i think we'll slot in to middle of the pack in both categories around game 10, which is a win in my book
If someone had told me the Blazers would finish middle of the pack in both ORTG and DRTG, I’d take it! A pretty substantial improvement from where I thought they’d be at this point.
After Game 4: ORTG: 115.0 (9th) DRTG: 106.7 (9th) NETRTG: +8.3 (7th) Hopefully they can keep up the intensity on the defensive end. You knew, at some point, the offense would come alive.
What’s crazy to me: You’d think we’re not shooting that well from 3 based on the first 3 games, we’re actually shooting 37%, but that’s in a 3 way tie for 13th. Seven teams above 39%, Cavs at 44%. Small sample size but holy cow has the league just gotten that crazy at shooting the ball? Steph changed the game fr.
I don't think your stat takes into account the Denver game: Still, your larger point stands. We're hitting at nearly 40% and only in 7th place! That's pretty nuts. It used to be you counted yourself lucky if you had one guy who could hit at that consistency. Is there a tracker for deep threes? Because I feel like by the end of the year we may not lead the league in 3pt%, but we may lead the league in scoring from 30-35 feet. Dame, Ant and Sharpe all seem to have range for miles. Having multiple shooters who can spread the floor that much has got to create all kinds of driving lanes for Hart and Grant.
The most astonishing number to me is our FTAs. It's a 47% improvement over last year! Portland is second in the league (and first in %). Turns out if you swap guys like CJ, Roco, Aminu and Harkless for wings who can actually dribble the damn ball and penetrate to the rim, you can generate free throws. In years past it was Dame getting the other team in foul trouble, but then we had nobody who could really take advantage of the other team being in the penalty. If there's one thing from these first 4 games that I think we can rely on for the remainder of the year, it's that we're going to take a lot of free throws while Dame stays healthy.
So some historical context.... In the month of October last year, we were 3-3. ORTG: 110 (6th) DRTG: 106.3 (16th) The defense fell to 29th in November when teams started figuring us out. Hopefully we have some counters this year and our defense now is more sustainable.
Seeing Grant get easy buckets at the rim while AD and LeBron were defending was a very welcome change. DameCJ teams had a lot of good centers with Plumlee, Ed Davis, Kanter, now Nurk. But we've had so many trash starting forwards that couldn't do anything when defense overplayed our guards. Harkless and Aminu really should be middle of the bench guys; instead of our starters for a half decade. Zach Collins and Meyers were projects that couldn't move on offense. Melo was ISO ball, too old to exploit drives, really better as a backup scoring option with defensive bench players. If Grant and other forwards can continue to punish over extended defense it could start to make our offense extremely hard to defend.
I actually like a lot of what we saw with schemes on defense at the start of last year. Part of the reason I was optimistic of Chauncey regardless of last season's results. The teams offense became a real problem, Dame injuries, the 3 guard lineup. Season just started to fall apart. I'm not especially concerned with the same happening again. Obviously its very early in the season and a lot will change. Our bench has been huge this season on both ends too; if they can be an asset instead of so many years as a liability that can make a big difference.
I agree. Many were calling for an upgrade at the forward position for 5+ years. Still, I don't think many realized how bad our forwards were during the post-Aldridge stretch and what limitations it put on the team and the offense they could run. Grant/Hart are a welcomed addition.
That 97 ORTG on half court sets is shocking. That team's offense needs a big upgrade and it all starts with off the ball movement. There is just not enough of it in the current scheme. Honestly, this is the biggest worry going forward. Good offensive rebounding teams (See Miami) are going to kill the Blazers unless the half court offense improves radically.
Blazers are much more efficient in transition than in half court. Opponents getting more offensive rebounds means the Blazers get fewer defensive rebounds, resulting in fewer transition opportunities. Thus, more of the less efficient halfcourt sets, and less efficient offense overall.
After Game 6: Source: NBA.com Advanced Stats ORTG: 114.2 (11th) DRTG: 109.6 (11th) NETRTG: +4.6 (7th) Source: ESPN Hollinger Team Stats OFF EFF: 113.8 (6th) DEF EFF: 107.4 (12th) Source: cleaningtheglass.com Offense: 115.7 (11th) Pts Scored/100 Possessions Defense: 111.8 (14th) Pts Allowed/100 Possessions
