For a while now i have talked about it seemed like opposition point guards had season highs everytime they played Rockets last season and were being guarded by our superstar in waiting Steve Francis. Now before i go up in Flames (One, for a serious post and Two for criticisng Steve), I know he is rookie, and rookies make mistakes and i know he will get better, but honestly their is no other way to describe his defense last year than NON-EXISTANT. So I checked the numbers and they don't lie I have listed the season averages in Points and Assists for 10 fairly top line Point Guards and then also their Points and assists averages in games against the rockets last season. It is actually quite scary the way he got lit up by some players especially when they score nearly 10 points more than their season averages on him. Sam Cassell V Houston 28.5ppg and 9apg Season ave 18.6ppg and 9apg Nick Van Exel V Houston 25.5ppg and 10.3apg Season ave 16.1ppg and 9apg Mookie Blaylock V Houston 19ppg and 8.3apg Season ave 11.3ppg and 6.7apg Kenny Anderson V Houston 21.5ppg and 4.5apg Season ave 14ppg and 5.1apg Gary Payton V Houston 31.8ppg and 9apg Season ave 24.2ppg and 8.9apg Terrell Brandon V Houston 23.7ppg and 10apg Season ave 17.1ppg and 8.9apg Mike Bibby V Houston 19.8ppg and 6.3apg Season ave 14.5ppg and 8.1apg Stockton V Houston 17ppg and 6.3apg Season ave 12.1ppg and 8.6apg Marbury V Houston 24.5ppg and 6.5apg Season ave 22.2ppg and 8.4apg Jason Kidd V Houston 14.7ppg and 8apg Season ave 14.3ppg and 10.1apg He really needs to take this upon himself to shut down the opposition PG, which if could do would guarentee a hell of lot more wins. So, Get to work Steve start working on that shuffle and slides, and remember wide to wider with your steps. Smeg ------------------ Stuff BBS, the Rockets and you guys It's all Clippers these days, come join the bandwagon and visit http://www.ClippersCity.net
Wow. that's not good when your franchise player is that much of a defensive liabilty. ------------------ You ain't gotta like me, you just mad cause I tell it how it is, and you tell it how it might be.
Good post smeg. The truth hurts sometimes. As a defensive team, the Rockets are not very good. Francis and Mobley are not very good, yet. Shandon is very good as is Cato. You don't have to be a great defensive player to play TEAM DEFENSE. All it takes is being alert, comunicating and knowing where the ball is at all times. ------------------ If your looking for something here, you won't find it.
To get wins the Rocks need to put away opponents. With more practice this young team will be able to close out games. Last season a lot of losses came from blown leads or close situations that slipped by. ------------------ please venture to atheistalliance and rocketsonline I AM SPARTACUS
Most of those games were at the beginning of the season. Don't get me wrong, I think he needs major improvement too. I think Steve can turn on his defense at crunch time. I think some of us fans saw some good defense from Steve in the 4th when the team needed it the most. Stev just has to be more consistent with his agression on defense. I saw a big improvement at the tail end of the season. ------------------ www.rocketzone.web.com
You're missing the point. Look at the points, and then look at the assists. The opposing PG gets more points per game than usual, but no more assists. In fact, these numbers seem to indicate that more opposing PGs see their assists decrease than increase when they play the Rockets. That's because Rudy's philosophy has always been to keep his defenders on their men and make his PG play the opposing PG one-on-one. The cost is more points for the opposing PG. The payoff is that other players on the opposing team don't get the ball and don't get into the game. I think it's a smart trade-off.
Although Francis is not a good defensive player at this point, I think most of this can be explained by the opposing point guard wanting to "light up" the new stud rookie pg. All the point guards in the league got up to play Francis this past year, because nobody wants to be embarassed by a rookie (most still were!). I don't think this will be as much of a factor next year. ------------------ I Hate Every Bone in Your Body But Mine
Good point Will, but Steve could definitly use some work on the defensive end. As unstoppable as he is on offense, he is porous on defense. DaDakota ------------------
Bobbo* Good Pts, except about Cato, for me his attempt defense is a joke, doesn't move his feet to help and just tries to Swat everything, which can look great if it comes off, but most of the time either misses and they score anyway or he gets a soft foul cause he was going for a swat, really needs to work on body position, and getting his feet to the spot first, rather than a swinging arm attempting a swat. Rockateer You could be right but i can remember him definitely getting torched by Brandon, Blaylock, Bibby, Van Exel and Marbury all in the last few weeks of the season. Will Great and very Valid Point, so i thought i'd do a quick average of those numbers Opposition PG V Houston Average (of 10) Points pg-22.6 Assists pg-7.8 Opposition PG Season Average (of 10) Points pg-16.4 Assists pg-8.2 So Steve gives them 6 points more and holds them to less than half an assist (0.4) less per game, sounds like great D to me. To me this just shows it's Steve's One on One Defense that needs to improve. Smeg of Defense ------------------ Stuff BBS, the Rockets and you guys It's all Clippers these days, come join the bandwagon and visit http://www.ClippersCity.net
Interesting post Smeg. I would like to see the numbers of post players that torched the Rocks as well. Francis did play good D on Kidd though. I remember those games. Except one game he was injured and Bryce played against Kidd, but I think Bryce did an okay job too, and even scored 20 some odd points. Cassell really did rip into Stevie. I remember they would talk trash before the games, but Francis came up on the losing end. Van Excel always seems to lite up the Rockets. The guards let themselves be screened and he pulls up for them open jumpers. He is a Rocket killer. Payton just wanted to embarass Francis as much as possible. GP can do that to anyone when he is in the mood. But Francis dealt with his mind games fairly well, perhaps he learned something from that encounter. Marbury is a pig. Stockton cheats. Mike Bibby went off for like 30 points in one game. Why? didnt think Brandon, Anderson, and esp Blaylock would best Stevie like that. ------------------ No signature for you!
Cisco I agree for me the real scary ones are that he got torched by: Blaylock- thought he was over the hill Anderson- very inconsistent and has sucked for Celts Brandon- never thought he had that much Offense Smeg of Defense ------------------ Stuff BBS, the Rockets and you guys It's all Clippers these days, come join the bandwagon and visit http://www.ClippersCity.net
Come on, what's with all the excuses. Steve's D sucked as did a lot of the Rockets'. That's why our record sucked too. ------------------
Fabulous serious post Smeg. I think Mango has eliminated the Smeggy in you . I remember the Phoenix game, where J. Kidd had no assists (or was it 1) in the entire first half, which probably screwed up his numbers. Smeg of Statistics-How did Stoudamire do against Houston? ------------------ The more lefties on your team, the better. Collier is Seven Foot and Left Handed. How can you go wrong? Trade or bench Kenny Thomas.
Now we all know that stats can say anything we want if, we use them in certain ways.. Francis played at least 2 and then 4 games againest the players you listed, are you useing one game or a average of all games. You didn't mention what Francis did for stats againest the players, just that he didn't play defense. If he is matching the offense numbers then how is he hurting the team? Were these numbers taken from the first of the season when a rookie was againest a veteran, or from the end of the season when a first year player was againest a veteran player?? ------------------
Oakdogg no excuses from me I agree NikeShag Stoudamire Sucked it up agianst the rockets (and plenty of other teams), i really used to like him as player (the mighty mouse in Toronto that is), but i would appear he needs to be in control of his team and take more shots to be a better player. v Houston 6.8ppg and 3apg Season 12.5ppg and 5.2apg EJ Tucker I take it reading is not your FORTE This thread is about Steve's Defense, not his Offense and no one BBS has said he can't play offense and on the contrary I thought he was sensational last year at the offensive end, i personally love his balance between scoring and creating. The number i have are their averages against the Rockets for the past season, sure some might be 2 or 3 or 4 depending on division and conference. I didn't select out individual games, but maybe unbeknowns to me due to injury or suspension, someone average might only contain 1 game. Sure stats can say what ever you want them too, and in this case they clearly show (to most Sane people) that Steve got torched by the top flight PGs in the league and he needs to step up his D. ------------------ Stuff BBS, the Rockets and you guys It's all Clippers these days, come join the bandwagon and visit http://www.ClippersCity.net
To me, it seems like the more important question is did we win those games/what was our record against those teams?? I dont know and dont really want to look it up right now, but figured that would add or detract from some sort of statistical argument. ------------------ When I die I want to go peacefully like my grandfather. Not screaming like the passengers in the back seat!
So Jay, if we won all these games (unlikely seeing we only won 30 games all season) you would be content with Steve's Defense. Smeg of Defense ------------------ Stuff BBS, the Rockets and you guys It's all Clippers these days, come join the bandwagon and visit http://www.ClippersCity.net
Most point guards wanted to have a good showing against our star, so obviously the stud points in the league were going to come after Stevie. I just remember him not backing down and playing some damn good games against the vets in the league. Especially in the latter half of the season. Personal favorite was that alley oop on Kidd and he got the technical foul for grilling him while he hung on the rim. Good stuff Stevie, good stuff. But the point remains though, Rockets have to play better defense as a whole. That Vince Carter jam with a second left still haunts me. Why wasnt Cato or anyone there to backup Shandon after he got burnt? At least put the guy on the line instead of giving him the Sportscenter highlite of the week. ------------------ Great players aren't always great, they're only great when they have to be
