*Team/NBA
Leaderboard ranks are qualified players only.
*The
Floor Time section includes both qualified and unqualified players in rankings.
*Remember
to check the Glossary at the end of this entry for stat/abbreviation
explanations.
*Default
grade for low impact players is “C.”
PG
Jeff Teague (3rd season with Hawks/3rd
season overall)
Age:
23
Draft
History: 19th pick in 2009 by Atlanta
Acquired:
2009 draft
2012
Salary: $1.58 Million
2013
Contract Status: $2.43 Million
2012
Regular Season Grade: B-
Grade
Explanation: Started every game at point and was team’s
3rd best player. Made transition to fulltime starter. Okay job
distributing and better job taking care of ball. Solid defense. Led team in
assists and steals. Good shooting from in close. Not a great year shooting 3’s.
Not as big of an offensive factor as he showed he could be in previous year’s
playoff series with Chicago. Lacked confidence and wasn’t always engaged. Not a
big factor late in close games during the regular season. Much more impactful
player overall, small step up in per minute production.
Overall:
In one of the previous entries I said that Jeff Teague’s 2011-2012 season was a
disappointment because he really didn’t show the sort of improvement that many
had hoped for following his breakout in the previous year’s postseason. That
was a bit harsh, as this was Teague’s first season as a fulltime player. Quite
obviously he had a totally different year this season as the starting point
guard on a regular basis, after being the backup PG last year.
While he rarely matched
the level of production he reached during the 2nd round series with
the Bulls a year before, it may have been unreasonable to expect that he would
be that same player over the course of a full (or almost full) season. During the regular season he was still the
Hawks’ 3rd best player, which is a big step up from what he was a
year before.
Teague started all 66
games for the Hawks, playing 33.1 MPG, and putting up solid numbers across the
board. Teague shot .476/.342/.757 (FG/3PT/FT), while averaging 12.6 P/G, 2.4
R/G, 4.9 A/G, 1.6 S/G, and 0.6 B/G with 2.0 TOV/G. While he wasn’t as
impressive as he was in that series with Chicago, he was still one of the three
main players on the team along with Joe and Josh, and the Hawks needed him to
be that after Al Horford went down and Kirk Hinrich was out for the first
month.
The question is whether
Teague will ever be the sort of player who does something special for his team
that couldn’t be easily replaced by the average starting PG. Right now I don’t think
he is that sort of player quite yet. I don’t want to say that Teague wasn’t
important to the team’s success. The Hawks had a +5.0 net point differential
per 48 minutes when Teague was on the floor and a -0.1 net point differential per
48 minutes when Teague was not on the floor. That gives Teague a +5.1 ON/OFF
per 48 minutes. Using that metric, only Josh and Joe were more important to the
team’s success (actually, Donald Sloan is tops in that stat on the team, but we
can discard his numbers for obvious reasons).
Let me try and explain
my point this way. Yes, it’s true that without a functional guy playing the
point like Teague, the Hawks are a lot worse off. However, if Teague improves
his game--and becomes not just solid but really good--the Hawks would be a much
better team.
Jeff Teague hasn’t been
the “quarterback” for this Hawks team, although perhaps it would be
unreasonable to expect him to come in and be the team leader as a younger
player, on a team with guys who have been together for a long time, and who
have varied personalities and egos. You can probably only really do that if you
are truly a born field general or are instantly the best player on the team
(like Derrick Rose with the Bulls, for example).
Along those same lines,
Teague is not the sort of PG who is going to run the show like a Deron Williams
or Chris Paul. It’s an interesting situation because Teague is naturally more
of a scoring PG than a distributor, but because of the way the Hawks are built,
he’s been asked to be more of a pass-first PG. Teague has been asked to be a
facilitator, but since he’s not a passing wizard, he also needs to be able to
hit outside shots, and pick his spots when he wants to drive and create.
Right now, Teague is often
just the guy who usually dribbles up the court and starts the offensive
possession. He hasn’t yet developed into a great outside shooter, and he lacks
confidence in that area. Often times he appears to be removed from the action. If
he can get better as an outside shooter it would be huge, because he’s already a
good scorer from inside. Teague shot .514 on 2PT’s (4th best among
qualified PG’s) and just .342 on 3PT’s (28th among qualified PG’s).
The ability to drive to
the basket and score/get fouled that he showed in the series with Chicago did
not reappear this season as often as Hawks fans would like. He drew fouls on
10.2% of his FGA this season, which isn’t bad, but it’s not special. For
example, Rodney Stuckey took 5 fewer shots from the floor this season than
Teague, but ended up taking 135 more FT’s than Teague. This is because Stucky
drew fouls on 19.5% of his FGA.
Teague got slightly
more of his points on jumpers than inside, and that’s okay, as he can hit jumpers
from mid-range. Most of his success is going to come on drives and shots close
to the basket. Only 59% of his FGA this season were jumpers and he had just a
.447 EFG on those shots. On inside shots (the other 41% of his FGA) he had a
.613 EFG.
Teague isn’t yet a guy
you can trust with the ball in his hands late in the shot clock, as he often
passes out of open looks and gives the rock to someone in a worse position with
even less time to get off a shot. Only
17% of his FGA came with less than 5 seconds left on the shot clock. You can
see why he’s hesitant to take those shots: he had a .438 EFG on those shots
this season. By comparison, 43% of his FGA came within the first 10 seconds of
the possession, and he had a .550 EFG on those shots. But you’d like to see him
pull the trigger, because he needs to be able to take and make those shots.
Interestingly, Teague
was a bit more willing to take a shot late in a possession in “clutch”
situations (less than 5 min in 4th or overtime, 5-pt game or
closer). Overall, only 35% of his FGA came with less than 10 seconds on the
shot clock, but 57% of his FGA in CLUTCH came with less than 10 seconds on the
clock. I have to admit those numbers surprised me.
Although, if you think
about it, in crunch time the Hawks are often dribbling late into the
possession, and Joe and Josh are almost always the first or second option.
Teague probably didn’t have a chance to take many shots that weren’t late in
the possession. Indeed, just 22% of his FGA in CLUTCH came in the first 10
seconds of the possession, compared to 43% overall.
At least during the
regular season, Teague was not a great “clutch” player. To be sure, the Hawks
fared well in late and close situations during the regular season, and Teague
was on the floor for 83% of the team’s CLUTCH minutes. But I’d like to see
Teague be more of a factor offensively in late/close situations in the future.
I think he just needs confidence and he needs to be more assertive. Teague
averaged 18.3 points per 48 minutes this season, but in CLUTCH that number
dropped to 12.9 points per 48 minutes. Admittedly, he seems to have let the
pressure get to him at times, as he shot just .378 from the floor during CLUTCH
(down from .476 overall) and .632 on free throws (down from .757 overall). But
again, I think he just needs to get his confidence up, and hopefully it will
come as he grows as a player.
Teague was out-produced
by opposing point guards this season, but I think a lot of that has to do with
how the Hawks work as a team offensively. Teague led the Hawks in assists per
game, but he was just 23rd in the NBA in that stat, while 2 of his
teammates were also in the top 32. Teague was 13th among qualified
PG’s in points per game (and a lot of players didn’t qualify this season due to
the unusual nature of the schedule; 20 point guards that played at least 26.9
minutes in at least 26 games had higher P/G numbers than Teague).
My point here is that a
lot of teams—at least in a figurative sense--ask their point guards to do more.
On average, Atlanta PG’s had higher EFG and fewer turnovers than opposing PG’s,
but they also took fewer shots and had fewer assists. So some of it is more
about the way the Hawks are built and work as a team than it is about Teague
not playing as well as the opposing PG. He still helps the offense. Atlanta’s
offensive points per 100 possessions number with Teague on the floor was 8.4
better than when he was off (only Josh’s was higher on the team, again,
excluding Donald Sloan’s silly numbers).
Defensively, Teague is
athletic enough to force turnovers, get blocks and steals, and start breaks the
other way. This is actually one of his best attributes at this point. He is
definitely a gambler, going by instinct to help at times, and this can be both
good and bad. He can be fooled by veteran players and good coaches, and he is
still learning the tricks of the trade. He seems to get “lost” on defense from
time to time, unsure of what exactly to do against various screens and cuts, and
maybe he’ll get better at that.
I’m not sure you “get
better” about hustling and busting back on defense every time. This is
something he struggles with. There are certainly times when he goes all out to
stop a fast break, but other times he doesn’t hustle back and that sort of
thing leads to buckets for the other team. He may have gotten fatigued some
this year and you’d expect it to show up most in that sort of situation.
Hopefully he decides to play hard all the time at some point, but I think that’s
usually the sort of thing you either have or you don’t have.
Teague is very solid
defensively, but on the whole, Teague isn’t a great defensive player—or at
least, he hasn’t been yet—and his focus and energy is sometimes lacking. If
he’s not involved offensively, Teague sometimes seems to disappear on both ends
of the floor, although I must admit that’s mere observation. I’m only guessing
that his offensive game affects his defensive intensity on that sort of
psychological level. I don’t even have stats to prove that his defense actually
is better—for whatever reason--when
he’s a part of the offense.
However, I have seen
enough to know that when he’s engaged, Teague can be very disruptive on the
defensive end (in a good way). He was among the league leaders in steals and
he’s a good shot blocker for a guard. But for what it’s worth, Atlanta’s
defensive points per 100 possessions number with Teague on the floor was 3.7
worse than when he was on the floor (only Willie Green’s OFF/ON defensive points
per 100 possessions number was worse on the team). Of course a number of things
factor in here, but we can at least say that these numbers suggest Teague has
not been as valuable on defense as he has been on offense.
Statistics:
As
I stated in other terms earlier, Teague was virtually guaranteed to make major
improvements in almost all of the “total” or “per game” statistics simply
because his playing time increased so dramatically this season. That in itself
was an encouraging sign I suppose. Teague started all 66 games for the Hawks
after making just 7 starts last year. His MPG increased by 19.3. He also
experienced increases in P/G (+7.4), R/G (+0.9), A/G (+2.9), S/G (+1.0), and
B/G (+0.6). Naturally his TOV/G also increased (+1.1), but his ATO improved as
well, up 0.24 to 2.40 this season.
Teague shot the ball
better from the floor (+.038), but not from behind the arc (-.033), and his FT%
was down .037. Still, Teague’s PER was up 1.21 to 15.83; he improved his TS% by
3.1; and also improved his EFG by .047. Teague’s WS/48 number was .131; up .048
from last year. By the way, Teague did not have a double-double effort in his
pro career prior to this season when he posted 3 such outings.
If you’re starting to
think I’ve done a good job explaining how Teague actually did take a major step
forward this season—thus proving my original point wrong—you are at least
partially correct. In many ways Teague’s 2011-2012 season was a major
improvement. As already stated, he went from being a backup PG — who really
wasn’t trusted—to starting every game and being the 3rd best player
on the team. That’s improvement to be sure. But I still maintain that he did
not take as big of a step forward this season as we might have hoped for after
his coming out party against the Bulls in the previous year’s playoffs.
Remember, simply by
getting 2.5 times as many MPG this season Teague was going to increase his per
game and total numbers. However, his per 48 minute numbers didn’t improve much,
if at all, in the key “counting” stats (points, rebounds, assists, turnovers,
steals, blocks, etc.). On a per 48 minute scale, Teague raised his scoring by
0.3, his assists by 0.2, and his steals by 0.1. He also lowered his TOV/48 by
0.3. His R/48 fell off by 1.6 and his B/48 dropped by 0.4.
Of course, a player’s
per 48 minute production is likely to drop when their playing time increases
dramatically, and that’s probably particularly true for areas like blocking
shots and rebounding for guards. So maybe I was more than a little harsh on
Teague in my earlier entry.
The main thing is this:
Teague came out of literally nowhere to be a force in the 2nd round
series with Chicago in 2011. In games 2 through 5 of that series, Teague scored
21 points in 3 of 4 games. We were hoping to see that sort of production this
year, but he scored 21 (or more) points in just 3 of the first 55 games.
Yes, I know the league
had a chance to “figure him out” and that a 6-game playoff series is a very
small sample size, but Teague’s breakthrough in that series was dramatic, and
his follow up regular season was slightly less than many of us hoped. In that
series he looked like he could be special. He looked like he could be a
difference maker. This season he was more like a slightly above average player.
If you want statistical proof rather than just my assertion, just check out his
PER. The standard league average for PER is 15.00; Teague’s PER this season was
15.83.
Floor
Time Stats (Unqualified Team Rankings)
MIN%: 67% (2nd)
+/-
Per 48:
+5.0 (5th)
ON/OFF
48:
+5.1 (4th)
+/-
W-L-T:
37-26-3
WIN%: 58.7 (6th)
ON/OFF
OPHP:
+8.4 (2nd)
ON/OFF
DPHP:
+3.7 (15th)
ON/OFF
NPHP:
+4.7 (4th)
Team
Leaderboard: Teague led the Hawks in FG%
(.476), AST (321), STL (106), ATO (2.40), PPS (1.237),
A/G (4.9), S/G (1.6), 2P% (.514), A/48 (7.1), S/48 (2.33), STO (0.79),
SPF (0.73), A% (24.3), S% (2.6), and
ARAT (26.6).
Teague was tied for 1st on the team in GP (66), GS (66), and OFF-PPP
(1.08).
Teague was 2nd on the team in MIN (2183), BLK (37), EFG (.514), B/G (0.6), BPF (0.26), OWS (3.0), DWS (3.0), and MIN% (67%).
Teague was tied for 2nd on the team in DEF-PPP (1.03).
Teague was 3rd on the team in FT% (.757), FGM (320), FGA (672), 3PA (149), FTM (140), FTA (185), PTS (831), MPG (33.1), FGM/G (4.8),
FGA/G (10.2), FTM/G (2.1), FTA/G
(2.8), P/G (12.6), 2PM (269), 2PA (523), 2PM/G (4.0), 2PA/G (7.9), B/48 (0.8), PF/48 (3.2),
WS (6.0), VA (157.4), EWA (5.2), +/- (+229), +/- Per 48 (+5.0), WIN% (58.7), and ON/OFF 48 (+5.1).
Teague was tied for 3rd on the team in DD (3).
On the negative side,
Teague was 2nd on the
team in TOV (134); 3rd in PF (145); and tied for 3rd
in Techs (2).
NBA
Leaderboard: Here are Teague’s NBA Leaderboard
appearances.
GP (T-1st)
GS (T-1st)
STL (8th)
S/G (10th)
S/48 (13th)
MIN (16th)
S% (17th)
STO (20th)
SPF (20th)
AST (22nd)
A/G (23rd)
DWS (24th)
A/48 (30th)
ATO (31st)
EFG (31st)
A% (33rd)
+/- (33rd)
2P% (34th)
FG% (40th)
PPS (42nd)
WS (43rd)
ARAT (T-43rd)
MPG (46th)
Season
Review: It seemed to take Teague a little while to get used
to playing heavy minutes every night. He took a while to get rolling and the
lockout/unusual schedule may have contributed to this. He was definitely a
better player in the “2nd half” (after the ASG), with one major
exception being 3-point shooting. JT shot .447 from 3-point range in his first
35 games and just .185 from behind the arc over his next 28 games (he went 5
for 8 in the final 3 games of the year).
Teague’s play fell off
in February, with his minutes also decreasing as Kirk Hinrich began to play
more. Teague may simply have been tired, as he was a fulltime starter for the
first time in his career, and he had to make this transition after the lockout,
with the league playing a jam-packed schedule. It may also have had something
to do with the competition.
His production jumped
back up in March but his 3-point shooting plummeted, as he went just 9 for 50
from behind the arc during the month. Larry Drew cut back on JT’s minutes again
in April, but Teague’s numbers rose. He finished very strong, shooting .550/.462/.800
and averaging 14.7 P/G, 3.2 R/G, 5.5 A/G, 1.7 S/G, and 1.0 B/G in 28.3 MPG over
his final 6 games.
2012
Postseason Grade: B-
Grade
Explanation: 1 of only 2 Hawks to start all 6 games.
Played 2nd most minutes in series, led in assists, tied for team
lead in blocks, was 2nd in steals, and tied for 2nd on
team in points. Had a 2.5 ATO, hit 7 of 17 from 3-pt range, and went 17 for 19
at the line. Hit some huge shots during series. Struggled at times defensively,
getting lost, fouling, lacking energy/hustle, and just getting schooled by
Rondo. Disappeared offensively late in a couple of games and missed some key
shots.
Statistics:
Teague
started all 6 playoff games, averaging 37.5 MPG. He shot .411/.412/.895 and
averaged 14.0 P/G, 3.7 R/G, 4.2 A/G, 0.8 S/G, and 0.8 B/G with 1.7 TOV/G. He
had 5 blocks (tied for team lead) and 5 steals (2nd on team). Teague
had 25 assists (1st on team) against just 10 turnovers while playing
225 minutes (2nd out of 13 on team). He had a 2.50 ATO and led the
team with 0.7 WS and .139 WS/48.
His PER in the series
was 14.30 (not good, but in this series it was actually 3rd best on
the team, and this was 6 games against a very good defensive team). Teague’s
had a -7 +/- number in the series (5th on team), which is obviously
not something you want to brag about, but it was actually better than anyone
else on the team that played significant minutes other than Al Horford (who
only played in the last 3 games). His +/- W-L-T in this series was 2-4-0, which
not coincidentally was the team’s record in the series. Fouls were a bit of a
problem for Teague, as he averaged 3.0 PF/G in the series after averaging 2.2
PF/G during the regular season.
Postseason
Review: Teague was very good at times during the Boston
series, but overall he was just okay this postseason. Teague was no match for
his counterpart Rajon Rondo, although few players are. He made some huge plays
in the series, but also missed some big shots. He made some big defensive
plays, but he also struggled at times.
Teague was huge in game
1, pretty good in game 2, and very good in game 3. He had a terrible game 4,
the only non-competitive game. He bounced back and came up big in game 5, but
he disappeared in game 6.
He was perhaps the
Hawks’ best player in game 1, with 15 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists against 1
turnover, and a steal. He was 5 of 10 from the field, 2 for 2 from 3-point
land, and 3 of 4 at the line. He had a +/- number of +12 in 33 minutes of play.
Teague played well early on, scoring 5 of the team’s first 10 points, as the
Hawks came out on fire and built their huge lead.
But after the 1st
quarter, the Hawks really cooled off. Teague scored just 2 points in the 2nd
and 1 in the 3rd, but he was one of the guys who came up big in the
end. Teague had a couple of huge buckets late in the game when Boston was
rallying. With the lead down to 5, Teague buried a 3 late in the shot clock to
make it 76-68 with 3:05 left. A minute later he drove in the paint and hit a
7-footer to make it 78-70 with 1:58 to go. After Rondo’s implosion, the Hawks
led by 7. Kevin Garnett missed a jumper and Teague grabbed the rebound and then
hit a pair of free throws with 32 seconds left to put it on ice.
In game 2 Teague didn’t
have to worry about Rajon Rondo, but Avery Bradley is no slouch. Teague filled
up the stat sheet again, putting up 18 points, 5 boards, 2 steals, and a block,
but he had just 2 assists against 2 turnovers. He was 2 of 5 from 3-point range
and 4 for 4 at the line, but Teague was only 6 for 18 overall in game 2. Teague
played 41:40 out of 48 minutes and had a +/- number of -1 (actually 3rd
best on the team that night). He made some nice feeds on fast breaks that would
have counted as assists in hockey, as they led to the pass that led to the
score.
Early on Teague played
very well on both offense and defense. He scored the Hawks’ first points of the
game, then with 1:33 left in the 1st he drove in the paint and
scored to get the Hawks within a point. On the next possession he hit a 3 to
put the Hawks up 2 with under a minute to play in the quarter.
On the ensuing C’s
possession, Teague was covering Kevin Dooling under the basket but he saw that
Paul Pierce was going to attempt a soft toss entry pass to Kevin Garnett on the
right block. He tried to get around KG and steal the pass from behind but got
there late and found himself at the 3-point line. Meanwhile, KG dished out to
Greg Steimsma behind the 3, and Dooling positioned himself in the left corner. Steimsma's
quick pass to Dooling looked like it would setup a wide open 3, but Teague
sprinted back all the way across the court, leaped high in the air, and blocked
Dooling’s shot out of bounds. It was one of the Hawks’ best plays of the entire
series.
Teague hit a 3 to tie
the score at 34-34 with 5:36 left in the 2nd, and then with under 2
minutes to play in the half he split 2 defenders, drove the lane, and soared
through the air for a monster jam to put the Hawks up 5. Midway through the 3rd
Teague missed a shot in the paint that Pierce rebounded, and at the other end
of the court Pierce dished to a wide open Dooling for a 3 that cut the Hawks
lead to 6. On the play Teague took so long to get back that it sort of turned
into one of those “delayed fast breaks.”
But moments later he
made a spectacular play, beating a double, twisting and turning and hitting a
10-foot floater to make it 60-51. On the next possession he hit a pair of free
throws to put the Hawks up 11 with less than 4 to play. However, Teague then
went cold, going 0 for 6 the rest of the night, as the Hawks melted. With the
score tied, Teague got the ball stolen by Avery Bradley a few minutes into the
4th, but then stole it right back, and he hit 2 free throws to put
the Hawks up 68-66 with 8:04 to play. Those were his final points of the game.
In one of the key
moments of the loss, right after Josh went out of the game with the Hawks down
2 and about 4 minutes to go, Teague came up small in a not so obvious way. Joe
had the ball to the left of the top of the key and Teague was a few feet to his
left behind the arc. Joe was doubled by KG and Mickael Pietrus and tried to
make a jump pass over to Marvin in the right corner, but his pass got knocked
up in the air. Pierce reacted quickly and picked it up off a bounce and started
a transition the other way.
Bradley—who had been
guarding Teague and was standing a few feet closer to the Hawks basket—immediately
began running the other way, while Teague stood flat footed and watched the
play, allowing Bradley to run past him. Eventually Teague began to jog lightly
along with the play, but he never got involved. Pierce dribbled down the
middle, Bradley ran ahead to his right, Pietrus went to the left corner where
Marvin followed, and Joe quickly got back in front of the basket. With Joe in
the middle, Pierce passed to his right to Bradley, and Joe had to challenge
him, so Bradley dished back to Pierce who went down the middle for the jam that
made it a 4-point game with 4 minutes left.
If Teague reacted
quickly and with full effort (like Bradley) he could have been there to keep
that 2-on-1 from occurring. It’s possible that Pierce would have stopped and
popped a 3 to make it a 5-point game, but the chances of preventing that huge
bucket would have been much greater. Bradley is an all-hustle, all-heart type
of guy, and you need those types of players to be a great team.
The Celtics were
without Ray Allen and Rajon Rondo, the Hawks were up 1-0 at home, and they should
have been looking to take complete control of the series, but they missed their
chance. There were many reasons why they lost, but one of those reasons—and I
think we have to admit things like this—was that they just got out-hearted.
Sometimes the Hawks just couldn’t match Boston’s “want-to.” In game 1 Boston
didn’t match the Hawks energy until it was too late. Game 2 was different.
Following the fade in
game 2, Teague had a big game 3, his best performance of the series, stepping
up with Josh Smith, Al Horford, and Zaza Pachulia all unavailable. JT played 41
minutes and 18 seconds (out of 53 total minutes due to overtime) and had 23
points, 4 rebounds, 6 assists against 2 turnovers, a steal, and 2 blocks. He
was 9 of 16 from the floor and 5 of 6 at the line. His +/- number for the game
was -4, but he led the team in minutes and was 1 of only 3 Hawks players to go
more than 26 minutes in the game, despite the overtime and the short bench.
Through the first 4 quarters Teague had a +/- number of +2.
Along with the missed
opportunity in game 2, the loss of home court advantage, and the tremendous
momentum swing, things had also shifted against the Hawks in terms of injuries
and availability of players. Not only was Rajon Rondo back after being suspended
for game 2, but Ray Allen was back after missing the first 2 games of the
series with an ankle injury. In addition, the Hawks were now without Zaza, Al,
and Josh, who had hurt his knee in game 2. This made things even tougher for
the Hawks players, particularly on defense. Whether guarding Allen, Rondo, or
Bradley, Teague wouldn’t have a moment in the game where he could let up on
defense, and he was going to have to be an even bigger part of the offense.
For some reason Teague
still had some problems getting back on defense. It’s almost as if Teague at
times forgot that this was a playoff series. You can probably get away with
loafing back aimlessly after a routine miss or make during the first half of
regular season games, and even if it costs your team, it’s still “the grind” of
the regular season. But in the playoffs you aren’t going to get away with it,
and if it costs your team it’s huge.
At the 6:07 mark in the
1st quarter Marvin missed a 3 from the right side that bounced out
to Bradley who was between the top of the key and the top arc of the circle.
Teague was on the right side a few feet inside the free throw line. Rondo was
on the opposite side, parallel to Teague. Bradley grabbed the ball and quickly
flipped it to Rondo, who led it back the other way at a mild pace. Marvin, Joe,
and Hinrich all got back and matched up with Pierce, Rondo, and Bass
respectively (Erick Dampier was back as well but it didn’t really matter
because Garnett was lagging behind).
Teague, however,
trotted back, allowing Avery Bradley to jog over to the right where Rondo
passed him the ball and he casually hit a 3, with the ball going through the
net as Teague trot-jogged across the 3-point line on the opposite side of the
court. Teague may have been fatigued, and Drew called time as soon as the Hawks
got the ball across half court, but it’s tough to defend that sort of thing.
On offense, Teague
missed a couple from up close early, and it must be said that he had more
trouble than usual close to the basket in this series, as all of the Celtics
were just so tough around the hoop. He did execute an and-1 to give the Hawks
an early lead, and he had a dunk and a drive for a layup in the 2nd.
Along with Joe, Teague
kept the Hawks in the game in the 3rd, scoring 9 points and dishing
out 3 assists. He made a huge play with 5 minutes left in the quarter, with
another of his instinctual gambles paying off. He left Bradley alone on the
right side behind the 3-line, and cut all the way across to intercept a pass
Rondo attempted to make from the left side to KG at the top of the key. He
picked off the bounce pass and took it the other way for a slam to bring the
Hawks within a point. With just 6 seconds left in the 3rd he hit a
jumper to make it a 2-point deficit going to the 4th.
JT started the 4th
off with a dunk to tie the game at 60-60, but with 6 minutes to play the Hawks
trailed by 11. Teague brought the Hawks back from the edge with 5 straight
points to cut it to 6, and the Hawks were able to force overtime. In OT, Teague
may have been feeling the effects of all those minutes, as his only shot was a
blocked layup attempt, and the Hawks were outscored 10-4 in the 5 minute
session.
Of course one of the
reasons Teague may have been fatigued was that he was chasing Rondo around for
much of the night. While he wasn’t always guarding the Celtics’ point man
during the series, it was his usual assignment, and he couldn’t contain him. As
everyone knows, staying with Rondo is a tall task, and he made Teague look bad
at times with fakes and jukes. But another problem was that Teague just wasn’t
able to match the relentlessness of Rondo, Bradley, and Allen. Primarily it was
a problem with Rondo, however.
Against Rondo, even
when he’s not directly part of the shot on offense, you can’t lose track of
him, because he’ll bust in and grab an offensive rebound or tip it out to
someone. You have to at least try to block him out and at the very least you
can’t turn and stand watching the ball, which is what Teague often did, meaning
Rondo was free to make all sorts of plays. When it happens, you just think
“wow! Look at Rondo! He’s done it again!” but you don’t really notice that he
was able to do it because the guy guarding him stopped doing his job when the
play moved away from his man.
Unfortunately, Teague
wasn’t able to produce in game 4 when Josh and Al were available. He followed
up his best game of the series with by far his worst. Teague had 7 points, 1
rebound, 3 assists, 2 turnovers, and 4 personal fouls in just 27 minutes. He
shot 3 of 9 from the floor and 0 for 3 from 3-point range. He had a +/- number
of -16 for the game.
Teague bounced back
with a nice effort in game 5, playing nearly 43 of 48 minutes, and going 5 for
11 to score 16 points with 2 boards, 5 assists against 2 turnovers, and 2
blocks. He hit 2 of 3 from behind the arc and 4 of 4 at the line and had a +/-
number of +5 for the game. Teague started the Hawks’ scoring with a 3 to give
them a 3-2 lead, and ended their scoring in the 1st half with a
3-pointer with just 10 seconds left in the 2nd to give them their
first lead since being up 3-2.
Teague had 6 points and
3 assists in the 3rd as the Hawks built a lead. He made a super
cross-court pass to set up a Marvin Williams 3 as part of a 10-0 run. By the
end of the 3rd quarter the C’s had cut it to 2, but Teague hit a
jumper to open the 4th and make it a 4-point game. He had 2 assists
in the 4th as the Hawks held on for the 1-point win to stay alive in
the series.
Game 6 was not a good
one for JT, mainly because he just couldn’t put the ball in the basket that
night. He wasn’t anywhere near as bad as he was in game 4, as he still managed
to post 4 boards, a steal, and 6 assists with no turnovers, while also hitting
1 of 2 from 3-point range. However, he scored only 5 points on 2 of 9 shooting
and racked up 4 fouls in 27-and-a-half minutes of play. In addition, Teague
failed to go to the line a single time in game 6. His +/- number for the game
was -3.
The worst part about
Teague’s game 6 was that 5 of his 7 misses came within 3 feet of the basket. He
had 3 assists in the first half but no points. He had 2 more assists and a
3-pointer in the 3rd as the Hawks stayed in the game. He had 1
assist in the 4th and his only other points came on a jam with 6
minutes left in the game.
He missed a huge shot with around 1:30 left and the
Hawks up by 1, as he couldn’t get a layup to go down.
Then there was that 2nd
to last possession for the Hawks when Josh Smith ended up taking a 22-footer
with Brandon Bass closely guarding him. On that play, Josh receives the pass
from Al with 7 seconds on the shot clock. At that moment, JT is in the left
corner behind the 3-line; Marvin is to his right behind the 3-line; Al is to
the right of Marvin behind the 3-line; Josh is a little to the right of the top
of the key, 1 foot inside the 3-line; and Joe is in the right corner,
straddling the 3-line. So, with 7 seconds on the shot clock and the Hawks down
only 1, all 5 players were within a foot of the 3-point line.
Here, we clearly have
either a lack of coaching; a poor job by the players executing the plan; or a
little of both. Whatever the cause, for the Hawks to be better than a pretty
good team, Teague is eventually going to have to be more assertive taking
control in that type of spot. And he’s really the only one who can take charge
in that spot.
Think about it: Marvin’s
gonna give it up to somebody else. Al can’t be asked to create on his own with
less than 10 on the shot clock. Joe’s a good option, but he’s not a “take
charge” kind of guy, and he’s going to be focused on by the defense. And if you
give it to Josh he’s going to do what he did in this instance. Teague is really
the only guy who can transform the Hawks into a team that gets a decent shot
off in that spot. Hopefully, he’ll be a different player the next time that
type of situation arises.
Moving
Forward: Jeff Teague has shown himself to be capable enough
on both ends of the floor to be a decent starting point guard in the NBA.
Teague has proven himself to be worthy of a mid-1st round pick, and
all things considered, his selection has to be one of the Hawks more successful
picks of the last 10 years or so. Now they desperately need him to get better
in almost every way possible.
Next year will likely
be a big year for him. He has to be more assertive and more accurate as an
outside shooter. He has to be more aggressive driving to the basket and getting
fouled. The confidence problem may work itself out, as Hinrich should be gone
(I think), meaning Teague is going to be the only real option at point guard. Teague
also needs to be more focused on a consistent basis defensively, especially in
big games and in the playoffs.
Finally, whether it’s
fair to ask it of him or not, Teague has to be more of an on-court leader. He
can lead the team without even saying anything, simply by making sure he controls
the flow of the offense. Put the other guys in good position to score and they
will learn that good things happen when you are running the offense.
How Teague does getting
Al Horford the ball in good spots will be important, because Al was out almost
all of this year, so they haven’t played together that much. And Al’s strength
is really facing the basket and taking mid-range jumpers. If Teague can do
anything to help Josh become less intent on taking long shots, that would also
be really huge. Getting the offense working together next season, with Al
returning to the fold and Teague himself emerging, will be very important.
Stat
Glossary
Total
Stats
Games
Played (GP)
Games
Started (GS)
Minutes
Played (MIN)
Field
Goal Percentage (FG%)
Three
Point Field Goal Percentage (3PT%)
Free
Throw Percentage (FT%)
Field
Goals Made (FGM)
Field
Goal Attempts (FGA)
Three
Pointers Made (3PM)
Three
Point Attempts (3PA)
Free
Throws Made (FTM)
Free
Throw Attempts (FTA)
Two
Pointers Made (2PM)
Two
Point Attempts (2PA)
Two
Point Field Goal Percentage (2P%)
Offensive
Rebounds (OR)
Defensive
Rebounds (DR)
Total
Rebounds (REB)
Assists
(AST)
Steals
(STL)
Blocks
(BLK)
Turnovers
(TOV)
Personal
Fouls (PF)
Points
(PTS)
Flagrant
Fouls (Flagrants)
Technical
Fouls (Techs)
Ejections
(Ejections)
Foul
Outs (DQ’s)
Double-Doubles
(DD)
Triple-Doubles
(TD)
Per
Game Stats
Minutes
Per Game (MPG)
Field
Goals Made Per Game (FGM/G)
Field
Goal Attempts Per Game (FGA/G)
Three
Pointers Made Per Game (3PM/G)
Three
Point Attempts Per Game (3PA/G)
Free
Throws Made Per Game (FTM/G)
Free
Throw Attempts Per Game (FTA/G)
Two
Pointers Made Per Game (2PM/G)
Two
Point Attempts Per Game (2PA/G)
Offensive
Rebounds Per Game (OR/G)
Defensive
Rebounds Per Game (DR/G)
Total
Rebounds Per Game (R/G)
Assists
Per Game (A/G)
Steals
Per Game (S/G)
Blocks
Per Game (B/G)
Turnovers
Per Game (TOV/G)
Points
Per Game (P/G)
Personal
Fouls Per Game (PF/G)
Per
48 Minute Stats
Points
Per 48 Minutes (P/48)
Rebounds
Per 48 Minutes (R/48)
Assists
Per 48 Minutes (A/48)
Steals
Per 48 Minutes (S/48)
Blocks
Per 48 Minutes (B/48)
Personal
Fouls Per 48 Minutes (PF/48)
Ratio
Stats
Assist-to-Turnover
Ratio (ATO)
Steal-to-Turnover
Ratio (STO)
Steal-to-Personal
Foul Ratio (SPF)
Block-to-Personal
Foul Ratio (BPF)
Points
Scored Per Shot Attempt (PPS)
Percentage
Stats
Offensive
Rebound Percentage (OR%) (% of available OR player grabbed
while on floor)
Defensive
Rebound Percentage (DR%) (% of available DR player grabbed
while on floor)
Total
Rebound Percentage (R%) (% of available REB player grabbed
while on floor)
Assist
Percentage (A%) (% of teammate FG’s player assisted on
while on floor)
Steal
Percentage (S%) (% of opp’s possessions ended with steal
by player while on floor)
Block
Percentage (B%) (% of opp’s 2-pt FGA’s block by player
while on floor)
Turnover
Percentage (TOV%) (Turnovers per 100 possessions)
Hollinger
Stats
True
Shooting Percentage (TS%) (Takes into account value of 2-pt,
3-pt, and FT)
Assist
Ratio (ARAT) (% of possessions ended with Assist by
player)
Turnover
Ratio (TOVRAT) (% of possessions ended with TOV by
player)
Usage
Rate (USG%) (% of team plays used by player while on
floor)
Player
Efficiency Rating (PER) (Player’s per minute statistical
rating)
Value
Added (VA) (# of pts player adds to team above
replacement level)
Estimated
Wins Added (EWA) (# of wins player adds above replacement
level)
NBA
Reference.com Stats
Effective
Field Goal Percentage (EFG) (Adjusts for 3-pt being
worth more than 2-pt)
Offensive
Rating (ORAT) (Points produced by player per 100
possessions)
Defensive
Rating (DRAT) (Points allowed by player per 100
possessions)
Offensive
Win Shares (OWS) (# of wins contributed by player due to
offense)
Defensive
Win Shares (DWS) (# of wins contributed by player due to
defense)
Win
Shares (WS) (# of wins contributed by player)
Win
Shares Per 48 Minutes (WS/48) (# of wins contributed
by player per 48 minutes)
82games.com
Stats
Minutes
Percentage (MIN%) (% of team minutes player was on floor)
Net
Plus/Minus (+/-) (Net pts for team while player on floor)
Offensive
Points Per Possession (OFF-PPP) (Team Off PPP while
player on floor)
Defensive
Points Per Possession (DEF-PPP) (Team Def PPP while
player on floor)
Net
Plus/Minus Per 48 Minutes (+/- Per 48) (Team net pts per 48 of
PT for player)
On
Court W-L Record (W-L-T) (# of gms team outscored/didn’t
outscore opponent while player was on floor)
Win
Percentage (WIN%) (W-L-T in win pct form)
Net
Production vs. Opponent (PRO/OPP) (How player fared vs.
counterpart)
Net
On Court vs. Off Court Per 48 Minutes (ON/OFF 48) (Team
+/- while player on/off court per 48 minutes)
Simple
Rating (SIMRAT) (Taken from combo PRO/OPP and ON/OFF 48)
Net
On Court vs. Off Court Offensive Points per 100 Possessions (ON/OFF OPHP)
(Team’s offensive points per 100 possessions while player on/off court)
Net
On Court vs. Off Court Defensive Points per 100 Possessions (ON/OFF DPHP)
(Team’s defensive points per 100 possessions while player on/off court)
Net
On Court vs. Off Court Points per 100 Possessions (ON/OFF NPHP)
(Team’s offensive points per 100 possessions vs. team’s defensive points per
100 possessions while player on/off court)
Clutch
Situations (CLUTCH) (4th quarter or overtime,
less than 5 minutes left, neither team ahead by more than 5 points)
If you’re confused
about a stat or abbreviation you can check this glossary. Many of the
abbreviations are ones I came up with just for shorthand. If you want further
explanation/info on the stats, check out the sites listed within the glossary.
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