no their defense wasn't great. I clearly remember during those years the Suns would get exposed because all the priority was set on offense. And when the playoffs came they would get exposed.
Season just started, thinking the defense will start improving as the games keep being played. Cavs were hitting some clutch shots down the stretch ie Kyrie Irving. Not gonna lie, haven't had this much fun watching the rockets since the yr before Dwight came on board. Can't wait to watch them live in DC later this week
Spoiler 1998-99 Denver Nuggets(50 games) ▪PTS/G: 93.5 (8th of 29) ▪Opp PTS/G: 100.1 (28th of 29) ▪SRS: -6.67 (26th of 29) ▪Pace: 90.5 (6th of 29) ▪Off Rtg: 103.1 (12th of 29) ▪Def Rtg: 110.4 (29th of 29) 2003-04 Phoenix Suns(61 games) ▪PTS/G: 94.2 (11th of 29) ▪Opp PTS/G: 97.9 (26th of 29) ▪SRS: -2.94 (21st of 29) ▪Pace: 92.6 (5th of 29) ▪Off Rtg: 101.4 (21st of 29) ▪Def Rtg: 105.5 (24th of 29) 2004-05 Phoenix Suns ▪PTS/G: 110.4 (1st of 30) ▪Opp PTS/G: 103.3 (30th of 30) ▪SRS: 7.08 (2nd of 30) ▪Pace: 95.9 (1st of 30) ▪Off Rtg: 114.5 (1st of 30) ▪Def Rtg: 107.1 (17th of 30) 2005-06 Phoenix Suns ▪PTS/G: 108.4 (1st of 30) ▪Opp PTS/G: 102.8 (28th of 30) ▪SRS: 5.48 (4th of 30) ▪Pace: 95.8 (1st of 30) ▪Off Rtg: 111.5 (2nd of 30) ▪Def Rtg: 105.8 (16th of 30) 2006-07 Phoenix Suns ▪PTS/G: 110.2 (1st of 30) ▪Opp PTS/G: 102.9 (23rd of 30) ▪SRS: 7.28 (3rd of 30) ▪Pace: 95.6 (3rd of 30) ▪Off Rtg: 113.9 (1st of 30) ▪Def Rtg: 106.4 (13th of 30) 2007-08 Phoenix Suns ▪PTS/G: 110.1 (3rd of 30) ▪Opp PTS/G: 105.0 (25th of 30) ▪SRS: 5.13 (6th of 30) ▪Pace: 96.7 (4th of 30) ▪Off Rtg: 113.3 (2nd of 30) ▪Def Rtg: 108.1 (16th of 30) 2008-09 New York Knicks ▪PTS/G: 105.2 (4th of 30) ▪Opp PTS/G: 107.8 (28th of 30) ▪SRS: -2.33 (22nd of 30) ▪Pace: 96.7 (2nd of 30) ▪Off Rtg: 108.1 (17th of 30) ▪Def Rtg: 110.8 (23rd of 30) 2009-10 New York Knicks ▪PTS/G: 102.1 (10th of 30) ▪Opp PTS/G: 105.9 (28th of 30) ▪SRS: -4.01 (24th of 30) ▪Pace: 94.0 (8th of 30) ▪Off Rtg: 107.6 (17th of 30) ▪Def Rtg: 111.6 (27th of 30) 2010-11 New York Knicks ▪PTS/G: 106.5 (2nd of 30) ▪Opp PTS/G: 105.7 (28th of 30) ▪SRS: 0.48 (15th of 30) ▪Pace: 95.6 (3rd of 30) ▪Off Rtg: 110.9 (7th of 30) ▪Def Rtg: 110.1 (22nd of 30) 2011-12 New York Knicks(42 games) ▪PTS/G: 97.8 (11th of 30) ▪Opp PTS/G: 94.7 (11th of 30) ▪SRS: 2.39 (11th of 30) ▪Pace: 93.2 (5th of 30) ▪Off Rtg: 104.4 (17th of 30) ▪Def Rtg: 101.0 (5th of 30) 2012-13 Los Angeles Lakers(72 games) ▪PTS/G: 102.2 (6th of 30) ▪Opp PTS/G: 101.0 (22nd of 30) ▪SRS: 1.48 (10th of 30) ▪Pace: 94.4 (5th of 30) ▪Off Rtg: 107.8 (9th of 30) ▪Def Rtg: 106.6 (20th of 30) 2013-14 Los Angeles Lakers ▪PTS/G: 103.0 (11th of 30) ▪Opp PTS/G: 109.2 (29th of 30) ▪SRS: -5.33 (26th of 30) ▪Pace: 98.7 (2nd of 30) ▪Off Rtg: 104.2 (21st of 30) ▪Def Rtg: 110.6 (28th of 30)
Could be that the Mav's offense was a little dysfunctional without Lurch in there. Not sure we can say our defense is what kept their points down or not.
Not just an MDA coached team, but the fact of who our players are. Say what you want about Dwight- I'm glad he and his complaining, team chemistry killing attitude are off this team- but he was still the best rim protector and rebounder on our team last year. We lost him and added Anderson, one of the worst defenders in the league. I knew he was bad but he is even slower than I realized. Gordon is average at best at defense. Of course everyone knows of Harden's struggles on defense. Ariza used to be known for his defense and while he can still be decent at it it is also clear that he is not the lockdown wing defender that he was. Bev is a pesky, get under the other player's skin kind of guy and while I love his intensity and effort, I also think he can be overrated as far as shutting players down. I don't think having MDA as coach helps. But I'm not sure if any coach would be able to make a great defensive squad out of this team. Yes, it is only 4 games. But I don't think anyone should be surprised with how poor our defense has been and will most likely continue to be this year.
We lost him and added Anderson but he wasn't the one who replaced him. It's Capela who many thought would be ready could just easily do what Dwight did in the middle. Ive said this many times before Capela just isn't ready yet. He's still a couple years away from actually being a full time center assuming he stays healthy and keep working like he has been. A defensive coach makes a huge difference in a teams defense even if you have a collection of not so great defensive players. An actual defensive system that is worked on and instilled in a team is what makes defenses good or at least respectable. This gets everyone on the same page and conscious of what needs to be done in actual games.
Everyone seems to care quite a bit when Harden is on the floor. We are ****ing dominating when he's in the game so far this season.
We don't even need the four games to look at the roster, the coach, and their histories. Unless you believe in magic of course.
I posted this a couple times. That Ryan Anderson actually is a WORSE defender at his position than Harden is at his. (Even Eric Gordon isnt any better at D than Harden). And that was the most concerning thing about the signings before even getting into injury concerns (But they can sure FILL the BASKETS!)
Wow this thread is pretty dumb, and people predicting doom and gloom 4 games in need to give themselves a reality check. Net rating measures your performance against competition but you need a large sample size for it to work, anybody who took statistics in high school should know that's why the required sample size is at least 30. If you look at the 4 games used in this "analysis" 75% of those games are playoff teams, and 25% of that weight came from a match against the Cavs, aka the champs and top 1 or 2 team in the league. Do the Rockets play against the Cavs 20 times this year? No? Then why are you using this really small sample size to judge the Rox play for the entire season and even comparing it to PHX net rating before? Just watching the games will tell you the chemistry, defense and energy level of this team is off the charts this year. And y'all owe MDA and Les Alexander an apology for all the **** you said prior to the season about how bad the Rockets will be this year. Give these guys some respect.
The defense honestly doesn't look that bad. There aren't many egregious mistakes and no real lack of hustle.
It may not "look" terrible, but we have played 2 games against the Dirkless Mavs, and the terrible Lakers. That's 3 of 4 against very bad offenses, and we still ranked dead last. That's not exactly promising considering everybody on the planet saw this coming given the poor defensive personnel, and a coach with a history of mediocre at best defenses.
