Rockets Defense

[Mr. E]

According to Matt Bullard the Houston Rockets are now eighth in the NBA in defensive rating. He also says that they are first in games that Chris Paul has played.

I am not sure what he is going by, but just looking at the Rockets playing I can see it. I know that this will not fit with the narrative that many want to hold for Houston, but all of those off-season additions are really starting to look like they’re paying off

[RaoulDuke79]

Had to expect some improvement defensively just by the additions they made in Tucker/Luc, and obviously going from Beverly to Paul is in no way a downgrade.

Let's hope they can stay healthy and continue that trend, because they damn sure have the offensive firepower to play with anyone.

[BallerTalk]

I am not sure what he is going by...

http://stats.nba.com/teams/advanced/?sort=DEF_RATING&dir=-1

[RaoulDuke79]

Held a good Pacers team to under 100 points.

Golf clap.

[Mr. E]

I am not sure what he is going by...

http://stats.nba.com/teams/advanced/?sort=DEF_RATING&dir=-1

Awesome! Thank you.

[BallerTalk]

I am not sure what he is going by...

http://stats.nba.com/teams/advanced/?sort=DEF_RATING&dir=-1

Awesome! Thank you.

Yep, the Rockets are quietly a very good defensive team.
But don't tell anyone, it makes it really easy to ones who don't actually watch.

[K_chile22]

This site is way better for Net, Def, and off ratings: https://www.cleaningtheglass.com/stats/league/fourfactors?season=2017
Uses actual possession counts instead of estimates like nba.com and basketball reference, and cuts out garbage time (which helps the Rockets a ton because their garbage time units suck)

They are actually 6th in defensive rating. Really impressive.

[King Roosk]

Can someone please enlighten me with respect to how defensive rating is calculated?


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[K_chile22]

Can someone please enlighten me with respect to how defensive rating is calculated?


Sent from my iPhone using RealGM Forums

In it's most basic explanation, how many points do your opponents score on an average possession.
It's just point per game but adjusted for pace, as some teams have a ton of possessions a game because they play fast (Nets) and some play slow (Spurs). So most times the team that plays fast will have a higher ppg because they get more chances, but the slower team might actually be better on offense because they score on more of their possessions. Reverse for defense. When they play each other they will have the same number of possessions, so it will show who actually has the better offense

So it is basically

(Points given up)/(possessions played)

Whereas offensive rating is

(Points scored)/(possessions played)

Net rating being the differential of the two

The amount of possessions played is usually just an estimate though (determined differently from site to site) unless you use the new site I linked to, where they actually count the number of possessions using play by play data.

[K_chile22]

With the Jazz falling after getting lit up by Austin Rivers, the Rockets are fifth and less of a tenth of a point per 100 behind GSW for fourth
https://www.cleaningtheglass.com/stats/league/fourfactors

[TMU]

With the Jazz falling after getting lit up by Austin Rivers, the Rockets are fifth and less of a tenth of a point per 100 behind GSW for fourth
https://www.cleaningtheglass.com/stats/league/fourfactors

Nice.

Haven't followed the Trail Blazers, but based on that page, it looks like they've made significant improvement on the defensive end. Pretty impressive jump from the 25th to the 2nd this season, and especially when both McCollum and Lillard have been heavily criticized for their poor defensive efforts.

[K_chile22]

With the Jazz falling after getting lit up by Austin Rivers, the Rockets are fifth and less of a tenth of a point per 100 behind GSW for fourth
https://www.cleaningtheglass.com/stats/league/fourfactors

Nice.

Haven't followed the Trail Blazers, but based on that page, it looks like they've made significant improvement on the defensive end. Pretty impressive jump from the 25th to the 2nd this season, and especially when both McCollum and Lillard have been heavily criticized for their poor defensive efforts.

They've been very good so far, but I don't think it's very sustainable. They don't have the roster to keep this up imo. They don';t force turnovers and are average at keeping teams off the line. Teams just aren't shooting well against them, and with just a 20 game sample that can be luck, or it could be their defense. We'll find out a bit down the road

[moofs]

Can someone please enlighten me with respect to how defensive rating is calculated?


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In it's most basic explanation, how many points do your opponents score on an average possession.
It's just point per game but adjusted for pace, as some teams have a ton of possessions a game because they play fast (Nets) and some play slow (Spurs). So most times the team that plays fast will have a higher ppg because they get more chances, but the slower team might actually be better on offense because they score on more of their possessions. Reverse for defense. When they play each other they will have the same number of possessions, so it will show who actually has the better offense

So it is basically

(Points given up)/(possessions played)

Whereas offensive rating is

(Points scored)/(possessions played)

Net rating being the differential of the two

The amount of possessions played is usually just an estimate though (determined differently from site to site) unless you use the new site I linked to, where they actually count the number of possessions using play by play data.

So basically, scoring efficiency * pace?

[K_chile22]

Can someone please enlighten me with respect to how defensive rating is calculated?


Sent from my iPhone using RealGM Forums

In it's most basic explanation, how many points do your opponents score on an average possession.
It's just point per game but adjusted for pace, as some teams have a ton of possessions a game because they play fast (Nets) and some play slow (Spurs). So most times the team that plays fast will have a higher ppg because they get more chances, but the slower team might actually be better on offense because they score on more of their possessions. Reverse for defense. When they play each other they will have the same number of possessions, so it will show who actually has the better offense

So it is basically

(Points given up)/(possessions played)

Whereas offensive rating is

(Points scored)/(possessions played)

Net rating being the differential of the two

The amount of possessions played is usually just an estimate though (determined differently from site to site) unless you use the new site I linked to, where they actually count the number of possessions using play by play data.

So basically, scoring efficiency * pace?

Yup! Takes out all the noise of teams just running more and appearing to have bad defenses and good offenses