I just noticed ESPN's BPI (basketball power index). The Rockets are 2nd, behind the Warriors. This is a better indicator of team quality and more predictive of future success than Win/Loss record. http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/page/Basketball-Power-Index/espn-nba-basketball-power-index Most encouraging thing is we're 2nd in offense and 3rd in defense according to this. Best offense/defense balance of any elite team in the league early on.
I know it is early but I found this interesting. In 5 games Chris Paul have played, He works best when he runs his own unit, but not so great when paired with Harden and Capela. http://stats.nba.com/lineups/advanc...TING&dir=1&TeamID=1610612745&CF=GP*G*3:GP*L*6
Harden has scored at least 35 points, dished out 10-plus dimes and knocked down five or more 3-pointers. No other player in the league has even one 35/10/5 game in 2017-18
Speaking of accurate formulas, get this: The renowned Pythagorean Win % formula that Morey worked on currently has us at 79% winning percentage (65 wins). We are currently at .789. haha https://captaincalculator.com/sports/basketball/pythagorean-win-percentage-calculator/
http://stats.inpredictable.com/nba/...po=0&frdt=2017-10-17&todt=2017-11-26&view=def Looks like the Rockets have the 2nd best halfcourt defense in the league behind Boston. Transition defense seems to be the current issue (16th after opponent rebound, 21st after live ball turnover)
Transition defense has always been the issue with this group. My gut tells me that some of it is the way we play offensively but I don’t have numbers to back it up right now. The transition defense was one concern I had with Anthony. He is historically terrible in transition defense. If we can get into the 12-13 spot in transition defense, we would be in a great spot. I think Paul will help in that regard.
Transition Defense is really a measure of how strong your back court D is as your bigs likely won't get back in time - and Harden is a weakness here because of his reluctance to take a foul for obvious reasons. And given that we are a strong offensive rebounding team it is no surprise we are weaker on the Transition D. Still overall, I am shocked at what the Rockets are doing this season. I did not expect this team to be this good with Chris Paul out the first few weeks. I never thought even with Paul they would be number one in net rating. I figured Boston and GS would easily be ahead of us, as well as SA
James Harden is on his way to lead the NBA in Win Shares for the third time in his career, here is a list of players to do the same since 1960: Wilt Chamberlin ( 8 Times) Kareem Abdul Jabbar ( 9 Times) Michael Jordan (9 Times, could have been 11 if he didn't retire) LeBron James (5 Times)
Rob Kimbell @RobKSports James Harden currently has the longest streak in NBA history of games with 20+ points and 7+ assists. 1. James Harden, 20 games (4/12/17 - current) 2. Michael Jordan, 18 games (3/13/89 - 4/14/89) 3. Gary Payton, 13 games (3/10/00 - 4/7/00)
When you're up by 20 or 30, it's tough to be motivated to sprint back to save a bucket. Might tweak a hammy, you know.
Sure, but we also don’t want to build bad habits. If you want to see an example, watch the cogs turn in Westbrook’s head as he tries to remember how to play defense
