Defensive FG% in 2009

It is clear that McGrady is dogging it on D, and Battier is too slow this year to cover up for him.

Tracy has always been a defensive liability, and now, the team is full of them....on the perimeter.

Ron sucks out there, Tmac sucks out there, Battier sucks out there, Rafer is sometimes ok, but usually not.

The starting unit has HORRIBLE perimeter defense....simply horrible.

And, to top it all off the coach is too much of a wuss to bench his star players.


DD

 

yup our D is HORRIBLE

 

that's why i think tracy mcgrady for jermaine o'neal would not be too bad a trade... his big contract expires after next season too...

but of course...this trade alone unforunately that doesn't solve our perimeter shooting..but maybe, maybe wafer is underrated big time...

 

Rockets vs. >50% team:

With Tmac 7 W 9 L, since Dec 2 W 4 L

WIN
10/30/08 @ Mavericks W 112-102
11/12/08 @ Suns W 94-82
11/15/08 Hornets W 91-82
11/22/08 @ Magic W 100-95
11/24/08 @ Heat W 107-98
12/16/08 Nuggets W 108-96
1/25/09 @ Pistons W 108-105

LOSE
11/4/08 Celtics L 99-103
11/6/08 @ Blazers L 99-101
11/9/08 @ Lakers L 82-111
11/14/08 @ Spurs L 75-77
11/19/08 Mavericks L 86-96
12/23/08 @ Cavaliers L 90-99
12/26/08 @ Hornets L 79-88
1/6/09 @ 76ers L 96-104
1/28/09 76ers L 93-95

Without Tmac 7 W 3 L, since Dec 6 W 2 L

WIN
11/29/08 Spurs W 103-84
12/9/08 Hawks W 92-84
12/27/08 Jazz W 120-115
1/7/09 @ Celtics W 89-85
1/17/09 Heat W 93-86
1/19/09 Nuggets W 115-113
1/21/09 Jazz W 108-99

LOSE
11/30/08 @ Nuggets L 94-104
1/3/09 @ Hawks L 100-103
1/13/09 Lakers L 100-105


See how important Tmac's talent is for Rockets in the playoff? Without Tmac we are nothing in the playoff.

 

To those you aren't paying attention on a regular basis, but know our defense is the issue, the question might be, "How does trading Tracy or Ron improve the defense? Aren't your defensive problems at PG and PF?"

But for whatever reason, Tracy and Ron both seem to be hurting defensively. I'd be interested in seeing the with/without Ron numbers, too.

I personally think it's because Tracy dogs it on d, and Ron gambles way way way too much, and when he isn't gambling is still paying too much attention to 1 on 1 defense as opposed to team defense.

 

The 1st 15 games of the season with a non injured artest, a still gimpy tracy, no battier the rox were giving up 90ppg on 43% fg. I just think non of the perimeter players are guarding and staying in front of their man as evidence by the high opp 3pt % and the extra shots they're getting. Also when adelman plays scola,landry, or hayes behind yao, the flood gates open up. I just think the attention to detail is gone. Closing out, rotating on a string, and really just competing and putting out fires. Charlie Bell was 6-6, Charlie V was unguardable, session killed rafer, then bogans started going off. My man whom I respect a lot durvasa kept bringing up these point per possession stuff and talked about how the rox were like 5th in effeciency, but 45% is 45% which is average. When you have a average offense and now a average defense, then you get a average team.

 

Anyone can see the team plays better all over the court without Tmac and Ron....they move the ball, and trust each other and give more effort.

Is it really surprising that the downfall happened when Ron and Tracy came back?

Really?

DD

 

It wasn't surprising to me. But then again, I try to watch the game and I haven't fallen in love with any particular players.

Virtually all statistics are better when TSlack and Testy don't play (particularly TSlack). I can't see why these players have so many defenders (***, etc.)

 

All I can remember is Tmac was 100yd away from Brandon Roy, who he supposes to guard, when Roy hits the game winning shot on Nov 6th, 2009

.......................................................

and this memory is never gona go away

 

We were playing well with Yao gone last season, winning 2/3rds of our games (and it was one of the tougher parts of our schedule). But when the playoffs came around, we couldn't even beat Utah.

I think it's going to be the same situation this season. We KNOW Tmac and Artest can play better than this. You can bench them, and we might play better. But if we can somehow get one or both of them playing like they used to then that increases our shot in the playoffs.

 

I never disputed that the Rockets have dropped in their defense. In fact, I showed evidence that this has been their worst defensive team in a number of years based on points allowed per possession relative to the rest of the league. There are only a few really good defensive teams in the league this season, and we definitely aren't one of them.

But the fact remains that opponent FG% doesn't tell the whole story. It tells part of the story, which is important, but not all of it. Based on opponent FG%, the Heat, Suns, Bobcats, Bulls, and Bucks are all better defensive teams than the Spurs. The Spurs have dropped off, certainly, but they aren't that bad. The Lakers, on pace to win about 65 games, are 25th in opponent FG%. Obviously it stretches belief to think that a team dominating the league can only be 25th in defense, when we know that at a team level offense and defense should contribute equally to winning.

I do agree with your point that the Rockets defense isn't nearly good enough to make up for the middling offense. And I don't see our offense significantly improving any time soon, so we might as well focus on shoring up the defensive side.