The Blazers now have the statiscally worst defense in the NBA

One thing to look at is how they have played on D. Yes we have allowed a lot of points and we look lost at times but just looking at the energy that is expelled on D is a lot better then last year. We are trying and just failing instead of watching and failing like we were last year. That might not seem like something big but since the effort seems to be there, we just now have to turn that effort into results.

 

After 6 games were 4-2. While still not world beaters, we've significantly improved from a Drtg of 110.7 to 107.5.

btw, our Ortg is 111.2, good for 3rd in the league. The 2 teams ahead of us? Miami and LAC which both have a worse Drtg than we do.

 

Yeah our defense rates much better now. Definitely helps playing the Kings twice HAHA. It'll be interesting how we do tomorrow especially on the boards against a Detroit team with some legit rebounders.

Then we play the Suns followed by some struggling teams on a 4 game east coast trip so while I was very encouraged by the last two games I'm going to be a bit cautious in any optimism until we've played better competition at the end of the month.

 

So the more/faster you score, the more opportunities your opponents has to also score.

 

Things will come around. Help defense takes timing. Lopez is starting to get the timing down; which helps protect the paint. Wes is seriously playing out of his mind right now and I think that will be contagious. But all we really need is a good win streak. Winning motivates!

 

Drtg and Ortg are points per 100 possessions, so they're pace independent. That's why many on this board think they're a better measure of defense/offense than ppg. I have finally come around to their thinking.

 

Everyone has always recognized that "points for" sucks as an offensive measure, and "points against" sucks as a defensive measure. PPG differential is a different story, of course. And these new pace stats are good.

 

I agree, that is much better.

However I would imagine that style of play is still is a factor. It will be interesting to see when Miami and the Clips start to win more consistently, if their Drtg gets dramatically better. Or if it stays poor.

Even though it is based on 100 possessions, maybe their opponents get into a better offensive rhythm because it is a more wide open style. They still will lose to the better team, but their offensive stats may be better while racing up and down the court.

 

I've always looked at anomaly teams like the Heat as winning when most teams aren't prepared to play against that style. I think now that Miami offense has been learned, the other teams are much better prepared to deal with them. It doesn't mean the offense won't win them more titles, just that it will get much harder for them. Also, great coaches like Phil or Pop have changed their offense throughout the years, so teams can't prepare for them. I don't know if Spoelstra has that ability.

 

Hmmm I don’t really agree with this. I’d really say the opposite, NBA teams don’t disguise what they are doing, its not football with trick plays. After 40 games everybody knows what the other team is going to do its just a matter of being able to stop it or not. The Pacers knew when and where LeBron would get the ball last year. Miami knew Hibbert and West would get the ball inside. When Miami lost to the Mavs they knew when and where Dirk was getting the ball. But when you have to stop a LeBron or Dirk just knowing doesn’t help too much.

 

Of course you know, but are your players prepared like they should? A team like Indiana may weather the summer, having the offense of Miami and how it won. They can prepare for the next season much easier, knowing what they played against in the playoffs.

 

A little perspective might help here . . . There are 17 other teams playing tonight, and we have a better record than 14 of them.

 

Interesting, here's a little more perspective:
The Blazers have four new players in their 9-man rotation.
The Blazers weren't healthy enough to have their starters play together for even a single game in the preseason.
The Blazers are fairly young.

Sprinkle these together and add a little homerism and it's easy to conclude we'll probably be a much better defensive team by the end of the year.

I always enjoyed you fresh perspective