Portland Trail Blazers Suffer Historic Beatdown in OKC. Is Chauncey Billups’ Job in Trouble?

Portland Trail Blazers Suffer Historic Beatdown in OKC. Is Chauncey Billups’ Job in Trouble?

In today’s show the Blazers make history but like the bad kind welcome to lockdown Blazers let’s get into it you are locked on Trailblazers your daily Portland Trailblazers podcast part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day what up world it’s your past first point guard and Trailblazers reporter

Mike Richmond you’re listening to another episode locked on Blazers part of the locked on podcast NW work available wherever you get Podcast and also on YouTube thanks for making this show your first listen coming at you every single weekday Monday through Friday so make it a part of your daily

Routine make it your first listen tell your friends to do the same as Lockdown Blazers your team every day in today’s show we’re going to talk about a historic night in Oklahoma city where the Blazers play one for the record books only the bad type of record books

The type of record books you want to burn and hide and not tell anyone about and turn off in the middle of the second quarter because the game was over talk about that game do our fastest recap in the west when you lose by 62 you have to ask the biggest questions

Is chony bips the right coach for this team right now I think it’s pretty clear he’s not the right coach for this team moving forward but what what what has transpired over the last 10 days during this road trip has been very troubling to the point where we got to ask the

Biggest questions and then I want to close the show pondering what’s next they got a lot of games left what do you do from here they’ve only played 37 games and out of the halfway point of the season and this thing looks cooked let’s do we do though fast recap

In the west the Portland Trailblazers were were founded in 1970 when Harry Glickman was granted the rights to an expansion franchise in the Far West Outpost of Portland Oregon within the first decade of the franchise they won an NBA title in 1977 and even when that team dissipated very quickly after H

After winning the Larry O’Brien trophy the blazes went on to Decades of success from 1982 until 2003 they made 21 consecutive playoff appearances they made two trips to the finals and others back to the Western Conference Finals they were one of the most consistent and competitive

Franchise not just in the NBA but across all of North American professional sports they’ve made the playoffs 37 times in their 53 Seasons coming into this year their 54th all told they have played 4,3 17 games including Thursday nights January 11th 2024 in Oklahoma City 4316 of them have gone better than this

One the Blazers lose 13977 trailed by 62 after three and lost by 62 this was a 12-point game 12-point game the end of the first quarter play scored 24 points in the first quarter 15 in the second 17 in the third and then 21 in a meaningless fourth

Quarter down 62 after three the largest according to stathead the largest margin after three quarters in NBA history historic night this was tied for the seventh worth worst loss in NBA history and the second worst loss in franchise history as the Blazers are now the proud

Owners of the only team in the NBA history to lose multiple games by 60 the worst loss in NBA history happened in 2021 when the Grizzlies beats this Oklahoma City Thunder team by 73 Miami lost by 68 back in 1991 the Portland trailers in case you’re curious

Lost to the Indiana Pacers in 1998 12459 a 65o loss Golden State lost by 63 back in 1972 also in 1991 the Kings lost by 62 the Knicks lost by 6 in 1960 to Syracuse and Memphis Grizzlies in 2018 lost to Charlotte by 61 1479 the seventh worst loss in franchise

History the Blazers through their 4317 games have a win percentage of 528 if won more than half of their games during their 53 Seasons 54 now that win percentage would put them either sixth or seventh best in NBA history depending on how you count the Utah Jazz and New Orleans Pelicans or in

The New Orleans franchises sharing those records They are one of the most successful teams in the history of the league one of the most consistently competitive teams in the history of the league if you are roughly my age the Blazers have basically been all always been

Good Heck if you are a college student now you are too young to remember the Dark Age and if you are old enough to have tended the championship parade you’ve only experienced 16 Seasons when they haven’t made the playoffs they’ve been really freaking good and tonight historic futility that’s your fastest recap in

The west 13977 there’s no reason to do the box score I mean we’re not going to we’re not going to do that this is typically after games if you’re a new listener listening to this this is your first episode typically after games we do the box score run through the box

Score not going to do that um in some ways this was built in for the Blazers to lose six games sixth game of a seven game Road swing uh they’re playing with a very very young group DeAndre did not play in this game uh Malcolm bragin set

Out this game for rest DND rest is what He’s listed at in the Box Score it’s extremely funny um he needs to get the night off so he lost by 60 but other than Jeremy Grant matis thel and athrey Simons everyone else on is just roster is a rookie or a second-year player

Rookies and sophomores incredibly young if they had lost this game by 35 I probably would have just kept him to moveing like I I would not have batted an eye honestly they’re a really young team in a rebuilding season in a really rough patch playing like crap

Right now if they had lost by 30 cool cool I I probably would have just said hey you know this team isn’t very good and we would have talked about the game and I would have talked about like how how they got to use tman Kamar off the ball and you know scoot

Henderson’s pairing with a Simons has been a little bit Rocky here’s some ideas to make it better I probably would have just done basketball stuff this been a podcast about basketball this was builtin a built-in excuse for them to get throttled right I I I straight up would not have I

I would I you barely would have noticed a difference if they lost this game by under 40 points just what it kept it moving like we you keep it moving all year long five days a week wherever you get Podcast 62 is a different Beast this was a different game this was

A different this was this isn’t one of those this is not a write-off game this is not a game uh you know they’ve had some they’ve had some stinkers recently right and there are some troubling games where it’s just like they don’t look good they’ve had eight consecutive

Quarters when they scored failed to score 25 points like they’re they’re you know they scored 84 points against the Knicks and it’s like well that’s not good uh a friend of mine he’s a Knicks fan text me he’s like is are the Blazers really 35 points worse than the Knick

Like they’re in a bad bad space well Pete they’re 62 points worse than Thunder they’re in a really bad space I bet you didn’t watch this one I don’t think you can write this off as Growing Pains or crappy roster or bad shooting nights or any of the sort of

Obvious built-in excuses that if they had lost by a normal margin we would have been able to write it off as when you lose like this you have to ask tough questions is the person coaching them cut out to coach them the easiest thing to change when

Things go wrong is the coach can’t fire the players players aren’t very good but you can’t fire them let’s talk about Chanty bips uh it’s time it’s time to have a conversation let’s do that in the second segment first let’s talk about Jace medical listen Jace medical wants they want you

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Offer codee locked on to get $20 off your order that’s jal.com jal.com to get $20 off your order when you use the offer code locked on all right look lose by 62 something has to change I have been let’s rewind a little bit I’m going to make some eye

Statements here but but I want to rewind before I get into the eye statements coming into the season I had admittedly said I was pretty pretty low opinion of chony BS as a coach but I was willing to offer him the benefit of the doubt heading into

This season as uh approve it year first year I thought he was really underachieved with a roster that should have been way better second year uh they just stunk I don’t know I don’t know what I don’t know what the bail we were exactly shooting johy was last year but

The roster wasn’t very good but they were they underachieved they were they they Damen Lord had one of the great offensive Seasons um in in the history of of the NBA and they were under 500 with him in the lineup like it’s just they’re bad um and and I admitted coming

Into this season that I had pretty low opinion of chony bips as as a basketball coach uh I will say full disclosure I really like him as an interview he’s incredibly helpful to the media like he’s a great Storyteller um he’s like he’s honest sometimes to a fault like I

I enjoy him um as as a professional person but like I don’t think he’s a good basketball coach and I did not think he’s a good basketball coach coming into the season and I I’ve been very very clear about that I think some folks who want me to call for his his

Job in his head have have have wanted me to go further but I but I’ve been consistent right is that I I I don’t think he don’t think he’s been very good and this season was going to be the year that he would prove it and I even mentioned in

That preview episode you can go back and listen to it if you if you really if you don’t want to if you want to I don’t know why you would but go check it out it’s in the season preview playlist on YouTube or look for it like in the

September episodes if you’re an audio listener the season Prove It season for chony bips is the title and I mentioned in that in that very very episode in that that preseason episode that that bips could lose 60 games this year and he could still have the best coaching season that he’s had

Done done the done the best do the best coaching job that he’s done in Portland right 22 and 60 and you could say hey this this thing this is working right because I thought this team was going to stink um if you’re a long time listener

Every day or shout out to my every day or like you know that I thought this team was going to stink from for for for always basically from from from prior to the season starting I thought they were going to be one of the worst teams in

The league one of the five worst teams in the NBA they’re probably going to be like fifth or sixth worst team in the NBA so better than I thought but um I I think bips has proved it he can’t coach this team to where they need to go and if you were hoping

For development playing non-competitive games isn’t valuable like I said plenty of obvious reasons why the blazes were going to get throttled in this game OKC is a really stinking good they are they are one of the best teams in the league they could certainly I don’t know if they they

Could I don’t know if I would pick them to like make the finals or whatever but like certainly they’re going to be a homecourt Advantage might win the Western Conference in the regular season like they’re really stinking good top 10 in offense top 10 in defense third best

Net rating League like really this is a really really good team really really good team Shake Guild Alexander might win MVP Blazers are playing Super short-handed and Incredibly young 62 is a different Beast 62 is a different Beast 62 isn’t a sign of like hey you’re a little bit

Overmatched 62 is a sign that thing this thing is broken and lost the wheels fell off and then you lost the wheels on the side of the road and then you drove another quarter mile and now you are sitting there broken down with no idea

What became of the things at the end of the axle oh the wheels yeah huh we needed them uh if you’re an everyday or you also know my kind of stance on coaching I don’t think that coaching is a like is is I think it’s a smaller portion of the equation

Right like I don’t think it’s meaningless like I think I’ve joked this like during the regular season coaches don’t do anything and I do I do sort of think that but I don’t like I think coaching is something like a third of the equation the vast majority of the

What makes teams good is Talent right like see Greg papovich and San Antonio um I think that’s a pretty good example right and I you you drop like one of the best coaches in the league you drop Eric poster on this Blazers roster are they better sure sure is this a playoff team

Magically with a with a really good coach absolutely not I think it’s they’re marginally better with a good coach I don’t think there’s a lot of nuance with the Chanty stuff like I I it it bothers me that the conversation is not as straightforward as as this has

Chanty BPS done a good job obviously not would they be better with a with a better Coach yes is it is there value right now in firing him and getting marginally better for the second half of this season probably not would they be way better with a way better Coach no they’d be

Better because coaching has an impact but it’s not going to change the like a a team as young and as Talent poor as the Blazers is not going to magically get good with a better Coach I I still feel that way but I think we here at this point of the

Season it is pretty clear that Chanty Bops ain’t the dude he is not the person to help them get better in the near-term he’s not the person to help them get better in the medium term and I never thought he was the long-term answer and I really don’t

Now I am not going to sit here on this podcast and call for chony bulbs to be fired tomorrow morning or or you know stopped from getting on the plane before they go to Minnesota but the Blazers should think long and hard before they invite him back to for next

Season what value does he add to this roster if he was supposed to be the coach that was to coach a good team with Damen Lillard but that didn’t work out and he wasn’t very good at it but maybe he’d be the coach to get through to young guys

Because he’s he could coach him a little harder and they’d love to listen well that hasn’t really worked out either where are the Blazers drastically better or where do you see them sort of improving when they’re playing non-competitive minutes when they’re just getting punked off the floor and

Losing by 62 and coming into this game they had been getting thrashed except for a nice little comeback that they had against the Brooklyn Nets but thrashed against Phoenix thrashed two games against against Dallas thrashed by the Knicks like they have just been straight up uh they’ve been straight gutter

Balled no no chance is what I mean by that a gutter ball they’re in the gutter watching the pins go by a non-competitive toss that’s what they are there is no reason johy B should coach this team in the the fall there is no reason he should coach the team in the

Fall I don’t think there is much value in firing him mid-season like what is Scott Brooks going to do that’s really going to change the the Futures and I don’t think like chony Bops coaching this team terribly is going to poison them for some sort of long-term future I

Don’t I don’t I just don’t buy into that but I think is abundantly clear he’s not the dude he can’t coach this team to where they need to go and they have to make a change in the summertime there is no reason he should coach this team in the fall when I say

They should ask themselves a question it’s it’s a pretty simple question has the team taken the steps in the direction that you want them to go when they were supposedly competitive and when they’re rebuilding I think it’s a pretty clear hell to the NW I don’t have that music drop but if I

Did uh I’d play it for you for my longtime listeners this this was the game that pushed me over the waterfall like I like I said I was a doubter in the fall and I was waiting for chony bips to prove it and I have my feelings on how much a coach can

Impact a a uh a roster that has talent deficiencies right but when you’re like this at the Midway point of the season and it doesn’t feel like it feels like the team is getting worse they March forward and and even if they’re not getting worse like even if they’re just kind of like

In a really bad place they’re in a really bad place with more than half the season to go and there isn’t a thing you can point to to say this is a thing that they do well this is a thing they do well at the beginning of the year they

Were competitive and playing defense since they’ve gone on this trip really since you know um they they had a nice win against the Kings the day after Christmas and since then what are the what are the moments that you can you know nice a nice game against Brooklyn where they played

Really well against the team of the losing record but it’s nice win but like when it has gone bad for him they have let they have just they let go of the rope and if you can’t coach them up to be competitive like try right if you can’t

Coach him up to to stay in the fight even when you’re under man what’s the point what’s the point this was a Prove It season for chony bips and to me he proved it I don’t need to see anymore I will though I I mean like again I don’t see

The I don’t really see the value in firing him mid mid-season but I am certain that it would be a mistake to bring him back in the fall because they this team owes it to this group to give them another look and give them another voice and give them another Direction

Because this one ain’t working I want to close the show asking a question I don’t know the answer to where where do they go from here let’s talk about it the close of the show first let me tell you about prize picks daily Fantasy Made Easy prize picks pick between two and

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Innba and use that promo code locked innba it’s prize piics daily Fantasy Made Easy still a pass first point guard I’m still Mike Richmond you still listening to lockdown Blazers I don’t know the answer to this question where do they go from here the very very very literal answer

To this question is Minneapolis Minnesota Downtown Minneapolis where they will play the Timberwolves you know the other extremely good team in the Western Conference just coming off an overtime loss to the Boston Celtics where they didn’t have Rudy goar I don’t think the Blazers are going to

Win let me be super clear on that one uh they’re not they don’t seem like in a bounceback space Also Shaden sharp left this game with an abductor strain the game against OKC with an abductor strain adding injury to insults it’s the groin strain he’s been dealing with and kept

Him out of uh of some games a couple weeks ago it flared up again whether they were just being cautious cuz they were down by 2,000 points or it was something that’ll hold them out remains to be seen we probably won’t get an injury update until just before tip off

But I would be um it seems very reasonable that he would not play second night of a back toback croin injury soft tissue stuff like hold him out I don’t think blaz is going to win and I certainly wouldn’t judge them for a a normal beat down against a very good

Team on the road second night to a back toback seven game seventh game of a seven game Road Trip two weeks on the road this was a loss the moment this moment the schedule came out in fact if you go listen to the schedule release show it’s a good thing

About doing doing a daily podcast I could I can make some SE self-referential here citing myself yeah like this was a this was the like we we the Royal we I circled this on the um circled this on the the schedule show the schedule release show saying like

This is a loss this is a loss this would be a loss if the blazes were good this is a loss like this is just a brutal brutal brutal stretch really long time away from home long night of tra after getting smoked by 62 at least I Malcolm

Brockton back though sat out sat out sat out Thursday night for rest he’s back Friday baby against the te- Wolves so I don’t I don’t like so that’s a liter literally where they’re going I don’t know where they go from here there aren’t a lot of easy answers you know maybe

You really prioritize getting the ball in athrey Simon’s hands more and getting scoot off the court when he’s on the courts and saying like and you can just run the whole show and then we’re going to have scoot run the other show but it’s like is that valuable for the for

The future of the franchise if Scoot and ant can’t play together because they’re both ball dominant like isn’t that something that you need to know and it’s like that’s a decision you have to make um even just like the Tactical stuff tapping into it to more than any more

Than that it’s like I don’t know it’s like you get Tani Kamar you stop using him as a spacer because it’s just like he’s passing up jump shots and hurting the offense but like you know they barely combined for 150 in the last two games I’m not really worried about that

Right now they got bigger problems than you know timani kamaro not quite being an NBA level rotation player because he’s a negative on offense he’s a really fun defensive player on a team that’s going to be bad like let him play let him let him go um I think the real

Question is is is for the players it’s not for Bops or any like Pro like I’m probably not going to talk about Bops for a few for a few weeks like for for me this is um this is on the guys this is on the Portland Trailblazers how do

They this is on the players do they have pride will they play with some pride they might lose by 25 but down 62 after 34 is a lack of Pride you have to take pride in this because the season is forever and if you if you quit now like if if it certainly

Flex poorly on the coach and the organization everything like that but like players play that’s really what I feel like that’s why I think they’re two-thirds of the equation players play uh I think actually I I’ll recommend this the dunker spot uh Ste Steve Jones and Nas Duncan a really good basketball podcast

Talked about sort of what what coaches do and kind of um you know it’s like they can they can talk to players about timing and what to and what kind of when to cut and when to make plays but like sometimes the guys just the clock isn’t you know players players make the

Decisions out on the court and because of the kind of freelancing nature of modern NBA basketball sometimes it just goes Haywire you you kind of you don’t have so much of an impact and I I think that’s sort of a lot of My Philosophy is

From there and like Steve Steve is a NBA assistant coach he knows a lot of my beliefs are similar to that players play and that’s why I think the the the real test for me is do they play with heart they play with heart do

They play hard do they look like they do they look does this team look like a team that wants to be around looks like a team that wants to be be competitive looks like a team that wants to um you know to lose by 18 19 22 to when they’re

Really overmatched as opposed to 62 I think that’ll tell you a lot about kind of the core of this team because if they come out and lose by 40 again come out and down 35 at halftime it really doesn’t feel like there’s much point to the rest of the

Season you might as well hit fast forward if they’ve quit on you and this is a really rough spot in the season and everyone goes through rough spots but this is this is more troubling than a rough spot I think a real question is how they how bad do they look against the

Timberwolves is their Spirit defeated because if it is it is a larger conversation about value of Developmental minutes because if if their spirit is defeated and they’re non-competitive and this is like a stretch where it’s like oh there’s 45 games of this left or whatever it is 43 games of this left it’s

Like then maybe you do think about making bigger structural changes because what’s the there’s too many games left to bail now too many games left to bail now I’ve never seen it seem more desperate to make a trade to get worse they really do they need to trade

Some of their vets and just like really buy into getting worse I think they’ll play harder with younger players more consistently I think right now they they just need to shake up they just need to shake up they need anything to change anything to change

Um I like I’ll say this if they were to fire Chancey bips I don’t think like I don’t think it’s I don’t think there’s a lot of value in it but it wouldn’t be the worst thing that they did I don’t think they will and and I don’t think it would be

The like I don’t think it would be some horrible mistake I wouldn’t condemn them for it I just think there’s like marginal value in it they need a change though something something’s got to change CU where do they go from here even after that those six minutes I don’t

Know guess what I’m not going anywhere I’ll be back next week five shows Monday through Friday wherever you get podcasts if you’re in Portland and it snows this weekend go have fun in the snow hope you hopefully you stay warm and all that um you know get get some snacks keep your

Family close hopefully keep electricity and enjoy yourselves if we have a major weather event and if it doesn’t snow at all you know make fun of people who forecast the weather because it’s a hard job all right uh how about we do this again next week tell your friends about

The program I appreciate you listening I’ll talk to you Soon

Yikes. A 62 point loss. Chauncey Billups is not the right coach for this team. But is it useful to fire him now?

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