I'm really kind of surprised the Suns didn't go to more zone defense in game 1. They never really packed the lane and dared Portland to take outside shots. Kind of surprising given that Batum was the only reliable perimeter threat, and the team often forgets about him. And how dominant Andre Miller is because they don't have a real center in the paint. I was really surprised that the Phoenix coach said something like, "Our defense is fine. We've just got to get our offense going...." Doesn't this guy have any tape on the Portland offense? Jerryd Bayless hasn't had a game like last night in months. Just seems weird to me that Phoenix is running a defense that plays so much into the hands of Portland. If they can force Miller into taking a couple more threes every night, we'd be in serious trouble.
They tried to zone up a couple of times but the Blazers did a pretty good job of exploiting the seams with a cutting Nic and LMA getting to the elbows and mid post.
I think the bigger problem with the Suns' defense is that they aren't committed to it. We're not talking about the Big Ben Pistons or the Spurs with these guys. They can switch schemes all they want, but if they're not good at it, it just doesn't matter.
Yeah, that's probably the case. Miller, for example, would seem to be a guy you'd always want to zone up. But if you do it and aren't good at it, he'll just slice through defender after defender as each guy passes him off to the next "zone". Next thing you know he's at the rim getting off crazy shots that still somehow go in, or dishing to somebody else. This series is a nice demonstration of why we let Charmin Frye go. He's just the kind of front court player guys like Miller and Bayless feast on once they get past the initial defense.
Exactly. There were two specific times I can remember where they went to their zone and we punished it with quick swings, drives, and free throws. It just takes a couple of those kinds of plays to keep a team honest.
