i know the season is less than 1/3 of the way in, so sample size isnt the same. but just came across the #'s and it's mind-boggling. last yr. during the regular season, we allowed 100.5pts per game and scored 103.9 on avg. that was good for #17 - middle of the pack. this yr. so far, we are allowing 107.1 and scoring 104.1, and are #28. now look at the #'s of the spurs. last yr. they were 103.2/97.2/#3, this yr. they are 101.1/87.9/#1. i've only watched the spurs once this season, so idk what they have done to achieve that jaw-dropping 87.9. 87.9! that's 20 less than ours. defense is effort first scheme second, amiright? are we really 20pts worse than the spurs? plus, we have the same personnel from last yr. and it makes this thing more puzzling.
These numbers are not pace adjusted. BUT to answer your questions, pace adjusted, the Spurs have right now a HISTORICALLY good defence. So yes our defence is 20 points worse than theirs. Our defence sucks and theirs is one of the best in the history of the league.
What do you expect when your guard rotation consists of Jason Terry, Ty Lawson, James Harden, Corey Brewer, and Marcus Thornton. All of those guys are putrid defensively. Yet somehow Daryl Morey thought it was a good idea to go into the season like this.
To be fair, Beverley, Dwight, and Ariza were all considered very good defenders coming into this year. And both DMo and Brewer decent
I can't believe we are this bad on defense but a lot of it has to do with the teams inability to grab rebounds consistently. When dwight is grabbing 15-20 rebounds a game the team looks very good on both sides of the floor. Unfortunately that has only been about 5 games this season lol.
15-20 on avg.? that's unsustainable for a season. d12 is averaging 11.6 rebounds this yr. i'd say he's doing his job just fine. and that fact makes this argument of yours false. sorry.
i think their pregame warmups include bashing their heads with hammers. keeps them on a competitive edge
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Watching Rox-Kings. At some point, HOU will presumably realize transition defense is important. That point was not last night.</p>— Zach Lowe (@ZachLowe_NBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/ZachLowe_NBA/status/677149503410032640">December 16, 2015</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
I do think team defense is vastly underrated here. You need 5 people on a string to play effective team defense, you can just get 1 or 2 above average defenders and expect them cover 3 people's worth of assignments. That's why a team like the Spurs, who's only real defensive standout is Kawhi, has been so good. Would swapping out Brewer for Boris Diaw or David West really improve or defense? Or switching Dwight with LaMarcus? A team with above average defenders and a few gaping holes will perform much worse than a team with just average defenders in a familiar system.
Post fail multiple times. Just go here: http://public.tableau.com/shared/67JTM9ZXF?:display_count=yes Worst in the league at opponent expected effective FG%
well the spurs have disciplined players that are constantly improving within their scheme, coupled with great coaching. the rockets are just throwing crap at the wall to see what sticks and going from there.
Last year the Rockets and Harden had something to prove, something they wanted to accomplish. Harden was talking about being a leader, and the were all determined improve on defense. The players bought in to what the coaches were preaching, and the defense did improve. So the Rockets go the the conference finals. Harden is runner up as MVP. The Rockets finally get some respect. Beverley and Brewer sign fat new contracts. Harden signs a gigantic shoe deal. The new season starts and suddenly the Rockets don't seem that hungry anymore. Everyone is fat and happy. Fat and happy. Fat and happy.
