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Three reasons the Portland Trail Blazers defense has been terrible

By Stevie Cozens

PORTLAND, OREGON - FEBRUARY 06: Jusuf Nurkic #27 of the Portland Trail Blazers looks on in the first quarter against the San Antonio Spurs during their game at Moda Center on February 06, 2020 in Portland, Oregon. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Abbie Parr/Getty Images)
PORTLAND, OREGON - FEBRUARY 06: Jusuf Nurkic #27 of the Portland Trail Blazers looks on in the first quarter against the San Antonio Spurs during their game at Moda Center on February 06, 2020 in Portland, Oregon. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Abbie Parr/Getty Images) /
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The Portland Trail Blazers have struggled mightily on defense all season, what are they doing wrong on this end of the floor?

This Portland Trail Blazers squad is currently ranked 27th on the defensive end. This is a massive issue and it’s been like this all season. Their inability to contain the other team means that when they have great nights offensively they still struggle to close the game out.

Though this team has obviously had the injury bug all season, the defensive problems have been the other main reason that they haven’t been able to stay in touch in the playoff race. The personnel they have may mean that the below issues can’t be addressed. This is unfortunate, but if they are serious about making the playoffs then they will need to be better on defense.

These are their three main issues

Forcing turnovers

Collectively the Blazers are ranked a miserable 28th in the league when it comes to forcing turnovers. This means that the opponent’s offense isn’t disrupted, steals and then deflections are such an important part of disrupting the offense or eating up the shot clock. Trevor Ariza and Gary Trent Jr are the only two players who generate steals at a rate above league average. Mario Hezonja also has a good steal rate but his foul rate is so high that this mitigates any steals he gets.

The key point to note though, with the individual steal rates, is that most of the Blazers players aren’t even close to league average. They are almost all in the bottom 10 or 20 percent for their position. It’s great to see Trent developing but until Jusuf Nurkic returns, the only steals player they have, is the 35-year-old Ariza.

Guys like Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum just won’t force a lot of turnovers now, and won’t improve in this regard. This isn’t a criticism of them it’s just a fact. Maybe more defensive personnel could be drafted this year so this team could force more turnovers.

Defensive rebounding

It feels like this has been something that’s been talked about all year. Letting opposition teams get offensive rebounds has hurt this team all season. Having the league’s 4th best defensive rebounder in Hassan Whiteside hasn’t really moved the needle in terms of less opposition points from offensive rebounds. The Blazers rank 30th in opposition teams scoring off these opportunities. Part of this is Whiteside’s consistency in terms of chasing blocks and leaving the opposition big an easy putback on the glass.

The other issue is that the only other rebounder in the top half of the positional rankings, is Caleb Swanigan, who is an end of bench player and has only been on the team a month or so. Boxing out is obviously an issue but being undersized makes this a tough task. The constant injuries all year have made size a massive issue, but this shouldn’t mean a 30th ranking.

Like this team needs more defensive personnel, they definitely need more size as well.

Opponent shooting

Opposition teams shoot 37.8% from three when they play the Blazers. This mark means that the Blazers rank 28th in three-point defense. Horrendous. The poor rebounding combined with not forcing turnovers doesn’t help the three-point case. Teams getting reset for the open shots that you see all the time when watching the Blazers play.

They just can’t seem to defend the perimeter in the half-court. Getting around screens, defending hand-offs or screen actions when players are curling off them for a shot. This team struggles in most perimeter actions. Again, Gary Trent has been great in the last few months and shown some real growth on the defensive end. But the inability to defend the perimeter, especially above the break, means this team has a defense not worthy of the playoffs.

Next. 3 adjustments the Trail Blazers need to make to close out the season. dark

The overall lack of defensive personnell is concerning for this team. The return of Nurk and Zach Collins will only help the bigs. The playoffs are looking pretty remote now, maybe it’s time to look towards the draft and getting an A1 wing that can defend.