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The biggest worry going into the season for the Rockets was their lack of depth. At this point, it's pretty safe to say that the December acquisitions of Josh Smith and Corey Brewer have looked like some classically savvy Morey moves. The #HeadbandOfBrothers is a thing, even if only to Rockets fans. So now, the obvious question is: Where do we stack up?
#HeadbandsOnly
First, let's start with the headbanded ones in front of us. Want to hear something crazy? How about that among all of the three-man lineups to have played at least 200 minutes for the Rockets this season, the sweat-wicking combo of Smoove, Brewer and Jason Terry have the second-best Net Rating at 13.9, according to NBA.com. The only one better? Harden-Ariza-Canaan! FREE LIL' SIP.
#FreeLilSip, y'all.
Why the success, besides those magical headbands? Let's bullet this, because it's important you get a sense of the scale of their majesty. In terms of where they rank among three-man Rockets lineups, according to NBA.com:
- Assist Ratio (number of assists per 100 possessions): First
- Assist/Turnover Ratio: First
- eFG & TS% (both measure percentage, weighted for threes and free throws): Sixth(! With Josh Smith!)
- PACE: First
- PIE (Player Impact Estimate, the percentage of game events players contribute to): First (at 60%. No other threesome has more than 50%.)
SMOOOOOOOVE
The Competition
I compared the Headband Of Brothers to three-man units from four teams that seem to have rep for having a good bench: the Warriors, Hawks, San Antonio and Chicago. I selected the three-man unit on each team involving no regular starters with the best Net Rating (200 minute minimum). Obviously, all of these teams vary in terms of bench usage, but bear with me.
- Golden State Warriors: Shaun Livingston, Andre Iguodala, Marreese Speights
- Chicago Bulls: Aaron Brooks, Nikola Mirotic, Taj Gibson
- Atlanta Hawks: Dennis Schroder, Thabo Sefolosha, Mike Scott (which, in this case, is the ONLY three-man Hawk lineup involving no starters)
- San Antonio Spurs: Corey Joseph, Manu Ginobili, Boris Diaw (also their highest-rated trio, period)
MIN | ORTG | DRTG | NETRTG | AST/TO | AST RATIO | TS% | PIE | |
Rockets | 236 | 104.1 | 90.3 | 13.9 | 1.64 | 18.7 | 55.8 | 60.2 |
Warriors | 287 | 103.5 | 94.4 | 9.1 | 1.54 | 18.4 | 54.3 | 57.7 |
Bulls | 220 | 113.5 | 106.6 | 6.9 | 1.34 | 15.7 | 54.5 | 52.1 |
Hawks | 239 | 103.4 | 97.1 | 6.4 | 1.83 | 19.5 | 54.7 | 53.0 |
Spurs | 248 | 112.8 | 94.7 | 18.1 | 2.32 | 20.6 | 56.4 | 62.7 |
Spurs gonna Spur, man. Two old, balding dudes (one of them hefty) and a cast-off form the best second unit in basketball. Now, Corey Joseph is the odd duck in all this, since he's spent a lot of time starting this year with Tony Parker and Patty Mills both suffering long-term injuries this season. But all of the minutes levels more or less line up, so I'm still happy that we're comparing apples to apples.
That being established, boy does #HeadbandOfBrothers come out of this looking good. A 90.3 defensive rating is otherworldly -- the best team rating this season belongs to the Warriors, at 97.3. And if we include PACE in the equation for these trios, the rankings would go like this: Rockets, Warriors, Bulls, Spurs, Hawks. A shutdown defense that loves to run is a lethal combo that generates easy, early offense.
The one area in which the Rockets' trio lags is in rebound percentage; not surprising considering JET and Brewer are both allergic to rebounding. But their aptitude at creating turnovers lessens the rebounding deficit. Still, factoring all of that in, it's safe to say that the Rockets now possess one of the best benches in the NBA, and it's made up of veterans with postseason experience, no less! How good does that feel?
One final thought: Based on what I've seen on the court, there is another, important distinction to be made between these bench units: how they're deployed. Gregg Popovich and his disciplies, Steve Kerr and Mike Budenholzer, stagger their rotations a lot more than old-schoolers McHale and Thibodeau. The league leaders in minutes played are full of Rockets and Bulls.
The benefits of resting your starters for longer, and mixing your bench and starters more, is obvious to any basketball fan. But when you look back at the table and see the minutes, remember that we're only talking about a month and a half of basketball for Team Headband. Over a full season, they would blow that minutes total out of the water. It's obvious that McHale knows what he has in this group.
Now that the numbers are in, it's time the country started showing some love for the #HeadbandOfBrothers. Let's tell them all.