It's only two games into the season, but there are some good trends lately. I'm posting this now, instead of waiting for more games since we are leading in so many categories, I'm shocked. We are #2 in the league for points allowed at 88 points a game, and what is even better about that is both games had an extra 5 minutes, so on a 48 minute average, we are #1 in this category. Next, we are #1 in opponent field goal percentage at 35.9%. The next best team is Charlotte, holding their opposition to 38.3%. Opponents 3 point shooting percentage is also #1, at 22.2%, and the next best team is Washington at 22.2%. We are currently the #1 rebounding team in the league, but they may also have to do with the fact so many shots are put up and missed in the games we played. The Clippers are #2 and the Hawks are #4, so yeah, a lot of missed shots make the rebounding look inflated. The important stat is both games we out rebounded our opponents, both with supposedly better front lines than our. (We just have awesome rebounding guards, how often do you see a back court duo both get double digit boards?) We are tied for 4th in steals, less than 1 steal away from 2nd. We are 7th in the league in turnovers with 14 a game, which is a great thing for the Rockets, especially if you can remember us averaging 17-18 a few seasons ago. Our oppenents average 16 TO, which is average, but just the fact that we have less TOs than our oppenents is great. Stats that are not good: Field goal shooting - 38% 3 pt percentage - 21.1% I think the offensive numbers will get better, since they are more because of us not hitting open shots, vs. our oppenents guarding us tightly. We took 100 shots against the Clippers and 84 against the Hawks, while allowing the Clippers 87 shots and the Hawks 83. We are getting more shots than our oppenents, out rebounding them, and causing more turnovers. If the defense continues to be anywhere close to this good the rest of the season and the offense wakes up, we aren't going to be talking about playoffs this year, we will be watching them. I hope I don't sound too much like a homer, but these past two games have been spectacular on the defensive end. There is always the possibility that we played two bad teams, but the Hawks shot 42% against Washington, and the Clippers shot 45% against the defensive Spurs. So far it looks like this team is for real about picking it up defensively. B
B You're right. Our Defense has shown effort. And, we have 3 rookies that can add to it, if given the opportunity. It's early, but you have to start somewhere. Thanks for putting thoses stats together.
That is all I ever wanted: for the Rockets to show effort on defense! If they have that effort, then it means they are committed to winning! Everything is starting to fall into place. The Rockets are headed for 50+ wins! If the Rockets lose today, I hope that it isn't because they didn't put effort into their defense. If they showed that desire to shut down the Wolves, then I will be satisfied.
