Trailblazer Great, Terry Porter Returns to Portland
By Dave Nelson
One of the most beloved icons in Portland Trail Blazers, if not Portland sports history has returned to Portland to coach.
Number 30. Rasheed Wallace? Think before that…Bobby Gross? A little more recent, although both have that number retired…Terry Porter.
Okay, so he hasn’t replaced Terry Stotts on the Blazers bench, but he is the leader of the Men’s Basketball bench at the university of Portland.
How has his first year of coaching gone so far?
“It has been good. It has been good. The guys are doing great. We’ve had some early success that was good. Obviously losing a player like Alec (guard Wintering) has really hurt us. The guys are still staying true to the process, keep attacking and playing well.”
Is there more pressure to coach and even win at the collegiate level, compared to the years you coached in the NBA?
“There is always pressure when it comes to coaching. Probably the NBA being professional, it’s probably more stress at that level. I wouldn’t say it’s stress, you definitely have more tension on you. There’s only 30 teams and is on you, where as in college there is a bigger number and for us, it’s about continuing playing together.”
What is his coaching style and the type of plays he runs?
“My style us for the most part…I wouldn’t say I’m a yeller and screamer. I try to make sure guys understand what we expect of them. Make sure they understand how we need to play at both ends of the floor. In regards to my offense in how I like the game to be played, I want to play offensively, uptempo, open court, half court, want to have ball movement, have the opportunity to have guys use their strengths’, pick and rolls, iso situations.”
Does he keep in touch with some of his former Trail Blazers teammates?
“I keep close to most of them. Unfortunately, we lost two of them already, Kevin Duckworth, and Jerome Kersey. We all stay in contact. We call each other a couple of times a month. We chat with each other, catch up and see how we’re doing.”
