At halftime in Brooklyn on Sunday, after the Blazers league-worst defense coughed up another 64 points to the lowly Nets, Meyers Leonard approached Damian Lillard with a plea: Maybe its time for you to talk one-on-one with some guys about their defense, Leonard told Portlands franchise player. Everyone respects what you say.Lillard considered it, but decided to stay quiet. The defensive issues -- Im a part of it, Lillard told ESPN.com the next day. (Leonard would admit he is, too.) I didnt want to go telling people, You need to do this or that. Enough talking has been done.Lillard eventually confronted Evan Turner, Portlands struggling free agent splurge, after Turner -- caught on a switch -- let Brook Lopez dribble from the 3-point arc all the way to the rim. That cant happen, Lillard told Turner. Beyond that scolding, Lillard shut his mouth and played harder.The Blazers, coming off a feel-good jaunt to the second round and a subsequent spending spree, are confident this sort of healthy team chemistry will see them through early malaise; theyre 8-8 with a ghastly point differential and a few discomfiting blowout losses. Lillard sets the tone with his work ethic, and he wields his influence with care. Get on teammates every day, and the words lose power.The players love Terry Stotts, because he is honest and respects their independence. They hang together off the floor; Leonard, Ed Davis, and Al-Farouq Aminu are part of a regular dinner gang, and they still follow Chris Kamans rule of stashing away their phones during meals.No one worried all the new money -- including $145 million combined to Turner and Allen Crabbe, both backups -- would fracture the locker room, even as Davis jokes that Portland was smart to get me on a cheap deal when they could. They insist they will not be the next version of the Goran Dragic-Eric Bledsoe Suns -- a plucky team that blew past projections, only to come undone the next season amid infighting and heavy expectations.We got no haters here, Lillard said. Guys are happy for each other.They also warned us all that spending would not necessarily translate into an immediate jump up from the NBAs middle class. We are probably not going to make the quantum leap the salaries might indicate, Stotts told me in July.Stotts never expected Portland to rank next to last in points allowed per possession heading into the quarter pole -- especially given the scheme and most of the personnel are the same. Its just disappointing, Stotts said. We should have picked up where we left off last season. We havent. Their stagnation has renewed doubts around the league that Paul Allen overpaid for gold-plated mediocrity.Portland still dips way back against the pick-and-roll, baiting opposing ball-handlers into midrange jumpers:If done right, that lone big man keeps the ball in front of him -- meaning all of Portlands other defenders can stick with outside shooters instead of darting inside to help. On some surface level, its working; only three teams have allowed fewer corner 3s, and opponents have hit just 55.9 percent of shots within the restricted area -- third-stingiest overall.But enemies are generating about four more shots per game at the rim this season, and shooting almost 50 percent from the swath of paint between the restricted area and the foul line -- the highest such mark in the league, per NBA.com.Opposing point guards see those Portland bigs dropping back, and they dont care -- especially if a screen wipes out Lillard, C.J. McCollum, or whatever Blazer is supposed to be on their hip:Davis, a stalwart last season, just hasnt been the same player. He packed on almost 20 pounds in the summer, but insists his increased weight - he has kept about a dozen of those extra pounds -- hasnt slowed him.Floaters are tough shots; that 50 percent mark will come down. But the floaters are easier this season. Portlands guards are falling too far behind, a chronic issue for Lillard and McCollum, and their big men are surrendering a long runway.Theres a big difference between a 14-foot floater and a 7-foot floater, Stotts told ESPN.com. Our guards have to pursue. Our bigs have to put doubt in the drivers mind.Allow any NBA player entry into the deep paint, and bad things happen -- including panicky help from the wrong places:The Blazers have spent more than a year mastering this conservative scheme, and they dont want to turn back. You ask yourself: Should we maybe try something different? Stotts said. But I think most coaches would say, Lets do what were supposed to be doing better before we go changing things.In that sense, its almost encouraging how cartoonishly bad the Blazers have been at almost every aspect of defense. There is a lot of low-hanging fruit to pluck. They are a confused train wreck in transition, even when everyone gets back; guys just run to the wrong spots and leave someone wide open.Its just a lack of communication, McCollum told ESPN.com.Opponents are straight toasting the Blazers one-on-one, and feasting on botched rotations that follow:Miscommunication is rampant. Well-meaning help-and-recover missions have ended in catastrophe:The Blazers should be above this nonsense. It carries the whiff of a team that thought it might be good enough to coast in some games.For the second straight season, Portland is fouling the hell out of everyone. Some hacks are the natural result of breakdowns higher in the chain; opponents slice through an opening, and the only way to stop them is to hit hard. The Blazers compound that by sticking their hands in the cookie jar at bad times. We just foul way too many jump-shooters, Stotts said.The Blazers are smallish, and theyll probably end up around league-average in defensive rebounding. Their cautious defensive system naturally yields few turnovers. Those weaknesses are baked into Portlands structure, and they give the Blazers a small margin for error with everything else. They just cant afford as many blips of miscommunication like this one between Turner and Leonard -- two guys still figuring each other out on bench units that are bleeding points:Were learning each other, Turner told ESPN.com. I have to trust the defense he calls out. Well get it down.Turner will be the scapegoat if Portland, now carrying the leagues third-highest payroll, ends up trapped in the middle. (He was almost as stunned as you by Portlands mega-offer, by the way, which turned out to be for four years and $70 million. Turners agent made him promise not to tell anyone about the proposal until he signed it. Turner was too giddy, though. He hung up with his agent, immediately called Andre Iguodala, still a close friend and mentor, and blurted out, Yo, Dre! They offered this! Turner recalled, laughing. Iguodala told him to take the deal right away.)He needs the ball to do his thing, and he has been a predictably awkward fit alongside two stars -- McCollum and Lillard -- who will always have it more than he does. When Lillard and McCollum run the show, Turner can be a liability -- a stationary non-shooter that defenses ignore to smother the lane:The Blazers know this, and theyve accommodating by building what amounts to a separate offense for him. Its heavy on scripted play calls and bare bones horns-style sets that start with both big men at the elbows:Those are pathways for Turner to catch the ball in one of his sweet spots. They unfold more slowly than Portlands typically flowing offense, with much less room for improvisation. The ball gets sticky.I direct things a lot more when Evans on the court, Stotts said. I think it helps him for now.Turner admits it has been hard fitting in. The consistency of it has been a challenge, he said. I have to adapt to how they play -- all that looping around like they do -- and they have to adapt to me.You occasionally see glimpses of how it might blend, with everyone flying around, and Turner leveraging inattention from defenses by catching the ball and plowing through a chasm:I think it will eventually evolve into something more like what you might identify as our style, Stotts said.It will take time. Portland will be fine on offense regardless; theyre 11th in points scored per possession. They were fine without Turner. There are reasonable ways to justify Portlands spending spree -- I dived into their long-term trajectory over the summer. But he was always going to be semi-redundant as a third ball-handler, even if McCollum and Lillard are dangerous off the ball, and you dont pay $70 million to fill the minutes when one of them hits the bench -- especially since those minutes shrink in the playoffs.Portlands issues on the other end might nag. Both Turner and Crabbe are miscast as wing stoppers. Theyre solid, but they dont scare anyone. Aminu and Maurice Harkless -- the latter looking way more dynamic on offense so far! -- are better, and earn combined about what Turner and Crabbe make solo.You just dont feel Portlands defense. They are like the anti-Bulls. Chicago has its flaws, but they are huge and mean. Play them, and you know youre gonna be hurting the next day.Portland is small and a little squishy on the perimeter, and the back line cant quite make up for it. Aminus return will stabilize the power forward slot, but the frontcourt rotation is murky despite a crowd of interesting names. It lacks a little oomph.Davis is still skinny. Mason Plumlee tilts that way, too, and hes a below-average defensive rebounder for his position. Festus Ezelis long-term health is (to be generous) uncertain. Leonard is probably a center, but the Blazers have rarely trusted him to anchor their defense; they usually pair him with Plumlee or Davis, and have those guys defend opposing power forwards -- a makeshift solution.Noah Vonleh is promising, and the Blazers have recently experimented with a Vonleh-Leonard partnership that makes some theoretical sense on offense; Vonleh can rampage to the rim while Leonard spots up for 3s. The team is understandably pessimistic they can hold up on defense.Portland looks ripe for a trade. Neil Olshey, the teams one-step-ahead GM, chased Hassan Whiteside in free agency, and has a well-documented fondness for old-school low-post brutes like Brook Lopez, Greg Monroe, Nikola Vucevic and others. (Its tempting to pitch a Crabbe/Lopez swap since the Nets lavished Crabbe with a massive offer sheet, but Brooklyn cannot acquire Crabbe until the offseason -- at least under current league rules.)Portland has long been my favorite Vucevic landing spot, though the Magic should probably just stop taking Olsheys calls after gifting him Harkless for nothing. Just about everyone is overstocked with centers. Portland might call Denver about Jusuf Nurkic, and it wouldnt stun me if they expressed some interest in Tyson Chandler -- even though Chandler is a decade older than some core Blazers, with two years left on a bloated contract. (Related: It still looks unlikely that the new collective bargaining deal will include an amnesty provision, though you never know what crazy stuff might happen in those addled final hours of negotiation.)Someone should be trying to steal Kosta Koufos from the Kings. As for another popular suggestion, lets just say the league doesnt quite know what to make of Nerlens Noel.The Blazers are in win-now mode with Lillard and McCollum in their primes, but its unclear how much they really have to trade. They have an extra first-round pick from the Cavs, and some need to offload a big contract in the face of what could be hilariously huge tax payments starting next season. Harkless and Aminu are valuable trade chips, but they are more valuable to the Blazers as players. Crabbe and Turner look untradable.Portland also has to decide whether any of those centers moves the needle. They are better rebounders than Plumlee, and beefier obstacles. Plodders tend to do well hanging back in Stotts scheme. Having another scoring fulcrum like Vucevic or Monroe on the block would help. The league has adjusted a bit to Portlands spin-cycle offense, and several players said they are finding it harder to get to some of their pet looks this season.But some of those guys are sieves on defense. None are as adept as Plumlee making plays in space on the pick-and-roll.Thats a critical skill for any Portland screen-setter. Playoffs opponents will trap Lillard and McCollum way out on the floor, and force them to give up the ball. Plumlee can catch it around the 3-point arc, dribble, and sling the right pass to an open shooter. Some of those potentially available centers are good passers, but they typically do their dishing from the elbows and in.Perhaps that is where Turner comes in -- as a release valve who can do damage off the bounce.The bolder move would be to sniff out the trade market on McCollum. He and Lillard form an undersized duo; there may be a hard ceiling on how far a team can go leaning heavily on both of them. But McCollum is damned good, and the Blazers have shown no interest in flipping him.Portland is still in wait-and-see mode on all this. They should be. Its early, and Turner is a tricky fit. This was never going to be a 50-plus win powerhouse. The realistic scenario was to hang in the mid-to-high 40s, grow through continuity, and land on some development that would catapult them up in two or three years -- Lillard reaching a new level of superstardom, a young guy popping, or some trade that works better than anticipated. This should still be a solid playoff team, but 20 games in, the route to something better is a little cloudier.The brass would be comfortable with incremental improvement, and the players are reveling in the journey. Were together, Davis said. No one is panicking here. Were gonna be fine.10 Things I Like And Dont Like1. Giannis Antetokounmpo, rim protectorThis is getting scary. Antetokounmpo is averaging more than two blocks per game, and opponents are shooting just 45 percent at the rim when hes nearby -- a top-shelf mark for a center, let alone for whatever Antetokounmpo is.He is beginning to realize how much damage he can do as a long-armed help defender. He covers so much territory with a single stride; he almost teleports from the 3-point arc to the rim. Dudes who think they are about to drop in an easy layup have no clue what horror awaits them.The Bucks have plopped Antetokounmpo into shot-blocking territory more often by having him (mostly) defend power forwards, leaving Jabari Parker on wings. That has the trickle-down benefit of engineering a cross-match when Milwaukee goes the other way on offense; opponents dont want their big guys chasing Antetokounmpo, and the Bucks sometimes catch defenses scrambling to find their matchups in transition.2. The Clippers switcheryThe numbers dont necessarily support this strategy, but its healthy for the Clippers to experiment with more switching on defense -- especially with Blake Griffin. Its a tool they will need if they encounter Golden State again in the playoffs.Griffin can contain most guards, and if the Clippers get a stop, the matchups are jumbled -- a confusion that revs up L.A.s transition attack. Griffin can go coast-to-coast against a little guy, or bum-rush into post position -- dragging help defenders down with him, and opening up shots for someone else.The Clips are lethal when they mix in more fast-break attacks. They wont win the title with Chris Paul walking it up 95 times per game.There are downsides, of course. Toggling Griffin and Jordan onto a guard leaves L.A. vulnerable on the glass. Jordan cant keep from tiptoeing back to the paint after a switch when he should be worried about the shooter hes guarding. One switch can trigger second and third switches, and the Clippers can break down when there is too much happening.But the potential upside outweighs those hiccups.3. Serge Ibakas stagnant post-upsBe careful what you wish for, people. Ibaka is posting up way more than he ever did in Oklahoma City, and the results have been ugly. Hes hit just 12-of-32 on post-ups, per tracking by Synergy Sports, and the shooting percentage isnt really the issue.The math on post-ups works only if the offense can use them as a vehicle to occasionally get something better. That isnt happening with Ibaka. Teams rarely double him, and when they do, hes not a good enough passer to make them pay. He doesnt get to the line; he has literally drawn zero shooting fouls on post-ups this season, per Synergy.This is about both Ibaka and the lack of offensive talent surrounding him. It reminds a little of all those Harrison Barnes isolations in Dallas, though Barnes draws more help on a team that has almost no healthy scoring. Barnes is getting buckets, but the team-wide impact isnt robust. That will obviously change as the Mavs get healthy, and rely less on Barnes one-on-one game.4. Luke Walton, carrying the elevator doors forwardGolden State made the elevator doors a fad, and fads die fast. Defenses were on such high alert, it became harder and harder to slip a shooter through those closing doors.But precede it with enough misdirection, and you can still fool suckers. Its fitting that Walton, a Golden State alum, is sprinkling the Lakers playbook with ever more complex build-ups to the elevator climax:God, the Lakers are just fun as hell. Lou Williams is a flailing, flopping fireball for a Lakers bench mob that expands leads.5. Timekeeper choke jobsIs it me, or are we seeing more of this than in previous seasons? And Im not even talking about whatever temporary insanity engulfed the end of the Toronto-Sacramento game over the weekend, costing Terrence Ross a game-tying buzzer beater. The Spooky Mulder wing of the Toronto fan base is back in full force.Referees have had to stop a bunch of other games right after tip-off -- and sometimes two or three more times after that -- due to some clock synchronization snafu. Can we smooth this out, please?6. Tommy Heinsohn, wearing that tie looseHeinsohn sounds like hes commentating on games from his barstool, so its refreshing that he looks that way whenever the camera cuts to him. His hair is disheveled, and the tie knot hangs way down chest level. Hes unwinding after a tough day of work, just like a fan.7. Gordon Haywards Oscar-winning cutsGuys who have the rock a lot dont necessarily make for good off-ball cutters. Good on Hayward for becoming a nifty, unpredictable cutter who tricks defenders with little eye and head fakes one way before bolting the other direction:This is how teams with multiple ball-handlers maximize their talents. Now the Jazz just need to get healthy. The clock on this core is already ticking.8. Slo-Mo, petering out early?The Spurs bench is doing its usual thing, in part because Gregg Popovich is smart about keeping a starter out there with them, but it feels a little rickety this time around. How many of these guys beyond Manu Ginobili and Patty Mills do you trust -- and how many will Popovich trust -- when the games really matter?A lot of this queasy feeling comes down to Slo-Mo just not happening yet. Kyle Anderson still cant shoot, he never gets to the line, and hes too sluggish off the bounce to scoot by anyone -- and let his passing skills sing. The Spurs need someone off the bench to pop, and they were hoping it would be Anderson. Jonathon Simmons has passed him in the rotation, but Simmons has fallen back to Earth after his out-of-body experience against Golden State in the opener.On bad Pau Gasol nights, San Antonio feels like it might have only one reliable big man in LaMarcus Aldridge. The natural pivot would be to go small, with Kawhi Leonard bumping up to power forward. But you need extra wing depth to do that over extended minutes, and the Spurs may not have quite enough against the very best teams.9. Houstons announcers having some fun with 3sEvery announcer will occasionally use the conceit of saying some player just nailed a triple from some nearby city: And Kyle Lowry hits from Mississauga!When hes feeling feisty, Bill Worrell, Houstons longtime play-by-play guy, has made game of coming up with obscure Houston-area towns to estimate the length of another Rockets 3-pointer. Clyde Drexler and Matt Bullard, Worrells partners, will chuckle and say theyve never heard of the place -- leading to matter-of-fact description of it from Worrell.The bit works. Heres hoping Worrell takes it to absurd lengths as the season goes on.10. MKG, tapping his inner bullyFinally. Kidd-Gilchrist is in the earliest stages of developing a back-to-the-basket game to punish teams who hide their weakest defenders on him. Deal with this, Monta Ellis:MKG is 4-of-6 on post-ups this season, per Synergy Sports. Thats not much. But he attempted just four shots out of the post in 55 games during his most recent healthy season in 2014-15. Baby steps. When things slow down in the playoffs, Kidd-Gilchrist needs a couple of workable post moves in his bag. Fake Heat Jerseys . McCarthy, a player who played some games in the second tier for Wigan at the start of this season, would go on to shine inside Evertons midfield, outplaying the man he was brought in to replace, on one of the grandest stages in English football. On Saturday, it was fitting that Manchester Uniteds most recent dagger into the chest was delivered by Frenchman Yohan Cabaye, a wonderfully gifted central midfielder who put on an outstanding effort for Newcastle at Old Trafford. Wholesale Heat Jerseys . The judges scored it 48-47, 48-47, 49-46 for Jones (19-1). It was the champions closest call. Despite the loss, it was a remarkable show by the confident Swedish challenger, who had the best of the early rounds and then hung on in the fourth and fifth. https://www.cheapheatonline.com/ . -- Patrick Reed got an early start in golf. Miami Heat Gear . The showiest items on Calgarys lot were forwards Mike Cammalleri and Lee Stempniak. Both will be unrestricted free agents this summer. Miami Heat Pro Shop . Just not the game. Kyle Palmieri scored two straight goals in the third period to rally the Anaheim Ducks past the Philadelphia Flyers 3-2 on Tuesday night. LAKE CHARLES, La. -- James Tabary threw for 376 yards, the second-highest mark in school history, and two touchdown passes to lead McNeese State to a 38-13 win over Nicholls on Saturday night.Running back Ryan Ross caught nine passes for 110 yards to go along with two rushing scores for the Cowboys (3-2, 2-1 Southland Conference). Kylon Highshaw added an 80-yard TD reception for McNeese State, which has beaten the Colonels nine straight times overall and nine straight at home.Andre Fuller inttercepted Nicholls quarterback Chase Fourcades pass and returned it 27 yards for an early 7-0 Cowboys lead.dddddddddddd. A Ross rushing touchdown and a Tabary passing TD to Parker Orgeron made it 21-3 at halftime.The Colonels (1-3, 1-1) never seriously threatened in the second half.Fourcade threw for 341 yards and C.J. Bates had 94 yards receiving for the Colonels. ' ' '
