Cohen, Honestly all I care about are results, wins vs. loses. If the Rockets improve next year than it was the right move. I am not 100% sold on Adelman, I kind of see it as a lateral move, but we will have to wait and see. DD
You just do not know what you talk about. You are a trend-chaser. You don't study the reason why something exists, instead you observe superficial things and call it out.
I understand, but you could also see the excellent fundamentals and intensity (usually) on defense. I won't expect the defense to be the same, but maybe some positives will remain. And once a team has a good reputation, the players hate to see it die.
SamFisher, today: <object width="425" height="350"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/K92OVFeGgIE"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/K92OVFeGgIE" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350"></embed></object>
i'm not suggesting we don't need more offense. i believe that's a function of poor personnel. but you don't scrap a defense-first mentality...it's responsible for roughly the last 20 NBA championships. including a couple right here in Houston.
yes, you will see a gradual deterioration. Players have to be encouraged, once they notice the coaches really don't care that much. Well gradually, they will spend less effort.
this is simply not true. and i can point you to example after example of NBA champs who were more defensive-heavy than offensive-heavy. i can't point you to even one example in the past 20 years that was the opposite of that. you watch basketball. you know this. you've watched teams like the pistons win championships while teams that score like crazy but don't focus on defense can't get through the playoffs. offense comes natural for professional basketball players...they all grew up being the high point men on the teams they played on as kids and in college...defense is a commitment.
As I said, I believe that FG% is a more accurate indicator of defense than PPG...as PPG can be controlled by the pace you play at, for instance the Rockets play slow so their PPG will be lower than someone who plays at a faster pace. Here are the rankings for the season on FG% defense Team ranks of FG% defense that are left in the post season. San Antonio - 4 Detroit - 6 Cleveland - 8 Utah 11 Avg: 7 Now, here are the offensive FG% stats for the teams left Utah - 2 San Antonio - 3 Detroit -20 Clevland 23 Avg: 12 Looks pretty balanced to me. By the way Houston was number 1 in FG% defense but on offense....well....27. Got to play both sides of the ball to win in this league, and Max, I agree that defense is committment, but it looks like some teams are committed to both.... DD
What's the bad news? According to knickerblogger.net, the offense eff. of the final 4 are: Spurs 111.1 rank #4 Jazz 111.1 rank #3 Pistons 110.6 rank #6 Cavs 106.8 rank #19 Rockets 108.3 rank #14 All the elite contenders in final 4 are either in or on the border of top 5 offense eff.
The Rockets were #1 in FG% in the league. The other teams in the Finals : Spurs : 4th Jazz : 11th Cavs : 8th Pistons : 6th Of the top 11 teams in defensive FG%, only 1 didn't make the playoffs - the Clippers.
1. 20 and 23 in the ECF looks balanced to you? how many teams do you think there are in the entire league? defense goes 4, 6, 8 and 11. offense has two of the teams ranked at 20 or more...and that's balanced?? 2. we were 27th in offense...and still had home court in the playoffs. da da, i think you just made the point you're arguing against. 3. again..point me to the last team that won an NBA championship that you would call up-tempo.
Yes, I agree the Rockets defense was AWESOME this year, but their offense ranked 27th on the opposite side of the ledger, see my post above. DD
Yup, what was surprising about the 94 and 95 championship teams is that in the playoffs they could easily play 120 point games against Phoenix or play 80-90 point games against San Antonio or NY. They actually played at the opponents pace and beat them at their game. Utah adjusted to our pace. And they beat us easily. It took them 7 games cause we were lucky. Then they went and adjusted to Golden State. Would not be surprised to see them in the finals.
Ok, hold on a minute, I am NOT saying run up-temp, never have...where are you getting that? Or are you just doing like Sam and extrapolating out to make a point? I want a good solid defensive team, but I also want a good solid offensive team. I think JVG was an amazing defensive coach, but lacking on offense, and I believe you need to do both to win a championship. I don't think you have to be up tempo at all, but a nice system that gets better shots for our offense would be nice. Look at Utah, how many back door cuts and layups did they get against our defense because of their solid offensive system. Is it too much to ask for a coach to be able to have a solid team on both sides of the ball? DD
Your point was that a balanced attack is what's needed. How do you dismiss the Rockets' 27th ranking as being bad, but the 20th and 23rd positions of the Cavs and Pistons as being "balanced"?
True, I would be curious to see what their offensive efficiency was post Webber..... But you have to think the favorite is San Antonio now, and they are good on both sides of the ball. I would say that the Eastern Conference and its weakness plays a large role in that. Again, I believe defense is important but I believe offense is just as important. DD
it's too much to ask it of THIS team with the personnel we have. we have literally no real third scoring option. we have a PG who can't knock down open looks. we have a PF who isn't a PF. this team was incredibly flawed. JVG was able to get their effort on the defensive end....and it earned them homecourt advantage. if they executed just a little bit in any one of the games they lost, we'd be talking about how they fared vs. the warriors.
