“We anticipated them doing it, but we didn’t have enough time necessarily to prepare for it,’’ Stotts said. “But I think more teams will do that and it’s one of the adjustments we need to anticipate.’’
The adjustment will need to come not only with Lillard, but his teammates, Stotts said. When teams “blitz” Lillard on pick-and-rolls, sending both defenders at him instead of trying to stay with the Blazer who set the screen, the screener needs to help him by working to be an outlet to bailout Lillard. Also, the other players on the court need to be cognizant of the trap and work to come back to Lillard, so he doesn’t have to make a long pass over defenders.
For his part, Lillard needs to slow down his thinking and analyze the defense and realize he has a numbers advantage. If they are using two players to guard him, there has to be a teammate open. One tool to help him with that, Stotts said, is to back-dribble away from the double-team, creating space for him to see the court.
“Part of it is giving him outlets,’’ Stotts said. “The important thing to realize is it’s not just on Damian. It’s a team thing. Damian is not going to beat blitzes and strong double-teams himself. He has to make the right read out of it and then everybody else has to do their job.’’
