Portland Trail Blazers Must Turn Fast Pace into Efficient Play

It’s no secret that the Portland Trail Blazers have gone through a major transformation. Changes to the roster have left fans barely recognizing a team that was once celebrated for its youth and potential. The face of the franchise has shifted from Brandon Roy to LaMarcus Aldridge, and with that shift has come a change in one major element of the new roster’s style of play.

Pace.

With its newfound tempo and excitement, the Trail Blazers were touted early by many as the most surprising team in the NBA, and by some as the best in the West. Wins over the Oklahoma City Thunder, Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Clippers put the Blazers in the national spotlight and had the team riding the No. 1 spot in the West three weeks into the season.

This is the same team, however, that has conceded victories to the less-than-impressive Phoenix Suns, Houston Rockets and Detroit Pistons.

So which team is here to stay?

When the Trail Blazers are playing well, the up-tempo game plan looks brilliant. In their 10 wins this season, the team is averaging 101.1 points per game and allowing only 89.8. Nine turnovers against the Thunder and only four against the Lakers appeared to show that the team was finding a deadly combination of playing fast and playing smart.

But this season has been a tale of two teams. In their seven losses, the Trail Blazers have averaged a lowly 91 points per game, giving up 99.1 to their opponents. As good as the team’s ball control has looked during some of its victories, it has looked just as bad in some of its losses. Seventeen turnovers against the Suns, and 21 the first time the team met the Clippers, shows that while the team has devoted itself to playing fast, playing smart has too often been pushed to the back burner.

The fast-paced system has proven to win games in the past; no question there. Mike D’Antoni did it in Phoenix for years, but always fell short when it seemed to count the most.

What differentiates the Trail Blazers, however, from those run-and-gun teams in Phoenix is a defensive awareness that can propel a team to the next level.  

While the Blazers are shallow at the center position, Marcus Camby remains one of the better interior defenders and rebounders in the NBA. Gerald Wallace and Nicolas Batum have the length to disrupt any offense from one end of the court to the other, and Wesley Matthews has proven time and time again that he can defend the perimeter against some of the best that the league has to offer—especially down the stretch.

Monday night the Trail Blazers took care of business, handing the Sacramento Kings their 12th loss of the season. The team looked good—great at times.

But the fact is every great team is going to have off nights, and every mediocre team is going to look great on occasion.

It’s time for the Trail Blazers to show what kind of team they really are.