Francis's Pts Allowed vs the League

With Ming, Cato, and improved Griffin our defense and rebounding should be much better this year. Hopefully Steve will not have to be down low rebounding all the time and will be able to get back on defense more often.

 

If Yao Ming plays minutes and stays out of early foul trouble, Steve's defense will seem improved.

We are soft stopping penatration, but other team's offenses will adjust if penatration becomes painful because of a 7'-6" center

If Yao can become the shot swatter, the quick guards will start pulling up more for the "j" and our guards won't get beat to the basket as often.

Now if they will just get in the shooter's faces.

 

IMHO, the Jazz are the inspiration for the unconventional way the Rocks defend the PnR.

The Jazz are the classic 'Sum greater than its parts' team, and they are at their best when Stockton is distributing, and Malone is finishing and creating havoc inside.

So somewhere the Rocks' seemed to say, 'OK, we're going to make these 2 flip-flop roles, so to speak, to throw them off their equilibrium. We're going to stay home on Malone and make Stockton 'the finisher'.' Granted, Stockton is a fantastic shooter and scorer, but once again, the Jazz are at their best when Malone is scoring and Stockton is distributing.

Also, Malone's game is all about banging, finishing, and putting pressure on the defense via drawing fouls. Take the ball out of his hands, i.e. make Stockton shoot the ball, and you take pressure off Dream, Thorpe, and other Rocks' big men of the past.

What's puzzling, however, is that the Rocks defend every PG\PnR like that. There's only one Stockton and the Jazz's offense is uniquely theirs, so why defend, say, Terry or JWill the same way?

And FWIW, it certainly isn't all on Rudy, the entire team needs to pick it up defensively.

 

why is it that cuttino always gets accused of playing NO DEFENSE and being a liability, but steve's problems are problems the TEAM needs to work on and is probably the TEAMS &/or rudy's fault?


does steve eat the same anti-culpability breakfast that rudy does?

 

Wow, Steve needs to work on his defense...breaking news there...

Verse, I don't know what board you've been reading, most people around here blame Steve for his defense, as well as just about every other problem the Rockets had last year...

I say screw defense...Let's just run up and down the court like the old Phoenix teams from the 90's...have fun in our last season in Compaq

 

I think the tone of most posts around here is that Steve is the scapegoat.

Does Steve need to work on his defense? Heck yeah. Does Eddie need to get stronger and more agressive? Sure. Does Cuttino need to improve his assist to turnover ratio? I agree.

Steve is no longer the darling of this board, imo . I think some people here vehemently hate the guy.

 

You JUST now figured this out?

 

Dallas plays with that mentality and have a MUCH BETTER OFFENSE than do the Rox, and it did not take them to the Conf Finals, so I think you have to think a little about D.

Just a thought

 

dallas didnt make it to the conf. finals but they did make the playoffs. thats all we want for this upcoming season.

sacramento followed the same path. they were all about running their opponents out of the gym. they made the playoffs, then traded for doug cristie who brought the 'D' mentality to them.

 

First off, I'm not a Mavs fan.

They always get criticized for their lack of D, which is quite obvious. But I believe they can be a championship team with limited defense. What they need the most is not D but a dominating inside game. If Dirk develops a reliable inside game, or they get somebody who can do that, they will be the team to beat even without a lot of improvement in the defensive department. Don't forget that they are still a fairly young team. Their "upside" is better than the Kings'.

The Rockets are in an even better shape than the Mavs. Our offensive talent is not less than the Mavs. And we have better defensive players (even if Cat and Steve don't improve on their D). In 2-3 years, Houston and Dallas will be the top two teams in the West. The poor Kings will run into the Texas Horrors after they finally get rid of the Lakers.

 

Can anyone here remember the last time an NBA team with "limited defense" won a championship?
I can't think of any in the past 2 decades.

 

Thanks for the qualifier "the past 2 decades" in your statement. The league did make a defensive turn about two decades ago. The Showtime Lakers in the early 80s, though not a bad defensive team, were not known for their D. Riley is a tough defensive minded coach. But his star players (Magic, Kareem, Worthy, and Wilkes) weren't typical hard nose type of defensive guys. Bird's Celtics were a better defensive team but they won less rings than the Lakers.

It is widely known that scoring had been dropping since the Bad Boys Pistons won back to back titles. That prompted the rule changes last year. I think the NBA is turning back to offensive ball. The success of the Kings, Nets, and Mavs shows that wide open movement type of game is on the rise.

 

...and what was the Rockets record in games Stevie played 25 mins vs when he didn't? THAT is the only stat I care about!

 

Sure Cat needs to improve his assists but really Steve as PG is the one the really needs to improve Assist to Turnover ratio cause 6.5 assists to 3.88 turnovers is not that good.... maybe

 

Did you miss the other thread? Cat holds opposing SGs under their average. Cat having bad D is a myth. He is the best on the team at stopping penetration. The only people who consistantly give him trouble are the tallest SGs that can shoot over him.

 

No, my statement didn't say that Cat and Steve were bad defensive players. I was just responding to some posters who said that for the Rox to be a championship team, the guards' D had to improve.

Even though I do believe their D has room for improvement, my point is that even if their defense stays the same, we still can be a champion caliber team. Look at the Mavs, they are fairly successful with very little D, and they are still maturing. Our offense is (potentially) as talented as theirs and our defense is definitely better even if the guards stay the same defensively.

I am not saying that defense is not important. I am saying that it is not THE MOST important thing for us to be successful.

 

I hope Steven can improve his D, but I remember watching him (on TV) while he played for Maryland and thinking, "if this guy is so great, he should be able to shut these college chumps down, but he really doesn't."

We may just have to live with below average D from him as long as he's our franchise PG. I could deal with it if he'd just limit those turnovers. Right now it's like watching a pastry chef on a busy morning.

 

This year I agree, but D is what is going to take them there, and when they get there if you want to get to that next level, you will certainly have to pick it up at the other end!

But true... let's get there first.

 

Which is kinda like being the tallest player in a midget league.

Cat's D is about average. Nothing spectacular, nothing beyond reproach.

Anyhow back to Francis and the thread title-IMO, regarding the PGs, Moochie is an even worse defender than Francis (heypee-I'd be curious to see opposing PG numbers in the time Francis was out, ie Moochie was playing PG), which is why I hope Maddox works out as an excellent defensive PG with great passing skills.

This basically confirms what we know. Steve is "winning" his individual matchup scoring wise, but if he improves his D to even an average level, he would be give the Rockets a greater edge.