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Trail Blazers pick-and-roll defense may evolve with changing roster

By David MacKay

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The pick-and-roll is the offensive foundation of NBA basketball. As such, effectively defending it is a key part of any team’s overall success. For the last two seasons, the Portland Trail Blazers have used a very specific method for defending the pick-and-roll, but we may see something a little different this year, depending on Head Coach Terry Stotts’ comfort level with the new players at his disposal.

We are used to seeing the Trail Blazers employ a “Soft ICE” strategy for defending the pick-and-roll. This set is designed to move ball handlers off the 3-point line while keeping them out of the lane, ideally forcing them to settle for a statistically inefficient long two. The basic idea is for guards to fight over the top of screens while a big man (usually Robin Lopez) sags just below the free throw line. This baits the ball handler into taking a semi-open shot near the top of the key, racing the against backside pressure from his initial defender.

The problem is that Portland’s guards are not great at anticipating screens, or consequently navigating them. Since the backside pressure often arrived late as a result, the long two was more conceded than forced in most circumstances. It was too easy for the ball handler to simply pull up with an enormous cushion in front of them and behind them. At a certain point, charts and percentages cease to matter if a shot is uncontested.

Dec 9, 2014; Auburn Hills, MI, USA; Portland Trail Blazers forward LaMarcus Aldridge (12) guard Damian Lillard (0) and center Robin Lopez (42) during the fourth quarter against the Detroit Pistons at The Palace of Auburn Hills. Portland won 98-86. Mandatory Credit: Tim Fuller-USA TODAY Sports

Part of the reason that the Trail Blazers adhered to the strictures of this model so stringently was a lack of mobility from the big men involved. Lopez, for instance, was great at clogging the lane, but was not designed to hedge and recover. Before I go on, let me explain a little more clearly what that means.

When hedging, the help defender (a big man in this case) comes all the way out to help stop the ball handler from driving the lane. When hedging and recovering, the help defender comes up, but does not fully commit, returning to his man after disrupting the ball handler’s route. Hedging and recovering forces the ball handler to take a less direct path to the lane, giving the primary defender time to slip under the screen; something that guys like Damian Lillard could benefit from.

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Lopez was many things, but agile was not one of them. He would not have been able to recover to the roll man effectively after hedging. Thus, the Trail Blazers options were somewhat limited.

Now that the Trail Blazers have a younger, more mobile frontcourt, it will be interesting to see if Stotts’ adjusts his approach to defending the pick-and-roll. Mason Plumlee and Meyers Leonard are expected to soak up the bulk of the minutes that Lopez’s departure has left available. They are two of the most athletic big men in the NBA. It is unlikely that Stotts throws Soft ICE out the window and starts over, but he has more options to choose from if he keeps an open mind.

Having Plumlee/Leonard hedge and recover could allow Lillard to slip under screens rather than fight over them, but the cost would come at the 3-point line. No more backside pressure means nothing is stopping the ball handler from stepping back when the big man moves them off their path. There are going to be holes no matter what, so it is up to Stotts to decide which ones the new roster is most equipped to plug on a case-by-case basis.

Still, the more options Portland has to defend the pick-and-roll the better. The new-look Trail Blazers may be less ready than their bygone counterparts, but their natural abilities bode well for a broader sense of defensive success with proper training.

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