The Atlanta Hawks

[RedDawg#8]

Does anybody remember against Boston in the playoffs, game 1 in atlanta the announcers said something about Mike Woodson placing an 18 sec shot clock on the team to force us to to play up-tempo? we struggled a bit at the jump but by the end of the 1st quarter we had Boston on their heels. I would love for this to be our mindset to start every game, esp since we tend to start slow and have to play catch up.

I do agee that it starts on the defensive end though. We are young an athletic, thats our biggest strength, we have to take advantage of it.

[Peoriabird]

Wow. I stopped listening to you after your first point. Orlando doesn't shoot that well ? Whatever man. You got it.

Their shooting percentage was worse than the Hawks last year! I hardly consider that dominant.

[AHF]

Their shooting percentage was worse than the Hawks last year! I hardly consider that dominant.

Given the high % of 3's shot by Orlando, I will strongly argue that FG% is not meaningful. When you look at TS%, Orlando is doing very well which speaks to the effectiveness of their offense, IMO:

Orlando TS% 55.9%

Atlanta TS% 54.5%

By way of comparison:

League Average TS% 54.4%

Golden State Warriors (second most points scored) TS% 54.9%

Detroit Pistons (least points scored on a playoff team) TS% 52.4%

Edited July 21, 2009 by AHF

[Peoriabird]

Given the high % of 3's shot by Orlando, I will strongly argue that FG% is not meaningful. When you look at TS%, Orlando is doing very well which speaks to the effectiveness of their offense, IMO:

What is the best measure of a team's ability to make perimeter shots?

[AHF]

What is the best measure of a team's ability to make perimeter shots?

The best measure of whether a team is scoring efficiently is TS%. You could look at 3pt% and 3ptA but to really look at perimeter shooting, you would need to do a deeper dive. That said, who cares if they are hitting perimeter shots or dunking as long as they are making the most out of their possessions? TS% takes into account the 3's as well as the ability to get to the line (and convert at the line). It is MUCH more meaningful than FG%. As a simple illustration, looking at FG% to determine which team was the better scoring team would tell you that a team that scored 15 points on 10 shots (4-10 from 3pt range, 3-3 from the FT line = 40% FG%, 66% TS%) was worse than a team that scored 10 points on 10 shots (5-10 from 2pt range, 0-2 from the FT line = 50% FG%, 46% TS%).

[Packfill]

What is the best measure of a team's ability to make perimeter shots?

I agree with AHF. Orlando has a good system in place as it makes perfect sense to surround Dwight with shooters. Lewis, Carter, Nelson, Pietrus and Anderson can all stroke from outside. Additional inside muscle in the form of a maturing Gortat and Bass only helps.

[Peoriabird]

The best measure of whether a team is scoring efficiently is TS%. You could look at 3pt% and 3ptA but to really look at perimeter shooting, you would need to do a deeper dive. That said, who cares if they are hitting perimeter shots or dunking as long as they are making the most out of their possessions? TS% takes into account the 3's as well as the ability to get to the line (and convert at the line). It is MUCH more meaningful than FG%. As a simple illustration, looking at FG% to determine which team was the better scoring team would tell you that a team that scored 15 points on 10 shots (4-10 from 3pt range, 3-3 from the FT line = 40% FG%, 66% TS%) was worse than a team that scored 10 points on 10 shots (5-10 from 2pt range, 0-2 from the FT line = 50% FG%, 46% TS%).

So you are saying that Orlando had the highest TS in the league?

[Diesel]

to me run and shoot teams never make it far in the postseason. even orlando was for the most part defense first with howard. whenever i hear run and shoot i think of golden state and phoenix. they never got as far as the defensive teams in the league. i do agree that we have to find our niche, but i think that it is going to be with a more efficient approach and with using our superior athleticism to force other teams into mistakes. causing turnovers and then running was when the hawks looked best. hopefully this is where teague and crawford can make their prescene felt (best case scenerio)

I think if we try to play halfcourt basketball, the result will be the same as it was with Cleveland. We are not suited to face Bigs in a halfcourt set. The way that we can beat bigs is by strong defense and running offense. We have the defense that Phoenix nor GS had. We just have to have a similar offense.

[AHF]

So you are saying that Orlando had the highest TS in the league?

I doubt they did. I didn't calculate the numbers for all teams in the league but I am sure someone was higher. I'll check for a couple of the best offenses.

...

OK . Orlando is clearly not the top team but they were among the top offensive teams last season.

Phoenix (#1 I would bet): 58.4% TS% - better than Orlando

Boston: 57.1% TS% - better than Orlando

LA Lakers: 55.5% TS% - Orlando was better

This, obviously, is based on the 82 games of the regular season, not the post-season. That is the only apples to apples comparison of all the teams.

Edited July 21, 2009 by AHF

[Bahamut]

I seriously don't think Boston or Cleveland are going to be as good as advertised. I do think the team that's going to dominate is Orlando.

I think this sums up the 2009-2010 season :top secret: