not to mention, we got better defenders in our back court, and yao won't always be fouled/slammed on offense.
A lot of Van Gundy's defense schemes were easy to execute because of our personnel. Our team last year consisted primarily of spot up shooters surrounding Yao and Tmac. The fact is that 3 or 4 of our players would always be standing on the perimeter on offense when a shot was taken. This makes transition defense VERY VERY easy. Our defense was basically halfway setup at the end of each offensive possession. Another thing which made VG defense good was defensive rebounding. One reason we excelled at this was because VG realized that we didn't have the personnel to get out and run on offense, so he employed a team rebounding concept. This meant on defense, instead of the guards trying to get out and run for a fastbreak, they would help the bigs rebound. This made us one of the best defensive rebounding teams in the NBA but one of the worst fastbreak teams. With Adelman, look for our defensive rebounding and transition defense to plummet. Other aspects of our defense should improve slightly IMO due to more athletic and better defensively equipped personnel. Our offensive efficiency and fastbreak points on the other hand will improve dramatically.
I think when need be... we need to play alot of the defense... JVG introduced... especially when it bogs down to the halfcourt set... well maybe a little less attacking the ball... and a little more zone defense... though... JVG seemed to like to attack the ball too much (didnt mix it up enough)... wasting our guys energy on the defensive side...
I'm not saying they'll still be ranked at the very top of the league in most statistical categories. When I said they wouldn't suffer much, I meant that just because Adelman steps in with his Lots O' Fun Offense, the defense shouldn't fall off to the point where we're struggling to stay in games because we're giving UP too many points. In fact, I'll bet our margin of victory will increase because we'll have a MUCH better offense, while still retaining enough of that defensive mindset. In other words, we're not going to become Golden State overnight. The defensive training these guys got under JVG, combined with Adelman's above-average defensive track record, would make that highly unlikely. Bottom line: Much better offense, stilll very good defense. What's not to like?
man durvasa do you just have stats lying around for every single situation? however, i am somewhat confused. you stated that the more positive the number the more favorable for the defensive stat being measured. does that hold true for Drtg (points allowed per possession)? it would seem that a lower number there would obviously be better. also, with the TO% stat does a negative number just imply that the team forces less turnovers than an average NBA team for that year? then one more thing i'm trying to clarify with the stats...does dFT mean free throws the rockets would allow per each field goal the opponents scores or does it mean free throws the rockets makes per opponent field goal scored? also, do your stats tell you how each team ranked in the NBA with those defensive stats? finally, it seems like the major difference between JVG's defenses and adelman's defenses was the defensive rebounding. it will be interesting to see if that trend holds up this year because we have a number of solid rebounders on this team. even though hayes and scola will probably rarely be on the court at the same time it would be interesting to see the rebounding number the rockets could put up with yao, scola, hayes, tmac, and francis. hell now that i think about it might not be that crazy since scola did a surprisingly decent job on carmelo in FIBA when he had to guard him out on perimeter. ok well just my quick thoughts on things.
Nah, I just calculated those using the stats at dougstats.com and Excel. The formulas aren't that complicated, so it was quick. For DRtg, dFG%, and dFT I just multiplied it by -1, so that all the bars for a "good rating" would point to the right. And, yes, the negative TO% implies that. For more information on the Four Factors, see: http://www.basketball-reference.com/about/factors.html http://www.rawbw.com/~deano/articles/20040601_roboscout.htm http://www.nba.com/sonics/news/factors050127.html It means the FTs the opponent made per each field goal they (the opponent) attempted. Effectively, yes. The better their ranking, the greater the number. For each season, I calculated the average and standard deviation for each of the four factors and Drtg. Then, to gauge how each team performed relative to the league for each stat, I tcalculated how many standard deviation from the average it was. Like this: Rating_x = ( X - mean_x ) / std_dev_x I could have just used (X - mean_x), the difference from the average. But dividing by standard deviation provides a better comparison across different seasons. It also makes it easier to determine how dominant a team was for a given stat, since distributions for different stats vary a lot. Defensive rebounding and forcing turnovers. Defensive rebounding is probably more important to a defense than forcing turnovers*, but if you can force turnovers that increases your transition opportunities. The Rockets were last (or close to it) last year in scoring transition buckets. Hopefully that improves. *Actually, Dean Oliver disagrees with that. Technically, he's right, but teams that force a lot of turnovers usually have to gamble which can result in poorer contesting of shots and positioning for defensive boards.
A lot of people seem to bypass the fact that Adelman's Kings were a very good defensive team that once led the league in defensive rebounding and field goal defense. This is not even an issue with the Rockets. IMO we'll be at worst a top 5 defensive team. http://www.ticketspecialists.com/nba/sacramento_kings_tickets.htm
It seems Adelman's schemes will attempt to create a lot more turnovers from the other team to give us opportunities to get out on the break. I think that might work because we have length at every position, making it easier to swarm opponents and try to force them to fumble the ball. We won't be as bad as Phoenix on defense but as a team we won't be extremely good either. Anyone think T-Mac's defense might reach Doug Christie levels with Adelman? Christie was lauded as a premier defender with Adelman, and TMac has a lot of similar attributes (lean, quick, long arms). Or will Battier take that role?
It also looks like Adelman's teams fouled a lot less often. Is that good or bad sign? I think our numbers may have been skewed because Yao and Hayes have a lot to learn about giving away cheap fouls, as Hollinger noted on his player profiles.
Detroit barely ever fouled with Ben Wallace, and they were a very good defensive team. Chuck fouled a lot, but giving up too many free throws wasn't a big issue with our team last year (as the chart shows -- dFT).
