We kicked melo out. I dont think anyone is happy with this inconsistent mess of a defense. I know we cannot teach height but damn Jeff B...What's up? (This is not letting the players off the hook) Rocket River
It's my biggest issue as well. I understand that we will get outrebounded. I understand that we have no rim protection without Clint. But it just looks so horrible, and inconsistent. Especially when there are nights where the Rockets can go an entire half or quarter playing great and amazing defense. It's like this team believes they have a switch to turn on the defense whenever they want, but in reality that leads to terrible losses or miracle wins. This team shouldn't be one of the worst defensive teams in the league, and yet it is. There needs to be some accountability.
Copying this from another thread. The offense we produced tonight (111.5 rating on low turnovers) wins 9 out of 10 times. Basically, we should never lose these games. There have been 470 wins to 148 losses in the NBA this season with teams having the Offensive Rating the Rockets had tonight That is a .759 Winning Percentage Which equals 62 Wins Now, if you factor in our low turnovers of 12 = 11.5 TOV% (which would lead the league by a big margin) Out of the 148 losses above, only 52 occurend with an ORtg of 111.5 and TOV% of what Rockets had tonight. That is a .900 Winning perfectage Which equals 74 wins So, when teams do what we did, 111.5 ORtg on low turnovers, they win 9 out of 10 times.
lol when people thought a coach would make us into a terrific defensive team. If that were the case, Timberwolves would've been a top defensive team under Thibbs. Aging Cp3 who clearly can't defend properly anymore and just goes for steals. No Capela anchoring the paint defense due to injury. Tucker is alright but let's be real, he gets blown by often by quicker players. Defensively, Green and Ennis just don't cut it. Harden has improved but relying on Harden's defense for the entire game is just a joke waiting to happen. Plus, he rarely runs back after a turnover. Austin Rivers is average and is overrated by CF on defense.
The solution is obvious: we need another quality big man that can rebound, defend and provide some of the same qualities CC brings to the table. Easier said than done, I realize, but keep in mind we’re not looking for Capela’s equal. I’m talking about someone that’s a legitimate center (sorry, Faried), isn’t 80 (sorry, Nene), belongs on an NBA roster (sorry, Chriss) and can be relegated to backup duties once Clint returns. We have been outrebounded EVERY single game since CC went down. This isn’t something you can ignore.
Compelling information, no doubt, but what does the eye test tell you? We’re blowing leads and relying on late miracles to win games. Tonight, we just let a bunch of fringe NBA players embarrass us on our home court. I mean, I love analytics, and I think in the grand scheme of things we’ll be fine. It’s hard to put a positive spin on this, though. Defense and rebounding are killing us.
The loss of Capela really was massive. Faried can replace a good amount of his qualities on offense, but not on defense. That's not to say the defense was a well-oiled machine even with Clint, but they're getting torn to shreds inside at this point. Tonight was just an obliteration in the paint.
Obviously we lost because of our defence than. What's the point of only stating a ORTG when the flipside is the DRTG. Our defence is leaky as ****
imo, next to the stat "Who Scores Most Points Wins," Offensive/Defensive Rating is the best stat there is. It's just a normalized way of saying whoever scores most points wins. Per game, the team with the better ORtg wins. That's how the stat works. So, imo, our 111.5 on low turnovers proves despite a 90% positive outcome, they scored more than us, because we couldn't stop them from scoring more.
That was my point. Don't blame the offense. You don't lose these games unless the other teams scores easier than we did.
Yet we had 11 more field goal attempts and same amount of free throw attempt (24 to 25). Rebounding isn't the issue tonight when you get that many more shots off than the opponent.
Well you just told me we did everything right but still lost. Would an extra 10 possessions net have helped?
do you mean Possessions or shot clocks? Possessions as a stat are always the same for both teams, with a maximum of 2 more for one team (due to alternating possession at start of each quarter). So, you can't have a +10 net possessions. But yes, you can have 10 more shot clocks.
Net possessions, a term I made up, referring to how many more possession we would have had, or less they would have had if rebounding were even rather than Rockets -10
Fantastic post, great stats. This is why it drives me nuts when I come here after the games and everyone is up in arms about "too many 3s", "open up the midrange", "it's time to post up", "how stupid are the rockets for shooting all these 3s" etc. The offense is fantastic, and it's not the problem! We just need to not be a bottom 5 defensive team.
I’m sure a team of 8 Kemba Walker’s could score 150 points per 100 possessions, but at the end of the day you’re still going to need to rebound and play defense. We became very spoiled with having Capela at our disposal. His absence has been costly. Easily our second best player at this point. At least, until CP3 decides to turn it on once we get to the playoffs.
CP3 looks like he’s never going to turn it up to the level we saw him at again :c . I don’t think it’s just about him deciding either :c :c .
On Capela, I wonder how people rationalize that he is entirely a product of Harden. Just look at the difference. In a way I'm glad people get to see Faried at C so they understand the difference. Capela at 6'10 with good interior defense is still more capable on the perimeter than Faried. However, Faried will make an excellent backup for Clint. That position is set. Okafor does not dream of having this kind of game if we're healthy. OTOH, we are still lacking a young Trevor Ariza. A defensive leader with near 7 foot wingspan that can't be left open for 3. Give us that and we are good to go. We need a legit wing defender. Time to move Gordon and a pick for a big forward. Rivers' game will improve once Gordon is gone, much like Lou Williams. Wouldn't hurt to replace Green/Ennis with House either.
