Over 5 games the Blazers have the 13th ranked defense

[SharpesTriumph]

Blazers currently are giving up 109.8 points per 100 possessions which is 13th in the league. They are scoring 104.2 (28th ranked offense) for a net rating of -5.7 (22nd). Next we play the 0-5 Grizzlies twice at home so this might even improve further before it likely regresses.

I had thought this team would be much worse defensively.

Do you think some of this defensive success can last over the bulk of the season?

 

[kjironman1]

Defense should come easier than offense with this group. So it seems.

 

[Blazinaway]

Blazers currently are giving up 109.8 points per 100 possessions which is 13th in the league. They are scoring 104.2 (28th ranked offense) for a net rating of -5.7 (22nd). Next we play the 0-5 Grizzlies twice at home so this might even improve further before it likely regresses.

I had thought this team would be much worse defensively.

Do you think some of this defensive success can last over the bulk of the season?

Yes, as we have added better defenders like Timelord/Camara/Ayton/Brogdon and Shape's D has improved as well. Dame's D was bad and Simon's who has not played last 4 games not so good either, we should easily be better than last yr on D

 

[illmatic99]

Wait til game 20. Chauncey teams take a nosedive defensively after a few scouting adjustment cycles.

 

[Pinwheel1]

Yes small sample size....but the Bucks are 29th
.3 % from being dead last.

 

[Blazinaway]

Yes small sample size....but the Bucks are 29th
.3 % from being dead last.

I hesitate saying this but the "Lillard effect" on a team's D? and that is amplified as he replaced JRrue, an elite defender. Let's revisit this after 20-25 games

 

[illmatic99]

I hesitate saying this but the "Lillard effect" on a team's D? and that is amplified as he replaced JRrue, an elite defender. Let's revisit this after 20-25 games

Their coach is an idiot. He's treating Dame like a 3&D guy instead of letting him lead the offense while hiding him on defense.

Also, sidebar. It's wild how much Giannis sucks at setting screens.

 

[kjironman1]

Wait til game 20. Chauncey teams take a nosedive defensively after a few scouting adjustment cycles.

Agree on that issue to a point but decent defense isn't something that scouts. They are either playing good defense or they aren't. Defense is about communication and spacing with a bunch of hard work. Then there is trusting each other to be in your position.
There is an old saying good defense is beat by better offense.

 

[kjironman1]

I hesitate saying this but the "Lillard effect" on a team's D? and that is amplified as he replaced JRrue, an elite defender. Let's revisit this after 20-25 games

Is the Dwight Jaynes? Because he said the exact same thing.

 

[kjironman1]

Their coach is an idiot. He's treating Dame like a 3&D guy instead of letting him lead the offense while hiding him on defense.

Also, sidebar. It's wild how much Giannis sucks at setting screens.

I know you are not Dwight so maybe Dwight is reading what you are writing? He said this very same thing as well.

 

[beast blazer]

Now trade Brogdon to the Raptors for Precious Achiuwa. He'll be our long term PF. Grant can slide over to SF. We'd be a beastly rebounding team.

 

[Pinwheel1]

Now trade Brogdon to the Raptors for Precious Achiuwa. He'll be our long term PF. Grant can slide over to SF. We'd be a beastly rebounding team.

After watching Toronto against us I did think about how badly they could use Brogdon. I think Toronto would do it while adding Porter and Young as filler.
But can Camara give us the same while keeping Brogdon? They both measured the same at the combine (6'7" barefoot) but Precious does weigh a lot more so maybe. Tough call

 

[GrandpaBlaze]

Now trade Brogdon to the Raptors for Precious Achiuwa. He'll be our long term PF. Grant can slide over to SF. We'd be a beastly rebounding team.

Just wondering how moving Grant to SF helps the "beastly rebounding". Mr. 1 rebound in 38 minutes as the PF is really a contributor to rebounding at all.

Thybulle had the same number of rebounds in 17 minutes.
Mays had the same number of rebounds in only 8 minutes
Walker had twice as many rebounds in 10 minutes

Grant seems to be allergic to rebounding.

 

[BIG Q]

As long as Billups keeps preaching defense, which I fully expect, the Portland defense will continue to be much improved from seasons past barring injury. Ayton and Williams are vastly improved over Nurk. They are space eaters. Sharpe is much improved and Scoot has the ability. I like what Camara brings. He is learning from the big guys and being a rookie is optimal. The standard is being set from day one. I've never been able to get a good read on Grant's defensive ability.

 

[andalusian]

As long as Billups keeps preaching defense, which I fully expect, the Portland defense will continue to be much improved from seasons past barring injury. Ayton and Williams are vastly improved over Nurk. They are space eaters. Sharpe is much improved and Scoot has the ability. I like what Camara brings. He is learning from the big guys and being a rookie is optimal. The standard is being set from day one. I've never been able to get a good read on Grant's defensive ability.

Also Brogdon is decent compared to whatever we ran as backup PG in the past.

 

[wizenheimer]

of the 5 teams Portland has played, Philly and LAC have top-10 offenses, the other 3 teams ranked 17, 19, & 22. So, a 13th ranking in defense might just be schedule. In fact, if you add up the offensive ratings of Portland's opponents, 3+5+17+19+22, and divide by 5 games, it's 13! So yeah...schedule, although the Blazers should get some credit for a 1-4 home/road imbalance

it helps having Brogdon and Sharpe defending in the backcourt. And as useless as Thybulle seems on offense, he's still a pretty effective defender on the perimeter. And, Philly and Orlando were the only teams of the 5 Portland has faced that had any offensive presence in the paint. That's going to change

and, it's quite probable that when Ant returns, Portland's defense will get worse. Scoot/Sharpe/Thybulle to Scoot/Ant/Sharpe will be a defensive downgrade

 

[Wizard Mentor]

Blazers currently are giving up 109.8 points per 100 possessions which is 13th in the league. They are scoring 104.2 (28th ranked offense) for a net rating of -5.7 (22nd). Next we play the 0-5 Grizzlies twice at home so this might even improve further before it likely regresses.

I had thought this team would be much worse defensively.

Do you think some of this defensive success can last over the bulk of the season?

13th in Drtg
28th in Ortg
22nd in Netrtg

idk what our SOS is, but probably not very high. I'm enjoying the Defensive rating while I can.

 

[KingSpeed]

As long as Billups keeps preaching defense, which I fully expect, the Portland defense will continue to be much improved from seasons past barring injury. Ayton and Williams are vastly improved over Nurk. They are space eaters. Sharpe is much improved and Scoot has the ability. I like what Camara brings. He is learning from the big guys and being a rookie is optimal. The standard is being set from day one. I've never been able to get a good read on Grant's defensive ability.

Grant’s defense was impressive in 2020 WCF where he showed he could guard AD and LeBron.

 

[Pinwheel1]

[QUOTE="wizenheimer, post: 5601720, member: 21278

and, it's quite probable that when Ant returns, Portland's defense will get worse. Scoot/Sharpe/Thybulle to Scoot/Ant/Sharpe will be a defensive downgrade[/QUOTE]

Maybe but as I watched the Pistons put up 59 in the first half as Cade and Harris scored at will on the perimeter I thought to myself..... Ant could defend about the same but actually score a couple of points. It seemed like they hit their first 8 threes without missing.

 

[Idog1976]

Their coach is an idiot. He's treating Dame like a 3&D guy instead of letting him lead the offense while hiding him on defense.

Also, sidebar. It's wild how much Giannis sucks at setting screens.

The kept the wrong coach. Stotts with that lineup would slay.

 

[BIG Q]

Thybulle is averaging 16.8 minutes, which is 1/3 of available minutes with a high of 20 and a low of 11 minutes. These numbers, while a small sample size, are bearing out that even if he is the best defender on the team, they have little use for him. Now, he has started every game. Maybe the strategy is to make sure a player doesn't get hot early on and then bring Camara in to do the heavy lifting. Does he enter the game at the end to lockdown on defense? I think Portland only matched him so they didn't lose an asset with no return. He is probably a good player on a playoff team. He is a player not needed on a rebuilding team.

 

[wizenheimer]

[QUOTE="wizenheimer, post: 5601720, member: 21278

and, it's quite probable that when Ant returns, Portland's defense will get worse. Scoot/Sharpe/Thybulle to Scoot/Ant/Sharpe will be a defensive downgrade

Maybe but as I watched the Pistons put up 59 in the first half as Cade and Harris scored at will on the perimeter I thought to myself..... Ant could defend about the same but actually score a couple of points. It seemed like they hit their first 8 threes without missing.[/QUOTE]

Cunningham and Hayes were 11-33 on FG's for the game. Cunningham had 4 assists & 6 turnovers; he's just been on an aberration of a hot streak from the arc so far. He's shooting 44% when his career mark is under 32%. But 11-27 and an assist/turnover mark under 0.7 suggests some good defense was being played on him. And, since he's 6'6 having the 6'5 trio of Sharpe/Brogdon/Thybulle to defend him was beneficial. Ant gives away too much size

the guy who hurt the Blazers last night was Sasser. But he kind of seems like an ultra-quick chaos agent and he beat Scoot off the dribble, badly, a couple of times

Ant was the worst defender on the team last season, and he's been coached by Billups for 2 years. The notion that some how, some way, he's magically found some defensive mojo during the summer is pretty far-fetched

 

[Pinwheel1]

Cunningham and Hayes were 11-33 on FG's for the game. Cunningham had 4 assists & 6 turnovers; he's just been on an aberration of a hot streak from the arc so far. He's shooting 44% when his career mark is under 32%. But 11-27 and an assist/turnover mark under 0.7 suggests some good defense was being played on him. And, since he's 6'6 having the 6'5 trio of Sharpe/Brogdon/Thybulle to defend him was beneficial. Ant gives away too much size

the guy who hurt the Blazers last night was Sasser. But he kind of seems like an ultra-quick chaos agent and he beat Scoot off the dribble, badly, a couple of times

Ant was the worst defender on the team last season, and he's been coached by Billups for 2 years. The notion that some how, some way, he's magically found some defensive mojo during the summer is pretty far-fetched

All of those guys plus Camara still could have guarded Cade if Ant had played. But I was talking just about the first half when the two of them torched us from the perimeter. At one point Cade was 5-5 from deep and then Harris came in and hit his first three 3's. Hard to stop hot shooting no matter how good of a defender you are. But if you can score....... at least you can stay close when it happens. I like Thybulle off the bench....not as a starter.

 

[beast blazer]

After watching Toronto against us I did think about how badly they could use Brogdon. I think Toronto would do it while adding Porter and Young as filler.
But can Camara give us the same while keeping Brogdon? They both measured the same at the combine (6'7" barefoot) but Precious does weigh a lot more so maybe. Tough call

We don't have a lot of history on Camara. But Precious is 6'8, but thick, very athletic, he's a very good defender and rebounder. He plays center a lot as well.

 

[Everything Beagle]

Our defense rating is because of our actual effort, which is good
Our offense rating is because of a ton of mistakes (missed cutters, lost dribbles, etc.) which is fixable

We will be good in a year.

 

[beast blazer]

Just wondering how moving Grant to SF helps the "beastly rebounding". Mr. 1 rebound in 38 minutes as the PF is really a contributor to rebounding at all.

Thybulle had the same number of rebounds in 17 minutes.
Mays had the same number of rebounds in only 8 minutes
Walker had twice as many rebounds in 10 minutes

Grant seems to be allergic to rebounding.

Because we'd be replacing him at the 4 with a really good rebounder. Ayton, Precious and Williams are 3 very good rebounders and defenders. Grant is sort of undersized as a PF, but is a large SF. He's a crappy rebounder as a PF but mediocre as a SF.

 

[beast blazer]

Thybulle is this really good defender, but how many "additional misses" is he actually generating per game? Especially with his limited playing time. Contrast that with how many points are sacrificed by our own team for having such a limited offensive player on the floor.

 

[Pinwheel1]

Because we'd be replacing him at the 4 with a really good rebounder. Ayton, Precious and Williams are 3 very good rebounders and defenders. Grant is sort of undersized as a PF, but is a large SF. He's a crappy rebounder as a PF but mediocre as a SF.

I don't think the position is a factor any longer, because both forward spots are guarding the perimeter, and there are so many long rebounds. Look at Hart, he is a great rebounder at 6'5" because he tracks the ball so well. Shae is good at it as well. I think Scoot and Camara will be too. Grant is a poor rebounder for sure, but whether or not he plays the 3 or the 4....not sure it matters. We just need to make sure the other forward is physical and is quick to the ball. Camara seems like he will fit that bill, especially if he is consistent from the 3-point line.

 

[Samuel]

Detroit and Toronto are a hellofa drug.

 

[Whyachi]

Blazers are blocking the heck outta fools. Pesky annoying, physical defense. I like it !!