30 Team Association: Blazers fire head coach Stotts - mmcnab91's Dynasty

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30 Team Association: Blazers fire head coach Stotts

Posted on March 7, 2013 at 09:40 PM.

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3/17/13-Blazers fire Stotts, hire Shaw

PORTLAND-Terry Stotts didn't have the luck of the Irish in his only season with the Trail Blazers.

With both Damian Lillard and LaMarcus Aldridge sidelined by injuries for most of the season and off to the team's worst start in seven years, Portland fired the first-year head coach effective immediately. At the time of his firing, the Trail Blazers were a Western Conference worst 20-45.

Part of the Trail Blazers' struggles were attributable to injuries Aldridge and Lillard suffered early in the season. Aldridge broke his right arm just two weeks into the season, sidelining him for nearly eight weeks, while Lillard suffered torn hand ligaments in mid-December that kept him out for almost six weeks.

Before the season started, Portland was expected to be a dark horse candidate to reach the NBA Finals, thanks to a core of Lillard, Aldridge, and Nicolas Batum. Instead, the Trail Blazers now find themselves fighting for a lottery spot in the NBA Draft rather than playoff implications.

Blazers GM Neil Olshey also announced the team would hire first-year Oklahoma City Thunder assistant coach Cameron Shaw on a two-year deal as Stotts' replacement.

Prior to joining the Thunder Shaw, 36, was the head coach of the Eastern Kentucky Colonels, who compete in the NCAA's Ohio Valley Conference. Shaw guided the Colonels to the OVC regular-season championship and the National Invitation Tournament quarterfinals last season before taking the Thunder job.