Check out the last graph: http://82games.com/charge.htm In fact, it's not even close. They've taken 49 charges all year, 13 less then the second-worst team (Clippers). Wesley leads the team with 11, Bowen took seven, Lonny six. Baxter with six charges in 268 minutes, that's pretty good, but that's not even in the top-15 of guys with charges taken per minute. Lonny takes one every 44.7 minutes, Nenad Kristic is 15th with one taken every 42.9 minutes, Jarron Collins takes one every 24.2 minutes.
So what does it mean? Well I know what it means literally, but how do you inteprate such stat? We are not a tough team or we don't get any love from the refs?
Exactly! We just dont have the footspeed to get to the spot quicker than the offensive player. One of many problems on this team.
that's ironic considering that one of my greatest gripes with yao has been that tries to take the charge rather than just going straight up and blocking the shot.
The funny thing about that is the Rockets were whistled for 8 charges last night. That is no exaggeration. Davis Welsey had about 4 called against him on fast breaks. It's a stupid rule that takes away a lot of the fast break scoring and scoring overall. I'm not saying there should not be charges but players are taken advanatge of the rule and are getting the benefit of the doubt by jumping in front of players a split second early and getting charge calls. It's becoming as bad as the flop has gotten.
maybe cause we dont flop? to take a charge you have to flop, for example ben wallace, if you dont fall down you dont get the charge, so really it just incourages floping
With the new rules... JVG no longer a great defensive coach... all he knows is to slow donw tempo thus less possesion... i can coach defense like this as well
It means we don't flop. (which is fine with me). But I guess we should since everyone else does it and it is widely accepted now.
thank you! i have been saying that for the past few years. you see guys like ben wallace who are 260 lbs all muscle fall to ground when someone like iverson runs into them, its getting pathetic and personally im glad we dont have "players" like that on our team
The stat sure makes us look pathetic. While I don't like to see pansy play (Nowitzki), a smart player knows how to work the system. The problem is that our basketball IQ is way down this year from last. We lost Sura and Barry (two players who certainly are willing to take a charge, and know how to do it). Most of their PT has been taken up by Luther, who could use a lot more seasoning. TMac, Rafer, and Juwan aren't really the gritty type of players to take charges either. And, as we all know with Yao, the refs still have no idea how to call any play involving him and a player in the air. If he stands still, he always gets called for the foul. Truthfully, nobody wants to see him flop, either, since that just makes him look lame and it's dangerous. Him falling to the ground is like me jumping from a 2nd story window!
Just the opposite. It PROVES the Rockets have a great defense. A charge call occurs when the permimeter defender gets broken down and the help defender isn't there in time to properly double team. If you take a charge, it is your LAST defensive option. For example, no coaches draw up defensive plans to take charges. Charges are the hail marry play of NBA defense. Since the Rockets have EXCELLENT team defense (3rd in the leauge?), they lock down defenders and don't need to rely on taking charges. I thought I remember a stat somewhere that the Rox give up the fewest points in the paint. If that is true, that alone explains why we don't take charging calls. Looking at the list, the bottom 10 teams include the Spurs, Pistons, Wolves (all good defenders). And #1 on the list is the Suns. Nobody has ever accused the Suns of being a great defensive team. Afterall, taking a charge call is a 50/50 proposition AT BEST. Usually the defender is called for blocking...and usually the blocking foul results in 2 free throws. So for every charge you get, you probably gave up 2 blocking fouls prior resulting in 4 freesthrows. Is that a good thing? Drexler always jokes that the Rockets lead the league in Free Throw defense. But in seriousness, the Rockets don't put guys on the line for stupid fouls. You could argue that we SHOULD foul more often, however, but that is a different argument.
The Rockets do not have a great defense. They give up 106 points for every 100 possesions, which is ok, but 13th-best in the NBA. Their points allowed per game stat (92 a game, sixth in the NBA) is skewed because they are the 3rd-slowest team in the NBA with 86.8 possessions per game.
For every stat there is an equal and opposite stat. However, I didn't just throw stats at you, I also explained how and why drawing a charging foul isn't exactly as good as it sounds. Care to explain that away? And how do you explain that other defensive powerhouses are also in the bottom 10 of charges taken? ...and there are few playoff bound teams in the top 10? Sorry to break it to you, but the Rockets ARE in fact good defensively. They may not be good at much else but... btw, while you busted out with an obscure stat that I've NEVER heard of...you failed to source it.
"..all he knows is to slow donw tempo thus less possesion... i can coach defense like this as well." Although not particularly well stated, I actually somewhat agree with this statement. I think the charge stat probably has a lot to do with possessions as much as it does anything else. There is no denying that this team is slow footed, but it doesn't take quick feet to draw a charge per se (see Lonny Baxter for example). Van Gundy's defense is problematic in a couple of ways, but charge statistics are not very telling in my opinion. I'd like to see a breakdown in charge percentages rather than total numbers. That would make for a much more compelling argument in my opinion.
