I haven’t seen them all year, I live in DC.

But I wake up every morning and see the same story - Dame Lillard has 40+ points, in a loss.

Their record is bad. I know the West is stacked, is that it?

For those in the know, help me out. Why aren’t the Blazers good?

Not too complicated. Outside of Whiteside, they don’t have a single net positive defender who plays real minutes.

I’m also not going to post about the players on the roster and their BPMs and VORPs, because it’ll end up spinning the post into a different, more specific topic... but the numbers are what they are. Outside of Dame and Whiteside, they’re aren’t really any players making a largely positive impact on the floor.

but more than that, it's the same issue they've had for years. Their two best offensive players dominate the ball and shoot too many jumpers...many of them bad shots. I actually think they should have traded Dame or McCollum and think they still should especially if they don't make the playoffs or end up getting bounced in the first round.

Only guy who plays defense is Whiteside and I wonder what they will do with him once Nukic is back.

Terry Stotts needs to be fired too. He may be a good coach, but you can't keep giving this guy so many chances.

If you played Steph in Dame’s place, you likely have the same results. You can’t have your best perimeter defender be a 35-year-old Ariza, surrounded by three bad defenders. Dame is easily a net positive player, but if he isn’t surrounded by guys who can defend, it won’t translate to serious winning.

but like Dstl1 said, they had Aminu and Harkless, and while I wouldn't have broken the bank to try and hold onto those guys, I would not have replaced them with the likes of Rodney Hood, Kent Bazemore, Melo or Ariza (since he's on his way out). They woulda been better off going after a guy like Marcus Morris instead.

And while Lillard and Steph's games are similar, I think the fact that Steph is a better % shooter than Dame makes a difference. I think Lillard needs to shoot less in general. I'm not sure you can win a chip with Lillard as your #1 player...especially if McCollum is your #2.

... if the team is built correctly around him. They got to the WCF last year with an *average* defense. I think if they found pieces to make good defense on the perimeter beyond Lillard, they could make a real run. But that's asking a lot.

It's a similar problem for a lot of the other perimeter stars who are unstoppable offensively but who are shitty on defense. If they don't have good defenders around them, there's a pretty hard cap on their ceiling.

Well, Lebron doesn't, but that's about it.

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O_E: "Acts like an asshole and posts with imperial disdain"




"I ORBITs the solar system, listenin..."

(C)Keith Murray, "

but they were long, slashed, hit the corner 3 and played defense.

He's gotten hot the last 2 months or so

think he was mired in one of, if not the, worst shooting slumps of his career

They're kinda setup like HOU on offense

If Dame ain't hittin', it's an L.

Houston's whole thing is take a 3, avoid 2 pointers like the plague unless it's wide open or you can draw a foul. That's why is Houston is 30th in 2-point attempts... but 3rd in 2-point percentage.

Meanwhile, Portland has a number of players who like taking mid-range jumpers. Several of their key minute contributors take as many or more mid-range Js than they do 3s. They're ninth in the NBA in 2-point attempts... and 25th in 2-point percentage. I don't think that's a coincidence. They also have a much lower FT rate (bottom third of the league), because they're taking so many jumpshots.

That's the biggest gripe I have with Portland's offense. Maybe if they were making a high percentage of mid-rangers, running more of that would make sense... if you play no defense, you take a lot of mid-range shots, and you miss a lot of mid-range shots, then it's going to be really hard for you to out-score teams in the modern NBA.

you cant have two turnstiles on defense in your backcourt

www.engadgethd.com - the other stuff i'm looking at

He's played the vast majority of the season.

www.engadgethd.com - the other stuff i'm looking at

he's played 51 out of 55 games.

www.engadgethd.com - the other stuff i'm looking at

because of injury

www.engadgethd.com - the other stuff i'm looking at

side of 35, a center that is a great rebounder/shot blocker but gets ate up on pick & rolls and offensively his game his mostly putbacks & dunks. Outside of that young Simons kid the rest of that roster is trash.

Terry Stotts is a trash coach.

.

idk if I'd be relying on Ariza in the year 2020, melo is what he is

but they'd be steadier

www.engadgethd.com - the other stuff i'm looking at

he plays hard, defends, blocks shots and is improving offensively. I can see him as their starting PF when he gets back.

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