Atlanta Hawks: Is Bibby beat down?
The calendar says Bibby will be 33 in May, so he’s still a young man in the real world. But in NBA terms, it means Bibby is in the twilight of a distinguished career that is at 1013 games (including playoffs) and counting.
The numbers say Bibby’s offensive production and efficiency have fallen off as the season grows longer, even when viewing them in the narrow context of his role as a spot-up shooter. That suggests that Bibby might be wearing down as the season approaches the All-Star break.
Even Bibby, not one to usually give much credence to his age as a limiting factor, acknowledges that he doesn’t quite have the same bounce at this time of year as seasons past.
“It’s different,” he said. “I can definitely feel . . . I am not going to say I feel my age. Because what I still do out there is I’ve catered myself to the roll of taking care of the team and making sure everybody is doing what they need to be doing and making sure they have fun and do what it takes to win.”
L.D. said the video evidence also suggests Bibby is tiring. But he said he has no plans to systemically reduce Bibby’s minutes after they increased from October/November to December to January.
“He may be experiencing a little [fatigue],” he said. “I have been watching a lot of film of him earlier in the season versus now, and clearly you can see a difference in how he’s moving. And his legs may be a little tired. It won’t be a situation of me giving up on him or me really cutting his minutes down. If I cut his minutes down, it will only be because of how the game is going, [if] we are in a pretty good rhythm.”
Drew said Atlanta’s W at Washington was such a case. Bibby sat for the final 17 minutes as L.D. opted to close with a Jamal/J.J./Damien/Marvin/Smoove alignment (sans injured Al).
“In those type situations, those will be the times when he will be limited, especially in the second half,” L.D. said. “But for the most part his minutes will stay consistent.”
Bibby’s outside shooting, meanwhile, is on a downward trend both in terms of his 3-point shooting and his attempts from 16 to 23 feet. He has a knack for getting open for the latter shot type by using pump fakes or a quick step-in after the catch, but the Hoopdate shot location stats show that he’s taking fewer of those attempts and making them less often without the benefit of an assist.
(Complied using data from Hoopdata.com)
Playing 18 games in October/November, Bibby was 38 of 73 on 3-pointers (52.1 percent). He made 19 of 49 attempts from 16 to 23 feet (38.8 percent) with 10 of them (53 percent) assisted.
Playing 17 games in December, Bibby was 33 of 73 on 3-pointers (45.2 percent). He made 24 of 53 attempts from 16 to 23 feet (45.3 percent) with 13 of them (54 percent) assisted.
Playing 13 games in January, Bibby was 26 of 67 on 3-pointers (38.8 percent). He made 4 of 20 attempts from 16 to 23 feet (20 percent) with three of them assisted (75 percent).
Playing three games in February, Bibby is 4 of 15 on 3-pointers (26.7 percent). He has made 0 of 4 attempts from 16 to 23 feet.
Considering his defensive limitations and relative lack of production as a playmaker, Bibby obviously is much less valuable to the Hawks if he’s not making shots at a high clip.
“Everybody looks at it like I am not scoring as much, but I really don’t have to,” Bibby said. “We’ve got three All-Stars [he's counting Josh] and the sixth man of the year. My job is not to score. My main thing I want to do is when that ball makes it around to me, make the shot and kind of spread the floor for them.”
With the recent dip in shooting, Bibby’s season percentage on shots from 16 to 23 feet (38) is now less than the league average (39.4). His 3-point percentage (44) is still well above the league average (36).
Bibby likens his current situation to his time in Sacramento. He was younger then but he played more minutes and carried a bigger offensive burden than he does now.
“You always need a break,” he said. “Everybody always says it isn’t a sprint, it’s a marathon. It takes a toll on your body. Everybody always sees the glamorous parts. . . . No one gets to see the grind. I’ve been preparing myself for this grind. I am not like I was when I was younger, to where I could go full-fledged practice every day, all day, for nine months straight. I let [Drew] know how I am feeling the next day and stuff like that. Coming from coaches that have played, they understand.”
Injury report
Al, still recuperating from his fall, sat out practice today. He was in the training room so I didn’t get to check with him but he told Ken S. the other night he would play tomorrow against the Sixers.
“I am sure Wally [Blase] will be listening to Al to see how he feels,” L.D. said. “If he feels like he can go, I am sure he will let him go.”
J.J. also didn’t practice because of some tendinitis in his left knee that he termed “no big deal.” He said he will play against the Sixers.
Smoove was limited because of his left knee but he’s expected to play tomorrow, too.
Only Al appears on the Hawks’ injury report.
Michael Cunningham, Hawks beat
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184 comments Add your comment
slimjr
February 8th, 2011
9:52 am
I can’t wait to see how the Hawks will perform on this West coast/7 game rd trip starting next week!! Bet you Sund can’t wait either…………………
The Hawks probably will not be playing the Knicks in the 1st rd. after they finish up the road trip in 2 weeks…It’s going to be Chicago or Orlando then they will meet up with the Celtics. Which will be brutal for them…..A butt kickin…..
hawks_4_life
February 8th, 2011
10:05 am
Najeh,
Thanks a million.
kuhndog
February 8th, 2011
10:17 am
Jamison& Mo Williams to Atl Bibby&M Williams to Cleve. I love the Hawks and will support them reguardless, but I believe teams exploit the Bibby defensive liability.
Rufus1
February 8th, 2011
10:17 am
The Hate..
The national Hate for the Hawks is THICK!!!
lewis
February 8th, 2011
10:21 am
Najeh,
no win is easy for the Hawks because they have to expend so much energy covering the liabilities of our PGs. What would make things easy is a freaking penetrating point guard who could hit 3’s already =)
Rufus1
February 8th, 2011
10:27 am
LD seeing the LIGHT….
I think LD is starting to see the LIGHT when it comes to Bibby. His reduction in minutes over the past couple of games maybe an indicator, of an acknowledgement of Bibby’s decline. (Jamal and Marvin finishing games)
I think LD thought he could overcome the negatives of Bibby’s game with his scheme, but it hasn’t. A PERSON CAN PLAY SO POORLY THAT HIS GAME CAN NOLONGER BE DEFENDED…BIBBY IS LD’S IDEA PG, BUT HE CAN NOLONGER GET IT DONE.
PS. We would have won this many games with Bibby or Teague as our starting PG.
Rufus1
February 8th, 2011
10:29 am
Aaron Brooks for Teague and 1st rounder
or
Aaron Brooks for Teague and JC2
slimjr
February 8th, 2011
10:46 am
“The Hate..
The national Hate for the Hawks is THICK!!!
Hawks= 43 year of futility..what do you expect?????
kwooden
February 8th, 2011
10:58 am
Rufus, nice idea.
Aaron would look good in our line-up and he could get all the mins he wants!
Rufus1
February 8th, 2011
10:59 am
slimjr
I expect objective reporting.
Rufus1
February 8th, 2011
11:00 am
slimjr
I expect objective reporting, not cheerleaders for certain teams.
doc
February 8th, 2011
11:03 am
i do remember al being on the other side of one of “those plays” with ford. al was visibly shaken and apologized. griffin maybe should have been called on the hit on marvin that looked just as vicious with marvin landing head first to the floor. thought super bowl had come a few days early. blake tried to get away with one, glad refs called it.
Double Zero Eight
February 8th, 2011
11:08 am
The Larry Drew Point Guard Fire Development Plan:
Play Teague when forced to do so in the playoffs.
This is known as “baptism by fire”. LD hopes
this will “light a fire” under Teague.and turn him
into an aggressive/take charge PG.
I would rather he get as many minutes as possible
during the regular season without jeopardizing
a win.
It is obvious Bibby is tired.
slimjr
February 8th, 2011
11:13 am
@Rufus1
I see your point.
Tommie
February 8th, 2011
11:14 am
TJHook,
It was a mistake to select Marvin over him to resign. Unfortunately, the hawks can not receive him directly because the NBA trades rules do not allow a player to be traded and traded back to the team in the same year. A third team would have to be involved. Phoenix wants to dump him and his salary, but have no found any takers.
slimjr
February 8th, 2011
11:15 am
Mike Bibby=Andrew Jones.. enough said…
HoosierHawk
February 8th, 2011
11:17 am
aaron Brooks is reportedly available. How about we trade Teague, Jamal, Mo for Brooks, Battier, Jeffries? We get better defense at SF and a guy that could challenge Marvin for starting role, a good young PG so Bibby can bomb 3s off the bench, and Jeffries who serviceable (maybe). They get huge cap relief (Mo and jamal expire), a young PG, and an ok backup SF.
slimjr
February 8th, 2011
11:24 am
J-Chills has no jumpshot………….Next…………
JeJe
February 8th, 2011
11:37 am
Lol @ Doc Rivers saying KG isn’t doing anything wrong.
Great to see Phil Jax put KG in his place.
Wow
ag
February 8th, 2011
11:38 am
The problem with Aaron Brooks is he is to small. He is very aggressive. If we are going to keep the “core”, make changes and start Teague. Bibby off the bench is a better team. If Teague makes mistakes they will be hidden. I still can only imagine Teague driving to the hole and dishing to Al and Josh.
ag
February 8th, 2011
12:09 pm
Looking at the trade for Nash and Hill, despite Nash’s age (37), his production has slightly improved this season (16.3ppg, 11.1 ast) – even his minutes played have increased. A starting lineup of Nash, JJ,Hill, Josh & Al will make the Hawks a much better team. We will have to trade Marvin, a 1st round pick and Jamal (although I would love to keep him) – throw in Bibby also.
drmaryb (*_*)
February 8th, 2011
12:54 pm
Aaron Brooks is small? So what. Earl Boykins whupped our butts, he’s smaller.
They said CP3 was too small. They said DWill was too fat. If you can ball? You can ball.
We need a PG – period. I’m like yall, play Teague and go from there.
terrell
February 8th, 2011
1:41 pm
Bibby said “I havent eaten a cheeseburger since this morning”. lol!
terrell
February 8th, 2011
1:42 pm
AG, Phoenix doesnt want Marvin. Are you kidding me?
ag
February 8th, 2011
1:53 pm
Again, Bibby will be so tired by the playoff’s he will need a cain to help him bring the ball up court! -classic
I have said before, every year the Hawks have made a major change and that can attribute to them improving every year (sorry Woodson, it was not you). Adding, Joe, Josh, Al, Bibby,Jamal and Flip helped the Hawks win more games than the previous year. Adding J. Powell is just not doing it!
ag
February 8th, 2011
1:55 pm
Well we have to give Phoenix something. They took Boris and he became “almost” an All-Star,- he was certainly much better as a Sun. Unfortunatly, we cannot say the same for Childress. You never know, Marvin may be like Boris in that offense.
KevinM
February 8th, 2011
2:42 pm
We can pine for Nash and we can offer JC1, Marvin, Bibby, Zaza and any one else not a captain on this team…but I don’t see any team dealing with us unless it is a salary dump. And with Sund and his passive dealings, things don’t look good for the Hawks to worry about a trade deadline.
Saying that, now we hear Melo might be heading to Staples to play for the defending champs….are you kidding me? The Knicks will be left at the alter waiting on that sorry deal they offered.
The Hawks have better options than either the Lakers or Knicks, yet Sund won’t even get involved. Call me crazy, but I am jumping to go get Billups if we can grab him on the Melo rebound and have him lead us on the floor….Bibby can get a rocking chair and laugh all the way to the bank with that guarantee he has not to get in shape until his contract year next year.
Everything points to this team failing this playoff season because of the non-moves. You don’t know if this team will play together or scratch their noggins and say “well, i don’t really know what happened.”
Tired of excuses and this ownership group is not giving the fan base any reason to believe…and that’s the reason for the hatred of this current roster around the league.
Teague should play now and we go forward or we lose and struggle to get to the playoffs…anything, just make a change to ignite the fan base. We know what Bibby gives us already! He is a 2nd round playoff lock…we need more than that!
Mike Williams
February 8th, 2011
3:21 pm
If LA really wants Carmelo Anthony, Atlanta could be figure into a three team trade. Hypothetically, Denver would receive Josh Smith & Jeff Teague from Atlanta, and Matt Barnes from LA. Atlanta would get Ty Lawson from Denver and Andrew Bynum from LA. Carmelo Anthony is then sent to LA to complete the deal.
tyger
February 8th, 2011
3:43 pm
Teague lacks “Dog”???
At this point, if he ain’t got no “dog” in him, i.e. that dog don’t hunt, i.e. wussy…then WTF???
ag
February 8th, 2011
4:22 pm
I guess dunking on someone is the lack of dog.
tyger
February 8th, 2011
4:58 pm
ASG can’t go one penny over luxury tax, need the end-of-year tax disbursement.
Air Zaza
February 8th, 2011
5:31 pm
How about
Mayo/Thabeet for Jamal/Etan
falconfever
February 8th, 2011
6:09 pm
remember dwight howard is going to be a free agent after next year. we need to have a solid team here so he would consider coming home. so we need to keep this team in tact as much as possible
falconfever
February 8th, 2011
6:19 pm
i am a hawk fan to the end but to say we have a chance against the heat is crazy! be realistic guys. Lebron dismantled us with the cavs 2 years ago. Now he has wade and bosh and we have the same team. c’mon man!