So last year we finished with the 7th best defensive efficiency allowing 105.6 points per 100 possessions. That was pretty good. This year we are allowing 114.7 points per 100 possessions, which is 25th in the league. What a regression! Ok, but why, let's dig a bit. When MELO is on the bench we give up 105.3 points per possession, almost identical to last year. But when MELO is on the floor we give up 116.1 points per possession - WTF, that is historically poor. Not saying it is all Melo....wait, HELL YES I AM that lazy turd is killing this team. Link to article about it. DD
It’s embarrassing watching him trying to switch on guys followed by him getting slaughtered off the dribble
Ouch. Get us a defensive coach who knows what he's doing. I'm still shocked that Jeff B. retired. It's not entirely on the players, in my opinion. Our defense is like the headless chicken racing around the yard until the damn thing realizes it's dead.
I saw that Melo stat earlier and was stunned that it was that significant. I've tried not to Melo bash because so many Rockets are playing like crap but damn. Then again most of knew he would struggle defensively, so it shouldn't shock anyone.
I'm actually surprised we're not 30th, in terms of my (admittedly poorly-trained) eye test it's looking gross. U G L Y. I think it's more than just Melo though. I feel like if he was in Ryno's place last season, it wouldn't be as noticeable, but this year there's a perfect storm of new personnel, defensive stalwarts (and the defensive coach) leaving, weird rule changes, and of course, the failings of individual players (e.g. Melo but not only him) Maybe changing up the "switch everything" defense will bring about good results. I certainly hope so, because I don't like watching people score on my favorite team like Yi Jianlian was scoring on those poor chairs back in his pre-draft workouts. Edit: and I also think and hope that the defense might start looking better once the shots start falling more efficiently. It's hard to set up a defense when the other team doesn't have to inbound the ball, especially without our favorite defensive coordinator.
My vision might be getting bad brother But was that Montrez Harrell or Hakeem Olajuwon who went wild on us ?
Corre Maggete was commentating on the Clippers side he said it looked like Dream and Mj because no one could come close to guarding him
It’s hard to compare last year stats to this year given the new rule changes that minimize defensive efforts. These new rule changes have ruined the game to me. It is quite unwatchable!
How DARE you compare a current NBA player to The Dream! Blasphemy! Only true Rockets fans remember how great The Dream was and know to NEVER make such a statement! ...Am I doing it right?
Last year to start the season we had two good defenders in Ariza and mbah a moute who were playing well, harden was playing with a lot of effort and Ryan was playing instead of Melo I told people in the off-season that the Ryan hate was ridiculous. Until he got hurt last year he was playing well for us. Remember all the articles about how he was holding up so well in isolation defense? He and harden both were holding their own against guys trying to iso them. Everyone on the team understood the switching defense. You’ve replaced that.
On a podcast, Zach Lowe and Chris Herring brought up a stat that was something like: for shots at the rim, when Melo is the closest defender, opponents are shooting 94% This was only after 3 games and they brought it up more because they thought the %age was comically high than to condem Melo, but... yeah, Melo is bad on D.
Ryan Anderson is a bad NBA player my friend. The Rox stars haven't been impactful and the team isn't focused at all. These guys were expecting the rest of the league to kiss their collective butt. Instead their getting their asses kicked and they all need to wake up.
