I did listen to the interview after I'd read the recap and I had taken it the same way as Ian did and I certainly wouldn't say it's grasping at thin air as he is the one out there making the disingenuous comments saying his club underachieved due to injuries leaving it open to interpretation, and their affiliated reporter then put it in print on the network most people go to for their sports news, but I won't double down as you're correct he didn't technically say playoffs, it was just a statement using injuries as an excuse for their performance in general. He obviously incited anger with his comments at the STH meeting according to the Scanlan article, so again, I'm not alone with feeling his comments are infuriating and another example of not taking responsibility for putting together the worst roster in the league. He's out of touch with where his team is at and for connecting with the fan base if he's pointing to injuries, that's not at all what this is. They are exactly where we all predicted and all he should be doing is being the one out here taking ownership for where they are, not bringing up injuries as an excuse at both interviews.
Perform better in the 2nd half? That seems like a strange assumption. Not at all would I assume that. I think I, like many others, assumed the opposite and that the team would overachieve for a couple months as we saw and then start to hit a wall as we're seeing these last couple months. This is just a team performing to its capabilities. I expect them to finish the season losing at a rate about what they've been doing the last couple months and consider the first couple months the exception here.
You're entitled to your opinion, but imo he only has himself to blame for all the bad pr, he just brings himself out there and does it to himself over and over again and these last two stories are another prime example. All he should be doing is taking responsibility for this mess, not blaming injuries.