*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.
SG
Willie Green (1st season with Hawks/9th
season overall)
Age:
30
Draft
History: 41st pick in 2003 by Seattle
Acquired:
Signed as free agent December of 2011
2012
Salary: $1.22 Million
2013
Contract Status: Free agent
2012
Regular Season Grade: C+
Grade
Explanation: Performed better than expected for
minimum salary as backup guard. Missed 11 games in March with back injury and 2
more in April due to wife’s pregnancy. Good season shooting from 3-pt range and
at the line. Did not turn ball over much. Hit some big shots. Apart from
outside shooting, contributed little else to team. Doesn’t help much when not
hitting shots. Often outplayed by primary counterpart. Team often much better statistically
with him off the court.
Overall:
Green played in 53 of 66 games (missed a couple of weeks in March with a back
injury), even making 2 starts, and averaging 17.4 MPG. He shot .471/.442/.857
and averaged 7.6 P/G, 1.5 R/G, 0.8 A/G, 0.4 S/G, and 0.1 B/G with 0.6 TOV/G.
The stat guys aren’t
fans of Willie Green (or “Money,” as I like to call him). They say he’s a
deceptively bad player because he doesn’t shoot enough 3’s or draw fouls, only
takes long 2-pt jumpers, and doesn’t do anything else offensively or
defensively to help his team. They say any team is better off when he is off.
As in, off the court.
I enjoyed having Money
on the team this season. I really like rooting for him. And I think some of his
short comings would be “less short” if Larry Drew handled his playing time in a
different way.
All of that said, it
does seem like the stat guys have a point. If you look at the Hawks’ +/-
numbers over the course of the season Willie really stands out, and not in a
good way. Of the 16 players who appeared for the Hawks this season, 13 had
positive net +/- numbers (the team outscored the opposition while that player
was on the floor over the course of the season); 1 player had an even net +/-
number (Jason Collins); and 2 players had negative net +/- numbers. 1 of those
2 players was Jerry Stackhouse, who had a -4 net +/-. The other guy was Money,
who had a -76 net +/-.
In addition, Willie was
1 of only 2 Hawks players with a WIN% below .500. Willie’s +/- W-L-T record was
20-29-4 for a 40.8 WIN%. That was worst on the team. It’s a pretty bad number
considering that the Hawks were 32-21 in those 53 games in which Willie
appeared. Willie was also easily the worst on the squad in net On/Off court
numbers per 48 minutes. In per 48 minute terms, the Hawks were outscored by 4.0
points when Willie was on the court (worst on the team), and they outscored the
opposition by 6.3 points when he was off it. That gives him a -10.3 ON/OFF 48,
easily the worst on the team.
Money was also out-produced
on average by his counterpart while he was on the floor. He played occasionally
at both the point and at small forward for brief periods, but the great
majority of his floor time came at shooting guard. It shouldn’t surprise us
that opposing 2-guards out-produced Money, because Willie’s only real asset is
as an outside shooter, and he doesn’t take that many shots.
Atlanta’s offensive
points per 100 possessions was down 4.5 with Willie on the court (13th
on team). The team’s defensive points per 100 possessions was 5.4 worse when he
was on the court (worst on the team). His -9.9 ON/OFF NPHP was the worst on the
team by a lot.
Okay, so that was
several paragraphs of evidence that Willie not only didn’t help the team this
year, he actually hurt the Hawks. I didn’t like writing it but I couldn’t
ignore it. And now I’m going to say something that might cost me my credibility
with a large number of my faithful imaginary readers: I still think Willie
Green was an okay player this season. Maybe I’m in denial. Maybe I don’t want
to admit that a guy who I found so easy to like was actually quietly killing
the team. I don’t care. I still like Willie and think he hit some shots that
helped the Hawks win some games.
Certainly, Money is
limited. We all know this, and the Hawks knew this when they signed him just
before the start of the year for a minimum salary. He doesn’t make the guys
around him better offensively. He has no ability to distribute; he’s not a
great rebounder; he doesn’t draw fouls; and he doesn’t even have that “Big Shot
Jack” gene which makes him take and expect to make every shot.
I said in an earlier
entry that Green helped fill the instant offense void left by Crawford, and
that is true in a sense: he always came off the bench; he was always brought
into the game primarily to score points; and often he was a boost as a scorer.
But he only helped in that one way: hitting outside shots. He didn’t provide
offense with drives to the basket for points, fouls, or passes out to open
shooters. 82% of Green’s FGA this season were jumpers and he drew fouls on just
7.9% of his FGA. Willie doesn’t create for others (7.4 A%) or himself (79% of
FGM were assisted). If his shot wasn’t on that night, he wasn’t instant offense
at all.
I said earlier in this
entry and in previous entries that I didn’t think Drew handled Green’s playing
time very well. This was true both for offensive and defensive purposes. There
were times when the Hawks had Willie Green in the game playing the point. While
he’s capable of taking the ball up court and starting the play, you don’t want
Money running the offense. If he’s not hitting from outside he shouldn’t be
playing.
Defensively, it’s not
like Green’s a disaster. He plays hard on defense, and while he’s a little
undersized, he’s quick and doesn’t get dusted by average guys. The problem is
that he doesn’t force any turnovers with steals or blocks. And late in the
game, he can be a liability because the best guards are quicker, longer,
bigger, taller, and smarter than he is. He should probably have been an
“offensive possession-only” guy at the end of the game most of the time.
What’s
interesting—considering what I just wrote in the previous paragraph—is that
while Willie wasn’t on the court much during CLUTCH time (on court for 17% of
team’s CLUTCH minutes), when he was out there during CLUTCH he normally played
pretty well, and the Hawks usually fared well too. Green went 7 for 9 from the
floor in CLUTCH (.778 FG% up from .471 overall) and his P/48 was 28.8 (up from
21.0 P48 overall). He had only 1 assist during CLUTCH, but he also only had 2
turnovers. He was 3 of 4 at the line during CLUTCH.
In addition, the Hawks
offensive and defensive efficiency numbers were both much better when Willie
was on the floor during CLUTCH than they were overall. The Hawks outscored their
opponents by 31 points with Willie on the floor during CLUTCH (+/- Per 48
number of +46.9) and his +/- W-L-T in games during which he played in CLUTCH
time was 9-3-0.
Statistics:
In
the face of the advanced stat metrics it’s hard to build a case for Money’s
defense. But as I said earlier, I still think Green was a decent role player
considering the salary. The thing is, Green was a much better player this
season than he has been over most of his career, despite the fact that he got
less playing time than ever before. After being a high turnover guy for most of
his career, Green took excellent care of the ball this season. And he was one
of the best 3-PT shooters in the game in 2011-2012.
His 2 GS and 17.4 MPG
were his lowest since 2006. As you would expect, all of his per game numbers
were down. He had his worst P/G, R/G, A/G, and S/G since 2006, and his lowest
B/G since 2007.
However, he established
a career best mark in TOV/G. And this was easily Green’s best shooting season
of his career. He established career bests in FG%, 3PT%, and FT%. His FG% was
up .028 from the previous season and .014 better than his previous career high.
Green’s 3PT% was up .094 from the previous season and .084 better than his
previous career high (he had 1 year of .526 shooting on 3’s but only attempted
19 that season). Finally, Money’s FT% was up .077 from the previous season and
.024 better than his previous career high.
And while Willie got
less playing time in 2011-2012, his production was up. He established career
bests in PER (13.93), TS% (57.8), EFG (.548), and WS/48 (.122). Green’s PER was
up dramatically from the year before (+3.09) and was 0.91 better than his
previous career best. His TS% was up 6.3 from the previous season and was 4.0
better than his previous career high. His EFG was up .60 from the year before
and his WS/48 was up .070 from the previous season.
Green’s per 48 minute
stats were down in rebounding, but his assist, steal, and block per 48 minute
numbers were all about the same as the year before. His 21.0 P/48 was his best mark since 2008,
and his 1.7 TOV/48 was the best of his career.
Floor
Time Stats/Team Rankings (Unqualified)
MIN%: 28% (8th)
+/-
Per 48:
-4.0 (16th)
ON/OFF
48:
-10.3 (16th)
+/-
W-L-T:
20-29-4
WIN%: 40.8 (16th)
ON/OFF
OPHP:
-4.5 (13th)
ON/OFF
DPHP:
+5.4 (16th)
ON/OFF
NPHP: -9.9 (16th)
Team
Leaderboard: Green led the team in 3PT%
(.442).
He was 2nd on the team in TOVRAT (7.8).
NBA
Leaderboard: Here are Green’s appearances on the NBA
leaderboard.
3PT% (7th)
TOVRAT (29th)
Season
Review: Willie played in the team’s first 35 games of the
year (making 2 starts) before missing 11 straight with a back injury from March
2nd through March 19th. After returning, Green played in
12 straight before missing 2 road games (playing in the home game on April 15th
in between the 2 away contests) to be with his expectant wife. Green then
played in the final 5 games of the year.
In 35 games before the
injury, Green played 17.2 MPG and averaged 7.7 P/G on .469 FG%, while shooting
.429 from 3-PT range (0.9/2.2 per game). In 18 games after the back injury,
Green played 17.8 MPG and averaged 7.6 P/G on .475 FG%, while shooting .472 on
3’s (0.9/2.0 per game). As you can see he was about the same throughout the
year. He shot better after the injury, but he was slightly more effective and
active overall before the back injury.
2012
Postseason Grade: C-
Grade
Explanation: Rarely had an impact in the series.
Played a small part in games 1 and 2. Made some big plays late in game 3 as the
Hawks forced OT, but he also missed in some key spots. He played 17 minutes in
game 4, but 12 of those minutes and all of his production came in junk time. His
only impact during 6-and-a-half minutes of play in game 5 was negative. He did
not play at all in game 6.
Statistics:
Green
played in 5 of the 6 games against the C’s (all off the bench), averaging 12.6
MPG. He had a .462 FG% and a .250 3PT%. Green never got to the line in the
playoffs. He averaged 2.6 P/G, 1.6 R/G, and 0.6 A/G with 0.4 TOV/G.
Willie played 63 total
minutes in the playoffs (9th on the team) and had a PER of just 5.70
(11th). His +/- number for the series was -30 (13th out
of 13 on the team) and his +/- W-L-T was 1-4-0. He was tied 7th on
the team with 0.1 WS and 6th on the team with .060 WS/48.
I’ll go ahead and state
the obvious: those aren’t good numbers.
Postseason
Review: Green was not much of a factor in the Boston series,
as he played just 63 total minutes in 5 games. When he was on the floor he was
rarely impactful. He didn’t do much in the first 2 games, played mostly garbage
times in game 4, did nothing in game 5, and did not even play in game 6. His
biggest impact in the series came in game 3, when he helped the Hawks rally to
force overtime. He made some big plays late, but also missed a few
opportunities to lead the team to a victory.
Green played okay in
the Hawks’ game 1 win, but again his +/- numbers are hard to ignore. He played
10 minutes, hitting 1 of 2 shots for 2 points. He had 2 boards, 1 turnover, and
1 foul. And he had a -15 +/- number in a game the Hawks won by 9.
Green played 14 minutes
in game 2 and wasn’t much more impactful, going 1 for 3 from the floor and 0
for 2 from behind the arc. He had 2 points, 2 boards, and an assist with no turnovers,
though he did commit 2 fouls. He had a -6 +/- number for the game, and his only
points came on a 6-footer that made it a 7-point deficit with just 24 seconds
left in the game. The Hawks declined to foul Boston following that made shot,
allowing the clock to run out.
Green played 15 minutes
in the Hawks’ overtime loss in game 3, going 2 for 5 overall and 1 for 2 from
deep. He had 5 points, 1 rebound, and 1 assist with no turnovers or fouls. And
in game 3 Green had a +3 +/- number, tied for best on the team in that game
(Green and Vlad Rad were the only 2 Hawks in positive numbers when the game was
over).
Willie played a role in
the Hawks’ comeback late in game 3, again showing to be dependable in the
crunch. Green played a few minutes at the end of the 1st and the
start of the 2nd, but his only statistical mark of the 1st
half was a missed 3 early in the 2nd quarter. He left the game with
9:29 left in the 2nd and the Hawks ahead 19-17. Willie was out of
the game for the rest of the 1st half and sat all of the 3rd.
He finally reentered
the game with 6:13 remaining in the 4th quarter and the Hawks on the
ropes, trailing 76-65. On the 1st ATL possession after Green came
back in the game he dished to Teague down low for a score to get the Hawks within
single digits. They were down 8 points and appeared to be down for the count
when Money hit a big 3 to make the score 80-75 with 2:31 to go. That basket got
the Hawks started on furious 8-0 run to tie it up.
Willie had a chance to
really play hero for the night a few moments later, but unfortunately he could
not deliver. With the score tied and less than 40 seconds to play, the Hawks
came out of a timeout with the ball and a chance to pull off a huge win. Late
in the shot clock, T-Mac passed to Green who took an open 21-foot jumper for
the lead with just 16 seconds remaining and missed.
Boston called timeout
and Green was replaced by Marvin Williams. The game went to overtime tied up at
80-80. Through 4 quarters of play, Money led the team with a +/- number of +9.
Willie played all 5
minutes of overtime. After Rajon Rondo put the C’s up 2 on the 1st
possession of overtime, Green rebounded a missed McGrady jumper and put it up
and in to tie the score at 82-82. Green missed on his final shot of the game,
bricking a 12-foot jumper with the Hawks down 2 and just 2:57 to play. The Hawks
went on to lose by 6 and Green’s +/- number wound up +3.
Not surprisingly,
Money’s most playing time in any game in the series came in the blowout loss in
game 4. He was in the game for 17 minutes but didn’t produce anymore than he
did in the previous games. He went 2 for 3 from the floor for 4 points. He had
2 rebounds and 1 assist with 1 turnover and 1 foul. He had a +/- number of -1,
which was actually the 4th best on the team for that game.
Green started the 2nd
quarter--when the Hawks were still theoretically in the game--but his only
contribution was taking a charge against Kevin Dooling, and the Hawks were
outscored by 6 points while he was in the game. He left the game again with
6:58 in the 2nd and didn’t play again during the 1st
half. Green sat all of the 3rd and then played the entire 4th
quarter, putting up all of his stats when the Hawks were hopelessly out of the game.
The rotation really
changed in game 5 after Al had proven he could play big minutes in game 4.
Green played just 6:32 in game 5 and was a total non-factor. He did not take a
single shot, had 1 rebound, and committed 2 fouls. You could even say that
Green was worse than a non-factor, as he had a -11 +/- number. The next worst
+/- number on the team that night was -5.
Apparently Larry Drew
had seen enough, as Green did not get onto the court at all in game 6.
Moving
Forward: I wouldn’t be surprised if the Hawks ended up
resigning Green. He seems like a good guy, and he had a great season shooting
3’s. On the other hand, other teams may go after Green for the same reasons. I
know NBA GM’s have access to the same +/- statistics as everyone else, but
Green can shoot and there will always be a demand for that.
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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