Stats may show that with Lawson, the Rockets will have a top 3 offense this season

This is the best active thread in the bbs right now.

4Four ... we have no games on April 4th, Chuck Hayes wears 44. Moses Malone once said 4-4-4 for a prediction. Bosh, Millsap and Scola are 4s that wear 4. Who knows though, that's Cod for you.

 

We were ranked with the 2nd defense for most of last season, but it seemed that when Bev got hurt and, oddly, when Dwight came back, the defense slipped quite a bit. I think we ended up finishing 6th in defense. Meaning that even though we finished top 10 on defense, we finished the season an average to slightly below average team on defense.

Even though Bev was not the great defender he was in 2014, it is expected that his absence hurt the defense. And I think Dwight coming back, along with the guys becoming tired from the long season, caused the perimeter guys to take plays off and rely on Dwight more on defense as the season ended.

Our playoff defense was ranked as one of the lowest of the playoff teams. Though it doesn't help that we faced offensive juggernauts like the Mavericks, Clippers and Warriors, who all finished in the top 5 of offense.

Point is that, hopefully, getting Bev and Howard back at full strength and having the necessary depth so that heavy minute guys like Harden and Ariza don't have to play as much means that this defense can maintain a top tier defense for the entire year.

 

Don't be too quick to give up on those old guys. Vets who have survived as long as Terry in spite of poor defense typically understand team defense. They may be getting beat one on one, but they know where the defensive help is, which side to give up the drive to, and what the opposing player tends toward.

I learned this years ago when injuries forced Walt Williams to play with Glenn Rice. "Man this is going to be ugly" I said to myself. But overall surprisingly competent team defense.

 

DD standing for Debbie Downer? Getting pessimistic in your old age? Come on DD you know you are getting excited for the season to begin and are just trying to not have your hopes too dashed.

 

Hmm ... Harden mostly played with starters. Lawson mostly played with starters. Lawson will play plenty of minutes with the bench on the Rockets (if McHale finally learns to stagger minutes).

I don't think you can extrapolate stats this way. But of course Rockets will be better offensively with Lawson than Beverley for sure.

 

I think turnovers will help the rockets greatly this year. Or should I say having less tunovers.
Ty lawson had one one the best assist to turnover ratios on the leauge. Also him being a real offense threat teams can't double harden as easily as they did with pat. Harden will also have less tunovers Add all these with losing josh smith, the rockets will no longer be one of the worst teams when it comes to taking care of the ball.

This will help our offense. Every passion we don't give away we have a much better chance at scoring.

This will help our defense. Turnovers lead to fast breaks, which leads to bad defense and easy buckets for the opposing team.

I'm excited to see what we can do this year!

 

As a matter of fact, they do. At the start of the game, and after half time, called the starting lineup. This is why starters play much of their minutes with eachother. Lawson, and most starters also benefit from closing out the fourth quarter, when a team will generally put their best 5 on the court.

This is not to discredit the conclusion that you have come to. I agree that Lawson will help with the offense, obviously. Just that the math is not so straight forward.

 

Having Lawson be playmaker will cut down the live ball turnovers that have hurt the defensive numbers.

 

Yao made 0 All-DEF teams

His career-best finish in any season for DPOY voting was a tie for 24th place in 2006
Right alongside noted DEF stalwarts Devin Harris & Anthony Parker

He was a MAJOR liability defending P&R and all perimeter DEF situations at a time when the league was transitioning to floor-spacing Bigs as a whole (would have been much better fit in late 80s / early 90s NBA)

Compared to his contemporary starting NBA Centers, Yao was below-average (at best) in:
- lateral agility
- foot speed
- vertical explosion
- vertical quickness (total time between jumps)
- wingspan (for a 7'6" man he had Kevin Willis arms)
None of the touch/skill that made him All-World offensively translated to Defense

Unfortunately, the same shortcomings held him back on OFF too, as teams routinely frustrated Yao (especially early on) by fronting him with quick/athletic bigs that negated his dominance on the deep post by denying the post entry pass (think UTAH series vs Boozer/Okur)

Please stop perpetuating the myth that Yao was a 'GREAT' defender ...
Unless you also consider Rik Smits a great Def C too (Yao was MUCH better overall player, but DEF about equal IMO)

Both were unusually-large foreign Centers that were OFF centerpieces on playoff teams known mostly for DEF ...
But both teams earned that rep in spite of their Centers, not because of them

I loved Yao the person and, once he figured out how to use his size effectively inside, I loved watching him dominate for the Rockets ...
But only on 1 end of the court

 

All that talk about defense and nothing on KJ McDaniels? What is his upside as a wing defender?

 

Upside would be one of the best wing defenders in the game. Granted, he hasn't played that much to see if opponents can figure him out, but he was awesome in Philly on ball and off ball.

 

Stats will develop during he season, but....

Stats will be stats, but this is going to be a great ride in 2015/16. Our Rockets are going to be fun to watch. Run, run, run. Unleash Dekker, I am really interested to see what he can do in an upbeat, running team.

 

You want a good defensive team, then hire a defensive minded assistant coach. Or Mchale needs to spend extra attention on the defensive side.

Bmd good thread

Our offense should be top 3 for sure.

 

I know a lot of people don't want to believe this but Lawson is actually a very capable defender. Hope he decides to be more like Chris Paul.

 

The best defense is a great offense.

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