All-Star Break Evaluation

[benhillboy]

1 game out of fourth, 2 games out of third after 51 games (none of the teams around us cooperated tonight. Oh well.)

I don't know if anyone else is impressed, but most coaches can look at one stat, second in assists, and know we're a quality team. We've taken a slight dip in points allowed, but 11th is still pretty good considering we lost 2 good preimeter defenders in the offseason that we all thought would be hard to replace.

Let's get Bad Josh out the way: 50% from the line is pathetic, 3 TO per, questionable positioning and shot selection in the scheme of the offense. Good Josh is pretty simple: Our poor-man's LeBron. In case you haven't been watching, he's pretty good. He's still impressive with the blocks, the smallest guy in the top 10, but he still can do a little better than 2.15.

Teague holds the dubious distinction of being 14th behind LeBron in assists (the rest of the top 30 are all small guards except Harden at 27). The light has officially come on for him, knock on wood he's gonna be Andre Miller with the durability. Devin and Lou have ben very valuale to his development.

There's nothing I can say about KK that I haven't said already. I saw somewhere he was an attractive trade piece. You sh$ittin me. You don't trade the top three point shooter in today's league, no matter how old he is or if he can't dribble more than 2 times. His intangibles and hustle have clearly permeated this team.

Al is Mr. Consistency even though he hasn't taken that next step on the low block many would have liked to see by now. His synergy with Josh is among the best in the league up front. Of course he's The Boss, so he would never admit it, but I think there's a small lingering injury there.

Ivan with a 15 PER in just 13 minutes. How many soft teams would love to have him? Stephenson only has two jobs: defend and hit threes. He has performed both well. The Real, Hawks-drafted JJ's confidence is improving each time he steps on the court. Tolliver is even fighting for minutes. I knew nothing of him before he came here, he's pretty damn versatile for a bum. Mike Scott's future is bright. The little I've seen from him, I really like his instincts. Ferry drafted well.

We don't need to find a player to lead this team luckily, because the guy that most of this board froths at the mouth over can't lead lemmings over a cliff. I'm confident Ferry can add the appropriate pieces to signifigantly enhance our passing and defending attack.

The blowout, poor-effort loss to the Bulls and the loss at home to NO hurt bad, but I can live with them after defeating Memphis handily twice, OKC, Clips, and the epic comeback against the hated Celtics. 7 games over .500 instead of the 3 or 4 under that many of us might've expected, even with a light schedule in the first 51. The winning habits are there when we face the big boys after the break. The coaching staff has been great: put Josh in his place when needed, maintaining dominance at home, Drew is Picasso after a timeout. With the way this team shoots threes, looks for each other , and play sound team defense, I gotta give the franchise a B+ for their effort at the break. Consider we have the 5th lowest payroll (Indiana 3rd!) with the 12th best winning percentage in the league, nary an All-Star and almost unlimited options going forward. The ASG have been mute and the best of Ferry is yet to come. I'm extremely proud of this group, enjoying the hell out their style of play. I'm not dissillusioned into thinking we need to do something big to become a contender overnight at the expense of disregarding how well this "transitional", "rebuilding" team is playing. You all do realize there's a possibility a big move can actually weaken us and our chemistry (see LA Lakers). We've had a max player before. He's on the second-highest payroll in the league yet just a game in front of us.

And of all this talk of Paul and/ or Howard next summer, damn them. If you're really aiming high with your pipe dreams, wait for LeBron in a couple years. Teague, Josh, and Al projects a whole lot better than Chalmers, Wade, and Bosh. If Jenkins turns into the lights-out three point shooter we expect, Lou off the bench, and a dominant rebounder (Drummond) if we have to part with either Josh or Al, that doesn't sound too bad does it? Doesn't hurt LeBron went to a conference and NBA Final under Ferry's management when he was a baby with an awful roster and widely-hated coach.

I apologize to those long-time members of the board who absolutely despise that we're as good if not better without Joe. I tried to tell you for years. And the ones who only find time to post after a loss as if it gets us closer to acquiring Silly Dwight, stop posting alltogether if you aren't behind the Hawks Brand.

I'm copping my ticket today to the Heat game, which we will win. I advise y'all to do the same if you haven't already, it's gonna be crazy. Leggo.

Edited February 14, 2013 by benhillboy

[Randy]

Nice review and I'm pretty much in agreement. I noticed Josh is shooting 35% from 3. That's a credible number - better than Harris and Tolliver and I don't groan when they shoot. So maybe I should give him a pass on that. (BTW - I don't recall Joe Johnson hitting that well from 3 for some season.) He does have to do something about his free throws.

Overall I like this team a lot better than the last several years. Given the number of 3 point threats they can probably beat anyone on a good night. The ball movement is great and they are entertaining to watch. This is not your father's boring Hawks team.

[Peoriabird]

You forgot to give props to Zaza!

[benhillboy]

You forgot to give props to Zaza!

True, true. He certainly has his nights providing toughness and rebounding. Kinda disregarded him with the longer injury hiatus than we're used to seeing with him. Lost him in the shuffle compared to last season when he filled in for Al and was huge. Colin could tell you much better than I can. Edited February 15, 2013 by benhillboy

[Bahamut]

True, true. He certainly has his nights providing toughness and offensive rebounding.

I wish more of the Hawks would take this seriously.

Edited February 15, 2013 by Bahamut

[drzachary]

On Teague, his assisting is a little better than you think, maybe!

Here's a good measurement you could keep in mind, the percentage of a teammates' shots that a given player assisted while on the floor:

Assist Pct

1. Rajon Rondo-BOS 50.2 2. Chris Paul-LAC 47.3 3. Greivis Vasquez-NOH 47.2 4. Jose Calderon-TOT 43.0 5. Tony Parker-SAS 40.9 6. Jrue Holiday-PHI 40.9 7. Russell Westbrook-OKC 40.0 8. Deron Williams-BRK 36.8 9. Steve Nash-LAL 35.1 10. Jamaal Tinsley-UTA 34.5 11. Jeff Teague-ATL 34.5 12. Kyle Lowry-TOR 34.2 13. LeBron James-MIA 34.1 14. Jameer Nelson-ORL 33.6 15. Jose Barea-MIN 33.2 16. Andre Miller-DEN 32.7 17. Jarrett Jack-GSW 32.7 18. Nate Robinson-CHI 32.3 19. Goran Dragic-PHO 32.0 20. Raymond Felton-NYK 31.1

Edit: well that formatted weirdly. Anyways, Jeff is right outside the top 10, effectively tied for 10th.

Edited February 15, 2013 by drzachary