Nate McMillan talks about this a lot. His players are too offensive minded. Defense comes last. McMillan on the other hand believes defense should trigger your offense. So when the Blazers came out flat against the Denver Nuggets it didn’t come as a shock.
We’ve seen this charade before.
The defense wasn’t there – again. And when it was, it was far too late. But that wasn’t the only thing missing in Denver on Thursday night. Portland simply doesn’t have that physical chip on their shoulder that they so desperately need. I’ve gone down this road before. Plus, the Blazers inability to beat a Western Conference team bound for the playoffs is nonexistent. They are now 1-12 in that department.
Those two aspects – a lack of physical play and struggling to win away from the Rose Garden against the big boys out West– will mean an early exit from the postseason whenever Portland gets there.
TNT’s Doug Collins summed it up going to a commercial break minutes into the second quarter, after Kevin Harlan noted, “Nate McMillan would like the Blazers to be more physical.”
Really? You don’t say. Collins came correct though.
“I don’t think that is their make-up right now. Maybe as they get older they might be a team that takes some harder fouls,” Collins said. “But I don’t think Nate would mind that, especially the way to start a game tonight just to set the tone of the game. They did not do that.”
—————————–
The Latest: Portland has been there before – on the outside looking in at the playoffs. Earlier in the week at HOOPSWORLD, I took an early look at the seven teams who are probably wondering what the heck they are playing for right about now.
There is one losing team – perhaps the worst the league has to offer – that is playing for something: the Sacramento Kings. Not only will they make more moves this offseason, but they have a solid chance at landing the number one overall pick come June.
And lastly….make sure to check out Andrew Perna, RealGM’s Deputy Editor and his mission to raise awareness about Multiple Sclerosis with his “NBA for MS” series. Andrew has really made an impact – both with his writing and forming lifelong relationships around the league – with his truly worthy cause. Nice work Andrew….
pic via: AP
I hate to say you are right on this, but yeah you are. Not only are they not physical enough yet and they can’t win vs. western conference elite outside of the Rose Garden, but it just seems to me like their is an overall lack of energy. Coach always tries to bring Bayless in for energy in the third, but what if he cant bring it??? And it’s like the Blazers don’t get the message until the second half, they ALWAYS come out flat on the road and sometimes at home as well. I don’t know if it’s their youth or wat? But we are not ready for serious contention, they make that obvious, not by their # of losses but how they lose.
guess that is what i am struggling with….
as a player you either have that physical aggression inside you or you don’t. not sure if it is something you can just turn on.
joel has it. steve kind of has it. brandon has shown it more this season. but that’s it.
i’m not saying these guys have to bully around like matt barnes, stephen jackson, bruce bowen or kevin garnett…..but now is the time to muscle-up, especially away from your own crib.
especially if you are trying to let the big boys know there is a new kid on the playground.
anyone can flex at home.
W,
Agree with most of what you said but they do need to have a bully around like Matt Barnes, Stephen Jackson, Bruce Bowen, or KG. Stockton and Ainge were mean…Blake is kind of mean, 2, 3, 4 and 1/2 of the 5 combo are more on the soft side. Brandon is tough when it comes to driving the lane or hounding his man on D but don’t expect him to intimidate anyone with a hard foul. Aldridge didn’t back down and was impressive when KG tried to intimidate him but that sort of angst only hits the Rose Garden when the other guys bring it first.
that bully isn’t going to show this season….
he’ll have to be an offseason addition, and another veteran would be nice. i don’t mean to imply the guys haven’t shown toughness during certain points of the season.
but come the playoffs, that has to be a part of their game and i don’t think we can say portland plays that style or can even flick that switch.
and i know denver ended up losing to utah on friday, but look how the nuggets came out in utah – strong. they had just played a front end of a back to back – as portland did with indiana – before hitting the road – as portland did with denver. but unlike portland in denver, the nuggets knew how to flick that switch to a playoff mentality on the road.
we have yet to see that from portland.