I'm really wanting us to get Brent Barry, but the Francis bashers really need to chill with the belief that with Barry the rockets IQ problem would be completely solved. The Rockets turned the ball over far too much, but it wasnt only a Francis problem it was a TEAM problem- you guys act like Francis was the only one turning the ball over. Per game: Yao averaged 2.5 TOs, JJ 2.2 TOs, Mobley 2.3 Tos, Francis 3.7 TOs, Cato 1.2 TOs, and MoT 2.0Tos. Out of 42 pgs this season - Brent Barry ranks at #28 in the nba at a 2.42 A/TO ratio. Francis was #39 with a with a 1.68 A/To ratio, Amazingly Tyron Lue has a better A/To than Barry- Lue's is #24 in the nba with a 2.56 A/To ratio and he played about the same minutes as Barry. So even with a Barry/Lue combo we still would be in the bottom half of the nba in the A/TO catagory- which everyone always bashed Francis for. Also Barry is suprisingly more turnover prone than I once thought- Last season Francis averaged 4.4 Turnovers per 48 minutes-- Barry averages 3.8 Turnovers per 48 minutes. Like I said I really hope we get Barry as I love pure shooters but I still see turnovers being a problem next season. Assuming we get Barry this is how our starting lineup fares next season in regard to TOs. Last years Tos per game: Barry - 2.4 , JJ 2.2, Tmac 2.7, Howard 2.2, Yao 2.5. So yes we will turn the ball over less, but turnovers still will be a problem next season.
Brent Barry is gonna be 33 before half of this season's up, and he's coming off a season in which he played 59 games. JVG is not going to make him a defensive player. I really would like see the Rockets go in another direction for their point guard, because I don't want to see this guy break down and we have nothing on the bench besides Mike Wilks. Yao is the ONLY defensive big man on the team and his rotation is slow. The Rockets would really be better off looking for good on the ball defenders to play next to T-Mac.
Arroyo averaged 3.7 tunovers per 48 minutes... I wouldn't be concerned about Barry's turnovers, Seattle had many, many more possessions per game last season than we did. BTW, we do have Tyronn Lue waiting in the wings if Barry goes down... Last season Barry missed games because of a broken hand, not a recurring injury of any sort. He's only missed an average of 9 games per season his last five seasons. Who's a great on the ball defender that we can get to start at PG? Charlie Ward? Couldn't get minutes on a team with zero PG depth. Anthony Carter? Got cut from a team with zero PG depth. Eric Snow? I love the idea, everyone else hates it. Seattle probably won't give up Daniels if they lose Barry. Kevin Ollie's a backup. Alvin Williams is much more injury prone than Barry. Earl Watson is the only option that makes any sense at all, but he's a bad shooter and undersized. BB is the best option.
Just curious, for those that do not expect the defense to suffer at all next season: What is the explanation for Orlando and Seattle having the worse and fifth worse defense in the league? Is Mcgrady, Howard, and Barry not in some way responsible for that? Why did the Rockets defense go down the tubes last season without Cato?
No doubt Van Gundy is a great defensive coach, but unless the Rockets add some more defensive talent to this team next season, I think he’s in for a challenge he’s never had before. In both of his coaching stints, he’s inherited good defensive teams. In the season prior to Van Gundy’s hiring in New York, the Knicks were already the 5th best defensive team in the NBA. Prior to joining here, the Rockets were already the 6th best defensive team. So it's not like he's turned terrible defensive teams into great ones.
McGrady is underestimated as a defender. Look back at his Toronto years to get a better idea of what he can do. Macbeth posted an in depth analysis a week or so back that showed what he was capable of. In orlando he was forced to carry the entire offensive load so obviously he defense took a back seat. Francis was never considered an above average defender. Both he and Barry have similar career steals numbers. In JVG's defense its about team defense, not the individual. The only spot where they'll really be weaker is the 4. Juwan Howard is a downgrade defensively from Cato, but they are solid at the other 4 spots. The defense will be slightly worse than last year because Cato isn't there but its still going to rank near the top of the league.
Without Francis, Cat and Cato would NOT make much difference defensively for the Rox. Why, because we have a good defensive system where everyone knows their roles and play perfect team defense. Just look back on Yao's first season when we were playing under Rudy, and last season when we were playing under JVG. You'll see the difference defensively. That means when Rox plays good defense, it's because JVG has a good system that everyone believes in and executed. It's a team effort rather than an individual defensive prowness. It's defintely true that everyone plays a little harder defensively when they're playing with JVG. JVG will make sure his basically new team with Tmac, Howard etc to do the same thing defensively. I would imagine that Rox will have a little trouble in the beginning of next season because they have to get used to playing with a new team and some guys need to adjust to a new system. I think 15 or 20 games later, we'll play at least the same level as last season defensively if not better.
Well, following your reasoning, then our perimeter defense will increase a lot this year with BB over Francis. BB at 6'6" will be a lot better to disrupt shots than Francis.
that's more than adjusted for if you look at steal per 48... our defense will be fine next year. certain fan are just still reeling from the trade. what will be missing is the toughness / x-factor that cato bring in the game. that will have to be compensated for by the improved offense.
A defensive coach makes a lot of difference. Similar players under Rudy T, but drastic difference on defense. We had no depth. Cato is grossly overrated on defense. He played only 25 minutes a game, but when he went down, the Rockets played MoT, Spoon, and Padgett at the pf and backup c. That's among the worst pf combos defensively in the L. Howard, MoT and any back up center will be a lot better than MoT, Spoon and Padgett defensively on any team, for Howard will be better at help defense than fat MoT, fat MoT will be better than fat and short Spoon, and any back up center will blow Padgett away on defense. We will be the same or better defensively next year. No worry.
even a slight loss in defense is worth the HUGE potential gain in offense we could have with this new team. i think it's an even trade, obviously you have to give up a little bit to get some and i think we come out looking pretty damn good next year.
hmmm surprising that such a good defender like Nate McMillan wouldn't preach defense funny that Antonio Daniels won the starting spot for that reason
Let's hope Van Gundy knows what to do with all that offense. His mentor was Pat Riley, who is a superb coach either way... Showtime Lakers and the grind it out Knicks. He used the personnel he had. JVG obviously learned the defensive genius of Riley and others, I'm sure, but, unlike Riley, I've yet to see him display an offensive mind as well. But I guess that's another topic... can Van Gundy utilize our exciting offensive weapons this season?
JVG has proven he can utilize a poor defender in his system and make him work on team defense. I don't know much about McMillan's coaching. All I can say is unless new stuff turns up in favor of McMillan I'd take JVG over McMillan to do a defensive job. Besides, good game doesn't always translate into good coaching.
pgabriel, Why do you take ONE element of the game like "steals" and then turn it into a "the sky is falling" issue? Are you willing to take a PG (Francis) that has tons of turnovers, shoots bad, can't run a break, gets himself involved before his teammates....OVER a PG (Barry) that has a few turnovers, shoots great, can run a fast-break, and gets others involved before himself? It almost like you're willing to throw out the baby with the bath water. Just for the record...Barry is not a bad defender as you make him out to be. His height alone will be a help. SF's career steals per game: 1.6 Barry's career steals per game: 1.3 The steals master is Baron Davis at 2.36! But we're not getting him. So forget about comparing steals as a "defensive liability." The decision to go with Barry is based on all *other* positives that he will bring to the team. Not that he doesn't have more SPG than Francis.
omar23. Let me ask you this. Do you understand that a *TO per game average of 2.5* is fine for most players. And, it's excellent for PG (since their job is to pass and get others involved). Secondly, a PG that has 3.7 TO per game w/only 6.5 APG is VERY BAD! You need to understand this. We know that other Rocket players made TO on our team. But the role of that player and amount of the turnovers matter! Next you mention the Turnover per 48 minutes. Please don't use those stats to assess players TO ratings. It's very deceptive. Don't believe me? Ok, let's look at a few "TO per 48 minute" stats on a few players that you might recognize... 2003-2004 stats: Steve Nash: TO per 48 = 3.84 Carlos Arroyos: TO per 48 = 3.73 Kirk Hinrich: TO per 48 = 3.62 2002-2003 stats: John Stockton: TO per 48 = 3.84 Mark Jackson: TO per 48 = 4.97 (Utah: only 18 min per game; 4.6 APG and 1.85 TOPG) So, you see. TO per 48 minutes isn't a good mesure about a players TO rating. Now, I don't know where you got your information about Barry. But I was unable to find it on NBA.com. But if he does have a TO rating per 48 of 3.8. Well, he's in good company. Considering that he averages 30 minutes per game, 5.8 APG and only 2.36 TOPG.
