Previous Games: 2013-2014 http://bbs.clutchfans.net/showthread.php?p=8776680#post8776680 http://bbs.clutchfans.net/showthread.php?t=251988 http://bbs.clutchfans.net/showthread.php?p=8785678#post8785678 2014-2015 http://bbs.clutchfans.net/showthread.php?t=261304 HOW IT WORKS: For every made or missed shot, I recorded who missed an assignment, or did a good job. There are five categories: good and bad on-ball (OB) defense, good and bad rotation (R), and "meh" (falls in between). I only recorded on shots/fouls, not for the full game. Some good plays will go unnoticed if a shot was not taken. Some example of these things could be full court pressure by a point guard or denying the ball off a double screen, forcing the opposing team to initiate another option. They are good defensive plays, but keeping track of those would be greatly inconsistent and difficult to measure. However, I try to include some of those plays in the observations. I felt like this would strike a balance between an in-depth play-by-play analysis, that will also be understandable by the average CF viewer. The finals results are compiled as an agreed number between myself and two other basketball players. They both hate the Rockets (kidding). We all like the CF, have the been there, done that experience, and like to share the results. THE RESULTS ARE BELOW: <table border="1" style="width:1000"><tr><td>Player</td><td>Good OB</td> <td>Good R</td><td>Meh</td><td>Bad OB</td><td>Bad R</td></tr><tr><td>Bev</td><td>9</td><td>2</td><td>1</td><td>3</td><td>1</td></tr><tr><td>Harden</td><td>4</td><td>2</td><td>7</td><td>5</td><td>6</td></tr><tr><td>Ariza</td><td>5</td><td>2</td><td>6</td><td>0</td><td>1</td></tr><tr><td>DMo</td><td>3</td><td>12</td><td>7</td><td>3</td><td>9</td></tr><tr><td>Howard</td><td>3</td><td>8</td><td>5</td><td>1</td><td>1</td></tr><tr><td>Smith</td><td>7</td><td>5</td><td>3</td><td>3</td><td>2</td></tr><tr><td>Brewer</td><td>4</td><td>3</td><td>3</td><td>1</td><td>5</td></tr><tr><td>Terry</td><td>0</td><td>4</td><td>0</td><td>3</td><td>2</td></tr><tr><td>Papa</td><td>1</td><td>1</td><td>1</td><td>3</td><td>1</td></tr><tr><td>Dorsey</td><td>1</td><td>2</td><td>3</td><td>1</td><td>3</td></tr><tr><td>Canaan</td><td>0</td><td>1</td><td>1</td><td>0</td><td>0</td></tr><tr><td>Shved</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td></tr></table> OBSERVATIONS: 1) Offensive rebounds given: Smith: 2 Howard: 2 Dmo: 2 Ariza: 1 Terry: Beverley: 1 Brewer: 1 2) Dmo struggled against the triangle 3) Harden? He was pretty lazy on D this game... 4) There was some negative switching going on, particularly by Brewer. 5) Jason Smith against Josh Smith was funny. Hilariously bad for Jason. 6) A little off topic, but "shot by an American Sniper" - Reggie Miller was hilarious. :grin: 7) These are short: the Knicks are so bad, I didn't care to look too extensively. If you have any questions on how to judge who did what wrong on a play, just ask below. I would be happy to analyze a play on a video, or if you can remember a specific set at a specific time. tl;dr It was a decent defensive game; however, the Knicks are arguable the worst team in the NBA, so definite conclusions about the team and individual D cannot be made. The Rockets could have been much more engaged.
Nice write up but analyzing Rocket defense against the Knicks is like a 3rd year engineering student who just finished taking differential equations taking an algebra 1 exam and analyzing how he did.
My apologies as well. I got my panties in a wad too quickly. If anything, it increases the sample size.
It's cool. But on topic, It seems like Harden's main weakness is still defensive rotations. He is easily an above average on ball defender, but he still ball watches and his guy ends up with either an easy cut to the basket or drifts to the three point line for a open three. He needs to fix that. It would be awesome if you did this again against an elite time. I like the breakdown.
Overall, I think he took breaks on D because it was a trash team, when comparing his effort in other games. However, because of last season, every game is lackadasical game is... uneasy... Based on my schedule, it might be kinda hard. I'll have to see. When Reggie Miller said "Smith is out there reaching", well duh, he is one pass away, he is not supposed to help! (not for all cases though) You should know that Reggie. Most of the trashing of Smith was offensive; however, compared to his previous games, this was a "down" game defensively. Smith will get held to a high standard, like all the other elite defenders on the team.
They kinda avoided Dwight. Smart move. I have to give credit to Dmo's effort on D. Being in that many rotation opportunities is something that a prime/playoff Dwight does. It's hard, but it illustrates the activity he had on that end of the court, especially considering the upgrade of perimeter defenders this season. Also, the overuse of switching lead to easier basket penetration.
What I'm wondering is if you can record whether the defense resulted in a made shot/missed shot or turnover because I think that's telling as to how effective the good OB/good R is versus the bad OB/R or even the meh. Good OB defense and rotations will cause the altering or prevention of the shot which will result in a lower shooting percentage by the opponent in most cases. The exception is the star player that can hit the well-defended shot with consistency. What do you think?
I have been thinking about this, yea. Maybe doing a points given up, turnovers forced, etc. But how exactly would I do that? Based on your post, are you saying I should break down every play or do a sum total? Also, what has to be taken into consideration is that on each shot, there is usually more than one player responsible for a good or bad defensive possession. How would you structure? I have yet to figure out a sustainable solution. I hear ya, but can you go into more depth/provide an example scenario?
Like the concept. Would like to see the data mined for just opponents with winning records though. That would tell more of a true story of what's going to happen to us come playoff time.
Great job and thanks for sharing. Were you basing your assessment knowing what the other team was trying to run or is it pure individual sequences?
I enjoy this sort of thing. To add a bit of depth, you should indicate more than just raw data on things like offensive rebounds allowed. Obviously our bigs would be giving up more defense boards than our guards and wings because they have more rebounding opportunities. Those figures should be weighted for relative rebounding opportunities. That is to say, Dwight Howard's two allowed offensive rebounds should be compared to his total rebound opportunities.
Don't we all? I did the Hawks earlier I think, and some good teams last year. The threads are referenced above. I think it is kinda weird, but it feels like Dwight's a monster no matter what competition, I'll tell you that. I am not sure exactly what the difference between the two are. For each individual sequence, I would have to know what set they are running? Do you think you could elaborate a bit on this please If I am understanding correctly, are you saying to include total rebound opportunities and missed opportunities? Many times, some people get bailed out by Dwight. That is interesting; didn't think about that. Is that what you were saying?
On an offensive possession, the playmaker calls out a play so that everybody takes their respective positions on the floor. For example, Harden calls a high pick and roll with Dmo to either go downhill for a drive, pass it back to a rolling Dmo or pass it to the open corners. This to me would be different than a broken play or one on one - a sequence. A possession that is not in the play book. As a team defending this play, the coach will instruct the players to be on specific positions to force Harden to use option D as oppose to being able to drive to the basket (option A). Is your analysis based on player X not being on the right position or just getting beat by a good offensive move?
Great work on this. Much appreciated! How does Sports VU tracking study the defense? Like what kind of stats do they use? Maybe you can combine it with your observations. Second option, is do the extensive study during a shorter stretch, like the last 6 min in a close game, or the quarter when the Rockets break the game open. Or starters vs bench ...
I see your point, it would be a huge undertaking to perform that kind of in-depth analysis, which takes time and watching a lot of games, especially if you DVR them and watch each play multiple times. Not sure you have that kind of time - I know I don't :grin: I was thinking that maybe when you record the instance of good vs bad OB defense or rotation, you can see if the play results in a score, missed shot or turnover by the opponent thereby adding anecdotal evidence to the effectiveness of the good vs bad defense. Sounds like an ambiguous answer, sorry, but I do appreciate what you're doing and kudos for putting this together.
If player X get beat by a good offensive move, he can still be playing good D. The NBA is full of "Good D, better O" all the time. Not being in the right position however... shame on you. If you are referring to the gameplan to make them use "option D" as you stated, then yes, I pick up on those things as quickly as I can. Some of them can be immediate, like letting Quincy Acy shoot from the outside. Others are less obvious, like giving Pablo and Jose a nearly line to the basket on PnR. The utilized Dwight's athletic ability to scare him off. Seriously, the Rockets would never give that to Westbrook or others. In your example above, most teams are screwed :grin: The best option for the team is to give Harden the step back jumper. This is the assumption he doesn't completely pull it out. Here are the preference of options: 1) Harden layup 2) Roll-man layup 3) 3 pt 4) Harden to roll-man to 3 pt shooter 5) Harden step-back However, the thing is, there are so many moving parts that there isn't a "One size fits all" explanation. And there are more options, when diving into details, than 5. The thing with the rotations, is that they rarely change... kinda trueish, kinda not. For the Rocket, Dwight always ices the screen, and the PF always hedges and recovers. Brewer switches on all ball screens; Harden does as well. Bev forces baseline. Terry always gets beat Never help one pass away, the baseline defender helps against the roll-man, don't give up middle (force baseline), don't come down on shot contests, etc. But it always gets complicated. Basketball D is like a high-maintenance girlfriend. Did I answer your question?
