Is our defense better?

Discussion in 'Portland Trail Blazers' started by Bingo Bango, Oct 16, 2021.

  1. Bingo Bango

    Bingo Bango Well-Known Member

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    Billups was hired to improve the Blazers’ defense. He made a point of saying everyone on the team was going to have to give 100 percent in that area. We were winless in the preseason, but for those of you who watched the games, have you noticed any improvement in the defense?
     
  2. B-Roy

    B-Roy If it takes months

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    At time. For stretches. Then once they have a few bad possessions the floodgates just open.
     
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  3. Mr. Robot

    Mr. Robot Well-Known Member

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    the effort on defense is certainly better, but it may be nothing more than trying to impress the new head coach, se we can only hope it continues throughout the season

    obviously, few weeks and 4 games are not enough to become better defensive team, it will require time & patience and there will be times when the team will look completely lost on that end

    mid season well have a better picture, but im optimistic
     
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  4. wizenheimer

    wizenheimer Well-Known Member

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    it would be kind of hard for it not to be better than last year. IIRC, Portland had the 2nd or 3rd west defense, by defensive rating, in NBA history

    what matters isn't really defensive rating or offensive rating....it's the net rating differential. If Portland improves their defense by 3 points/100-possessions but loses 3 points on offense, they make no progress
     
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  5. blazerkor

    blazerkor Well-Known Member

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    Our guys haven't figured out the new scheme (hell they basically don't know how to play team defense) and when they do figure it out I don't know if they'll be athletic enough and give enough energy to make it work. Ideally we would have one bad defender traded and one good defender coming into the starting lineup. We haven't really seen the bench because Nas had a terrible first game and then couldn't play and Snell hasn't been able to play, while in the first game Zeller's D looked solid until he could no longer play.
     
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  6. THE HCP

    THE HCP NorthEastPortland'sFinest

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    Actually it is! Nice!

    upload_2021-10-16_18-56-3.jpeg
     
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  7. MickZagger

    MickZagger Well-Known Member

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  8. BonesJones

    BonesJones https://www.youtube.com/c/blazersuprise

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    I don't agree with that last statement. If they team can play multiple defensive schemes and are less predictable offensively then their more set-up for postseason success despite not having a gain in net-rating differential during the regular season.
     
  9. THE HCP

    THE HCP NorthEastPortland'sFinest

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    After 30 games, yes I agree.
     
  10. Hoopguru

    Hoopguru Well-Known Member

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    Dame is under contract for 4 years and people want to blow it up.
    Maybe at the end of the season revaluate.
     
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  11. wizenheimer

    wizenheimer Well-Known Member

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    well, that's your theory, but I doubt it's ever reality. Net rating is very important. Just for fun, I just checked the net ratings of the past 10 NBA finals teams; 20 teams, and these are their net rankings:

    2021 > 3rd - 4th
    2020 > 5th - 7th
    2019 > 2nd - 3rd
    2018 > 3rd - 14th
    (Cleveland)
    2017 > 1st - 7th
    2016 > 2nd - 4th
    2015 > 1st - 5th
    2014 > 1st - 4th
    2013 > 2nd - 4th
    2012 > 3rd - 4th

    so then, out of 20 teams,

    * 10 were in the top-3
    * 15 were in the top-4
    * 17 were in the top-5
    * 19 were in the top-7

    I'd be surprised if you could find any other team stat...offense, defense, rebounding, shooting...any of them, where the correlation between the stat and ultimate playoff success tracks so closely. I'd imagine you'd get a little more variance as you go down the playoff matchups, but I'd still bet that net-rating correlates really well
     
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  12. Phatguysrule

    Phatguysrule Well-Known Member

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    Don't blow up shit. Get another legit star here with Dame, then build around them.

    Blowing it up will not help us get past this point now or in the future.
     
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  13. BonesJones

    BonesJones https://www.youtube.com/c/blazersuprise

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    Obviously being a good team is a good thing. Nobody's arguing that. Simply saying that it isn't the end all, be all... Certain teams style of play translate better to the playoffs than not. Do you think otherwise?
     
  14. Rastapopoulos

    Rastapopoulos Well-Known Member

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    There was that one time the Warriors' announcer called it "tenacious". (Somebody needed to set a pick of destiny.)

    And then Steph Curry went off for an effortless 40.
     
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  15. Hoopguru

    Hoopguru Well-Known Member

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  16. wizenheimer

    wizenheimer Well-Known Member

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    what I think is that more than anything else, high end talent wins in the playoffs. And teams with high end talent will have better regular season net ratings because high end talent is the most consistent. If you're looking for some type of correlation...or predictor...for which teams will advance the farthest, you won't find a better one than regular season net rating. Like all stats, it's not a perfect predictor, but it's better than the rest; a little better than MOV

    now if what you're saying is that team success is built on a better balance between offense and defense, sure, I'd agree. But that balance will be evident in those net ratings. For teams like Portland, it becomes a bop-a-mole game. Can a team improve their defense without harming their offense, or vice-versa? The Blazers had one of the best offensive ratings all time last season, but because they also had an historically bad defense, their net was only +1.8. But that lacks critical context because thru 60 games, their net was only +0.2. It was their last 12 games that bumped that number so high:

    upload_2021-10-17_9-25-8.png

    so, in that instance, net rating was deceptive. The reality was they were a team closer to zero than +1.8. And that became apparent in the playoffs. Portland's best net ratings in the stolshey era so far were in 2013-14. 2014-15, & 2018-19. Those were the three times Portland topped the 50 win mark. And, not coincidentally, the Blazers best playoff showings were in 2013-14 and 2018-19. In 2014-15, the Blazers lost Matthews late season and Aldridge had checked out by the playoffs

    gauging anything solid by a 4 game pre-season is fairly useless, but using that bop-a-mole gauge, from what I've seen it's likely the Blazer defense will be improved, but it's entirely possible the offense will regress. The net rating may not change. From what Billups has said, and Dame has said, Portland will be taking the ball out of Dame's hands more. Out of the hands of their one elite offensive talent. Maybe that will preserve Dame's endurance some, but it will not be a better offense with CJ and Nurkic and Powell taking touches and shot clock from Dame
     
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  17. Fairly-Hard

    Fairly-Hard Former Member Gone New!

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    I'll get back to you when they have played 20-30 games. Way too early to ask this question.
     
  18. Pinwheel1

    Pinwheel1 Well-Known Member

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    I like the apparent hustle but right now I see too much help defense that always seems to leave 1 player open at the 3 pt line. Too many teams with multiple 3 pt shooters for that to work.
     
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  19. James lamphear

    James lamphear Well-Known Member

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    That what saying do they have the right personal to play this type of defense right now I am saying no.
     
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  20. KSF-ERIC

    KSF-ERIC Well-Known Member

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    Being 30th in turnovers is a good thing.
     

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