Knicks' defensive stats at midpoint of season

[towelie]

Kudos to http://hoopdata.com/teamdefstats.aspx -- possibly the best site for this. Easy to sort as well, and they give an explanation for each stat.

Positives

- Ranked #15 in opponent TS% and 3-pt%, right in the middle of the pack

- Ranked #1 in opponent's assist% -- this was the most surprising to me. Only 52% of opponent's field goals are assisted against us. Compare that to crappy defensive teams like GSW, NJN, CLE, MIN, etc. who are getting over 60% of their opponent's field goals assisted. If I had to guess, this has a lot to do with Mike D's strategy of rotating on every screen/pick. We'd rather cause the mismatch then give up a possible layup or breakdown in D. Not a bad strategy considering how many versatile 6'8 forwards we have.

- Ranked #2 in blocks, early season was no fluke

- Ranked #14 in opponent turnover rate, again, middle of the pack


Negatives

- Ranked #21 in Defensive efficiency, which is simply a measure of opponents' points / opponents' possessions

- Ranked #26 in defensive rebounding rate, only ahead of other awful frontlines like GSW, WAS, PHO, and surprisingly, UTAH.

- Ranked #29 in offensive rebounding differential -- not as useful as def rebounding rate, but we're essentially giving every opponent about 5-6 extra possessions more than us.


And that's it. What this tells me is we're actually a pretty decent defensive team, but it's getting masked by our complete inability to secure defensive rebounds and giving teams second chance opportunities. Which made me look at the Player Stats on hoopdata to see what players excel at defensive rebounding, and here are some notables that may be acquirable:

Marcus Camby (35.4 DRR)
Reggie Evans (34.9 DRR)
Joel Pryzbilla (27.7 DRR)
Troy Murphy (25.9 DRR)
Samuel Dalembert (25.3 DRR)
Anderson Varejao (25 DRR)
Chris Kaman (24.5 DRR)

as a point of comparison, Kevin Love is at 33.2, Dwight at 30.5, Blake Griffin at 28.1, Boozer at 27.9, and Noah at 23.2. This is for defensive rebounding rate only, which doesn't include the player's offensive boards, which would push the likes of Love or Griffin even higher. Sadly, we have to go to the THIRD page on hoopdata's list (sorted for DRR) to find the first Knick represented -- Landry Fields at 19.1 DRR. Amar'e right behind at 18.9.

[NYman15]

Great post

[towelie]

Misread the DefEff column backwards, we're not ranked 10, but ranked 21st.

[NoLayupRule]

great post

yes, what I see in the game is supported by these stats

Turnovers and lack of rebounding is giving our opponents a path to victory every night

great to see we limit the effectiveness of opposing assists. thats huge

[Jitpal]

Great post. Looking at that list of guys that you mention, the only guy there is Dalembert. Camby and Kaman cost too much. Varejao is out for the year. Evans is also hurt, although I don't know the specifics. Pryzbilla is coming back from injury and from what I've read he isn't nearly as effective as he was before. I can't imagine the Nets dealing Murphy to the Knicks. I do agree with the premise though, Knicks need a good defender/rebounder type. Preferably someone with extensive playoff experience. -Jitpal

[towelie]

Just cause this didn't take long, here's our ranking on the offensive side:

http://hoopdata.com/teamoffstats.aspx

#7 Offensive efficiency at 107.1
#6 in TS%
#23 in Assist%
#13 in turnover rate (13th lowest # of turnovers)
#17 in free throw rate (FTA / FGA)
#2 in 3-pts attempted, #10 in 3-pt%

[Deeeez Knicks]

Our defense has def improved since the start of the season. Our rotations and doubles are much better. We are closing out better. We step it up a notch in the 4th too. If we could secure some boards and defend the paint against bigs we'd be much better and maybe even above avg.

But yeah, the boards and second chance points kill us.

Camby would be great.

Its a total pipe dream but I would love Al Horford here. Even more so then Melo. Oh well....will never happen

[aggo]

so pretty much we're giving up too many offensive rebounds.. spotting teams an extra 5 possessions

[johnnywishbone]

Points allowed 27th.

I know it's pace, pace and more pace but it seems like we are the team that's getting worn out. Against the Suns we couldn't get any stops late in the game and we kept leaving Nash and Carter wide open behind the arc.

And allowing 91 points to the Wizards in 3 quarters is a wake up call if I've ever seen one. I believe they also shot 48% from the field.

We need to start a true center and Chandler is our best team defender so something has to give in the starting line up if we want to become a good defensive/rebounding team.

[tangotai]

Great thread. All the posters that call for Mike D's head should take note. There are some very positive things this team does on defense. Everyone and anyone who watches the games or even follows the box scores can tell we get killed on the glass..... so before we judge our coach on his lack of defense let's get a decent big to play C. And I don't buy the argument that coach won't play anyone.... an athletic big that fits the system will play... Mozgov is being groomed and he will get his shot... and trading for a vet C with an expiring is a good idea.

IMO,Dalembert is the most likely candidate if we don't trade for Melo. Curry can be turned in Dally straight up... giving Sacto financial relief... but more likely a larger trade with them before the deadline, possibly including Casspi or Jason Thompson.... wouldn't surprise me to see Walsh flip the pick from trading AR into a deal with Sacto for Dally +

Kamen is not an option because of his contract!

[WordTooBigBird]

a healthy Troy Murphy would be a nice pickup for the low

[4PointPlay]

Bugger me, we're first in a defensive category!

[dk7th]

it's no secret that few knicks actually box their man out. opponent's just need to be told to crash the offensive glass and the knicks are cooked.

imagine the results if d'antoni required that every player find a body to put their butt on. boxing out is that last effort a team makes on the defensive side of the ball, so when they don;t box out it is tantamount to saying they are not, in fact, a good defensive team. no masking necessary.

this is the knicks' fatal flaw and will kill them in the playoffs i guarantee it.

[Pedro Pistolas]

Get me Dalembert PLEASE! A true big that can rebound and block shots..

[MaseInYourFace]

Basically these stats confirm what I've been seeing with my own eyes. We have potential to be a much better defensive team.

[tangotai]

Basically these stats confirm what I've been seeing with my own eyes. We have potential to be a much better defensive team.

I agree with this. Compared to last year we have made great strides defensively and Walsh is looking for another big that fits. I really think he is architecting a team that will maximize Mike D's system.... now it remains to be seen if he suceeds, but it is far too early to condemn the coach.

[johnnywishbone]

LOL.

http://www.theknicksblog.com/2011/01/25 ... -midpoint/

Somebody is reading the blog.

As far as defense goes, I go by defensive rating, a cumulative metric that is compiled by basketball-reference.com.

Currently the Knicks are 23rd, which is a far cry from where they need to be, which is around 15th or better.

They have the Knicks 20th in their all around defensive category.
The Knicks are 15th in the very popular (and overused) opponents true shooting percentage.
Not surprisingly the Knicks are 26th in defensive rebounding rate
Because of Gallo’s charges and team blocks, the Knicks are in the top 5 of defensive plays made.

[cgmw]

Despite the stats, the "we need a shotblocker" myth lives on.

I've been saying all season, we don't need better defenders. We need better defensive REBOUNDERS. Troy Murphy or a healthy Mehmet Okur would be very interesting additions.

[JohnStarksTheDunk]

What this tells me is we're actually a pretty decent defensive team, but it's getting masked by our complete inability to secure defensive rebounds and giving teams second chance opportunities.

This is basically the take home point, and it's a good one. We are certainly not a great defensive team, but we are also not a horrible one. What's really killing us is rebounding.

[Capn'O]

Very nice post though I side with those that caution against making any moves now that really limit long term flexibility for the sake of this season. We're making the playoffs and likely out in round 1 no matter if we get the guys on your list or not so why push for them?

It's no secret that I think that Gasol or Nene are the two available players that would make the biggest impact on this team. Maybe there are a few short term options that we have overlooked?

I trust that Walsh is all over this, though in his usual slow, methodical (napping?) way... his quotes in the Berman article today about usually keeping 5 bigs made that crystal clear. I really hope that Mike D is on the same page once GOOD bigs are acquired. He seems to really like Moz as he was ready to start him at the beginning of the year so that would make a big difference.