Atlanta Hawks: Jeff Teague looks forward to being ‘focal point’
Caught up with Jeff Teague at the Hawks’ youth basketball camp in Suwanee. As we were talking, some dude came up and expressed his dismay at the Hawks trading for Devin Harris and signing Louis Williams because he saw this as a threat to Teague’s playing time.
I smiled because the guy’s angst sounded familiar. It’s the same sentiment I hear all the time from my blog people, who tend to freak out whenever there’s a better-than-terrible guard on the roster who can play the point behind Teague.
Never mind that Teague ranked third on the team in minutes played per game last season and logged about 80 percent of the minutes at point guard, according to 82games.com. Forget that Teague remained the starter after Kirk Hinrich returned from injury last season. Set aside Danny Ferry’s statement that the Hawks “will be more of Jeff’s team than it has ever been.”
Like that dude who cornered Teague, my blog people think back to Teague’s history with Larry Drew and just know that he’s waiting to trap door Teague.
Teague does not have those same concerns.
“I was going to come in confident and ready to play,” he said. “I’m familiar with Coach Drew. I was ready. When the trade happened I saw it as an opportunity to step up and play even better. That’s what I’m going to do.”
Seriously, though, I don’t mean to dismiss my blog peoples’ concern over whether Teague will get more opportunities. You have good reasons to be a bit skeptical, not least of all the fact that Teague made another big jump in scoring efficiency last season but his usage actually decreased a bit.
Some of you blame Drew for that but, from my seat near Atlanta’s bench, I can tell you that Drew regularly barked “Go get it, Jeff!” when Josh Smith, Joe Johnson or Al Horford collected a rebound. Drew wanted the ball in Teague’s hands so the Hawks could play faster (at least until it became Joe’s show late in games).
Instead, Teague usually would stay on his side of the court and wait for the ball to come his way or make a halfhearted effort to convince his teammate to give up the rock. He’s got to demand the ball if it’s going to be his show.
“I’ve got to be more of a leader,” Teague said. “I looked to other guys last year like Joe and Marvin [Williams] and those guys. I feel like it’s my time to step up and be a leader along with Josh and Al and try to be that third guy.”
Perhaps 2012-13 will be the year when it all comes together for Teague. The organization gets behind him; Drew gives him more opportunities in the offense; Teague finally becomes more assertive, and the absence of Joe means there’s one less guy for Teague to defer to. At the very least, there should be more shots to go around.
Even Teague isn’t sure how the lineup is going to shake out, noting that the Hawks are “a lot smaller but a lot faster.”
He said he can envision Harris playing alongside him at two guard. The same goes for Louis Williams. Maybe it’s Josh at small forward with Zaza Pachulia at center (which would make for a small frontcourt off the bench unless Ferry adds another center). Or maybe it’s Kyle Korver at small forward with Harris or Anthony Morrow at shooting guard (but I still can’t shake the image of Teague shutting down Korver in the 2011 playoffs) .
Right now, the Hawks have an awfully small backcourt with three guys who like to work with the ball in their hand (though Harris did play off ball some in Utah). Teague said they can make it work.
“We all can score the basketball,” he said. “We don’t really have a big two right now. We have a lot of shooters but Joe was a big two. We are just going to have to do it all collectively with Joe and Al and [now] I feel like I can be an elite point guard.”
He’s got a long way to go to reach that level but he got better last season and there’s still room for growth.
Teague’s 3-point shooting was better until his percentages took a big dive over the final 25 games. It appeared Teague lost confidence in his 3-pointer when he started missing a few but he brushed it off.
“Everybody goes through a slump during the year,” he said. “Mine just happened to be at the end. Hopefully I can come back shooting even better and be more effective.”
Even when Teague was making 3-pointers, opponents defended him by going under screens. With that in mind, Teague said he’s focused on his mid-range J this summer, another aspect of his game that improved significantly last season.
Teague got to the basket frequently last season but didn’t finish strongly or draw a high rate of fouls when he got there.
“I can’t do anything about fouls,” he said, smiling. “Finishing on layups, that’s on me. I can go in there and dunk the basketball. I could just take it right to the rim but I shot floaters because I thought guys could come over and block it.”
Teague also will have to be sharper defensively on screen-rolls. He went through periods where he seemed to be nonchalant about fighting through screens.
That’s reflected by the 0.8 points per possession posted by opposing pick-and-roll ballhandlers, a number that ranked 117th in the league according to Synergy Sports Technology. Also notice that Teague’s opposing PER is a pedestrian 16.2 in spite of an effective field-goal percentage allowed of just 47.3–those 17.5 field goal attempts and 9.6 assists per 48 minutes stand out. A player with Teague’s physical skills can do better.
Teague said he only recently got a chance to meet with Ferry because of the GM’s busy schedule and Teague’s two-week trip to China for an NBA outreach program. Teague said Ferry’s a “smart guy” with a plan that includes Teague as a major piece.
“He told me he was looking forward to working with me and he really liked my game,” Teague said. “He didn’t know how the trade and stuff would go but he knew I was going to be a focal point.”
Michael Cunningham, Hawks beat
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297 comments Add your comment
Percy Sledge
August 1st, 2012
10:29 pm
“That link of Jeff did not include his highlights from last season” – That’s my point!!
falCans
August 1st, 2012
10:29 pm
Smh I hope teague steps up. He seems to be Joe Jonson 2.0. Doesnt get others involved, thrives on iso plays, has incredible talent but is too passive to rach true potential. Then look at Josh Smith. Limited talent but thw heart And confidence of a lion. Smoove 4 President!!
Percy Sledge
August 1st, 2012
10:31 pm
There wasn’t much to show.
Percy Sledge
August 1st, 2012
10:40 pm
“Doesnt get others involved,” well thats because he doesnt understand the game. Hes not very intelligent. We go no where with teague at the helm
Go Lakers (clayton state university lakers)
Hoyt Whilheim
August 1st, 2012
10:42 pm
Harris will be starting by the end of camp!
jlewis
August 1st, 2012
10:44 pm
So now teague is blaming his deferment to guys that are no longer here, please. Also, when you guys compare the new players to JJ and the playoffs, just remember that guy played against double and triple teams in the playoffs……The scouting report was “make JJ give it up and let someone else beat you” In the playoffs there wasnt another shooter and the strategy always worked.
random
August 1st, 2012
10:44 pm
Smh, why does this guy make up so many names and bashes jeff teague. Grow up please.
falCans
August 1st, 2012
10:51 pm
random is a condom, who hates anyone who hates teague.
random
August 1st, 2012
10:57 pm
falCans did i say i was a teague fan?
random
August 1st, 2012
10:59 pm
It would be different if it was someone that blogs on here a lot saying the things about teague, but that guy is making up names and constantly saying negatives about him.
steven a smith
August 1st, 2012
11:02 pm
Buddy Grizzard
August 1st, 2012
9:08 pm
“Lou Williams is nobody’s starter, really. He’s another good sixth man who comes in and scores in bunches. We’ve paid more for that before, and with an older player who was never going to be even close to adequate on defense.”
Buddy “THE IDIOT” strikes again. CLEARLY you know absolutely nothing about Basketball. Lou Williams can be a starter in this league! Please Buddy, stick to your “trailer Park” quips, quotes, and so on.
Najeh Davenpoop
August 1st, 2012
11:39 pm
“Granger looks a little overrated, and it’s worth noting that the 5 guys ranked after Milsap, including Josh Smith, all have PERs that are nearly identical. So where’s your big problem Vava? It looks pretty accurate to me.”
Ginobili over Kobe looks accurate to you? OK.
Jeff Teague
August 1st, 2012
11:41 pm
yeah that troll love to come on here with all them different names and bash me. Whats up with that man.
Al Horford
August 1st, 2012
11:42 pm
yeah I know Jeff, he do me the same way. Whats your beef man? You jealous of us man? Leave us along Troll and stop jockin us so hard.
tjhook
August 1st, 2012
11:54 pm
I’ll be waiting for Devin Harris to take over the lineup – based partly on play and partly on LD’s desperate need to let veterans run his team no matter the circumstance.
Najeh Davenpoop
August 2nd, 2012
12:12 am
“Instead, Teague usually would stay on his side of the court and wait for the ball to come his way or make a halfhearted effort to convince his teammate to give up the rock. He’s got to demand the ball if it’s going to be his show.”
There is a flip side to this as well. If the coach wants the ball in the point guard’s hands, and the point guard is asking for it (however halfheartedly), the veteran teammates need to give it up, too. And the coach needs to be assertive enough to make sure this happens if in fact that’s what he wants to happen.
Wink
August 2nd, 2012
12:27 am
Here you go a quote from your GM giving the team to Teague to lead…
“Danny Ferry’s statement that the Hawks “will be more of Jeff’s team than it has ever been.”
All you need to know about your future team leader…
“I feel like it’s my time to step up and be a leader along with Josh and Al and try to be that third guy.”
Did Teague just say no thanks Danny I am cool…I am good in 3rd position???? Seems he learned a lot from JJ…who also did not want to lead!
Now we have cap room and will wait around for another guard addition…Chris Paul. Right now he is pretty much being handled by the Olympic opposition and the referees are calling the offensive fouls…where he creates contact on drives while dribbling the rock.
Remember, this team is still led by ASG, as much as we want to give Danny credit, they are still stuffing the coffers with cash…when will they spend on talent??????
Free Agent pool has run dry….now what???
vava74
August 2nd, 2012
2:44 am
Buddy Grizzard
August 1st, 2012
7:10 pm
Buddy, the fact that a tailor made stat makes top 5s which match, more or less, the top 5 list on a position does not mean AT ALL that this stat is relevant enough to determine the value of a player.
Bruce Bowen’s PER was pretty lousy.
DeShaw Stevenson’s PER was pretty lousy.
He is an article which could have been written by you:
http://voices.yahoo.com/the-nbas-10-worst-players-last-10-years-fans-11075352.html
Look at the list:
The fact is that Collins was a starting C on a team that went to the finals and just last year was instrumental on Game 1 win (the issue is that he is limited and cannot be deployed the same way, the same number of minutes on a series against a good team and a good coach, but Collins is an excellent specialist and well deserving of a roster spot in the NBA).
Bowen won 2 or 3 rings (can’t remember).
Stevenson was considered an essential piece on Dallas’ championship run.
Some other players on that list which are notable:
Bogans gave CHI the defensive solidity that kept JJ under control and was instrumental in their series win against us.
Jeffreys is considered a very decent defender too.
PER is cr@p when it comes to assess the value and contribution of players who defend well without racking up measured stats.
Basketball is not baseball.
Hawks Blog Legend Worldwide Clyde
August 2nd, 2012
3:19 am
Get Blatche!!!!!
Jeff Teague excited for direction Hawks are heading
August 2nd, 2012
3:58 am
[...] Read more at the AJC Blog. [...]
vava74
August 2nd, 2012
6:21 am
Buddy G,
I will give you another example. Hinrich’s PER last year was cr@p but his role as SG along Teague and with JJ at the SF seemed to work fine for us, in spite of him having very little to boast about stat wise due to his rapidly diminishing game.
And you have been one of his biggest advocates… so?
vava74
August 2nd, 2012
6:24 am
More examples:
Last year’s playoffs:
http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/hollinger/statistics/_/seasontype/3
Do you think Speights is better than Josh? Lavoy Allen? Tiago Splitter?
vava74
August 2nd, 2012
6:28 am
Where does PER rate: altered shots, opponents not being able to establish position in the post, opponents being forced to dribble to into help D, or opponents forced to dribble to where they are less effective?
If you look into the list above, Bledsoe should start over Paul…
vava74
August 2nd, 2012
6:47 am
Also,
If you look at other elements of Hollinger’s stats you will see the joke they are:
http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/hollinger/statistics/_/sort/VORP
Look at Josh’s VA (Value Added) and EWA (Estimated Wins Added) and you’ll see that they are identical to Gortat.
You cannot but laugh.
Ryan Anderson, Pekovic, Monroe and Gortat had better PER than Josh, too bad that with the exception of Anderson (who had Howard besides him), these guys could not get their teams to win games and get to the playoffs.
David Lee is another example, almost the same PER than Josh… to bad he can’t defend a granny on a wheelchair…
Ken Strickland
August 2nd, 2012
7:21 am
I see the negative BS continues.
ECF or Bust!
August 2nd, 2012
7:32 am
Should the Hawks decide to go in another direction and rescind the qualifying offer to Ivan then that might be considered a “downside” to Ivan not signing now?
boxxiethebull
August 2nd, 2012
7:53 am
i would think it would be obvious to any true basketball fan that the hawks are not done making moves….in the mean time we have a lot of guys that can score the ball….i betcha sometime during the season we will see another move or 2…..i would prefer to play the season out with what we have, and throw money at the free agents that come available next summer…..anyway, if you dont like what the hawks are putting together, get nba league pass, figure out who’s gonna win it all, and root for them…you fairweather chickens!
vava74
August 2nd, 2012
7:59 am
MC,
NBA.com does not list Ivan as having received a qualifying offer from the Hawks.
What’s the actual situation? I thought they had done it.
gtt
August 2nd, 2012
8:23 am
He will arrive when he stops seeing himself as the third option. Step up son, now’s the time.
Buddy Grizzard
August 2nd, 2012
8:33 am
“Ginobili over Kobe looks accurate to you? OK.”
“Pretty accurate,” meaning for most positions, Hollinger gets the correct top 5, not necessarily the order. This indicates to me that PER has “some” level of accuracy and value, not that it is the be-all, end-all tool for comparing players. Stop putting words in my mouth because I never said that.
Buddy Grizzard
August 2nd, 2012
8:40 am
So I guess at this point, the question that’s most relevant to people on this blog is, does Hollinger’s PER rankings overrate Lou Williams, who is top 10 as a point guard and would be top 5 if he was ranked as a shooting guard, ahead of Joe Johnson. If you think of Lou as a two guard, here is where the rankings cannot account for the difference in defensive impact between Lou and Joe. What it does tell you is that Lou fills up a box score in a variety of ways.
I don’t think Chris Paul is leaving the Clippers after this season. I think Harden is a much more reasonable possibility. Lets say someone signs Ibaka to an offer sheet next offseason and the Thunder match, then the Hawks sign Harden to a max offer sheet. There is a possibility they don’t match, and the Hawks could go into next season with a starting back court of Lou at point and Harden at two. I like that back court. Teague is trade bait.
vava74
August 2nd, 2012
9:02 am
Buddy G,
You have just described PER: “What it does tell you is that a player fills up a box score in a variety of ways.”
Boxscores and in general stats in bbal are deceiving and strictly a reference. “Eye test” and “overall team success” are substantially more accurate assessments IMO.
KevinM
August 2nd, 2012
9:04 am
I’m heading into this season as if we are going to contend for a top playoff spot, meaning we will have another move or 2.
Looking at Josh’s game the last 2 years, there’s one thing that Josh needs to improve on this offseason, its his FTs. 62% isn’t going to get it done if you want to contend. He did shoot 76% in the playoffs however. He has to do this for us to contend.
MIA – their big 3 shot 1078 FTs in the regular season. Josh led us with 322. LBJ shot 502, DWade 297 and Bosh with 279. The worse percentage from those 3 was 77%. If Josh is in fact our leader, he needs to be at the stripe a lot more than his current total.
Lou helps us big time in that area. He gives us a legit scoring threat to get 292 FTA in 26 mpg. Both of those totals should increase in his role here.
I know Teague may see himself as threat #3, but I think it’s Josh/Lou & Al for now. Not bad on the offensive side IMO, but the defense will take on a new look.
KevinM
August 2nd, 2012
9:09 am
IMO, Harden and CP3 won’t even consider us unless we have D12 on this roster. That’s a big ‘matza’? ball in getting top FAs here. Harden has already talked PHX and CP3 is just settling in as top dog in Clipper nation.
ntrigue
August 2nd, 2012
9:09 am
The problem is not Teague starting its him getting pulled at crucial points in the game and staying on the bench too long. This all goes back to Coach Drew inability to manage his rotations based on the flow of the game. He would sit people when they are hot then try to bring them back when the momentum switches. Under Ferry Drew wont last long unless he makes major strides in that area which he probaly wont especially now that his GM really knows basketball he will try to play it safe too often. Drew right now is the weak link not our roster!
AG
August 2nd, 2012
9:14 am
Since Mike Vick is no longer a Falcon, I am not a die-hard Falcon fan. I do not go on the blogs. I barely even watch them on TV. I do in most instances hope they win – but for the most part I look at the Philly blogs to follow the Eagles.
My question is if you are not Hawk fans ( I am one of the biggest since Atlanta is my home) – why do people who have all these negative comments and talk about them not following us anymore even visit our blogs? Even if you are a Thrasher fan – why come here? Go to the Winnipeg blogs!
Blogs I think are for opinions of those who support our team i.e . Ferry doing a good job or Ferry is saving money for cheap owners. All that other stuff should not be on our blogs.
Astro Joe
August 2nd, 2012
9:38 am
This is Teague’s “no excuse” season. Even if he has to take a beat down from Josh Smith, he has to establish himself as the floor leader or sit on the bench and wait to be traded. No excuses.
steve brown
August 2nd, 2012
9:42 am
Although Josh was our best player this past year we better say our prayers that his elevated level of play continues or we will be lamenting that we did not trade him when his value was at its height and , oh yeah, he wanted to leave. When other players express express such disdain for the home team we normally react by saying “and don’t let the door hit you in the ass” but not this time. I for one don’t understand this forgiving attitude.
JT's Hoops Blog
August 2nd, 2012
10:03 am
I think that’s a little premature to hand Teague the mantle as franchise player. He proved to be a solid starter, but has yet to show that he is capable of rising his game to such a high level
Ken Strickland
August 2nd, 2012
10:24 am
All of you still can’t seem to get your brains around the fact that in addition to DHoward, the NBA’s #2 rated OC, ABynum, will also be a FA after the season. If you could get your heads out of DHoward’s butt for a moment, you’d realize we stand a far better chance of getting him to sign with us than Dwight. Besides, I’d rather have Bynum than Dwight anyway.
Can we really afford to have our PF and OC whinning and crying to the refs for every call, rather than getting down the court and playing? Bynum is the NBAs 2nd highest rated OC, and he still has room for improvement. Dwight is as good as he’s likely going to get. Bynum might not ever be as physical as Dwight, but won’t have to be with his more developed OFF skill set. I’m really surprised that he hasn’t adopted the sky hook.
STEVE BROWN-I agree. People that make racist statements like the one ASTRO JOE made are usually operating from a simular mentality.
Ken Strickland
August 2nd, 2012
10:34 am
JT’S HOOPS BLOG-That’s the same type of thinking that former HC MWoodson used in order to keep Teague firmly anchored to the bench while he continued to start and give heavy mins to his preferred joke of a PG MBibby. If fact, LDrew used the same approach, and for the same reason, to keep Bibby as the starting PG. Everytime Teague was given extended mins, he produced. He certainly produced a helluva lot more than Bibby in those limited opportunities, expecially on DEF.
When I read the comment, I didn’t get the idea that Drew or Ferry was inferring that he would be annointed the FRANCHISE PLAYER, just a key core figure as our starting PG.
Buddy Grizzard
August 2nd, 2012
10:43 am
Lou Williams is better than you think:
http://repatl.blogspot.com/2012/08/gothic-ginobili-lou-williams-is-better.html
Hawksfan
August 2nd, 2012
10:48 am
I think we should get good production from Teague because hes motivated and is showing the desire to be an elite point guard in the nba. I feel that we need to sign a center or trade for one an move Al and Josh to respective 3 & 4. We need to start Harris at the 2 guard and let Lou Williams be our backup point guard. We could start another project piece and go after Hassan Whiteside a legit 7-footer who has all the intangibles just needs to commit to winning and being a dominant center. And I feel we should sign Keith Benson who has the same upside just he would be a stretch 4 in our future.Lastly I think we should make a trade for Donte Greene or Austin Daye great backup 3s and potentially future stars in the league. Along with Teague, Whiteside, Benson and Greene/Daye and Jenkins would be our future to build off of now and would learn from our stars now to flourish in the league preparring for the day Josh Smith Al Horford and Devin Harris are no longer here these guys would all be in their primes and would pick up the slack and fill the shoes of these guys.
ECF or Bust!
August 2nd, 2012
11:02 am
goods points Ken. plus, we would have to put Dwight on the bench during crunch time, how does that help us?
Astro Joe
August 2nd, 2012
11:23 am
Strickland, that racist comment came from the troll, not from me. Really, how is it that you can’t tell the difference at this point?
Jeff Teague says he will be more of a leader in Atlanta | ProBasketballTalk
August 2nd, 2012
11:33 am
[...] he is at least saying the right things. From the Atlanta Journal Constitution: “I’ve got to be more of a leader,” Teague said. “I looked to other guys last year like Joe [...]
MsDee
August 2nd, 2012
11:49 am
You guys shouldnt take Teagues comments to heart considering the fact that he says what and how he feels at the present time but when he steps on the court with his ‘CONTINUAL’ new found freedom, Teague always seems to rise to the occasion. What I mean is, remember during Teague’s final summer league, I think it was the year after last summer league, when he was down on himself with all his turnovers and all, most on this blog read too much into his comments when he said something in this nature, “Well, thats ok, I will just give the ball to Joe or Josh and not have to worry about turnovers.” LOL, of course im sure he didnt say those EXACT words but us true Hawks fans remember something in that nature.
Well, we all saw how well he did in that following year once he had the freedom to make mistakes and not be taken out because of it. The best thing that could have happen for Teague was for Kirk to get hurt and allow our young PG to blossom. So Im not concern with him thinking “being that 3rd guy”. Once he steps on the court, he WILL be looking for his!! Along with Horford as well. He too has much to prove and Im looking forward to it!!
Ra'mon
August 2nd, 2012
11:51 am
I have a feeling this team will be electric this season and hard to stop. Both point guards will put pressure on the opposition. I think this team will be hard for some teams to match up with. LD’s need to tell Ivan and Petro that their job is strictly to ‘get 1 rebound for every 2 minutes they play. I don’t care how you do it, or who you have to run over but Ivan and Petro, get 1 rebounds per 2 minutes playing.’
northcyde
August 2nd, 2012
11:54 am
It doesn’t matter what Teague “thinks”. It matters what Drew will “do”.
MC . . . you dang right most of us are concerned with how Drew will handle a roster with 3 guards 6 – 3 and under, who all are probably better off at the PG position.
Harris is a guy who is used to being the lead dog on his team.
Lou Williams is a hyper-aggressive guard who looks to score . . . period
So with two guys like that on the team, Teague BETTER take control of this team. Because if he doesn’t, Drew will take control away from him and play those other two guys.
northcyde
August 2nd, 2012
11:57 am
We’ll know that Teague is in control, when he literally yells at Josh Smith to give him the ball after a rebound, instead of throwing his hands up. Yell at him just like Anthony Johnson had to do on his first night as a Hawk, when Josh wanted the ball in the high post, and AJ waved him off.