Spurs vs Rockets Previews

[Indazone]

The winless Houston Rockets will head to San Antonio to battle with the 3-1 Spurs. Houston lost games at Los Angeles and Golden State then came home to lose to Denver and New Orleans. The Rockets rank third in the NBA in points per game (107.8) and fourth in rebounds per game (45.3), but are the worst defensive team in the entire league, giving up 114.5 points per game. Kevin Martin has been Houston’s top scorer, picking up nearly 24 points per game. The Rockets have had winning seasons their past five years, but their last place start has fans concerned in Houston.

We lose unless Adleman can get the Rockets to play some team defense and stop over rotating. Rockets are trying too hard on defense and leaving their man open. They should just play hard nosed man-man defense and stay with their man and switch on the pick and roll. Either that or try to play some zone.

[Hooks]

http://blog.mysanantonio.com/spursna...ainst-houston/

Rookie guard James Anderson missed this morning’s shoot-around practice and might not be back for the Spurs’ game tonight against winless Houston at the AT&T Center.
Anderson returned to his hometown of Junction City, Ark., to be with his fiancee during the birth of their daughter. With travel connections between Junction City and San Antonio iffy at best, Anderson might not return to the team by the 7:30 p.m. start.

This sucks, he's one our best defenders as well as our only back up SF on the roster. Congrats to James on the birth of his daughter though!

[Solid D]

Current early season statistical ranking for the Spurs:
Category Avg. (Ranking) (Bold = Top 10 Rank, Red Bold = Bottom 10)
PPG............105.25 (6)
Opp PPG......101.50 (17)
Pts Diff........+3.75 (11)
FG %...........0.478 (5)
Opp FG%......0.483 (27)
3 Pt %.........0.370 (12)
Opp 3 Pt %...0.409 (26)
FT %...........0.779 (10)
APG.............25.75 (2)
Opp APG.......21.50 (16)
Assist Diff.....+4.25 (5T)
RPG..............40.00 (24)
Opp RPG.......39.00 (6)
Reb Diff........+1.00 (11T)
BPG.............4.50 (19)
Opp BPG.......6.00 (23)
BPG Diff........-1.50 (26)
SPG.............9.75 (2T)
Opp SPG.......8.73 (23)
SPG Diff........+1.00 (12)

[toki9]

http://blog.mysanantonio.com/spursna...ainst-houston/



This sucks, he's one our best defenders as well as our only back up SF on the roster. Congrats to James on the birth of his daughter though!

Will he be able to concentrate on the game even if he's back in time?

[DPG21920]

It is disgusting that this team is not top 10 in RPG. There is no excuse for that when your starting lineup is Duncan/Blair/RJ/Manu who can all rebound average to well above average.

That is very, very disappointing.

[ajballer4]

Is Hill playing tonight?

[toki9]

It is disgusting that this team is not top 10 in RPG. There is no excuse for that when your starting lineup is Duncan/Blair/RJ/Manu who can all rebound average to well above average.

That is very, very disappointing.

Blair is getting 6.5 boards in 24 minutes (vs. 6.4 boards in 18 minutes last year), while RJ is getting 3.3 boards in 30 minutes (vs. 4.4 in 31 minutes last year).

So if Blair and RJ can maintain the same rate as last year (additional 3 boards), the team would jump to 10th in rebounding.

[jiggy_55]

Is Hill playing tonight?

He should be playing, they announced he's probable.
The one who probably isn't playing is Anderson, who left to be with his fiancee who is giving birth to his baby girl. It seems he might miss not be able to make it back in time.

[DPG21920]

Blair is getting 6.5 boards in 24 minutes (vs. 6.4 boards in 18 minutes last year), while RJ is getting 3.3 boards in 30 minutes (vs. 4.4 in 31 minutes last year).

So if Blair and RJ can maintain the same rate as last year (additional 3 boards), the team would jump to 10th in rebounding.

That is my point. The fact the team has gone backwards in rebounding is upsetting. There is absolutely no reason for it.

[GSH]

Stats can be funny things - they don't always mean what they seem like. The Spurs RPG is low. Some of that may be due to not hitting the boards, or Blair being under-sized, etc. But when you let your opponent shoot over 48% from the field, there are fewer rebounds to grab.

Q: Which team currently has the most RPG in the NBA?
A: Orlando, with 49.75 RPG.

Sure, some of that is because Dwight Howard is a beast on the boards. But it's no coincidence that Orlando's opponents are shooting just .385 - the lowest in the league. When your opponents miss more shots, you get an opportunity to pull down more rebounds.

The Spurs are always near the bottom for pulling down offensive rebounds. Pop believes in getting everyone back on defense, and making the other teams shoot a lower percentage. So when you have a deficit on the offensive glass, plus you let your opponents shoot a high percentage, you are going to have low RPG numbers. The only reason it's not worse is that the first four games have been played at a quicker pace than normal. More possessions also equals more opportunities for rebounds. If this season continues the way it has started, it's going to be tough to compare stats to previous years.

Bottom line - if you want to get a rebound, the first thing you have to do is make your opponent miss a shot.

[toki9]

That is my point. The fact the team has gone backwards in rebounding is upsetting. There is absolutely no reason for it.

Right. I was just providing numbers to illustrate it.

[99-03-05-07]

Is Hill playing tonight?

hill should play and anderson will more than likely miss tonights game

[toki9]

Stats can be funny things - they don't always mean what they seem like. The Spurs RPG is low. Some of that may be due to not hitting the boards, or Blair being under-sized, etc. But when you let your opponent shoot over 48% from the field, there are fewer rebounds to grab.

Q: Which team currently has the most RPG in the NBA?
A: Orlando, with 49.75 RPG.

Sure, some of that is because Dwight Howard is a beast on the boards. But it's no coincidence that Orlando's opponents are shooting just .385 - the lowest in the league. When your opponents miss more shots, you get an opportunity to pull down more rebounds.

The Spurs are always near the bottom for pulling down offensive rebounds. Pop believes in getting everyone back on defense, and making the other teams shoot a lower percentage. So when you have a deficit on the offensive glass, plus you let your opponents shoot a high percentage, you are going to have low RPG numbers. The only reason it's not worse is that the first four games have been played at a quicker pace than normal. More possessions also equals more opportunities for rebounds. If this season continues the way it has started, it's going to be tough to compare stats to previous years.

Bottom line - if you want to get a rebound, the first thing you have to do is make your opponent miss a shot.

Last year Spurs' opponents missed 44.7 shots per game, while Spurs missed 42.8 shots per game. So there were 87.5 boarding opportunities.

This year, opponents have missed 44 shots per game, while Spurs missed 42.3 shots per game. So there were 86.3 boarding opportunities, difference of 1.2 boarding opportunities.

In the meantime, Spurs rebounding rate went from 42.8 last year to 40 this year, changes of 2.8 boards--which is about the 3 boards that Blair and RJ could be picking up if they maintained last year's pace.

You're right about the available board argument--but I think that's a relatively small part. It's most likely the main problem is that Blair isn't boarding as productively relative to his increased playing time--which seems to be the case from just watching (without looking at the actual stats) as well.

[Solid D]

Stats can be funny things - they don't always mean what they seem like. The Spurs RPG is low. Some of that may be due to not hitting the boards, or Blair being under-sized, etc. But when you let your opponent shoot over 48% from the field, there are fewer rebounds to grab.

Q: Which team currently has the most RPG in the NBA?
A: Orlando, with 49.75 RPG.

Sure, some of that is because Dwight Howard is a beast on the boards. But it's no coincidence that Orlando's opponents are shooting just .385 - the lowest in the league. When your opponents miss more shots, you get an opportunity to pull down more rebounds.

The Spurs are always near the bottom for pulling down offensive rebounds. Pop believes in getting everyone back on defense, and making the other teams shoot a lower percentage. So when you have a deficit on the offensive glass, plus you let your opponents shoot a high percentage, you are going to have low RPG numbers. The only reason it's not worse is that the first four games have been played at a quicker pace than normal. More possessions also equals more opportunities for rebounds. If this season continues the way it has started, it's going to be tough to compare stats to previous years.

Bottom line - if you want to get a rebound, the first thing you have to do is make your opponent miss a shot.

The Spurs are 11th (tied with Dallas) in Rebounding Pct. @ .506.

[NASpurs]

Current early season statistical ranking for the Spurs:
Category Avg. (Ranking) (Bold = Top 10 Rank, Red Bold = Bottom 10)
PPG............105.25 (6)
Opp PPG......101.50 (17)
Pts Diff........+3.75 (11)
FG %...........0.478 (5)
Opp FG%......0.483 (27)
3 Pt %.........0.370 (12)
Opp 3 Pt %...0.409 (26)
FT %...........0.779 (10)
APG.............25.75 (2)
Opp APG.......21.50 (16)
Assist Diff.....+4.25 (5T)
RPG..............40.00 (24)
Opp RPG.......39.00 (6)
Reb Diff........+1.00 (11T)
BPG.............4.50 (19)
Opp BPG.......6.00 (23)
BPG Diff........-1.50 (26)
SPG.............9.75 (2T)
Opp SPG.......8.73 (23)
SPG Diff........+1.00 (12)

You forgot the one stat that has been killing the Spurs, turnovers.

[Solid D]

You forgot the one stat that has been killing the Spurs, turnovers.

Here you go:
Category Avg. (Ranking) (Bold = Top 10 Rank, Red Bold = Bottom 10)
TO............17.25 (26)
Opp TO......17.25 (7)
TO Diff.........-0.00 (15)
Fouls...........20.75 (9)
Opp Fouls.........21.75 (11)
Fouls Diff.........-1.00 (9)

[DPG21920]

If the Spurs improved their rebounding, it would go a long way to improving their chances. They do a lot of things well, but the rebounding needs to pick up. Same with the turnovers. Good news is, that both of the things can realistically be improved upon without any changes to personnel.

[FuzzyLumpkins]

It is disgusting that this team is not top 10 in RPG. There is no excuse for that when your starting lineup is Duncan/Blair/RJ/Manu who can all rebound average to well above average.

That is very, very disappointing.

As high a percentage teams are hitting against us there are not going to be as many DRB opps I would think. We are still outrebounding our opponents.

[GSH]

The Spurs are 11th (tied with Dallas) in Rebounding Pct. @ .506.

I didn't want to go look it up, but that's about what I would have guessed. That probably says more than just looking at raw RPG. They could do better than 11th for R%, but that still shows that some of the drop in RPG is due to fewer opportunities.

I just had a look at teamranking.com - the Spurs defensive R% is 76.2%. That's 6th in the league. Maybe they could do better, but it's not too shabby. For last year (the complete season) their defensive R% was 76.0.

The Spurs offensive R% is 24.4%, compared to last year where they got 26.5%. They are ranked 21 in offensive R%. That's not good enough, and they need some improvement. BUT... what a lot of Spurs fans don't want to accept is that the Spurs are always near the bottom in offensive rebounds. That's because Pop's philosophy has always been to get everybody back down the court on defense, rather than focusing on the offensive glass.

That makes a lot of sense, when you are holding your opponents to a low shooting percentage defensively. It's a bad combination to give up the offensive glass, AND to give up a higer shooting percentage. Maybe the problem is somewhere in the middle. They may be fighting for a few more offensive boards (Blair), and not getting them. And that would also keep them from getting set on defense as well as they have in the past, which gives the opponents a higher shooting %.

Either way, they appear to be about as efficient on the defensive boards as they were last year. It's the offensive end they are falling down on. That, and letting opponents shoot 48%.

[Solid D]

You forgot the one stat that has been killing the Spurs, turnovers.

It hasn't exactly killed them, they committed 14 against the Pacers and 13 against the Hornets. In the Spurs loss, they fell into the Hornets' trap of shooting tons of 3s and they missed 20 of the 26 they took. The Spurs stat that killed them was their Opp. FG% and pitiful 3rd quarter performance. Against the Hornets, for the game, the Spurs allowed 50% from the field including a pile of mid-range jumpers plus 63.6% from the arc.

[toki9]

I didn't want to go look it up, but that's about what I would have guessed. That probably says more than just looking at raw RPG. They could do better than 11th for R%, but that still shows that some of the drop in RPG is due to fewer opportunities.

I just had a look at teamranking.com - the Spurs defensive R% is 76.2%. That's 6th in the league. Maybe they could do better, but it's not too shabby. For last year (the complete season) their defensive R% was 76.0.

The Spurs offensive R% is 24.4%, compared to last year where they got 26.5%. They are ranked 21 in offensive R%. That's not good enough, and they need some improvement. BUT... what a lot of Spurs fans don't want to accept is that the Spurs are always near the bottom in offensive rebounds. That's because Pop's philosophy has always been to get everybody back down the court on defense, rather than focusing on the offensive glass.

That makes a lot of sense, when you are holding your opponents to a low shooting percentage defensively. It's a bad combination to give up the offensive glass, AND to give up a higer shooting percentage. Maybe the problem is somewhere in the middle. They may be fighting for a few more offensive boards (Blair), and not getting them. And that would also keep them from getting set on defense as well as they have in the past, which gives the opponents a higher shooting %.

Either way, they appear to be about as efficient on the defensive boards as they were last year. It's the offensive end they are falling down on. That, and letting opponents shoot 48%.

I think it's primarily that Blair's rebounding (and especially on the offensive end--it's weird that his offensive board average has actually gone down to 2 from 2.4 last year) productivity hasn't kept up with his increased minutes.

[DaDakota]

Right now the Rockets are struggling with whom they are as a team. No iden y.

I expect a close game through the 3rd quarter and for you guys to pull away for a 10pt win in the 4th.

Sigh.

DD

[chaco]

Good preview..
Manu @ facebook
"...Qué bien la pasamos anoche! Luifa vino a jugar con los Rockets y Fabri a saludar antes de volver a ARG, así que hubo reencuentro. Muchas historias. Qué lástima no se da más seguido! ~ Fun dinner last night! Scola came w the Rockets & Fab to say hi be4 heading to ARG. I wish it could happen more often."

[TD 21]

The rebounding definitely needs to improve. But the rebounding stat that is most important is rebound differential; not rebounds per game.

Off the top of my head, I think the Spurs were either 3rd or 4th in rebound differential last season. This season, they're 13th. I suspect they'll be up a lot closer to last years ranking in short order.

[silverblk mystix]

Good preview..
Manu @ facebook
"...Qué bien la pasamos anoche! Luifa vino a jugar con los Rockets y Fabri a saludar antes de volver a ARG, así que hubo reencuentro. Muchas historias. Qué lástima no se da más seguido! ~ Fun dinner last night! Scola came w the Rockets & Fab to say hi be4 heading to ARG. I wish it could happen more often."

That's pretty awesome.

Ten to 15 years ago-this would have been unheard of...the fact that, today, there are some major-major NBA players that are rooted in latin/hispanic ancestry.

We are pretty lucky to be spurs fans-which was/is the first franchise to prominently feature international players.

If I am correct, the spurs organization spearheaded this international/global NBA movement.

This photo is pretty special..I don't think there will be another era quite like this one for south american talent - all at the same time.