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
ILL-logical
March 25th, 2010
9:03 am
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.
@MC: Not good ,as in not good journalism( see Fox News analysis posted above) and not good nonesense.
On the second point, commen sense would tell you that you cannot improve on a task if you don’t practice it.As several commentaors remarked on the various networks remarked(see ,for instance,D. Scott@NBATV), regarding the issue,The EXPERTS opinions were that if he is open he HAS to take the shot.
As it relates to the Fox analysis,the lack of any offensive scheme is a factor as well.IMHO, if there was a scheme that put players other than the usual suspects in a position to do what they do best on a regular and consistent basis the jump shooting issue would be less of a concern.
Which brings me to my main concern. Call me cynical, but your comments sound very much like “someone” said you are getting on me about iso, why aren’t you getting on x about his jump shot.
The primary challenges for the Hawks going forward have very little to do with Josh’s jump shooting ability per se, especially if you listen to to what the national media has been harping on ever since the team has been more exposed (pun intended) during their ascent into the upper echelons of the NBA.And the person directly responsible for addressing those concerns keeps playing games with the local media. Don’t be an enabler!
kwooden1
March 25th, 2010
9:37 am
GREAT WIN!!!!!
vava74 the article by Rosen seems right on point. I think the lack of post up players with several moves, will make it very difficult to beat either Cleveland or Orlando in a seven game series. Cleveland is playing great now and Orlando was playing great until last night. But the HAWKS shold feel really good about where they are right now. They’ve played Cleveland tough and they’ve finally found away to play against Orlando. Their starting to win close games, which I think is the most important factor in the playoffs. Orlando and Cleveland will be feeling all the pressure, because of the money they’ve spent and the expectations. Also, we’re still not playing as well as we can. If JJ and Crawford shoot at their normal percentages last night, I think the HAWKS win even if Orlando is shooting better.
GO HAWKS!!!
ILL-logical
March 25th, 2010
9:44 am
RE: The Game.
A great 52nd Birthday present for Coach Woodson.A Belated Happy Birthday!
Wabe
March 25th, 2010
10:05 am
Now that I’ve come down a bit from last night, let me just say, WOW!
Credit the defense for last night’s win. Holding the Magic to 84 points is a feat in itself. Considering how well the Magic have been playing and the way we lost to the surging Bucks that last game just makes it all the more better.
I’ll ask this, Ryan Anderson got NO PT in last night’s game. I’m a bit surprised by this considering Rashard only had 6 points/5 boards in about 40 minutes. Anderson’s killed the Hawks in games past, but he didn’t even see the floor last night. Pretty crazy.
Najeh Davenpoop
March 25th, 2010
11:19 am
Charley Rosen says what all of us already know, that the Hawks don’t run plays and are inconsistent offensively as a result. He usually does a good job observing things, but he has always been terrible at translating his observations into meaningful conclusions that are not just the doom-and-gloom scenario. Case in point, the guy said in 2002 that LeBron James would never be more than an average NBA player, even though common sense dictated otherwise.
Yesterday’s game proved that the Hawks are capable of playing a competitive series with Orlando. For Rosen to imply that the Hawks won simply because the Magic didn’t take advantage of mismatches is intellectually dishonest. The Hawks won because they played terrific defense — yes, even with the switching — and they created enough perimeter and transition buckets to win. I don’t think they will necessarily win a series with Orlando, but they are capable of stretching it to 7 games like they did with Boston in 2007 if they use the strategy they used yesterday. In any case, they are a lot closer to Orlando’s level than they are to Milwaukee, which is not what Rosen would have you believe.
Yetta
March 25th, 2010
11:49 am
You think Josh is the only player who misses jump shots; apparently you are just watching him. he only makes a few per game while others make far more and misses just as many. Josh contributes far more than any other. He gets us to the lead and when he sits on the bench to rest, we lose the lead. We do better when he is on the floor. As for the jump shots; JJ bounces the ball until the last few seconds and passes it to Josh who has no other choice but to shoot. The question is what is wrong with JJ? Why doesn’t he pass the ball to someone else. Sometime I think he wants out of Atlanta.
VickSwitchHitter
March 25th, 2010
2:34 pm
The way that Josh Smith shoots jump shots, it appears when he is missing them in games, that he is just practicing jump shooting for the first time. Josh always seems to hit the front of the rim and bounce short. However, to Josh’s credit, he made a BIG jump shot last night down the stretch to keep the Hawks on life support. Then he swooped in on Joe Johnson’s miss near the end like an eagle coming in for her youngins and slammed it down the pipe to seal the Hawks win. God, what a thing of beauty and a hugh lift, finally getting the gorilla off the Hawks back knocking out the Magic.
WolfmanJack
March 26th, 2010
12:49 pm
Good News for Hawks Fans: The Hawks WILL win the NBA title either this June or next year in June. I’ll tell you why. The development of the Hawks players will be so dramatic that they will have more talent than anybody else. Let me explain. OK. The hawks placed two guys in the all-star game and deservedly so. Joe Johnson AND Al Horford made it, while Josh Smith and Jamal Craford missed the squad. (Both should have made the all-star team). So the Hawks have four guys on their roster (which is the assumption with most hawk fans) who have all-star talents. I agree. We already know that Joe Johnson will be a first-ballot hall of famer so we already know what his skill sets are. Josh Smith: if josh improves over the summer and shoots at least 10,000 jump shots per day, by the time the next season rolls around, Josh will be as good as LaBron James. Next, AL Horford. As I stated in my blog earlier, should Al Horford continue his progresion and get dramatically better, by the end of next season, “Big” Al should be as good as Wilt Chamberlain. Next up. Jamal Crawford. Jamal has scored 50 points about 5 times in his career, second only to Wilt Chamberland, Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant. If Jamal continues to improve at the rate he is going, he should be approximately as good as Jerry West by the end of next year. So there you have it folks. The Hawks roster by the end of next season should be lethal and very dangerous certainly capable of winning a title if they dont do it next year. In fact by the end of the nba season next year, I’ll go out on a limb to say the Hawks may be wrapping up their second consecutive world championship title. I’d say based on those predictions that the Hawks are certainly headed in the right direction. Woody is guiding the troops right into the Promised Land.
sheryl
April 18th, 2010
11:10 pm
Why is it that it often appears that Josh Smith is the only player in the NBA who appears to play under a microscope? LAYOFF!!!! Let’s see now – youngest player to 1000 blocks – but goes largely unnoticed!!! He also surpassed 500 steals – but goes largely unnoticed!!!! The most hardworking defensive player in the NBA – I know this because I am a season ticket holder on row A right behind the Hawks bench, and the commitment and emotional level he brings to the game, and his teammates is incredible! If you people read about the Hawks, you might have read (but obviously not) that Josh works on that shot in practice and consistently hits it then. Personally, I think he should work on a shot off the glass because it would probably give him a better “shot” at shooting a higher percentage when he’s not under the basket. Why do you think he misses a shot in games that he consistenly hits in practice? Maybe it’s because he cares so much, and wants so much to make the shot that he’s psychologicolizing himself ( a word I made up a long time ago when my son was playing basketball). Hearing the crowd groan is probably not alot of help. Same with his free throws – look at his face – you can see how much he cares. It seems like the fact that he does EVERYTHING else a player can possibly do to help win a game gets lost in the shuffle when it comes to this 24 year old, who should have been an Allstar and should be defensive player of the year. Stop putting him under a microscope and enjoy a fantastic player who loves the game of basketball.