Stotts changing defense. Finally

[wizenheimer]

You and I just differ on our valuations of these players' defense. I think RoCo and Jones are much better than Chief and Moe but that's just my opinion. I think Gary is a much better defender than Seth. I'm guessing that you are assuming Hoodie is going to be a much worse defender than he was before the injury because before the injury he was a much better defender than Turner, Layman or Curry. I can't disagree with you if you think Hoodie will be a worse defender because I haven't seen enough of him post injury to make that call..

to start with, I was as much talking about Aminu/Harkless as the starting forward combo and the defense that generated, as I was individual defense. I'm just not sure how anyone can judge Jones to be clearly superior to Harkless on defense at this point. And by Harkless I mean when he was a Blazer. And Harkless was mostly a starter while Jones was mostly a bench player; that makes a difference. And it's going to take time before RoCo/Jones develop the synergy that Aminu/Harkless did

RoCo vs Aminu is interesting. As I said, I'd grant that RoCo is better on the perimeter. But Aminu is better defensively in the paint IMO. And he was certainly a better defensive rebounder which I count as important defensively for front court players. To me, a decent gauge is to compare a player's defensive rating vs his team's defensive rating each year. All 4 players are + on defense. Jones and Harkless are around +0.5, although Harkless did have a season at +2. Now, Aminu hovered around +2.0 while Covington has generally busted over the +3.0. So by that gauge, he's better; and except for a couple of early seasons in Philly, he didn't get the bump of playing on a top-5 defensive team.

Hood?...yeah, we disagree there because Hood has never been a good defender IMO. Not in Utah, Cleveland, or Portland. And from what I've seen so far, his lateral mobility is pretty bad at this point

Trent?....I think he's decent on defense, but has very quickly become overrated on that end. He brings an intense defensive style, but I also see him lose track of his man and where the ball is often. I'm confident he'll get better at that end, but his inexperience is showing

I doubt Portland will be a top-10 defense this year. There are simply too many bad defenders in their rotation

 

[Wizard Mentor]

My biggest concern going into the season was CJ, Melo and Stotts. All three are making me pull my hair out.

Really? For me, it was Kanter in game 3. Seems like a lot of their open looks was trying to compensate for Kanter's man.

 

[Sheldon Shape]

Yeah I don’t get it.

I just looked up some stats. Boston gave up the lowest 3 point fg% last year. But if you watch them it’s not IMO because they are all way out on the 3 point shooters taking away the 3. I believe it’s because they refuse to get broken down with penetration which leads to even higher % kick out three point shots (and layups).

In fact here’s a list of teams in order of most three point shots allowed per game:
1. Milwaukee
2. Toronto
3. Miami
4. LA Clippers
7. Boston

That’s five top-level defenses giving up the most threes per game. So good D is not about stopping teams from shooting threes.

Portland is right in there too at #6 but my thought is we give them up in a different way, after getting broken down.

I've heard the players in the past talk about funneling the hoop opposition into our big men, which is why our big men have historically had foul trouble.

Stotts gonna Stotts.

 

[Tince]

With Covington and DJJ both known as good team defenders (Covington being very good), who are the guys on our roster that are legit defending guys on the ball? Trent and who else?

I ask because if we don't have multiple dudes who can defend the ball, isn't it fair to assume we'll always be chasing, scrambling, and reacting on defense.

 

[Tince]

Really? For me, it was Kanter in game 3. Seems like a lot of their open looks was trying to compensate for Kanter's man.

Great observation. In 2019 we were able to minimize Kanters defensive liability better than any other team has. Putting him out in space would be a horrible move by Stotts. I'm not sure it makes Nurk a better defender either as he's proven to be good at playing that middle ground between helping on a guy attacking the hoop and staying with his guy. Not to mention, he's coming off a serious injury.

 

[kjironman1]

So who has the "Athletic" that can copy and paste this story?
How is Boylen going to help the Blazers?
https://theathletic.com/2277277/202...y-work-in-progress/?source=emp_shared_article

 

[UKRAINEFAN]

So who has the "Athletic" that can copy and paste this story?
How is Boylen going to help the Blazers?
https://theathletic.com/2277277/202...y-work-in-progress/?source=emp_shared_article

I don't know. I see he was brought in for a three week consultation. I'm encouraged by that. I'm betting this was Olshey's idea.

 

[UKRAINEFAN]

 

[UKRAINEFAN]

Nothing too groundbreaking: “Defensively, we kind of believe in the math here,” Boylen said. “So taking away corner threes, contest the rim, limit rim opportunities, and make people play between the 3-point line and the restricted area.”
But just to have a new voice and to know the team is concerned enough about the defense to bring an outside guy in, I think that's good for the players' motivation.

 

[UKRAINEFAN]

It's a little odd to me that the only mention that I have seen of Boylen is in this Quick article. Wouldn't some media outlet have wanted to do a story on this; it's not that often that a team brings in a former head coach to help out for three weeks?

 

[riverman]

It's a little odd to me that the only mention that I have seen of Boylen is in this Quick article. Wouldn't some media outlet have wanted to do a story on this; it's not that often that a team brings in a former head coach to help out for three weeks?

with the pandemic I think it's difficult for media access and even coaching staff access these days..Casey mentioned this as did Brooke..I wouldn't worry about the behind the scenes help they bring in...actually I'm glad to hear they did this..the media on the website has been really scarce....we had no exit interviews after the playoffs so that was my first signal that this season was going to be weird....basketball in empty arenas is weird

 

[UKRAINEFAN]

I wouldn't worry about the behind the scenes help they bring in...

I wasn't worried; I was very pleased. I have advocated bringing in specialists in different areas for short time periods. I would be interested in knowing what his plan is and how he is integrating with coach Stotts.

 

[kjironman1]

I wasn't worried; I was very pleased. I have advocated bringing in specialists in different areas for short time periods. I would be interested in knowing what his plan is and how he is integrating with coach Stotts.

The biggest responses on Twitter have been very negative. People from Chicago saying he was terrible and having him there would only make matters worse. I have a very hard time believing that line of thinking. Working to improve is just that. Working to improve. You try everything you can and never stop.

 

[UKRAINEFAN]

The biggest responses on Twitter have been very negative. People from Chicago saying he was terrible and having him there would only make matters worse. I have a very hard time believing that line of thinking. Working to improve is just that. Working to improve. You try everything you can and never stop.

Well, I know when I coached soccer, I was a great defensive coach but when I tried being a head coach, I was terrible.

 

[TBpup]

Michael Holton on Blazers Courtside, brought up how much the Blazer players had their hands up and arms extended in the 1st Kings game....and how he didn't see it much in the following 3 games.

 

[Tince]

How many more games until this easy scheme change dramatically makes us a better defense?

 

[Orion Bailey]

Well... its working...