It just seems to me that we're not building a roster that can be anything other than sub-average defensively. Look at our "keepers": Damian: a poor defender at best, according to one writer, "no-defense player of the year" CJ: short and not particularly athletic for his position. A smaller Brandon Roy, who was also a poor defender. Leonard: he tries, bless him. I honestly don't know if we're keeping any of these players, but: Plumlee: I dunno, but let's just say he doesn't have an elite reputation Henderson: again, I don't know, but I've never heard him described as strong defensively Vonleh: hasn't had the minutes to shown anything either offensively or defensively. Bad sign: one knock on him has been BBall IQ, and good defense requires smarts. Our strongest defenders have been: Wes: coming back from an injury, and probably not to us RoLo: Plumlee's acquisition and the interest in Monroe doesn't make it look like he's in our plans Batum: his defense has suffered the past couple of years because of all the minutes and miles, but he was still there to be put on the PG when Lillard was getting burned too much. So: if Monroe is our big acquisition, and CJ is stepping into our starting SG spot, then we have poor perimeter defense and no shot blocking. Why isn't this a concern? Oh, and our rookies: Pat C.: supposedly slow-footed on D. Asked to defend PFs in college, which is nice, but suggests he can't be trusted on the perimeter, even in college Dani Diez: if you think Pat C. has slow feet... It just seems like we're stocking up on spot shooters and role players, none of whom has defense as anything like a strength. It's not looking good. It's all very well to have a good offensive team, but if you can't stop ANYbody, then no lead is safe and we're going to get blown out depressingly regularly.
Henderson is a solid defender but your point is well taken. Then again, look at their coach. He is an offensive-first minded head coach and the team takes on the identity of the head man. Look at wherever Thibs goes....tough minded, defensive oriented.
Anderson is considered a very good defender. Remember that Charlotte was one of the league leaders before everything went to shit. I also think it's weird that you consider CJ is a poor defender. I remember him doing a damn good job, especially recovering to alter shots, steals and blocking shots. He's actually a decent rebounder for his size. I definitely agree that Dame is still a poor defender, but I believe he's just poor at the pick and roll defense. If you bring in a solid Pick and Roll defensive big, then I don't expect teams to take as much advantage of this. Von and Plume won't be a big factor IMO. I think Plume will be a capable defender and Von just not getting the burn (being wet behind the ears) to make a difference. But lets let this play out first shall we? As Olshey said, let me do what I plan first before you jump to conclusions. Then you can meltdown all summer!
Hey, we were top 3 defensively at one point last year. And personnel matters: the Spurs had to change from an elite defensive squad as their personnel aged. (They became a super-elite offensive squad, something that I doubt is within our reach.)
We were at one point after we had gone through the majority of our games with the Eastern conference. I don't think anyone looking with the simple 'eyeball' test would think were were really a top-3 defense and that played out as the schedule got tougher and the inevitable injuries set in. Every team gets them, we just got almost all of ours in the 2nd half of the season.
I got all excited for about 5 minutes when we drafted RHJ because I thought maybe the front office cared about defense after all! But we all know how that ended.
To be honest, we were third best until Lopez went down. We may have played more Eastern Conference teams, but so did Houston and GS. I think they actually played more.
So, basically you're saying we were bad LAST year when we still had some solid defensive players. Excited for this year?
Dude your meltdown is at epic proportions man! The trade of RHJ shows me that Portland hasn't conceded a "rebuild". RHJ is a rookie, so that "so called eye for defense" would be a 3 year down the road type move.
Aren't we also linked to Aminu and Green? Two very solid defenders. And I'm guessing we are also going to touch base with Tyson Chandler if LA re-signs. A starting lineup of Dame/Green/Aminu/LA/Chandler is pretty solid defensively.
We do have big time interest in Aminu and he would have been our best Defender last year, yes over Wes even (and most likely especially next year if we get him).
I stop bitching for at least a whole day if we ended up with that. In fact, I might do a little happy dance. ...but it wouldn't be long before I started complaining about the lack of ball-handling and court-vision on the roster.
Good thing this is exactly what Monroe is - except - his rim protection is just pitiful. But, on the bright side, he doesn't let PG's get to the rim. Also, if you believe Mark Jackson...rim protection is overrated if they can't get to the rim because of GREAT pick and roll defense and forcing other things to happen. The other problem is, we have no clue what our team will look like next year, as you noted. If we got Aminu, Danny Green - suddenly, we look a lot better defensively than before. http://www.mercurynews.com/warriors/ci_27294227/mark-jackson-talks-warriors-espn (Not exactly agreeing with his full premise, but I think rim protection is beingoverrated by some. There are other factors that are significant defensively. Yeah it'll suck to not have a shot blocker, but it'll also be nice to have an offensive threat at center that can't just be completely ignored.)
I think having that rim protector is actually extremely important if I was to build a team. I think our wings would be able to gamble a bit more for steals, knowing that if they get beat, a shot blocker will shut down their attempt at the rim.
I know he isn't a classic rim protector in the normal mode but Plumlee does block his fair share of shots per minute I believe.
Yes there will always be something for you to complain about. There are no perfect players they all have faults. The trick is having the right mix of players; and enough talent; to where their faults can't be exposed more than their strengths.
I could be off, but I'm under the impression that Stotts' D schemes intentionally do not try for blocks and steals. Will he change if we get a player whose length allows him to play the passing lanes, or one who can block anything near the paint?
If he gets Aminu, Hibbert and Green; I would hope so! The length Aldridge, Hibbert, Aminu and Green would have would be comparable to the 2000 Blazers. It would be a bitch to pass anything through our long arms.
step 1) Remove all large contracts from the team, while getting young "high upside" players. step 2) Get Aldridge to sign step 3) spend $$ to make the pieces fit. step 1) check we haven't gotten to step 2 yet, and many are bitching that we're not done with step 3! Give it some time. The good news is that summer league will come soon and be a pleasant distractor.
Before the injury problem we were on track to be a great defensive team. Stotts doesn't care for offensive rebounds or steals because he wants to get back in transition. It's a trade off but makes a bit of sense. Again as I've stated, defense is a collective skill and that's all on the coaching staff. Hire Thibbs and let him have those duties so Stotts can concentrate on offensive plays
