Portland Trail Blazers: Too early to call the hot start fool’s gold, but some real concerns are mounting

Awful three-point shooting, problems defensively, and pressing – oh my!

Over their last three games, the Blazers have gone 26/104 (25%) from beyond the arc. For a team that rosters some of the league’s best and most prolific three-point shooters in Lillard, McCollum, Nik Stauskas, Seth Curry, and Meyers Leonard, these numbers are almost as unexplainable as they are inexcusable.

Portland’s horrid three-point shooting is perhaps the biggest culprit of their losing-streak. But it’s more than just missing shots.

Too often, Dame and CJ will run a high pick-and-roll only to pull-up from deep after their screen connects with their defender rather than attack their advantage.

On mismatches, McCollum has shown an affinity for sizing up his man only to take a three-point jumper in his face – and miss.

Leonard has looked hesitant in rising up when the ball is delivered to him on a pick-and-pop even though he’s shooting 52.9% from three this year. In that depressing third quarter against the Clippers, he passed up an open three to pass it over to Al-Farouq Aminu, so he could instead launch one with a hand in his face.

Aminu himself is shooting 32.5% from deep.

Maurice Harkless, in the few games he’s been back, has hit only three of his first 15 three-point attempts; this is coming off a year where he shot 41.5% from there.

You’ve got to imagine the Blazers three-point shooting will return sooner rather than later. In the meantime though, it’s been ugly to watch.

Problems have also begun mounting defensively, too. The Blazers’ currently sit 17th in the NBA in defensive rating. The mediocre number itself isn’t a concern, especially as Portland holds so many volatile scorers and offensive specialists. But the effort has been lacking.

There are certainly times where Lillard and McCollum have active hands and Jusuf Nurkic acts as an anchor down low to make any penetrating opponent think twice about bringing the ball inside.

But there are just as many times when the Blazers totally fold on pick-and-pop coverage, leaving a shooting big-man wide open. Or they decide to let everyone launch shots from anywhere outside the paint, not bothering with a close-out.

And Portland’s backcourt may just be too big of a liability. When they’re not playing the undersized combo of Lillard and McCollum, they’re throwing out Curry and Stauskas. While Lillard and McCollum can masquerade as decent defenders here-and-there, none of these guards are consistent plus-defenders.

Yes, the Blazers are missing some key components of what made them a sixth ranked defense last year. But things are coming much too easily to their opponents. And without solid, consistent shooting, Portland will be unable to rely on outscoring their opposition.

And lastly, there’s becoming a trend of Dame and CJ pressing to make plays when Portland’s offense goes stagnant. Of course, the Blazers want the ball in either stars’ hands when things get tough, but there is likely a smarter way to go about this without sacrificing ball-movement.

Too often, when games start slipping away, Lillard and McCollum will take turns diving into the lane without much semblance of a plan. When the defense collapses onto them (because they do not need to respect Harkeless, Aminu, or Nurkic from deep), they cannot get off a shot and are forced to throw a weak kick-out which usually ends up in the stands or deflected by a waiting winger.

It’s obvious everyone wants more moments where the team is zigging the ball around to everyone until the best shot reveals itself. While the Blazers won’t ever play like the Memphis Grizzlies, there seems to be a disconnect between these panicked Lillard-McCollum possessions, and the team’s occasional displays of beautiful patience:

https://twitter.com/NBA/status/1066886929449390081

No doubt, the Blazers will need to solve some of these issues to get back on track and on top of the Western Conference.