Josh is Back... Marvin....

[HalfHawk]

To start off let me just say, beautiful 2nd-4th quarters for the Hawks vs Miami today...

And good to see Josh Smith being his old self ( even though he's still bricking/airballing 3's )

Now..... what's up with Marvin? He was horrible out there...

Every time he would be passed the ball he lost it or either put up a 3 that he missed.

What's his excuse for playing so poorly?

[Dsinner]

To start off let me just say, beautiful 2nd-4th quarters for the Hawks vs Miami today...

And good to see Josh Smith being his old self ( even though he's still bricking/airballing 3's )

Now..... what's up with Marvin? He was horrible out there...

Every time he would be passed the ball he lost it or either put up a 3 that he missed.

What's his excuse for playing so poorly?

Umm, he's Marvin. He hasn't played well consistently his whole career. Why do you people think he's going to magically transform himself now?

[HalfHawk]

Umm, he's Marvin. He hasn't played well consistently his whole career. Why do you people think he's going to magically transform himself now?

Looked like he was going to do that and then some at the beginning of the season...

[lunar]

all shooters have cold streaks. marvin is new to the range so you would think that he'd cool off at some point. we need him to snap out of it soon though. his shot is gonna be needed against the cavs and celtics

[mrhonline]

Good D and 9 rebounds from Marvin on an off-shooting night.

Let's be glad he's found a way to contribute other than his jumpshot.

[Frenzy]

Marv has never really left,so how can he come back.....he's marvin

Edited December 13, 2008 by falconfrenzy

[hawkman]

Good D and 9 rebounds from Marvin on an off-shooting night.

Let's be glad he's found a way to contribute other than his jumpshot.

True. In the past Marv would just vanish if his shot wasn't falling. He did a nice job of hitting the boards and played D. That's all you can ask of him if his shot isn't falling.

[DJlaysitup]

Good lord - can't we just get a good defender and not worry about his offense...why bother with Marvin anymore. He just runs around and gets a few rebounds. He CAN shoot - but not often in the clutch - Hmmmmmm.

[mrhonline]

Good lord - can't we just get a good defender and not worry about his offense...why bother with Marvin anymore. He just runs around and gets a few rebounds. He CAN shoot - but not often in the clutch - Hmmmmmm.

???

[DrReality]

When was the last time WE went to the free throw liine so many time and the other team didn't. Usually it is the other way around.

[PureGreatness]

josh smith is finding marvin in his passes but marvin is not hitting.

[thefloydian]

Good lord - can't we just get a good defender and not worry about his offense...why bother with Marvin anymore. He just runs around and gets a few rebounds. He CAN shoot - but not often in the clutch - Hmmmmmm.

:computer8:

[exodus]

Good lord - can't we just get a good defender and not worry about his offense...why bother with Marvin anymore. He just runs around and gets a few rebounds. He CAN shoot - but not often in the clutch - Hmmmmmm.

Huh? Mavin has made several clutch 3s at the end of games this year. he was 4-4 from 3 at Boston, hitting the apparent game winner. he was also 3-3 from 3 at NOH. He had a couple of other late threes to put the Hawks ahead. Have you even watched the games.

There were no clutch shots to be hit last night. We won easily. Here lately he has sucked for the entire game, not just the end.

[bronnt]

Huh? Mavin has made several clutch 3s at the end of games this year. he was 4-4 from 3 at Boston, hitting the apparent game winner. he was also 3-3 from 3 at NOH. He had a couple of other late threes to put the Hawks ahead. Have you even watched the games.

There were no clutch shots to be hit last night. We won easily. Here lately he has sucked for the entire game, not just the end.

He also hit the game winner against the Wizards that night we were without Smith AND Horford, so that he had to start at PF.

Josh Smith had a really clutch shooting game against the Celtics in game 3 of the playoff series, but I don't remember him hitting a SINGLE three in the rest of the series-one that we lost. He attempted several but turned out to be decidedly NOT clutch after one clutch shooting performance.

He's just not a good shooter. Not in the clutch, not wide open, not in an empty gym, and certainly not when defenders who are already 10 feet away from him back up as he catches the ball at the 3 point line.

[Cwell]

He also hit the game winner against the Wizards that night we were without Smith AND Horford, so that he had to start at PF.

Josh Smith had a really clutch shooting game against the Celtics in game 3 of the playoff series, but I don't remember him hitting a SINGLE three in the rest of the series-one that we lost. He attempted several but turned out to be decidedly NOT clutch after one clutch shooting performance.

He's just not a good shooter. Not in the clutch, not wide open, not in an empty gym, and certainly not when defenders who are already 10 feet away from him back up as he catches the ball at the 3 point line.

Josh does hit them in the clutch. He can throw up 20 bricks all game but if it's down to the wire it usually goes in. That's one thing I give him credit for.

[bronnt]

Josh does hit them in the clutch. He can throw up 20 bricks all game but if it's down to the wire it usually goes in. That's one thing I give him credit for.

I really hate arguments like this, because the difference between a player who gets labeled "clutch" and one other who gets labeled as "not-clutch" is almost always entirely subjective. You never remember every single performance, your memories often get clouded by one or two instances, and once you've already made the judgement, it's easy to point out evidence supporting any assertion.

For each player who gets significant time on the floor, there are plenty of times in which he completely blows it, and other times when he performs well in the clutch. So it's impossible to get a perception to change once it has started because you notice more that which supports your assertion than the evidence against it.

That said, 82games.com does track these things. Though any definition of "clutch" is always arbitrary, they put the same arbitrary definition on each player in the NBA. This is: Under 5 minutes left or OT, margin within 5 points.

Josh Smith's FG% in clutch situations last season: 34.6%.

Josh Smith's eFG% in clutch situations last season: 39.4%.

Josh Smith, late in the shot clock in the clutch (8 seconds or less), eFG%: 26.9%

Compare that to his non-clutch stats, where his field goal % is 45.7, and eFG% is 46.8, and he's decidedly worse in the clutch.

I love the man, but in a close game, I don't want him taking jump shots any more than I want him taking jump shots at the beginning of said game.

[thefloydian]

I don't care if Josh has hit some big threes in the past, I want Bibby or Joe taking them. Marvin is also an option when his shot is falling.

[thefloydian]

I didn't see the game tonight, but Marvin's statline looks nice.

[FrankWhite]

Marvin played a good game. Hit a clutch 3 late, followed by a bad turnover, then hit some clinching free throws, though he's going through a little slump at the line. B+ game.

[JoeJohnson2]

Marvin played a good game. Hit a clutch 3 late, followed by a bad turnover, then hit some clinching free throws, though he's going through a little slump at the line. B+ game.

How is 11-13 on FT slumping? Marv looked great tonight, I'll agree with the B+. Consider folks that he guarded LeBron for much of the night too. So he was working on both ends. Despite LBJ's 33 I think we held him down for stretches tonight.

People need to get off Marv's back, he had a nice game. Smoove only had 12 and 8. Bibby had 24, but Joe only had 17.....There are going to be nights when other people go off and a certain guy's numbers take a back seat, that's the beauty of having so many talented players.

Don't knock Marvin for one subpar performance when he's performed admirably throughout the year. His body of work is more than solidly at this juncture in the season.

Edited December 14, 2008 by JoeJohnson2