Damian Lillard: Warriors defense not the same without Andrew Bogut

Damian Lillard points out a glaring hole in the Warriors' defense heading into their first regular season matchup.

A day before their game against the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday night, Portland Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard was asked what he thinks about the Dubs' new lineup, after adding former MVP Kevin Durant and now with a new-look bench.

Lillard talked about the Warriors' defense by recalling their preseason matchup and based it on the observations he's had while watching them go up against the New Orleans Pelicans last Friday and the Phoenix Suns on Sunday, per Jason Quick of CSNNW.

“It’s not the same. They are a great offensive team and I think they will still be a good defensive team, but it’s different than when (Andrew) Bogut is not back there. It’s just not the same.’’

“Watching their game against New Orleans, watching their game against Phoenix — both teams attacked the paint a lot. They were attacking rim, attacking the rim, and it kept both teams in the game, so we have to do the same thing.’’

Andrew Bogut was one of the players the Warriors were forced to give up in order to make room for Durant. They may have replaced him with Zaza Pachulia, but he is not close to being the same defender as Bogut is, especially in the paint.

With Lillard seeing this as a weak spot on their opponents on Tuesday night, he will look to capitalize by attacking the basket relentlessly.

“I feel confident in my ability to attack whoever, but in a lot of those plays, Draymond [Green] likes to help from the weakside … and I saw him sprinting to (Mason Plumlee) to deny, which meant nobody was in the paint. I was taking advantage of that.

“It’s different when you don’t have a guy like Andrew Bogut in that paint. He controlled that paint really well for them on the backside of that defense, so (in that preseason game) I felt good about getting to the rim.’’

The Warriors may have added one of the best scorers in the league today, but without an anchor on defense, it makes it easier for other teams to penetrate and score inside. Lillard's claim is still yet to be proven, and he'll definitely test it on Tuesday to find out for himself.