Zillgitt: Blazers Coach Terry Stotts Explains Trust-Based Offensive Philosophy

Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today Sports reports that Portland Trail Blazers coach Terry Stotts expounded a little bit on his sharing-based offensive philosophy in comments to reporters in New York City this week.

Portland Trail Blazers coach Terry Stotts explained that he needs forward Nicolas Batum to remain active when plays aren't called for him. "With the great ones, the ball finds you when you stay engaged and stay aggressive."

The ball finds you? What is this, some of kind of new-age basketball philosophy? OK, we get Stotts' point, but it seems like a bit of a nebulous theory. Until Stotts told this story:

"Someone told me, this goes way back to Bernard King ... one of Bernard's teammates was complaining that (then-New York Knicks coach) Hubie Brown ran all the plays for Bernard King," Stotts said. "Bernard told Hubie, 'Hey, don't call a play for me' and he still scored 40.

"There has to be a trust involved, a trust with me and with his teammates. I just know that it's happened before. ... There's a certain way that your teammates look for you, the ball gets moved around and your opportunities come if you're ready for them and you stayed engaged. It's part of experience as well. Nic has an opportunity this year that he hasn't had in past years because of the team dynamics and he's in a position every night to take advantage of that."

Zillgitt also recently wrote about Blazers forward Nicolas Batum proving his worth this season.

-- Ben Golliver | benjamin.golliver@gmail.com | Twitter