Defensive Improvement

by Dave on Sep 24, 2009 12:04 AM PDT Comment 50 comments

When we did our "What One Thing Do the Blazers Need to Succeed?" survey the other day we got a lot of brilliant answers. Many revolved around Greg Oden. Some mentioned Andre Miller. But the most intricate discussion surrounded the team's defense. I'd like to explore that further, as I tend to agree that this could turn out to be the factor that defines whether the Blazers are darn good or legitimately great this coming season and beyond. Fast or slow, the offense is going to be more than fine with the current cast plus the addition of Andre Miller. Despite fielding some individually mediocre rebounders, as a whole the Blazers will be taken care of on the boards as long as Greg Oden and Joel Przybilla are around. Defense, not a traditional strong suit around these parts, has far more wiggle room. And if you're looking to be great, wiggle room is not the best characteristic to have.

This is not to say the Blazers are poor defensively. To the contrary, they racked up a fairly impressive defensive season last year. They were 11^th in defensive rating, 4^th in points allowed (thank you, slow pace, but it was part of the +5.3 point differential), 17^th in opponent field goal percentage, 18^th in opponent three-point percentage, and 4^th in free throws allowed (thanks again, slow pace fairy). By the metrics you could easily rate the Blazers in the high average defensive range. How much you think that needs to improve depends on your assessment of the offensive and rebounding strengths. We're not going to be that comprehensive yet. Suffice it to say that the Blazers will need to improve if they are to eke out those difficult-to-get extra wins above 54 and challenge for greatness and defense is the general category with the most room for improvement.

The Blazers were actually quite strong in their paint defense last season. Their design has been basic: deny the easiest shots no matter what the cost and make the opponent subsist on perimeter attempts. Anyone who remembers the halcyon days of Zach Randolph, Theo Ratliff, and Sebastian Telfair when the lane regularly parted with sweet sorrow can attest to the wisdom of such an approach.

The cost of vigilance in the key has been a reliance on scrambling and rotations outside. The oft-mentioned pick and roll schemes are an example. The Blazers put heavy pressure on their big men to get out and shadow opposing dribblers. You also see extra pressure on high-powered opposing penetrators and rotations away from distance shooters. You see a fair amount of zone-man switching and disguised defenses as well. These schemes are hardly unique to Portland, but they require considerable vision, knowledge, and timing...sometimes in rare supply on a team populated by young 20-somethings known for their offense.

The Blazers need to keep their interior defense strong while finding a better rhythm, and perhaps more individual responsibility, on the perimeter. Upon what (or whom) will the Blazers rely in order to achieve such improvement?

Having another year under their belts individually and as a team Portland should see some natural progression in their defensive reliability, if nothing else because of recognition. But aging alone won't make the decisive difference. Defense takes physical repetition. If you've been playing a certain way for years it's going to be hard to change that pattern even if your knowledge of the game improves. You actually have to start playing better in order for better play to get ingrained. Seeing where you should have gone above the screen doesn't help until you actually do and that process becomes instinctive. For that reason it's doubtful the Blazers will have improved leaps and bounds over the summer.

There's some hope that body development will also provide an edge. Nicolas Batum is a prime defender with room to grow physically. Martell Webster has an impressive physique as well. LaMarcus Aldridge may be stronger this season. That's the advantage of being young. You always hope there's more forthcoming.

Beyond that, the two names mentioned most often as providing possible edges are Oden and Miller. (Keep in mind we're not talking best defenders here, we're talking the best chances for providing improvement.)

Oden, assuming he remains healthy, should get a handle on defending the interior this season. That's his stronghold. His strength makes the most difference down low. He looked no more impressive last year than he did against the lumbering behemoth Yao Ming when Yao was playing with his back to the basket in the playoffs. That ought to continue. The obvious rub is that the Blazers have already been strong down there. What they really need from Oden is the mobility and awareness to get outside to impede an opposing wing and then back in when called for. Coupled with that comes the need for better decision making on when to take a foul or let a play go. Not coincidentally, these are the parts of Greg's game that will be the hardest to develop both in a physical and mental sense. Offensive rebounds? Pencil in Oden with an exclamation point. Show and recover? Better put a question mark.

Andre Miller is not a premier defender. He's a well-seasoned veteran who's seen approximately 92 billion screens in his career, which is the great hope. You don't expect him to stop opponents single-handedly. You want him to be able to help instead of getting rubbed off every time someone sneezes. He should be able to handle that. That should make the Blazers at least marginally better, causing a chain reaction by which less pressure is put on rotations, especially those involving Oden. That's the hope anyway.

But this is my point. When you're talking offense the Blazers are walking tall. When you're talking rebounding you can bank on production. When you're talking defense you're still leaning on question marks and hopes. Those question marks could straighten out and hopes could come to fruition, but it's generally true that when you start from that basis you're going to struggle. The Blazers shouldn't be worse, but you can't say definitively they're going to be better defensively next year.

This is the issue, more than any other except Oden's physical condition, that should have us holding our collective breath. In the end defense will probably demarcate the line between the first or second round of the playoffs and something more special. We'll have to see how things shake out.

--Dave (blazersub@yahoo.com)

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Defensive Rating is important

as the top teams are the top at the end of the year as well

Orlando
Boston
Cleveland
Houston
San Antonio
LAL

And Portland is 5.9 points behind Orlando. I like your summary of likely improvements. Better offense will also improve defense as we have more time to get into position.

One factor mentioned previously is Andre’s talent in getting teammates into position. His leadership there may bring a significant improvement.

by lee3022 on Sep 24, 2009 12:56 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

that list says it all.

Liked the post too. Talking defense. Now that’s gettin’ down to business. Our growth as a team defensively will be the best predictor of our post-season success.

by Blazin' on Sep 24, 2009 1:12 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

couldn't agree more

While our offense can certainly be improved, defense is what separates the teams on lee’s list from the Blazers right now.

Because of the efficiency of the Blazers’ offense, they need not get to the top of the defensive efficiency list (ie Orlando/Boston level), but in order to be title contenders, they do need to play defense as well as the Lakers do. That’s going to take some dramatic improvement— improvement that needs to come from several areas, but the pick and roll is the first thing that comes to mind— the Blazers need to get to the point where they don’t switch 90% of pick and rolls.

by jksnake99 on Sep 24, 2009 1:18 AM PDT up reply actions 5 recs

w0rd

by Mortimer on Sep 24, 2009 1:42 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Rec

They need to get to the point where the opponent doesn’t know in advance what they’ll do on a pick and roll. The more we can make them guess, the more they will guess wrong.

"if Nate has Roy or Miller in the game at all times, that stagnation will turn into conflagration" -- two4larue

by jscot on Sep 24, 2009 9:33 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

I think it comes down to this

“There’s some hope that body development will also provide an edge. Nicolas Batum is a prime defender with room to grow physically. Martell Webster has an impressive physique as well. LaMarcus Aldridge may be stronger this season. That’s the advantage of being young. You always hope there’s more forthcoming.”

Add to that Brandon slimming down and hopefully Oden getting his legs back.

We have deep bench and young bodies and part of defense is having enough energy in the tank to stay with someone on offense. Someone who has lost their breathe will not take that extra step towards or leap up to put a hand on someone especially on the perimeter. Experience will solve the other stuff and I think with excellent coaching our team will work better together and improve, if ever so slightly on defense.

We shall see…

"No disrespect to Jeff Blake"

by Eat Politicians on Sep 24, 2009 1:42 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Enough said

Dave’s post said it all.

Let the games began.

by BBK on Sep 24, 2009 5:24 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

New additions on defense

Miller will bring some improvement. He can’t stop the fastest opponents, but he understands team defense when he gets beaten off the dribble and channels his man into the bigs. Big point guards can’t easily post him up or shoot over him. I expect him to be a much better defender against players like Billups or Fisher, and new big point guards like Evans, but not provide that much improvement against players like Parker or Paul. He rebounds good for a point guard and can then start the fastbreak, which would be a nice new addition.

Blake: While not getting a lot of steals he is good at applying pressure over the court on the ball handler, so maybe with less playing time and more energy he can focus a bit more on that. Will be interesting to see on what level of speed and strength he is this year after trying to get stronger last offseason – not sure what his plan was this year. It didn’t help him much to fight through screens and defend when he got switched on shooting guards last season, so maybe he opts for more speed like Roy this year?

Martell: Sorry to bust some myths, but Martell was never a good one-on-one defender. He tries, but isn’t laterally quick enough and experienced enough to anticipate, and I can’t see how he has improved that while being off his foot. He reaches in when he gets beaten off the dribble. He often gets a hand into his opponent’s face a la Ray Allen, but isn’t athletic enough to actually contest a lot of shots. It’s just a hand in the face when closing up to his man.

Travis: Like Marell, the tolls are there to be an above-average defender. We know what he can do, it’s just not showing all the time. He should focus a lot on boxing out and rebounding, and just stay with his man as much as he can to prevent easy shots. He should have more success defending mobile PFs than the very bruising ones this year.

Rudy: Showed some signs in the EuroBasket of being able to defend taller small forwards, which would be interesting. Was very active on defense trying to disrupt plays, create turnovers, etc. Still maybe not the most savvy defender, but gives a lot of effort and understands defensive schemes.

Nicolas: Seems capable to defend against almost anyone but the tallest and quickest players with his long arms and quick steps. On the French team he sometimes was in the post banging with power forwards, and sometimes stopping shooting guards. Recovers quickly when switching from offense to defense, and loves blocking players from behind. Analyzes what advantages his opponents have against him and tries to take those away as good as possible. I really hope they find playing time for him so he can get more experience and learn to defend the best guys with some consistency.

Roy: Will be interesting to see how his new frame helps him conserve energy for both ends of the floor, and if it is an advantage against quicker players or rather a disadvantage against more physical ones especially when he has to play small forward. I’m pretty sure the coaches will demand more effort and leadership from him on defense, calling out things that go wrong (a la what Joel did quite regularly) and lead by example. And he himself might do too.

LaMarcus works pretty hard on the defensive end, but not always successful. Not a good help side/weak side shot blocker, and sometimes doesn’t recover back to his man fast enough after helping out (that seemed to happen a lot against Scola and Yao). Doesn’t always keep his position in the post even against less physical players. It’s not easy to drive on him, even if he can’t get in front of his man he’s still capable to make it hard for the attacker to get a shot or a pass with his length. I hope he is more active this year and takes pride in his defensive plays and leverages his size and speed there.

Oden: As Dave says, his play against Yao in the playoffs was very encouraging. He still picked up some silly fouls, but all in all did an excellent job keeping him away from the basket and making himself so big that Yao’s teammates where often afraid to pass the ball into him. Better than about any center I have seen defend Yao. He also did a good job against a not-yet-back-healthy-again Bynum. If he can build on that any fairly consistently give performances and effort like that on the defensive end, that would be a great advantage.

The rest merely rounds out the rotation. Jerryd hopefully can get smarter on defense to fully use his physical tools. Maybe Nate will call on him to defend against certain players/opponents and create more pressure penetrating on offense at the same time if he can show him some signs in training. I don’t think he can win a better spot via his defense, consistent team management is too important for Nate to make that the decisive factor. Dante will hopefully be able to defend backup power forwards, and over time quicker players. If nothing else, he and Jeff worked hard on defense in summer league. Howard isn’t a good defender with his fading athleticism, but adept at boxing out and denying entry passes.

Team defense: It will be interesting to see if Nate comes up with something better than countless switches on the defensive end. And if he maybe gives each unit a different identity, one that pressures more over the court and one that defends closer to the basket or something like that.

"I think he can still play" - Kevin Pritchard on Juwan Howard

by Norsktroll on Sep 24, 2009 6:04 AM PDT reply actions 4 recs

Hmmm...

Good post, Norsk. Only one thing is missing. A Certain Big, White, Thrilla Gorilla. Unless you’re implying that he’s so solid defensively that he is above and beyond your list.

by Jeremiah S on Sep 24, 2009 7:29 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Right. He is so solid he is an afterthought ;)

That would bring the rotation to 10. Which I think is what Nate said.

"I think he can still play" - Kevin Pritchard on Juwan Howard

by Norsktroll on Sep 24, 2009 9:00 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

What Greg did better than Joel in the last phase of the season was denying the entrance pass to his man, and Joel has a little tendency to let his man establish position where he wants to, but once his opponent has the ball he closes up and doesn’t give away an inch. Sometimes he reaches in when it’s too late to prevent a basket a la Greg. It’s really in little details where he could still improve, he seems to have pretty much maxed out his physical abilities.

"I think he can still play" - Kevin Pritchard on Juwan Howard

by Norsktroll on Sep 24, 2009 9:04 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

I completely agree

I have noticed watching Joel that he often allows himself to be “caught” out of position while defending or even just jockeying for a rebound. It is my hypothesis that he enjoys having to “scrap” to deny the shot or claim the rebound. I may be way off base, it’s just a feeling I get when I watch him play.

I wish I spent more time playing catch with you and less time training my body and mind to kill you...

by 1badbadger on Sep 24, 2009 9:12 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

How many pg can guard CP3, Parker, and Williams?

IMO, we should use help D on all those fast guards until we get Mills : >) .

by BBK on Sep 24, 2009 7:55 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Eh, Patty Mills isn't much of a defender.

Anyway, there aren’t too many point guards available who can defend speedsters like Chris Paul and Tony Parker. Brevin Knight and Jacque Vaughn immediately come to mind, but they’re both old as dirt and have little to offer on offense. Heck, I expect that they’ll both soon retire.

Stupid people have stupid ideas.

by AK1984 on Sep 24, 2009 3:47 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

While we're listing speedy PG's...

I vote we throw Aaron Brooks in on that list. He’s gotta be up there, less honed in other aspects, but I think in a few years we’ll be talking about him like a Parker.

by Jeremiah S on Sep 24, 2009 9:31 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Miller will bring some improvement…he understands team defense

Travis: …We know what he can do, it’s just not showing all the time.

I’m not sure how well Outlaw understands team defense, but he appears to be in “no man’s land” more often than any of his Blazer teammates. The irony is that he’s been in the “system” longer than any of them

When reached 39 years of following Portland basketball you have, be as passionate of the Trail Blazers you will not!

by two4larue on Sep 24, 2009 9:33 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Really nice assessment

Your comment on Nic made me wonder if at times we’ll see Nic in at SF when Travis is at PF, and Nic defending the PF. His length may make up for lack of strength.

"if Nate has Roy or Miller in the game at all times, that stagnation will turn into conflagration" -- two4larue

by jscot on Sep 24, 2009 9:38 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Really depends on matchups. European PFs tend to be of the lanky and highly mobile variety, and Nico can guard and grab rebounds against those if he gets switched or sees an opportunity to get a bounce. He didn’t play against any Millsap/Maxiell types. Travis has problems against bruisers too but overall was better defending the PF position, so I don’t know what would create the more significant advantage.

"I think he can still play" - Kevin Pritchard on Juwan Howard

by Norsktroll on Sep 24, 2009 9:48 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Travis has had some good defensive stands against Dirk, if I recall correctly

I was thinking about someone like Bosh, and whether Nic’s length and quickness might enable him to handle Bosh better than anyone else we have.

"if Nate has Roy or Miller in the game at all times, that stagnation will turn into conflagration" -- two4larue

by jscot on Sep 24, 2009 9:52 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Well...

Travis honestly stands a better chance against Dirk, because Dirk isn’t going to drive to hoop or back him down nearly as much as every other PF in the league. And then Travis can jump high enough to contest his 7 foot fade-away-ness.

by Jeremiah S on Sep 24, 2009 9:33 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Nicolas: Seems capable to defend against almost anyone but the tallest and quickest players

Batum also had a lot of trouble defending Artest in the post, during the playoffs. Martell should help when the opponent plays more “burly” Sfs

When reached 39 years of following Portland basketball you have, be as passionate of the Trail Blazers you will not!

by two4larue on Sep 24, 2009 9:48 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

I expect Nic to improve in that area

He was only 19 at the start of the year last year. He’s going to be getting stronger every year.

"if Nate has Roy or Miller in the game at all times, that stagnation will turn into conflagration" -- two4larue

by jscot on Sep 24, 2009 9:53 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

LaMarcus is capable to make it hard for the attacker to get a shot or a pass with his length

One of LMA’s defensive skills is “quick” hands to block/strip the ball below the “shoulder level” of his opponent, similar to Karl Malone

When reached 39 years of following Portland basketball you have, be as passionate of the Trail Blazers you will not!

by two4larue on Sep 24, 2009 9:51 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

FYI

Miller has a history of making life a living hell for Parker. No one really understands why, but it just happens. I’m pretty upset about you guys getting him.(why couldn’t the Turk ignore his wifey instead?)

9.20.21.24.34
ACLs are like crutches. They’re only for the weaklings who can’t get along without them. -jollyrogerwilco

by Tim C. on Sep 24, 2009 10:07 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Nice to know

Hopefully he passes on the secret to our other guys.

"if Nate has Roy or Miller in the game at all times, that stagnation will turn into conflagration" -- two4larue

by jscot on Sep 25, 2009 1:19 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

we like it

when one of our chief competitors is perturbed

I’ve heard that Andre has played well against L*A. as well

and Miller wants to stick it to the Nugs, for trading him a few years back

When reached 39 years of following Portland basketball you have, be as passionate of the Trail Blazers you will not!

by two4larue on Sep 25, 2009 8:27 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

"He's a well-seasoned veteran who's seen approximately 92 billion screens..."

hmmm……+92

"And in the end
The love you take
Is equal to the love you make." -The Beatles

by 92wastheyear on Sep 24, 2009 6:27 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Martell

..and defense is yet another reason I think Batum > Webster when it counts. Webster had some issues with lateral quickness before the knee concerns. I remember many moments where Martell struggled staying in front of quicker 3s. Coming off an injury isn’t going to improve his chances. Nate liked him before for his athleticism and potential but I really think Nic is just a safer bet. Especially after the time spent at Eurobasket. This article and reading user comments made up my mind. He’s probably better on the floor with Rudy anyway. Anyone imagine Blake, Rudy and Martell on the floor together with Howard and Joel? That’s a heck of a 2nd unit. Hell, that’s a better first unit than half a dozen teams in this league.

Regarding Hedo Türkoğlu:

Look at the bright side, Blazers fans -- you dodged a bullet. He peaked statistically two years ago. He's allegedly 30 but could be closer to 32 or 33 for all we know. (Do you trust Turkish birth certificates? And isn't it weird that he played four years of pro ball in Turkey in the 1990s?)

- Bill Simmons of ESPN.com

by halo_on on Sep 24, 2009 8:00 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Last year's ratings may be a bit deceptive about where the Blazer's stand entering this season

I seem to recall the Blazer’s defensive rating being at about 18th a little before the All-Star break. If my recollection is correct and they moved up from 18th to 11th over the last half of the season, then that bodes well for this year. They must have been near the top five for the latter part of the season to have moved up that much, that fast. Part of the improvement may have been related to the schedule being somewhat easier in the second half of the season, but it also reflects Oden’s presence and the teams overall improvement.

Oden is the key, we all realize this obvious truth. OTOH, just thinking about how the rotation can be expected to change this year, suggests that we may see substantial improvement around the edges. Channing is gone, his minutes will likely be taken by a committee of Travis, Howard and maybe even Pryz in certain situations. That has to be a plus. Travis’ minutes at SF are likely to be taken by Nic and Martell, that is definitely a plus given Trout’s tendency to get lost against quicker SFs. Sergio is gone, his minutes and some of Blake’s minutes will be taken by Miller. Even if Miller struggles against the uber quick guards, I expect him to be a significant improvement in terms of recognition, strength, and team defense.

Add in to the mix the natural maturation of most of our players, and there is plenty of reason for optimism. Kevin Pelton had an excellent post last spring demonstrating that experience in and of its self leads to defensive improvement.

Overall, I think it is reasonable to expect that the Blazers to move into the top 10 in defensive rating this year. Barring major injuries, I wouldn’t be surprised to see them end up somewhere between 4-7 by the end of the season. Combine that kind of improvement with a highly efficient offense, and it would not be surprising to see the Blazer’s challenge the league’s elite.

by upper left corner on Sep 24, 2009 8:01 AM PDT reply actions 1 recs

My thoughts completely

All Greg’s injuries healing and the team’s maturity at the end of the year gave the Blazers much better D at the end of the year.

IMO, most fan’s sees what we had last year is what we will have this year, with our synergy tendencies this year will could very easily be like you said.

Great Post.

by BBK on Sep 25, 2009 4:16 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

"when the lane regularly parted with sweet sorrow"

That’s the stuff.

by ShelbyC on Sep 24, 2009 9:08 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Good post topic, Dave

I expect some improvement in recognition and rotations as several other commentators stated. However, schemes and rotations can’t cover up the lack of good individual defenders on the perimeter. This is particularly so at the point.

Most of what matters about guarding the P & R takes place before the pick. The defender on the ball has to exert some semblance of control and change the path of the dribbler. Small increments matter here, since it opens up more space for the defender to slide through, diverts the path of the ballhandler away from the basket, and gives Greg or Joel an easier help assignment.

When the opponent flattens/spreads the floor, what we need most from our aging pg’s is delaying or changing the path of the penetrator. This gives Greg and Joel more time to recognize the breakdown and get in position to help.

There seems to be a viewpoint floating around that because of the new hand check rules, nobody can stop quick point guards anyway, so why worry about it. To me, the new rules place a premium on good perimeter defense as opposed to diminishing its importance. Defenders who can regularly keep opponents between their knees, and change the angle/path of drives away from the hoop when not stopping the ball out right are a tremendous asset, albeit rare. We don’t have one of those guys, and I just don’t think we can scheme our way out of it.

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t hate Steve and Andre. They’re both good fits offensively and saavy vets. Furthermore, we are not the only team in the league struggling with this issue. I think a big reason for the Lakers going to the strong side zone they used last year was to compensate for Fish’s poor D. To some people that is evidence that you don’t need a dominant pg defender. To me, it just means LA won it all in spite of Fish’s D. Also, there was a consequence. LA’s young center who was coming off an injury had constant foul problems, in part because of covering for perimeter penetration. Sound like anybody we know?

I’m looking forward to a very exciting year, but I’ll be shocked and thrilled if we are a good defensive team.

by JMoon on Sep 24, 2009 9:08 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

So does that suggest a model?

I know it’s heresy, but would the Blazers do well to implement an LA-like defensive scheme? If not, is there some other team that runs a better defense using Blazer-like guards? Or is Nate already using about the best system available, given the team’s skill-set and youth?

by ShelbyC on Sep 24, 2009 9:47 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

I guess that depends on if you think the title window is open now or not

I think LA was smart to employ that defense since they were ready to compete for a title and couldn’t realistically go out and acquire a superior defender at the point. However, the strong side zone is ultimately kind of gimmicky in my opinion, and I’d prefer to simply acquire/develop one or two more good defenders on the perimeter. Also, don’t apologize for any heresy, you can learn something from any other team and the Laker phobia around here is kind of silly, even if most of it is a pose.

by JMoon on Sep 24, 2009 9:55 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Boston employs a similar strong-side "wall off penetration" defense

even though they have an above-average def PG in Rondo

When reached 39 years of following Portland basketball you have, be as passionate of the Trail Blazers you will not!

by two4larue on Sep 24, 2009 11:27 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

sort of. here's two links comparing Boston and LA from early last season

Hopefully, these links will work. I’m kind of lame with this.

<a href=" http://www.basketballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=438“>
” http://www.forumblueandgold.com/2008/11/03/the-strong-side-zone-and-you/">

Essentially, LA looked at what Boston did and tried to adapt their own help D in response. The Boston strategy is a bit more traditional and fundamental, while bringing aggressive help. The LA concept is more gimmicky in my opinion, bringing an additional defender from help side clear across the key to the ball side. I think Boston’s approach is more sound and that they are the better defensive team. In large part this is because they have the superior on the ball defender, but also because of KG and Thibodeau.

by JMoon on Sep 24, 2009 12:07 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

exactly

I totally agree that quicker lateral movement of our perimeter defenders is the key to keeping Greg and Pryz out of early foul trouble.

I do think, though, that the problem is bigger than just the pg position. We need Roy/Rudy to be able to stay in front of their man just than split second longer to change the angle of attack. That changes everything, from what kind of defensive rotation happens to where Greg/Pryz are able to meet the offensive player in relation to the bucket.

Quicker lateral movement doesn’t necessarily stop every drive, it just changes the angle of approach. And when that angle isn’t directly to the bucket, most of the time all Greg or Pryz needs to do is step out to block/change/abort a shot.

I'm going to come up with the best line here ever, something really clever.

by musicdaniel on Sep 24, 2009 1:25 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

I meant to say...

that quicker lateral movement is A key to keeping Greg and Pryz out of foul trouble. Obviously conditioning is of utmost importance.

I'm going to come up with the best line here ever, something really clever.

by musicdaniel on Sep 24, 2009 1:27 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

I agree, the need for improvement is not just from the pg's

Part of the reason LA could still be effective with Fish is both of their wings were good defensively. Thus, they aren’t getting swamped by drives from all directions, just mostly from the top. If Brandon can give consistent effort and Batum continues to improve our personel starts to look alot like LA’s (i.e. good wing D, bad point D and good interior D from one of the two post positions).

by JMoon on Sep 24, 2009 1:40 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Blazers and Defense shouldn't be used in the same sentence.

That is unless you’re including the word ‘poor’ in there too. I disagree that point differential is a good indicator of team defense. The old Kiki Vandeweghe led Nuggets, and more recently the style of the Phoenix Suns are examples of teams outscoring their opponents. In every game last year without exception, the blazers were beat consistently on pick and roll defense while other teams clamped down in the paint on us. We were a poor team at stealing the ball and our fast-break was sometimes nonexistant (which usually follows good defense at the other end of the floor). The day I see Travis Outlaw take a charge will be the day I will jump on this ridiculous band wagon of fans who clearly have some short term memory issues, and tout the defense of the Trailblazers.

by Phi Slamma on Sep 24, 2009 9:23 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

I didn't mean to imply

that point differential indicated good defense, rather than the slow pace facilitated our point differential.

—Dave

by Dave on Sep 24, 2009 9:40 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

yeah, point differential is an irrelevant stat if trying to isolate defense

the stats to look at are defensive efficiency and its 4 component parts: TO rate, O-reb rate against, Efg% against and FTs allowed/possession.

by jksnake99 on Sep 24, 2009 9:45 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Overstating, or maybe not

We were an average defensive team last year. The team defensive efficiency stats put us near the middle of the pack.

However, most of those efficiency stats are based on possessions, and treat an offensive rebound as a continuation of the possession. Because our defensive rebounding was good, it made our defensive efficiency look better than it would have if you count an offensive rebound as a new possession.

So if you count defensive rebounding as part of defense, then we were an average defensive team, not a poor one. If you don’t, then we weren’t very good, but fortunately good enough at defensive rebounding to keep our weak defense from killing us.

I would put us at mediocre — slightly below average defensively. Hopefully, this year will bring us at least marginal improvement.

"if Nate has Roy or Miller in the game at all times, that stagnation will turn into conflagration" -- two4larue

by jscot on Sep 24, 2009 9:49 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

I think it's a misconception that one has to be an incredible lock-down defender

or even incredibly gifted physically (fast, good vertical, long and strong, etc.) to be a good team defender. One of the best team defenders I ever got to play with was my 65-year-old shooting coach. He couldn’t run, jump, steal or otherwise unduly menace his adversary, but he excelled at taking away options. His defensive mantra was “if you’re going to get beat, get beat on your terms.” Simply put, give them the lowest percentage play possible.

I wish I spent more time playing catch with you and less time training my body and mind to kill you...

by 1badbadger on Sep 24, 2009 9:39 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs