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[TrueHoop] When We See Houston's Defense, What Do We See?

Discussion in 'Houston Rockets: Game Action & Roster Moves' started by durvasa, Apr 28, 2009.

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  1. durvasa

    durvasa Member

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    A blog post about our defense.

    http://myespn.go.com/blogs/truehoop/0-39-148/When-We-See-Houston-s-Defense--What-Do-We-See-.html


    [rquoter]
    ...

    What's that story like in Houston? How is it this team came to be such a special defensive unit?

    The truth is, I don't know. But here are three common theories:

    • Rick Adelman is a serious NBA coach. Although he has not been known, historically, for his defense, people evolve. (Or, maybe his teams were just underappreciated at that end of the floor.)
    • Elston Turner is the assistant coach who is most commonly credited with focusing on the team's defense. Maybe he's bringing the magic -- although he has long been part of Adelman's staff, including in Sacramento.
    • The Ron Artest factor. That's a big strong dude who can make some things happen at the boring end of the floor. The only problem with this theory is that the Rockets were similarly excellent at the defensive end of the floor last season, before he arrived.
    • Time together. It's underrated, I suspect. A lot of good defensive teams have played together for some time. By now Shane Battier has a good idea how to work with Yao Ming, you know?

    In addition to all of the above, I'll add one more idea to the mix: Maybe it's the geeks.

    Houston famously has the NBA's biggest team of analysts. They are working hard on all kinds of stuff, from player acquisition to end-of-quarter strategy.

    But in the best glimpse we have ever had into the work of Daryl Morey's nerd squad, we see the vast majority of analysis serving one purpose: Preparing a Rocket defender to play informed defense.

    It makes sense that information would be especially useful at that end of the floor.

    ...

    [/rquoter]

    Another factor not mentioned is Jeff Van Gundy. Has he perhaps left a lasting imprint on this team?
     
    #1 durvasa, Apr 28, 2009
  2. Parlett316

    Parlett316 Member

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    End of quarter strategy? On the defense maybe but not on the offense.
     
    #2 Parlett316, Apr 28, 2009
  3. JeopardE

    JeopardE Member

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    Well it is a fact that Adelman's playoff teams were generally underappreciated for their defensive efficiency mostly because they were known for their offense. That trend changed with Houston because the Rockets already had a strong defensive identity before Adelman arrived, thanks to JVG and players like Shane Battier and Chuck Hayes.

    What does surprise me, is how efficient the Rockets have been on the offensive end during the playoffs. Even with Sunday's sub 40% shooting performance, they're still scoring more than 110 points per 100 possessions, good for 3rd best behind the Nuggets and the Lakers ... and the Nuggets have the hapless Hornets to inflate their numbers.
     
    #3 JeopardE, Apr 28, 2009
  4. rockbox

    rockbox Around before clutchcity.com

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    I think its just part of the culture and Adelman knew not to change it.
    You have to give JVG some credit but Adelman had some great defensive teams in Sac also.

    Morey also has been good about getting players that care about defense.Think of the all new guys on this team that never played for JVG.

    Brooks
    Lowry
    Scola
    Landry
    Artest
    Wafer

    The only rotation players that actually played for JVG are Yao, Battier, and Hayes.
     
    #4 rockbox, Apr 28, 2009
  5. durvasa

    durvasa Member

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    I think the first game can be considered an outlier. Throw that out, and our offense has been fairly average -- as usual.
     
    #5 durvasa, Apr 28, 2009
  6. Al Capone

    Al Capone Member

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    Yeah, end of the fiscal quarter.
     
    #6 Al Capone, Apr 28, 2009
  7. JeopardE

    JeopardE Member

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    Good point, although one could argue that they also shot uncharacteristically poorly in game 4 (mostly thanks to Artest jacking up a gazillion bad jumpers). Games 2 and 3 were probably much closer to the mean, and while I can't make a judgment off the top of my head about game 3, I do remember that they still scored quite effectively in game 2 -- they just gave up too many points on the other end of the floor.
     
    #7 JeopardE, Apr 28, 2009
  8. oldgunrules

    oldgunrules Member

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    Calling Photoshop genious. Could you put the geeks in a picture?

    Can't wait :D
     
    #8 oldgunrules, Apr 28, 2009
  9. Tom Bombadillo

    Tom Bombadillo Member

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    We have Ron Artest and Shane Battier, the league's two best perimeter defenders......



    And a 7-6 giant underneath the basket.

    You do the math...
     
    #9 Tom Bombadillo, Apr 28, 2009
  10. choujie

    choujie Member

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    To be fair, Brooks,Wafer and Landry still plays terrible defense, Lowry and Artest are known good defenders before they joined the team. Give JVG Lowry and Artest to work with, the team's defense would only be better than it is now, I believe.

    Only Scola made good progress on defensive end under Adelman.

    Adelman did one thing right, leave Yao close to the rim instead of chasing guards on peremeter. That prevented a lot inside scoring by opponents.
     
    #10 choujie, Apr 28, 2009
  11. Cowboy_Bebop

    Cowboy_Bebop Member

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    YaoDaMan
    [​IMG]
     
    #11 Cowboy_Bebop, Apr 28, 2009
  12. shortfuse3

    shortfuse3 Member

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    i think JVG is the main reason our defense has been consistent. he hasnt been coaching us for 2 years yet we still are one of the top defensive teams in the nba.
     
    #12 shortfuse3, Apr 28, 2009
  13. DrNuegebauer

    DrNuegebauer Member

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    Really?

    It has nothing to do with the fact that Adelman had a perennial top 5 defensive team in Sacramento?

    It's baloney that Adelman isn't known for his defense. Give him the players who can execute defensively, and he'll put out a top defensive team.

    No coincidence that our defence improved under Adelman compared to Van Gundy - and that's with noted defender Chuck Hayes playing less minutes too...
     
    #13 DrNuegebauer, Apr 28, 2009
  14. durvasa

    durvasa Member

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    I don't think that's true. Why do you think it has improved?
     
    #14 durvasa, Apr 28, 2009
  15. HTown_TMac

    HTown_TMac Member

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    LOL Funny man.
     
    #15 HTown_TMac, Apr 28, 2009
  16. DrNuegebauer

    DrNuegebauer Member

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    Ok - I checked it out.

    It's not true.

    I thought I remembered our defense being better last season than the previous one - but I checked out all the relevant numbers (opponentFG%, ppg, 3FG%, rebounds etc) and some of them improved, but the overall theme was that the defense in the final year before Adelmans arrival was better than the defense since then!

    The difference is minor though

    And I think having Scola as PF instead of Hayes probably accounts for any difference!

    Let me rescind my point that it improved. It did not

    My point that Adelman was a very good defensive coach with Sacramento stands.
     
    #16 DrNuegebauer, Apr 28, 2009
  17. blender

    blender Member

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    I agree. My sense is that Adelman is good at adjusting his system to play to his players' strengths. He and his staff don't just have a philosophy and try to fit the players into it. (There was actually an article about this posted recently, but I don't have the link.)

    I get the feeling that Elston Turner incorporated a lot of what was working under JVG. It would be great if someone interviewed Turner on this subject.

    In the playoffs, however, the biggest factor on defense has to be Yao Ming. The big fella may be having problems getting his shots, but on the defensive end, he has been at another level. It's like he's playing enough defense to make up for Mutombo being out.
     
    #17 blender, Apr 28, 2009
  18. worzel gummidge

    worzel gummidge Member

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    Morey did make the claim that the Rockets have been the best defensive team in the league since the AS break.
     
    #18 worzel gummidge, Apr 28, 2009
  19. DrNuegebauer

    DrNuegebauer Member

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    I knew I heard something somewhere....


    The other "factor" as to why we're so good defensively is probably Shane Battier - he's got to be the best "team defender" in the league - not only does he play his man well, but he also plays the help and talks the structure.
     
    #19 DrNuegebauer, Apr 28, 2009
  20. meh

    meh Member

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    You know. Houston's defense this series seems basically "normal".

    Portland's regular season offensive efficiency: 110
    Portland's playoffs offensive efficiency: 105 (also Houston's playoffs defensive efficiency)
    Houston's regular season defensive efficiency: 101

    Basically it seemed like the best offensive team in the regular season and the 4th best defensive team of the season kind of evened out during the playoffs. Btw, Portland's offense is 6 among playoff teams. Hardly getting shut down.
     
    #20 meh, Apr 28, 2009
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