Hawks Midseason Grades

[Craig Ehlo]

Co-writer Josh Smildress and I just posted our midseason superlatives and grades for each player on our blog, Billy Knight Took My Lunch Money. At the all-star break, how would you grade the team, and why?

-Craig "Speedy" Ehlo

[crimedog]

I love when people blog about the Hawks. You guys have a bit more of a Mark Bradley mindset than I typically like, (in other words, Joe is allowed to shoot 42%, Al doesn't have to improve on offense or rebound as hard because they are a "star" and have "heart" respectively, but Josh gets a near failing grade for shot selection while shooting to best % of his career) but its fairly well written and you obviously put a lot of time into it.

Thanks for the read!

[PureGreatness]

I love when people blog about the Hawks. You guys have a bit more of a Mark Bradley mindset than I typically like, (in other words, Joe is allowed to shoot 42%, Al doesn't have to improve on offense or rebound as hard because they are a "star" and have "heart" respectively, but Josh gets a near failing grade for shot selection while shooting to best % of his career) but its fairly well written and you obviously put a lot of time into it.

Thanks for the read!

i was gonna post the same thing. this blog really isnt that good though alot of time was probably put into. joe gets to slide on bad play but josh gets blasted for it.

[mattlanta]

I'd give the Hawks a solid B. Although we went on a hot start, it looks like we're heading back down close to the dangerous .500 area. Most of this losing "streak" (even though it's not really a streak) recently is due to the cold streak of Joe Johnson - who I am still disappointed in Woodson for because he's relying way too much on JJ. We're definitely better than we were last year, however, and it shows. I believe we've only had our entire lineup completely healthy (without Claxton ofcourse) for about five games, so with our record now, I'd say we've done a pretty solid job so far. Even though the hopes of a 50-win season were high in the beginning of the season, it's definitely not that high now, although it's definitely possible with the group of players we have now.

Edited February 14, 2009 by Libid21

[jhay610]

I echo Crimedog's comments....

good read though, and funny you mentioned Al Horford's eyelashes - I thought I was the only one who noticed that...

No homo.

[Buzzard]

I gave us an A- and agree with most of your grades but a C- for Smoove is rough. I would say a B- and if he quits taking the threes he gets at least an A- all day long (FT% keeping him from an easy A).

I still cannot figure out why he thinks he is a 3pt threat when most times he barely threatens the rim; but it is what it is. lol

These two things count as well though, he is our best fast break finisher and off the ball defender period!

I am dissappointed in Al to be honest. I really thought he would be averaging 12 to 14 ppg this season. I give him a half season grade of a C.

Edited February 16, 2009 by Buzzard

[Craig Ehlo]

The more I think about it, I sort of agree with ya'll on Joe - he hasn't exactly been as dynamic as I think an A probably deserves. However, with his load and expectations, I'm not sure he could ever earn a real A in many people's eyes - he's not Jordan and he's not Lebron. However, I do see where ya'll are coming from.

As far as Josh, his grade was dropped to C- because of how correctable his mistakes are. He's not simply missing shots - which would just be bad luck (a simple shooting slump). He continues to take shots that he shouldn't, and seemingly playing off every few games (or even more often than that). Furthermore, his free throw percentage is simply mind-boggling.

That's where we were coming from on the grades...

But it is great to hear from you guys, keep the opinions coming!

[benhillboy]

I give the Hawks a B. I think many of the defensive performance gems in crunch time, the trademark of this team in my opinion, are totally attributable to Woodson, although many want his head and point to his stagnant and vanilla offensive sets with little movement. The fact that Woody can get Zaza to post good +- numbers consistently is a testament to a good coach, because Zaza is, well, Zaza.

I am to a point where I don't even mention Joe Johnson. I'd rather see him elsewhere. The destiny of this team depends on the progression or depression of Horford, Josh, and Marvin, with the latter making the biggest strides in his mental and physical game as of late. Sure, Al still gushes professionalism and excels at things that don't show up in the stat sheet, but I agree that his scoring and rebounding numbers should be considerably up from last year, and they are not. I'm sure Bibby doesn't factor in to the long-term plans of the Hawks, although I commend his job this year and his considerable scoring average due to career-best three-point shooting. I also agree that Josh's problems on the court are easily correctable, yet he continues to dumbfound with his dribbling and long-range shooting antics.

All in all, the record speaks for itself. A quick winning streak after the break (after we are thrashed by the Lakers with Flip out, of course), and we are nearing the win total from all of last year with slight changes in the bench additions of Flip and Mo (both of whom have paid big dividends). As long as we are in the driver's seat for the fourth East spot, we are comfortably above average.

The front office also factors into the equation. No talk of getting a real back-up point guard renders their grade an F, because you won't find anyone who hates the sight of Acie leaving the scores table as much as I do. Let alone the fact that Speedy is still on the roster.

[AHF]

A- is my grade for the team. There are some issues for individuals and the team to work through, but generally this has been a very good year so far.