I think we could play more zone especially when we have Scola and KMart in. Surprisingly, it works for the Mavs as they are currently one of the best defensive team in the league. I know having a luxury of two tremendous shot blockers help, but still they play zone all game.
Have to agree with that. Watching JVG defense was great, watching the offense was like puling nails. A shot strong shot blocking presence, that could control the paint would help.
Yes. I know many consider it ugly basketball but I'll gladly take the 78-70 win. First to 70(or 80) wins
Not having Yao is a huge blow. But, I think our guys could do much better on defense. It is true that we have a lot of players that are not known for their defense, but I think JVG could get more out of them. I think some coaches can just motivate players better than others, and I think JVG can get guys to play defense. I could be wrong, and I guess we won't be able to find out, but it would be fun to see what JVG could do. I didn't like our offense under JVG, but I think he would open up the offense without Yao in the middle. I would like to see co-head coaches, Adelman for offense and JVG for defense. However, I don't see that happening anytime soon. :grin:
The defensive rotations were much crisper under Van Gundy and Thibodeaux. Of course Yao had a lot to do with it, eating up space in the middle. Watching the current Rockets team attempt to play defense is pretty frustrating.
It would never work because JVG cheats the offense to get great defense. He sends everyone back to stop the break as soon as the shot is taken. This prevents any offensive rebounds and second chance buckets.
Yes, I miss defense. Count me in as one of those that loves to see opponents frustrated when they can't do what they normally do offensively. It's beautiful.
Their defense is looking better, but they haven't faced many teams that challenged their interior D weakness this December. They lost to the two teams with good frontcourt players this month: Chicago and Milwaukee. The Lakers were running on fumes when Houston beat them. January will show where this defense is really at, when they face teams with bigger frontcourts like Milwaukee and Clippers again, and Orlando, Boston, San Antonio, Utah and Dallas.
We currently score 102 a game and give up 102 a game. But if we play the Spurs way or the old JVG way, we may give up only 90 a game, but how much would we score? Which player on our team excels more in the halfcourt than in transition? If we devote ourselves to defense, do you honestly believe Martin, Lowry, Hill, Scola, etc. would keep up the scoring when facing set defenses?
I believe you also have to factor in the pace, we are playing at a quicker pace but yeah, without Yao, we will never be the same defensive team we were, to be frank ,Yeah, I miss Yao!!!!
well, you could also think of it this way... other teams hate us constantly putting up 110 pts against them, lol... i miss defense, but sadly this team was being built around a 7'6 center that could either clog the lane or occasionally have 4-5 blocks in a game. Im not going to say its not these guys faults, they could play better, but the team is playing out of design. when we were under JVG I missed offense.... BADLY. I swear we only scored over 100 20 times with him as coach. we'd have whole quarters that were complete offensive lapses... and what basketball comes down to is outscoring your opponent, not hoping you can "keep" them from scoring more than you. we would need to be a better defensive club to win a championship, but this year its not in the cards for us. We can make 7th or 8th seed and give the first rounders a great run for their money, but we're 2nd round at best sadly. I wish I thought more, but SA, Dallas, Utah, and Lakers are looking great. Any other team barely has a shot anyways...
agreed, I think a lot of "bad defense" is associated purely with how many pts are on the board, but thats not necessarily the case all the time. a run-n-gun team is GOING to move more quickly than a half-court style game, and so naturally both teams are going to have more opportunities to score. Theres nothing wrong to me with a team scoring a 100 if you win 117 to 100. Defensive teams are known to be more low-scoring, but "defensive minded" teams that score low and allow low scoring will also have more offensive lapses. Not necessarily turnovers, but just lower shooting %s. If you're controlling the speed of the game then the scoreboard is going to look more like your style than the other teams. I think this is where the +pts come into play. Its important to understand that certain teams may score more because their better offensively than their opponents, but they also beat them by an avg of 7-8pts a game. This stat average is probably a better tell on how good you are at outplaying your opponent.
That's what it is. Once you're an offensive team you rely on your shots going in. WHen you play 82 games anything can happen. One night you make 60% of your shots and the other you can't buy a bucket. Make shots = Win Miss shots =Lose So it is almost like a lottery, isn't it. And with defense, you can always use it, no matter if you are hot or not.
I miss the 2004 and 2008 Yao Ming. I'm sure as heck not going to miss the injured, suited up Yao Ming.
