Hollinger: Portland Trail Blazers No Longer a Threat out West?

December 11th, 2009 by Busta Bucket Leave a reply »
In today's PER Diem , Hollinger takes a look at why the Blazers are struggling. Surprisingly, it's more than just injuries, the startling thing is shots:

Plumb the numbers further, and there's one big change we haven't talked about much: shots. Last season the Blazers won by taking shots. Lots of them. Because of a slightly below-average turnover rate and a league-leading offensive rebound rate, Portland launched more shots per 100 possessions (100.1) than any other team in the league ("shots" being defined as field goal attempts plus 0.44 times free throw attempts). The Blazers were relatively accurate, too, ranking eighth in true shooting percentage, but the real story of their season was one of quantity rather than quality.

This season? Portland's accuracy hasn't changed at all; the Blazers' true shooting percentage is nine points ahead of the league average, just like it was a year ago. The problem is that they're generating fewer attempts. Portland takes 96.7 shots per 100 possessions, barely beating the league average of 96.3.

More than three shot a ...

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