Portland Trail Blazers President of Basketball Operations Neil Olshey held a press conference today in which he addressed the media regarding the state of the the Blazers, the disappointing finish to their season, and the subsequent firing of Head Coach Terry Stotts.
Here’s the video of the press conference, courtesy of KGW News.
Here are the highlights courtesy of Blazer’s Edge’s own Danny Marang...
Olshey said that Portland’s lack of defense was a coaching issue, not a roster issue:
“In this instance… the 1st round loss, the defense was not a product of the roster…” -Olshey on whether or not he feels he’s pressure on him/his job
— Danny Marang (@DannyMarang) June 7, 2021
“We’ve benefitted from the offense I’ve culture, but we’ve been hit on the defensive side of the culture” -Olshey on ending up 29th in defensive rating
— Danny Marang (@DannyMarang) June 7, 2021
“For anyone (prospective coaches) to advance in the process they’re going to have to prove they can do that (improve defensively) without a ton of roster changes.