On the NBA Beat Ep. 2.31: Dane Carbaugh: Blazers Approaching “Make-It or Break-It Offseason” - a podcast by Lineups

The Portland Trail Blazers’ prospects of advancing look grim, but the future is fairly bright, according to NBC Sports Pro Basketball Talk’s Dane Carbaugh, who also runs the popular YouTube channel, Dane Not Dan, where he breaks down the NBA in video form. Compared to the previous season, the relative strength of the 2016-17 Western Conference relegated the Blazers to the No. 8 seed where they had the misfortune of drawing the otherworldly Warriors in an all-but-impossible first-round series. With Golden State up 2-0 and prized trade acquisition Jusuf Nurkic nursing a leg injury, much of the conversation’s focus turns to how the Blazers can best solidify their roster and improve defensive performance. Importantly, Dane also explores the strengths and challenges that come with the Damian Lillard-C.J. McCollum backcourt pairing. Blazing hot excerpts can be found below:3:26-4:14 While the typical Blazers fan would love to see Jusuf Nurkic grace the court against the Warriors, Dane advocates for a more cautious approach:“The Nurkic trade, I think, really re-solidified his [GM Neil Olshey’s] position; the same thing for [head coach]Terry Stotts. So nobody’s going into this playoff series thinking, ‘We need to win a series or win a game, even, to save someone’s job.’ No one’s going to get fired because of that. And on the flip side, you have the guy that they believe is going to be the third guy for this team for years to come, and so I don’t see a reason to risk him [worsening his injury] in any way, shape or form. He’s got a non-displaced fracture in his leg, and he’s a 7-foot tall, 280-pound man, and it’s the Portland Trail Blazers; maybe just let him rest. So it’s possible he comes back for Game 3. If he comes back at all, that is the game he’s going to do it in. If they’re down 3-0, there’s no reason for him to play in Game 4, so it would have to be Game 3. I don’t think he should come back at all.”8:35-9:17 Our guest details Golden State’s Game 2 defensive adjustments that so effectively combatted Portland’s explosive guards:“I think what they really did was they figured out what points on the floor Damian and C.J. were attacking to and where on their drives. I saw a lot more drives that were ineffective as opposed to the first game in which both Damian and C.J. had the ability to hit floaters or runners from certain points on the floor where they were very clearly trying to avoid some of the shot-blocking that, say, Javale McGee or Draymond Green brings to the floor for the Warriors. And I think they really adjusted to that and saw, ‘Look, thisis where a lot of their shots came from on the floor when they had those drives. This is where we’re going to try to concentrate. This is where we’re going to try to make them take an extra dribble or take a dribble away from those drives so they can’t get to that specific spot and make them uncomfortable.’ I think combined with locking down on 3-point land, that’s really what happened to them.”18:51-21:22 Despite the defensive shortcomings of Lillard and McCollum, it’s premature to break up the talented duo, according to Dane:“If the Blazers need to do something else, that trade is not coming until summer of 2018. They have to go through an entire season together with a fully built roster that they think is ready to compete with a starting center that works for them, and that would be Jusuf Nurkic, [Al-Farouq] Aminu at the 4, Mo Harkless at the 3. They have to go through a whole season with an actually complete roster with honestly guys defensively who can back them up. Remember this is a team that played with… Nic Batum,Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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