Is our defense good?

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KingSpeed

KingSpeed

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I just went on to Basketball Reference before tonight's game, we were 10th in lowest opponent FG% and 6th in lowest opponent 3pt%. That would seem to suggest we have a solid defense. I didn't know we were that good compared to the rest of the league. Now with Melo, our offense will soar to new heights and we'll win it all!
 
It's getting good....we're forcing turnovers and out rebounding teams now which was an issue before....we just can't buy a foul call on the other end
 
It's a little bit better than it was, that's about the best you can say.
 
over the last 17 games, Portland has only played 6 teams with winning records. The Blazers are 1-7 against teams with winning records. The last time they beat a team with a winning record was more than a month ago when they beat Dallas in the 3rd game of the season. They've only played 6 games against teams with top-10 offensive ratings, and only 7 games against teams in the top-half of the league

by Dec 23, Portland will have played 31 games and only 12 will have been against teams with winning records. That starts to balance out after Christmas

the defense has looked a little better over the last 5 games than it did the first 15. But I want to see how it performs against the better teams with more talent. They play the two LA teams next week
 
wizenheimer said:
over the last 17 games, Portland has only played 6 teams with winning records. The Blazers are 1-7 against teams with winning records. The last time they beat a team with a winning record was more than a month ago when they beat Dallas in the 3rd game of the season. They've only played 6 games against teams with top-10 offensive ratings, and only 7 games against teams in the top-half of the league

by Dec 23, Portland will have played 31 games and only 12 will have been against teams with winning records. That starts to balance out after Christmas

the defense has looked a little better over the last 5 games than it did the first 15. But I want to see how it performs against the better teams with more talent. They play the two LA teams next week
Click to expand...
We've had a bona fide starting rotation for a few games since Zach went down...playing Tolliver at 6'8 at center with Hassan injured and Mario in Melo's role I didn't expect to dominate the contenders early, did you? We now have a core that can develop chemistry. When you're forced to play the third string for a dozen games it's a different struggle even if Dame scores 60 pts..We had 11 different starting units before Melo...largely due to injuries to rotation players
 
riverman said:
We've had a bona fide starting rotation for a few games since Zach went down...playing Tolliver at 6'8 at center with Hassan injured and Mario in Melo's role I didn't expect to dominate the contenders early, did you? We now have a core that can develop chemistry. When you're forced to play the third string for a dozen games it's a different struggle even if Dame scores 60 pts..We had 11 different starting units before Melo...largely due to injuries to rotation players
Click to expand...

that's fine. You've listed some reason for optimism although I'm not sure if they all relate to the defense, and it's not like Portland is the only team that has dealt with injuries or 'load management'

I was simply pointing out that a couple of opponent raw FG percentages might not be telling the story about the defense. For instance. while the opponent shooting numbers are top-10, Portland is 21st in defensive rating, 25th in defensive rebounding rate, and 28th in opponent FT/FGA
 
wizenheimer said:
over the last 17 games, Portland has only played 6 teams with winning records. The Blazers are 1-7 against teams with winning records. The last time they beat a team with a winning record was more than a month ago when they beat Dallas in the 3rd game of the season. They've only played 6 games against teams with top-10 offensive ratings, and only 7 games against teams in the top-half of the league

by Dec 23, Portland will have played 31 games and only 12 will have been against teams with winning records. That starts to balance out after Christmas

the defense has looked a little better over the last 5 games than it did the first 15. But I want to see how it performs against the better teams with more talent. They play the two LA teams next week
Click to expand...
How do you know what all these teams records will be on dec 23rd? Is that based on projections or just their record today?
 
Our biggest problem was rebounding we give up to many 2nd Chance points we been doing better taken carry our defense boards. We gave up 11 last it almost cost us by giving them 11 more shots attempts.
 
We are the same team defensively in my opinion. I was taught that DEFENSE is a state of mind, and it is contagious. When that ball starts going thought the hoop on the other end, guys start stepping it up on D. Others see that and follow in line.
 
I dont know if its Health (Whiteside), Melo, or schedule, or a combination of the three but the rebounding has gotten better. Really the last few years the only thing the Blazers have been exceptional at is rebounding. I think were seeing that now, when they rebound well that can cover up some of their other weaknesses, and lead to wins.
Because I think their interior defense is ok, but their perimeter defense is still a work in progress.
 
TorturedBlazerFan said:
How do you know what all these teams records will be on dec 23rd? Is that based on projections or just their record today?
Click to expand...

today obviously. The 4 teams Portland plays with winning records between now and the 23rd are Clippers, Lakers, Denver, and Minny. The only change there might be Minny, and they could drop out of the winner category. I'd say there's a much better chance that Minny and Brooklyn could drop into the loser category than any of the other Blazer opponents climbing into the winner bracket
 
wizenheimer said:
today obviously. The 4 teams Portland plays with winning records between now and the 23rd are Clippers, Lakers, Denver, and Minny. The only change there might be Minny, and they could drop out of the winner category. I'd say there's a much better chance that Minny and Brooklyn could drop into the loser category than any of the other Blazer opponents climbing into the winner bracket
Click to expand...
Kings could maybe climb up, but you’re probably right.
 
KingSpeed said:
I just went on to Basketball Reference before tonight's game, we were 10th in lowest opponent FG% and 6th in lowest opponent 3pt%. That would seem to suggest we have a solid defense. I didn't know we were that good compared to the rest of the league. Now with Melo, our offense will soar to new heights and we'll win it all!
Click to expand...

The Blazers give opponents so many 3 point attempts they can't possibly make them all and therefore miss many of them accounting for a low 3 point percentage.
 
Chris Craig said:
The Blazers give opponents so many 3 point attempts they can't possibly make them all and therefore miss many of them accounting for a low 3 point percentage.
Click to expand...
Uh, I am hoping you don't believe THIS (specifically) is the actual reason. LOL
 
That is not to say I think we are great (overall) at defending the 3 ball.
 
It seems to me that the Blazers' defense is improved the last few games, primarily on the strength of individual efforts such as Bazemore and Dame getting quite a few steals and Whiteside dominating the paint. The team is still painfully lacking in ability to avoid leaving 3-point shooters open. All in all, I think it's safe to say that this version of the Blazers will never be a great defensive team, but if they can reach middle tier on D, their offense will carry them to a lot of wins.
 
wizenheimer said:
over the last 17 games, Portland has only played 6 teams with winning records. The Blazers are 1-7 against teams with winning records. The last time they beat a team with a winning record was more than a month ago when they beat Dallas in the 3rd game of the season. They've only played 6 games against teams with top-10 offensive ratings, and only 7 games against teams in the top-half of the league

by Dec 23, Portland will have played 31 games and only 12 will have been against teams with winning records. That starts to balance out after Christmas

the defense has looked a little better over the last 5 games than it did the first 15. But I want to see how it performs against the better teams with more talent. They play the two LA teams next week
Click to expand...

While true, the first couple of paragraphs of your post seem to me to be of little help in trying to rate how the team that the Blazers now have on the court will do going forward. The constant string of injuries has resulted in way too much playing time as starters for guys like Tolliver, Hezonja & Skal, and even some for Little and Trent. Out of the opening night starting lineup, Collins, Whiteside, Hood, and Dame have all missed multiple games, resulting in an ever-changing starting rotation. Sure, a lot of teams have dealt with some injuries, but I don't think that there are any who have had the degree of injury that the Blazers have had while also dealing with the most road-intensive schedule in the league up until the current home stand. It's hard for me to see any valid correlation being drawn between the Blazers' record in the first month of the season vs. what it's going to be from here on out.

I agree with your third paragraph. While the defense has been better, I'm going to be very interested in how it fares against the Lakers and Clippers this next week.
 
Last edited:
Strenuus said:
We shall see against good opponents.
Click to expand...

GSW is good? 4-17
Brooklin is good? 4-16
Pelicans are good? 6-14
Cleveland is good? 5-14

Cause those are all teams we lost against already and looked like shit in doing so. Are you telling me you don't see improvement from those games go now? and you need more games against good opponents to... what, im not sure.

Your bias is oozing....
 
Orion Bailey said:
GSW is good? 4-17
Brooklin is good? 4-16
Pelicans are good? 6-14
Cleveland is good? 5-14

Cause those are all teams we lost against already and looked like shit in doing so. Are you telling me you don't see improvement from those games go now? and you need more games against good opponents to... what, im not sure.

Your bias is oozing....
Click to expand...
My bias is like Old Faithful
 
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