Of course it's early, but these are still interesting. Encouraging signs, considering how unhappy most of us have been: Code: Team Rebounding Difference Team Reb Diff 1 MemphisGrizzlies 9.0 2 PortlandTrailBlazers 8.0 Code: Team Defensive FG Pct. Team FG Pct. 1 MiamiHeat 0.386 2 BostonCeltics 0.391 3 OklahomaCityThunder 0.394 4 DetroitPistons 0.403 5 PortlandTrailBlazers 0.419 Code: Team Defense Team Pts/Game 1 BostonCeltics 81.2 2 OklahomaCityThunder 85.0 3 DetroitPistons 87.0 4 MiamiHeat 87.7 5 DallasMavericks 88.7 6 ClevelandCavaliers 90.5 7 MilwaukeeBucks 92.0 8 PortlandTrailBlazers 92.2 Code: Team Assist Diff Team Assist Diff 1 BostonCeltics 10.00 2 OrlandoMagic 6.33 3 UtahJazz 6.00 4 PortlandTrailBlazers 5.00
Hmmm... Code: Team Turnover Diff Team Turn Diff 24 OrlandoMagic -1.67 25 PhoenixSuns -2.00 26 PortlandTrailBlazers -2.25 27 LAClippers -3.00 28 MiamiHeat -3.00 29 MemphisGrizzlies -5.33 30 IndianaPacers -7.00
Our own FG% is also below average, and we are among the worst in fouls. The fouls and TOs are a warning sign that this team does not have it together mentally.
We held Houston to 37% in the first game, and OKC shot 34% last night. Shouldn't be too surprising that we're near the top in that stat. Of course, the other way to look at that would be to say that we can't win unless the opponent shoots under 40%, but that's a very glass-half-empty view.
The 26 turnover game killed us here. One of the reasons I don't look at averages at this point is we don't have enough data points.
Well in all fairness, and I do agree with Nate, defense is so much harder to gel than the offense. I think the focus this season is to establish a very strong, if not best defense. And that focus has taking the "timing" off our offense. In time they both with work itself out and we will be so much more effective. If December rolls around and we are still shooting 40% from the field, I will start to panic. LOL
I don't quite get how we haven't "gelled" on D yet. I mean, aside from Webster-for-Batum (and Webs is playing like freakin' gangbusters on D right now), the starting lineup is the same as a bunch of last year. And aside from Miller-for-Sergio and Howard-for-Frye (and that only in limited minutes) it's pretty close to the same rotation as last year for the subs as well. Blake and Roy and Rudy and LMA and the C have been playing together for over a year now. The Boston D "gelled" with Allen and Garnett's additions after about 2 preseason games. What's our excuse?
For starters Garnett is one of the best front court defenders in league history. He plays the quarterback on defense, telling guys where to be and what to do. He was so respected other guys on the team had no choice but to respond with their best effort. Portland doesn't have a guy like that. They haven't in years. Priz is as close as Portland gets but even he isn't in the same league as Garnett. I would have to believe that was part of the problem. I am hopeful that someday Oden fills that role.
I don't disagree with any point in your post, except the part that says "I would have to believe that (not having one of the best front court defenders in league history) was part of the problem". I agree that Oden could maybe be that guy, and is the Blazer with the best chance of doing so. But that isn't a "gelling" issue. It's a "our team doesn't have this necessary part" issue.
Here are the latest, as of today, Nov. 9: Code: Team Scoring Team Defense Team Pts/Game Team Pts/Game 1 PhoenixSuns 109.7 1 BostonCeltics 84.4 2 DenverNuggets 109.3 2 MilwaukeeBucks 85.2 3 TorontoRaptors 107.0 3 CharlotteBobcats 87.7 4 AtlantaHawks 106.9 4 OklahomaCityThunder 89.2 5 MemphisGrizzlies 105.9 5 ClevelandCavaliers 89.9 6 SacramentoKings 104.4 6 MiamiHeat 90.7 7 HoustonRockets 104.3 7 DetroitPistons 91.7 8 OrlandoMagic 103.7 [COLOR="DarkRed"]8 PortlandTrailBlazers 91.9[/COLOR] 9 GSWarriors 103.6 9 ChicagoBulls 92.3 10 LALakers 102.7 10 DallasMavericks 94.3 11 DallasMavericks 101.7 11 LALakers 97.4 12 UtahJazz 101.5 12 SanAntonioSpurs 98.2 13 LAClippers 100.7 13 WashingtonWizards 99.1 14 NYKnicks 100.6 14 NJNets 99.6 15 Philadelphia76ers 99.7 15 OrlandoMagic 99.6 16 SanAntonioSpurs 98.8 16 LAClippers 100.3 17 MiamiHeat 98.5 17 IndianaPacers 100.4 18 BostonCeltics 98.5 18 HoustonRockets 100.5 19 IndianaPacers 97.6 19 MinnesotaT-wolves 100.7 [COLOR="DarkRed"]20 PortlandTrailBlazers 97.6[/COLOR] 20 AtlantaHawks 102.1 Code: Team Scoring Differential Team FG pct Differential Team Pts/Game Team Pts/Game 1 BostonCeltics 14.1 1 BostonCeltics 0.077 2 MiamiHeat 7.8 2 MiamiHeat 0.061 3 DallasMavericks 7.4 3 LAClippers 0.047 [COLOR="DarkRed"]4 PortlandTrailBlazers 5.7 [/COLOR] 4 LALakers 0.033 5 PhoenixSuns 5.3 5 PhoenixSuns 0.031 6 LALakers 5.3 6 DetroitPistons 0.027 7 MilwaukeeBucks 5.2 7 DenverNuggets 0.027 8 DenverNuggets 5.0 8 ClevelandCavaliers 0.022 9 AtlantaHawks 4.8 9 HoustonRockets 0.016 10 ClevelandCavaliers 4.5 10 OklahomaCityThunder 0.016 11 OklahomaCityThunder 4.3 11 UtahJazz 0.015 12 OrlandoMagic 4.1 12 AtlantaHawks 0.014 13 HoustonRockets 3.8 [COLOR="DarkRed"]13 PortlandTrailBlazers 0.011[/COLOR] Code: Team FG Pct Offensive Team FT Pct Team FG Pct. Team FT Pct. 1 BostonCeltics 0.498 [COLOR="DarkRed"] 1 PortlandTrailBlazers 0.841[/COLOR] 2 PhoenixSuns 0.497 2 AtlantaHawks 0.820 3 LAClippers 0.485 3 NYKnicks 0.819 4 DenverNuggets 0.478 4 UtahJazz 0.793 5 Philadelphia76ers 0.478 5 DenverNuggets 0.791 6 MiamiHeat 0.477 6 DallasMavericks 0.790 7 AtlantaHawks 0.474 7 MiamiHeat 0.784 8 UtahJazz 0.474 8 OklahomaCityThunder 0.774 9 MemphisGrizzlies 0.474 9 IndianaPacers 0.770 10 HoustonRockets 0.472 10 NOrleansHornets 0.764 11 TorontoRaptors 0.468 11 NJNets 0.764 12 SanAntonioSpurs 0.467 12 OrlandoMagic 0.760 13 LALakers 0.464 13 Philadelphia76ers 0.757 14 OrlandoMagic 0.463 14 TorontoRaptors 0.751 15 GSWarriors 0.463 15 CharlotteBobcats 0.750 16 NOrleansHornets 0.458 16 HoustonRockets 0.750 17 OklahomaCityThunder 0.453 17 LALakers 0.745 18 DallasMavericks 0.452 18 BostonCeltics 0.736 19 ClevelandCavaliers 0.449 19 SanAntonioSpurs 0.734 20 DetroitPistons 0.444 20 MemphisGrizzlies 0.731 21 SacramentoKings 0.443 21 SacramentoKings 0.729 22 WashingtonWizards 0.439 22 WashingtonWizards 0.728 [COLOR="DarkRed"]23 PortlandTrailBlazers 0.435 [/COLOR] 23 MinnesotaT-wolves 0.716 Code: Team Defensive FG Pct. Team 3 Pt. Pct. Team FG Pct. Team 3 Pt Pct. 1 MiamiHeat 0.416 1 PhoenixSuns 0.465 2 DetroitPistons 0.417 2 ClevelandCavaliers 0.440 3 MilwaukeeBucks 0.417 3 HoustonRockets 0.409 4 BostonCeltics 0.421 4 BostonCeltics 0.403 [COLOR="DarkRed"]5 PortlandTrailBlazers 0.424 [/COLOR] 5 DenverNuggets 0.402 6 ClevelandCavaliers 0.427 6 TorontoRaptors 0.400 7 LALakers 0.431 7 GSWarriors 0.395 8 WashingtonWizards 0.435 8 OrlandoMagic 0.391 9 IndianaPacers 0.436 9 SacramentoKings 0.381 10 OklahomaCityThunder 0.437 10 MiamiHeat 0.380 11 LAClippers 0.438 11 NOrleansHornets 0.380 12 CharlotteBobcats 0.439 12 LALakers 0.376 13 DallasMavericks 0.442 13 MemphisGrizzlies 0.365 14 ChicagoBulls 0.444 14 DallasMavericks 0.360 15 DenverNuggets 0.451 [COLOR="DarkRed"]15 PortlandTrailBlazers 0.356[/COLOR] Code: Team Rebounding Difference Team Reb Diff 1 MemphisGrizzlies 7.5 2 CharlotteBobcats 6.8 [COLOR="DarkRed"] 3 PortlandTrailBlazers 6.2 [/COLOR] 4 MilwaukeeBucks 6.2 5 OklahomaCityThunder 3.8 6 DallasMavericks 2.7 7 MiamiHeat 2.2 8 ChicagoBulls 1.9 9 BostonCeltics 1.7 10 PhoenixSuns 0.9 11 ClevelandCavaliers 0.8 12 WashingtonWizards 0.2 13 SacramentoKings 0.2 14 AtlantaHawks 0.1 15 OrlandoMagic 0.0 16 LALakers -0.1 Code: Team Assists Team Steals Team Assists Team Steals 1 BostonCeltics 26.12 1 LALakers 10.14 2 LAClippers 24.86 2 BostonCeltics 10.00 3 PhoenixSuns 24.14 3 MinnesotaT-wolves 8.86 4 HoustonRockets 23.50 4 Philadelphia76ers 8.67 5 UtahJazz 23.00 5 LAClippers 8.57 6 LALakers 22.71 6 MilwaukeeBucks 8.40 7 GSWarriors 21.60 7 NYKnicks 8.29 8 NYKnicks 21.57 8 HoustonRockets 8.17 9 DallasMavericks 21.50 9 SacramentoKings 8.14 10 OrlandoMagic 21.43 10 DenverNuggets 7.86 11 NOrleansHornets 21.43 11 DallasMavericks 7.67 12 ClevelandCavaliers 21.29 12 CharlotteBobcats 7.67 13 AtlantaHawks 21.00 13 IndianaPacers 7.60 [COLOR="DarkRed"]14 PortlandTrailBlazers 20.29 14 PortlandTrailBlazers 7.57[/COLOR] Code: Team Turnover Diff Team Assist Diff Team Turn Diff Team Assist Diff 1 BostonCeltics 3.25 1 BostonCeltics 7.75 2 SacramentoKings 2.86 [COLOR="DarkRed"] 2 PortlandTrailBlazers 4.57[/COLOR] 3 MilwaukeeBucks 2.40 3 HoustonRockets 4.17 4 LALakers 2.14 4 OrlandoMagic 3.86 5 NYKnicks 2.14 5 LAClippers 3.14 6 DallasMavericks 1.67 6 UtahJazz 3.00 7 AtlantaHawks 1.57 7 MiamiHeat 2.50 8 OklahomaCityThunder 1.50 8 OklahomaCityThunder 2.33 9 MinnesotaT-wolves 0.86 9 MilwaukeeBucks 2.00 10 ChicagoBulls 0.83 10 ClevelandCavaliers 2.00 11 GSWarriors 0.80 11 LALakers 2.00 12 TorontoRaptors 0.50 12 NYKnicks 1.86 13 HoustonRockets 0.17 13 SanAntonioSpurs 1.40 14 ClevelandCavaliers 0.14 14 PhoenixSuns 1.29 15 DenverNuggets 0.00 15 DallasMavericks 1.17 16 SanAntonioSpurs -0.20 16 SacramentoKings 0.14 17 CharlotteBobcats -0.33 17 DenverNuggets 0.00 18 Philadelphia76ers -0.33 18 AtlantaHawks -0.43 19 DetroitPistons -0.43 19 CharlotteBobcats -1.33 20 NOrleansHornets -0.57 20 ChicagoBulls -1.83 [COLOR="DarkRed"]21 PortlandTrailBlazers -1.00 [/COLOR] 21 IndianaPacers -2.80 Also: Code: Team Totals My[URL="http://www.dougstats.com/09-10MainTendexPage.html"]Tendex[/URL] Difference Team MyTendex Diff 1) BostonCeltics 43.31 [COLOR="DarkRed"]2) PortlandTrailBlazers 22.14[/COLOR] 3) DallasMavericks 21.63 4) LALakers 16.36 5) MiamiHeat 16.12 6) ClevelandCavaliers 11.68 7) OklahomaCityThunder 11.58 8) LAClippers 9.82 9) AtlantaHawks 9.61 10) DenverNuggets 9.25 11) OrlandoMagic 9.00 12) PhoenixSuns 8.75 13) HoustonRockets 8.21 14) MilwaukeeBucks 7.80
The best thing, for me, so far - is how much better we seem to be in defensive rating. We are now at 99.4 per 100 possessions - The 41-41 year - the last pre-Oden year we gave 108.7 per 100 possessions. And to think we are doing it without our best perimeter defender...
Memphis is the best rebounding team in the league? This must end. I predict a 51-38 rebound advantage for the Blazers tomorrow.
Yeah, that is an oddity. Gasol's good, but who else? Oh yeah, Zach always could rebound, I guess. And then of course, there's their star rookie, their #2 pick in the ENTIRE DRAFT - Hasheem Thabeet!!!! Does Memphis HAVE any fans? How do they stay sane?
Memphis is such a weird team. Two guys averaging a double double (Gasol/Randolph). Three guys with PER's over 20 (Mayo, Gasol, Randolph). 9th best offense in the leauge. They just happen to be dead last in defensive rating, though. And they have a 1-6 record. 15 seasons now (man has it been that long?) In that time, only four years (the Pau Gasol years) where they cracked a .300 winning percentage. Only 3 playoff appearances, and not a single playoff victory. If there are Grizzly fans out there, I can't imagine why.
Yeah's he's pretty much setting the world afire with his 3.2 PER and 15% rebounding percentage. Holy hell, how can a guy that tall suck so bad at the game of basketball?!
I can't say I'm all that surprised to see them surrendering so many points per possession. I mean does anybody on that roster play defense? Zach, Mayo, Gay, even Gasol and Thabust don't exactly scream "stopper." All I can say is thank God Micheal Heisley is not our owner, he's making a hard charge at Donald Sterling for worst owner in pro sports ... and at least Sterling doesn't try to pretend that he knows talent.
Interesting info in this thread. Given that our offense was amongst the league's most efficient last year and defense was fairly poor these stats are encouraging indeed. I think the defense will continue to improve and that the offensive statistics should start soaring fairly soon. Question, is Mayo playing SG or PG this year?
