The Portland Trail Blazers defense leaves little margin for error, but the end will justify the means
Chauncey Billups was always going to be stuck between a rock and a hard place on defense. It’s proven that a switching defense with multiple versatile perimeter defenders is the best strategy to slow today’s 3-point driven offenses.
Unfortunately, the Blazers just simply don’t have the personnel to execute this kind of scheme.
Instead, the rookie head coach tried to settle for a medium. Rather than dropping on screens and trying to play straight up man-to-man, Billups has the Blazers shading constantly on defense and trying to force the offense towards the baseline.
This method requires intense discipline, constant attention, and impeccable rotations when necessary. The Blazers are going to make mistakes along the way, giving up wide open rim rolls or spot-up 3-pointers, but if they can maintain 48 minutes of defensive focus and sharpen their rotations, this defense can cover the holes in their personnel.
With the Blazers firepower, they don’t have to be an elite defense to compete for a title — they just have to be average.
This scheme gives Portland the opportunity to outscore opponents on any given night. It certainly worked on the Suns tonight. Here’s hoping that they can continue this defensive effort for the rest of the season.