Looking at the stats, the Nets are generally in the middle of the pack in most team stats, with a couple exceptions: (1) They are above average in FT shooting and 3-pt shooting on the defensive sie, (2) They are horrible at defending the three-point shot and have allowed nearly the most FTs by the opposition in the league. They commit the most fouls. If they could just control those couple things a little better . . . .
I wonder what the numbers are for opposing 3pt% when a combination of Sean, Boone or Ryan are in instead of Brook and Yi. Brook and Yi usually need help in the post so that takes away from the perimeter D.
The Nets have also played some of the better 3 point shooting teams in the league. Phoenix, Toronto, Atlanta, and I think Indiana is a pretty good 3 pt shooting team too.
I expect they will always be among the poorer 3-point defending teams, and not because their guards are terrible defenders but because the philosophy of the coach is decidedly biased toward protecting the paint and forcing shots as far away from inside as possible. Improved understanding and execution of rotations (which should come with increased game practice) and consistently high defensive energy should improve their performance in this area, but I don't ever expect it to be high level. As long as they are giving up fewer paint points than other teams as a result, I suppose it's okay. I expect fouls will also improve as the rookies and 2nd year players improve in that area.
The perimeter defense would be more acceptabe if they sent the opposition to the line 25 times a game instead of 32.7 times a game. I wonder how all the numbers differ for the games that Devin was in the lineup vs. when he wasn't . . . and the the games for when Brook was in the starting lineup (of course, when he was int he starting lineup, Sean was the backup, but when Josh was a starter, Brook was the primary reserve, so it wouldn't completely be comparable)
but dumpy what are the teams stats for: Points in the paint, fouls given vs our pf,center fouls, +/- stats for our pf and center? I figure its way up from last year. This team is constructed totally different from last years team.
All those things have been improved, no doubt. I was just looking for indicators that they could focus on to be more than a .500 team. The combination of poor perimeter defense AND committing a high number of fouls is just hard to overcome. I think the poor perimeter defense could be managemable if they could allow 25 free throws per game instead of 32. That would be in the middle of the pack, but would save them roughly five points per game. Incidentally, I think the Nets interior defense (as measure by the opposition's shooting percentage on TWO point shots) is among the best in the league; I'm going to check that shortly. That's why the perimeter defense is something that can be lived with; NBA teams can't continue to hit 45% of their three-point attempts even if they are wide open, right?
There are some teams that I fear could do that at least 3 out of 4 games (Indiana comes to mind). My one, substantive gripe with Frank (who has forgotten more about basketball than I'll ever know) is that he doesn't see that SOME teams require an adjustment to the usually sound philosophy of protecting the paint at all costs.
