I checked the synergysports defensive stats for some of our players. 6 games is not a big sample size, so take it for what it worth. Overall PPP(Point per possession allowed): Lin: 0.59(ranked 15 in NBA for all positions so far) Harden: 1.03(ranked 182) Parsons: 0.77(ranked 69) Patterson: 0.89(ranked 125) Asik: 0.68(ranked 38) Douglas: 0.97(ranked 155) Looks like we are very good defensively overall so far. Below is the stats from last season: Lin: 0.81(ranked 128) Harden: 0.85(ranked 218) Parsons:0.83(ranked 166) Patterson: 0.89(ranked 302) Asik:0.71(ranked 24) Douglas: 0.87(ranked 257) Overall, Asik was and still is elite defender. Parsons and Lin were good defenders last season and are on the way to become elite defenders so far. If anything, we should be proud of our defensive progress so far. Note: With the season just started, not all NBA players played enough minutes to qualify in the ranking of this season.
Nice - if you can maintain this thread I'd like to see how we improve thus far. I think the teams getting better each game. Some of the knee-jerker, witch-hunt specialists are ignoring all the positives.
Well lets compare that with competition faced: PG: Knight, Teague, Lillard, Lawson, Conley, Knight SG: Stuckey, Korver, Mathews, Iggy, Allen, Stuckey SF: Prince, Harris/Smith, Gallo, Gay, Prince PF: Monroe, Smith, Aldridge, Faried, Zbo, Monroe C: Drummond, Horford, Hickson, Kufos, Gasol, Drummond Overall talent guarded: PG and SG: easy matchups C: Average matchups SF and PF: hard matchups Overall I am impressed by Parsons and Patterson defensively.
Patterson was never a below average defender. Watch the games actually and use the eye-test to see that.
Meh defense is defense. The fact that we are the youngest team in the NBA & are this good defensively bodes well for our future even if the matchups get "tougher".
Hard to tell how meaningful this is since defense is much more of a team thing than a matter of individual matchups. For example, if a guy drive by Lin but gets his shot blocked by Asik, or has to throw up a low % shot because Patrick Patterson played correct pick'n'roll defense, it makes Lin's defense # look great but is not solely due to his effort (Lin may deserve part of the credit for funneling the opposing player the right way).
I think the overall point is that the team is pretty good defensively, regardless of the individual numbers.
That works both ways too. You keep hearing LOH's go on about Lin getting torched by Lillard or Lawson when Lin get's picked and the help D doesn't materialise. I noticed last game vs the Pistons that we defended the PnR very well. Everytime Lin got screened there was help from Morris or Patterson which gave Lin the chance to reset. I know it was just the Pistons but I'm hoping this is down to the coaching noticing and fixing a problem in the team's defense.
That may be true, but how do you explain the huge difference between Harden's number versus Lin's. It's not like the players Harden has guarded in this stretch can be considered offensive dynamos.
Something seems a little off with these numbers. Is most of the league worse on defense this season? 1.03 ppp by harden this season ranks #182, but 0.89 ppp by Patterson last season ranks #302?
If you wanted to show that the Rockets were playing good defense so far, you could have just mentioned that they were 4th in the league in defensive rating. Strangely, nowhere in the OP do I see that. Team defense is a lot easier to measure and way more accurate than any individual defensive rating.
Early season defense (and offense) is always worse at the beginning of a season than later as teams develop chemistry and learn/implement their playsets. The sample is small (so early to judge with accuracy), but it does indicate that our defense so far has been very effective.
