Mike Tokito: "Trail Blazers Questions: Did they overtinker with the roster?"

How much better will Hood Bazemore shoot from having the wide open looks Amimu Harkless have benefited from? Maybe a ton. Nurk sure did better playing off Dame than Mudiay. Maybe not at all. We will see.

I think defensive loss of our forwards is being underestimated by most though.

 

Yes I am still bitter about this game. I remember watching the game and we were discussing how this game seemed rigged like the NBA wanted the Fakers in the championship. Yes I have moved on, but I do cry a bit when I remeber how good that team was.

 

Don't blame the refs when Sheed was on the court.

 

The biggest change from Chief / Harkless to Hood / Baze is not in the shooting, it is with their ability to put the ball on the floor and create something for themselves or others. Both Hark and Chief, bless them, had issues with that more often than not (and that includes last year where Chief improved quite a bit in this regard).

I am also under the impression that the same advantage will be felt in the transition from Curry to Ant, Even if Ant is not the crazy pure shooter Curry is.

 

I thinkMo will actually get new life with the Clips.
He will be counted on to come off the bench and let lose and he plays better when he knows he's not the 4/5th option.

 

As opposed to being the 5th or 6th option? Not sure i see your point here?

 

When he started he was 4/5 option on offense.
If he comes off the Clips bench he will be 2/3 option more than likely.
He himself on several occasions said that it tough to be 4/5 option as you basically are just waiting at a spot.
Thats would be tough, imo.

 

IMO, wingspan is generally overrated. Bazemore and Jeremy Lamb have about the same wingspan, that doesn't make Lamb a good defender. Good defense starts with the legs, not the fingertips; with lateral mobility rather than arm extension

Aminu/Harkless/Turner have a better chance of defending PF's & stretch-wings like Lebron, AD, Griffin, Millsap, Draymond Green, Giannis, Kevin Love, & Aaron Gordon than Bazemore/Hood will have. Wingspan won't help much at all in the paint, and it will be size and strength that will keep those kind of players away from the offensive glass

I'm not sure why it's so controversial around here to suggest that Portland's defense & rebounding at the 'wing & stretch' minutes will be downgraded when going from Aminu/Harkless/Turner to Bazemore/Hood/(Tolliver/Hezonja). Just about every available defensive metric and eyeball test supports the assertion. It may be that a potential upgrade in shooting and ball-handling on the other end of the floor will more than offset the downgrade of defense and rebounding, but that's not certain. it's pretty obviously the bet of the front office, but not all those bets have paid off

 

It's not controversial it's just that people keep bringing up lack of "length" when discussing our new wing defenders. How did we get shorter? And how is wing span over rated on the perimeter where most SF's play? I specifically acknowledged that against bigger players who post up, that he could have problems.

Also if you are going to include Aminu when talking about the loss of defense and rebounding then you have to include the addition of Zach when mentioning his replacements. I assume he will be starting.

I don't mean to ignore what Harkless and ET brought to the team from a defensive/rebounding perspective, I am just questioning if we actually lose length by starting Bazemore, Collins and Whiteside. I would bring Hood off the bench at SG and Mario off the bench at SF. Again not a loss of size there either.

 

This conversation had me looking at their roster. Not sure Mo will see much playing time other than spot minutes against specific opponents and filling in due to injuries. I just don't see him as the second or even third option off the bench for the Clippers. I guess we will see?

 

Huh, that's a funny way to type 20-0.

 

I mentioned why I thought wingspan was overrated defensively. Good defense isn't about extending arms to the sides, it's about moving the feet; it's not about reaching, it's about reaction. A lot of people always zero in on wingspan as if it's a primary factor...it's not. I'm not saying length can't help on the perimeter (or the paint), just that other factors are more important. All other things being equal of course it's better to have the 'longer' player. But all other things are never equal

size matters as much as length too. Bazemore was 6'3.75 (barefoot) while Aminu and Harkless were both 6'7.25. Hood was the same height as Aminu & Harkless with 7" less wingspan than Aminu and 4" less than Harkless. (an amusing observation: Draft Express had Evan Turner's pre-draft comp as Brandon Roy...that sure missed by miles)

that's true....BUT...Aminu switching onto (or guarding) guys like Lebron, PG13, Kawhi, Giannis, Durant, Gallo, Draymond, etc. was not as problematic as it's likely to be with Zach doing so. He was quite often in foul trouble guarding 2nd unit PF's and C's...it will be worse if he spends a lot more time guarding starting-level wings and stretch-4's. Zach's not going to help the defense if he's siting on the bench

I'm really not sure what it is you're trying to argue...are you actually saying that Portland's defense at wing and stretch will be just as good with Bazemore/Hood/Zach as it was with Aminu/Harkless/Hood?

Bazemore I'll give you, at least until I've seen him defend in the Stotts' defense. But Aminu is a lot more versatile than Zach (perimeter). And Hood has consistently been 2-3 points worse than his teams in defensive rating. To me, that's a telling stat. Aminu and Harkless have always been + defenders in that stat. Turner's been close to neutral, IIRC. Not only all that, last year Zach spent at least half of his time at C and he's certain to spend plenty of minutes at C this season. Even if it's 33% at C and he averages 28 minutes (what Aminu averaged), that still leaves 28 PF minutes a game that Zach won't be logging. It would be loopy to think that a Zach/Tolliver/Hezonja rotation at PF would be better than a Aminu/Zach/Harkless rotation

 

Yes I think it is a given that length does not necessarily mean you are good on D. I was simply saying we have the same length coming back. (Bazemore=Harkless, Mario=ET, Zach=Aminu, Simons is longer than Curry) However I do agree that Aminu is a better perimeter defender than Zach. That will hurt against a few teams. But is he a better overall player? Zach's helps defense around the basket is not too shabby.

Yes size matters, (weight and strength) but who cares if Bazemore is under 6.4" if he has a 7' wing AND does the things that you mentioned ("Good defense isn't about extending arms to the sides, it's about moving the feet; it's not about reaching, it's about reaction") As we always point out, you don't play with the top of your head.

 

Interior defense will be great. Perimeter TBD.

 

The guys that are gone weren't very effective in the offense.

Regardless of percentages, opposing defenses knew that they could leave Harkless and Aminu. Sometimes, they'd get burned for that, but not usually - it was a good tactic.

When Curry was able to shoot, it was great. But, mostly, the Blazers passing to Curry was just burning time off the clock - he was going to dribble twice and make a slow pass.

So, one of the early storylines is going to be "do the new guys make opposing defenses pay for doubling off the them?" I think they will, but maybe that's just my optimism.

Ant can do so much more than Curry, it's ridiculous. The problem is "will he be aggressive enough?" Young Blazers are taught to "fit in". If Ant tries to fit in, it'll hurt us.

Personally, I think the youngins and new guys will see more open shots than they have their whole careers, and they'll prosper. We'll see.

Defense is another matter, but Bazemore was a defense first player in college, and that's what got him into the league - he'll be fine. The others? Again, we'll see. Harkless and Aminu weren't worldbeaters, but they were dependable. The new guys are going to have to establish some trust. It's not obvious that they won't.