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Behind the Box Score, where Portland has started slowly
By Kelly Dwyer
Atlanta 97, Portland 91
Portland has started the season by dropping three of its first five games, and while I see all sorts of things that need working on, I'm not going to flip out too much over that bit of disappointment.
This doesn't mean the Trail Blazers don't have a whole lot to improve upon. The only thing this means is that the Blazers haven't improved on what was already wrong, what was obviously lacking as they entered 2009-10. What remains to be determined is whether or not the personnel on hand is capable of turning it around. I believe, as I did at the outset of the season, that the personnel is on hand. In spades.
Portland's issue entering this season was defense. It led the league in offensive efficiency last year, something few mainstream observers ever bring up (or actually understand), but ranked 13th in defensive efficiency. Defense was the problem heading into this season, even with Greg Oden(notes) earning more minutes and Martell Webster(notes) coming off the shelf, but the team was ranked 11th in defensive efficiency through four games this season, heading into Tuesday's loss.
Now, they laid an egg against the Hawks (who poured in 110 points per 100 possessions), but overall the team has at least held serve defensively. Can it get better? Well, they'll never stop point guards as long as Steve Blake(notes) and Andre Miller(notes) are around; but they can improve. Webster looks like an All-Defensive Team talent, and Oden can't help but get better and better as the year moves on. He's a 7-footer who can jump out of the roof, and sometimes has the block and rebound totals to prove it.
It's the offense that has fallen off. 14th in the NBA entering Tuesday. Bound to drop after Tuesday night.
And I'm not worried about it.
Why? Because the Blazers have proven themselves as an all-world offensive team. Sure, last year's top ranking may have been a fluke of sorts, but there's no reason why they can't get back into the top three.
We're five games in. And, no, Blake isn't getting any better. But the Blazers also have seven and a half million bucks worth of expiring contracts to deal in Blake and Travis Outlaw(notes) (no, I'm not one of those guys who underrates Travis Outlaw), and teams will be looking to move all sorts of talent this year as they prepare for the summer. If not for going after big time free agents, then to just cut salary. It rhymes with "Perk Blimeblick."
Sometimes his coach calls him "Purt."
I haven't seen Atlanta play this hard since, well, the team's hot start to 2008-09. Oh, I'm sure they brought the effort during last year's postseason, but man, Atlanta really wanted this one.
Really worked it defensively, and looked to make the extra pass on the other end. A fantastic effort, and Jamal Crawford(notes) turned in one of those games that make you wonder why he hasn't been able to put it all together consistently.
Mind you, Crawford's 50-point games aren't "one of those games." Anyone can get hot tossing off fadeaway 21-footers and contested three-pointers. It's the games with the penetrating and dishing, something he truly seemed into for short spurts with the 2002-03 Chicago Bulls, that make you wonder.
Either way, 27 points on only 16 shots, seven assists, zero turnovers. A few of his passes should have been assists, but then again, one of his assists was an unnecessary toss while unguarded to an also uncontested Al Horford(notes) on the fast break.
By Kelly Dwyer
Atlanta 97, Portland 91
Portland has started the season by dropping three of its first five games, and while I see all sorts of things that need working on, I'm not going to flip out too much over that bit of disappointment.
This doesn't mean the Trail Blazers don't have a whole lot to improve upon. The only thing this means is that the Blazers haven't improved on what was already wrong, what was obviously lacking as they entered 2009-10. What remains to be determined is whether or not the personnel on hand is capable of turning it around. I believe, as I did at the outset of the season, that the personnel is on hand. In spades.
Portland's issue entering this season was defense. It led the league in offensive efficiency last year, something few mainstream observers ever bring up (or actually understand), but ranked 13th in defensive efficiency. Defense was the problem heading into this season, even with Greg Oden(notes) earning more minutes and Martell Webster(notes) coming off the shelf, but the team was ranked 11th in defensive efficiency through four games this season, heading into Tuesday's loss.
Now, they laid an egg against the Hawks (who poured in 110 points per 100 possessions), but overall the team has at least held serve defensively. Can it get better? Well, they'll never stop point guards as long as Steve Blake(notes) and Andre Miller(notes) are around; but they can improve. Webster looks like an All-Defensive Team talent, and Oden can't help but get better and better as the year moves on. He's a 7-footer who can jump out of the roof, and sometimes has the block and rebound totals to prove it.
It's the offense that has fallen off. 14th in the NBA entering Tuesday. Bound to drop after Tuesday night.
And I'm not worried about it.
Why? Because the Blazers have proven themselves as an all-world offensive team. Sure, last year's top ranking may have been a fluke of sorts, but there's no reason why they can't get back into the top three.
We're five games in. And, no, Blake isn't getting any better. But the Blazers also have seven and a half million bucks worth of expiring contracts to deal in Blake and Travis Outlaw(notes) (no, I'm not one of those guys who underrates Travis Outlaw), and teams will be looking to move all sorts of talent this year as they prepare for the summer. If not for going after big time free agents, then to just cut salary. It rhymes with "Perk Blimeblick."
Sometimes his coach calls him "Purt."
I haven't seen Atlanta play this hard since, well, the team's hot start to 2008-09. Oh, I'm sure they brought the effort during last year's postseason, but man, Atlanta really wanted this one.
Really worked it defensively, and looked to make the extra pass on the other end. A fantastic effort, and Jamal Crawford(notes) turned in one of those games that make you wonder why he hasn't been able to put it all together consistently.
Mind you, Crawford's 50-point games aren't "one of those games." Anyone can get hot tossing off fadeaway 21-footers and contested three-pointers. It's the games with the penetrating and dishing, something he truly seemed into for short spurts with the 2002-03 Chicago Bulls, that make you wonder.
Either way, 27 points on only 16 shots, seven assists, zero turnovers. A few of his passes should have been assists, but then again, one of his assists was an unnecessary toss while unguarded to an also uncontested Al Horford(notes) on the fast break.
Very promising win for the Hawks, especially after they turned in a stinker (a stinker, I tells ya!) against the Lakers on Sunday.
