There's a reason we've been a bottom fodder defensively throughout his time here. Occasionally he would have a possesion where he plays strong man on man defense (which is his forte) and show glimpses of what could have been. But most of the time he is hidden on the back corner of our defense and if offenses look to expose him they simply have a field day. For most of the defensive possesions since we had Lillard we played 4 on 5 on defense. With CJ and Norman Powell we had 3 players to hide, that was simply painful, but even now and for as long as we hold on to Lillard we'd be near the bottom of the league defensively
I'm not saying this just as a knock on Lillard (whom I think we should trade) but even if we keep him and add say Pascal Siakam we'd have to surround them with defenders and hustle players. That's for example Josh Hart and Gary Payton junior that we traded for draft picks. It's definitely not Nurkic who is out of shape for most of the season but its also rating Watford and Winslow higher than Grant who is not a bad defender but not as good as Watford/Winslow. I really think the idea of trading our entire future for a long shot at contending is dismal but if we decide to go that way we need to surround Lillard who is selfish offensively and lousy defensively with defenders
Lillard is old and small and doesn't play defense. But he's one of the rare NBA gems that more then makes up for it on the offensive end. Blazers paired Dame with CJ, and McCollum is not a strong defender. CJ's defense actually improved in New Orleans. Better coaching? Better defenders around him? Blazers then paired Lillard with Anfernee Simons, who is a small featherweight scorer. Ant compiled the worst defensive rating in the association this season. Pair Damian with Sharpe at the 2 ?? Shaedon is a high jumping fledgling rookie. Asking him to play lock down NBA defense and start at the 2 next to Lillard is a big stretch, but it cannot possibly be worse defensively then pairing Lillard with Simons. If Lillard had a strong, tough defender next to him at the 2 spot, like saaaay Jimmy Butler, Marcus Smart, Desmond Bane, *Josh Hart, you know... guys with muscles, it could alleviate some of the stress Lillard puts on the defensive end by being a small offense only PG. Lillard has never started consistently next to a 2 guard that could D up. It would be interesting to see it happen, if it ever does.
He started his career playing next to such a 2; Wes Matthews. The Blazers were actually good then. Of course having a very capable Aldridge and others added to the quality mix. When that ended, NO tried replacing quality by doubling down on his boy CJ and dumpster diving for accessories.
When you run out of things to bash the franchise player, make a thread about the one thing most everyone knows is the weakness of said franchise player.
hate when people come in just to troll. Lillard bashing hoping people will give him attention….. getting old
OH hey, did you guys hear? Damian isn't a good defender. I'm so surprised that we';re just NOW finding this out.
How long have you been a Knicks or Lakers fan? Nice try but Blazer fans actually know who Dame is. It was only a matter of time before big market teams started trying to pry Dame out of Portland again. Rebounds are defensive stats and Dame's rebounding is at a career high. He started rebounding like crazy when Hart was traded...Grant's rebounds also went up when Hart was traded.
can I say fuck off with the Lillard-bashing threads? if I can't say it I won't. But if I can, then fuck off with the Lillard-bashing threads
That team was put together correctly 2 main scorers. One dominant down low, and one that could score on all 3 levels. Batum and Matthews valued defense over offense. Aldridge, like him or not, was the perfect second star. Rebounded well and scored down low. Lopez also rebounded well and valued defense. ENOUGH with adding all these fucking scorers. We need one good scorer who can score down low and defenders
in 2017-18, with a Dame/CJ back court, Portland ranked 8th in the NBA in defensive rating. They were able to cover for 2 defensively poor starters by having at least average and better defenders in the rest of the rotation. They also had decent length for the one time in the post Aldridge era with Aminu-Harkless-Davis-Zach-Turner. in other words, teams can cover for poor defenders with a well balanced roster. That year it was more accidental than intentional because it was fucking obvious that Olshey never valued defense like he should have. But the idea that the Blazers can't play good defense with Dame is bullshit
