Perimeter Defense

[HailBlazers]

Couple things brought up on Rip City Radio this morning:

1.) Truly how well our interior defense was on Memphis (as the Grizz tear the Warriors up inside).

2.) How important perimeter defense is in the playoffs (stopping jump shot oriented teams, Houston and GS).

With the emergence of Leonard and the way we guarded the post in the playoffs you've got to be confident in our interior D going forward.

With Wes/Wright going down it really exposed our Defense and further shined light on the need for athletic team defenders that can lock down the perimeter.

Which is why we should keep this core in tact, as much as possible (note bold below):

Mathews
Batum
Afflalo
CJ
Wright

Solid 3-D players are not easy to come by, see "the value of Danny Green:"

If Green did depart, he’d leave a hole the Spurs would be hard-pressed to fill.

Yes, it’s still an adventure — and usually not the good kind — whenever he puts the ball on the floor, and his tendency to go Arctic cold from the 3-point line can sabotage his utility. Nor is he a pure, straight-up stopper of Kawhi Leonard’s caliber — something Gregg Popovich will gladly point out any chance he gets.

Otherwise, all Green has done in three-plus seasons as a regular starter is establish himself as one of the NBA’s premier “3-and-D” players, capable of spreading the floor with volume percentage shooting while preventing opponents from doing the same with quality perimeter defense.

 

[Draco]

Good post. Yes I'd like to see AAA back he played great defensively with the starters in small ball units before Wes went down. I know most Blazer fans can't look past his struggles here but I see a lot of promise. If we avoid the lineups with Dame at SG it really helps our defense. CJ is a better defender than Blake and I hope he can be the primary backup PG next year. Dame looked much better at times defensively in the regular season when Wes was healthy.

Golden State was the "#1" defensive team but is having major issues in this series. They did tons of small ball in the regular season which works great when teams are tired from travel or back to backs. But in the playoffs you need the ability to go big or small and they don't have the big card in their bag.

Can we add someone with the MLE to be our poor mans Tony Allen? I thought Gee might give us something but his D was very overrated.

 

[BlazerDuckSeahawkFan94]

Missing Wes and AAA really killed our perimeter defense, when we are healthy we have arguably one of the best defenses. However, just because our individual players are good defenders doesn't mean our team defense is worth jack shit.

What I took away from the Memphis series is not just our injuries it was their ability to always be in the right spot defensively. They rarely gamble and when they do, 75% of the time they win. Their team concept is so amazing it makes guys like Vince Carter, Beno Udrih and Z-Bo look like good defenders.

 

[BlazerDuckSeahawkFan94]

Dame looked much better at times defensively in the regular season when Wes was healthy.

Dame looked best when RoLo/Freeland were being rim protectors. He was funneling other guards into good help defense.

 

[Rastapopoulos]

I was thinking about this and half-heartedly tried to find stats for the Grizz-Blazers series alone to compare with the Grizz-Warriors series, as I suspect that Gasol and Zach's numbers are way up now, but then gave up. Something to remember amid all the chatter of Aldridge "underperforming" and RoLo being useless.

 

[PtldPlatypus]

Can we add someone with the MLE to be our poor mans Tony Allen? I thought Gee might give us something but his D was very overrated.

Al-Farouq Aminu would be a perfect answer to this question. I wonder if he'll get more than full MLE this summer.

 

[Rastapopoulos]

Can we add someone with the MLE to be our poor mans Tony Allen? I thought Gee might give us something but his D was very overrated.

Turns out that Gee only rhymes with D.

Tony Allens are hard to find, and you have to be prepared to suffer the consequences on offense. But Allen is so good on D that the Grizz are prepared to make it work. Ideally you find a Raja Bell/Bruce Bowen who can also shoot 3s.

As discussed in various other threads: Khris Middleton has put up great offensive AND defensive numbers, but he's only a RFA.
I like both MKG and Andre Roberson, but probably so do their respective teams (although, with Waiters needing more minutes and the change of coaching in OKC, maybe Roberson would be available.
Supposedly that kid from Arizona (Hollis-Jefferson) might be available at our pick in the draft, but draft boards change so much, so who knows.

 

[magnifier661]

I wish Danny Green would accept a MLE offer. He would be absolutely perfect for this squad with most coming back.

 

[Draco]

Al-Farouq Aminu would be a perfect answer to this question. I wonder if he'll get more than full MLE this summer.

Yeah good idea. I think Dallas pays him that much and he's happy there so I doubt we can get him. Maybe if they blow all their cap space on a couple starters and only have the room exception while we have a twice as big MLE. Also I'm not sure how he would fit in the Stotts offense. Maybe we can pair him off the bench with Meyers so we only have one guy on the floor who can't shoot. Meyers becomes the SF and Aminu the center, lol.

 

[BlazerDuckSeahawkFan94]

Al-Farouq Aminu would be a perfect answer to this question. I wonder if he'll get more than full MLE this summer.

If we could get an Aminu or a Crowder and around 4-6 million over 3 years... I'd be pleased.

 

[BonesJones]

You can trade Batum to go get Middleton or keep Batum and sign a Crowder type... Not sure what I'd prefer

 

[Draco]

Middleton gets the max in my opinion. Danny Green is more than MLE. Both guys would be awesome but their both arguably top10 wing players in the league.

As duckhawk61whatever said they get Carter, ZBo and Udrih to look good defensively I think a part of it is just not gambling and such good communication. They switch matchups but then play straight up when that's better. One thing I disliked about the Blazer defense is we NEVER trapped or switched or doubled. I get that it's bad to start scrambling and give up open threes but I still think it's something you have to be able to do in certain situations or just to stop the opponent from knowing exactly what you'll do.

 

[BonesJones]

True. Other teams seemed to just settle confortably into ther offense because we never bother them defensively and they know exactly what they'll get.

 

[BlazerCaravan]

Wes and Wright going down really showed the old management axiom: assign responsibilities to teams, not the individuals in those teams. Wes being responsible for our Perimeter Defense was fine while we had Wes...

 

[Rastapopoulos]

I hope we can invite Fuquan Edwin to summer league (first team all-defense in the D-League).

 

[Draco]

If we could get an Aminu or a Crowder and around 4-6 million over 3 years... I'd be pleased.

Crowder is another good one. Supposedly Boston really likes him so unless they make a run at Love or something unlikely he probably stays put. Crazy I expect him to get paid more than Rondo. Dallas also gave up Wright and a 1st round pick!

 

[BonesJones]

I hope we can invite Fuquan Edwin to summer league (first team all-defense in the D-League).

looks like this kid can shoot too

 

[Blazinaway]

I wish Danny Green would accept a MLE offer. He would be absolutely perfect for this squad with most coming back.

he is going to be a UFA, if we keep LMA but not Wes you can sign Green with capspace and either keep Batum or trade him for a different piece

 

[Blazinaway]

Middleton gets the max in my opinion. Danny Green is more than MLE. Both guys would be awesome but their both arguably top10 wing players in the league.

As duckhawk61whatever said they get Carter, ZBo and Udrih to look good defensively I think a part of it is just not gambling and such good communication. They switch matchups but then play straight up when that's better. One thing I disliked about the Blazer defense is we NEVER trapped or switched or doubled. I get that it's bad to start scrambling and give up open threes but I still think it's something you have to be able to do in certain situations or just to stop the opponent from knowing exactly what you'll do.

Danny Green will get paid, he is a very good 3 and D guy who can defend multiple positions, 42% CAREER 3 pt shooter as well and 27 yrs old, I'd guess 10 mil per at least

 

[BlazerWookee]

I think Gee, if given the opportunity to compete for a role at the beginning of training camp, would contribute much more in Stotts's system than he showed this season, on both sides of the ball.

Whether it turns out to be enough more of a contribution to beat out the young'uns ahead of him in the rotation? Not sure. At the very least, though, I believe he's known as a high-motor defender in practice, which can only help the kids grow...

 

[0-Our!]

Danny Green will get paid, he is a very good 3 and D guy who can defend multiple positions, 42% CAREER 3 pt shooter as well and 27 yrs old, I'd guess 10 mil per at least

I'd love to keep Wes but... if he's too expensive... I'd love to only pay Green ~$10mill (IF this is possible) to replace him

 

[Fez Hammersticks]

DeMarre Carroll - Underrated, solid advanced defensive numbers.

Jae Crowder - A lot like DeMarre Carroll.

KJ McDaniels - Started out strong, fizzled as the season went on. Has a lot of potential on the defensive end - RFA.

 

[0-Our!]

I think Gee, if given the opportunity to compete for a role at the beginning of training camp, would contribute much more in Stotts's system than he showed this season, on both sides of the ball..."

I think Gee is the player he's gonna b, he's reached his ceiling. Gee's never been much of a scorer (lacks a lot of ability, instincts, etc. here); he had his shot (pun intended ) w/ a bigger role in Cle. (he really didn't run w/ things w/ respects to scoring). W/ all this said however, I DO believe in working Gee (& Meyers & Cj) a little bit more into the offense (setting him/them up for a few lobs & drives to an open rim or w/ weaker defenders @ the cup); IF Stotts did this... I imagine Gee would average ~8pts/game @ best (if we could get this from him, it would actually help quite a bit). As far as defense goes, I like his defense & I think he definitely would make a nice/meaningful contribution if given more responsibilities.

 

[0-Our!]

DeMarre Carroll - Underrated, solid advanced defensive numbers.

Jae Crowder - A lot like DeMarre Carroll.

KJ McDaniels - Started out strong, fizzled as the season went on. Has a lot of potential on the defensive end - RFA.

All so true

 

[magnifier661]

I'd love to keep Wes but... if he's too expensive... I'd love to only pay Green ~$10mill (IF this is possible) to replace him

Problem with being under cap is not having MLE. Signing WES, Lopez, our other FA and Aldridge will have us over cap.

That means we can grab another player that's close to 6 mil per. Letting Matthews go will insure that we have roughly 2.8 mil. That's a completely different caliber of player IMO

 

[Fez Hammersticks]

Green looked like absolute shit in the Clipper series.

 

[3RA1N1AC]

All these role players we are talking about getting max or near max deals... don't we already have one of those? And doesn't nearly everyone hate him because he is a role player making too much money?

Maybe I'm mistaken, but Im pretty sure everyone will be freaking the fuck put when Khris Middleton is scoring 11 ppg on a max contract.

 

[Strenuus]

All these role players we are talking about getting max or near max deals... don't we already have one of those? And doesn't nearly everyone hate him because he is a role player making too much money?

Maybe I'm mistaken, but Im pretty sure everyone will be freaking the fuck put when Khris Middleton is scoring 11 ppg on any contract, because they always need something to complain about.

I think that more accurately describes what would happen.

 

[Draco]

Well we saw the downside of a great defender with no 3 point shot. Golden State had Bogut "guarding" Tony Allen which basically meant he played a zone at the rim. Memphis was playing 4 on 5 offensively and couldn't do any of their normal plays with the big men. Golden State won both the first and second quarters by 10 points and the game was over at half time.

So defense is important but if a player can't make wide open jump shots it destroys an offense. One of the reasons I don't want Andre Roberson or any player without a jumper.

 

[KeepOnRollin]

All these role players we are talking about getting max or near max deals... don't we already have one of those? And doesn't nearly everyone hate him because he is a role player making too much money?

Maybe I'm mistaken, but Im pretty sure everyone will be freaking the fuck put when Khris Middleton is scoring 11 ppg on a max contract.

You are spot on man! Batum's contract is going to be fine compared to some of these mid-level players this summer that get outrageous contracts.