AKA "the thread where I start believe this team has a chance to really do something besides check out in the first round." Somebody at blazersedge.com kindly took the time to chart and track the team's defensive improvement since the Indiana game (coincidentally that game Greg was inserted back into the lineup). http://www.blazersedge.com/2009/4/16/838364/how-much-our-defense-has-been Bottom line: In that span of time we have been allowing the second lowest effective field goal percentage behind only the Magic, and have had the 4th best defensive team (in terms of defensive efficiency rating, trailing only the Celtics, Cavs and Magic). At first I was tempted to throw this off as an anomaly or dismiss it due to the competition we've faced, until I realized that our competition in that stretch has actually been pretty decent and it sure did seem to be a road heavy slate of games. Call me crazy, but this could end up being a really special run.
Oden matters. Plus, the rest of the players seem to have picked up their efficiency and focus on that end. Credit the players, credit McMillan. I don't think Hollinger is wrong about the Blazers. I think they're legitimately becoming an elite team. They weren't at the start of the season, but improvement and development doesn't just happen between seasons. If Portland can win at least one game in Houston (and wins the series, of course), I'll begin to believe that they can win more rounds this year.
A quote from the comments stuck out to me: In the last 15 games we have had an offensive rating of 117.0 and a defensive rating of 102.5. That is all-time great team level of performance. If we had been able to play that well for the entire season we would have a Pythagorean W-L of 71-11. I don’t think that this team is good enough to maintain that level of play for a full season (yet), but it gives reason for optimism going into the playoffs.
Great read, thanks Nikolokus. We may go deeper than I thought. Defense travels well. On the road, teams are prone to go 'cold' that's when you need to rely on your defense. And as this article points out we've been up there with the elite teams. BTW repped.
I just got done reading that post at Blazer'sedge, came over here and see this. I have recently posted that I don't think the Blazer's are a contender yet because their defense is too sub-par. I can see by watching the games that their defense has improved over the course of the season and that they are playing their best defense of the season recently. Yet, I still didn't think it was enough of an improvement. The post about those amazing stats requires a re-think. There are some contrarian thoughts that quickly come to mind, so maybe we should cool the hype a bit: Weren't we just "stat padding" on so-so and/or injured teams during the last 15 games? The winning percentage is excellent and you can't complain about that, but what are the signature wins since the Indy game? I think Phoenix and Lakers. There are no signature road wins, but more a general improvement in road success. Phoenix win was solid. Probably a real key win. We were bouncing back from the bullshit Philly ref giveaway game. The Suns are a very good offensive team and they really tried hard to win, but they couldn't do it. The Lakers. I know they have trouble in Portland. But, they really wanted to win this game. They just couldn't do it. 15 games does hint at a trend, but isn't long enough to prove the defense has arrived, so don't count on it. Loaded with so many rookies and young players, won't we find ourselves too often on the short end of the officiating, which will dull our defensive edge against more established star players and long-established defenders? Part of the team's advantage on both ends of the floor is the deep bench. With the tighter rotations of the playoffs, the ability to maintain the recent defensive intensity might be too difficult. Regardless, the stats for the last 15 games are amazing, and offer hope for the Blazers to prevail in this terribly unfortunate first round matchup of two of the statistically top 6 teams in the NBA.
I'm not counting on anything, I just thought it was interesting that there might be an emerging trend ... this team is playing about as well as I eve could have imagined at this stage of their development which is either a very happy coincidence, of might, just may be a portent of things to come.
It wasn't a win, but I think the Cleveland loss deserves similar importance. Portland played arguably the best team in the league to a virtual standstill on the road...without Aldridge and Batum. That they lost is relevant to the standings, but not that relevant in terms of evaluating the team's ability level. 1 extra point in regulation wouldn't change how we should see them.
I don't know about you but I consider the shellacking we gave San Antonio a signature road win. The Denver and Utah games were also pretty big wins.
I do too - but not because we won - but because we came back from -19. That swing of 30 minutes (or whatever it was) in 3 quarters is just damn impressive.
