i was on the plane on my way to houston. Guess who I run into? Rudy T. I asked him what he thought about the Rockets. He didn't talk much about them. Well, pretty much, I think he thinks had he been coach this year, the team would have a better record at this time. He's been preaching Defense the whole year last year and they finally come around this year. They've been doing just about everything he's preached. So, anything think Rudy T would have a better record than JVG at this point had he been coach? I think so .
But this team didn't play defense Last year, the year before, or even the years before. Rudy Can TALK all he wants, but everyone knew 2 years ago; it was playoffs or no job. Then Steve had the Migrains; then the Rockets got Yao; and Rudy got spared for one more year. Rudy finds himself without a job because he could not take a young and up coming team past their mindset of being mediore scorers!!! Van Gudy might have only the same Record Rudy had last year, but we can sit here and measure the progress of this team. The defense has been outstanding all througout. If the scoring is anything resembling consistency, then this team is going to challenge ANYONE for a win. We can talk offense all we want, but if there was anything more annoying to me was Steve's first year with the Rockets. That team had no defense at all. And the Rockets offense was pretty decent back then.
This is a myth. Last year, opp. avg. 35.3 FGM/ 81.5 FGA = 43.3%. We had 6 block shots/ game. If our block shots were lower: 5/ game, 36.3/ 81.5 = 44.5% 4/ game, 37.3/ 81.5= 45.8% 3/ game, 38.3/ 81.5 = 47% our defense becomes mediocre. This year, we also have 6 BS/ game and opp FG% is 30.9 FGM / 79 FGA = 39%. FIRST in the league. Even if our block shots are lower. 5/ gm, 31.9/ 79 = 40.4% 4/ gm, 32.9/ 79 = 41.6 % 3/ gm, 33.9/ 79 = 42.9 %, still good for 10th place. We are playing much better defense.
We are. But's it's much deeper than just stats. Seldom does an opponent get a wide open, uncontested shot. There is always someome rotating to them. Frequently two players are rotating. For whatever reasons, this type of defensive rotation was totally absent under RT. IMO, lending more creedence to him doing better with a vet team.
