With the Bulls, T'Wolves, Kings (x2), Raptors and Pacers coming up in the next six games, I'm willing to bet that the Blazers' defense moves up a few spots in the ranks vs what they faced in offensive fire power in their first six games.
Quick taking the low hanging fruit as usual. He knows this and he knows these numbers will change as soon as the teams they have played are not just the Lakers, Clippers, Houston, GoldenState, and the Jazz. By the way all expected to make the playoffs. As soon as the competition levels out and the team gets some more time together these numbers will change. By the way the team is not practicing on the road. A home stand will make a difference. The defensive numbers will change. Also the next time they go on the road they will be in a much better spot with a center in much better condition. Classic Jason Quick stirring shit to get a rise out of people and clicks for his articles.
Sure, and the defense has to improve dramatically if the Blazers want to advance in the playoffs against teams of that caliber. That said, comparing defensive stats this early in the season, when some teams have played very soft schedules vs. what the Blazers have faced, is pretty useless. My suspicion is that the Blazers will end up a solid middle-tier defensive team and a top-5 offensive team by the end of the season. That's a combination that has a chance in the playoffs.
If they make the playoffs they will be playing a much better brand of basketball. If this current roster never really meshes and or they decide the season is a mess and the fire the coach (Which could happen) then they will not have to worry about that. Expectations for some reason are way through the roof on this site? ESPN doesn't even have them making the playoffs this year. I have them making the playoffs but i think my number on the prediction thread was 40-32. Where does that put them? 7th spot? Are you looking for a Championship this year? Really? I would be shocked and amazed if this team gets through the second round.
I know it's early, but i don't see any difference in our defense compared to last year, the scheme looks the same, yeah we have RoCo and DJJ but they won't turn a horrible defense into a average defense
Chemistry is really important to becoming a good defensive team....we have the pieces...just not the miles yet....it's WAY to early to compile league stats....most teams in the league haven't even played each other yet. ...defensive strings take lots of repetitions and we've had little time to put that together...I think we'll be way better 20 games in...if we get worse by then, I'll have been wrong. Until then though....it's too early to compare in my view..when we've played good defense it's been really good....just not consistent yet
You are not paying attention. They have been on the road for 4 games. They had 3 days practice and a week before the season. They had one day practice before the road trip since the regular season started. They tried to implement small portions of defense but lack of practice other than real game time has created issues with communication and overall defensive cohesion. They cannot practice on the road due to Covid-19 rules like they usually can. They are now going to have a long home stand where they can actually practice between games. Give them another 14 games and see where they are?
It may sound weird, but realism has nothing to do with my point. In another thread, I demonstrated that to be a contender you really want to be a.. 1) Top 10 offense, Top 5 defense 2) Top 5 offense, Top 10 defense The former is very unlikely. So, we have to look to the latter. I certainly respect your opinion that we're not going to get there. What @TBpup and I are saying is that your "realistic expectations" means we're not going to be a contender this season.
but there were posters here who recently insisted the defense was going to perform better against the mediocre offenses in this stretch. Wut happened?
