NYKnicksTAPE wrote:NY2TheBay wrote:NYKnicksTAPE wrote:Klay has been playing really well with Steph out, but neither the Rockets or Blazers are good defensive teams. Both were actually worse than the Knicks during the regular season in terms of defensive efficiency with the Blazers being 18th in the league and the Rockets being in the bottom 10. The Rockets didn't play anything close to playoff level defense in the 1st round, and the Blazers didn't either in game 1. We'll see what adjustments Portland can make for game 2, but their lack of size, rim protection, and overall good defenders will limit what they can do.
Fair point and I certainly won't argue defensive metrics as they are statistically shown. However, Klay does the majority of his damage from the perimeter first, as shown by his 3 point prowess, and uses drives when closeouts come aggressively. Rim protection doesn't fit well here. The main point is that when all the focus is on him as a number one option he can and will light you up. Being 18th in the league defensively is essentially middle of the pack and when playoffs come these guys ramp it up to a new level.
If you are waiting for the Spurs to come, by then Steph will be playing, to evaluate this kid as an elite scorer and player then you have missed the boat. Prime Kobe would work for his points against that spurs team offensively, they are a GREAT defensive team and in this era one of the best I've seen.
There wasn't that much separating the Blazers from the Rockets during the season in terms of defensive efficiency (106.1 defensive rating for Portland and a 106.5 defensive rating for Houston). The Blazers were closer to the Rockets than they were to the team right in front of them in the rankings (the Knicks with a 105.4 defensive rating).
Just from me watching game 1 the other day, the Blazers were making a lot of mistakes defensively (not staying glued to him as he came off screens, allowing him to get off 14 3 point attempts, etc). The good defensive teams will limit his catch and shoot opportunities and force him to make plays off the dribble, but I didn't really see that from Portland. Klay should be able to eat against Portland if they don't make the proper adjustments, but I'm not sure what they can really do. CJ isn't a good defender and is really undersized against Klay. The Blazers could put Aminu or Harkless on Klay, but then who would guard Dray or Barnes? If I were them, I might put whoever is guarding Barnes on Klay Thompson and hope for the best with CJ on Barnes (since Barnes hasn't been that good in these playoffs and doesn't get a ton of touches), but even then, Barnes is much taller than CJ and could just take him into the post or shoot over him with ease. It's tough.
The Spurs defense is amazing like u said...there's very very few players in today's NBA that would be able to consistently drop buckets on good efficiency against them IMO. Kawhi, Danny Green, TD, and Pop's scheme is just too damn good.
I was trying to sift through this post trying to put together what your thesis statement is. What I came up with was that essentially you are using the regular season defensive metrics to say why Klay is producing the way he is. That is fine and understandable and won't debate that as your stance is your stance. What I was saying and still supporting was if you are awaiting the Spurs or a top 5 defensive team before you are able to conclude that Klay is an elite scoring option in this league then we see it differently.
The blazers best bet is to get Klay off his spots when he pulls up as that is where he is most efficient and where the warriors mainly use him. He is more than capable of putting the ball on the floor for a few dribbles to reset or attack the rim on close-outs. He won't dribble the shot clock down and attempt to crossover a player to a contested step-back. Not his game and those plays aren't very efficient anyways.
Klay not only put up a historical last 3 games but he is averaging 27 ppg with the 7 games that Steph had missed during the season.
The part that many Harden fans neglect is what this guy is able to do defensively while putting up efficient offensive numbers. Case in point is vs. Dame yesterday who I would categorize as a top 10-15 player in this league and easily a top 5 pg.
The Trail Blazers shot 2-of-16 when Thompson was the primary defender, including 2-of-13 from Damian Lillard.
I dont suspect Klay to limit him to these numbers throughout as great offense can and will beat great defense but making it hard on these guys is part of Klay's game and why he is underrated.
We obviously see differently here and that is more than fine. The truth is I can only point out what the man has done with Steph off the court and we aren't going to see that often so I have to use the small sample size in front of me.
