FanPost

Vent....POR/IND aftermath...Spencer Hawes pls again

I love my blazers but one thing i have noticed is when we go against an opposing team that has a stretch 4 or a 4 the can hit the deep 2 from extended foul line or extended elbows we get torched.

Luis Scola in the first half tonight kept our lead from extending from 10 to 20 and David West in the Second half got the same shots over and over again off of penetration or PnR. That combined with the Pacers crowding the middle when LA posted up and him settling for the baseline fade caused us to lose this game but this is our poison. A lesser caliber player who simulates LA's range and consistency from mid range or further causes us to lose games that should be won.

This game exemplified why we need to make the trade to get Spencer Hawes. Teams know Joel Freeland and Robin Lopez will not leave the paint or extend to contest long 2's. And with no hesitation they shoot and make those shots. Disregard statistic when a person knows they will be open and it is a shot that they know they are capable to make they will take the shot with more confidence. One because they know the close out will be late; 2 because they are being disrespected by the other team. On a night when Paul George and Roy Hibbert wert virtually shut out we should have won handily.

Also in the second half we waited till the fourth quarter to post up George Hill with Wesley Matthews when they had switched George Hill to Wesley and Paul George to Dame. The conversion to the Wes in the post should have been automatic. He is exemplary in the post this year when on a lighter player and in this case 2-3 inches and 10-15 lbs.

But back to my point Spencer Hawes doesnt allow opposing centers(cough cough) Roy Hibbert to to crowd the paint and prevent the drive and scoop to the middle by LA. You gotta respect the shooter...period. They were content if Robin Lopez flashes middle Roy is already crowding middle therefore no harm no foul. With Spencer Hawes this isnt the case he brings the opposing center out to the perimeter and doubles as a great High Low passer and good passer all around.

We run the ICE pnr strategy sinking the big which allows those strectch 4's to scorch us with wide open extended 2's and 3's. So does Indiana but they lock in on LA due to his profile but you cant run the ICE defense with 2 players that stretch. an LA Hawes Lineup with our starting unit or a mixture of MO, CJ, Dorrell could be lethal because you have optimal spacing. LA can operate with 4 shooters and we can run PNR can swing to any position for the open shot.

Im not upset about the loss because it was a good game and Dame nearly bailed us out but the 2 best players for the Pacers were shut out and the formula for our defeat (stretch 4's) were the reason we loss period. We strapped up PG and RH but lost that shouldnt be the case.

With a healthy Nicoals Batum(All Star Break pls) i think we will right the ship and regain our dominance. And CJ played very well today off the dribble and off the curl so those moments were optimistic. We have a good team but we have a glaring weakness that certain teams thrive on and we dont counter our own defense well. Miami with Bosh, Toronto last week with Patrick Patterson, Indiana with Scole and West, Phoenix with Frye and the Morris twins, Houston with Parsons, etc. The counter to ICE are stretch 4's. If we add a strech 4/5(Hawes) our offense becomes that much more potent from a spacing, passing, offensive standpoint as well as bolstering the best with those same attributes.

Im mostly venting right now because ive been thinking this and others as well but if this game didnt exemplify the need for this perticular player or one similar i dont know what does.

Ok im done im gonna play 2K now....in my association they didnt vote Damian Lillard to the All Star Game but got Gordon Hayward in(WTF????)....anyway. TTYL Guys... Go Blazers