Around the NBA - March 2018

Yep. The Lakers either sign him to a big contract (and lose one potential FA) or someone else does.

 

Wilson Chandler 26 and 10 tonight.

Isn't that the kind of player NO is talking about? A little under appreciated on his current team. We've been rumored to at least be interested in him in the past, he's a good vet that could start or could come off the bench if needed.

Not a shiny new penny... but could fit nicely if the deal was right.

I'd rather have an Oubre etc but NO would have his work cut out for him to bring in a star SF. Seems more likely if he makes a move it will be a seasoned vet.

 

Hope he says here his whole career!

 

Perhaps. But the whole team doesn't just decide to play better defense, especially if the defensive scheme didn't change. Who got them to do that? Stotts.

I understand and respect for you basketball knowledge, but even if it's just a matter of motivating the troops, whatever he's doing is working.

 

What games are you watching? We switch on screens like literally more than 75% of the time.

My eye test tells me we are guarding on ball WAY better. Our rotations are 10x better than they used to be. We're defending the pick and roll differently by giving the ball handler multiple looks.

So it really just looks like you want to take a shot at Terry...

 

If you watch the games, you would realize this is just wrong....plain false.

 

Which is 25% LESS than we did previously! But I should have specified that I meant on the P/R.
Yes, we're guarding the ball way better, because Dame has made it a focus and we're actually using Bazz (and Nurk/Ed are better than Plumlee/Meyers).
An increase in effort is not a change in scheme (although as we both pointed out, the scheme changed slightly in regards to P/R coverage).
As I said, Dame, Nurk, Ed, and Bazz are all SIGNIFICANTLY better than last season - I chalk up our improved D to this (along with FINALLY throwing different looks at the P/R).

 

Klay Thompson has a fractured right thumb and Warriors fans are in panic mode

 

It's interesting when the switches occur though. Nurk very rarely gets left on an island trying to defend a point guard on the perimeter. He usually hangs back when his guy picks which gives the guy being screened plenty of room to navigate through the pick. Even on TV I notice him screaming that the pick is coming well before the pick is actually set. Now because he hangs back it often leads to an open mid range shot but in the past that has been what Stotts wants to happen instead of a 3 or a drive to the hoop since a long 2 is the most inefficient shot in basketball. It used to be that the Blazers just immediately switched every time an opposing player breathed near them. It was so infuriating especially against the Clips and Mavs were you have to watch 48 minutes of Dirk or Griffin getting the ball at the free throw line with Dame or CJ on them or watching Chris Paul abuse Davis or Plumlee off the dribble.

I'm not so sure Stotts changed his philosophy. Over the summer he said he considered changing it but decided against it. Davis is not getting in those situations where he has to guard a smaller player on the perimeter anywhere near as much as previously though so maybe they did change it up. Collins still get switched on to a smaller guard pretty frequently but that might be because he is still learning the game. I really think Nurk should get a lot of credit for being a floor general on defense. Having a smart defensive center can completely transform a bad defense into a good one (see Boston with Garnett and Dallas with Tyson Chandler).

 

They've got the #2 seed on lockdown pretty much. They need to just rest their starters. The playoffs this year are gonna be insanity.

 

First you're so wrong about our screen switching, it's not even funny. 2nd, you don't know what's going on behind the scenes.

Dame making Defense a focus had nothing to do with Stotts? I disagree.

You don't have all the info to properly make the assessment that we're good on D despite Stotts. And to me, that's a tired argument.

 

And you don't have all the info to properly make the assessment that we're good on D because of Stotts. So, we should all just shut the fuck up, take our balls and go home, and Denny can shut down the site.

 

That's why I never made a definitive statement either way.

See how that works?

And no one said anything like that bolded part but I guess you need to create a narrative.

 

Either that or they really suck at tanking.

 

Even if I disagreed with Stotts philosophies on defense I have to acknowledge that when he's had good defensive personnel the defense has been fine (this year and when we had the Dame, Wes, Batum, TT, RoLo lineup). The start of last year was it Stotts' coaching or the fact that the personnel were mostly horrible defenders, especially the bigs?

Edit: This kind of seemed like I was questioning you but it was meant as an agreement with that there isn't a true way to know for sure if it is because of Stotts or despite him.

 

BINGO!
The philosophy hasn't changed (much). And honestly, it's not a bad philosophy - it's much better to get the opponent to take long-2s than 3s or dunks. What's been infuriating in the past is that:

(1) we gave up UNCONTESTED 2s
(2) we ALWAYS did the same thing on P/R coverage, so the opponent knew what to expect and how to exploit it, and
(3) we were taking the very same types of shots (long 2s) that Terry wanted the opponent to take (DUMB!)

I'd still like to see us throw an occasional trap into our P/R coverage. But I'll settle for no longer going under the screen on 3-point shooters, and Dame's improvement at getting over the top coupled with Nurk's ability to help contain the ball. The best thing is no longer having to watch LA switch with Dame on every damn P/R - that was murder.

 

I found an upgrade at SF for next year.

 

Eh. Not all that impressed with him.

 

My question then is Nurk just doing what others before him haven't been able to accomplish or does Stotts implement a slightly different style with him so he doesn't get caught on an island or a little of both? Why is Davis switching less if it isn't a philosophical change?

 

And he would be happy here as a third option again?