After watching the Clippers and Warriors, it has become painfully obvious that our defense needs some serious work. The Clips and Dubs can take away our first, sometimes even our second option on offense. Stotts has been great at making adjustments and trying to manage the bleeding, but our defense just isn't anywhere near the same level as these two teams. That's fine. We're young, this is our first go with this unit, and we're learning. But how much of the gap is inexperience and how much is just a lack of ability? We couldn't stop Paul. We couldn't stop Crawford (he stops himself though, so it's fine.) We couldn't stop Rivers. We couldn't stop Klay. We have seen the types of defense that win championships. The Warriors have it. The Spurs have it. How do we get to that level? Can we get to that level? Is it possible with Dame/CJ in the backcourt?
Better players and better schemes. I wish we had a defensive anchor. Someone that's going to hold everyone else accountable for making mistakes or getting beat. I would love to have a Kevin Garnett, a prime Noah, Draymond Green type of player who is going to take it upon himself to lift up his teammates on defense. In terms of personnel, I think we have a lot of good pieces. Crabbe, Harkless, Aminu, Plumlee, and Davis can all be plus defenders in the right situation. Plumlee and Davis ideally in a bench role with a legit rim protector to cover up CJ and Dame's mistakes.
Yeah, Whiteside might be a good defensive player, but I don't think he could be the player you're describing. He's not going to lift up his teammates.
I can just see the Whiteside tossing up horrendous shots as the outlet when teams trap Dame and CJ. I'm really not feeling Whiteside.
How many players in the league can captain a defense? Dwight isn't that guy. He's too soft spoken and he mopes. I'm trying to think of names.
Maybe he doesn't even have to play. I would love to have Garnett as a mentor to this young team, but that would never happen. We can sign Noah, but I don't think he's a starter at this point. Draymond Green, Bogut, TD....it's usually someone with a lot of experience. I think Dwight could be that guy if properly motivated and in the right situation.
In general we need to be more active on defense. There are too many times where it seems we are just standing and watching and waiting to react to what the offense is going to do to us, rather than constantly moving, communicating, anticipating what the offense is trying to do.
Second best defense in the league is anchored by Horford and Millsap. Third best defense is anchored inside by Ian Mahinmi (FA), but having PG on the wings, and George Hill up top helps in that respect.
This. I attribute a lot of it to being young and inconsistent, and another part due to Stotts not being a great defensive coach. That is why it would be AMAZING to have someone on the roster to coach this guys. Preferably someone who is or has been a great defensive player in the past. Someone who can fill Kaman's role, but for defense.
Stotts runs the exact same system on D as Frank Vogel. Vogel's team was the third best defense in the league this past season. Difference here is he could put PG on wing scorers and guards. We had Aminu, but he's no PG. He also had George Hill fighting over picks and still contesting midrange shots. We had Dame running into picks and giving up wide open shots. He had Mahinmi protecting the paint (who has surprisingly good numbers in rim protection). We had Plums, who has among the worst numbers. Terry has some major flaws, and in general, I kinda hate this conservative defense. But it can work with the right personnel.
Okay but the difference between his personnel and ours is so blatantly obvious. How are you even supposed to compare them when they have George? Stotts should be designing a defense that takes advantage of the personnel he has. We have so many mobile bigs I have no idea why we run ice instead of hedging out a little. Help out the guards that get beat easily and maybe you prevent more penetration. Plumlee and Davis are not real rim protectors so playing them as such doesn't make too much sense to me.
It's a long-shot, but the Warriors could move Bogut if they actually have a shot at Durant. They'll need to open up some cap space and I assume they'd rather keep Ezeli over Bogut, since he's younger. Bogut's obviously not a long-term solution, but he could potentially help turn the Blazers' defense around for a year or two while they try to find a long-term solution. Since it would a salary dump, the Blazers wouldn't need to give up any talent to acquire him, so it'd be the equivalent of a free agent signing. He's only signed for one more season, so he's not a bad contract.
Perhaps its just a carryover from years past. Didn't we improve to top 5 defense with Wes/Nic/Rolo before Wes went down? Maybe this defense is "his thing".
Yeah, but again....Wes/Nic/Rolo instead of CJ/Aminu/Plumlee. Plumlee is really a godawful rim protector, to no fault of his own. He actually contests a lot of shots but he's just no threat at all. You can ice all you want but if your big can't adequately protect the rim anyways how much are you really deterring teams from challenging?
We haven't seen our guys be there best in the playoffs yet. If the Blazers are running on all cylinders on both ends, we can match either team, we showed that during the season...we just need to show it now
Honestly when I look at Plumlee I see someone who should be wreaking havoc on defense by being everyone's help man. Hedging on shooters and doubling or covering guys that have beaten their man while still being quick enough to recover on his own man. He's shown the ability to be a good weakside shot blocker, and is definitely quick enough to guard most 4s in the league. Instead he's planted in the paint, forced to protect the rim against players who literally laugh at his defensive presence.
