Getting On The Same Page
Portland is in a dire situation. Terry Stotts is under fire. But how does anything change?
Jusuf Nurkic has been the newest addition to the Blazers over the past few weeks, where he has once again resumed a season defined by inconsistency. He added to that season in Sunday night’s 107-98 loss to the Miami Heat, which was something like a poorly concocted after-dinner cocktail to follow the sheer wholesome joy of Enes Kanter’s franchise-setting night on Saturday. It is not fair to Nurkic to always set his struggles in returning to the floor in contrast to Kanter’s productivity, but it’s happening.
The other thing that’s happening right now is the continued disillusionment in head coach Terry Stotts from the fan base. The sense of “not knowing” what this team is capable of or “not being on the same page” was clear enough for Nurkic himself to address it after the game.
Nurkic is many things but a liar is not one of them and he also criticized his own play, before covering his bases by saying “I don’t want to throw anybody under the bus.” In Nurk’s politeness to not call out anyone by name, he showed the influence Dame has had over him over the years to be able, to tell the truth without publicly airing names out in the media. But while he talked about the coaches saying the right things, Nurkic also seemed to suggest that the players need to be more vocal, perhaps even curse a little more at each other, with the hopes of determining their own direction.
This much is clear, the Blazers as a personnel group, are who are they are this season. And that means that any hope they have of reaching another gear this season has to come from who is on the team. There will likely be no more roster additions. Terry Stotts is not getting fired before the playoffs. But as the Blazers fight for playoff positioning and look to avoid being stuck in the play-in, what is becoming even more clear is that this team has to build some kind of momentum heading into the postseason. If they can maintain their playoff positioning, they will have to beat a couple of above-.500 teams along the way. But more than that, they need Nurkic to start impacting games in a positive way like they’ve seen him do before.
I also can’t give up on Nurkic just yet and there’s definitely some irrational feeling. For some reason, I thought about Nurkic a lot when DMX died. I thought about how Nurkic played through the death of his grandmother in the play-in tournament to help will the Blazers to the playoffs. It might be the worst thing (or the best thing) about me as a basketball analyst but as someone who chronicles it, my memory of the league is always what supersedes every other feeling. I even tweeted a DMX lyric with a picture of Nurkic after that game, because all I could see that night wasn’t some soft player who people want to trade. It was heart. It was sadness. It was pure strength.
Life is hard. Nobody who watches sport wants to hear that shit. I know. I’m sure Dame is tired of hearing it and would like to be carried for a bit. After all, when he looks around the league and sees Giannis, LeBron, Embiid, Harden, and the like getting their rest, I bet he’s thinking it’s a good time for him to conserve some energy too. It’s more important to save that than to keep pushing for an MVP trophy that after this week, looks increasingly out of reach.
If the Blazers really are going to go anywhere in the playoffs, Dame is going to carry them. But the Blazers have to do a better job of carrying him. CJ and Kanter have undoubtedly done their parts this season. Hell, even Melo saved their ass more than a few times. Nurkic says he’s close to his minutes’ restriction getting lifted and that his health is in a great place. Maybe you’ve given up on him and that’s fine. But there are still 19 games left and I’ve seen enough NBA seasons to stop thinking that the season is over by now. And at this point, I really don’t have a choice in the matter. My memories of a Nurkic who inspired feelings of perseverance over grief are still too fresh to let me feel any other way. Blame DMX.