TUALATIN — The Portland Trail Blazers were still feeling good after their impressive opening night victory. But what had their coach feeling good was how the team played defense.
“Overall it was a good transition defensive night,” head coach Terry Stotts said. “I’m sure there were areas where we could get better. We like having three (players) back and we had three back 70 percent of the time, which is a really good number. But it takes a conscious effort.”
Stotts told reporters on Thursday that the number for last year’s team was closer to 56 percent.
“Seventy is fantastic,” Stotts said.
Damian Lillard attributes it to the younger players on Portland’s team buying in on the team’s transition game plan from the start.
“We’ve got a younger team and the coaches have been harping on it since we got here,” he said.
CJ McCollum’s scoring explosion drew the headlines, but Portland’s team defense helped trigger the style of play that blew the game wide open.
More so than in past seasons, the Blazers will be called upon to push the ball up the court. Stotts is more than OK to push the ball on made baskets. Even center Mason Plumlee is encouraged to bring the ball up the court.
But in asking the Blazers, almost all of them said that their faster pace on Wednesday was a product of the other end.
“I thought last night’s pace was really good, particularly in the first half,” Meyers Leonard said. “But one thing we talked about is that it started on the defensive end. We had high energy, guys were in the right place. We were staying within our structure.”
There has been much doubt about whether the Blazers will be able to play good team defense and the doubt will remain until they can show consistency.
But if Portland wants to be the team that they think they can be, they’ve got to get stops.
“I think the most important thing is for us is making sure we do the small things: get the 50-50 balls, get our hands on passes, share the ball, play hard,” Lillard said. “We have to do those small things to get out in transition and be at our best.”
The Blazers will be at their best this season when they run. Their first game registered six more possessions — faster pace — than their average last season.
The Golden State Warriors showed that playing lights out on both ends while also leading the league in pace is possible. But Stotts knows that there can be draw backs from going full speed on both ends.
“Probably the only concern is fatigue,” Stotts said. “Golden State was one of the few teams to be able to do it both ways. Obviously they won a championship doing it. You know, it takes a lot of energy to run both ways. And mental discipline to do it as well.”
Portland looked good both ways against New Orleans’ worn down backcourt on Thursday.
Phoenix’s big-money tandem of Eric Bledsoe and Brandon Knight will be a much tougher test for their transition and perimeter defense Friday in the next two games.
“They do a lot of transition stuff, obviously they have a lot of good guards,” McCollum said.
