Good in-depth article from NBA.com: Jeff Van Gundy has turned Houston into the NBA's top stopper Witness for the Defense By Bryan Williams Jeff Van Gundy returned to Madison Square Garden on Thursday for the first time since resigning as the Knicks' head coach back in 2001, helming a Houston Rockets squad that he has already molded in the image of his late-'90s New York playoff teams. On the strength of an oppressive defense -- coupled with a meandering tempo that catered to Patrick Ewing's interior dominance -- Van Gundy took the Knicks to the postseason each year during his coaching reign. They haven't been back since. Meanwhile, though the Rockets have had trouble this season finding consistency on the offensive end, they've compiled a respectable 19-15 record thanks to Van Gundy-style D. In fact, looking at the 2000-01 Knicks -- Van Gundy's last full season in New York -- it's difficult to overstate the teams' resemblance, particularly in relation to the rest of the NBA: DEFENSE PPG RANK FG% RANK '03-04 Rockets 83.8 2 .389 1 '00-01 Knicks 86.1 1 .417 1 Houston's team defense isn't just dominant -- its current field-goal percentage allowed of .389 would shatter the record of .402, held by the 1998-99 San Antonio Spurs. And the 83.8 points per game allowed is just off the 1998-99 Atlanta Hawks' record pace of 83.4. Never mind that '98-99 was the lockout year, and team stats are skewed as a result of an abbreviated training camp and a 50-game season. Perhaps more remarkable is the Rockets' improvement over last season, when they were well above-average -- though by no means lights-out -- on defense. In 2002-03, Houston allowed 92.3 ppg, tied for sixth with Utah and Seattle, and .433 shooting, ranking fifth. So what precisely has changed? Here's a look at some of the more tangible indicators of a quality defense -- shots per game allowed, rebounding percentage, blocks and steals. NBA ranks are in parentheses: SHOTS/GAME REB. % BPG SPG '03-04 78.5 (7) .517 (6) 6.18 (7) 6.59 (29) '02-03 81.5 (17) .518 (2) 6.01 (5) 7.24 (t-23) The differences in each of these categories are negligible, and clearly steals are not even among Houston's defensive aspirations, as the team ranks last in the league. The Rockets do allow three fewer shots per game compared to last season, but the number is not nearly so important as the type of shots they allow. Like Van Gundy's Knick teams, the Rockets force their opponents into low-percentage shots by slowing pace and effectively controlling the paint. For Houston's last five games, take a look at a breakdown of where their opponents' scoring has come from -- in average points per game -- compared to a five-game stretch from the same time last season: PAINT BREAK THREES TOTAL 12/29/03 - 1/7/04 22.0 4.4 16.8 74.4 12/29/02 - 1/8/03 32.8 9.8 9.6 83.6 Granted, the samples are small, but it's easy to see what has drastically changed in terms of the Rockets' mentality: no more easy baskets. They have dramatically limited their opponents' scoring on fast breaks and in the interior, and as a result they are forcing teams to get their points from the perimeter, a trade any squad will take any time. In the ultra-competitive Western conference, however, the Rockets will also need to regain their scoring touch if they are to return to the playoffs for the first time since 1999 -- at just 85.8 ppg, Houston ranks 28th in the league. Certainly Van Gundy wouldn't mind seeing his team turn that around tonight in NYC.
