Yes its only 4 games into the season but I found some of the advanced team stats at BBReference interesting for LAST SEASON and THIS SEASON. Portland so far has the 16th toughest rated strength of schedule in the league so the competition overall rates as average. Our Blazers have the least offensive turnovers in the league, shoot the ball very effectively, and rank in the middle of the pack for offensive rebounding. Combine all of those and you have an offensive more effective per play than the Warriors only trailing the Clippers/Mavs/Rockets/Heat for fifth best in the league at 109.9. The team is really struggling on defense. Their opponents are shooting slightly better than average against the Blazers as the 18th rated effective FG% defense. But the Blazers force less turnover than all but two NBA teams. Perhaps Blazer games will have both sides playing it safe with the ball this year committing few turnovers. Defensive rebounding is really hurting the team right now, as Milwaukee and Boston are the only teams rating worse. Combine all of that together and the Blazers defense as a whole is giving up more points than all other teams except the Wizards and Clippers at 110.7. I’m really concerned about the rebounding, as Lopez and Aldridge look to be our only reliable big men and they are both poor rebounders. For this team to take the next step towards the playoffs they can’t continue to give the opposition extra easy opportunities. Successful defense always ends with a turnover or defensive rebound. The Blazers rank very poorly at both. I was hoping Thomas Robinson would provide us with a third big man in the rotation who was an excellent rebounder but that hasn’t happened. ORtg which is offensive points per 100 possessions. Last season Blazers were 105.8 ranked 15th; this season 109.9 ranked 5th. DRtg which is defense points per 100 possessions. 109.2 for 26th; this season 110.7 for 28th. Pace last season 91.4 possessions per 48 minutes for 18th fastest pace; this season 95.5 for 15th Offensive effective FG% .498 for 14th place; this season .506 for 11th Defensive effective FG% .512 for 26th place; this season .507 for 18th Offensive rebounding % 25.3 for 23rd place; this season 25.6 for 16th Defensive rebounding % 73.3 for 19th place; this season 69.0 for 28th Offensive turnover % 13.9 for 16th place; this season 11.6 for 1st Defensive turnover % 12.5 for 27th place; this season 11.7 for 28th
Defensive Rebounds this year Lopez 1, 2, 3, 2 Aldridge 3, 7, 7, 3 Combined 4, 9, 10, 5 We won the two middle games.
Good stuff; here's a stat that shocked me, and is really telling about the type of team we are versus the league: 3PAr (3-Point Attempt Rate - the percentage of FG's attempted that are 3 pointers): 28.1%, which is good for (hold on to your butts) 13th in the league. Barely above average (26.2%). So if any of y'all feel like we take too many threes, maybe it's time to look at the league as a whole and realize the game has changed. Also, f'ing Houston's Free Throw rate (number of FT attempts per FG) is .501... WTF?!
Very interesting find! The Blazers are shooting 40.4% from threes good for 6th in the league. We could explore getting more three point attempts. Our opponents are only shooting 31.0% from three so it'd be nice if some of that was sustainable 3 point defense but I sadly expect most of it is short term good luck. If our opponents 3 point shooting rises to the current league average 35.5% we'll have far and away the worst defense in the league.
What causes the high 3%? We compensate for a low 2%? Playing too far from the basket, which would also cause the low rebounding? Also, Olshey got some good shooters.
Funny how different this is from preseason, when we were leading the league in rebounds and opponent fg%, but also turnovers. The difference being that Stotts was actually playing our bench players, something he's stopped doing almost totally.
WTF happened to our rebounding? We dominated in preseason, and now guys like TRob aren't even visible out there.
I'd love to see a stat that showed 3's before and after the ball goes into the post or key. I bet the Blazers would rank near the top of teams jacking threes before the ball goes down low
Well, ya. There's no one to throw the ball down low to. There used to be, but now, he's either scared of contact again or the coach doesn't want him there. Turning LA into Dirk has to be one of the most stupid things I've seen Stotts do. He's wasting such a potent post player.
Not team stats but ... Casey Holdahl @CHold This week in SportsVU: @Dame_Lillard No. 2 in NBA in pull up shots, @wessywes2 shooting 70%+ on drives bit.ly/17cT7Cf
