[festar35Participant]

I have seen a lot of stuff on here about what the Suns should do with their future, another long term who has been a surprise this season is the Portland Trail Blazers.

I am a huge Lillard fan as well as Aldridge so I have seen a few of there games and wondering what they can do to improve.

Their defense needs work and a guy like Asik could really help in that area, however I really think a back to the basket scorer would be of huge benefit to the Blazers.

A couple of players that come to mind are Greg Monroe and Enes Kanter who are both young with great ability to score. Both Detroit and Utah could use a guy like Batum on their roster, however would the Blazers give him up in these circumstances?

[TyroberParticipant]

Asik in the middle would be a perfect fit. How good would they have been in the Pacers wouldn’t have matched Hibberts max offer?

[LA12Participant]

 As a Blazer fan, I cringe everytime I watch an Indiana game. Low post defense is the last piece to the puzzle, and they had that piece right in their hands..

[LA12Participant]

 As a Blazer fan, I cringe everytime I watch an Indiana game. Low post defense is the last piece to the puzzle, and they had that piece right in their hands..

[TyroberParticipant]

Asik in the middle would be a perfect fit. How good would they have been in the Pacers wouldn’t have matched Hibberts max offer?

[Scrooge McDuckParticipant]

 Robin Lopez is a pretty good inside defender. Asik wouldn’t be that much of an upgrade.

The Blazers roster compostion is brilliant. IMO, the problem is defensive effort. Suggesting a trade involving Batum is almost absurd. How would trading Batum help? He’s also just 25 years of age. 

 

 

[Scrooge McDuckParticipant]

 Robin Lopez is a pretty good inside defender. Asik wouldn’t be that much of an upgrade.

The Blazers roster compostion is brilliant. IMO, the problem is defensive effort. Suggesting a trade involving Batum is almost absurd. How would trading Batum help? He’s also just 25 years of age. 

 

 

[LA12Participant]

 Lopez is by far a better defender than Monroe. The only player on the Detroit roster I see the Blazers even being interested in is Drummond, and Detroit won’t give him up.

Now that I think of it, Lopez is a good enough defender that he can’t be the reason the Blazers struggle to D up inside. IMO the only drastic upgrades you could find for a guy who fits the role of an enforcer down low would be guys like Hibbert, Noah, Howard etc. I think Lopez is in that second tier when it comes to post defense, just like Asik. Trading for Asik wouldn’t make a huge difference. 

So unless they can somehow pull off a trade for a top tier post defender (which will most likely not happen), thdy need to improve their defensive schemes and effort.

[LA12Participant]

 Lopez is by far a better defender than Monroe. The only player on the Detroit roster I see the Blazers even being interested in is Drummond, and Detroit won’t give him up.

Now that I think of it, Lopez is a good enough defender that he can’t be the reason the Blazers struggle to D up inside. IMO the only drastic upgrades you could find for a guy who fits the role of an enforcer down low would be guys like Hibbert, Noah, Howard etc. I think Lopez is in that second tier when it comes to post defense, just like Asik. Trading for Asik wouldn’t make a huge difference. 

So unless they can somehow pull off a trade for a top tier post defender (which will most likely not happen), thdy need to improve their defensive schemes and effort.

[festar35Participant]

They need a leader, a guy like Tyson Chandler (Mavericks) or Andre Iguodala (Warriors). Some one who will come in and lead the defence by example, there aren’t many of those guys in the league but it would be very useful for Portland to find one.

Even outside a defensive stand point look at what David West does for Indiana and Al Jefferson’s impact on Charlotte.

An established voice in their locker room would go a long way.

[festar35Participant]

They need a leader, a guy like Tyson Chandler (Mavericks) or Andre Iguodala (Warriors). Some one who will come in and lead the defence by example, there aren’t many of those guys in the league but it would be very useful for Portland to find one.

Even outside a defensive stand point look at what David West does for Indiana and Al Jefferson’s impact on Charlotte.

An established voice in their locker room would go a long way.

[omphalosParticipant]

I think they just need their bench to develop. They have some nice pieces and their core is relatively young. Aldridge’s game is like Dirk’s in that it will stay effective for years to come, and he’s their oldest core piece.

CJ is a great bench piece, and I think Barton will get more run as time goes on, plus Robinson will be a great bench player once he gets his head on straight.

Their starters are almost perfectly put together as a unit, the only thing holding them back is their bench and defensive consistency; two things which will come after a playoff run for a fairly inexperienced group.

 

 

 

 

[omphalosParticipant]

I think they just need their bench to develop. They have some nice pieces and their core is relatively young. Aldridge’s game is like Dirk’s in that it will stay effective for years to come, and he’s their oldest core piece.

CJ is a great bench piece, and I think Barton will get more run as time goes on, plus Robinson will be a great bench player once he gets his head on straight.

Their starters are almost perfectly put together as a unit, the only thing holding them back is their bench and defensive consistency; two things which will come after a playoff run for a fairly inexperienced group.

 

 

 

 

[Jester87Participant]

If they want to improve their defense they have to stay away from both Kanter and Monroe. And giving up Batum for them will only mean making their defense horrible. I don’t think they need to do anything with their offensive, it was totally fine pretty much all season long. And LMA can score in the low block. They definitely need to improve on defense, but I think it’s something they can do without dramatic changes in their roster. Batum and Matthews are good individual defenders and Lopez is an above average rim protector. I don’t think the problems are in their personnel. 

[Jester87Participant]

If they want to improve their defense they have to stay away from both Kanter and Monroe. And giving up Batum for them will only mean making their defense horrible. I don’t think they need to do anything with their offensive, it was totally fine pretty much all season long. And LMA can score in the low block. They definitely need to improve on defense, but I think it’s something they can do without dramatic changes in their roster. Batum and Matthews are good individual defenders and Lopez is an above average rim protector. I don’t think the problems are in their personnel. 

[Author]

Posts