Here's some interesting stats for the Rockets. I'm probably pointing out the obvious, but here it goes anyway: <pre> Rocket's League Rankings ------------------------ Rebounds 23rd Offensive Rebounds 18th Defensive Rebounds 26th Blocks 25th Steals 21st Assists 24th Opponents FG% 26th Opponents 3pt% 29th Points Allowed 17th Opponents Offensive Rebounds 18th Opponents Turnovers 25th </pre> You can argue that any one of these stats doesn't mean anything or point out a good team that has similar numbers in a particular category. But, when you look at all of these numbers together, it's pretty evident that we have a major problem with our interior defense, rebounding and shot blocking. The assist numbers are expected due to the high number of iso plays that we run. The lack of steals and the opponents high 3pt FG% are probably due to the fact that the guards are helping out around the basket so much. Right now we simply can't make it difficult for the opposition to score (especially inside). You can probably get by without either interior defense, rebounding or shot blocking, but there's no way that you can consistently win without any of the three. These are deficiencies that will need to be address by the Rockets in the personel moves that they make over the next year or so. Since the backcourt is pretty much set, that means we need to improve these areas through our front court. The best answer, of course, would be a Shaq-like or Hakeem(circa '94)-like presence in the middle, but that's not likely. We're more likely going to need a contribution in each area from multiple players and each front court player will need to be able to contribute in multiple ways. Without that monster in the middle, we probably won't have the luxury of being able to have players that specialize in one area only. As I said, I'm probably stating the obvious, but unless we can matchup better with the power players in the west and start making it harder for the opponents to score, we're not going to consistently win games. ------------------
A couple of the stats may be misleading in that they merely indicate that the Rockets play a slow-paced game: (1) They're near the bottom in FG%, but closer to the middle (17th) in points allowed. (2) They're near the bottom in defensive rebounding, but closer to the middle (18th) in opponents' offensive rebounds. Then again, with the opponents' FG% so high, there are fewer rebounds to be had on that side of the floor. So the below-average rankings in steals, assists, and turnovers forced could indicate poor guard play (in terms of passing and ball pressure on D), or simply that a Rockets game is slower and has fewer possessions than the league average. ------------------ [This message has been edited by Swopa (edited December 28, 2000).]
