Is our defense better?

[wizenheimer]

.....That said, I also think that there's little doubt that the offense will fall off from last year's top level. Billups wants more ball movement to create better shots. That inherently means a slower pace, likely higher turnover volumes, and perhaps too often the open guy being someone who isn't as likely to make the open shot as Dame or CJ are. So, the real question to me is will the net rating between a drop in offense and an improvement in defense result in an overall improvement for the team. Results to be determined.

last season, Portland averaged 1.27 points/shot; Dame averaged 1.45 points/shot (Kanter 1.44; Zeller 1.39; Powell 1.31; Nurkic 1.27; Simons 1.25; CJ 1.22; Nance 1.20; RoCo 1.17)

if the result of the offense is to get more touches for everybody else and fewer touches for Dame, the offense will invariably suffer. I know both Billups and Dame have talked about running more off-ball action for him. That's fine in theory. But the reality is a team needs good facilitators/passers to make that work. The Warriors run a lot of off-ball action for Curry, but they have had Draymond & Iggy & Linvingston & Durant as trigger-men. Portland has nobody with those kind of consistent passing skills

 

[Predator]

last season, Portland averaged 1.27 points/shot; Dame averaged 1.45 points/shot (Kanter 1.44; Zeller 1.39; Powell 1.31; Nurkic 1.27; Simons 1.25; CJ 1.22; Nance 1.20; RoCo 1.17)

if the result of the offense is to get more touches for everybody else and fewer touches for Dame, the offense will invariably suffer. I know both Billups and Dame have talked about running more off-ball action for him. That's fine in theory. But the reality is a team needs good facilitators/passers to make that work. The Warriors run a lot of off-ball action for Curry, but they have had Draymond & Iggy & Linvingston & Durant as trigger-men. Portland has nobody with those kind of consistent passing skills

Pretty sure none of these matter to Billups.

He would argue the points per shot would improve in his system because those players would be getting better shots, easier shots, in better spots, with less pressure and possibly defensive leakouts. He would also say that if they know they’re getting shots they’re more likely to get in rhythm. He said this damn near word for word in one of his interviews.

The Cavs used Nance “kinda” like Draymond for Garland, although not nearly as good or as effective.

But using the Warriors is a weird example. Plenty of other teams, like the shitty ass Cavs, find ways to take players off the ball without having someone like Durant, Igoudala or Draymond.

 

[THE HCP]

I saw a hell of a lot more deflections this preseason than I can ever remember under Stotts. So that at least is encouraging.

I was just going to agree with this, then I remembered we saw a TON more turnovers as well.

 

[THE HCP]

.

But using the Warriors is a weird example. Plenty of other teams, like the shitty ass Cavs, find ways to take players off the ball without having someone like Durant, Igoudala or Draymond.

How is that working out for the Cavs?

 

[wizenheimer]

Pretty sure none of these matter to Billups.

He would argue the points per shot would improve in his system because those players would be getting better shots, easier shots, in better spots, with less pressure and possibly defensive leakouts. He would also say that if they know they’re getting shots they’re more likely to get in rhythm. He said this damn near word for word in one of his interviews.

The Cavs used Nance “kinda” like Draymond for Garland, although not nearly as good or as effective.

But using the Warriors is a weird example. Plenty of other teams, like the shitty ass Cavs, find ways to take players off the ball without having someone like Durant, Igoudala or Draymond.

I'm not buying much of that. And I'm not sure what it is you think I said, but one thing I didn't say is that Portland couldn't take Dame off the ball. Of course they can.

I'm just saying I have no confidence taking Dame off the ball is going to yield a better offense. And while Billups may believe his offense will yield better results, I'll point out he has less than a year of coaching experience at any level. And he'll be trying to improve an offense that averaged 1.18 points/possession last year, which was 2nd in the league and I believe was the 2nd best mark in NBA history. Portland's offense was not the problem

 

[Predator]

How is that working out for the Cavs?

Look up Darius Garlands numbers with Nance and you can see for yourself. That’s why I specifically mentioned Garland by name in the post.

 

[THE HCP]

Look up Darius Garlands numbers with Nance and you can see for yourself. That’s why I specifically mentioned Garland by name in the post.

I said the Cavs.

 

[Bingo Bango]

30-40 games in? Yes. But now? No, that's fucking stupid and you won't change my mind on that.

If it takes 40 games for the Blazers to learn Billups’ defensive system, it’s way too complicated.

 

[Orion Bailey]

If it takes 40 games for the Blazers to learn Billups’ defensive system, it’s way too complicated.

half of that is unlearning bad habits.

 

[Driew]

I was just going to agree with this, then I remembered we saw a TON more turnovers as well.

Well the turnovers I'd attribute to the guys trying to force plays to see if that certain passing angles will work or not. I'm not terribly worried about the turnovers because it means they're taking chances and learning the offense.

 

[THE HCP]

Well the turnovers I'd attribute to the guys trying to force plays to see if that certain passing angles will work or not. I'm not terribly worried about the turnovers because it means they're taking chances and learning the offense.

Don’t tell that to the guys on here when it applies to Westbrook.

 

[e_blazer]

If it takes 40 games for the Blazers to learn Billups’ defensive system, it’s way too complicated.

It only takes 10 games to learn Billups’ defense, the other 30 are to unlearn Stotts’.

 

[Mediocre Man]

The half court defense was much better. Our transition defense was horrible.

We shot 12-35 from 3
Fast break points were 20-2

 

[mook]

last season, Portland averaged 1.27 points/shot; Dame averaged 1.45 points/shot (Kanter 1.44; Zeller 1.39; Powell 1.31; Nurkic 1.27; Simons 1.25; CJ 1.22; Nance 1.20; RoCo 1.17)

if the result of the offense is to get more touches for everybody else and fewer touches for Dame, the offense will invariably suffer. I know both Billups and Dame have talked about running more off-ball action for him. That's fine in theory. But the reality is a team needs good facilitators/passers to make that work. The Warriors run a lot of off-ball action for Curry, but they have had Draymond & Iggy & Linvingston & Durant as trigger-men. Portland has nobody with those kind of consistent passing skills

I think you're spot-on. Also, Curry has been playing off ball basically since entering the league, when he was paired with Monte Ellis.

Dame has been a ball-dominant pick-and-roll point guard since high school. At no point in his career has he played off ball. Except at the Olympics, I guess, where he completely disappeared. It's just not something he's ever really done, unlike Curry.

I'm pretty skeptical about asking a 30 year All NBA point guard to completely overhaul his playing style and expecting him to succeed and be happy about it. It can happen--Jason Kidd did it. But it's a tall order.

Portland has small speedbump of over-relying on Dame on offense, and a monumental crater of a problem on defense.

We had a historically bad defense and a historically good offense. Let's focus on fixing the historically bad thing.

 

[wizenheimer]

way-too-early-premature-not-relevant-sample-size-results so far

* last year's historically bad Blazer defense gave up 1.160 points/possession

* this year's 1st game defense gave up 1.183 points/possession

 

[Orion Bailey]

way-too-early-premature-not-relevant-sample-size-results so far

* last year's historically bad Blazer defense gave up 1.160 points/possession

* this year's 1st game defense gave up 1.183 points/possession

are you able to do a first half vs second half for last nights game? We seemed to look much better in the second half.
Me love you long time if you can/do.

 

[illmatic99]

are you able to do a first half vs second half for last nights game? We seemed to look much better in the second half.
Me love you long time if you can/do.

https://www.nba.com/stats/teams/advanced/?sort=DEF_RATING&dir=-1&Season=2021-22&SeasonType=Regular Season

you can even separate by quarter, just click advanced filters. the second and third quarters killed us, whereas we were top 10 in the first and fourth.

 

[Orion Bailey]

https://www.nba.com/stats/teams/advanced/?sort=DEF_RATING&dir=-1&Season=2021-22&SeasonType=Regular Season

you can even separate by quarter, just click advanced filters. the second and third quarters killed us, whereas we were top 10 in the first and fourth.

Thanks! Thats awesome.
The links and info i mean. Not the game stats. Lol.
I think we can turn this into a quality defensive team. It only takes one small mistake to make a possession look awful on D even if most of it was great.
I think there is a good chance we can be a top 15 defensive team aNd if we can stay in the top 5 offensively, we may just have a chance at a deep playoff run.
Trade Ben for cj:
Top 5 defensively, top 15 offensively. can be a contending team for a ring.

 

[James lamphear]

I don't think you can look at pre-season results as indicative of anything regarding the Blazers' defensive capabilities. The system is too new and way too many minutes were devoted to playing guys who either are no longer on the roster or will hardly sniff playing time in the regular season. There's little doubt that the Blazers' defense will be better. With the change in personnel in the second unit, a coach who is making D a point of emphasis, and the leaders of the team all buying in on improving, it would be impossible for the defense not to improve over last year's miserable showing. That said, I also think that there's little doubt that the offense will fall off from last year's top level. Billups wants more ball movement to create better shots. That inherently means a slower pace, likely higher turnover volumes, and perhaps too often the open guy being someone who isn't as likely to make the open shot as Dame or CJ are. So, the real question to me is will the net rating between a drop in offense and an improvement in defense result in an overall improvement for the team. Results to be determined.

last season, Portland averaged 1.27 points/shot; Dame averaged 1.45 points/shot (Kanter 1.44; Zeller 1.39; Powell 1.31; Nurkic 1.27; Simons 1.25; CJ 1.22; Nance 1.20; RoCo 1.17)

if the result of the offense is to get more touches for everybody else and fewer touches for Dame, the offense will invariably suffer. I know both Billups and Dame have talked about running more off-ball action for him. That's fine in theory. But the reality is a team needs good facilitators/passers to make that work. The Warriors run a lot of off-ball action for Curry, but they have had Draymond & Iggy & Linvingston & Durant as trigger-men. Portland has nobody with those kind of consistent passing skills

Dame going get his shots but last night he just didn't put it down. If would made some of his three he would be right there on his scoring average.

 

[illmatic99]

so many correctable mistakes. the rotations after the screen is set are absolutely miserable. Billups has to hammer this in. Just no connectivity whatsoever. We're lucky this was Sac. If it were any other better offensive team, we'd have been blown out of the water. I'm worried about PHX on Saturday. Chris Paul is going to tear this defense apart.

 

[James lamphear]

I'm not buying much of that. And I'm not sure what it is you think I said, but one thing I didn't say is that Portland couldn't take Dame off the ball. Of course they can.

I'm just saying I have no confidence taking Dame off the ball is going to yield a better offense. And while Billups may believe his offense will yield better results, I'll point out he has less than a year of coaching experience at any level. And he'll be trying to improve an offense that averaged 1.18 points/possession last year, which was 2nd in the league and I believe was the 2nd best mark in NBA history. Portland's offense was not the problem

They scored 121 points last night that is enough to majority of ur games.

 

[TBpup]

so many correctable mistakes. the rotations after the screen is set are absolutely miserable. Billups has to hammer this in. Just no connectivity whatsoever. We're lucky this was Sac. If it were any other better offensive team, we'd have been blown out of the water. I'm worried about PHX on Saturday. Chris Paul is going to tear this defense apart.

Some of those were just plain lazyiness. Some were slow/poor rotation and not having any clue who the hottest player on the floor was. There were a couple that weren't bad and he just made very deep shots against a semi-decent close-out due to the depth of the shot.

It's the 'lazy' ones that are the most infuriating.

 

[illmatic99]

Some of those were just plain lazyiness. Some were slow/poor rotation and not having any clue who the hottest player on the floor was. There were a couple that weren't bad and he just made very deep shots against a semi-decent close-out due to the depth of the shot.

It's the 'lazy' ones that are the most infuriating.

one also can't help but think about how efficient barnes would be if it were a 6'10 All NBA defender closing out on him instead of a 6'3 Dame/CJ.

 

[TBpup]

one also can't help but think about how efficient barnes would be if it were a 6'10 All NBA defender closing out on him instead of a 6'3 Dame/CJ.

Guessing it would have made a dramatic difference. Would have likely slowed it down from the beginning and kept him from getting in a rhythm the rest of the game. Wouldn't have had nearly the confidence.

Would also help Dame get better looks off the ball...where he is elite.

 

[Orion Bailey]

Guessing it would have made a dramatic difference. Would have likely slowed it down from the beginning and kept him from getting in a rhythm the rest of the game. Wouldn't have had nearly the confidence.

Would also help Dame get better looks off the ball...where he is elite.

who. Slow down bro! Only two weak pros the player has. Stop the hyperbole! Everything else is a major neg!

 

[TBpup]

who. Slow down bro! Only two weak pros the player has. Stop the hyperbole! Everything else is a major neg!

Hyperbole? Runner up DPoY? Multi time all-star? 25 years old? Higher assist average than Dame for his career?

Seems more like facts than hyperbole....but to each there own.

 

[illmatic99]

7 min mark or so:

Question about why Chauncey has more practices upcoming this week after a grueling training camp:

"we need to clean up our coverages and mistakes made, where so many times in the game, we aborted the mission and went back to what we knew from years prior. So you have to keep showing, talking, and harping on that and come in and walk through it. I know how seeing something and walking through it so many times, at some point it then becomes instinctive. Because the instincts that they have now, are the ones of what were there prior and that's what we're going away from."

Sounds like old habits die hard.

 

[Orion Bailey]

Hyperbole? Runner up DPoY? Multi time all-star? 25 years old? Higher assist average than Dame for his career?

Seems more like facts than hyperbole....but to each there own.

my error. I didn't change into HULK font.

 

[Shaboid]

https://www.theringer.com/nba/2021/...sions-2021-22-season-damian-lillard-ja-morant

First paragraph is about our changes on defense.

 

[julius]

7 min mark or so:

Question about why Chauncey has more practices upcoming this week after a grueling training camp:

"we need to clean up our coverages and mistakes made, where so many times in the game, we aborted the mission and went back to what we knew from years prior. So you have to keep showing, talking, and harping on that and come in and walk through it. I know how seeing something and walking through it so many times, at some point it then becomes instinctive. Because the instincts that they have now, are the ones of what were there prior and that's what we're going away from."

Sounds like old habits die hard.

It's like changing your diet. You want instant results and have no patience.

Oooh wait, was this another joke post? Sheeeeeeit....

Spoiler

Yes, I know it's not a joke post