PORTLAND — They’ve gotten along well since one coached the other in Dallas, but these days Portland Trail Blazers Coach Terry Stotts and Milwaukee Bucks Coach Jason Kidd have a little more in common.
Both find themselves with young teams, struggling at times to play consistent defense, after both of enjoyed solid defense built around the presence of veteran players the year before.
The Blazers have played solid defense in their current seven-game home stand and entered Tuesday on a four-game win streak. However, that came after one of their worst defensive months.
The Bucks, too, were a top-10 defensive unit last season in terms of defensive rating. But they have taken a step back this season and are ranked 26th.
Stotts was an assistant coach with Dallas from 2008-12, during which Kidd played for the Mavericks. Before Tuesday’s game at the Moda Center, the coaches shared notes on their similar situations.
“He asked the difference between last year’s defensive team and this year’s defensive team,” Kidd said of his conversation with Stotts. “One has age with it and being in the right spot. The longer you’re in this league, the more time you have under your belt, you understand what positioning and being in the right spot means of having a successful play or a non-successful play. When you say it in those terms, younger players don’t quite understand.”
The Blazers have been one of the lowest-turnover teams in the league over the past three seasons, but they’ve gotten a bump in that area over the home stand and are currently 20th in the league in defensive rating.
In their last four wins, they’ve forced 13 turnovers or more in every game.
But while Stotts will take the turnovers and is happy with how they’ve come, he thinks that those will come more as a bi-product of experience rather than the athleticism of a younger team.
“For young guys not seeing things happen, not seeing things develop makes a difference even though they have all the athleticism in the world,” Stotts said. “The experience and knowledge that you have on the defensive end probably helps more so than the athleticism. Look at San Antonio.”
Although Kidd and Stotts share common ground with their tasks in teaching young players how to play better defense, the two rosters could not look any more different in terms of personnel.
The Bucks start no player shorter than 6-foot-6 while the Blazers boast two players who are 6-4 and under.
Although they look different in terms of profile, they share a common struggle.
Kidd also praised his former coach all he’s done with the Blazers so far this season.
“He has the personality to be a great coach and he is a great coach,” Kidd said. “His temperament is the best. It’s always a good day. Even after a loss, coming to see him the next day, he has that positive vibe of confidence. That ‘hey, lets learn from yesterday’s mistakes and lets get better today.’ He’s with a young team and I think he’s one of the best in the league at what he does.”
