Trail Blazers head coach Terry Stotts took questions from the media on a conference call Tuesday afternoon prior to the team departing for San Fransisco for Game Five Wednesday at Oracle Arena. Stotts discussed moving on from Monday's overtime loss to the Warriors at the Moda Center, how the team has improved offensively during the playoffs, Draymond Green's trash talk and whether close losses make the team hopeful or discouraged. Here's what Stotts had to say (questions are paraphrased)...
In a season that was in many ways about development, what did the team develop or take from the playoffs?
Terry Stotts: Right now, I’m worried about Game Five. We can talk about that at another time, but I think the important thing for right now is that we’ve played better in every game, which is improvement obviously. Just like in the Clippers series, we played better as the series went along and the same thing here. That’s part of the process and part of the growth.
How do you move on from emotional loss like Game Four?
Terry Stotts: I get asked that a lot after losses during the season or during a losing streak. I got asked kind of similar questions after getting down 0-2 against the Clippers and against Golden State. You just ramp it up for the next game and give the next game all you have.
What is it about group that has allowed them to continue to “ramp it up” during the playoffs?
Terry Stotts: You guys have been following the team all year and you know that they’re competitive, they’re driven, they want to get better. So I think it’s in their character to go out and compete. Obviously it was a disappointing loss and I would expect a quiet locker room, but we haven’t had any problem coming back. I think it has a lot to do with the character of each player.
What have you liked about your offense during this series and how has it improved?
Terry Stotts: I like the pace that we’re playing. I think as the series has gone on we’ve done a better job of screening and creating opportunities for us. Our passing has gotten better as the series has gone along,which creates better shots. And I think we gained some confidence in our shooting. We’ve shot the ball better and I think that feeds on itself.
Has the team gained confidence during this postseason run?
Terry Stotts: Yes and no. I think we were confident coming into the series, but I do think that we’ve played better each game. I think there is a tendency to feel, even after losing Game Two and losing Game Four and the way we lost, I still think that we look back on it that we played better. The confidence is there, I don’t think it’s ever wavered, but I think it has grown.
Is there an update on Maurice Harkless’ hip injury? Did he play limited minutes in Game Four because of the injury or was that just the flow of the game?
Terry Stotts: There's no update. He was fine last game, so there's no update.
Do Draymond Green’s comments during the series motivate your team?
Terry Stotts: Draymond does a lot of talking. That’s what he does. We’ll worry about our business and go about our business and really whatever he says doesn’t have much of an impact on us.
Does your team still discuss the low expectations many had for them at the start of the season?
Terry Stotts: I don't think that we bring it up. I think that's more of an outward perception. The people that were writing us off are the ones talking about it. We've always been pretty confident, from the beginning of the season, going back to September and October, that we were going to be a competitive team. We felt like we would be competitive in the playoffs and in both series'. So I know it's something to talk about, but I don't necessarily think it's served as a chip or anything. I just think that a lot of good things came together at one time and we worked and got better. That's kind of looking in the past and I don't think we as a group necessarily look in the past.
Does the way your team lost both games Two and Four help or hurt their confidence going into Game Five?
Terry Stotts: I think it’s encouraging. Going back to the last couple years where San Antonio we weren’t close, and Memphis we weren’t close, so to muster up the energy and the confidence can be a little bit more challenging. When you are in a competitive position in the couple of the games that we lost, I think it tends to trend toward having more belief.