From nba.com's sortable stats. These stats also include the loss to Boston. averaged 97.4 points averaged 82.4 opp. points allowed fg% 0.487 opp. fg% 0.382 46 rebounds 33.6 opp. rebounds 21.4 assists 18.6 opp. assists 7.2 steals 9 opp steals 17.8 turnovers 14.2 opp turnovers We still turn over the ball like crazy, even more than our season average. Our opponents disrupt our offense with steals and turnovers more than we disrupt theirs. That hasn't changed. The differentials on those other stats are just sick. 15 point average margin of victory. Averaging 12.4 more rebounds. More than %10 differential in fg%! That is sick. These stats are against mostly weak eastern teams, but they also include the tough loss to Boston. What also stands out to me is this run can't be attributed to any one player just blowing up for 30-40 points every game. Yao is playing great and should get player of the week honors, but the fact is everybody is playing well and contributing. JJ is contributing to almost every facet of our game. MoTay is coming off the bench and doing damage. We're going to have more letdowns before the season is over, but we are learning to take care of business. This team is going to the playoffs and whoever faces them in the first round will not be looking forward to a Rockets team that will shut them down cold, play an inside-out halfcourt game, and rebound like hell.
I thank you one of the few positive threads about the Rockets I've seen recently. Sometimes I don't even want to come to this board because it's just depressing how negative so many of the posters here are.
i wonder if the rocket's assist / to ratio is even more than 1. this is the team's single biggest concern in my eyes. just think, with fewer turns, we'll have more fga's, which lead to more points. and the defense would even be nastier if we limited pts. off TOs.
well williamson with any message board, you'll have complaints. that's part of being a fan, true others do it excessively and seem to b**** about anything they feel needs to be b****ed about, but all in all, just put it all in perspective. although in reference, to the stats most of those are very damn good. I don't think turnovers will ever be eliminated from our game, but if we can keep them to a fair amount we should do well over the next few games and hopefully into the playoffs.
I was looking at the last few games and in the last ten or so we have either lost by a couple of points or we blew the other team out. I like what I see and the "down" games we have where JVG goes off on our hustle are still close. Which says to me that we are starting to come together. Now if only we could trade Padget, Spoon and a sack of fireants for Shawn Marion.
I agree. It's good to see a positive post here about the Rockets. I actually haven't been to clutchcity.net since around november because I got sick and tired of all the negative posts and a-holes that started coming around. I remember when this bbs was a great and refreshing place to hang out for Rocket fans. It feels great to see people saying positive things. I also agree the Rockets are really stepping it up and starting to mesh together as a team.
I love those stats. It proves one thing: This team can win, and win big in spite of its own shortcomings, especially when Yao is playing like a dominant center. Just like we did in 93-95. No trades needed at this time.
I wonder what they would be for the games w/o the Boston loss? It might show more about wins, but then the blow outs probably skew the stats too....
jmwilliamson and Truth, I know how hard it is to put up with the negativity, but avoiding it isnt the answer. You have to come in and spend a little time combating the negativity with some good posts pointing out the positives like Nolen has. If all the fans that are still positive about the team desert GARM, it becomes nothing but negativity. If you arent part of the solution, you are part of the problem. Nolen, thanks for taking the time to put those together.. at this point in time, when they havent even fully got it all together on the court...and we can still do this kind of damage on other teams...can you imagine what they will be like once they do get it all together? SF still isnt doing everything that he needs to do to run this team right, until the last week Yao has not been consistent, JJ hasnt been consistent on the offensive end, and we are still working thru who our main backups are... In other words....we arent finished growing yet...and we still have the second half of the season to go. This team can be something special..lets suffer thru the lows and enjoy the highs, cause Im convinced they can and will do it
Yes we are negative around here, but sunshine and sweetness won't cut it either. We haven't had a solid team in years. When was the last time we even made it to the 2nd round of the playoffs, let alone made the playoffs at all? Just some frustration, is all.
15 pt margin of vicotry? That's crazy. Hopefully, they can maintain this run for a little longer. They seem to play a little better on national tv and I believe that the next 4 are (NBAtv for some of us). You just still have to be worried about the asst / to ratio. They might make the playoffs, but they cannot turn to ball over like they do when in the playoffs. At least not without going 3 and out. GO ROX!
Since they are competing with Mem for a playoff spot this is a good chance to put some distance on them and make a statement.... Ought - O......
Man, I was thinking the same thing. As crazy as these stats are, imagine how much better they would be if they could protect the ball better. I don't want to look it up right now, but I wouldn't be surprised if our opponents still shot more fga than we did in these blowouts, but just missed many of them. I still can't get over that 10% discrepancy in fg%. That is just insane. Even over our last 10 games, we're limiting our opponents to a .37 percentage. That is just amazing. I forgot to mention how great the offensive stats look- 97.4 points on .487 shooting is music to my ears. It won't always be this way, but five games is a trend. It counts for something. Another telling defensive trait we can surmise from these stats is we are limiting our opponents percentage and scoring even though we rarely steal the ball or create opp turnovers. This means that our rotational team defense, man-to-man defense and protection of the basket is just astounding. Some defenses confound opponents creating turnovers and stealing the ball with full court pressure, halfcourt traps, playing the lanes, harrassing the ball handlers, like the Pitino Celtics. The Rockets will play you in your halfcourt set and completely shut you down. You won't ever get a pretty shot and you won't get that shot without a hand in your face or having it stuffed right back down your throat. This is yet another indicator that our boys are being tailored for ass-kicking playoff-style ball. (This doesn't excuse us from having so few steals and few opp turnovers.) Another thing- and this is about our season stats, not just the last few games. Defense and rebounding are hustle stats. They're about desire and heart and discipline. If a teams' heart and hustle can be measured in stats, we're right there at the top of the leauge with the best. If turnovers are a measure of carelessness, sloppiness and stupidity, then we're down at the bottom with the dregs. All of us hate watching the Rockets play without smarts. But I think it would hurt even more to watch them play without heart. And we can't just bash the Rocks for selfishness and stupidity through and through, because to play rotational defense with balletic beauty you've got to have smarts and trust in your teammates. We've got what it takes. This team is going to the playoffs this year and they're going to put the hurt on their first round opponent, no matter who it is.
A versatile Yao is the major reason for the improvements. You can call me a YOF, but I'll tell it the way I see it. The key was Yao was allowed to play both inside and outside the paint. When Yao was playing the high post, SF really tried and at times was able to dish it out to an open Yao during the PnR. Once Yao showed them he could knock those jumpers down consistently, his defender had to come out to contest the shot. This allowed Yao either to drive to the basket himself or dish it out to someone else for an easy layup or open shot, and may I say a taller version of Brad Miller. When playing down low, rather just backing down his defender Yao was roaming from side to side. This allowed not only a better offensive flow, but at the same time created more opportunities for his teammates to pass to Yao inside the paint. This not only helped Yao to reserve his energy, his performance in all aspects also improved-- less fouls, less TOs, etc. By having a PF who could shoot and pass from the outside didnt hurt either. Giving Padgett more playing time was a great idea and should continue.
Oh, c'mon! Everyone knows the reason for the Rockets recent success has nothing to do with defense or Yao playing better or nationally televised games. They got rid of Mooch!!! That's why everything's starting to click.
I agree with much of what you said but this year has been TOUGH! Last season it seemed like there was at least a somewhat equal ratio of positive fans to negative fans on this board and at least Yao was sacred territory no one would bash. This year there is no player above being bashed mercilessly. After all the calling for Rudy to be canned so we can get a new coach, we get a new coach and a damn good one but you'd think nobody here was even calling for Rudy's job with all the JVG bashing. Every time I come here it seems like somebody is proposing we trade Francis for scrubs or Yao for draft picks or something equally ridiculous. Then when we get rid of Moochie people are actually saying "Why didn't we get more?" when it was MOOCHIE NORRIS! And I still see people bringing up how horrible the Glen Rice for Amaechi trade was when we haven't even concluded that deal by using our trade exception. I understand being frustrated with the inconsistent play of the Rockets this season and being ready to see a playoff caliber team again. I've been frustrated too and I'm anxious to get back to the playoffs too. But honestly, sometimes coming to this forum this season has just made it more difficult for me to enjoy the season. The most glaring example to me is the time I logged on only to see the thread title "DON'T LET THE ROCKETS RUIN YOUR CHRISTMAS!" staring me in the face. I was really happy that the Rockets made that poster eat his words by playing so great x-mas day and handing the Lakers their arses. But all of this being the case, I go four or five days at a time now with out coming here instead of checking it five times a day like I used to. Call me part of the problem if you like but I just don't enjoy reading alot of what is being posted here. The actual reason I joined this board is because I don't really know many basketball fans. I'm sure that seems odd to most of the posters here but I really don't get to discuss basketball often and I'm a fanatic. What I was hoping to find here was a place in which I could join discussions about rockets basketball and even learn from fans with superior knowledge (and I certainly have. MacBeth comes to mind right away as someone who never makes a post I can't learn from). But alot of what I find these days doesn't even really seem to be a discussion. It's more like a place for people to vent their frustrations and bash their team mercilessly. I'm starting to think that there should be support groups for Rockets fans. (and maybe this is it) but that isn't what I signed up for and I really wouldn't want to attend those sessions. So for my own sanity, I'm just going to keep on coming here every few days and skim through it all and only choosing to involve myself in discussions that aren't centered around how much the Rockets suck and how they will always suck and how we might as well trade yao and francis and start rebuilding now....
