The Portland Trail Blazers need to player a meaner brand of basketball, according to Damian Lillard.
The star PG has occasionally witnessed a “mean streak” in his team, but says it needs to show up more frequently at game time.
.@Dame_Lillard says the Blazers need to find a 'mean streak'https://t.co/AcWqFIcURk
— Mike Richman (@mikegrich) November 29, 2016
The Blazers (9-10) have struggled on defense this season.
Per The Oregonian:
“That might be the change that needs to be made … is us just not being the nice team (where) everybody likes each other,” Lillard said following Blazers practice on Monday. “That’s a great story, but maybe we’ve got to play a much more mean game.”
“You look at teams like the Bulls, they go out there and they play a mean game,” Lillard said. “They rough up the game and sometimes that’s necessary to give yourself a chance in a game.”
So what does a meaner Blazers team look like? […] “Setting harder screens, boxing people out, fighting through screens,” Lillard said. “When a guy is standing there in a screen maybe we blow up more screens. Everything. When we’re guarding the ball, being more physical. Being in people’s space, things like that. I think we could be much better about that.”