The Blazers are really putting together a good defensive team. In the very good to excellent category the Blazers have Oden, Batum, Camby, cunningham, Przybilla (when healthy), and hopefully Matthews. A step down but still decent to good defenders we have Aldridge, Bayless, Miller, Roy (when he wants to be). And a couple of our rookies, williams and johnson, seem like they could have some defensive abilities.
running defensive juggernaut squads like Roy, Matthews, Batum, Camby and Oden seems like they should be able to slow down any team in the league.
If healthy, I could see several of the Blazers being in the running for first or second team all defense including Oden, Batum and Camby. Most teams simple don't have nearly that deep of defensive talent. They might have their defensive specialist, but that player is often surrounded by defensive weak links. On the Blazers, there are very few weak links.
Hearing about Oden being ~20lbs lighter and working out 5 hours a day (going into the season in shape) is starting to get me real excited for the season. Some people around these parts bitch and moan that they wish the Blazers had a high paced offense because all those break-aways and dunks are exciting, but great lock-down defense is what I really like to see in basketball.
I agree and have said as much in the recent past.
The difference between the on-paper potential for defense between this year's team and last year is striking.
1) Due to so many injuries causing lack of depth, our primary offensive players likely were unable to spend as much energy and effort on the defensive end as the might be able to when sharing the scoring load more evenly. LaMarcus, Miller and Roy come to mind. Not that there is any guarantee they will play harder on the other end, but when the team is healthy the option is there.
2) Our two best defensive starters out or hurt for most of the year - Oden and Batum.
3) Our worst defensive player - Rudy - is out the door, and his minutes are being replaced by a young player who has made his mark by playing defense next to an All-Star guard.
4) We traded for Camby, further improving our defensive rotation for a complete season this year.
5) Our 2nd worst defensive player - Juwan Howard - is in Miami.
6) Without a Center to anchor the defense and without Batum on the wing, it was difficult to create an excellent team defense. And the more weak defenders "break" the defense, the more the other guys are scrambling or fouling, the more discouraging it becomes. With some quality defenders playing big minutes, the opposite will occur where even the poor defenders are inspired to step up.
Of course our team will suffer injuries this season, but I find it hard to imagine that like last season, the most games lost would be to the better defenders.
Look at the players who played more than 1,000 minutes for us last season:
Roy - hurt part of the season, focus on offense
Aldridge - focus on offense
Miller - focus on offense, not a good defender regardless
Webster - average defender
Rduy - poor defender
Bayless - below average, tries hard, but effectiveness not there
Juwan Howard - poor defender
Steve Blake - below average, tried hard
Notice how small that lineup is. With Camby a mid-season trade, and Joel and Oden out for the year, we had to play defense without a legit center most of the time. If we can just keep one true Center healthy for most games, the heart of the defense can be maintained and will do wonders for the rest of the defensive gameplan.
Look at the expected rotation for players to play more than 1,000 minutes:
Roy - hopefully with health and situation can pick up his defense a bit
Aldridge - hopefully can pick up his defense a bit
Miller - hoepfully can pick up his defense a bit
Batum - this could be his breakout year - a defensive standout
Oden - this could be his breakout year - a defensive standout
Camby - former DPOY. nuff said.
Bayless - He has always tried hard. With more experience and shot blockers to back him up, he has a better chance to make an impact on the defensive end.
Matthews - the new guy, replacing Rudy and Webster's minutes, guys who both would be unhappy with less than 30mpg and a guy who has a better reputation for defense than Webster. Should be an upgrade for us defensively.
And then, look who we have as injury backups for our rotation:
Pryzbilla - if he comes back strong (uncertain) would give us great insurance against an Oden or Camby injury.
Cunningham - was a decent team defender and good defender against certain matchups.
Johnson - likely to make his mark in NBA as a defender.
We still have a weakness defending the point of attack. So, I don't see us as an elite defensive team as Boston was in the playoffs last season. Their defense was amazing. Pierce, like Roy focused on offense for much of his career, but always had the ability to go into lock-down mode. KG has always been an amazing defender. Hopefully Batum becomes that guy for us. Perkins is a very good defender at the Center position. If healthy I think Oden easily matches that, and likely exceeds. Question becomes, is Oden/LA = to KG (older)/Perkins? But, the real key to Boston last season was Rondo. Having the ability to put pressure on the ball like that is a great luxury we don't have, and probably never will. Still, getting our current version of Greg Anthony on the roster would help.
