Game Thread GAME# 51: RAPTORS @ BLAZERS - FEBRUARY 4, 2016 - THURSDAY, 7:00 PM (PST), KGW

This game made me very mad.

Mad because i didn't notice the line for this game was Toronto (+1), fucking hell! that's such a good bet!

Other than that? no worries really. I expected them to lose this game, we are not a 10 game winning streak team yet.

 

Saving that for next month.

 

damn the salt.... I'm not bashing. I made an observation. Remove tampon please and give to your mom!

 

Maybe one day Terry Stotts will learn how to defend a pick and roll ... My goodness, it took until the 47th minute to make a single adjustment to our PnR defense. Stotts is a good offensive coach, but his defensive strategies leave a lot to be desired.

 

I don't think Stotts is a great defensive mind, but really this is more about Jimmies and Joes, not Xs and Os; Damian and McCollum are below average perimeter defenders which leaves our bigs exposed a lot of times.

 

It's okay, they obviously got back at you in other ways.

 

So Lowry and DeRozan are above average defenders? Maybe Lowry is - I've never noticed either way with him. But I've never been impressed with DeRozan as a defender. What last night showed us is that a team with a good concept can play great defense regardless of the "Jimmies and Joes". Defense is where coaches are measured, because you DON'T need great individual defenders to be a great defensive team - you need (1) a good defensive system, (2) the ability to teach your players how to play within that system, and (3) your players to buy into the system. Whereas on offense coaches can hide behind great offensive players.

 

Thought I was the only Jays fan in this forum...challenge on.

 

They are rehashing it under a new name soon I think. Classic streaming sites. I used nbahd for this game

 

We need more talent. The coaching was not the problem.

 

I guess Stotts got a lot smarter in the second half of the game since the Blazers played some terrific defense then.

 

They can certainly play good defense at times, but it's generally increased effort rather than a change in the system. A lot of that "good defense" came from Crabbe/CJ/etc poking the ball away and gambling on defense. It worked, but it's hardly evidence of a good defensive system. I'm definitely in favor of allowing Crabbe, CJ, and Harkless to gamble on defense, but we still need a good 5-man defense.

 

Lowry is a pretty good defender in my estimation - very physical, Derozan . . . I don't know, maybe he's better now (at the very least he length and size). As for scheme, and coaching I agree that it matters quite a bit, but that doesn't change the fact that Damian and McCollum are both below average in that department. It's one of the reasons I think the two of them paired as starters is a no-go longterm.

 

I agree that individually neither Dame nor CJ are great defenders. But I've noticed that Dame has definitely improved this season, and CJ isn't as bad as people make him out to be. He has a knack for poking the ball away and is at least active on defense. I'm not willing to give up on them just because neither are great individual defenders because I think that can be mitigated with a great defensive system. The fact that both are willing to play defense tells me they can both be part of a good defensive team. Now if in 2-3 years, under better coaching, they still aren't cutting the mustard then I'd certainly look to make a change - but right now it's too early, IMO, to make that call since we've only seen them play defense under Stotts.

 

People? It's one guy. It's the same "one guy" who has been on his case all season.

 

This^

 

Little bit different from criticizing a pick and roll scheme....

 

right now I think Toronto is quite a bit better than the Blazers and is a team you aren't going to beat giving them a 37 pt first qtr