The Spurs have been playing much better defense of late, but there are a couple of defensive stats that really stand out, and that don't get talked about often.
3-Point Defense:
A couple of weeks ago, the Spurs were 4th in the league in 3P shooting percentage. They were averaging around .391 from the arc. (I forget the exact number.) That looked like a good thing. But what wasn't a good thing was that their opponents overall, were shooting .392 from the 3P line.
Take a minute to let that soak in. The Spurs were 4th best shooting 3's, and 3rd place would have gone to our opponents, in aggregate. And all but 3 of those opponents were shooting 3's worse than us, when they were playing other teams.
We are still 5th worst in the league for the season in 3P defense - but that's not really important. What is important is that over the last 10 games, we have held our opponents to .248 from the 3P line. That is by far the best 3P defense in the league, during that same stretch. If we could keep holding opponents to that kind of 3P percentage, it would be tough for anyone to beat us in seven games.
Steals Per Game:
At the beginning of the season, the Spurs were getting more steals than I can ever remember. Their overall team defense wasn't good, so those steals really came in handy. But as the season has progressed, and the team D has improved, the number of steals per game has steadily decreased. And that's a good thing.
For the season, the Spurs are averaging 7.75 steals per game. But over the last 10 games, they are averaging just 6.3 steals. (And that includes a 13 steal performance against Washington.) That's a big decrease. But I don't think it is coincidence that they are also holding their opponents to just 93 points per game over those same 10 games, as opposed to around 96 PPG for the entire season.
Are they playing better team defense because they are gambling less on the defensive end? Or do they need to gamble less because they are playing better team defense? Either way, we are definitely seeing what we had hoped for back in November and December. The Spurs are starting to play MUCH better team D. Guys are staying home, and helping each other out. And the team is showing the ability to really shut down an opponent for important minutes of a game.
This version of the Spurs may not be the defensive juggernaut that they were in the Bruce Bowen days. But the improvement over the last month has been truly remarkable. And their trust and comfort level looks to be improving every game. If the improvement continues, this could go from being a very good team to being a great team by the time the playoffs start.
Is there a corresponding fast break points per game over that period? Seems to me that there were more fast breaks at the beginning of the season when there were more steals. Also, were the last 10 opponents just bad 3pt shooting teams (I know LA is)?
Not possible. The Heat lead the league at .328. There's zero chance that anyone lowers that by eight percent or even comes close. If they can hold opponents to .350 going forward, they'd be tenth overall.
I'm pretty sure you're right about the fast breaks. It feels that way, and it makes sense, because of fewer steals. If I have time later, I'll go check.
The point is that EVERYBODY was knocking down 3's against us. We had one of the best 3P percentages in the league, and our opponents were consistently doing better than that... against us. And even if we did play some teams that don't shoot the 3 well, they don't shoot anywhere near as bad as .248. That is a VERY impressive opponent 3P percentage, against any 10 teams in the league. The next closest is Chicago, who held their opponents to .301 in the last 10 games.
Last edited by GSH; 02-16-2011 at 09:49 PM.
booooooring! who cares what theye done in the last 3 games? Statistics are BULL and so are the people who live by them
That's because you're too focused on the taint!
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