Interesting statistics thread

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

I mentioned this in the other thread, but my eyes were telling me that teams seemingly scorch us on long 2's time and again. But these are the exact shots we want them to be taking and many of them are well contested or off the dribble. Here are the up to date NBA.com stats:

Opponent shooting from 20-24 feet: 47.2%, worst in the league (meaning highest %).
Opponent shooting from 15-19 feet: 52.7%, also worst in the league

Neither of these numbers are sustainable by opponents. The league worst opponent shooting % from 20-24 feet in the last few years is around 40%. The league worst from 15-19 feet hovers around 43%.

In other words, opponents WILL cool off, even if we remain league worst defending from these ranges. So yes, if you've experienced what I have experienced these last few games ("WTF! These guys make every 2-point jumper they take!), your eyes are not deceiving you.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

Here is the more depressing stat that no one will be surprised by:

Opponent Shooting from 0-5 feet: 66.4%, league worst.

So the Wolves are league worst in opponent shooting % from three of the six ranges the NBA tracks! I can explain away the first two I mentioned above as mostly hot shooting by the other team and unsustainable over the long season. Our porous defense at the rim is less excusable and a lot of it has to do with KAT as well as our poor spacing on offense (when we miss shots, we tend to not get enough guys back in transition D, which often leads to easy dunks and layups at the rim).

We are very lucky to have won these close games given the league worst defense we continue to display. Yes, some of it is bad luck, but a lot of it is the same combination of laziness and poor positioning we've seen in the past.

[AbeVigodaLive]

Wolves ranked #30 in defense.

#4 in offense.

Just like we all thought when Thibodeau was hired.

[Coolbreeze44]

Wolves ranked #30 in defense.

#4 in offense.

Just like we all thought when Thibodeau was hired.

Haha - Is he Paul Westhead in disguise?

[Lipoli390]

Here is the more depressing stat that no one will be surprised by:

Opponent Shooting from 0-5 feet: 66.4%, league worst.

So the Wolves are league worst in opponent shooting % from three of the six ranges the NBA tracks! I can explain away the first two I mentioned above as mostly hot shooting by the other team and unsustainable over the long season. Our porous defense at the rim is less excusable and a lot of it has to do with KAT as well as our poor spacing on offense (when we miss shots, we tend to not get enough guys back in transition D, which often leads to easy dunks and layups at the rim).

We are very lucky to have won these close games given the league worst defense we continue to display. Yes, some of it is bad luck, but a lot of it is the same combination of laziness and poor positioning we've seen in the past.

Jim Peterson attributes a lot of our poor rim defense to bad perimeter defense that allows opponents to penetrate far to easily. I agree. It's really hard to defend today's NBA athletes at the rim without fouling when their coming at you largely unimpeded. The poor spacing on offense is an interesting factor in our poor defense. Then of course, there's the poor paint defense by our bigs. KAT continues to make glaring mistakes defensively and doesn't react with the quickness and instinct necessary to defend well. But we can't let Gibson or Gorgui off the hook either. Our PFs have to bear a significant portion of the blame for having the worst rim defense in the League. So it's a combination of things. It's up to the players and coaching staff to fix it.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

Lip, I'm assuming that the opponent FG% at the rim includes transition buckets. It would be interesting to see how we ranked at the rim in half court defensive situations, i.e. when we're fully "set", versus the rest of the league. I don't think it would be very good either, but I have to believe all those break away layups due to us getting overzealous on the offensive glass and not having proper spacing has a big impact on this number. That is something that should be fixable, but it might mean giving up some offensive rebound opportunities.

I saw one play last night where KAT was at the very top of the 3-point arc when a shot went up and he bolted toward the basket. The original shot ended up going in, but if it was a miss and long rebound, there would have been literally no one back on defense!

[TheFuture]

Here is the more depressing stat that no one will be surprised by:

Opponent Shooting from 0-5 feet: 66.4%, league worst.

So the Wolves are league worst in opponent shooting % from three of the six ranges the NBA tracks! I can explain away the first two I mentioned above as mostly hot shooting by the other team and unsustainable over the long season. Our porous defense at the rim is less excusable and a lot of it has to do with KAT as well as our poor spacing on offense (when we miss shots, we tend to not get enough guys back in transition D, which often leads to easy dunks and layups at the rim).

We are very lucky to have won these close games given the league worst defense we continue to display. Yes, some of it is bad luck, but a lot of it is the same combination of laziness and poor positioning we've seen in the past.

This is exactly what I've highlighted for a few games now. Our team is getting destroyed at the rim, drives or 2nd chances... Even if we throw out the fastbreak buckets, we are still being dominated in the halfcourt here. Is this placed on perimeter defenders not impeding any drives to the hoop, or our big's lacking the ability to meet them at the rim/not showing early enough to redirect the ball?? Too many times have I seen KAT stuck directly under the hoop (reaffirming my comment about him the angel and the rim his halo). That is unsustainable. The 2's you highlight may tail off, but if we close out hard on threes and allow the easier shot at the rim, then we are not actually better off defensively.

[Monster]

Here is the more depressing stat that no one will be surprised by:

Opponent Shooting from 0-5 feet: 66.4%, league worst.

So the Wolves are league worst in opponent shooting % from three of the six ranges the NBA tracks! I can explain away the first two I mentioned above as mostly hot shooting by the other team and unsustainable over the long season. Our porous defense at the rim is less excusable and a lot of it has to do with KAT as well as our poor spacing on offense (when we miss shots, we tend to not get enough guys back in transition D, which often leads to easy dunks and layups at the rim).

We are very lucky to have won these close games given the league worst defense we continue to display. Yes, some of it is bad luck, but a lot of it is the same combination of laziness and poor positioning we've seen in the past.

This is exactly what I've highlighted for a few games now. Our team is getting destroyed at the rim, drives or 2nd chances... Even if we throw out the fastbreak buckets, we are still being dominated in the halfcourt here. Is this placed on perimeter defenders not impeding any drives to the hoop, or our big's lacking the ability to meet them at the rim/not showing early enough to redirect the ball?? Too many times have I seen KAT stuck directly under the hoop (reaffirming my comment about him the angel and the rim his halo). That is unsustainable. The 2's you highlight may tail off, but if we close out hard on threes and allow the easier shot at the rim, then we are not actually better off defensively.

I'm no genius when it comes to defense but it's a team concept. Somwwhere I read/heard Brian Scalabrine say that Thibs defenses are generally based on the big calling out what to do what read to make on the play. If those bigs don't talk or make the right calls it's bad news. Of course it's also bad news of the team doesn't follow the calls they make. There is generally no physical reason this team can't be at least an average defensive team. Tyus and Teague are not that undersized (both have good wingspans) and really the Wolves come at you with plenty of length espcially when it comes to bigs. They don't have a big under 6'9". Their combo guard in Crawford is pretty lengthy. It's understanding what you need to do and be disciplined combined with some effort. Hopefully by game 20 we will have seen some signs they are coming together on that end. Just being in the teens defensively this year with the way this team is going to be able to score will be enough to make them a pretty good team. I'm hopeful and yet skeptical at the same time. I want to see it happen before I buy in on that end. Heck Butler has looked bad some defensive possessions but my guess is that's partly a team concept problem. Sometimes you do just get beat though.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

Latest Net Ratings for the Wolves, from best to worst of our top 10 rotation players:

Taj Gibson -.3
Belly -1.3
Butler -1.8
KAT -2.0
Teague -2.8
Wig -3.5
Jones -6.4
Crawford -8.1
Dieng -9.1
Muhammad -15.4

Every single rotation player is in the negative! The reason is that all of our wins have been close and our losses have not been very close.

Now we can see why it's tough to play Belly enough minutes....Gibson has been doing some solid work. Why not try them together more, with Gibson at the 5 and Bjelly at the 4?

No shock to see Muhammad bringing up the bottom. He ranks pretty poorly in this stat every year. After 4 prior seasons of being a net negative while on the floor, you kinda know what you've got....

[AbeVigodaLive]

Muhammad is only good for those 2 or 3 games per seasons when the starters lack energy and he gets hot off the bench to keep the team in a game looking lost.

Basically a poor man's Michael Beasley. He's not even good for that threat right now. Crawford is the first option for that kind of game.