Atlanta Hawks: On Magic Tricks and Josh’s Jumpers
Nice write-up by Ken S. today on the Hawks’ issues stopping Dwight Howard and the Magic. Also a compelling counterpoint at Hoopinion (thanks to commenter GMAN013 for pointing it out) stating that the Hawks’ problems against the Magic have “less to do with defensive game plans than Atlanta’s complete and utter inability to score against the Magic.”
Josh Smith shooting from where he's most effective. (Curtis Compton, ccompton@ajc.com)
But instead of adding my two cents to those takes, I’m going back to something I wrote about on Monday and have been trying to get my head around since. Why does Smoove continue to take jump shots when he’s only making them at a 37 percent clip at 28.3 effective field-goal percentage? Emailer Aaron, citing Hoopdata.com, broke it down even further: “Josh Smith is shooting 28.5% (28% after the Bucks game) on jumpshots in the 16-23 feet range. His career 3 pt% is 26.6%, meaning the decision to take long 2pt jumpshots over 3pt shots has cost the Hawks 21 points this season.”
Clearly Josh is just not good at shooting jumpers. Apparently everyone but Josh can see that he should stop taking them. How can he say he doesn’t notice when fans groan as soon as he catches the ball on the perimeter and looks at the basket. Heck, they dang near yell at him when he starts his windup. Why would he think “it will get better” when it’s not? How can he say he takes jumpers because they are available when the reason they are available is because opponents want him to shoot them? They get a double bonus because he’s very likely to miss and he’s nowhere near the rim for the rebound.
Then again, how can I be asking all these questions about a guy who’s been the most consistent Hawks performer all season? (Though I noticed Al lately has overtaken Josh to lead the Hawks in both on-court, off-court influence and adjusted plus-minus.) Honestly, I felt kind of jerky asking Josh why he takes jumpers. It felt like nitpicking at what might be the only consistent, glaring negative in his game this season. But because it’s so glaring and consistent I had to find out his thinking on the subject but instead of clearing things up it only confused me more.
Woody doesn’t really harp on the issue when I ask him about it. At first Smoove said Woody tells him to drive to the basket “all the time” but then added he doesn’t get on him too much “because he knows I play hard at both ends.” And I understand that but it’s got to be hard watching plays like that 20-footer he missed when the Hawks trailed San Antonio 101-97 the other night. Are decisions like that going to cost the Hawks in close playoff games?
I don’t understand why Josh keeps shooting jumpers but maybe it’s as simple as the more everyone thinks he can’t the more he thinks he can.
“I’m a confident player,” he said. “I believe in myself, not what somebody else believes in me.”
At this point, the Hawks might just need to hope Josh watches film again this summer and decides on his own he needs to quit taking those long jump shots.
– Ken S. has the game tonight.
MC
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559 comments Add your comment
KevinA
March 24th, 2010
11:17 pm
David,
who cares – a top 20 is just fine.
drmaryb
March 24th, 2010
11:18 pm
WOODY
You are NOT responsible that Billy Knight didn’t draft Chris nor Deron when tje GLARING need was @ PG.
But Bibby is giving ALL he’s GOT! I just flat out LOVE Bibby! He’s PURFECY on this TEAM… SMART & UNSELFISH… He Loves & Supports ALL his mates! He is a floor general & makes his team bettert!
Josh is GROWN & SEXY!
Jamal is the difference!
Joe is my DADDY!
WOODY is my COACH!
KevinA
March 24th, 2010
11:21 pm
JeJe
depending on what numbers you look at – Josh is rated #6. With a good PG out team could go from top #6-12 to top 4
Najeh Davenpoop
March 24th, 2010
11:22 pm
I just got back from the game. Holy f-cking sh-t. That was the best finish I have ever seen, in person or in TV. I sat in the lower level for the first time ever and I couldn’t have picked a better game to do so. That arena was going crazy.
I’d like to give props to someone who takes a lot of sh-t from all of us, including me. Mike Woodson coached an incredible game today. No two ways about it. When the Hawks’ offense bogged down, he put Bibby back in to settle it down and run the show. He made it a point to attack Vince Carter and Rashard Lewis in the post with Josh today, knowing that neither one could guard him.
And most importantly of all, he finally figured out how to defend the Magic. Dwight Howard dominated on the boards, but none of the Magic shooters ever got into a rhythm, because the Hawks made it a point of emphasis to deny them any easy looks. This is the key to beating them. Let Dwight get his — send him to the line if you have to — but shut down the shooters at all costs. It’s not even like the Hawks completely abandoned the double team; they doubled Howard quite often in this game, but they always made it a point to rotate to the shooters, even if it meant leaving Howard before he passed the ball.
The only complaint I have is that somehow our beloved fan base found a way to not sell out this game. There were a ton of empty seats in the upper level, and even the lower level wasn’t entirely full. That was really disappointing. It brings me back to the point I made on Schultz’s article the other day — move the 7 PM games to 7:30 or 8 and attendance will go up.
KevinA
March 24th, 2010
11:23 pm
drmaryb,
I agree with you about Bibby in a 20 min per game role. Just star in diminished minutes.
Najeh Davenpoop
March 24th, 2010
11:26 pm
The one huge, glaring flaw the Hawks still have that Woody has to find a way to fix is the continued offensive struggles against the zone defense. The Magic erased the Hawks’ 10 point lead because they switched to a zone, and as soon as they went back to man-to-man the Hawks’ offense started working again. This is something they absolutely have to get fixed. But that aside, tonight for the first time Woody looked like a coach that can win a championship.
David
March 24th, 2010
11:29 pm
@KevinA,
I was simply responding to JeJe’s assertion that Smoove will soon be a top 10 player.
jb
March 24th, 2010
11:30 pm
How can anyone question the progress the hawks have made?…….oh yes the ajc…but then agian the ajc hates the owners….why? i do not know…maybe the jerks who own the paper can explain
vava74
March 24th, 2010
11:32 pm
Najeh,
We were close to 10 minutes without a basket in the 4th… not championship material.
Fortunately Josh hit his 1 for 4 jump shot average at the right time and then saved our asses.
I am quite surprised that Carter hit that clutch shot, it seems that he is improving and becoming more reliable with the age.
However, Woody’s beloved switching D gave 2 easy looks to Carter with Al switching to him on ORL’s last two possessions.
Again, not championship material.
Ree Roe
March 24th, 2010
11:40 pm
Happy 52nd birthday Woody. Did yall know today was Jamal’s 666 game? Scary…
-gREEt Roe!!!
vava74
March 24th, 2010
11:41 pm
In our defense:
The refs were plain awful again, bailing out Howard with bad calls against us and non calls benefiting him (elbow to Marvin’s face, for instance).
Also, on the last play, Carter pushes JJ on the hip and that should have been a foul called against ORL but the refs were not going to call it.
JustChillFans
March 24th, 2010
11:43 pm
Its actually a good thing that we played the switch defense. If we didnt then nelson and howard would have ran pick an roll on bibby and horford and howard would have had 20 alley-oops.
JeJe
March 24th, 2010
11:44 pm
WHY DOES WOODSON CALL TIMEOUTS AT THE END WHEN IT’S CLOSE? THE PLAY IS JUST GONNA BE AN ISO.
DO NOT LET THE OTHER TEAM SET UP A DEFENSE.
IDIOT
cp
March 24th, 2010
11:50 pm
Very big win.. My only complaint is how our offense went stagnant again in the 4th quarter. We really have to fix this in time for the playoffs. And it might be time to start Mo and let Marvin come off the bench. We don’t have many games left so why not try it now and see how it works. If it goes well stick with it. If not then move Marvin back into his spot. I doubt we do it but I don’t think it could hurt.
The Bird and Indian (Reggie)
March 24th, 2010
11:53 pm
David: Do us all a favor and never post on here again. The Celtics have 3 likely hall of fame players. Don’t act like they are washed up. When healthy, they are as good as any team in the league.
Josh Smith does have a chance to be a top 10 player. You do realize that he is just 24? A lot of second year players are that old. Many players don’t prime until 30. Take your idiocy and negativity to another blog. I think I had problems with you last year.
David
March 24th, 2010
11:59 pm
Reggie–The Celtics are washed up. If they were not, they’d have the best record in the league, given the personnel.
JeJe
March 25th, 2010
12:05 am
WOODSON CALLS FOR RETARDED SWITCHES ON P&RS.
HE BURNS CRUCIAL TIMEOUTS DOWN THE STRETCH SO HE CAN CALL JJ ISOS WHEN THEY’D BE MORE CONVENIENT IF WE JUST RAN THEM WHEN OTHER TEAM COULDN’T PREPARE (LIKE THAT LAST SHOT).
DAMNIT WOODSON. STOP HOLDING US BACK
DID ORLANDO INTENTIONALLY LOSE TO HELP US TOWARD THAT #3 SEED? THEY KNOW THEY’LL OWN US IN A SERIES
drmaryb
March 25th, 2010
12:20 am
Kevin A.
I like that 20 mins scenario for BIBBY at key moments. That’s what great coaches can do.
Woody like Josh both started as rooks & clashed in the beginning. People need to remember this is Woody’s 1st job. Shouldn’t Woody get the benefit of a learnig curve?
Woody has gotten better each year … Along with Josh. Horford came as a Grown Azz Man. NBA Ready & 4 Years of coaching under Donnavan. Look at Joakim Noah & David Lee. The GATORS were CHAMPS because of these 3 players…& They are ALL great NBA players.
My Point is that all their teams are glad they drafted these guys & they are greayt fits on all their teams.
The Hawks would have never got Horford … IF… We didn’t suck the year prior!
Again, Billy Knight deserves credit for bringing Joe some HELP…with Horford &
Josh & ZaZa & Marvin & Mo.
I LOVE MY TEAM!
We need a deeper bench to back up the afore-mentioned players.
This BLOG needs to Understand that any other coach & JJ would never come here!
Under those conditions. So give Woody & Joe credit for EVEN coming toi this F#*ked Up Franchise! &
Giving us a WINNER!
Najeh Davenpoop
March 25th, 2010
12:21 am
Some of y’all are f-cking insane. The Hawks played great and Woody coached an amazing game. Yes, the Hawks displayed their zone defense issues again, but you cannot overlook the incredible defense they played in this game, including during that stretch. How y’all are still b-tching is beyond me.
o.O-Mac-Town -Macon, Georgia- Westsider-O.o
March 25th, 2010
12:22 am
I have a question people….ESPN clearly put it out there for everybody to see that JJ took 3 steps before his shot and Smoove’s EPIC finish.
Can ORL appeal??????????
Clyde
March 25th, 2010
12:22 am
We got away with the win but we are still having problems scoring in the 4th quarter.
FIRE WOODY
Najeh Davenpoop
March 25th, 2010
12:30 am
I don’t put too much stock into +/-, so take this for what it’s worth. But in today’s game, Marvin was -16 and Mo Evans was +16. Neither was on the court at the same time from what I remember, and both were primarily at small forward while they were on the floor. That is pretty astonishing.
drmaryb
March 25th, 2010
12:49 am
CLYDE
Is a RETARD!
Whenever You see his name … Get Your SCROLL – ON! OMG he’s so smart…he sell’s T-SHIRTS! Or does he even sell any?
Something a Cave-Man can do! Maybe even a Monkey can do that!
He has nothing of substance to say … Its always the same old tired AZZ chant…something @ Firing Somebody?
Who is his answer for a REPLACEMENT! OMG! There is no recommendation of WHO he would hire.
This guy is like toilet-paper…ClYDE is good for wiping the SHIAAT OFF YOUR AZZ!
A BROKEN RECORD…An old 8-TRACK TAPE that is STUCK in the 70’s…it just says the same thing over &over & over … Until you pull the plug on it …or drop it off at a GOODWILL.
Whew! I’m so Happy that the HAWKs are gonna reach 50 wins & Play .500 on the road!
Grandad
March 25th, 2010
12:54 am
o.o-m-T-M,G-W-o0:
I wonder if ESPN would bring it to everyone’s attn if LbJ took more than
his alloted 8 or 9 steps.
As a matter of fact didn’t Lebron have the rules changed again so players can take more steps so he will look even more “Fantastic”!
Yeah Joe took 3 steps, but that hardly makes up for the 400 times he doesn’t get a call that certain other ‘Stern favorites’ seem to get
routinly. I hardly ever watch espn anyway.
Lets just say they are not very objective and are very regionalized in their coverage.
Sorry about your handle, I lost track???
Wabe
March 25th, 2010
1:05 am
Co-sign everything Najeh said. I was at the game and that finish was priceless. I had upper level seats, but it still was the SH!!!!!
Best time ever.
Grandad
March 25th, 2010
1:10 am
drmaryb:
I don’t think Clyde is a retard.
He has a very persistent, rational, lucid, thoughtful, logical & judicious viewpoint. One which he has shared with us abundantly.
Please don’t talk so ugly about Clyde. It’s not very nice.
drmaryb, out of respect to you, I won’t call Wdsn a retard.
Go Hawks; This one’s for Clyde-Roll Tide.[unless they play the Dawgs]
HawksFan11
March 25th, 2010
1:21 am
Try as we might, you gotta be hard-pressed to find fault with this one. The crowd was rockin’, The team D was smothering, the Hawks all kept their heads even though they played 5 on 8 the whole game. The coach managed a masterful game, guards recognized when their shots weren’t falling and played unselfishly, inside out game, just can’t say enough about the total team effort tonight.
Did I mention the defensive game the Hawks played tonight? And Josh Smith really showed his maturity, playing with 5 fouls and keeping his head in the game down the stretch.
Truling outstanding.
GO HAWKS!
drmaryb
March 25th, 2010
1:21 am
Grandad
You rock. I loved your last post
chuck chuck
March 25th, 2010
1:26 am
yo mr.najeh,
i think that people are a little nutty tonite to but you got to admit,a lot of games we played this year and lost or almost lost is because of woodson.
yes he did coach a decent game tonight but neither he nor this team is consistent.
i am a true hawks fan and will support this team!
but i will not pretend like this team is ready for the big time when they do have a coach who is holding them back.
he might be a nice person,but woodson is holding this team back!
drmaryb
March 25th, 2010
1:30 am
jeJe
STHU! Go to sleep?
chuck chuck
March 25th, 2010
1:33 am
drmaryb,
you must be mrs.mike woodson. how is your hubby holding up after that win? josh bailed he and johnson out tonight.the 2nd last second shot that josh has missed in a row.
why is it that your husband lets the hot hand cool off and goes into this play my starters till they show up mode?
could it be that because they are sluggish in the 1st half and 1 quarter as of recently,is because of the minutes they have been playing?
and the bench,mrs.woodson,is a little more rested?
before you tuck him in tonight and shine off that bald head of his with some good old fashion murrays in the orange can hair grease,talk to him about that,will you?
thanks mrs.woodson,err umm,drmaryb
chuck chuck
March 25th, 2010
1:35 am
jeje,
i seriously doubt that my friend.
if so,that could come back to bite them in da tush.
im not saying that we will beat them,but,if drew is coaching then maybe we got a chance
chuck chuck
March 25th, 2010
1:36 am
my bad,i meant that was the 2nd last second shot that joe johnson missed in a row
magic fan mike
March 25th, 2010
1:39 am
murrays in the orange can?chuck you are showing your age for real.
great game hawks fans,but you all know that we were a little off tonight and if we had boxed out at the end we would have trumped you all in OT. see you in the playoffs,and then,you can watch us beat king james and cleveland. bad luck to you.
Najeh Davenpoop
March 25th, 2010
1:44 am
chuck chuck, I give Woody plenty of criticism too, and it wouldn’t have surprised me at all if he had found a way to screw this game up. But Woody simply coached a great game tonight. He deserves his props. Will he continue that? I hope so, but I’ll wait to see it before I believe it.
drmaryb
March 25th, 2010
1:48 am
Grandad
I’ve been posting up CLYDE since 2007!
He’s been Firing People since probably way before then. We have had our rounds over the years & he
before then. His post seems to always end in the same two words or less.
Every once in a blue moon … Clyde wil elaborate but due to his laziness? Not very often.
Clyde is like 28 year old wall-paper… Always the same…Never changes…Just turns yellow over tyme.
PLease Don’t feel sorry for this guy….He wants to add to the Unemployment %.
Clyde never gives credit when it is due…So don’t return him any favors.
I like your post…entertaining & thoughtful…& everybody gets to keep working!
The Hawks have inmproved each year under Woody & All the ELITE coaches thAt everyone pines for? They have systematically refused to come here when we were LOSERS!
So FIRE CLYDE & Scroll Past his tired AZZ Posts!
tjhook
March 25th, 2010
3:14 am
drmaryb, I’m not in the FIRE WOODSON club yet, but he does need to get a clue (or an offensive strategist) regarding how to construct an offensive attack when we are in a slump. I understand isolation, but five players are on the court because they are all supposed to be a threat to put the ball in the basket. Woodson doesn’t coach like that is a reality. He preaches team ball but late he places ALL the scoring responsibilities in one or two hands. A coach simply does not do that – coaches set up plays to make scoring a basket easier. And usually have an assortment of them to make sure the attack is not predictable.
vava74
March 25th, 2010
5:01 am
In the meantime, you should all take a look at what my favourite NBA analyst (Charley Rosen) has to say about the Hawks and last night’s game:
http://msn.foxsports.com/nba/story/hawks%27-offense-won%27t-cut-it-in-playoffs
FYI this guy has always said that Woody was making a very good job with wat he was given and has been pointing in the past out two major flaws in our roster: Josh’z immaturity ad Bibby’ decaying game.
More, this guy has no hidden agenda – like ESPN guys – and is “defense first” guy.
O'Brien
March 25th, 2010
7:09 am
Great win for Woody and the Hawks. It wasn’t pretty, but overall, our defense was good, we did a good job guarding Howard, and we made enough plays to win, showing some mental toughness. Great job guys.
I liked the substitutions Woody made, and the combination of guys he was using. One of his better coaching jobs so far.
Vava,
Although Carter fouled JJ on that last shot, if you look at the replay, it looks like JJ took 3 steps to get that shot off, so the refs could have called a travel too. However, LeBron and the other stars get away with steps all the time, so it was good to see JJ get the benefit of the doubt with the game on the line.
Charley Rosen lays into the Hawks in his article you posted, but I agreed with 2 of his points.
“Their strategy of switching every screen and roll led to too many mismatches (of which the Magic failed to take full advantage)”;
“As the weak sisters are weeded out of the playoff picture, the defenses of the surviving teams get sharper and smarter with each succeeding round and iso-oriented offenses become increasingly ineffective”.
But all things considered, Hawks have to be pleased with this win. Regardless of how it looked, we needed this win bad.
Now I see why Rod does not say much when Marvin has a good game. Because chances are, he will disappear again for the next 5. How can one guy with so much talent and potential be so inconsistent?
SWAT Native
March 25th, 2010
7:26 am
If they want to call the travel on Joe Johnson, how about the arm-fully-extended push offs that Dwight Howard got away with on almost every drive?
Nacho
March 25th, 2010
7:41 am
I wish Dwight Howard, the king and Wade could all play for Boston. That way the NBA refs would have an easier time making bad calls.
Dwight Howard is a cry baby who expects to get fouls called for him when someone’s nose hits his elbow.
The NBA has little credibility.
Daniel
March 25th, 2010
8:19 am
great win for the team last night, boy did we need that one badly. I want to second Najeh’s comments. I was at the game and boy was it exciting. We must give Woodson credit for OUT COACHING SVG. C’mon guys, I am not saying the guy is perfect but give credit where credit is due. Najeh, I do see that we have some trouble scoring against zone, particularly if Crawford is not shooting well, but I really thought the team tightened up big time down the stretch and were playing to not to lose. Nice defensive substitutions and of course Josh Smith playing the superstar role helps. Great defensive game and great EFFORT. (that was for you fundamentals)
Samuel
March 25th, 2010
8:30 am
Woody=COY
Eric
March 25th, 2010
8:32 am
Woody let ZaZa pick up like 4 fouls in 1 minute.
WHERE WAS COLLINS?
WHY DID WE SIGN HIM
Eric
March 25th, 2010
8:42 am
I THOUGHT WE SIGNED JASON COLLINS IN ORDER TO GUARD THE RUGGED BIGS IN THE NBA
WHY THE HECK IS HE ON THIS TEAM?
DAMNIT
Fundamentals
March 25th, 2010
8:45 am
Daniel knows me well. Thank you to the second unit for proving all we needed was intensity and effort. Crawford & Mo hit a few shots, they got some boards on the defensive side and all the sudden we’re rolling. Hopefully this is an important lesson learned. Next is to prove it to ourselves against the Cavs. All it takes is believing in yourself.
Bad start, shakey confidence at times, but in the end an awesome W. Looking forward to good things to come now that they’ve overcome this challenge. Let’s turn the Magic into the Celtics now that we know we can win.
JeJe
March 25th, 2010
8:48 am
Last night’s game is tough to gauge. No one really played that well and Rashard and Vince are still in hiding for the playoffs. Don’t forget Redick, R.Anderson (who owns us but doesn’t play), J.Will and AJ who can all hit every 3 they take.
I don’t think we can or will beat this team in a series. It’s not our fault — this is the deepest team in the NBA, has every position and skill set covered extensively, and will beat LAL in an NBA Finals rematch
JeJe
March 25th, 2010
8:50 am
How did Teague only play 5 min last night? He had a nice dish for a dunk. WTF is Woody’s agenda with rookie pgs? Makes no sense at all. He says Teague will take ov er after the vets are gone. First, Woodson is gone after this year — second, Bibby sucks and doesn’t defend. He is only good for the occasional 3
ggg
March 25th, 2010
8:52 am
Jeje and eric are the same person
vava74
March 25th, 2010
8:56 am
OB,
Charley Rosen is 95% of the times spot on and regrettably he is right again.
Our offense is non existent since we basically resort to playground bball: each player receaves a number of ISO oportunities and that’s it.
To play a zone involves strategy and orchestrated movements to blitz it.
For instance, if we placed Josh at the free throw line (and not close to the 3point line) with the rock in his hands and then we had two cutters (Craw and JJ) getting some space out off elbow picks set by Al and Marvin we would be a lot more effective.
Since we do not have a penetrating PG, I think this would be our best option to score against the zone.
Apart from the passing which Josh could bring from that position, he would be close enough to make a few jump shots (he is acceptable within 15 feet) and to drive and pop from closer (10-12 feet).