Just took a look at the fast break numbers this preseason versus a year ago: Code: fast break points 2009 preseason [B] hou opp diff[/B] @SAS 22 6 +16 BOS 3 3 0 @ORL 16 5 +11 MIL 11 7 +4 @TOR 26 20 +6 @IND 6 18 -12 OKC 20 17 +3 DAL 4 13 -9 total 13.5 11.1 +2.4 Code: fast break points 2008 preseason [B] hou opp diff[/B] MEM 3 20 -17 SAS 6 5 +1 @BOS 6 12 -6 OKC 7 19 -12 @MEM 7 14 -7 SAC 13 10 +3 @SAC 9 18 -9 total 7.3 14.0 -6.7 For reference, here are the leaders in fast break points in the 06-07 season (couldn't find these numbers for more recent years): Code: [B]tm fb fb-opp diff w-l[/B] Golden State 20.4 13.4 7.1 42-40 Phoenix 17.0 10.5 6.5 61-21 Denver 18.6 14.6 4.0 45-37 New Jersey 13.3 11.1 2.2 41-41 Philadelphia 14.0 11.9 2.0 35-47 Washington 15.3 13.3 2.0 41-41 Cleveland 12.2 10.7 1.6 50-32 Chicago 12.3 10.7 1.6 49-33 Orlando 14.0 13.0 1.0 40-42 Toronto 12.6 11.7 0.9 47-35 San Antonio 11.6 10.8 0.8 58-24 Dallas 13.4 12.7 0.7 67-15 New Orleans 12.3 11.9 0.4 39-43 Milwaukee 13.0 12.9 0.1 28-54 Memphis 14.3 14.6 -0.3 22-60 Boston 12.0 12.4 -0.4 24-58 Detroit 10.6 11.2 -0.6 53-29 New York 9.3 10.1 -0.8 33-49 Seattle 11.8 12.6 -0.9 31-51 Indiana 11.7 12.6 -0.9 35-47 Sacramento 11.6 12.5 -0.9 33-49 L.A. Clippers 7.9 9.0 -1.1 40-42 Atlanta 11.8 13.3 -1.5 30-52 Miami 10.8 12.8 -2.1 44-38 Houston 7.4 9.6 -2.2 52-30 L.A. Lakers 9.6 12.2 -2.6 42-40 Utah 9.4 12.2 -2.8 51-31 Minnesota 9.0 11.8 -2.8 32-50 Charlotte 9.6 13.1 -3.5 33-49 Portland 6.3 13.9 -7.6 32-50
If this Rockets team is gonna win, it will be on fast break pts (inc. 3 pters), and defense, I don't think our 1/2 court game is gonna be good at all.
So we might've improved to the middle of the league in fast breaking. While its an improvement, it's probably not good enough to win with a small ball lineup.
I like those numbers. I too worry about the 1/2 court game but then again, we've hardly had Luis Scola this preseason who I think is our best post option in the 1/2 court so I think he will help solve the 1/2 court issues. Scola is also great on the fastbreak so he will only help the fast break #s as well. Nice topic and research to back it up.
I think speeding the game up will result in more points and more blowouts. I like the idea of being opportunitistic, but when u play the talented teams, they will get easy baskets too. Its not like the rockets are the greyhounds of the nba. The problems comes up when they will play gsw,philly,memphis,ok city, and teams like that who wants that pace and have better athletes. A team like memphis will also have the best post players and the better scorers on the court. The game isn't played on paper, but I think some of the teams the rockets used to beat because of the slow down-grind it out style they used to play will now be exposed.
Its still kinda hard to imagine where all our points are going to come from. I can see it all working quite well should our defense play well and we can fast break from that. But if our D isn't holding, our offense will also, I think, falter, which could lead to some ugly games for us. I think we'll confuse a lot of people when we look awful against some sub par teams, and then come out and play solidly against some of the better teams.
Regular season update: 4 games in, Rockets are besting opponents 17.3 to 12.8 in fast break points. They're also even in points in the paint -- 40 apiece.
