Portland Trail Blazers unveil new fast-paced offense designed to ‘Make ’Em Uncomfortable’

TUALATIN — The Portland Trail Blazers opened training camp Tuesday with a self-described “intense” workout focused on defense, defense and, well, defense.

Throughout it all, coach Chauncey Billups sported a black Blazers shirt with a not-so-subtle message plastered across the back: “Make ‘Em Uncomfortable.”

If the Blazers have any chance of defying odds and pushing for a playoff berth during the next phase of their multiyear rebuild, they will have to make a whole lot of opponents exceedingly uncomfortable.

And that isn’t exclusive to their disruptive defense.

The Blazers are unveiling a new offensive system this season designed to take advantage of their relative youth, speed, athleticism and length.

“I can’t say too much,” forward Toumani Camara said, laughing, when asked about the new offense. “I know you guys are excited, but I can’t say too much. It’s all about moving the ball, playing together. We know our identity is going to be more on the defensive side, so (the offense) is more … share the ball, keep it moving and find the best shot possible. That’s the main focus.”

While specifics are murky and schemes are, evidently, a state secret, some details have emerged. The days of isolation-heavy sets, motionless schemes, two-man pick-and-rolls and standing around are gone.

Instead, the Blazers will play faster and freer. They will look to push the pace, create fast-break chances and wear defenses down in transition. They will look to cut and move and bring a lot more motion in half-court sets. They will, more than anything, look to cause chaos.

“The way we’re playing this year is going to be a lot faster,” Blazers point guard Scoot Henderson said. “We always talked about how we wanted to play fast, but there was never really any construction around it. So we were kind of just free-roaming a little bit. I think it’s going to be a lot of fun, (have) a lot of unexpected cuts, and I’m going to be able to know where everybody’s at. We’re all going to be moving in unison. So it’s going to be fun.”

Billups started implementing offensive changes in the offseason, when he overhauled his coaching staff and added Tiago Splitter and Patrick St. Andrews. The pair of veteran assistants bring years of international and NBA coaching experience and have played an instrumental role in tweaking the Blazers’ offense.

The goal is to bring more balance, less predictability and more movement — lots more movement — to a unit that ranked 22nd in scoring and 26th in field goal shooting in the NBA last season. The Blazers’ roster is built around defense and depth, and doesn’t have enough shooting and individual offensive firepower to thrive otherwise.

“There’s no reason to be young and athletic and versatile and play slow,” Billups said. “There’s just no reason to do it.”

Besides, Billups would like to mold the team into just that — a team — in which everyone plays a part and the focus is on spreading the wealth and creating scoring chances up and down the roster. If successful, the new system not only will keep defenses guessing, but also keep more Blazers engaged on both ends of the court.

“We have so many guys,” Billups said. “Our best times, our best games last year, we had so many guys contributing. Six guys, seven guys in double figures, and everybody just kind of sharing the basketball. I want to be like that most nights. I want to be playing that way. I think those are the most difficult teams to play against. When everybody’s kind of live, everybody is involved, and everybody’s in the action. Everybody feels valued out there, so that’s what we want to try to do.”

The new philosophy is a breath of fresh air for defensive-minded role players like Matisse Thybulle.

“For players who tend to get stuck in the corner, this offense is really great to get you involved, to make you feel like you’re involved,” Thybulle said. “Ultimately, with any offense, that’s the goal; keeping guys engaged. And offenses just have a tendency to have certain players get stuck in spots on the court, where they don’t feel like they’re a part of things. And then that creates all types of problems, whether it’s engagement, buy-in, or effort on defense. None of those things are things we’re necessarily worried about. But the fact that everyone’s going to be more involved, everyone’s going to be more of a threat, I think it’s going to be exciting for guys like myself and Toumani — defensive players who tend to sometimes just lost in the corners — just to be able to make more of an impact.”

There will be growing pains, of course, as Billups and his staff teach a young team a completely new system.

But the majority of Blazers players have been in town for nearly a month, participating in volunteer pick-up games and workouts at the practice facility in Tualatin. The run included fast-paced play and speedy scrimmages, which offered a taste of the up-tempo style heading their way.

The new playbook was kept hidden, though.

It didn’t even make an appearance on Day 1.

Billups said he and his staff will start implementing the new schemes on Tuesday, and roll them out slowly, dropping one or two new sets every day or two during camp.

The transition could be uncomfortable at first. But as long as it becomes uncomfortable for opponents in the regular season, it will have been worth it.

“I always kind of have a word every year that I think will be our barometer for our team,” Billups said, explaining the slogan on the back of shirt. “My word for us this year is just uncomfortable. We want to make people uncomfortable. Obviously, defensively, that’s our pressure and our physicality. Offensively, it’s our speed and just getting in that paint and kind of mixing it up, our crashing offensive glass. I just think those things make people very uncomfortable. And again, it’s who we have to be if we’re going to be any good.”