Terry Stotts
Terry Stotts
Terry Linn Stottsis an American retired professional basketball forward and the current head coach for the Portland Trail Blazers of the NBA. After a playing career in Europe and the Continental Basketball Association, where he played for George Karl, Stotts became a part of Karl's coaching staff on multiple teams in the CBA and NBA. He later got opportunities as a head coach for the Atlanta Hawks and Milwaukee Bucks, before helping the Dallas Mavericks win the 2011 NBA Championship...
ProfessionCoach
Date of Birth25 November 1957
CityCedar Falls, IA
Our defense got us over the hump. It was one of those games. Boston did a nice job defensively and both teams struggled to score. We stayed with our defense and fought through.
Yeah, that's about how I saw it. Them and San Antonio are probably the two most physical teams in the league, yet both of them go to the foul line more than anyone else.
Both teams wanted to get the fifth seed. They may have had a little more in the tank but I was proud of the way our team competed. We were down and to come back in the fourth quarter we just couldn't keep them off the free-throw line. Washington played well and deserved to win.
Everybody seems to want to take away from accomplishments. The fact all five teams made it is a testament to each of those teams. Cleveland and us weren't in the playoffs last year, and the fact we jumped into the playoffs shows you even more about the division.
It's a pivotal game. Both teams realize it. The tie-breaker is at stake. If we win, it goes to the second tie-breaker, which is conference record, and right now we have an advantage with that. All the players, all the coaches know it's a pivotal game.
I'm proud of our streak of keeping teams under 94. Really everyone on the floor contributed defensively.
It was a performance that we needed. Defensively, that was one of our better games. Our defense contributed to our offense and a lot of times it's the other way around. You like to have a game like that this time of the year.
The starting lineup has been solid. Some nights they get off to good starts, some nights they don't. If you do make a change in the starting lineup, it kind of singles out a guy. I think we're close to having a lot more wins than we have and I don't think changing the starting lineup does anything.
I've been impressed by how hard he's worked,
They are a good defensive team. That probably had something to do with it. But we played a little too much off the dribble. Certainly, we missed some shots that we could have had. The eight turnovers really puts you behind the 8-ball.
And we were a dominant team in the league.
During a game, having players wear a sport coat is reasonable,
Everybody knew that our division was going to be tough.
I've always had a tremendous amount of respect and admiration for the way Toni plays the game. In addition to his solid, veteran presence on the floor, Toni's knowledge and experience will be an invaluable asset to the younger players on our roster.