How The Blazers Keep On Smokin'
Authored by Christopher Reina - December 18, 2007 - 5:23 pm
In a few weeks Greg Oden will be running again and that is not even the reason for euphoria in Portland, as the Blazers have won eight consecutive games, beating playoff teams like Miami, Utah (twice), Golden State and Denver. December will be their first winning month since November 2004.
Indisputably impressive and slightly stunning, but how are they winning these games by an average differential of 7.5 points?
Behind a frequent zone defense, the Blazers have held opponents to an average field goal percentage of 43.4 over the past eight games, a substantial differential of 5.7.
The Jazz average 105.2 points per game, but were held to 89 in Salt Lake City and 91 at the Rose Garden.
The Warriors average 108.8 points per game, but were held to 95 a night after dominating the Spurs.
The Hornets average 95.4 points per game, but were held to just 76 on Monday.
The zone defense has forced a reliance on outside shots, which fortuitously haven’t been falling for the Blazers, but it more significantly has kept opponents off the free throw line. Portland is averaging almost seven more free throw attempts per game during the winning streak than their opponents.
The field goal percentage differential and free throw discrepancy have been crucial, because Portland has been yielding almost 16 offensive rebounds per game during the streak, which is easily the worst in the NBA. Normally, allowing so many second chance opportunities would be devastating, but they’ve escaped unscathed because of the two points above and also because they’ve blocked 6.1 shots per game versus 4.3 of their own.
Brandon Roy has been incredibly consistent and more effective overall, averaging 24 points, 6.9 assists and 5.4 rebounds per game over the stretch, up from his season averages of 18.9/5.5/4.3.
Travis Outlaw has also blossomed into a scorer, averaging 18 points per game, up from his 12.3 for the season.
Finally, in the absence of LaMarcus Aldridge for five of those games, Joel Przybilla has been highly productive, averaging 8.2 points and 9.6 rebounds (3.6 offensive) per game. Przybilla can never duplicate what Aldridge gives Portland offensively, but Roy has picked up the slack there and the difference made on the glass is substantial as Aldridge averages 7.7 rebounds and 1.3 blocks per game.
Giving Przybilla more floor time, even when Aldridge is healthy, is advantageous to the Blazers this season and actually gives them a nice glimpse to the look and feel of the kind of team they will field next season when Oden debuts. He surely will block shots as efficiently as Przybilla and also resolve those damaging second chance opportunities.
'Tell Webster