Mark Bradley article about Iso Joe

[jerrywest]

http://blogs.ajc.com/mark-bradley-blog/2010/02/01/the-hawks-have-options-now-but-they-still-rely-on-iso-joe/

I heard an amazing thing Friday night at Philips Arena: The Hawks’ best player got the ball with the game on the line, and some in the crowd groaned and started yelling, “Pass the ball, Joe!”

I’ve never considered Joe Johnson a selfish player. I’ve noted many times how well he and Mike Bibby play off one another. But things are changing, and Bibby isn’t on the floor as much. (He worked nine minutes and made one basket in Friday’s victory over the Celtics.) More and more it’s Johnson and Jamal Crawford paired at game’s end, and there are times — against Oklahoma City on MLK Day, against the Celtics over the weekend — when Johnson ducks his head and goes one-on-five.

It didn’t work against the Thunder. Johnson took eight of the Hawks’ 23 fourth-quarter shots; he missed five of the eight. (He had one assist — it went, naturally, to Bibby.) The Hawks lost. Against the Celtics he took nine of the Hawks’ 19 fourth-quarter shots; he made seven of the nine. The Hawks won.

When in doubt — most NBA games are in doubt — the Hawks revert to Iso-Joe. Against the Celtics it made sense: Ray Allen cannot guard Johnson, and Paul Pierce doesn’t do much better. And when Joe’s hitting the end justifies the means. But Joe doesn’t hit them all, and the day is long past when he was the only Hawk capable of scoring.

Al Horford just made the All-Star team. Josh Smith should have made the All-Star team. Crawford could have made the All-Star team. Trouble is, when Johnson goes into his back-’em-in-and-shoot-the-turnaround routine he’s not apt to see anyone else. (Unless it’s Bibby. He sees Bibby. But Bibby didn’t play in the fourth quarter against Boston.)

It’s weird, though. Even as the Hawks are becoming a fleshed-out team, Johnson is shooting slightly more. He’s averaging 18.4 shots, up from 18.0 last season. He’s playing two fewer minutes per game and averaging one fewer assist — but he’s shooting more. This isn’t necessarily a good thing.

In the Hawks’ emphatic first half against the Celtics, Johnson made one basket. (Took eight shots, though.) It didn’t matter because the ball was moving. (Ten assists on 20 first-half hoops.) In the fourth quarter the Hawks made 11 baskets and had one assist. (Josh Smith made it.) Put simply, Joe stopped the ball. He sealed the game by making seven fourth-quarter hoops, but what if he’d made only four?

Understand: The Iso-Joe stuff isn’t a matter of Joe calling his own plays. Mike Woodson is trying to exploit matchups, and against the Celtics it worked. But with all the players the Hawks have now, Iso-Joe seems as cutting-edge as the Betamax. It’s a throwback to the days when this team had nowhere else to turn. It has options now.

There will be times when the new Hawks still need Joe Johnson to win them a game. They no longer need him to win every game. They’ll require something more than the old fallback to get them to the Eastern Conference finals.

[Atlantaholic]

Yeah, pretty much.

[buckeye242424]

It's not going to change until it's addressed by the coaches. Joe's just doing the same things he's been told to do since he's been here....it's not about him being selfish. I don't think he's a seflish player. This year it seems different because we added Crawford, Smoove has matured and seems like an option on offense, and Horf is an all-star. But Joe's just doing what he's always done as a Hawk.

[HawkRock1123]

Good points all around.

[AHF]

But Joe's just doing what he's always done as a Hawk.

I do find it interesting that we added Crawford and decreased Joe's minutes yet his FGA/gm have still increased. JJ's FGA/36 are up to a career high 17.6 FGA/36 (compared to last year's 16.4 FGA/36).

[jerrywest]

I do find it interesting that we added Crawford and decreased Joe's minutes yet his FGA/gm have still increased. JJ's FGA/36 are up to a career high 17.6 FGA/36 (compared to last year's 16.4 FGA/36).

Ain't that stunning? and his assists are down!!!

[TheTruth]

Great, great article. Whoever said that this won't change until the coaching and "offensive scheme" change is completely correct.

[arhawkfan]

His assist being down is not 100% his fault. I have watched all but 2 or 3 games and I cant count how many times he has hit Marvin, Bibby, and Jamal for a open 3 and they miss. Im not blaming them but if they make 1 of those per game then his average is where it was last year

[GameTime]

Understand: The Iso-Joe stuff isn’t a matter of Joe calling his own plays. Mike Woodson is trying to exploit matchups, and against the Celtics it worked.

Hilarious. Other than that good write up.

[niremetal]

I do find it interesting that we added Crawford and decreased Joe's minutes yet his FGA/gm have still increased. JJ's FGA/36 are up to a career high 17.6 FGA/36 (compared to last year's 16.4 FGA/36).

Honestly, a lot of that has to do with him getting slightly better looks with Crawford around. That's why his FG% is up, too.

In any case, if you offensive scheme consists of giving the ball to a shooting guard and asking him to do something, you shouldn't be shocked if the shooting guard shoots. This is why smart coaches run their shooting guards off the ball instead of making them lead guards as often as we do with JJ.

Edited February 2, 2010 by niremetal

[AHF]

Honestly, a lot of that has to do with him getting slightly better looks with Crawford around. That's why his FG% is up, too.

His scoring efficiency is right on par (or slightly below) for his time in Atlanta.

2009-10 .537 TS%

2008-09 .534 TS%

2007-08 .535 TS%

2006-07 .558 TS%

2005-06 .537 TS%

2004-05 .556 TS%

[niremetal]

His scoring efficiency is right on par (or slightly below) for his time in Atlanta.

2009-10 .537 TS%

2008-09 .534 TS%

2007-08 .535 TS%

2006-07 .558 TS%

2005-06 .537 TS%

2004-05 .556 TS%

That's largely because he's gotten to the line less this year. Check his eFG%, though. That's up by a wider margin. That's a sign that he's getting better looks - and it makes sense that his FT attempts would be down in that case, since tighter defensive coverage usually means more fouls but worse looks.

Edited February 2, 2010 by niremetal

[TheNorthCydeRises]

That's largely because he's gotten to the line less this year. Check his eFG%, though. That's up by a wider margin. That's a sign that he's getting better looks - and it makes sense that his FT attempts would be down in that case, since tighter defensive coverage usually means more fouls but worse looks.

He's not getting better looks. He's making tougher shots.

I've never seen JJ take and make tough shots like he's been doing this year. And this article was OBVIOUSLY written before the Orlando game, seeing that there's no mention of that game. JJ played exactly how people wanted him to play in Orlando, and the team flat out didn't step up AT ALL.

The offensive strength of this team is having JJ with the ball in his hands, and either shooting or creating for others. His assists are down because Bibby, and especially Marvin, aren't making jumpers.

18.4 shots per game, considering that he only gets to the FT line maybe twice a game ( 4 FTs ), means that he's only actually shooting the ball maybe 20 times a game. His usage rate is less than the vast majority of lead guys around the league. People want the offense to change, so that our less skilled players get more shots? Even if they got better looks, they still may not make the shot, unless it's at point blank range.

I guess people want JJ to play like JJ Redick, instead of Kobe. The dude is one of the most skilled 2-guards in the league with the ball in his hands, yet, people want him to be a catch and shoot guy. It's amazing that people have a problem with our captain, simply because he's looking to SCORE the basketball to help us win games, instead of trusting some of his teammates who don't make open shots.

God forbid that he takes the mindset of the other stars in the league.

[JackB1]

Great Article!

Joe usually isn't good when he FORCES things. He is MUCH BETTER shooting in rythym or working off a pick and spotting up.

He RARELY scores when going one on one for the last shot of a game or quarter.....RARELY. We would be much better working

the ball around and waiting for the best possible shot. One only hopes that Joe realizes this one day.

[Atlantaholic]

JJ needs to be getting more assists. He is definitely playing more selfishly this year than he has in the past IMHO. No doubt that the fact that this is a contract year, and that Crawford is stealing some of the limelight has caused him to look for his shot more often. When everyone on the team is sharing the rock (Especially JJ) we are the scariest team in the NBA on offense... Too bad it doesn't happen with any regularity.

[tonegully]

dribble, dribble, dribble, shoot, brick.

[Wurider05]

My take on ISO Joe is that he dribbles to much and he doesn't drive to the basket enough. Come playoff time that dribbling gets him trapped and a Woody is too stupid to realize it. We need our guys slashing to the basket instead of standing around watching the JJ show. At least Jamal drives to the basket.

You see how his scoring average dips in the post season right. Teams know how to shut down the ISo Joe. 6 out of 23 , 8 out 26 nights will not cut it in the playoffs. As long as JJ is too soft to drive Iso JJ will always be our down fall.

Does JJ even have 10 dunks as a HAwk??

We have the fewest turnovers because JJ dribbles most of the clock before he takes a shot.

We need a better coach. After all these years Woody still doesn't get it.

Edited February 2, 2010 by Wurider05

[spotatl]

Every teams scoring average drops in the playoffs- teams with good defenses tend to make the playoffs.

[Sothron]

How many star players see their PPG go up in the playoffs? If anything it would go down due to better defenses.

[JackB1]

JJ needs to be getting more assists. He is definitely playing more selfishly this year than he has in the past IMHO. No doubt that the fact that this is a contract year, and that Crawford is stealing some of the limelight has caused him to look for his shot more often. When everyone on the team is sharing the rock (Especially JJ) we are the scariest team in the NBA on offense... Too bad it doesn't happen with any regularity.

I really think Joe doesn't like the fact that he's no longer "The Man", with Craw around. Joe will almost NEVER pass to Craw for a last shot possesion.