The Portland Trail Blazers hope to show the Utah Jazz something different Wednesday night at Memorial Coliseum - a defense.
New Blazers coach P.J. Carlesimo has been putting a lot of emphasis on stopping opponents from scoring. That's nothing new, of course, every coach does it, including former Portland coach Rick Adelman."In the past, we talked about it and talked about it," said Portland forward Cliff Robinson, "and some nights we did it, and other nights we didn't play a lick of defense. We just could never get to the point where we were playing consistently good defense, night in and night out."
Somehow, though, Carlesimo is getting the message across. Just as an example, the Jazz shot 53.6 percent from the field in four games against Portland last season in winning three of four meetings. This year, in compiling a 6-5 record, the Blazers are holding foes to 12.6 fewer field-goal attempts per game. In a victory over Indiana on Sunday, Portland forced the Pacers into an uncharacteristic 24 turnovers.
"The whole focus this year has been defense," said Portland guard Clyde Drexler. "We're working really hard at that end."
Portland's chief defender is center Chris Dudley, who broke an ankle six games into last season and missed the rest of the year but now is throwing his body around with abandon. He's the kind of player who can play 35 minutes and not score yet earn the praise of his coach.
"Chris makes us so much better," Carlesimo said. "His ankle injury was the real problem Rick (Adelman) and Portland had last year. Chris is going to go after loose balls, block shots and clog the middle. And that has helped us tremendously."
Portland still has some problems, chiefly involving the point guard position. Terry Porter is out after having surgery on his ankle, and Negele Knight has a pulled hamstring. Rod Strickland has been out with a sore right wrist and was originally due back to face the Jazz, but the latest word is he's expected to sit out one more game. In his absence, James Robinson has been starting at point guard, backed up by recent signee Steve Henson.
Robinson has been improving but is still turnover-prone; he has nearly as many turnovers (40) as assists (56).
The Blazers also have had trouble putting a productive small forward on the floor. They don't even start one, choosing to open games instead with Dudley, Robinson and Buck Williams on the frontline.
As for the Jazz, they have won four straight - including their first road victory - and quietly crept into second place in the Midwest Division, but they still don't feel they've put together a complete basketball game.
"We're managing to win games without playing up to our potential, so that's a positive," said Jazz guard John Stockton.