Spurs Defense: FG% allowed #10 now vs #18 ten days ago!

[wijayas]

:toast

[HarlemHeat37]

typical February..keep it going..

[NRHector]

is that because bruce bowen is playing more minutes?

[NFGIII]

Good improvement! But we need to be in the top 5 IMO. I believe that in all our Championship runs we were in the top 5 if not the 1st or 2nd.

Basketball-reference.com has the following stats:
Our 4 rings plus current year

Defensive Rating (http://www.basketball-reference.com/about/glossary.html#def_rtg):

1999 - 95.0 (1st of 29)
2003 - 99.7 (3rd of 29)
2005 - 98.8 (1st of 30)
2007 - 99.9 (2nd of 30)
2008 - 103.9 (4th of 30)

Though not the same stat this one does show that we are on track to be a top 5 defensive team. The Spurs hang their hat on D so everything seems to be coming together.

[Spursmania]

We need to clamp down on D if we want another Championship. Let's not kid ourselves. We must be top 3 to have a really legitimate shot at stopping teams like LA. At least that's what I think. Stats usually tell the story.:wakeup

[Marcus Bryant]

Any stat that can move that much that quickly should be highly suspect.

For starters, during that 10 day stretch the Spurs played two of the worst three teams in the Eastern Conference.

[lefty]

We are the 2009 NBA Champions

[Marcus Bryant]

http://www.nba.com/statistics/sortable_team_statistics/sortable1.html#top

Looking at opponents' FG%, the Spurs currently rank 10th at 45.2%. The Celtics rank 1st at 42.6% and the Pacers rank 18th at 45.9%.

So for the Spurs to move the eight spots from 18th to 10th, they had merely to show an improvement of 0.7% (assuming they were at 45.9% and that was 18th best in the NBA 10 days ago).

However, for the Spurs to move the ten spots to the top, they'd have to improve their opponents' FG% by 2.6%.

As long as I can recall, the top opponents' FG% usually fell around 42% for a season. The Spurs aren't close to that this season, which makes plenty of sense as their defense is not what it once was.

Of course, if the Spurs were to turn in a further improvement of 0.5% in opponents' FG% (holding everything else constant), then they'd be ranked 5th in opponents' FG%.

But if they were to decline by the same amount, they'd be 16th in the NBA.

This season there are perhaps 2 or 3 elite defensive units in the NBA and a group of 10 above average defensive teams. The Spurs are in the middle of that second group.

[Spursmania]

Any stat that can move that much that quickly should be highly suspect.

For starters, during that 10 day stretch the Spurs played two of the worst three teams in the Eastern Conference.

Yes, but within the previous stats they also played a few sub-par teams which were accounted for. Pop hardly gives kudos to the team on D unless he sees improvement worthy enough to comment on. So, I tend to believe based upon the stats and Pop's comments on D that we are getting better. Shit, we better be if we want to be serious contenders to get past LA in the Western finals.:hat

[Agloco]

We need to clamp down on D if we want another Championship. Let's not kid ourselves. We must be top 3 to have a really legitimate shot at stopping teams like LA. At least that's what I think. Stats usually tell the story.:wakeup

Pretty accurate assessment. The other stat I'd keep a close watch on is point diff. This has been steadily improving as well.

[ehz33satx]

Any stat that can move that much that quickly should be highly suspect.

For starters, during that 10 day stretch the Spurs played two of the worst three teams in the Eastern Conference.

Same teams that everyone else in the league is playing against.

[Marcus Bryant]

Same teams that everyone else in the league is playing against.

During the last ten days?

[Spursmania]

During the last ten days?

That stat number is an ever evolving statistic until the season is over. It's impossible for the other teams to have played the same teams we played within the last ten days. But the stats are accurate in that they are reflective of the current assessment of the teams performance and will continue to change whether we play sub par teams or excellent teams. Teams use these numbers to analyze whether or not their improving regardless of who they play. At the end of the day, they would have played as many shitty teams as they would have played as many good teams.

I for one believe the Spurs defense is improving based on my earlier comments.:hat

[Marcus Bryant]

So they improved relative to the league by playing some crappy opponents and taking advantage of the fact that not a lot separated #18 from #8 or so.

[Spursmania]

So they improved relative to the league by playing some crappy opponents and taking advantage of the fact that not a lot separated #18 from #8 or so.

I know nothing to jump over hurdles over right now. But I'm damn glad their D is improving. I hope it only gets better!
:toast

[Marcus Bryant]

Blazers currently shooting 62.5% with 5:44 left in the 2nd.

[Spursmania]

Blazers currently shooting 62.5% with 5:44 left in the 2nd.

I know man-the Spurs D looks like shit-wait a minute what D right now???:depressed

[Marcus Bryant]

Maybe they'll hit 28th after tonight...

[Spursmania]

Man-this is an embarassing and old-fashioned ass whooping... Wow. I'm going to the blog...

[Marcus Bryant]

Definitely not a top ten defense in this league.

[Spursmania]

Definitely not a top ten defense in this league.


Not tonight, but I'm not going to go that far since we just beat this team a few days ago without our big 2. It's just one of those shitty nights. And, I better be right or we're going nowhere real quick!:hat