I don't know about you guys, but seeing the kind of defense that the Houston Rockets are playing in these first 10 games is VERY reasuring. We all know that this group of players can put up points on the board like nobody's business, but to play the kind of D like they are, at such a young collective age, is tremendous. I must temper my glee a bit, I fear, because it does seem to me that they are playing D a above their ability, but it sure is fun to see! If we could get to scoring consistently again like we did at the end of last year, and continue playing defense like we do currently, but do it all year long, Houston Rockets World Champions in 2001 baby!!!!! In the interest of discussion, what does everyone think of the Rockets defense up to this point. Is it as good as has been displayed? Do you think the Rockets have the ability to consistely defend like they are now? A binary penny for your thoughts... ------------------ She hates testicles, thus limiting the men she can admire to Democratic candidates for president. -- John Greenway, "The American Tradition", on feminist Elizabeth Gould Davis
Great "D" in the 5 wins, porous "D" in the 5 losses. Thats the way I see it. ------------------ 2000-2001 Rockets Game Formulas: End of 1st quarter: "They're playing so well!" 2nd: "What a great game!" 3rd: "Theres no way they can lose now!" 4th: "What the ******* **** happened?!!" Revote! Revote! Revote!...... Rocket's Championship 2001!!
So far they have played tough defense and made the necessary stops when they need to, very encouraging. As for the offense it appears they are still feeling their way around the system, with a young squad that is to be expected. That is also probably one of the reasons why Dream is playing so well. With the rest of the team trying to find or improve their roles Hakeem knows what he needs to do and does that, plus it doesn't hurt that he's one of the greatest players of all time. Overall there have been some negatives, like the easy buckets allowed and the easy buckets missed, but again this is a team of youth and mistakes will occur. ------------------ Ceo of the Walt Williams fan club. Web site coming soon atheistalliance.org
ZRB...I disagree a little with your statment. In all but the Portland blow out the Rockets defense has given then a shot to win the games. They are not giving up a lot of points as they did last year, and they have played some power offenses in the first 10. ------------------
Through 10 games, the Rockets are giving up 91.1 pts a game. I would not consider this a lot of points. Granted, in all losses but one to the Clippers, we gave up quite a bit of points. But if we can keep up this average, we will win more games than we lose this year. ------------------ She hates testicles, thus limiting the men she can admire to Democratic candidates for president. -- John Greenway, "The American Tradition", on feminist Elizabeth Gould Davis
The stats show a stong relationship to points allowe"D" and success: Team Points Allowed 1 Phoenix 87.0 2 San Antonio 87.2. 3 Vancouver 87.7 4 Sacramento 89.6 5 Portland 91.2 6 Utah 92.0 7 Houston 92.3 8 L.A. Clippers 94.0 9 L.A. Lakers 94.0 10 Dallas 94.5 11 Minnesota 95.6 12 Seattle 98.1 13 Denver 103.8 14 Golden State 104.2 "D" does not usually make the highlight reels, but as some wise poster pointed out - offense gets you to the playoffs and defense wins you championships! ------------------ GATER [This message has been edited by GATER (edited November 17, 2000).]
Cleveland used to always top that list because of their style of play as opposed to good D. You have to consider other stats like the opposing team's FG%: 29. Atlanta 48.7% 28. Dallas 46.5% 27. Houston 46.4% 26. Denver 46.3% or how about the opposing team's 3pt%: 29. Houston 41.2% 28. Atlanta 41% 27. New Jersey 39.2% how about blocks? 29. Vancouver 3.42 28. Atlanta 3.55 27. Houston 3.66 on a positive note, steals: 12. Houston 8.44 I wouldn't even consider PPG in evaluating a team's defense. I'd consider these stats first. The Rockets have not played consistent defensive until their last 3 games (42.5%, 41% and 44% opponent FG%). They're on a nice run. It's still early in the year and I think they'll only continue to improve. ------------------ "We end up with Francis/Mobley isolations very often. More often, I'd say, then other teams." -- jamcracker [This message has been edited by Tb-Cain (edited November 17, 2000).]
i really beleave are de-fense is real good look at tha LAKERS games you take away tha losses to mil. and tha low down good clippers games and we would be 7-3 and even ta second gm. against l.a..8-2.still 5-5 aint bad comsidering are first month schedule.~catman~is awsome baby wink wink boom biddy bye bye~~~. ------------------ TEXANS BABY...
I still think the best defense is the ugly striped uniforms. As we all know, vertical stripe make things look longer, and this must make Hakeem look 8'4'.... ------------------
