Rondo's incredible defensive turnaround

[bobbyv]

It's amazing to see just how much Rondo's defense has had an overall impact on the team defense of the Dallas Mavericks.

Here's some eye popping stats.

Mavericks before trade ORTG 113.6 (#1)
Mavericks before DRTG 105.1 (#19)

Mavericks after trade ORTG 109.8 (#7)
Mavericks after DRTG 99.6 (#6)

Basically what everyone expected to happen did happen. Rondo's presence has diminished Dallas's offense, but he has more than made up for it in the improved team defense, a jump of 13 in the rankings.

Also, his individual defense has improved as well. Before, he was a minus defender at the point guard position with the following stats



Link: http://stats.nba.com/player/#!/200765/tracking/defense/?DateTo=12%2F19%2F2014&DateFrom=10%2F01%2F2014

Now, he's playing great defense against some of the best point guards (John Wall, Kyrie Irving, Russell Westbrook) in the league over the span of his 8 games with Dallas with the improved stats below.



Link: http://stats.nba.com/player/#!/200765/tracking/defense/?LastNGames=8

In particular, his 3 point defense has been outstanding. He's fighting harder through picks and using his length to disrupt the opposing guard's rhythm. It looks like when properly motivated, Rondo can still play an elite level of defense against the NBA's best at the PG position.

[D.o.s.]

Small Sample Size Kraken, arise!

[cons]

Amazing. Who would've guessed that playing good defense mostly comes down to effort and desire?

[Lucky17]

Amazing. Who knew that Dallas' offense would get worse by trading away Jameer Nelson, Brandan Wright, and Jae Crowder?

[MBunge]

It is a small sample, yet it would be amazing if even half-assed Rondo wasn't a big defensive improvement on Jameer.

Mike

[bobbyv]

It is a small sample, yet it would be amazing if even half-assed Rondo wasn't a big defensive improvement on Jameer.

Mike

That's a given, but I don't think anyone thought Dallas would become a top 10 defensive team overnight with Rondo.

[Lucky17]

It is a small sample, yet it would be amazing if even half-assed Rondo wasn't a big defensive improvement on Jameer.

Mike

That's a given, but I don't think anyone thought Dallas would become a top 10 defensive team overnight with Rondo.

Have they?

Game 6 was vs. Washington, who'd played a hard-fought game at Houston the night before. Toss out that game result (outlier?), and the DAL defense looks much less robust.

[bobbyv]

It is a small sample, yet it would be amazing if even half-assed Rondo wasn't a big defensive improvement on Jameer.

Mike

That's a given, but I don't think anyone thought Dallas would become a top 10 defensive team overnight with Rondo.

Have they?

Game 4 was vs. Washington, who'd played a hard-fought game at Houston the night before. Toss out that game result (outlier?), and the DAL defense looks much less robust.

So we're going to pick and choose by penalizing Dallas for the other team's schedule?

[Lucky17]

It is a small sample, yet it would be amazing if even half-assed Rondo wasn't a big defensive improvement on Jameer.

Mike

That's a given, but I don't think anyone thought Dallas would become a top 10 defensive team overnight with Rondo.

Have they?

Game 4 was vs. Washington, who'd played a hard-fought game at Houston the night before. Toss out that game result (outlier?), and the DAL defense looks much less robust.

So we're going to pick and choose by penalizing Dallas for the other team's schedule?

I think an eight game sample size in and of itself is akin to picking and choosing.

[D.o.s.]

  TP Lucky.

[bobbyv]

It is a small sample, yet it would be amazing if even half-assed Rondo wasn't a big defensive improvement on Jameer.

Mike

That's a given, but I don't think anyone thought Dallas would become a top 10 defensive team overnight with Rondo.

Have they?

Game 4 was vs. Washington, who'd played a hard-fought game at Houston the night before. Toss out that game result (outlier?), and the DAL defense looks much less robust.

So we're going to pick and choose by penalizing Dallas for the other team's schedule?

I think an eight game sample size in and of itself is akin to picking and choosing.

Hardly, I used the data available for all the games played so far, like every other sports organization talking about the Mavs improvement.

[D.o.s.]

This is, of course, the part where we echo your parents. If all your friends jumped off a cliff wilfully ignored some seriously noisy data, would you do it too?

[hwangjini_1]

It is a small sample, yet it would be amazing if even half-assed Rondo wasn't a big defensive improvement on Jameer.

Mike

That's a given, but I don't think anyone thought Dallas would become a top 10 defensive team overnight with Rondo.

Have they?

Game 4 was vs. Washington, who'd played a hard-fought game at Houston the night before. Toss out that game result (outlier?), and the DAL defense looks much less robust.

So we're going to pick and choose by penalizing Dallas for the other team's schedule?

that's the tried and true cb way!!! what fun is it have to deal with a body of facts that contradict one's deeply held personal beliefs and emotional preferences?

[bobbyv]

This is, of course, the part where we echo your parents. If all your friends jumped off a cliff wilfully ignored some seriously noisy data, would you do it too?

I don't think that analogy works for several reasons, one of them being the definition of noisy data. Your definition of noisy data is "Oh, well I don't like how this looks, so let me make an excuse for this particular game so the data better reflects my viewpoint". With your current logic, anyone could come up with an excuse for a game.

Example: "Oh wow, the Mavs lost to the Suns on a back-to-back and let them put up 124 points! Obviously I need to take this game out!"

[hwangjini_1]

Small Sample Size Kraken, arise!

i do so love this image. tp for invoking it yet once again...appropriately.