The thing I have noticed is that rookies coming in to the league usually take a minimum of 2-3 years to become great defenders. There are exceptions but for the most part it takes time. Also I am not content with those numbers but his defense did improve as the season went on. A bunch of Steves statistics were due to the fact that he played no defense the first time or two he played these players but improvements must be made. ------------------
Steve's a rookie and will get much better. I also think he got burned more often early in the year and not so much later on. He also had a revolving door at PF & C and rookie starting PF. THat doesn't help. Someone has to keep the opposing PG out of the lane and very rarely did that happen. Steve also was the man to double down on the opposing post threat. My take is that Steve got burned a little but with another year under his belt and some better and more consistent team D he will get better. ------------------ "Stranger things have happened, but none stranger than this" - Commentator after a parachutist landed in the ring of a Holyfield fight
Excuses, excuses... Stevie's defense was TERRIBLE. One distinct thing I remember seeing: reading the box score in the morning, realising that Stevie had scored 22, but that the other pg had scored 30. Those numbers just don't work. With the exception of Kidd, EVERY ONE OF THOSE PG'S SCORED MORE THAN FRANCIS' AVERAGE. So many people have claimed that he's the 4th best PG in the league, yet there you have more than that who out played him head-to-head. I think Francis can become a superstar, but he's not yet. He needs to be a player who dominates the other team, and not a susceptibility. As for "lighting the rookie pg up"... fine... but the problem is, there assists barely decrease. If Francis was already the superstar you claim, then he could have outplayed them. He didn't. As for the "he's young" argument, I buy that to an extent... however, Andre Miller, Jason Terry, and even Bibby didn't allow their opponents to score this much. I'm sure being a rookie is PART of it, but clearly, not all. Personally, I'm hoping Francis and Mobley take a few lessons from Shandon (on defense only ). Great post smeg. ------------------ [This message has been edited by haven (edited July 04, 2000).]
Just a point about the assist numbers being down; Do you think that's to do with rudy's defensive strategy, or is it because the other point goes "goody I can take on Francis" and because they are taking more shots their assist numbers go down. It is logical that, if I take 10 shots a game and dish out 10 assists, if I take 20 shots then my 10 assists are not going to be as high. I'm more scared by the fact the assists were only down 0.4 .... Of course I don't mean to insinuate that Will doesn't know what he's on about, so the only way we can accurately check is by looking at FG%... if the other PG's have scored more points but at a poor FG% then it may just be a sound defensive strategy employed by the rockets... otherwise it says that Steve has poor D. Having watched him play early in the season I remember him running around trying to figure out what the heck he was doing on the court on D, by the end of the season he was at least sticking with his man... more improvement should help!!! Another thing to consider is that the rockets didn't have a lot of big man help at various stages of the season. That would mean that opposing guards could get to the hoop and throw up a weaker shot than they may have to otherwise - if there's nobody to challenge the shot then weaker shots couldbe made.... Anyway, I'm not defending Stevies D, he definitely needs to improve (as does Mobley,Williams,Thomas) - maybe the young guys will start playing some tougher D and getting a few more wins in the future!! ------------------
Haven, Andre Miller and Jason Terry didn't play enough minutes to get lit up properly ------------------
Excellent point, DrNuegebauer. Luckily, I'm an insomniac, so . . . First off, I'll list fg% and 3pt% vs Houston, then vs the rest of the league. Cassell: fg% (Hou): .647 3pt% (Hou): .000 fg% (season): .466 3pt% (season): .289 Van Exel: fg% (Hou): .460 3pt% (Hou): .300 fg% (season): .390 3pt% (season): .332 Blaylock: fg% (Hou): .590 3pt% (Hou): .583 fg% (season): .391 3pt% (season): .336 Anderson: fg% (Hou): .594 3pt% (Hou): .000 fg% (season): .440 3pt% (season): .386 Payton: fg% (Hou): .442 3pt% (Hou): .272 fg% (season): .448 3pt% (season): .340 Brandon: fg% (Hou): .577 3pt% (Hou): .600 fg% (season): .466 3pt% (season): .402 Bibby: fg% (Hou): .491 3pt% (Hou): .400 fg% (season): .445 3pt% (season): .363 Stockton: fg% (Hou): .625 3pt% (Hou): .285 fg% (season): .501 3pt% (season): .355 Marbury: fg% (Hou): .513 3pt% (Hou): .000 fg% (season): .432 3pt% (season): .283 Kidd: fg% (Hou): .321 3pt% (Hou): .600 fg% (season): .409 3pt% (season): .337 Looking at the comaparisons, everybody shot better (at least in total fg%) except Kidd and Payton and Payton's .006 difference probably isn't statistically significant. I'm too tired to calculate the number of shot attempts vs the Rockets against the average number of shot attempts per game, so I'll leave that to someone else. It's 4 am EST and that's waaaaaaaaay too past my bed-time ------------------
Wow thanks launch pad, I considered crunching the numbers, but I just couldn't be bothered!!! Seems to indicate Steve needs to do his slides and work on keeping an eye on his man!! ------------------
Like many young players Stevie expended too much energy on the offensive side of the game and not as much on the defensive side. Hopefully Stevie will devote himself in the offseason, becaused he does have the skills (height, athleticism) to become a good overall player. If he doesn't work on the defensive side then he will stay in the class of a Dominique Wilkins (all O, no D) rather than the MJs and Dreams of the world. ------------------
If the Rockets had a good record (or at least .500) against those teams I will not be satisfied with Steve's defense. If the Rockets had something like a .750 win percentage or higher, than I would honestly believe it was because of a defensive style entertained by Rudy, but overall I do agree with the general consensus that Steve has to work on his defense. Give him some time though. It takes everyone a while to become good dfensively and Im sure if Steve works hard enough at it he will become one of the best (kinda like Gary Payton defensively). My point was only that what we should be looking at is not whether or not Steve plays excellent defense, but whether his seeming lack of defense agaisnt star caliber PG truly affects the team poorly in a W-L way (everything is really about wins and losses). I certainly wouldnt be surprised to see a high correlation between Steves poor defensive showings and our number of losses. That said, though, I can also see how perhaps the correlation might not be very high at all or non-existent. The effect on the teams record should be a determining factor. ------------------ When I die I want to go peacefully like my grandfather. Not screaming like the passengers in the back seat!
On paper Steve didn't do good on defense, but by not keeping his eye on his guy he was able to get a bunch of rebounds that Cato is suppose to get, and steals. But remember Stevie had to pick up the load for (Hakeem,Barkley and even Cato's load) while being a ROOKIE! So with this said I think Steve has done great, wait till he gets some help down low and watch out! The other Pg could turn the corner all night long because inside defense was terrible, wait till we have some interior defense PG's will not have the confidence to come inside and there you will see Stevie's steals and points go up , remember Cat is always near by. It always seemed that Shandon and Cat were just a step away from getting a steal last year. Interior defense is the key for everything! ------------------
Cheerleader! Being on the east coast, I didn't get to watch all of the games, but I did see enough to realize that Francis isn't a good defender. Do you really think that Cato was supposed to pick up the slack when playing the Jazz? Stockton doesn't exactly drive that much anymore. There's no shame in a rookie having a hole in his game. Just be honest with yourselves, and stop making excuses. I must admit, it's really quite amusing though! ------------------
I dont think anyone is trying to make excuses..at least Im not. I realize that Steve's defense is poor at best, but improving nonetheless. However, for those trying to bring up statistical arguments, there are some serious holes in the logic. You cant just look at the numbers. I think the fact that our interior defense was piss-poor certainly padded the stats of the opposing PG's and is a valid point. I dont expect Cato to be an all dominating eraser, but do you really think that Kobe Bryant would be first-team all defense without Shaquille Oneal. I don't! Others, such as Gary Payton or Eddie Jones, however, are really great defenders as they to have poorer inside defense (especially in the gloves case). These are just arguments we are trying to make to say hey, Steves defense is bad, but what about this or what about that. ------------------ When I die I want to go peacefully like my grandfather. Not screaming like the passengers in the back seat!
You're absolutely right about that . I just occasionally get sick of people who try to deny reality out of some obscure form of loyalty to the Rockets. Loyalty does not necessitate blindness . ------------------
Steve's defense is poor. Even in our late season victory vs. the Jazz, Stockon drove past him at will. How sad is that? Will's point can't be denied, though. Rudy has changed the offense a lot, but on D he always sticks one-on-one versus the PG and forces him to make the play. My theory is that Rudy has emotional issues about being beaten by the big man. Force the little guy to make the lower percentage shot- he's all about percentages. I think a very relevant statistic here would be FG attempts per game vs. Rockets and season average of attempts. My bet is that all opposig PG's make more shot attempts per game versus the Rockets, thus less assists to his teammates. ------------------
I think we should give Francis more time. He is only a rookie. Kobe sucked on defense until this year. For now, I agree with Will. And as long as Francis wasn't outscored by 15 or more points per game, I can live with the lack of defense...for right now. ------------------ I Want To Thank God For Making Me A Rocketfan
Though I'm grateful to Nolen for backing me up (much as Matt Maloney was grateful to Hakeem Olajuwon for blocking layups by the guard whose dust Maloney was eating), I consider myself thoroughly spanked by LaunchPad's stats. I yield the point.
Jay said I think the fact that our interior defense was piss-poor certainly padded the stats of the opposing PG's and is a valid point. How does this come into the argument if Steve's shut's his player down One on One. Considering the speed his exhibits on offense, he should be able to shut anyone down. Interior defense, also known as help, is only needed when the perimeter players get beat (which the stats show happened to Steve alot last season), all this topic is talking about is Steve needing to get better at shutting his player down, and this would appear ideal considering Ruddy's likening for One on One team defense. No excuses, just plain and simple Steve needs to improve his Defense Smeg of Defense PS Thanks for the back-up Stats Launch Pad ------------------ Stuff BBS, the Rockets and you guys It's all Clippers these days, come join the bandwagon and visit http://www.ClippersCity.net
His defense wasn't the best last year, but perhaps better outside shooting (by the team as a whole) will deter teams from double-teaming Francis as often. In theory, Francis would then have more energy to apply to perimeter defense. Food for thought chemistry wise! ------------------
I think that as Francis gets better players around him and he gets more experience he will become a better defensive stopper. It is natural for a player of Francis's caliber to give up points the way he does. When you are carrying a team you have much more to worry about than just defense. As he gets players around him that can help take more of the offensive load off of him he will focus more on the other facets of his game like defense and doing an even better job of setting up his teammates. The perfect comparison is Vince Carter and Kobe Bryant. Bryant is on a championship contender and was first team all-defense. Carter is not on a championship contender and has to most of the time carry his Raptor team. If Carter had the team that Bryant had I think he would play defense just as well as Bryant. But just like Francis he has to carry the offensive load. ------------------
