Responsibility for Boozer

Alright, a lot of people are screaming about Van Gundy's "terrible" coaching decisions. I just watched the game again, and pretty much all of these complaints are off base.

The most ridiculous idea is this notion that Battier was responsible for Boozer's impressive numbers (24 points, 19 rebounds). It basically points to the fact most of these people don't actually pay attention to what's happening on the defensive end. They look at the stats and figure that since Battier was the starting PF and Boozer was the starting PF Battier must be responsible for everything Boozer did.

I went through the game and recorded what Boozer did on the offensive end, and against whom:

Code:

[COLOR=Navy]                FG      FGA     FT      FTA     OR      TO[/COLOR]      
Yao             3       5.5     3       4       1       0.33*   
Battier         0.5***  1***    0.5**   1**             0.33*
Hayes           1       2                               1
Padgett         1.5     2.5                     1       0.33*
Novak           2       2                       1
Mutombo         2       4       0.5**   1**       

*   - Boozer forced into a trap by Yao, Padgett, and Battier
**  - Mutombo lets Boozer drive by him, Battier gets a blocking call trying to
      help (Boozer goes 1 for 2 from the line) 
*** - This is due to a couple plays involving Battier having to help on Boozer 
      ... responsibility for the 1/2 FGA is split between Battier and Yao

There are some other plays where I allotted credit as I saw fair. At no point in the game was Battier actually guarding Boozer (which seems to be a big misconception). The reason for this was that Yao or Mutombo can't guard Okur effectively out on the perimeter, and that was the situation whenever Battier, Yao, Mutombo, and Boozer were on the court.

When Yao and Mutombo were on the court, they were the ones primarily guarding Boozer, and neither were particularly effective. To suggest that Howard would been the defensive stopper is really far-fetched. The most effective defender on Boozer was Hayes, late in the 2nd quarter. Boozer had only one field goal in that stretch, and it didn't occur in a one on one situaton (Hayes had to help on a penetrator).

 

Okur did not do too much against Battier (don't have the exact numbers, though). Most of what he did on the offensive end came against Padgett, in the second half. But Okur wasn't exactly killing us in the post anyways (he was 4/15 for the game), so it's silly to think that Howard would have made a difference on him.

Battier really should be credited for a couple more rebounds ... he tipped the ball to teammates on a few occasions that would have gone to the Jazz otherwise.

But to say Battier lost the rebounding battle to Boozer doesn't really make any sense. It's not like Battier was giving up rebounds to Boozer. Boozer had 3 offensive rebounds, none of which came against Battier (as I showed). And it's not Battier's responsibility to block out Boozer when Rockets were on offense ... remember Battier is generally on the perimeter. Boozer had 16 defensive boards, good for him, but we didn't lose the game because of our lack of offensive rebounding.

 

Are you being serious? You think he was just sitting at half court not doing anything? Are you actually watching the television when the Rockets are on defense?

If Battier "should" have been guarding Boozer, that means Yao and Mutombo "should" have been out on the perimeter guarding Okur.

 

None that I can recall. Here's the play by play.

I thought our PG defense (on Williams and Fisher) and center defense (which was primarily on Boozer) was poor.

 

That's not what I said. I said he didn't do much against Battier. As in, he wasn't producing offensively against Battier.

So it doesn't matter why they got off. Just that they got off. Sorry, that's stupid. Had do you expect the team to improve if you don't identify the reasons for their loss?

 

So, you think it's "smart" not to understand why we lost?

Battier's activity on the offensive boards were just fine. He was responsible for at least a couple of them. Tipping lose balls are important.

The Rockets as a team struggled on the defensive glass, and so even though Battier didn't specifically yield any offensive rebounds to his man I'll acknowledge that he should have done more to help.

And it's incorrect to say he didn't stop anybody. He probably forced more misses during the game than other player on the team. I've already addressed the reason he wasn't assigned to guard Boozer.

 

The only players who were assigned on Boozer for more than a few isolated possessions were Yao, Hayes, and Mutombo. Yao, in particular, guarded Boozer whenever he was on the floor, as did Hayes. I think there were a few possession when Mutombo switched off to guard Okur, but generally he was guarding Booze while in the game.

Didn't record the exact minutes.

 

I keep repeating this. If Battier is guarding Boozer, the center (read: Yao or Mutombo) would have to be guarding Okur on the perimeter. That's how the matchups are when playing the Jazz. That doesn't mean Battier will never be defending in the post.