In the graph below, I’ve shown the percentage of possessions lasting less than t seconds given various possession triggers. I thought this graphical representation would be interesting because, before, I looked only at the average duration of possessions.  Here, we can visualize it more as a distribution. I’ve also shown the data for the league as a whole, for comparison. The solid lines are percentages for all offensive possessions, while the other lines represent possession after particular triggers. Note that overall, the Rockets are almost exactly at league average (the solid red and blue lines overlap), though the Rockets are one of the best offensive rebounding teams (which will have the effect of extending possessions). I haven’t shown it here, but my guess is that if I plot a similar graph for time to first shot, drawn foul, or turnover, it will show the Rockets to be getting into their offense faster than league average.

Red94-Possession Duration and Efficiency: A Closer Look

Red94 shines today with a look at the Rockets offense in the context of duration, not speed.

Something I noticed with the 7SOL team was that there was never any moment of hesitation or caution after a made bucket unless it was a timeout down the stretch. You hit a big shot? They didn’t blink. They used the time you were spending congratulating yourself to get the ball to halfcourt and attack. And if you look at these brilliant charts, you’ll notice a similar pattern. The Rockets consistently attack after a made FG, getting you out of your comfort zone and aggressively pursuing their possession relative to the rest of the league. And while they’re not 7SOL, their possessions do consistently rank on the faster side. By creating faster, higher percentage shots (as we’ve outlined before, they attack from the arc and at the rim, very little in between), they play a smarter brand of ball, which allows them to focus on defense, their hallmark, and battle teams with more talent.

I almost feel like the addition of Trevor Ariza was a concession to tradition, and wonder what this team would look like with a pure shooter at the 2 instead. But then, finding two guards with adequate size to defend wings that are pure shooters is not exactly an easy task. But what about someone like Rip Hamilton? Can work in the flow of the offense, knows how to play defense, and can attack the rim? Not as tall as Ariza, definitely, and older, but maybe not quite so inefficient (21.5 to 17.8 points per 40, 52.9 to 48.1 TS%, 16.85  to 13.38 PER, using last year’s Hamilton numbers).