JJ, game winners, & that elusive 2nd option.

[mrhonline]

82games.com has compiled a 2.5 year sample of "game winning shot opportunities," which they define as:

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24 seconds or less left in the game, team with the ball is either tied or down by 1 to 2 points.

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There are three players tied for the lead in Most unassisted game winning/tying baskets:

Tracy McGrady, Paul Pierce, and our very own Joe Johnson

Game Winning Shot Stats

They mention something we've talked about on here, and I think it needs more discussion:

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It's nice to have a go-to guy, but when the other team knows without much doubt that a certain guy is getting the ball, it is going to be a lot easier to defend!

Of the eight players with 20+ FGA in these situations four were shooting under .300, and none better than .400, whereas classic second/third option guys like Fisher, Damon Jones, and Jamison were highly effective.

So instead of "does my team have a great clutch go-to guy" you might want to ask do we have a plan B?

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Could/Should Salim be that second option?

[exodus]

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Could/Should Salim be that second option?

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Definitely not. He struggles to make shots in normal situations.

I would nominate Smith. He has made quite a few clutch shots lately.

Nice info on JJ though.

[swolehawk2]

This is actually the first time in a long time that we have a bonafide player to build around. We tried with Reef then maybe JT.

[Nicholasp27]

it's the first time we've had a non-flawed player to work with

while jj can of course improve in any given area (as can all players), he has no weaknesses

[KB21]

....that's if he doesn't develop into the first option that I believe he can be. Marvin is the only other player on the team that has the ability to shoot the perimeter jumper as well as put the ball on the floor and create his own shot.

[exodus]

Smith is doing that right now.

[SmooveTheFuture]

Marvin isnt consistent with his jumper he wont be the 2nd option here he doesnt have confidence or any heart.

[pathway23]

I don't get your hate for Marvin, I like both Marvin and Smoove. I don't think they take anything away from each other where they will ultimately be on our team together.

[Popeye]

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I don't get your hate for Marvin, I like both Marvin and Smoove. I don't think they take anything away from each other where they will ultimately be on our team together.

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Dont't worry about him he is just a SMITH fan not a HAWKS fan and a HATER of course

[SmooveTheFuture]

Iam not the only one on here that feels he was the wrong pick. Right now hes not living up to the 2nd overall pick and has long long way to go to prove himself. We didnt need another tweener on this team we took him based on talent and not need. Sooner or later he has do more then hes been doing lately hes been downright awful in the past 8 games. ESP. when guys who were picked after him like Paul, Frye, Villanueva, Felton, Williams and Granger are seriously outplaying him. You can believe what you want but to this point hes been a huge disappointment and big product of the hype and media.

[chillzatl]

What did you really expect from a 19yo #2 pick in his first year? Did you drum up some expectations for him without taking into consideration the fact that he's only 19 years old and is only one year removed from highschool? If so, that is your fault, not his.

Was he the right pick for this team? no, hell no. But get over it already. Don't discount his talent and potential because he wasn't the pick you wanted. He didn't choose where he was picked. I'm not disappointed at all in what he's done this year. Once I got over the fact that he wasn't chris paul I learned to appreciate his skills and recognize what he will do for this team.

[KB21]

He hates Marvin because Marvin has more ability than Josh. Marvin has a better jumper and is a better ball handler.

[Diesel]

Actually.. right now..

I don't think Marvin does anything better than JSmoove. Nothing.

I JSmoove continues to progress as a Sf and not a Pf, Marvin will ride the bench next year too.

When we drafted Marvin, everybody talked about how pretty the form on his shots are... however, he doesn't hit them...as pretty as his release may look. Smoove's release may look ordinary but his shots have been going in. Defenses have actually started to respect his shot more than his drive.

I know you don't get to see the Hawks down there in MS... But let me tell you, Marvin has done nothing better than Smoove as of late.

[pathway23]

Sure is nice to have a PF with range, isn't it? Only in your narrow mindset Diesel is the nice expansion of Smoove's game relegating him to the future at exclusively SF. If Smoove's J improved this much, as bad as it was last year, imagine how Marvin could improve? It is like Smoove is the only one who is young with room to improve, he is in his 2nd year.

[Diesel]

If so, I hope you have LP and heard what the Detroit broadcasters were saying about Rasheed.

What they basically said is that it's good to be able to step out there and hit a three, but there comes a time when your team needs you to be a low post scorer and that's where Sheed excelled last night. He took Smoove, Al, and JJ to the low post blocks and had his way.

Now... JSmoove is developing range on his shot ala Karl Malone.. But most of these guys who developed range did so while already having conquered the low post. You can't name many Pfs who can hit the outside shot but have a very weak low post game... It's an oxymoron.

Dirk can score in the lowpost.

KG can score in the low post.

In fact, if we were to trade Al for Frye and Filler today..

Frye would be our starting PF and Smoove would be our starting Sf... and that would work. Such is the case with any Pf type that we would bring in.

[pathway23]

there are quite a few SF/PFs in the league that don't have much of a postgame these days..like Dirk, Kirilenko ( who I think Smoove most resembles), Toni Kukoc kind of pioneered this mold.

Rasheed most definitely does NOT prefer playing the low post, he is another one of those PFs. Antoine Walker and Antawn Jamison also, those guys don't like the lowpost.

[Diesel]

I beg to differ about Dirk..

AND Ak is now playing SG for his team.

Boozer is the Pf.

What I'm saying is that PFs should have a low post game. Smoove has not shown one inkling of a low post game. In fact, day by day, his game looks more and more like a Sf.

[thesheedera]

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I don't think Marvin does anything better than JSmoove. Nothing.

I JSmoove continues to progress as a Sf and not a Pf, Marvin will ride the bench next year too.

When we drafted Marvin, everybody talked about how pretty the form on his shots are... however, he doesn't hit them...as pretty as his release may look. Smoove's release may look ordinary but his shots have been going in. Defenses have actually started to respect his shot more than his drive.

I know you don't get to see the Hawks down there in MS... But let me tell you, Marvin has done nothing better than Smoove as of late.

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I agree with this. IF Marvin never improves, then Josh will clearly be the #1 SF. He's looking like a beast at the 3 lately, and Marvin's been struggling the last few weeks.

The part I have trouble with is when people say: "Marvin's struggling, he has no confidence or heart and he never will"

Its taken Josh a season and a half to look the way he's looking right now. We should have the same patience with Marvin that we had with the Joshes. Childress STILL hasn't proven to be worthy of the #6 pick, but he hasn't proven to be a bust, either. These guys are a year and a half in, and a half a year in to their careers, nothing has been "proven" yet.

[Diesel]

Not much has changed.

[Guest Walter]

...I had better bring up MW to make my support of SW not look so bad" routine?

I think BK sucks and the MW and SW draft decisions are reason #1 and #2 in no particular order. Get with the program Diesel. SW was a horrible, terrible, mistake of franchise damning proportions. So was MW. We've got a hole to dig out of and no MLE Pf FA to cover for drafting SW is going to get us out of it.

W