By far the biggest and most monumental reason(s) of the demise of our defense

I suspect that if you look at our defense 2 or 3 years ago without Yao or Mutombo on the floor, it would have still been pretty good. You could even look just 1 year ago. Through the first 2 months of last season, our defense was decent. Compare those teams sans Yao/Mutombo and our current roster -- we actually have more size in the middle. So something else, something that is key, is also missing.

 

Yeah, Chandler would've been a really nice fit for this team. I still have hope that Hill will evolve into a very good center someday.

I wasn't a fan of the way Adelman was treating him, only giving him a few minutes a game. But letting Hill earn a spot in the rotation is making him a much better player.

 

Welcome to Houston, Mr. Dalembert.

 

I think losing Yao/Mutombo is part of the story but not all of it. I think Morey has consistently swapped out defense for offense. Our offense is looking pretty good for it, but it's pretty much destroyed our defensive identity.

For the '08-'09 season, we also traded away Rafer Alston who -- for all the grief he gets -- was a good defensive PG. And we gave his starter's spot to Aaron Brooks, who just isn't.

We also brought in Artest, which helped keep our defense up. Then we swap him out for Ariza, which was fair. But then we swap him out for Martin, creating another hole in the defensive scheme.

Then the hole at PF. In '07-'08, it was manned by Scola, Landry and Hayes. Hayes started 44 games and averaged 20 mpg, playing at PF. The next season, Scola is the full-time starter, and Hayes drops to 12 mpg. Season after, Hayes is a starter again and averaging 22 mpg, but at center. The PF is covered by Scola. The team was really looking foward to having Hayes back at PF this season to shore up the defense there, but with Yao injured, he's covering center again.

When we were a good defensive team, we had solid defenders starting at PG, SG, SF, and C. And, good defenders backing up SG/SF and PF/C. Now, we start good defenders at SF (though less good than before), and C (but out of position), and backup at PG and SG. That's quite a step back.

 

Maybe start Hill/Miller and Scola first, but have Hayes used more next to Hill and Miller instead of Luis?

 

at least its been better since the PHX game. Last 4-5 games we're giving up 99... better than 116 or wtvr it was heh.

man, I was just looking over the DEC. schedule and its actually not that bad at all. I think all the games are winnable, and the only ones im nervous about necessarily are Chicago and OKC. Other than that we could go 12-2 if we played as well as the guys seem to be learning to. Dallas was a little too much to handle, theyre healthy, loaded, and have had a winning mindset for a decade. Beating OKC and LAL were huge. I wouldnt mind being 18-14 at the end of the year. I'll be engaged (shh, dont tell!) and Rockets could be above .500!

 

also, if we stayed in the 95-100 on defense I dont really mind. Even WITH Yao, our team runs SO much more than they used to, so the other team also gets more opportunities with the ball and the game just goes at a faster pace. It doesnt mean we're a running team, we can do halfcourt as well, but it wont be the JVG days of 83-77pt games. Good defensive games will be 90-95, and bad ones will be 100-110, but we're seeing a little bit better team mentality on it just by watching those ppg numbers go down.

I'm glad Lowry is back. He and Aaron getting to be on the floor in a game makes a difference I think. Aaron and then Ish didnt seem to go well, Lowry and Ish isnt too bad, but to have a little more offense with those 2 bench threats behind Brooks makes me happy. Healthy Lowry isnt exactly our superstar or anything, but he makes a difference coming off of the bench healthy. We didnt have that to start the year.

 

yea, its obvious that a big man who can shot block creates problems for people driving in the lane..but i dont think miller is even a temporary fix for that, since he is so slow.

 

yes it matters. but look, a few years ago when yao was out and mutombo only played what? 20-25 mins a game, it wasn't like our defense sucked for the the other half of the game.

our problem is effort and bad defensive players. having yao back won't change that much.

 

Then I'd argue that a fundamental change in defensive philosophy is equally/more culpable than the absence of a shotblocker for the drop-off.

 

What size are you talking about comparing from last year's team to the years before that?

Our front court from 2007 through 2009 consisted of Yao, Mutombo, Scola, Hayes, Landry, Battier, Artest (2008-2009).

First half of last season, we had Hayes, Scola, Landry, Andersen, and Ariza and Battier. Then lost Landry, and added Hill and Jefferies.

Notice how we go from 7'6 and 7'1 centers (one is the 2nd all-time blocks leader) to a 6'6 center and a 6'10 rookie PF. From 2007 through 2009, we were 4th and 10th in points allowed in the paint per game. Last year we were 22nd. Although, points allowed in the paint isnt the only thing that goes into it, but i think its a huge factor in our defense.

When Yao was in the lineup earlier in the year, our defense was still struggling (no doubting that), but it seems like Yao was still doing a decent job of defending the paint, averaging 1.6 blocks/game playing in 18mins/game.

And since we now have an improving Jordan Hill and a legit 7-footer with Brad Miller, we're 13th in points allowed in the paint over the last 5 games which is much better than the 21st we were last year.

And once Yao comes back (hopefully), i expect our defense to be that much better.

 

I still blame China

 

Our size in previous years without Yao or Mutombo, compared to our size this year without Yao. Our front-court is bigger now, while I suspect our defense is much worse. Size clearly isn't the only factor.

 

Agreed with OP for the most part... Except our defense was actually surprisingly good in that LA series even after Yao went down. I think heart, energy, and adrenaline carried us through that series, though.

... Although even last year, our defense was at least OK, IIRC.

 

Hell yes we need interior defense help. But also, our wing players are either too inexperienced or a half-step slow, so they either get beat to the basket, at which time the interior defense doesn't collapse on the opponent with the ball or they collapse to quickly and leave the opponent wide open for an easy mid-range or 3 pt shot.

However, it's been said before that they suffer from poor spacing or being out of position and not committing to staying with their man. Yet that can be helped by having a dominating presence in the middle that forces teams to take more jump shots which helps our wing defenders.

 

2 years ago, without Yao on the floor the Rockets were using a lot of Scola+Landry. That is an awful defensive combination. Replacing Yao with Hayes, the dropoff wasn't nearly as bad.

But good points on the second paragraph. If you take a look at the teams that are worse than us defensively this year, how many of them are also undersized?

 

Yes, this year, we do have more size, but we didnt last year (my bad..misread your post... thought you were comparing last year's defense to previous years)

I think this year's defense CAN be a top 15 defense because we DO have size this year. Jordan Hill is beginning to play well and getting consistent minutes and Miller has been able to clog the paint.

I think once Yao's able to play without restrictions, we'll be ok.

I think our earlier defensive struggles were related to lack of consistent playing time for Yao, Miller and Hill along with an injured and not 100% Kyle Lowry. Now we're beginning to see Miller and Hill get consistent playing time, and Lowry seeming more and more like himself from last year.

 

We may have bigger upfront players this year.....but look who is playing

Scola = If anything with his age and him spending a lot more time scoring, his defensive energy has been reduced

Hill = Still Raw, looks great 1 night, than like poop

Brad Miller = 7FT passing big man, who can't rebound nor defend better than 6'6 Chuck

JJ= We don't even use him

PP=D League

Chuck = Our only defensive Big who can actually play better than average D but his rebounding sucks.


we got 2 shot blockers, 1 who doesn't play.
we got no great rebounder
we got 2 folks who preach defense, but 1 doesn't play.

Than you add our pathetic wing defense.....and the reliance on 7'6 giant who didn't play last season and who only averages 18 minutes a game for 5 games.....

And I wonder why our defense sucks.