The Suns are 6-2 after 8 games and I think most Suns fans can agree that they haven’t really put together a complete game as of yet. That’s good news. If the Suns are 6-2 and still trying to find their rhythm, I’m very optimistic that we will be an elite team by season’s end. Our next 5 games will certainly be an early gauge of where we are at as a team; we play the Rockets, Kings, Pistons, Jazz and Lakers over the next week.
However, our stats on defense certainly show that we have made dramatic improvements. Here are a few highlights compared last year:
- 12th in the league allowing 98 points a game (compared to last year - 105 points per game allowed)
- 4th in the league in opponent’s offensive rebounds allowed per game at 9 (compared to last year – a league worst 13 a game)
- 4th in the league in opponent’s defensive rebounds allowed per game at 27 (compared to last year – 12th place at 30 a game)
- 16th in the league in opponent’s field goals attempted at 81 (compared to last year – a league worst 90 a game)
- We are holding teams to an average of 5 less field goals made per game this year at 36 (compared to last year at 41 per game – or, an average of 10 less points)
- We are +7 in free throws attempted, meaning we are becoming smarter on the defensive end (compared to last year at only +1)
- 2nd in the league in scoring (103 ppg)
- 1st in the league in field goal % (51.5)
- 5th in the league in 3 pt. % (40)
- 4th in the league in FT attempted (30)
- 10th in the league in FT % (78)
- 8th in the league in Assists (21)
Source: ESPN.com
2 Comments:
The points allowed statistic is misleading because you're not adjusting for pace.
Currently, we're 18th in defensive efficiency: http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/hollinger/teamstats?sort=defeff&seasonType=2&league=nba&action=login&appRedirect=http%3a%2f%2finsider.espn.go.com%2fnba%2fhollinger%2fteamstats%3fsort%3ddefeff%26seasonType%3d2%26league%3dnba
D'Antoni's teams hovered around 15-17 in his four years here, so there hasn't been a noticeable improvement.
Ravi -
Thank you for your comment and for reading.
You are going off of John Hollinger's stats - I am not. I am going off of raw statistics in comparison to last year's.
Pace of play is simply a bi-product of our new regime and increased focus on the defensive end.
You're also going off of defensive efficiency...according to Hollinger's ratings. I am looking at several areas the Suns, as a team, have shown marked improvement in - the stats speak for themselves.
I'm not a big fan of Hollinger if you can't tell. : )
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