Is it too soon to talk about defensive rating?

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agree, liked what I have seen overall so far but need to see it continue. Also GPII when back will only make it better
 
Blazinaway said:
agree, liked what I have seen overall so far but need to see it continue. Also GPII when back will only make it better
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And Sharpe getting some experience. He is already looking like a plus defender, but you can see the rookie mistakes here and there...
 
So far I see players wanting to play defense as much as players want to play offense. This so far is the best thing the coach has done. We are also pushing the ball up the court much faster this year which leads to easier baskets. Less one on one play and taking good three point shots without just jacking up shots on the move.
 
Interesting that the Lakers and Phoenix are both ahead of us in that category.
 
Pinwheel1 said:
Interesting that the Lakers and Phoenix are both ahead of us in that category.
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The only reason that the Lakers were even close to NBA level competition in all 3 games they played is their defense, since their offense is a hot, steaming, poopoo platter with undigested corn bits in it. Also, PHX being good at defense is not a surprise either.

FWIW, I like the variable defense being shown with switching and zone, but the Blazers might have to add some drop-coverage if they want Nurk on the floor against mobile bigs on teams that can shoot the 3. PHX and LAL are not that, but you try and play Zone against say, Boston or Miami - and you are going to suffer.
 
andalusian said:
The only reason that the Lakers were even close to NBA level competition in all 3 games they played is their defense, since their offense is a hot, steaming, poopoo platter with undigested corn bits in it. Also, PHX being good at defense is not a surprise either.
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Yeah, but depending on how you view it you could say the Blazers beat two really good defensive teams, or the Blazer's poor offense made both of those teams look good on D.
 
Not too early to talk about it, but too early for it to be a meaningful sample size.

It sure feels a lot better than the preseason, though.
 
Pinwheel1 said:
Yeah, but depending on how you view it you could say the Blazers beat two really good defensive teams, or the Blazer's poor offense made both of those teams look good on D.
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We know PHX is good on defense, they were last year and will continue to be this year, the guys they lost were better offensive players than defensive players, so no question about that.

The Lakers have been close in 2 of the 3 games they played and had several good quarters against the Warriors. We know it was not because of their offense, so that defensive rating is no fluke. They are big and AD seems more mobile on defense this year.

We can hope the Blazers will be score more easily against lesser defensive teams, for sure, but I am actually not surprised that both PHX and LAL are good defensively.
 
Not at all.

I just saw that and 25th in offensive rating.

It’s funny because the score more points and we will win is 100% true. But that doesn’t mean you have to score 140.

Defense wins championships. This team can actually defend and that’s not really something that generally gets worse. But the opponents will learn your defensive tendencies and you might not get as many steals and forced TO’s in a playoff game as you would regular season.

Always been something that stays pretty consistent over the course of an entire NBA season. For better… or worse.

I think we will finish the season top 10 in Def Rating. But it’s a long season.
 
Games are often decided in the last few minutes of a game. There is a different type of intensity at the end of games and you need to be solid on both ends of the court. I think we have some clutch shooters, ball handlers, and a few solid defenders where we can be good at it.
 
I think the OPP 3pt % is one the biggest lines to watch, because it’s todays NBA.

Part of it is out of your control, but part of it has to do with how well you guard the 3 pt line. Having a small lineup with quick players can help.
 
Ya need to see more. I think we might be relying too heavily on that zone and it can get scouted.

Also... We're 25th on offense at the moment
 
PDXFonz said:
I think the OPP 3pt % is one the biggest lines to watch, because it’s todays NBA.

Part of it is out of your control, but part of it has to do with how well you guard the 3 pt line. Having a small lineup with quick players can help.
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The Blazers are pretty decent in it so far, but it was against 2 teams that are either horrible from 3P (LAL) or ones that concentrate on the mid-range (PHX)/ The only team that concentrated on 3P shooting so far was the Kings.
 
9th in opponent points and O-Rating. The improvement is there. Let's climb those standings now.
 
Sample size
 
julius said:
Sample size
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A very valid point, but the more we keep playing like this the more that sample size grows.

Our first loss of the season will teach us as a lot. First big loss of the season 15-20+ (if we have one) will teach us much as well.
 
I think this defense is sustainable. Hart, Winslow and Grant are good defenders and we still haven't even seen GP2 yet. Nurkic can also be a good defender if he stops making dumb fouls or complaining too much. I like what i have seen so far from Sharpe, he can stay in front of his guy, and Little in theory is a good defender, but he needs to stay healthy and get in better shape
 
Ant has been a key to the good defense; he has looked better than Dame or CJ ever have. People say he only had one good game in four; but they need to look beyond shots. If he can be just an average defender it totally changes the DameAnt backcourt and team building possibilities.
 
WesleyMatthews said:
Ant has been a key to the good defense; he has looked better than Dame or CJ ever have. People say he only had one good game in four; but they need to look beyond shots. If he can be just an average defender it totally changes the DameAnt backcourt and team building possibilities.
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I am not an expert on this, but it seems like the overall communication is better on D. It also seems like our other defenders are making it easier for Ant to slide through the picks on the perimeter, instead of going around. Those extra steps can be costly.
 
Duckhook said:
Bumping this back to the top now that we have 14 games under our belt. Still top 10... I think the team is buying into CCB's defensive focus.

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Of the teams in the top 10, we are 2nd-lowest in steals, 2nd-lowest in blocks, and 2nd-highest in opponent points off turnovers. All that tells me that as good as the defense has been, it can be better without too much difficulty.
 
PtldPlatypus said:
Of the teams in the top 10, we are 2nd-lowest in steals, 2nd-lowest in blocks, and 2nd-highest in opponent points off turnovers. All that tells me that as good as the defense has been, it can be better without too much difficulty.
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Our defense would also be better if our offense didn't pass the ball to the other team quite so much....
 
Wizard Mentor said:
Our defense would also be better if our offense didn't pass the ball to the other team quite so much....
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No doubt--that's why I mentioned the "opponent points off turnovers" item. Ours are 19.8/game. Get them down to 17 (average of the other 9 top 10 defenses), and Blazers drtg jumps to 2nd or 3rd best in the league.
 
Wizard Mentor said:
Our defense would also be better if our offense didn't pass the ball to the other team quite so much....
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Yeah I was thinking a similar thought the other day that one part of Dame’s bad defense captured by RPM stats is probably all the times he’s goes to the rim, misses the shot, gets no call and he’s on the ground out of bounds, and it’s 5 on 4 for them. That seems to happen a couple of times a game. Then there’s the times he drives into traffic and gets in trouble and makes a weak ass pass that gets picked off for a fast break.

Guess you take the bad with the good though because Dame does flourish at the rim.
 
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