Tiago Splitter has been thrust into the NBA spotlight, taking over the Trail Blazers’ head coaching duties on an interim basis with Chauncey Billups on indefinite leave. The circumstances in which Splitter suddenly became the head coach were far from ideal, he told Joe Freeman of The Oregonian and other media members.
“Honestly, a tough moment. But I’ve got to do my job,” he said. “I’ve been in this position in a different level. But also, in a way, looking forward to show my skills and lead a team. So that was a positive part of it.”
Here’s more on the Blazers:
- Lead assistant coach Nate Bjorkgren had previous head coaching experience but Bjorkgren told general manager Joe Cronin that Splitter was the best choice to take over, Ramona Shelburne of ESPN reports. Bjorkgren felt he could best help the team in his current role, running the defense, Shelburne adds.
- In Splitter’s head coaching debut, Portland blew out Golden State, 139-119. “I would be embarrassed to sit here and blame fatigue when a team just came out and took it to us. It was about them and their great play,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said, per Shelburne. “This city is going to really enjoy watching the Blazers. They play hard. They have a real identity. They’re doing a really good job of rebuilding the franchise after the long run with Terry [Stotts] and Dame [Lillard] and CJ [McCollum]. It’s been a rough couple of years, but they’ve used that time wisely and built a really good roster.”
- Who are the candidates to replace Billups if he’s not exonerated? Aaron Fentress of The Oregonian (subscription required) looks at a dozen potential replacements, including James Borrego, Mike Budenholzer, and Sam Cassell, among others.
- Tyronn Lue has been close friends with Billups for many years. The Clippers head coach said Billups is in good spirits. “Chauncey is my best friend that had to go through something like this, the allegations, his family, my goddaughters,” Lue said, per Janis Carr of the Orange County Register. “So, it was a tough day and you never want to see any of your friends go through anything like that.” Lue spoke with Billups on Thursday night. “Just to hear his voice saying that he’s OK, (I could tell) he’s good,” Lue said. “I could tell in his voice if it’s not really good, so he feels good. And that’s all I wanted to make sure of.”
- That flies in the face of Billups’ demeanor in court — emotionless with a hollow look in his eyes, Jason Quick of The Athletic writes. Billups is normally positive and forthright — one of the most popular former players and current coaches in the league — which makes the allegations against him even more shocking, Quick notes.
kerr needs to take some of the blame. The defense was horrible. I saw too much standing around on rebounds. Only Kuminga was going after lose balls. Portland was hitting all their 3s which happens sometimes but they were more agressive attacking the basket. 25 TO and you will lose the game. GSW needed to slow down the offense but tried to play fast with a faster team and lost.
GSW too small, once again. Pat Spencer will never help us win a game in this league, why is he even here? Why does Kerr never play bigs when he has them? Post and TJD aren’t going to get the development they need with Kerr trying to constantly shoehorn as many no-defense 3-4x SG lineups he can at all times.
@arc89, Thank you. Kerr is back to showing the world that small ball is the way. Portland is long and fast. So Kerr comes with 3 guard lineups and no bigs. With Horford resting and Draymond in foul trouble, we’re dead meat.
ELEPHANT IN THE LIVING ROOM: ROSTER CONSTRUCTION:.
When Horford is healthy and available, we’ll usually get by. But we remain one rim-protecting, rebounding, big man short of contending. Not a starter, but a rotation-quality big that can give us 16-20 minutes when we are outsized. Which will be most games.
I had held out hope that Post and TJD might be adequate, but I’m now out on both of them. Post can be used situationally when we need a stretch 5, but he’s not a rotation player on a contending team.
TJD was playing well last night but for some reason he took him out. Why isn’t Post being used as a rim protector? Kerr had him away from teh basket guarding the 3 pt line. Go with a zone defense using post as a rim protector. hard watching Podz letting players get by him playing too close to players.
Post is on the outs. It’s clear Kerr doesn’t trust him at this stage.
– averaged 6 mpg in the 5-game Minnesota playoff.
– 8 mins against the Lakers, 4 mins against Denver
– 15 mins against Portland, mostly garbage time. Even as Draymond sat with 4 fouls, Kerr preferred to get killed with 3 guards than play with Post.
After 1/2 a season in the league, the league has figured out Post: as soon as he comes into the game, opponents are putting him in the P-N-R because he has very slow feet. And, he’s a very slow jumper. Even though he’s 7′, opponents know he’s ineffectual unless he’s very close to the rim.
Quentin Post is not an NBA rotation player (as in, not in your top 10 players). He’s a 3rd C, a stretch big to be used situationally. He belongs on the Warriors roster, but not as Horford’s primary bkup.
As for TJD, he’s another 3rd string big.
I agree that both Post and TJD are third string Centers on this team. I expect they will be trading for a Center at the trade deadline. Melton will help when he comes back so they have 2 ball handlers on teh team. Podz hurts the team being too stuborn to sub out when hurt. He is not moving very well and it showed last night.
@aristotle Kerr will treat every young big like this though. Post is fine, he just needs to be used like Al, I think Horford can work with Post to get him up to speed but we havent seen enough of either. Meanwhile, we definitely HAVE seen enough of Podz and GP2.
@DaveyJ, looks like we disagree on Post’s capabilities. It’s not about giving him or TJD more minutes. Yes, there will be some improvement, but you can’t get blood from a turnip.
Maybe cause he isn’t one. Every team in NBA should have a rim protector imo. Fox doesn’t have the instincts of one. And GS surely is not going to teach him lol. Or they would have been doing it already.
Warriors looked tired after big win.
NBA is not very nice to the warriors. 3 games in 4 nights and 5 in 7 days. Silver must have some money bet against the warriors.
Yea who is Kerr fool. Dude acts like he has won championships before. The fool thinks he knows the game better than you fans…. Derp de derp.
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Man shout out to Nate Bjorkgren for being a solid team guy
Are we supposed to feel empathy or care for Billups? Rozier? Jones?
If the mob is involved, then they might have been targeted and forced into it. That’s the only route to empathy for them here.
Probably not the best idea to get in bed with the mob.
Sometimes blackmailers will target you when you aren’t even working with or around them.
The hammer is coming down on them. Or the gavel is more appropriate. Plenty more evidence coming out. Jones seems like the one most connected. I think they will find others too.
You betcha, empathy is a human thing. You could even sympathize if you had that in you, but certainly you can empathize.
Kerr got cooked by a guy in his first game. Again. Due to Kerr’s infuriating overuse of zero defense small-ball. Again.
Playing GP2 and Spencer instead of Jackson-Davis and Post. 3 undersized SG small ball lineups are cooked in this league. They have gotten destroyed in all 12 quarters so far and they literally have not worked since the 2022 Finals. We are never getting Steph/Klay/Poole again. Kerr thinks otherwise. Wemby is right there. Nothing Kerr or his staff do makes sense. Just play your best players. The best lineup is Steph Jim Dray JK + Al/Post/TJD, and that was working just fine until Kerr went “actually lets do Jimmy at the 5 with 4 SGs” which he always does. And it never works. Why, god, why…
At some point even his staunchest defenders have to realize Kerr isn’t good this anymore and should quit/be fired. GSW won a half of that game by a point because he played his bigs and then lost the other half by 19 because he went small.
Play bigs = +1
Play 3-4 undersized SG’s at once = -19
Why can’t Kerr understand this?
@DaveyJ, You know that I agree with your views about Kerr’s reliance on small-ball and handling of high-potential young players, but I believe Kerr has got most of the other important stuff worked out at this point. Kerr knows how to use the top of this roster but not the middle and bottom, and we just have to accept that.
You and I haven’t yet discussed Horford playing alongside Post and TJD, but I agree that we’ll need to do it fairly often this season, including against San Antonio, Houston, and Memphis.
Here’s a DaveyJ-style prediction-wishcast: this January, Clippers get the news from Adam Silver that Kahwil is suspended for 1.5 seasons because of the Aspiration mess. The Clippers pack it in for the season, and trade Brook Lopez to the Warriors for Buddy Hield, TJD and and 2 second round picks. Moody gets to play 24 mpg again, GSW gets a another stretch C, and Steph never takes the floor again without a real C before he retires.
Move all that just so Kerr can play Lopez 5 mins then bench him for 2 weeks? Lopez is also older than the moon plus the sun. I would prefer GSW try and pry Zubac away from the Clippers. I don’t think GSW and the Clippers will ever make a big m0ve with each other, they see each other too often.
I think Bam, Kessler or Giannis are coming in 2026. Hartenstein is another name to watch.
Zubac on his contract is worth what NY paid for Bridges. Zu is a better more impactful player than Bane, for example, and is making half of what Desmond makes.
Imagine Zubac on GSW? He’s 5x the player Horford is right now. If I was GSW I would package Kuminga, Post and 4 firsts for Zubac and Dunn.
5 FRP’s is the motherlode… but, like Bridges, Zubac comes with a ridiculously team-friendly long-term contract, and that warrants another FRP over what his trade value would be if his contract was higher.
Still, I’m not sending out 5 firsts unless it’s for Giannis.
IMO, there is a scenario where the Clippers might trade Zubac. If Silver strips more FRPs because of the Aspiration mess, I can see the Clippers unloading Zubac to save the franchise. If the Clippers lose both Kahwi and their remaining FRP’s through 2032, they’ll have no choice but to sell assets after this season.
DaveyJ, We’re at least $20M short on Bam, Kessler, or Hartenstein. We pay $145M to Steph + Jimmy + Draymond. There’s no room to pay another C big bucks.
The challenge is to get a decent back-up C this season. For the millionth time in the last 6 years, Portland showed what happens when GSW doesn’t have a decent big available. Horford will miss 20-25 games. So will Draymond. If either of them gets hurt, we’re a play-in team, at best, unles we get another C.
Lopez is priced right at $8M/year (for the next 2 seasons). But Lopez would become available only if/when the league gives the death penalty to the Clippers for Kahwi/Aspiration. There are other decent backup C’s available. We don’t need much, but Post and TJD are not the answer.
@aristotle
What part on earth of Jimmy Butler and his career do you think makes him untradeable? He never even wanted to be here, he wanted to be in Phoenix. GSW wanted KD, not Jimmy. Obviously GSW will trade Jimmy and his huge money to bring in a better (taller/rebounder) fit. Like Bam. How come you can’t see this? Jimmy is 100% getting moved as soon as possible.
Funnily enough both moves could happen, if GSW got Lopez and Bam it’s literally over. We would actually have a way to beat Wemby (not looking forward to seeing him tbh, he is going to score 100 vs Kerr’s small ball idiocy). I agree Horford really shows how far he is ahead of Post. TJD I don’t understand, he plays well every time he goes out there. But everyone thinks he’s bad because Kerr cant stop playing GP2 and Moody at the 3 and 4. TJD should be at the 4 every minute when Kuminga isn’t.
@DaveyJ, I agree with you: Butler is not untradeable. My point is that he won’t be traded for an expensive center while we have Horford and Draymond.
I don’t see TJD as an NBA 4. At 25 years old, he can’t score unless he’s at the basket, and that’s not changing. Yes, he would play better as a backup C if he got more playing time, but that’s not going to happen. Draymond and JK are going to get most all the available minutes at the 4 (with, as you say, Moody and GP2, getting the remainder). We might see Horford and TJD playing together occasionally, but TJD would be the 5 in that case.
The C position remains the one glaring problem on this roster. Horford will be missing his 2nd game in a row tonight against Memphis. Fortunately, Edey and Brandon Clarke are injured, but, if they weren’t, we’d be in huge trouble.
I’m boldly predicting a move before the trade deadline: either Buddy or Moody along with a protected FRP will be moved for a true big. I like both Buddy and Moody, but they’re our only assets that can be used to match the salary of the incoming big. Sadly, this is likely TJD’s last year with GSW, and maybe in the NBA.
The following trades are approved by sportrac trade machine (doesnt allow for draft picks but does make sure the money is correct. The draft pick parts I added):
Zubac and Dunn for Kuminga and Post (+ X amount of FRPs, GSW has 6)
Hartenstein (and FRP) for Kuminga and Hield
Anthony Davis for Jimmy Butler
You specialize in the extreme! But we know that sometimes you’re prescient. I would love to have any of those 3 bigs, but…
I can’t see Zubac and AD becoming available, though. Zubac has an incredibly team-friendly deal. Mavs have to show the Luka trade was a good idea, and trading him for Butler proves the opposite.
Hartenstein is intriguing. OKC probably can’t retain him because after this year because it would put them over the 2nd apron. They won’t want matching salary (like Kuminga & Buddy Hield) because that puts them over the cap.
BTW, trading JK would only create a greater need: a PF and somebody that can guard big ballhandlers. I’m opposed to trading him unless we get something to replace him.
Which is why JK is the best possible chip to offer for Giannis.
Good point. Although GSW would need another $35M worth of matching to get a deal done. Maybe throw in Draymond along with the picks.
Butler, Kuminga, Podz and TJD for Giannis and Kuzma is approved on sportsrac trade machine. Just add in the draft picks yourself with how many you think should be swapped! EZ
It’s interesting, but IMO, Lacob would never do that trade because it wouldn’t move the needle enough to justify losing his 2 best young players. He wants Giannis without giving up his young core.
(BTW, nobody wants Kuzma. He doesn’t make any team better. Warriors wouldn’t touch him.)
Kuzma stinks, that is correct, but matching the money to make it worth the Bucks while also needs to happen. They don’t want him either, yet if GSW is gettisoning both Jimmy and JK, then Kuzma makes sense at least as a replacement PF. Obviously Kuzma is no building block, but for this trade to work financially, he has to be in it. And I disagree, Lacob will take on whoever in order to get his white whale Giannis. Also Podz isn’t “his best young player” he is a 6th man at best who is not a building block piece. Moody becoming a true 3 and D guy moves his value ahead of Podz.
@daveyj, we’ll agree to disagree on this one. You know I’ve been consistent: Lacob will not part with his young core. He wants to add to it, not exchange it.
and I think Lacob stacked the young core on purpose to reload for his Steph replacement in Giannis. We can agree to disagree here, Dub Nation baby, winning makes the trade rumors go away!
Obviously if this roster is a 60+ win team, don’t remove anything key from it! Keep it going!
Cause Tiago will split ya.
Blazers had 8 players in double digits. Blazers shot 50/93 took 13 more shots. Warriors shot 35/80 ….
Warriors just didn’t have it. Go to next game.
Good sign for Blazers to show out for new coach. Denny is looking good as a Blazer. Had his best yr last year. And is looking better this year at 25 YRS OLD.
All the Wagoneers should be taking notes from Deni …
Ai, do you ever actually watch Knicks games, or just Warriors?