It's funny cause all this talk on these boards about players and their lack of D got me thinking. Looking at the defensive stats for all our players; we actually don't have any really good defenders. You can say Matthews; but realistically, he is just an above average defender. It really seems like this team needs a fucking coach that can help anchor the D. Not a head coach, but on the staff that actually understand how to use the entire team as a defensive unit. Is there a assistant out there that could help in this category? It seems the only way we win is when our shot is on target. It's really hard to win when our shots aren't fallin, but good defensive teams can still beat you, even shooting poorly. We need a team that's built like that.
I'm just wondering who is truly available? Maybe an assistant from San Antonio? I wouldn't mind grabbing a Miami assistant either. We need a coach that can work on the strengths of the existing players we have. This isn't some cookie cutter job. You must evaluate the players, their strengths and combine the right combo of strengths to give you the best defense. I think Caleb is a great guy, just a novice coach.
Agreed - this, along with a C and a bench are our 3 most glaring weaknesses. I think team defense is first, and foremost, a coaching issue and not a personnel issue. You can have a team full of great individual defenders but if there isn't a sound defensive philosophy guiding their rotations it's all for naught. I would argue that a defensive coordinator is more important than obtaining a C.
Well Miami doesn't have one and they are one of the best defensive teams in the league. I don't see how that applies personally.
I think a better cpoach there would be ideal, but also can never underestimate what one great defender in the middle can do for a team D. Looking at what Chandler did for NY and Dallas.
I absolutely agree. But truly looking around, those centers all all locked in their respected teams. I doubt that those teams will give them up. The next step is finding that defensive coach; able to get the most out of the talent available.
I think defense is amazing! So fun to watch! I think you are talking more of those 90's Knicks or 2000 Pistons. yeah that's Boring! but there are teams like Seattle of the 90's that played awesome defense and still scored a ton. I wish our team could be at that level someday.
With the current handchecking rules, there's a lot less any perimeter guy can do to really dominate at the defensive end. I think Matthews and Batum would both have a much better reputation if they didn't have to play so many minutes, weren't relied so much to produce on the offensive end, and played with a really good defensive center. If you get beyond Batum, there's nobody to slow you up and make you worry about Batum catching you from behind. Hibbert would have solved so many problems for Portland. Or a healthy Oden. Or a younger Camby who hadn't given up. Or even Sabonis in his early Blazer years. Or Jermaine, younger or older. Or Brian Grant or Rasheed or Ratliff or Przybilla. Portland has actually had a pretty nice collection of players over the past 13 or so years who could've solved much of our current problems. The hope, I guess, is that Leonard (or somebody this summer) joins that list.
the lack of an inside presence doesn't help, but overall this team is lousy at help and recover defense. Mostly this team's fundamentals are either lazy or non-existent ... and it was this way under Nate too.
Seems to me you should be able to take any tall and athletic guy and teach him to shuffle his feet enough to stay in front of a man he's guarding. It's not anywhere near as hard as consistently making 3pt shots.
As per the Stoudemire comments recently that no-one had toaught him defense - It makes you wonder about a lot of these guys coasting through their formative years, just purely dominating by sheer physical superiority compared to the other 'normal' non NBA bound competition.
Center is no more important than any other position. If you have good team defense you can still be successful on the defensive end. Watch SA with or without Duncan and Parker on the floor. They are still good on D. POP drills it into them.
You think Nate would come back as an assistant?? Coach Kanales seemed to bond so well with the team last year, I just don't think you can demote him at this point. I kind of wonder if they could work with Barton and possibly make him a defensive stopper of the future.
Having been on several teams with "big men projects" type players, some people just have slow reaction time. I would hope that if you are in the NBA, that you would be athletic enough to be able to stay in front of a player, but on a lower level, teaching a big man to react and shuffle could be more painstaking for a coach than trying to teach someone to shoot a 3 (in my personal experience). You just mentioning teaching big men makes me think of some of those tirades the coaches would unleash on these project players . . . good times.
Perhaps Claver with his height and agility could become a stopper at the 2 & 3 positions? - with a little more seasoning?
The center protects the paint. It is the anchor to which all other postions move around. A good anchor makes the rest of the players job simpler, and more effective in the process. A team with two Superstars and multiple All-Stars should be. Is that ever going to be the case in Portland? No, therefore we need a center to shut down that type of team, to stop penentration and force jumpshots.
