Game 2 Adjustments

[Kaydow]

Memphis announcer & former Blazer Hank McDowell on Courtside tonight. He said the Grizz have struggled mightily in the last 25 games offensively as teams have been pressuring their guards. He said Portland's defense was "soft" in Game 1 and allowed the Grizz to get too comfortable getting into their offense. No pressure, no anticipating passing lanes = easy night for an offense that's been struggling. We know Stotts doesn't like to trap or pressure, but Conley is playing with a golf ball under his foot. Why not make him work? Pressure and push the pace. It hasn't been our style, but given the Grizz dominance over our usual scheme is it desperate measures time yet? How do you force the tempo so we're not in a half court slugfest with these guys?

What adjustments do you make if you're Coach Stotts?

 

[PTBfanEST87]

Why doesn't Stotts like to pressure and traps? What's his reasoning by this? I know he loves giving up the mid range but why not do both here and there?

 

[KingSpeed]

I hope we do something different.

 

[MAS RipCity]

I said this in another thread, but if Stotts fails to adapt throughout this series, he needs to be on the hot seat. Obviously, our defensive strategy hasn't been working over the past two months - maybe longer, so why not try something different?

 

[Strenuus]

I said this in another thread, but if Stotts fails to adapt throughout this series, he needs to be on the hot seat. Obviously, our defensive strategy hasn't been working over the past two months - maybe longer, so why not try something different?

Agreed. If we get bounced easily this round because of not adjusting and not even being competitive, get a new coach.

 

[Boardin'Blazer]

Stotts doesn't seem to like to do anything different whether it be lineups, defensive settings, or rotations. I hope he sees that whatever the game plan was in game 1 it obviously didn't work and I would hope for some sort of change in the lineup, defensive approach or rotations. I would like to see Leonard get some more time to open some lanes and help in some threes.

 

[Rhal]

Stotts doesn't seem to like to do anything different whether it be lineups, defensive settings, or rotations. I hope he sees that whatever the game plan was in game 1 it obviously didn't work and I would hope for some sort of change in the lineup, defensive approach or rotations. I would like to see Leonard get some more time to open some lanes and help in some threes.

This post would make sense last year but this year stotts has changed everything you said multiple times. This idea around here that Stotts isnt a good coach is crazy, he isnt a top 5 coach but id put him somewhere between 7 to 15. He is most definitely good enough to not just look to get a different coach to just get a different coach. The only upgrade on the market this summer seems to be Thibs.
Thsts not to say if he shows himself to be inadequate at making decisions when the pressures really on then we should start exploring other possibilities.

 

[OneLifeToLive]

This series is not over. It wouldn't surprise me if its lopsided the other way on Wed. The pressure is now for the Trail Blazers to produce and I think they'll respond and bounce back.

 

[Blazer4ever]

I want to see switches on every screen, I want either Rolo or Freeland to be on the court all the time and I want to see effort and dedication - these 3 simple things would make us good defensively and the first two would lead to the third happening naturaly.
There's only one reason for this not to happen and that's inadequate coaching.
On offense I need to see the bigs setting screens as much as possible and everyone to play unselfishly, take shots they need to take - I don't care for hero-ball or coward-ball, I want players like Batum and Blake to not give up scoring opportunities and not be afraid of attacking the rim.

 

[kjironman1]

Lots of good points here. However, There are a few details being missed. I have a tendency to side with Rhal here.

This post would make sense last year but this year stotts has changed everything you said multiple times.

The fact is this team made huge strides defensively. The first game he had to start this series making a bunch of adjustments. Right off the bat he had to make a decision on which 3rd stringer he was going to start? It happened to be a guard. Thus Portland's defense was not good at pressuring their guards. Hank McDowell was correct but he just pointed out the obvious.
One change i could see happening is maybe bringing in Gee for his defensive qualities. They will not bring Afflalo back until there is no chance he might aggravate his shoulder. CJ was started because he can score the ball. He did not do that well for a couple reasons but mostly i think it was because it was his first Playoff start.

 

[kjironman1]

I want to see switches on every screen,

So you would like to see Lillard try to guard Gasol all night? You would end up with CJ on Randolph quite a bit also. Maybe they could mix it up a bit and get Gasol on CJ a few times also? Maybe you would like to see Rolo get smoked out on the perimeter by Conely only to have no rim protection when he waltzes to the hoop?
The fact is Memphis is not a great team to "Switch up" on. It could work periodically in a pinch or as a defensive adjustment when certain players are in the game but really those players are Aldridge with Kaman or Leonard Not Lopez or Freeland. Mobility is the factor you are looking for when you switch defenders. Lopez and Freeland have less of it. Lots of people use "Basic" basketball principals when they comment but very seldom think their whole idea through all the way. You have to play the game with the players you have. This is not High School basketball with all players from 5-8 to 6-4. This is the NBA with Powerful 7 footers and lightning quick 6-3 guards with precision timing.

 

[Blazer4ever]

You're right, it would be too dramatic to incorporate this defense at this point, we should keep this as an option for next year.

 

[Blazer4ever]

I would clarify that the idea is for the guards to switch back to their players unless the defenders are mostly interchangable like if the switch is between Lillard and Afflalo for example.

 

[kjironman1]

I would clarify that the idea is for the guards to switch back to their players unless the defenders are mostly interchangable like if the switch is between Lillard and Afflalo for example.

That isn't the way they will run it. They will set the pick with Gasol and drive Allen out to the corner for the outlet. Then after they have a mismatch they will drop Randolph out of the block and open the lane. If our bigs follow? Allen will streak to the hole or just set up camp in the corner and hold AAA out. The key is Lillard gets torched or has to foul. Gasol walks to the line and makes two free throws then they walk back and set up easily on defense. Again and Again....

 

[illmatic99]

Start with playing harder. Some guys played with the intensity of a preseason game. Took a punch and just fell right over-- pretty pathetic

 

[Wizard Mentor]

There is some serious panicking on this board right now.

 

[PTBfanEST87]

There is some serious panicking on this board right now.

Well yea.. LMA is on the brink of leaving if Lillard doesn't sway him with some awesome play. Forget about winning the series, yea it would be fantastic if we did. But most importantly we need Lillard to show up and help make the decision harder for LMA leaving..

 

[magnifier661]

Well yea.. LMA is on the brink of leaving if Lillard doesn't sway him with some awesome play. Forget about winning the series, yea it would be fantastic if we did. But most importantly we need Lillard to show up and help make the decision harder for LMA leaving..

Aldridge ain't leaving

 

[magnifier661]

I would try ISOs with Dame, going the B-Roy route on some plays. Mix some shit up so Memphis isn't telegraphed every offensive possession.

If you had game one recorded, watch through it and you will see Memphis knowing every play as its beginning to be set. Pay attention to how the entire team moves into a defensive set, anticipating the screen, who it goes to next, and so on.

If Dame had some ISO from the top of the key, and Aldridge being a decent 3 pointer now, we could basically take 4 guys off dame and let him collapse the defense.

 

[Kaydow]

Why doesn't Stotts like to pressure and traps? What's his reasoning by this? I know he loves giving up the mid range but why not do both here and there?

He's just stubborn with his defensive principals. I think we finished #10 in defensive efficiency ranking, and were near the bottom of the league in steals. He preaches staying sound and not giving up sho

Lots of good points here. However, There are a few details being missed. I have a tendency to side with Rhal here.

The fact is this team made huge strides defensively. The first game he had to start this series making a bunch of adjustments. Right off the bat he had to make a decision on which 3rd stringer he was going to start? It happened to be a guard. Thus Portland's defense was not good at pressuring their guards. Hank McDowell was correct but he just pointed out the obvious.
One change i could see happening is maybe bringing in Gee for his defensive qualities. They will not bring Afflalo back until there is no chance he might aggravate his shoulder. CJ was started because he can score the ball. He did not do that well for a couple reasons but mostly i think it was because it was his first Playoff start.

Before the injuries, the defense was the best we've seen under Stotts. But even back then Memphis came to PDX early in the season and worked us on our home floor. The last time we beat them was towards the end of last season. They came to PDX with less than 10 games left in reg season, pretty much a must win for both teams. We played brilliantly winning 105-98, but the game was not as close as the score. Early in the game we pushed the pace. Not vintage Phoenix Suns 7 sec or less, that's not our style. But we ran and got a lot of points in transition. Mo & Will came off the bench and really pushed the pace. They even mixed in some backcourt pressure. Not Nolan Richardson 40 minutes of hell full court pressure. Again, that's not us. But enough pressure so that by the time the Grizz were getting into their offense, the shot clock was under 10. That's what I'd like to see. Even when we are healthy and at our best playing Stott's defense, it doesn't appear that it's the right philosophy for this matchup. They have a hard time when teams pressure their backcourt, and their PG is hurt. I'd like to see more defensive pressure. In that game we won, we only went 5/15 on 3s, but shot 52% from the floor. The style, the pace, the shot selection were not typical Blazer basketball. We adapted our style to exploit their weaknesses. That's the model I would look at game planning for Game 2.

 

[PTBfanEST87]

Aldridge ain't leaving

I hope your right

 

[tlongII]

Stotts absolutely MUST adjust his defense against Memphis. Giving up the mid-range jumper is a recipe for disaster against the Grizz as that it their bread and butter shot. They have injuries on the perimeter and you must trap and pressure that weakness.

 

[magnifier661]

Stotts absolutely MUST adjust his defense against Memphis. Giving up the mid-range jumper is a recipe for disaster against the Grizz as that it their bread and butter shot. They have injuries on the perimeter and you must trap and pressure that weakness.

I was thinking zone would work wonders against their offense.

 

[PTBfanEST87]

I was thinking zone would work wonders against their offense.

You would think right? Stotts is bordering on Nate levels now if he refuses to adjust his defensive schemes

 

[blue9]

Offensive adjustments:
Run the P/R with Nic/Lillard where Nic has the ball and Lillard is setting the screen. Sure, a PG screen is smaller than a PF/C screen, but the way LMA/Rolo set picks Lillard's won't be any worse. This will put pressure on the defense to decide if they're going to pressure Nic or stay on Dame. Nic has the height advantage to be able to pass over the top to a diving Lillard, and also has a fairly decent pull-up jumper if he's able to get space off the pick. Now, Nic's dribbling isn't great and that's what always keeps him from being able to get all the way to the hoop, but it's not like Lillard was having any success the way he used picks last game. Option B on the Nic/Lillard P/R would be Leonard at the 3-point line - put him on the strong side and Nic can pass to him off the screen, or put him on the weak side and it gives Lillard (or Nic) an outlet if they get the ball diving to the hoop.

Move Lillard's P/R to the elbow extended - it's not working from the top.

Play Lillard off the ball. Put him in the left corner, have Blake collapse the defense from the right wing. Blake passes to Lillard, Nic or Leonard come down from 3-point line to set a screen at the elbow extended for Lillard to curl over the top and now he's coming towards the hoop at more of an angle than when he comes from the top. LMA dives down the right side of the lane to give Lillard a passing option if Marc closes on him at the rim. This could also be a decent play for CJ in either the Blake or Lillard role.

Defensive adjustments:
Jump their screens and recover! It's that fucking simple. Frye and Hickson were both able to do it - no reason LMA shouldn't be able to. Don't fucking switch - jump and recover.

 

[MarAzul]

Run the P/R with Nic/Lillard where Nic has the ball and Lillard is setting the screen

give Lillard a passing option if Marc closes on him at the rim

Leonard at the 3-point line - put him on the strong side and Nic can pass to him off the screen, or put him on the weak side and it gives Lillard (or Nic) an outlet
.

Good stuff blue.

 

[blue9]

Oh, another adjustment is that we've got to use LMA as a decoy. Pass him the ball in the post in order to set up ball movement, rather than just having him shoot every time he touches the ball.
1 - Nic passes in to LMA on left block, runs off LMA's right shoulder where there's the potential for a hand-off for the baseline dunk. OR...
2 - Nic can fake the LMA screen if his man goes under, and cut back to the close corner for an open 3. OR...
3 - Nic keeps going past LMA, along the baseline to the weak side corner. LMA takes two back-down dribbles and kicks to Lillard at the 3 (who rotated over to Nic's starting spot), Lillard swings the ball to Leonard swings to Nic in the corner. Variation: Leonard passes to Nic cutting along baseline, then dives towards the hoop. Nic either gets a lay-up or passes to the diving Leonard, depending on what the defense does.

 

[Boob-No-More]

We need to stop playing to MEM's strengths. They outscored us 15-6 in fast break points in Game 1. That should never happen and we need to reverse that, and then some, for the remainder of the series to beat them. MEM is a great half court team on both ends of the floor. If you allow them to get their half court defense set, we will continue to struggle to score.

All of their bigs; Gasol, Randolph and Koufas are slow footed plodders. We have gazelles like Aldridge and Leonard. We need to push the ball, run their bigs into the ground and get some easy baskets before they have a chance to set up their half court offense.

And, while we have faster, more athletic big men than they do, it's really Dame, C.J. and Nic that need to push the pace. The one area Dame really improved his game this season is finishing at the rim, but he can't take advantage of that new found skill if Marc Gasol is camped in the paint waiting for him. There is no reason on god's green earth than Damian Lillard, C.J. McCollum and Nic Batum (and Arron Afflalo, Steve Blake and Tim Frazier) can't beat Marc Gasol down the court each and every time. So do it! And attack the basket before Gasol is there to protect the rim. If we have Afflalo back, plus Blake and Frazier and the other three, we six of ball handlers capable of pushing the tempo. Shitcan the rigid 12 minutes on 6 minutes off rigid substitution patterns. Tell all our guards to go balls out pushing the ball on every play and pull them out for a rest every 4 or 5 minutes. Do that continually throughout the game and we will wear down MEM's bigs much faster than we'll wear down our guards.

We did a great job controlling the defensive boards in Game 1 - one of the few things we did well, but by walking the ball up and allowing MEM to set up their half court defense, we failed to take advantage of our strong defensive rebounding. Get the ball, make the outlet pass to a guard and push the fucking ball up the court. We can't force MEM into an uptempo game when they have the ball, but we sure as hell don't have to slow things down and wait for them to set up their defense when we have it. Doing so is very Nate McMillanesque and we all know how much success Nate had in the post season.

By pushing the ball, we will also get more wide open threes for the guys trailing the play. The 1st rule of defense is to stop the ball, which is what the first and second defender back will be trying to do. That leaves the three point line unprotected for anyone running the court behind the player with the ball. Collapse their fast break defense and when they commit to stopping the ball, find the open trailer at the 3-point line. If they don't commit to stopping the ball, take it all the way to the rim.

Start playing to our strengths, not theirs. More fast breaks will lead to more layups without Gasol in the paint, for Lillard and C.J., more open 3-pointers and MEM's bigs gasping for air.

Do it!!!!

BNM

 

[magnifier661]

We need to stop playing to MEM's strengths. They outscored us 15-6 in fast break points in Game 1. That should never happen and we need to reverse that, and then some, for the remainder of the series to beat them. MEM is a great half court team on both ends of the floor. If you allow them to get their half court defense set, we will continue to struggle to score.

All of their bigs; Gasol, Randolph and Koufas are slow footed plodders. We have gazelles like Aldridge and Leonard. We need to push the ball, run their bigs into the ground and get some easy baskets before they have a chance to set up their half court offense.

And, while we have faster, more athletic big men than they do, it's really Dame, C.J. and Nic that need to push the pace. The one area Dame really improved his game this season is finishing at the rim, but he can't take advantage of that new found skill if Marc Gasol is camped in the paint waiting for him. There is no reason on god's green earth than Damian Lillard, C.J. McCollum and Nic Batum (and Arron Afflalo, Steve Blake and Tim Frazier) can't beat Marc Gasol down the court each and every time. So do it! And attack the basket before Gasol is there to protect the rim. If we have Afflalo back, plus Blake and Frazier and the other three, we six of ball handlers capable of pushing the tempo. Shitcan the rigid 12 minutes on 6 minutes off rigid substitution patterns. Tell all our guards to go balls out pushing the ball on every play and pull them out for a rest every 4 or 5 minutes. Do that continually throughout the game and we will wear down MEM's bigs much faster than we'll wear down our guards.

We did a great job controlling the defensive boards in Game 1 - one of the few things we did well, but by walking the ball up and allowing MEM to set up their half court defense, we failed to take advantage of our strong defensive rebounding. Get the ball, make the outlet pass to a guard and push the fucking ball up the court. We can't force MEM into an uptempo game when they have the ball, but we sure as hell don't have to slow things down and wait for them to set up their defense when we have it. Doing so is very Nate McMillanesque and we all know how much success Nate had in the post season.

By pushing the ball, we will also get more wide open threes for the guys trailing the play. The 1st rule of defense is to stop the ball, which is what the first and second defender back will be trying to do. That leaves the three point line unprotected for anyone running the court behind the player with the ball. Collapse their fast break defense and when they commit to stopping the ball, find the open trailer at the 3-point line. If they don't commit to stopping the ball, take it all the way to the rim.

Start playing to our strengths, not theirs. More fast breaks will lead to more layups without Gasol in the paint, for Lillard and C.J., more open 3-pointers and MEM's bigs gasping for air.

Do it!!!!

BNM

And honestly if we are able to get out on them early, we can get them on their heels. They aren't a team that can usually recover from being behind by double deficits. Then as they start scrambling more, we can exploit even more. Right now, Memphis is totally confident that they can take any punch we have. We need them to second guess themselves. Doing so is forcing them to play our game like you suggested.

 

[Boob-No-More]

As I mentioned in the original series thread, MEM is a great defensive team with one glaring weakness - Zach Randolph. We NEED to exploit that weakness. We cannot let them hide Zach Randolph on the defensive end. In the half court, when we don't have a fast break opportunity, we need to locate Zach and go to work. We have an abundance of guys who are much bigger and more athletic than Zach. So, let's use them.

If Zach is on Aldridge, it's a no brainer, get the ball to LaMarcus and let him go to work. Since Aldridge is our best offensive weapon, if he gets it going, I expect to see a lot of Gasol and even a little Koufas on him. Which means, more Meyers Leonard and more Chris Kaman. We need to see a LOT more of two bigs that can score in the game at the same time to take advantage of Zach. We can't allow them to shut down our big men with JUST Marc Gasol. If Gasol is on Aldridge and Kaman is in, use Aldridge to draw Gasol out of the paint and then force feed Kaman on the low block against Zach. Do the same with Meyers. We saw in the BRK game how he can abuse a shorter defender (Thad Young) on the low block. He's 4" taller, much longer and more athletic than Zach. Ue that size damn it!. With Meyers, we can also mix it up. Use Aldridge to pin Gasol to the low block and then kick it out to Meyers for the 3. Zach isn't used to guarding a guy 4" taller then him that far from the basket. And if Zach runs out at Meyers, have him cut back door for the lob - again, take advantage of the fact the Meyers is taller and more athletic than Zach.

Go ahead and start Lopez for continuity, but lets see much more of Kaman and Meyers; 20 - 24 minutes each, rather than 14 - 16. And, from what I saw in Game 1, our defense and rebounding won't be any worse with Kaman or Meyers in the game in place of Lopez. It might even be better...

BNM