I watched the Lakers-Magic game. The Magic had a big lead and then the Lakers locked in on defense and didn't let them get anything. They came back all the way to tie the game and it looked like they're going to win it, until.... The Magic realised that they're not getting anything on offense but they can stop the Lakers from scoring as well, so they locked in on defense and then defense turned to offense, a layup, a dunk and the Magic won the game. My Issue with this team is we can't lock down other teams, at all. Offense is about talent which makes it less dependable. defense is about focus, effort and determination, it's easier to decide to not let the other team score than to decide you're going to score yourself, which makes it more dependable. My main issue, of all our players, is with our top player, Damian Lillard. If you watch him play defense, you'd think less of him as a player, that's the sad truth. I'm not saying this because it can't be changed, I'm saying this to hold him accountable and make him step up, he shies away from the entire defensive game, is matched on the other team's weaker guard and stays with him at all costs, almost never coming to help. If the opposing big sets a screen, he would just go by him to get back to his man leaving the big wide open. And it's not that he can't learn, he has the ability to be a good one on one defender and the intelligence to learn team defense.
He takes possessions off, and he’s never been an elite defender, or an elite team defense guy, but honestly all offensive stars do that. Steph, Russ, Harden, Kyrie, Lebron, Giannis, AD, KD, etc. He’s about on par with most of those guys, he can turn it on and be an adequate defender. The one thing he cant do is he doesnt have the physical tools to be an elite defender for stretches of the game. The problem to me is CJ is at least defensively very similar to that description, and honestly most of their guards are, so they’re almost always playing two guys who arent very good on defense. Neither has the length to really cover a lot of ground quickly either. All that said, the teams defense isnt that bad. Nurk, Collins, and Aminu can be disruptive on defense. Seth, doesnt have the physical qualities to scare anyone but he’s usually at least where he should be on defense. Moe when healthy has proven he can be a capable defender. There problem to me is that when the ball isnt going in their defense gets WORSE, their offense dictates their defense. It seems likr when they start missing shots the other team all of a sudden starts getting whatever they want.
Kobe was an elite defender, MJ was an elite defender, some of the players you mentioned while not elite don't make their team play 4 on 5 on defense. Why does he need to take possesions off? and if he does play just one side of the floor, is he really all NBA? Basketball is about offense And Defense.
Kobe took a lot of possessions off too. Heck Kobe took a half off in the playoffs to prove a point... Its a completely different league today too, that hand checking rule has made it a much different game defensively, the best defenders are all really long players. Yes Dame is All NBA because he was voted 1st team, and led his team to 49 wins in a historically tough conference. Do I wish he played better defense? Yeah of course, but really I wish Stotts would change how the whole team plays defense so...
Is Hardenx or Russ, or Steph not All-NBA the? Is Rondo more of an "All-NBA" player than them? If Dame wore himself out more, our offense would struggle because we rely too much on him creating everything against set defenses. Maybe if we fixed that, he'd have more energy to expand defensively.
I always felt like Kobe played defense when he felt like it. I think a lot of guys were more scared of him than he was actually a great defender.
Defense takes effort. You don't need to learn how to do that Two things happened AT Milwaukee. 1. No effort 2. Scouting and adjustments
Hey. stop bringing facts to this. This is about hottakes and typing on a forum so the organization can hold players accountable!
The Blazers do need defense that is determined and tenacious like we saw in the home Bucks game. The actions need to be started by Nurk, Chief, and Jake, but led and driven by Dame and CJ. Scoring will be aided by early defensive intensity, like the start of the Warriors game and the determined defense needs to be consistent. For that reason, the timing of substitutions to keep the energy level up should be open to changes at 4 min and 6 min like Steve Kerr did. At least by the 8 min point the Blazers are likely to see a boost from fresh bench players with instructions to keep aggressive, pass-denying play that keeps Clippers scoring down and triggers Blazer offense. I would play Blazers with the hot hand, and note that Meyers if scoring on 75% to 85% of his swish3s when he shooting in the 1st quarter. With willingness to make enough substitutions, the Blazers can have a great game and a win.
DISCIPLINE. We have PLENTY of talent, but Stotts lets our guards and the rest of the team play glorified street ball. There's no reason in hell Aminu and Turner should be chucking up 3s when the game is on the line. Or, that Damian should be chucking a 3 over Gallinari with the game on the line when the middle was wide open. This is discipline and it's on the coach to instill it.
This is a thread about defense lol. Discipline? Dame and C.J. have to create everything. So they should play more disciplined and do what, exactly? Stotts doesnt command discipline because the foundation for the offense that he established himself is to rely on Dame and C.J. to do everything.
Our best offense has been when we build our offense through Nurk. EASILY. Nurk should be getting the ball almost everytime down the floor. It's nonsense to suggest otherwise. The numbers are there. Stotts needs to figure it out or finally move onto another job. His stale offense is easy to predict. We're last in assists for a reason.
Stotts. Showboat unsubtle offense. No defensive system, just energy. His only goal is to maximize game velocity.
