It was a dreary, grey weekend here in the Pacific Northwest and if you were a Portland Trail Blazers fan, than you were about as down and depressed as the weather by Saturday evening. If you think Lana and Andy Wachowski are bummed about this weekend, Rip City was downright in the dumps Saturday night. Luckily, by the close of Sunday the clouds had lifted a bit and we were left with a glimmer of hope moving forward. But, over the course of the past month Portland has shown some serious problems on the court and as the season wears on other teams are taking notice and the good teams are exposing those weaknesses, turning what was once a very good basketball team into a mediocre one. As we head into the All-Star break, let’s take a look at some of the issues that need to addressed for the second half of the year.
The first and biggest problem as of late is that Portland no longer moves the ball with the unselfishness and crispness that made them such a threat and a surprise last season. With the ascension of Damian Lillard and the All-Star monster that is LaMarcus Aldridge, the Blazers are more willing to let those two do most of the work as everybody else mostly stands around, Wesley Matthews being the lone exception. The whiplash movement of the ball that defined Portland last season as been largely absent this new year. Some it has to do with defenses adjusting to Portland’s prolific attack while some of it has to do with their own stagnate movement of the ball. Portland can still score in bunches at any given time thanks to their ability to space the floor with Matthews and Lillard’s deep threat matching well with Aldridge’s presence in the post. But, their movement seems a bit slower this season, if not, a little unsure at times. One reason is Nicolas Batum’s continued slump on offense. When Batum is struggling, such as his 0-8 night in Dallas, the Blazers are basically playing 5-4 on the offensive end. When Batum is on, the Blazers are a much more dangerous and confident team and when the team as a whole moves the ball with precision and speed they are as unstoppable as any team in the west. Portland needs to find a way to again find that free-flowing, fluid offense. To begin with, their offense should always begin with Aldridge and work from there. LaMarcus’s ability to shoot the mid-range jumper or post up deep to the basket opens the floor up for the rest of the team. Aldridge is the guy and he should almost always be your number one option, even at the end of the games when viable, more on that later. Portland should have an unstoppable inside-outside game where if the Aldridge doesn’t have a quality look he can kick it back outside where the ball can zip around for the next clean look. There is a not a player on Portland’s starting roster that can’t score, including Robin Lopez who has shown more offensive prowess this season. The only thing stopping the Blazers on offense is the Blazers themselves.
The Blazers have also gotten sloppy lately. For agonizing proof of this, look no further than the 4th quarter of Saturday’s meltdown against the Dallas Mavericks. The Blazers had 8 turnovers in the last quarter of Saturday’s game including 4 to begin the quarter that set the tone for what would become an epic collapse of a game the Blazers should have won. Portland has become victims of their own lazy passing and at times look unsure of what to do on offense especially if Lillard and Aldridge are either out of the game or being defended well enough where they are no longer viable options. Part of this is because of problem number one. As the ball stops moving, as more plays break down to isolation, the better an imposing team can set their defense and pressure an offense. Portland is usually good at winning the turnover battle, but over the past month they have struggled to take care of the ball. Turnovers have to be the number one reason coaches lose their hair and I’m surprised Terry Stotts isn’t sporting the worst comb-over in the league these days.
Hero Ball and Damian Lillard’s long three addiction are becoming more of a concern. I have a huge problem with how the last possession of regulation played out for the Blazers of the Dallas game. No question, Portland should have put it in Aldridge’s hands. That was equivalent to having the football at the one-yard line and instead of running the ball when you have the best running back in the game, you instead run a risky pass play and end up losing the Super Bowl on an interception. Look, I get it, Damian Lillard is clutch. We all remember that Houston shot during the playoffs last year. The big difference between that game and this past Dallas game is that Portland was down by 2 with 0.9 seconds left against Houston when Lillard hit that amazing shot. The Blazers didn’t have the option to go to Aldridge. For the Dallas game, Portland was in a tie and should have had the option to go to Aldridge for a better percentage shot. Portland had about 20 seconds to set something up. Lillard held it for 10 seconds at which point everyone in the building knew what was coming next. It seems this is how Portland is going to end every close game, by having Lillard hoist a long three. Thankfully, it is Damian Lillard and you believe it will go in every time he shoots it. However, Damian had been in a shooting slump these last few weeks and hasn’t been nearly as zeroed in on his shot. That hasn’t stopped him from continually taking long threes, however, and maybe it shouldn’t. Aldridge, in the meantime, was eating Dallas up and picking his teeth with his defender’s pride. Aldridge should have been the number one option at the end regulation Saturday. If he could have done something, great, if not then a kick back pass to Lillard or Matthews or even Batum probably would have been available. I really feel if Portland goes to Aldridge at the end of the Dallas game they escape with an ugly win and a lesson learned and not with the heartbreak it turned out to be.
Lillard’s penetration to the basket has been much improved this season; he is finishing drives he never would have finished a year ago. There is a time and a place for threes to be launched from the next neighborhood, but Damian has fallen in love with it a little too much. I want to see him drive more, get to the line more. Lillard still relies on the long three more than taking his opponent to the hole. It needs to be the other way around.
Killing an opponent when they are down. It happened in Dallas and it happened in Houston this past weekend. During both games the Blazers had a double digit leads, 17 against Houston and 16 against Dallas, and both times they let it slip away in almost identical terms; the Blazers failed to get defensive rebounds, sometimes multiple times in one possession, which led to big shots by the opposing team (usually a three), they played sloppy and conservative offense which led to poor decisions or turnovers which in turn let the opposing team gain momentum. It was hard to watch once, let alone twice in two days. Luckily, Portland was able to right their wrongs in Houston and hit critical baskets in the final minutes. Portland seems to turn into a different beast when having a sizable lead. Their aggression goes away, their rebounding goes soft and their offense seems to lose confidence in what got them the lead in the first place. When ahead by many, the Blazers play not to lose instead of keeping the very fire alive that got them the lead in the first place. Great teams in this league know how to end a team on the ropes. Portland has not shown this ability for the majority of the season. You can call it a killer instinct or the savvy of a veteran team, but with Portland it’s a matter of not letting up on the gas. Every team knows Portland will let you back in a game and that’s why Portland can’t afford to ease up when they are fortunate enough to hold big leads.
The All-Star break is nearly upon us and Portland needs a rest jut as many other teams do right now. Portland is not the only team with question marks. The L.A. Clippers have their own crisis going on right now, the Thunder are hoping to stay healthy the rest of the season, Dwight Howard is injured for the Rockets and who knows how serious it really is. There may not be a team in the west that doesn’t have some question marks, but it will be the teams with answers that will have the edge come April and Portland is no exception. Their schedule after the break is nothing short of challenging. Here’s hoping they can get back to Blazers basketball after the break because Oklahoma City, while 8.5 games behind, are just waiting for the wheels to fall off. Let’s hope it doesn’t.
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