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did they just miss some shots?
Here's how the Spurs fared in regards to defensive FG%
vs. MEM 37.0%
vs. DAL 44.0%
vs. MIN 43.9%
vs. ATL 43.8%
vs. NO 50.0%
vs. HOU 55.7%
vs. SAC 43.4%
vs. ORL 33.3%
vs. MIA 58.2%
vs. PHX 41.8%
The Spurs have average an opp. defensive FG% of 45% (corrected)
They have also only allowed 93.3 points per game in their last 10 games, and rank 13th overall in that department on the season.
Pretty impressive, when you factor in that they allowed Houston and Miami to shoot 56+ percent from the floor.
I know the Spurs offense has been hit or miss the past few weeks, but if they can continue this defensive pace, they should be in good hands moving forward.
So what do you guys think, better rotations? Pop playing better defensive lineups, or simply the bench is stepping up more?
Spurs still allowing 46% shooting from their opponents on the season (23rd in the league only), but hopefully that number will improve as the season wears on.
16 of the next 21 are on the road, let's see what happens with the D
Last edited by Amuseddaysleeper; 01-31-2012 at 12:22 PM.
did they just miss some shots?
Unfortunately, that's not true
Last ten games, the Spurs have an opp. defensive FG% of 45.0%. Still pretty damn bad.
If you take out the Miami and and Houston games it looks a lot better. Either way, nice to see low percentages for a lot of those teams. It's probably a combo of Leonard being a good man defender and a beast on the glass and Splitter getting more minutes and holding down the paint.
Oh, what the , I only added up 9 of the numbers instead of all 10.Unfortunately, that's not true
Last ten games, the Spurs have an opp. defensive FG% of 45.0%. Still pretty damn bad.
Thanks for the heads up!
The thing that's been really ugly about the Spurs' defense is that scoring is down league-wide, due to the lockout-shortened offseason. Offenses that weren't clicking every other night looked good against the Spurs defense.
Even though they have improved, if you look at those same last 10 games, six of the Spurs' opponents shot a season average (or better) FG%. One of the teams (Orlando) was on their third night of a B2B2B, and another (Phoenix) is among the really bad teams in the league.
That leaves two games, Atlanta and Memphis (last night), where the Spurs defense has excelled. The rest of those games, the defense was better, but still just pretty average. Don't get me wrong - I'll take average over what they were doing at the beginning of the season. But it will be interesting to see if the improvement in the Spurs' defense will outpace the improvement in the offenses league-wide. Especially against the better teams.
GSH bringing the goods
You guys are never happy the point is it's getting better. If we can get a little more Splitter and a little less Bonner I believe we'll see a nice improvement
Pop's teams always solidify for the rodeo trip. The group remains together and there are no distractions during that time. Particularly the defense improves.
Since most of the coming games are on the road, it will be critical to play well under that conditions. Otherwise, the team is lottery destined. Even if Manu returns later.
Note that this defensive "improvement" has come after Duncan's game of rest as well.
Because of the lockout and the compressed schedule, teams sucks offensively this year.
League average points scored by 100 possessions:
04-05: 106.1
05-06: 106.2
06-07: 106.5
07-08: 107.5
08-09: 108.3
09-10: 107.6
10-11: 107.3
11-12: 102.5
When looking at this year defensive/offensive numbers, you should really take that in considerations. A defensive number might be good compared to the past but is in fact bad given the state of the NBA this season.
Which makes it all the more amazing that this team hasn't improved in the slightest defensively. They actually haven't really gotten worse, they've just stagnated, while others have either legitimately improved or improved by default because of the condensed schedule and the fact that offensive efficiency is way down across the league.
The most alarming thing about the defense is the fact that the only other good team in the bottom third in efficiency is the Clippers. They at least have the excuse of incorporating a lot of significant new players, coupled with little practice time.
I wouldn't get your hopes up when you see a good stretch. They've had a bunch over the last couple of seasons, only to revert to previous form. The reality is, over the course of a long season, every team is going to have good stretches, even in areas they're not good in. It's inevitable.
This team flat out doesn't have the capacity to be a good defensive team though, unless they bring in a power forward who can play above average defense against mobile power forwards and unless they tweak their rotation accordingly. In other words, sign Martin, play Splitter more and Bonner less and drop Blair and Neal (or Jefferson, but we know that's not going to happen) from the rotation once Ginobili returns. That plus the inevitable increase in minutes for Duncan come playoff time would likely have them defending at a top ten level again.
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