2011 Playoffs: Five Issues the Trail Blazers Need to Address Before Next Season

The 2010-11 NBA season came to a disappointing end for the Portland Trail Blazers on Thursday.

The team became the first to lose a home game in the season series with Dallas, falling 103-96 and marking the third straight season in which the Blazers have lost in Game Six of the first round.

No longer an up-and-coming team, the Blazers have the talent and the experience to compete for a Conference Title.

After watching this series, it seems that the Blazers expected the games to be easier, while the Mavericks wanted it more and came prepared to win.

So what can the Blazers do to fix things and achieve a different result next season? 

1. Defense

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PORTLAND, OR - APRIL 21: Dirk Nowitzki #41 of the Dallas Mavericks shoots over Nicolas Batum #88 of the Portland Trail Blazers in Game Three of the Western Conference Quarterfinals in the 2011 NBA Playoffs on April 21, 2011 at the Rose Garden in Portlan

The Blazers appear to be a good defensive team, allowing only 94.8 points per game over the regular season, good for No. 7 in the NBA.  However, their low average might be due to their tendency to play at a very slow pace.  

While the Blazers did do a decent job overall on defense in the series, they could not get stops when they needed to.  Dirk Nowitzki is a great player, and the Mavericks have other shooters that will make three-point shots when left open. A team that has Marcus Camby, LaMarcus Aldridge, Gerald Wallace, Nicolas Batum and Wesley Matthews should be able to get a couple of stops and keep other teams from making big runs.

2. Offense

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PORTLAND, OR - APRIL 21: LaMarcus Aldridge #12 of the Portland Trail Blazers shoots against Tyson Chandler #6 of the Dallas Mavericks in Game Three of the Western Conference Quarterfinals in the 2011 NBA Playoffs on April 21, 2011 at the Rose Garden in P

When LaMarcus Aldridge was making his push for an All-Star bid during the middle part of the season, the offense seemed to flow wonderfully. 

But more often than not, the Blazers' offense appeared stagnant and very heavy on isolation plays for Aldridge or Brandon Roy.  

A team with so many players capable of scoring efficiently shouldn't have such a difficult time generating offense for long stretches. They shouldn't disappear until it's too late to make a strong enough run at the end of the game.

Players like Rudy Fernandez or Nicolas Batum have difficulty finding their rhythm within the offense when they're only getting long, contested jumpers.  Orlando deserves credit for Portland's offensive woes, but the Blazers struggled to get points in transition.

The Blazers could be effective offensively if they moved the ball around more and played less one-on-five basketball.

3. Coaching

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LOS ANGELES, CA - MARCH 20: Head Coach Nate McMillan of the Portland Trail Blazers watches play courtside during the game against the Los Angeles Lakers at the Staples Center on March 20, 2011 in Los Angeles, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly ack

Nate McMillan deserves a lot of credit for the Blazers' success this season.  He helped the team fight through another season full of injuries and adversity to make the playoffs for the third straight year in a competitive Western Conference.

But does he have what it takes to lead this team beyond a low playoff seed and another first-round exit?

The team was finally healthy and seemingly had the poise to finally push through the first round, but they seemed lost and confused—as if they needed another injury or two to light a fire underneath them.

Players are meant to execute the coach's offensive sets and defensive schemes. Either the execution isn't there or McMillan's X's and O's aren't working. Something needs to happen to help change things up. 

4. Rotation

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DENVER - DECEMBER 28: Marcus Camby #23 of the Portland Trail Blazers sits out the game on the bench against the Denver Nuggets at Pepsi Center on December 28, 2010 in Denver, Colorado. The Nuggets defeated the Blazers 95-77. NOTE TO USER: User expressly

On a championship-caliber team, each player knows his role and fulfills it to the best of his ability. Teams like the Celtics, the Lakers, the Heat and the Bulls all are built on this concept.

The Blazers have more than enough talent to compete with those teams on any given night. However, they lack the consistency to beat them in a seven-game playoff series—partly because of the inconsistencies in the middle and lower parts parts of the player rotation.

Each player's role needs to become more clearly defined.  Aldridge is the first option on offense, usually followed by Roy, Matthews or Wallace.  But substitution patterns need to become more clearly defined and explained. Instead of letting other teams dictate what they do, the Blazers need to take more control over their own success.  

5. Energy

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PORTLAND, OR - APRIL 21: Wesley Matthews #2 of the Portland Trail Blazers celebrates a three point shot in the first quarter against the Dallas Mavericks in Game Three of the Western Conference Quarterfinals in the 2011 NBA Playoffs on April 21, 2011 at

As mentioned at the beginning of this slide show, the biggest difference between the Blazers and Mavericks was the energy and effort that the Mavericks brought.

Portland's 31-19 start in Game One show that the team is difficult to handle when it plays at a fast pace. But then they began missing shots and couldn't get stops on the defensive end. By halftime, they were down by double digits.

The fans brought enough energy, but the players themselves need to get excited.  They need to buy in to the fact that, in the playoffs, the team that wants it more is going to get it. Talent alone won't cut it.