NBA GM's Diss the Blazers

Discussion in 'Portland Trail Blazers' started by wizenheimer, Oct 5, 2021.

  1. wizenheimer

    wizenheimer Well-Known Member

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    kind of funny that it wasn't an issue in 2018-19 when the Blazers made it to the WCF with a much better bench defensively. Of course, Kanter was the starter then. Still, that team's defensive rating was 16th in the league...with Kanter. Kanter wasn't so bad defensively that he couldn't be played back then

    where Kanter is really bad is at sticking his fingers in the dyke and stopping the tsunami of opposing perimeter players getting by the perimeter defense of the Blazers

    you know what?...I'm going to call a partial bullshit on the "Kanter can't play in the playoffs" narrative.... Portland was 29th in the NBA in defense last year giving up 116.0 rating. Kanter hardly played in the playoffs; only 11 minutes a game and a DNP-CD. Yet, against a team missing their starting back court and 2nd best offensive player, the Blazers gave up a defensive rating of 123.4. They were 7.4 points worse in the playoffs than in the regular season, and that's with Kanter playing only playing 38% of the minutes he did in the regular season. IMO, Kanter became the scapegoat of a failed defense, and he was not the one most responsible
     
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  2. riverman

    riverman Writing Team

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    I like Kanter, would've brought him back...as far as comparing him to Zeller, let's see how Zeller plays as a Blazer for a few months before we decide that...Melo left quickly in the offseason without waiting for the Blazers to shuffle some pieces before bringing him back...Melo wanted to be a Laker. Of the two, I'd have kept Kanter....reality is Kanter got so many offensive boards off the bench because of some poor shooting off our bench....we shoot better there just won't be that many offensive boards. The title of this thread is wrong...GMs dissing the Blazers? Show me where you get that impression....the only dissing is coming from agents and GMs who want Lillard in a big market...the media will undersell the Blazers every preseason....HCP is so pumped for the Lakers that he's jinxing the Blazers roster this season? Lot of bench hate bro
     
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  3. Fairly-Hard

    Fairly-Hard Former Member Gone New!

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    Seriously speaking I don’t think this is a Diss at all. Pretty much agree with all of this.
     
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  4. Phatguysrule

    Phatguysrule Well-Known Member

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    Yeah, I don't think he was most of the problem either. Specifically because of his elite rebounding.

    But if you're looking to improve on defense he's one of the players you'd look at.
     
  5. Minstrel

    Minstrel Top Of The Pops Global Moderator

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    Kanter can play in the playoffs situationally. Against teams that don't have the types of perimeter players that can hunt mismatches and exploit them and that sort of offensive philosophy, sure, he can at least body up his man and provide some resistance.

    If the Blazers could somehow play, say, the 76ers in the playoffs, I wouldn't consider Kanter unplayable at all. Let him bang against Embiid, maybe use up 5-6 fouls while making Embiid work on the other end. If the Blazers are up against the Warriors, in the playoffs? Totally unplayable. Every possession would be Kanter's man screening for Curry or Klay or Poole and then either Kanter getting completely roasted because he can't move laterally or the entire Blazers defense being in crisis mode. Nurkic has similar issues, just not quite as pronounced because he has better defensive instincts. Every center that isn't highly mobile has this issue to some extent, Kanter is just particularly bad at it. That's where the meme that Kanter can't play in the playoffs came from--it emerged in this heavy screen action, mismatch hunting era.
     
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  6. riverman

    riverman Writing Team

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    I've often thought that Kanter played his best with the starting unit....that's when we went to the WCF...he had Chief to bail him out defensively on that team...bit different from playing next to Melo off the bench
     
  7. Buffalo Custard

    Buffalo Custard Well-Known Member

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    Just as an aside, I find it interesting how the definition of "good defense" has changed over the decades I have been following the sport. Rebounding used to be considered an important part of defense for a big man. Rebounds = possesion, and that means you can score and the other team can't. Pretty straight forward.

    I'm not sure when or why the importance of rebounding became secondary.
     
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  8. Ed O

    Ed O Administrator Staff Member Administrator

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    It seems the Blazers are getting a lot of respect here... it's a team that hasn't gotten anything of consequence from the draft in years, has an unproven coach, and has two of three of its best players either consistently hurt (Nurk) or choking in the playoffs (CJ). That the Blazers are considered to be a playoff team in spite of it all is pretty remarkable.
     
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  9. KSF-ERIC

    KSF-ERIC Well-Known Member

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    There’s no rebound to get if the other team makes the shot. On the other side of the court, his offensive rebounding was very helpful.
     
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  10. Phatguysrule

    Phatguysrule Well-Known Member

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    Rebounding well isn't as effective when the other team doesn't miss because they get layups past your immobile big.
     
  11. Buffalo Custard

    Buffalo Custard Well-Known Member

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    True, but forcing a miss and then giving up an offensive board isn't very effective either.
     
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  12. Phatguysrule

    Phatguysrule Well-Known Member

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    If you force lower percentage shots than layups/dunks and grab 20% fewer rebounds you're way ahead.
     

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