Terry Stotts says he doesn't want to change the defensive system because he doesn't want the team to have to learn an entirely new system during the year. However, we are literally last in the league in defensive efficiency (tied with Brooklyn and the Lakers). How could our defense possibly be any worse than it is?
It couldn't make the defense any worse, but it could make the offense worse by taking up too much of their practice time. And offense is the only thing keeping us afloat.
I don't think switching would help. Just not enough practice time to install a new system, and they still are going to have personnel problems that only get helped with a trade or Festus finally getting healthy. In the meantime, upping their intensity is probably the most realistic remedy.
We weren't this bad even Lillards rookie year. At this point I dont' think you look at the system and say "thats the only reason we are so bad at D", I think you look at the effort by players. Its not the systems fault that we dont' want to dive after loose balls, that we stand around for rebounds that we are not fighting through screens and rotating badly, that people are just straight up losing their man and not stoping penetration at all.
Last years team was noticeably better defensively than this years team. It's like they don't know, or care, that defense is what wins titles. As long as the coaching staff and general manager has that mindset, the Blazers are never going to compete in the league for anything more than a lotto pick.
Quick had a story a few days ago. He said Terry subbed Mason in to guard the ball on a last possession in a quarter in MEM. Kept imploring him multiple times after just putting him in to go at the ball handler. MEM inbounded the ball, and Mason was sitting under the rim instead of guarding the ball. Quick said this was just one similar instance of guys listening, acknowledging, but in the end, forgetting key defensive principles that Terry is asking for. I don't think it's some revolt as much as it is their focus hasn't been consistently there.
This guy seems to think the problem is lack of execution and one of things he addresses is Plumlee's tendency to drop back too far. Not sure about his idea that our guards need to get around the screener sooner, doesn't this set them up for the opposing guard switching direction? http://www.blazersedge.com/2016/12/...enetration-pick-roll-lillard-mccollum-plumlee
It's an excuse. Tater doesn't want to have to teach a new defensive system because he doesn't have one. It's not like his basketball philosophies are all that intricate - what he has implemented (both offensively and defensively) wouldn't take more than a few practices to sink in.
Not until mid January when Stotts told the team they needed to be at least top 15 in the league to make the playoffs.
You know who also ran the Weave almost exclusively? Mo Cheeks. It's like these guys never learned a thing after their 3rd grade YMCA basketball camp.
This, thank you. Some clown on Twitter actually told me a couple days ago that I was smoking something if I thought Stotts was the problem, or that he should be fired. He's got maybe 2 plays in his entire play book. It's gotten old and predictable, and he hasn't changed it at all since he got here. Frankly, I've never been impressed with the guy. Much like Jim Harbaugh: great results with an All-Pro roster, but when his All-Pros went away, the 9ers were lucky to break 8-8. So Stotts had an All-Star-caliber team with Aldridge, Batum, Matthews, and Lillard. And because they were so good defensively and offensively, we could afford to sacrifice a bit of skill at the Center position with Lopez....who got eaten alive by most Centers who were good or Elite. And now that Stotts doesn't have a team of elite/close-to-elite players, then he needs to change up his playbook. And he hasn't. He keeps expecting Mason Plumlee or Meyers Leonard to do the things that Aldridge could do: set a decent screen, play decent defense, and shoot. And they haven't, nor are they ever going to. Because say what you want about Aldridge, but he put in the work relentlessly: enough to gain 41 lbs of muscle in one season and still keep his performance up (and improve). But instead of changing his playbook up to fit his new players specific skills set, he's kept it the same. And it's just not translating. And even worse: teams are adjusting to the plays and exploiting the weaknesses that may not have been there in 2012 and 2013. He either needs a new playbook and a new Defensive strategy, or he needs to go. Throwing fits on the fucking sidelines and getting Technicals because your players are lost with your playbook being predictable, as well as your team's lack of Defense, is not helping matters.
Is it just me, or is it actually crazy to be bitching about an offense that just put up 120 points on a team that typically holds opponents to around 100 ppg, especially when that offense is ranked by Hollinger as the 8th most efficient in the league? I know the Blazers have lost 4 in a row and are generally underachieving, but, damn, offense is not the problem.
Offense isn't the problem until the end of games when teams decide to trap Dame/CJ and disregard everyone else. Portland doesn't have a game plan to take advantage of the rest of the wide open players and they bog down in a hurry. It's part of the reason we have struggled so much in closing 4th quarters.
I'm not sure what offensive plan can be drawn up at the end of games to include the consistent low post scoring threat that we don't have on the roster.
They don't have one...but that doesn't mean there isn't a better way to prepare for the inevitable trapping at the end of a close game. Portland's offense grinds to a screeching halt in many cases when this happens like it is the first time it has ever occurred.
