Atlanta Hawks: Joe Johnson’s D has been strong, too
Much of the discussion about Joe Johnson’s season has focused on his offensive surge since Al Horford went down. And rightly so: In 11 games without Horford, Johnson has averaged 21.2 points per 36 minutes with a 55.9 true shooting percentage (by the way, his 54 percent TS mark for the season ranks fifth among shooting guards playing 30-plus minutes).
With Al sidelined, Joe has made 87 percent of his free throws and 40 percent of his 3-pointers and has eight games of 20-plus points and two with 30 or more. Like all things Hawks lately, those numbers come with the caveat of competition: Since Al went down, the Hawks have faced just three opponents ranked in the top half of the league in defensive efficiency: Minnesota, Portland, and Philadelphia. Still, Joe is balling.
But Johnson’s defense has been overlooked even thought the best available objective evidence suggest he’s also having a very good year on that end of the court.
According to Synergy, Johnson has allowed just .71 points per possession, ranked No. 42 among all players. (Synergy had him allowing .93 points per possession in 2010-11 and .89 in 2009-10). This season Joe has been very good when defending in isolation (.56 ppp allowed, ranked 13th), against screen-roll ball-handlers (.69 ppp, ranked 33rd) and chasing his man off screens (.69 ppp, ranked seventh). Joe’s only defensive weakness this season, according to Synergy, has been defending spot-ups: .94 ppp, ranked 113th.
Opponent PER tells the same story. According to 82games.com, Johnson’s foes at shooting guard have posted a paltry 8.6 PER and small forwards have managed just a 12.6 PER. (The opponent PER is ugly when Joe has been at point guard but that has only been a couple minutes, according to 82games.) Last season Joe’s opponent PER was 11.6 at shooting guard and 12.9 at small forward; in 2009-10, those numbers were 15.3 and 14.4, respectively.
Joe’s on-court, off-court numbers at basketballvalue.com also are positive. The Hawks have allowed 6.24 fewer points per 100 possessions with Joe on the court. And it doesn’t appear as if his strong numbers here depend on having Al and Josh Smith behind him: Joe has been part of strong defensive units that featured Zaza Pachulia or Jason Collins at center and even one lineup with Vladimir Radmanovic at power forward.
If you want to pick at nits, you can use the same “weak opponent” argument for Joe’s defensive matchups. The Hawks have faced six shooting guards who are top 15 in PER: Dwyane Wade, Kevin Martin, MarShon Brooks, Mike Miller, Sundiata Gaines and Danny Green. Of those players, Martin (27 points on 20 shots) and Brooks (36 points on 26 shots in two games) had strong scoring games against Joe (though that’s not to say Joe was solely responsible).
Also, Joe hasn’t been able to maintain the flashes of strong defensive rebounding he’s shown. Then again, he’s raised his block rate from almost nothing last season to something this year and has also increased his steals rate a bit.
I think it’s accurate to say Joe has been excellent on offense but also very good on defense this season. Of course he’ll have to do both when the competition stiffens and stakes are higher but, so far, he’s raised his level of play just like he said he would.
Notes
- Marc Spears of Yahoo Sports adds the Lakers to the list of suitors for Kenyon Martin and echoes earlier reports that Martin is seeking a large role for a contender. Adam Zagoria reports that Martin is expected to make a decision by the end of the week. I’m guessing Martin also is looking for money because of my oft-proven theory that guys are almost always looking for that above all else (and Martin just lost money with his Chinese adventure). The Clippers, Knicks and Spurs can offer more than the minimum. The Hawks can, too, but likely won’t because it would mean paying the tax.
- I haven’t heard anything to indicate the Hawks are making a bid for Chris Kaman. Reports indicate New Orleans is looking for a first-round pick, a quality young player and cap relief. Surely that price will come down as the deadline approaches but I don’t see the Hawks wanting or needing to make a deal like that. Kaman can help them because he’s a good post defender and rebounder when healthy, but at what cost for a three-month rental? Plus, the Hawks won’t do a deal that adds salary and they still aren’t sure if/when Horford will return this season.
Michael Cunningham, Hawks beat
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273 comments Add your comment
Soullrenaissance
February 1st, 2012
10:46 pm
Rufus – true, mediocrity is more suitable for some.
Rufus1
February 1st, 2012
10:50 pm
I wonder if DWill like living in NY, more than winning…Because Utah is good.
Soullrenaissance
February 1st, 2012
10:53 pm
DWill likes mediocrity in a big market – hope he got what he wanted because the grass did seem greener for he and Carmelo to demand those trades. Spoiled brat superstars.
Spyro
February 1st, 2012
10:58 pm
What happened to Smith.Leuer.Bogut? Ever since Bogut went down and the Bucks started winning, he has been extremely quiet.
Rufus1
February 1st, 2012
11:00 pm
Soullrenaissance,
D12 will find the same truth if he leaves, because a team will have to gut their roster to get him.
Najeh Davenpoop
February 1st, 2012
11:00 pm
Correct me if I’m wrong but I don’t believe Deron Williams actually asked for a trade. In fact if I remember right he didn’t even expect the trade to go down.
ntrigue
February 1st, 2012
11:05 pm
Who wouldve thought that coach would have a shot at coaching the all star game LOL. With the bulls and heat losing its a possibility if we win our next two and bulls lose at knicks and heat lose to 76ers! Hawks 1st place in Southeast division go hawks let’s try to stay there and get home court advantage throughout the playoffs! I want us to get the 1 or 2 seed if we do we will at least go to east finals …. Don’t let us sign K-MART if we do its a wrap! I hope he chooses us all of you all that think he’s washed up watch what i say he will do this team wonders on the 2nd unit and mixed in with the 1st unit!
Soullrenaissance
February 1st, 2012
11:16 pm
Remember Najeh…
…Deron Williams demanded that either Sloan be replaced by Corbin or he wanted out. He was a real prima donna about it all too.
http://jbmills1971.hubpages.com/hub/TheDeronWilliamsTradeFittingJustice
FreshmakerGT
February 1st, 2012
11:22 pm
Wow…5 teams with only 6 losses in the East. O_o
FreshmakerGT
February 1st, 2012
11:23 pm
Great to see the Bulls and Heat get blown out on the road though.
And lol @ those of you who want to trade our All-Star center for a bunch of paint chips…
brigadierjerry
February 1st, 2012
11:31 pm
I was wondering for all us Hawks fans when did you become an Atlanta Hawks fan and why?
For me I go back to the early 80’s when Mike Glenn used to play for the Hawks
Rev in Tampa
February 1st, 2012
11:44 pm
Brigaderjerry,
I can remember the exact moment I became a true fan. I wnet to a game at the Omni and saw Nique come from the corner for a tomahawk jam. I’ll never forget it. I dropped off for a few years while in Philly getting my masters degree, etc but came back strongly during the playoff series with the Celtics. My passion was never ferver pitch high, however, until I happen to peek at what was being written in the blog by fans. The Hawks organization ought to pay MC’s salary for upkeep of the blog because the passion stoked on this blog puts butts in the seats in Phillips.
High-Tech Lynching
February 1st, 2012
11:52 pm
Jamal is ballin’ harder than a mug tonight for Portland!
doc
February 2nd, 2012
12:02 am
brig i lived in atlanta as a native and somehow i chose to become a hawks fan in 1957 the year they last won it. i thought i had picked out a real winer for years to come. check the roster out as they had some really good players including bob petit.
http://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/STL/1958.html
the next year was the start of the celt dynasty. ;-(
oddly enough, my favorite baseball team starting that year was the milwaukee braves who won the world series that year with aaron, matthews, spahn and burdette. within eight years both were my hometown teams.
didnt work in football as my team growing up was the colts and craved to be the next john mackay. they were served up regularly on channel 5 back in those early days of football coverage as it was only regional for the most part. child, double hitters on sunday were gold back then. heh heh
so one world championship in 140 or so sports years since and i still wait for another one by an atlanta team before i go. preferablly it will be the hawks but not too choosy at this point. i might have to live another 50 years.
doc
February 2nd, 2012
12:05 am
yowsa, three teams with less than 5 wins in the east, another 5 with 8 or less.
blake blowing it up tonight against the jazz.
doc
February 2nd, 2012
12:15 am
you might say the hawks were the braves of old as a storied franchise. in the years between 1956 to 1970 the hawks were in the conference finals or better 12 years. not bad and even went to the conference titles two years in their first four winning upwards of 56 games a year with richie guerin as the coach. man did they ever go donw hill after they got here even with pistol pete around a few years.
Soullrenaissance
February 2nd, 2012
12:20 am
Brigadierjerry, I am a have been a fan since the 88 Season and clash between Nique and Bird. I cried when the Front Office traded Nique for Manning during the year when it was primed for us to win the East and face the Rockets 94′ – been rooting ever since. through the Mutumbo – to Isaiah Rider to Abdur Rahim to the blow up and all. I really jumped back on board in 2008 and have been hanging on since.
Soullrenaissance
February 2nd, 2012
12:21 am
typo – I am a ‘younger fan’ ….
Soullrenaissance
February 2nd, 2012
12:23 am
doc, they say Pistol Pete, for all his flash and scoring greatness, was lacking as a team leader and winner. Am I wrong?
Najeh Davenpoop
February 2nd, 2012
12:27 am
Started watching the Hawks regularly like a year before they got Mutombo, but been an ATL sports fan since ‘91. Too young to remember anything before that.
doc
February 2nd, 2012
12:48 am
soul, sadly he was probably an alcoholic even in college. he was pushed pretty hard by his dad, press, the lsu coach and probably didnt grow up too much but he had talent. sadly he blew out an acl before there was an operation that could repair it back to full strength. scopes have been a remarkable part of rehab surgery for most athletes. his career as a pro was cut too short to say much about the leadership stuff as you had to earn that distinction back in those days. maybe he was more ai than dwade when it came to leadership and phenom skill.
wouldnt say a lot of really great talents were leaders anyway. it almost comes with the territory of the gift to not be a great leader because you dont have to work as hard as the mortal does. like chamberlain one of the greatest specimens ever to put any uniform on period in any sport. it was said he could military press his weight of over 300 pounds. talk about strength? dwight would look horfordesque standing next to him at 7 ft 4 or so and 270 pounds of pure muscle. he also had remarkable stamina as his list of women will attest. what was it, 10000? but he was never the leader of a team that say russell was. couldnt even say jabbar was that much of a leader but walton when healthy was.
tjhook
February 2nd, 2012
1:13 am
I liked the Hawks when they had Dan Roundfield, Steve Hawes, John Drew and Charlie Criss. I really became a die-hard fan in 1982 when Domonique was acquired. Watching Nique, Willis , cliff Levington, etc. was awesome!
tjhook
February 2nd, 2012
1:17 am
Yankees announcer John Sterling called Hawks radio back in the 80’s- I used to love hearing him say “domonique is mon-u-fique!” also Levingston was nicknamed “Good news” and he often had timely baskets.
Soullrenaissance
February 2nd, 2012
1:41 am
thanks for the info and clarification of what a leader was doc. Maravich was a scoring beast at LSU, as his records attest, but I never considered ‘the other side of the game’ (parental and coaching pressures, expectations, etc.)
drmaryb.[*_*].
February 2nd, 2012
1:47 am
The Two That Got Away!
“I will be shocked if Kenyon signs with the Hawks” -O’Brien-
____________
OB, when The Black Knight was here he offered Eric Dampieer and Kenyon Martin a boat load of money to play here and they both paddled off. But, that was after they gobbled up a couple “Bone in Ribeyes” and Fried Lobsters at Market Price from Pano’s and Paul’s.
What a kick in the gut for Hawks fans. Just the feeling of rejection in the aftermath of Danny Manning of all people paddling away in his Life Boat after the Nique debacle. Looks like we have never recovered from The Curse of The Bambino.
Here’s my point: Don’t be surprised if Kenyon Martin presses “rewind” then “play” on that cassette deck. One can only hope.
_____________
SlimJr, hotcakes! You stole my thunder with that RED restaurant debacle in lieu of scoreboards and a big man. Why furnish the team what it desperately needs when, you can furnish a full service steak house instead. The sophisticated palate of “Atlantians” prefer Bones! (smh).
_________
That’s all I got. Oh yeah, one more thing:
Hawks 97
Memphis 88
drmaryb.[*_*].
February 2nd, 2012
2:03 am
Reading Backwards and UP the board!
“soul, sadly he was probably an alcoholic even in college.”
-doc-
_______
I always read page one top down, but the consequent pages bottoms up as I comment. This post from doc caught my eye and I thought doc was describing Vin Baker and Kenny “the jet” Smith when he said alcoholic.
Too much good stuff! From doc, soul and tjhook taking us down memory lane. So my comments re: Eric Dampieer and Kenyon Martin were posted before reading up. Keep it coming fellas! I got insomnia again. I’m watching my political shows on MSNBC:
What a TOOL that Mitt Romney is! He said he does NOT care about poor people today. Way to go Mitt! You will hear from the 99% come November. We don’t care about YOU either. What a TOOL you are.
Right now though, all I care about is My Hawks handling The Grizzlies.
doc
February 2nd, 2012
2:07 am
soul, pistol was a child prodigy from the womb though he was pressed hard b his dad to develop his ball skills and little else is what i suspect and he was about as big as elvis for that time.
check out the talk with ivan. it is a beautiful story and i hope it continues to have a good ending for him. it is also a story about maturing and coming to grips with demons and folks that do that have to have mentors no matter what age just as in aa. i dont think pistol had his and ai had many chances from thompson at georgetown and continued it into his playing career as long as ai allowed it.
doc
February 2nd, 2012
2:12 am
sure dmb, cool babe.
Soullrenaissance
February 2nd, 2012
2:16 am
Right on drmaryb on Mittens Romney, he thinks that corporations are people and that we the people are peons.
Kenyon was wined and dined in Atl, 5-star style and he said no??? must’ve been the curse of Nique for real, that or he loved the ski slopes of Colorado. Let these BIGS keep sleeping on what we got cooking – the one who bites just may arrive in time for a title run.
Grandad
February 2nd, 2012
2:18 am
brigadierjerry
I actually played against Mike Glenn in HS.
He was a Freshman, I was a Sr.
He was a Player, I was a,;`’”.,`;; ahem;;.,“””’`';;,
what they called in those days a
“hatchet man” !
In today’s terms they would call me an enforcer !
[an antique version of Zaza]
We had a Sr that was better than “The Stinger”.
[a top 100 in the nation player]
MG still scored 19 points against us if I remember correctly.
We played at the old Coosa HS gym – wooden backboards – no kiddin’ !
The rims were loose and his shot was soft,
needless to say he got the roll.
-memories-
I cannot remember but I may have still been a Celtic fan at that time.
I’m not sure if the Hawks had moved south yet are not.
drmaryb.[*_*].
February 2nd, 2012
2:20 am
Soul 2 Soul!
Soul Renaissance! Do you remember that band? Anyway, as I was reading up the blog, I noticed you commented on Danny Manning as did I prior to see what you said.
I guess us old folks are on a tootsie roll tonight, going back in time. But, these Hawks do feel like a throw back team this year. This may be the best team we’ve had since Nique. Even better than Mookie ‘Nem? If we see the ECF, that may prove true. It’s just that these Hawks seem special and ironic because Horford went down.
This team is rising like The Phoenix … For now.
Grandad
February 2nd, 2012
2:30 am
doc
Pistol’s mom commited suicide somewhere around his HS years
or maybe his 1st year out of HS.
I read a book or two about him and I’m pretty sure her tragedy
was the antecedent for his dependency.
Soullrenaissance
February 2nd, 2012
2:34 am
Of course! Soul 2 Soul was the ‘Black British’ invasion back in the day – great music and vocals.
I am an 80’s baby I tell ya…I’d be remised if I did not let you check out my music.
There you go trying to make me feel old
http://youtu.be/ZZEKddBKLmI
“This may be the best team we’ve had since Nique. Even better than Mookie ‘Nem? If we see the ECF, that may prove true. It’s just that these Hawks seem special and ironic because Horford went down.”
I concur with that sentiment.
Soullrenaissance
February 2nd, 2012
2:35 am
He died tragically too right – a heart attack during a pickup game. Fallen Legend. Like Don Cornelius.
doc
February 2nd, 2012
2:51 am
gdad i was hoping you would join the discussion. yup she did. dad was a controlling sob from what i remember. pistol probably had clinical depression. when he died most of the demons had been lifted and he had a child or too if memory serves me that he left behind. i dont think he enjoyed basketball the way he was forced to go with it, that much but it was what he knew. he was a marvel to watch. rubio kind of brought back some memories of pistol but he isnt close. pistol came as close to being a globetrotter playing real ball as they came, a true magician but that doesnt always translate into wins if team mates cant keep up.
pistol went out too early twice, in his career and then in life. cornelius sad to hear about because soul train was more my era as well. something got the best of him to end it voluntarily. but his career was done, pistol never got started
hawks came in 66 i think gdad, braves in 64 maybe?
doc
February 2nd, 2012
2:52 am
falcons in about 66 as well. atl went big league overnight. then the flames which was cool.
doc
February 2nd, 2012
2:57 am
until then it was primarily ga tech football and basketball for me dodd and hyder on the radio along with the crackers in summer and the paper that covered the dew the constitution with outlar to feed me sports in the morning and the journal with furman at night. look the atl has had some of the very best writers forever and though folks dont like em still do. dob, mc, mb and js are stalwarts.
doc
February 2nd, 2012
2:58 am
durn might as well write my obit the way it is sounding tonight. to bed lads i go.
system configuration
February 2nd, 2012
4:44 am
The hawks dont need a short term “fix” at center. How stupid. Even before Al injured himself the Hawks were in DESPERATE NEED of a center, so why go after a short team “fix”? When Al comes back the problem still has not been resolved. You are right back where you started from A center who plays the position begrudgingly and is very lackadaisical on defense to the hawks detriment and the main prohibitive to the hawks getting pass the second round.
Hawks need to address this for once and for All. Not with a short term status-qo weak attempt to resolve but the Hawks need an impacting center to get to the next level and most of all to stay on that level.
The clock is ticking the dead line approaches. Any one whose first name doesn’t start with a J is trade-able.
Do it ASG
Dirty Birds
February 2nd, 2012
4:46 am
Soullrenaissance – Dmaryb is officially a troll !!
Just Joe
February 2nd, 2012
5:27 am
My dude, Jordan Hill had 6 pts and 10 rebs in 23 minutes against the Spurs last night. His last 5? 9.5 pts and 9 rebs in 19 minutes per game.
O'Brien
February 2nd, 2012
7:33 am
Good to see Miami choke away a game. It’s hard to believe that 2 of their losses have been to the Bucks.
And Philly looked good. However, they are have played 14 home games already, which is the most in the East (compared to the Hawks 9 home games), and Philly is only 4-4 on the road.
Looking forward to a good game tonight.
terrell
February 2nd, 2012
7:51 am
If I see or hear the words “without Horford” again, I’m going to SCREAM!
Dawg
February 2nd, 2012
9:02 am
Come on Sund, help this team by filling the obvious need at center. This team has a chance.
brigadierjerry
February 2nd, 2012
9:23 am
Grandad,
Didnt know you played against Mike Glenn in high school. He seems like a nice guy.
doc thanks for the info for Pistol Pete. He always looked to me like he was never happy. He always seemed to play but I never got the impression he loved the game of basketball kind of played cause he felt he had to
Looking back that series against the Celtics where they lost in 7 stings a lot because that Hawks team was a great team and had a good chance to beat the Pistons. ALso I remember the Hawks losing to the Pistons in the Detroit where Isiah made a game winning shot and spun around happy like a top. Those were brutal playoff losses
CRL
February 2nd, 2012
9:27 am
Welcome Back MC. As an avid Hawks fan who lives outside the Atlanta area your blog is my Hawks lifeline. Its the first thing I check every morning. Big game tonight against Memphis. Hope a decent crowd shows up for the game and the Hawks continue their winning ways.
Joe is The Man
February 2nd, 2012
9:40 am
Joe has been ballin since the day he touched down. To those of you that dont understand what i mean, because you dont have any swag, it means since he arrived in Atlanta. We wouldnt be relevant without him, and many of you take his talents for granted. He is an outstanding on-ball defender, and clearly has the highest IQ, basketball or otherwise, on the team. He is the man. Give him his due.
Still Laughing at Mike Bianchi
February 2nd, 2012
9:44 am
Joe will be one of the biggest keys to this team in the playoffs because it seems like everytime the offense gets in a funk and we can’t seem to get any momentum….
just give the ball to Joe
Still Laughing at Mike Bianchi
February 2nd, 2012
9:46 am
what’s the projected attendance for the game today?
more important, what number of those hail from Memphis, TN?
Soullrenaissance
February 2nd, 2012
9:59 am
I for one tired of Lob City. The hype around Blake Griffin is a bit overstated. Blake flopped so hard last night in Utah it was a shame. CP3 whining to go there was enough for me NOT to root for them. CP3 even the Clips have had a great history!!!! LMAO!