feigen mentioned in his blog that the defensive scheme will be different this year. I wondered if clutch or jeff asked adelman or any of the players about the changes to the defense this year. we led the league in field goal defense and defensive rebounding last year so im wondering if anyone has any specifics.
This what makes JVG's tenure as a Rox coach valuable...we may have a new defensive scheme but the idefensive instincts that he intalled among our players is important...
that's impossible. we avg 70 fg attempts w/ JVG. u ain't gonna score a lot consistently at that pace. again if we give up a few more pts, its ok. as long as we score more and the pt differential is higher, we're a better team,.
It's impossible. JVG's D depended heavily on our players spotting up and remaining stationary at the arc so they could run back and stop any transition opportunities as soon as we shot. Adelman's offense will have a lot more movement, and thus will be more suceptible to giving up transition opportunities on our misses.
It is going to be tough to have a higher point differential, even with the talent added to the roster. Last season we were top five, top 4 in the west.
What about half court D? pick and roll, backscreens, defending the paint. Those had nothing to do with spot up shooting. JVG was a genius at the defensive end because he kept his players prepared for who they were going to face the next night. Having spot up shooters run back might help, but his d wasn't "heavily dependent" on it. In every defense guards are suppose to run back and start the transition D. Also to the post about the defensive instincts remaining after JVG leaves... It didn't help Mike James when he went to Toronto and it didn't help Cat and SF3 when they went to Orlando. Plus we have a potiential starting PF in Scola who never played under JVG. I think our defense is going to take a major hit because of all this. It wont be too bad because we'll have Yao in the paint, but with Bonzi playing that means less time for Battier and crappier defense. Preparation is also key. No knock on Adelman, but every player that plays for JVG tells the media that they are most prepared for a game under him. Players like Jon Barry who played for both coaches say that. This doesn't mean much in the playoffs though because players will know the opposing team inside out by the time game 1 starts. Our defense will take a hit, but hopefully our scoring will rise and make the game more enjoyable for the fans and win us more games. That said, I think some things will remain consistant with previous years. Yao will guard the paint and back off the pick and roll, T-mac will likely be on the crappier player when Battier is in the game, and Scola and Hayes will take a lot of charges and be expected to cover for Yao on the pick and roll. I think our offense will also benefit from the fact that all 5 guys on the other side will have to defend someone instead of rest on one end. Last few years we've had teams that were 4v5 or 3v5 on the offensive end and the opposing stars could just rest on D against non scoring threats. How good our D is going to be? thats tough to say because we don't even know who starts and how many minutes key defensive guys like Battier and Alston (im an Alston only fan) will get.
What everyone will have to realize now is that with the new coach, everything is thrown out of the window. All the previous team matchups are now garbage. I thought we matched up well with the Suns, Mavs, and Spurs with JVG (when healthy). Now, they might completely destroy us. Then again, we might destroy them. We'll find out in a few months. The Hornets owned us. Now, they will have problems with us. What the initial poster was probably asking was will our actual defense change? Of course the tempo will change. The question is our defensive philosophy. Are we still going to pack the paint and prevent points in the paint like we did so well with JVG? JVG's offense of having Yao, T-Mac and shooters around them was not all about JVG wanting transition defense. I think this was more about JVG specifically wanting shooters around them rather than worrying about defense while on offense. He thought that was the best offensive idea. T-Mac penetration and Yao would command double teams, so shooters would be open for sure. The fact that transition defense would be easier is a bonus.
no. JVG's defense is great b/c why? 1) everybody stays near the paint and force other teams to shoot. he rather takes chances on jumpers than layups. that's why rarely we have guys ahead of the other teams for layups even on long rebounds. that's why we ALWAYS set up in the half-court. that's why we're SLOW. we're slow b/c of how our D is set up. every rocket players had one of their foot in the paint mostly. that's why good shooting teams KILLED US. that's basically it. besides hustle and effort.
I wish we would utilize the zone a little more. With a guy like Yao, who gets burned on pick and rolls consistently, it just seems like common sense.
Our guards aren't going to be in the position to do so as often as they were under JVG (Is whose offense they were generally in the same position to run back every trip), and preventing transition opportunity is a HUGE key to setting up a great halfcourt defense. I'm not saying our D will be bad under Rick, but we will give up more in transition as a result of our improved offense (Rick even said so in a Chron interview. He also said having shooters run back was a big part of Gundy's defense). Still, it's a great trade off to me. Personally, I think our defense will still be top 10, so all those extra points are gonna be gravy.
There was a three year stretch under Adelman when Sacramento was a very good defensive team. Here's a breakdown of their defense in those years (01-03), compared to the Rockets the last three seasons. To make the comparison fair, I rate each team, by category, relative to the rest of the league. The numbers might seem abstract (standard deviations from the average), but I think the chart gives a good representation of their defensive attributes. The more positive the rating, the better. Drtg: points allowed per possession dFT: free throws made per FGA for opponent dReb%: defensive rebounding TO%: forcing turnovers dFG%: field goal defense
Our defense will change, it will probably not be as good as last year, but since our talent level is higher, our margin of victory might improve as well. DD
The coaching schemes will undoubtedly change -- that ALWAYS happens when a new coach takes over. Offensively, Adelman's tactics are certain to play to the strengths of the players in a way JVG's never did. That should make both of our superstars even more effective. Sure, JVG turned Yao into a force under the basket, but he also made Yao's game predictable. Yes, JVG turned T-Mac into more of a team player, but his offense put the ball in Tracy's hands way too much (what, 75% of the time?) and left him exhausted late in games and late in the season. As for the defense, while Adelman is better known for his offenses, he's still proven over the years to be a well above average as a defensive coach. Our opponents' per-game average will go up, but that's to be expected with an uptempo offense. Great BB defense is all about desire, and our defense will be fine under Adelman's coaching as long as the players put forth the effort. So the offense will definitely improve and the defense shouldn't suffer much, if any. With that in mind... Here's the key to us winning the championship THIS season: This team simply needs to properly execute Coach Adelman's offensive and defensive schemes while maintaining the defensive intensity they learned under JVG. If they can do that, we have a shot at taking it all.
The Rockets were #3 in the league on defense (0.1 behind san antonio, 0.5 behind the bulls) in terms of efficiency, best in the league in terms of FG defense by a sizable margin, best in hte league at preventing offensive rebounds - essentially you are saying that they will remain at an elite level even though they have effectively conceded that they will give up more transition baskets this year, among other things? That is a very tall order.
Our defense won't be quite as good because we won't cheat our offense to do so. With JVG's, the wings hang around the three point line and take off for the defensive end as soon as a shot is taken. With Adelman, the guards will be near the basket so they won't have the headstart like in the old system. I think Alston mentioned it during one of his interviews.
I know that is not exactly your point but what difference does it make. If they win more games and they win games by a bigger margin I don't care if they give up 200 points a game.
Yao will have a headstart. With our guards around the hoop, the other teams guards will also be in the paint. The idea of having Yao and Scola play at the high post is that we can draw the big men out. Their guards will actually have to rebound instead of waiting for the outlet. We will have people in position to get back through sheer spacing. - Less 3pt attempts (*cough* Rafer) = less long rebounds for the other team to start the break. - Higher FG% (Tmac, *cough* Rafer) will limit fastbreak opportunities. - Bigs will be in better position to get back. Hopefully, some of our defense carries over from last year. I think we'll see a similar season to the Pistons after they hired Flip Saunders. Their offense exploded, but their defensive identity took a minor hit. In the end, they won 64 games, but lost that certain something in the playoffs. We haven't even had that special something in the playoffs, so I'll take the 64 wins.
