ATLANTA has been plagued by inconsistency at just about every spot in the lineup. Despite their heroic performance against the Celtics in last season's playoffs, the Hawks still can't play with the big boys. Nevertheless, Joe Johnson is a legit two-way star and the franchise finally has a viable future.These are highly idiosyncratic grades. To wit, the Philadelphia 76ers (20-21) receive a higher grade than the Boston Celtics (34-9).
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Charley Rosen Hands Out Grades
The Hawks earn a B for the season-to-date:
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
5 comments:
Charley Rosen also said LeBron James could only hope to be an average NBA player.....
Where are the grumblings, inside info, rumors on the Hawks making roster moves before the Trade Deadline? It's not like they have a true center or a back-up point guard or anything. Surely they can find a franchise who could "use" Acie and/or Solomon.
zone4boy--
I think you answered your own question there. Ownership isn't going to add salary and they don't have anybody another team would want to acquire. Except for the guys the Hawks don't want to trade.
Bummer, Bret. While you're listening though, I shall start my rant on Joe Johnson...
I’m not a Joe basher. Who doesn’t like his stroke from 3, his very underrated defensive skills, or his above average passing ability. But Bret, riddle me this…
Why on Earth is a guy blessed with a 6’7, 240lb frame (a frame hard to find in the NBA) so afraid to play at or above the rim, draw contact, get front-line defenders in foul trouble, and go to the line? The guy is a great handler and can maneuver in tight spots around the paint. Does he realize that this is the most efficient way to put pressure on the defense? Doesn’t he realize that for a guy with his shooting ability, a free-throw is the second easiest shot in basketball aside from an uncontested lay-up? Furthermore, this is a guy who I fondly remember catching alley-oops and challenging big men at the rim in Phoenix, you know, before he received a max contract from the Hawks. Now all of a sudden, you NEVER EVER see this guy anywhere near the rim. His trademark move in the paint is a floater? Can this guy jump? Weak reverses and easily-blocked lay-ups jumping 6 inches off the ground? Attempts that don’t even make it over the rim? At 6’7, 240? Ridiculous. I don’t know the numbers, but I’m sure he averages around one FT attempt per quarter, most coming while the defense is in the penalty. He uses his size to push off and bump 20 + feet away from the rim, on both sides. Where is this aggressiveness after you use cross-overs and stutter steps/ dribbles to get to the paint? All of that effort to stop short in the lane and use floaters and fade-aways? Rarely do I see him penetrate deeply to find a wide open shooter, as many of his assists are from perimeter to perimeter. This fact drives me up the freaking wall when watching my team.
A short rundown of a few players who are either shorter or smaller than Joe: Pierce and Anthony (the most comparable sizes at 6’7, 235 and 6’8, 230, respectively), Stephen Jackson, Trevor Ariza, Caron Butler, Vince Carter, Danny Granger, Rudy Gay, Richard Jefferson, and Cory Maggette. All of these players are more than willing to throw their bodies around AT THE RIM WITH INSIDE-OUT OFFENSIVE PROGRESSION STRATEGIES.
Now, players who are considerably smaller than Joe, but still players who will finish AT THE RIM WITH CONTACT: Michael Redd, Manu Ginobili, Ben Gordon, Derrick Rose, Devin Harris, and Kevin Martin. I’ll give him a pass on Kobe and Wade, as he’s nowhere near their level.
True, most of these guys are past, current, future, and borderline All-Stars. Mainly because they all have close to complete games for their size, although a few could learn from Joe defensively and Ariza being on the lowest level offensively. This is my main, glaring gripe with Joe, aside from the fact that he is probably slower off the dribble and straight-line speed than any of the players named, as evidenced by his rare occurrences of finishing fast-breaks.
I always say when a team’s struggling, first look at the guy with the largest share of payroll. Ours is simply frightened of the paint, I suspect because of the scary eye socket injury he endured in Phoenix eons ago while trying to finish strong. Finishing strong? What a novel concept.
I figure Rick Sund for a shrewd basketball analyst and manager. If I were a GM, I would have no problem letting Joe go on his way in 2010, or even before that. With all of his strengths, his embarrassing passiveness at the rack is not what you want from your “All-Star.” At 7 years of experience, Joe is near his prime, maybe a year or two away. Going to the hole and attempting a high-percentage shot airborne with authority is not a skill you learn at the midpoint of your career. Either you have it or you don’t, and he’s the worst in the league at his size and skill set, point-blank period. The argument that he has to conserve energy because he has to guard the other team’s best player much of the time is unacceptable to me. Maybe I’m asking too much, eh?
With that said, I still have my eye on fourth place after taking our lumps in Texas and on the West Coast. Orlando has been the only team to thoroughly embarrass us at full strength, as we play the Celtics tough and beat the Cleveland LeBrons from start to finish. If Josh boxes out and completely refrains from shooting 20-footers and dribbling behind his back/ legs (UUGGHH!), he should be okay. Flip should focus on dribble-driving, because goodness knows our starting back-court cannot/ will not. If Al and Marvin stay healthy for the long run, I have faith.
zone4boy = commenter of the day
In response to your rant (Too coherent to qualify as a true rant?) check out this post I wrote in the Spring.
Post a Comment