in the second unit to overshadow his defensive limitations. Some coaches opt to sit out players who are deemed one-dimensional. With Stotts, he makes them at least serviceable.
Locker room turmoil has been an uncharacteristic, yet actual sight for the Indiana Pacers this year. And when losing aggravates their already-murky circumstances, things can get ugly in a flash, as in the team’s lottery finish this season. And for a franchise lorded over by the beasts of the East in the present, stabilizing the team culture in a realistic path to carving themselves in as one of the best teams in the league is not an out of hand goal with coach Terry Stotts.