Game Thread GAME# 22: NUGGETS @ BLAZERS - NOVEMBER 30, 2018 - FRIDAY, 7:30 PM , ESPN & NBCSNW

I'm sorry I don't ever post in game threads. I don't get to watch the games.

 

And those two are considered "good" at defense. If they can't even defend well they shouldn't be in the game.

 

Regression is not what I was hoping for this season.

 

One other thing about the defense...

You have to mix up your pick and roll concepts. Doing the same thing every time leads to being too predictable. Being too predictable leads to the opposing team to know exactly how to attack it. This is why Harden was so shocked last year when the 2nd unit had that almost big comeback because he wasn't expecting Portland to do anything like that.

If I was playing against Portland I would run pick and roll every single time. If by chance it didn't work all I'd have to do is just wait about 3 seconds for an off the ball defender to fall asleep to give one of my teammates a wide open shot. This is coaching, not personnel. The concepts are bad, the adjustments are bad, and the lack of accountability is bad. If it was a matter of the players not executing what the coaches want then that is the coaches fault too. It would be completely different if you saw the players trying to execute properly but just weren't talented enough to do so. If Stotts saw that his players weren't doing what he is telling them to do they should be sat down or yelled at. I know he can do this because he did it to Meyers a few games ago when he was hesitating to shoot when open. Why don't the players falling asleep on defense get the same treatment?

 

They are good when they are up in someone's grill. SO STAY THE FUCK UP IN SOMEONE'S GRILL. That sagging off shit is KILLING us, game after game. They just need to play their fucking man and let our bigs do their job. Of course, if our guards can't do their jobs, then that MIGHT explain why they are sagging and helping so much, but it shouldn't. Just let the bigs bail out the guards. The alternative is the other team taking three point shooting practice while our players watch. I'd rather give up the two.

 

Agreed. It's on the coaches.

 

Another thing I've been saying for years!!

 

Glad you remember me. I meet Dame, and I went to Portland to watch 3 first games of the season. I was living in San Francisco

 

I forget my password of my previous account.

 

Me too! Unfortunately in the wrong forum!

 

You should ask @SlyPokerDog to help you with that?

 

It's been said by just about everyone who watches the Blazers in every forum there is. The Blazers do not defend the Pick N Roll well. And it isn't just Stotts. It's been that way since Mo Cheeks. The biggest culprit for years was Aldridge. Because he didn't want to mix it up and get contact. Then they got a little better with RoLo but that didn't last long. They started to get some improvement with Plumlee. It has literally been since they had Pryzbilla and Steve Blake when they had two guys that would stay on the PnR and show tough enough to make them pop it back out. That was a small period of time in 2008. The part i disagree with you on is that it is a coaching thing. Tough players play well against the PnR. Stotts can preach and yell all he wants but Tough is Tough. You don't coach toughness. Also.... The NBA rules have made hammering a guy on the PnR almost impossible. The touch fouls and whining have gotten way way out of control. The minute Nurk tries to stand in on a PnR he gets called for a touch foul. Hell even fighting through a screen is frowned upon. If Dame started fighting through every screen he would foul out in the second quarter these days.

I hear what you are saying about playing the PnR all day long but rule changes have also changed the game.

 

While being tough helps, the most important part of PnR defense is made before the screen occurs. The coach is the one who puts his philosophies in place on how to defend it. If the players aren't doing what the coach wants on screens then that is bad coaching.

Every coach you mentioned seemed stubborn to only use one type of PnR defense. You have to give the offense different looks, especially if you are dealing with poor defenders. Plumlee for example had to tell the coaches that they should blitz the PnR sometimes. Stotts was still not fully on board and after awhile it regressed back to only doing the same thing every time. My whole point is that they should mix it up and not stick to one strategy. If you're fouling, you're doing it wrong.

 

Why is everyone of this guys’ posts in Porteguese!?!?!

 

Totally agree that they have to switch it up. However fouling seems to be much much easier these days. Way too many Ticky Tack fouls being blown. There is also game situations. If you have a foul to give and you want to punish someone then that is the perfect time to lay down the law on them. But it seems now they want to watch video and see if it was a flag 1 or 2. The game has changed and with it P n R defense is a lot different.

 

Zach was showing on some side pick and rolls vs denver and we got destroyed doing it....

 

And he picked up 2 quick fouls. Then he had to lay off and guess what happened?

 

Yes he has pick up some dumb fouls this year and he had admitted to that but some his problems is he recovering slow due to he shutting down another man going in the lane and when try to recovers back on to his man his monument carriers into the shooter. When players drive on him sometimes he likes to place one of his hands on the guys hip.

 

I don't know what the fuck Zach is doing on defense when on the perimeter right now. It's almost like he's playing it the same way he plays post defense which is just begging for fouls.

 

I don't understand why you are focused so much on fouling. Good PnR defense doesn't require being physical, it's about being in the right positions, knowing when to switch, being able to hedge and recover back to your man. None of that involves fouling if done correctly, even with the more enforced rules. In fact, the defense should use the rules to their advantage. If you go the same path as the guy you are guarding the screener would have to move to get you. It got better last year but has reverted back to the old style of our guards doing a horrible job of navigating the picks. Sometimes they get blown up by a pick that they know is coming several seconds before it happens.