Opponents points per game: Right now (6 games): 127.0 Last year after 6 games: 117.8 League avg right now: 109.8 Rockets 18-19 season: 109.1 League avg 18-19 season: 111.2 We're playing a faster pace now so I'd expect our OPPG to go up. And yes, I am 100% aware that PPG numbers don't tell the entire story. Still, it is interesting to me. For reference, only one team last year allowed more than 119 oppg. The Suns at 119.4 (To get the answer choices I looked at OPPG for this and last season and came up with ranges that were somewhat significant and aesthetically pleasing; just going by percentiles / quintiles was too messy).
It will come down to 114-119 you’d hope, but this again shows this is nothing like last year. This team is in deep ****, pointing fingers and not working hard for each other, that’s a very bad sign this early.
Is it possible to do the same for ORtg instead of PPG? Probably way more difficult. As far as PPG, no idea where they will end up, just know that the bottom two options are pretty unlikely.... absent mega change, like say they purposefully slow down pace to a crawl (which seems absurdly unlikely given the trade for Westbrook).
I'd rather do this poll with a pace adjusted stat. We could actually be a top 10 defense in the league still giving up around 117 points at our current pace. PPG is just really misleading. Even if we were as good as the bucks last year (#1 defense in the league), we would still be giving up 114ppg.
You have my support in that endeavor, and I would be sure to participate in that thread. I think PPG stats are still neat. No, they are not the best for critique, especially when pace has changed so dramatically from year to year, but I still find them interesting.
3 more games and we're trending the right way! Now allowing 118.7 ppg, 5th worst in the league. NOP, BRK, GSW, MEM round out the top 5. Also fwiw we're 14th in the league in ORtg minus DRtg. But we've also had the 3rd easiest schedule so far, with only BRK and IND having it easier.
After a good stretch of defense and then the disaster yesterday, we are allowing 115.1 oppg. 9th worst in the NBA, and the only team in the bottom 10 with a winning record. The next team with a winning record if you go down that list is Milwaukee, at 16th worse (aka 15th best) oppg, allowing 110.2. (Note: MIL is 1st in pace at 106.6 and we're 2nd at 105.4) Also fwiw we are 12th in opponent eFG% at 53% (league median is 52%) so teams aren't really shooting unreasonably well against us.
Ppg allowed is not the best measure of team defense because of the pace factor. The Bucks and the Rockets are the top 2 pace teams. Drtg (points per 100 possessions) is a better indicator of team defense. The Rockets are somewhere around 16th and the Bucks are top 10.
I'm aware of that and said that in the OP. I'm aware of that and said that in the post you're quoting.
I am aware of that. Maybe that's why few people are interested in this thread. PPG is really not that meaningful.
Yeah, maybe. I don't really care about that though, and I'm not certain that meaningfulness is the driver of CF threads anyway. In the end, this is the internet and I don't take it too seriously. So, ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
