This is what I was thinking when watching the 3rd quarter. They were without Lebron, but they understand winning basketball. Individually and collectively you don't forget how to play championship defense just because your best player is off the court. The Blazers hadn't faced that kind of defense all year long. They did last night and in spite of that, they almost pulled it out. The Blazers need to figure out how to get separation and keep it versus the opponent. Too many times they pull away only to give it up in a very short amount of time. Defensively, they need to be better. It is true that since Philly every game and win has been anything but easy. Defense is a big reason for this. That has to improve. I can only hope Miami showed them a lil something about the intensity you need to bring on this end of the court and how you execute it.
We lose separation because of our bench. The starters build a lead, the second unit comes in, and start hemorrhaging points. When our bench only scores 18 and their bench scores something like 34, that's your separation right there.
I've watched the starters lose leads time after time just due to their defense. Blazers were up by 5 in the fourth when the starters were put in last night. And that lead evaporated away. In Cleveland, The Blazers had a 114-104 lead with two minutes left in the game. The starters gave up 12+ points in less than two minutes. It's more than the bench. It's a team thing and most of all it's a defensive issue.
I agree with that, and more specifically it's an interior defensive issue, but I also think that our defensive intensity on the perimeter needs a lot of work.
Yep. If you want to know the truth, I think the bench puts more into it on that side of the court than the starters do. Starters are laxed on that end. Just hope it's not laziness.
come on now meese, being up by 2 with .5 secs left and a PF hits a 28ft 3 at the buzzer? That's not such a BAD result...getting blown out by 30,,that's a bad result. the game was ours to win and we didn't finish the job. too late for the blame game. Nico put us in a position to win this all on his own at the end.
You are wrong. Mo was a +11. Freeland was a +2. Wright was a +7. Leonard was a +3. None of the starters had a +. Matthews was a -13. Starters didn't build a lead. They came out and got punched by the Heat to start the game.
You're the one who loves to point to our overall record. I'm not talking about one game sweet cheeks. Wright was 1-4 last night, so that +7 doesn't mean shit to me.
You said the bench blew the lead last night. They didn't. The starters blew the game. Just admit you were wrong.
And we're 24-6. Bench must be doing something right. Stotts said Mo Williams is the "best backup PG in the league and we're lucky to have him."
I was with you, up to this point. While I agree that it was an "important" lesson to learn, I agree more with BBert, that for the lesson to really take hold, the Blazers had to lose. They've won too many games by pulling out a great last second shot, or dodging a bullet on an opposing team's last possession. The Blazers have hung tough while other teams have beaten themselves, or have gotten a little lucky. Against really good teams - which the Heat are, even without Lebron James - you've got to get them down and keep them down. Blazers gave Miami a fighter's chance, and the fighter took the chance and won. I hope to see the Blazers whip the crap out of the Pelicans in response to this, and then really redeem themselves with a win on the road against OKC.
It was an exaggeration, but surely you catch my drift. Those were pretty close to the most favorable possible circumstances for us to face that team. Are you seriously putting Ray Ray (and I love the guy, don't get me wrong) on the same level as LeBron right now? If we can't handily beat a team with 3 aging HOFers when they are tired and at our place, what does that say about our chances when they add a 4th, in his prime? And before you get too defensive, I'm not calling the season over or anything. We are still a good team. It was simply a game that revealed some issues that need to be addressed.
To be fair, Wade didn't play in Sacramento, and I believe Bosh was out too. So really, the 2 that were really affected by the Sacramento game... one of them was out, and one of them kicked our ass.
So everyone on their roster was either playing on the second night of a b2b (including Bosh, FWIW) or else recovering from nagging injuries/soreness (Wade, Ray, Birdman). Fair enough. I think my point stands.
The truth is we have been playing with fire since the Philly win. Then losses to minny and Miami and a bunch of nail biters is not a good outlook. I'm saying 3 game losing streak and we beat bobcats in a tight one.
