Wednesday, July 11, 2012

The Hawks Blog: Grading the 2011-2012 Season (Vladimir Radmanovic)


*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. 


SF/PF Vladimir Radmanovic (1st season with Hawks/11th season overall)
Age: 31
Draft History: 12th pick in 2001 by Seattle
Acquired: Signed as free agent December 2011
2012 Salary: $1.35 Million
2013 Contract Status: Free agent
2012 Regular Season Grade: C


Grade Explanation: Played well early on and filled in when others were out with injuries. Missed a number of games with a back injury that also greatly hindered his performance over the last couple of months. Was expected to be an outside shooting specialist but did not have a good season shooting overall or from 3-point range. Was adequate defensively and better than expected in terms of rebounding and avoiding turnovers. Role greatly diminished later in the season. Made minimum salary.

Overall: When the Hawks first signed Radmanovic I was not overly enthused. It didn’t seem like he had ever been anything special. At the same, he was apparently nowhere near as good as he used to be. That didn’t sound like a guy who would be a lot of help, but he was another minimum salary guy to fill out the roster. But a few weeks into the season I realized that I actually liked Vlad Rad. 

Admittedly, part of it was that I loved saying “Vlad Rad.” You could also call him “Radman.” And then there was my all-time favorite call “Vlad for 3!!! Yes!! Raaad-man-oh-man-oh-schewitz!” 

But apart from all of that, Vlad Rad seemed to have a clear purpose, and that was to shoot from deep. He didn’t have a ton of other assets, but he could space the floor with his trey bombs. Plus, early on it looked like—for better or for worse—Vlad Rad was going to be a fixture in the rotation. I got used to the guy. 

But then he just sort of disappeared. By the time the playoffs rolled around it seemed like he no longer had any kind of role and it was hard to trust that he could do anything good because he just hadn’t been involved lately. 

Radmanovic played in 49 of 66 games for the Hawks this season, even making 3 starts, and averaging 15.4 MPG. Vlad shot .376/.370/.759 and averaged 4.5 P/G, 2.9 R/G, 1.1 A/G, 0.4 S/G, and 0.3 B/G with 0.7 TOV/G. He played well and had a fairly major role early on before his back began to act up. His production decreased due to back issues and eventually he began to miss games. Towards the end of the year, even when Vlad Rad’s back was loose he got limited minutes and delivered minimal production. 

Radmanovic is a set shooter from outside and that’s about it. 84% of Radmanovic’s FGA were jumpers this season. When he’s not hitting jumpers, he’s not all that useful. He’s not going to create his own shot: 85% of his made FG’s were assisted this season. In addition, because he doesn’t attempt to score other than on set shots, he doesn’t draw many fouls (fouled on just 3.9% of FGA), and therefore doesn’t get to the line much.

Offensively, he hangs out on the wings and doesn’t board much at all. He relies a lot on the rest of the team and doesn’t help the other players, except in spacing the floor and requiring the opposition to guard him all over the place. Actually, you don’t really want him doing anything other than catching and shooting, as he’s a poor ball handler and is not a good passer. Vlad had just 53 total assists against 35 turnovers (and those numbers were actually good compared to most of his career). The Hawks were a much better offensive team with Vlad Rad off the court than they were when he was on the court, averaging 3.6 fewer points per 100 possessions with him in the game. 

He’s actually okay on defense because he can move fairly well for a big man (when healthy), he’s quick and long enough to get steals, and he’s actually a pretty good shot blocker for the same reasons. But he is not a rebounder. He’s not really tough or thick enough to play the post defensively against a solid opponent. In addition, perhaps due to the back tightness, Vlad was not as active on defense as expected this season in terms of creating turnovers and blocking shots. Still, the Hawks were 3 points better in points allowed per 100 possessions with Vlad on the floor as opposed to when he was not on the floor. 

Radman actually split his minutes between all 3 front court positions this season: small forward, power forward, and center. He played primarily at the #4 position, though he played about half as much time at center, and slightly less at #3. As you might expect, the Hawks were worst off when Vlad Rad was playing the 5, and best off when he was playing the 3. 

Radmanovic was out-produced by his counterpart on the floor overall this season. He was badly out-produced by his counterpart while at center, but he actually out-produced his counterpart when playing small forward. He spent most of his time at 4, however, and was out-produced by opposing power forwards. Overall, the Hawks outscored opponents by 1.2 fewer points per 48 minutes when Vlad Rad was on the court as opposed to when he was off the floor. 

Probably the biggest reason that the Hawks were less successful with Radmanovic on the floor this season was that in the end he didn’t fulfill his role as outside shooter. Of the 5 Hawks players who attempted more 3-pointers than Vlad this season, 3 had better 3PT%. And this was Radmanovic’s worst ever shooting season overall, as he posted a career worst FG%. 

Vlad’s defense was adequate enough to keep him on the floor as long as he was hitting outside shots. When he wasn’t making shots he wasn’t worth much. And this season he simply didn’t shoot very well.
Radmanovic played in 9% of the Hawks total CLUTCH minutes this season and actually had a much higher P/48 during those situations (33.5) than he did overall (14.0). But numbers like that can get whacky when you’re dealing with a small number of minutes. Vlad Rad made 4 of 6 FGA during CLUTCH and made his only FTA. He had no assists and 2 turnovers during CLUTCH. 

Statistics: Vlad has had a strange career marked by wild swings in certain categories from year to year. As a pure shooter this may have been Radmanovic’s worst season ever. He was also down in some of the defensive statistics. On the other hand, he was better this season in some of the areas which have been weaknesses in the past such as rebounding, passing, and taking care of the ball. 

Vlad started just 3 games this season, down from 6 last year, and the 2nd lowest number of his career. We should keep in mind that there were 16 fewer games this season than normal, but it’s unlikely that Vlad would have started another game even if the Hawks played 100 regular season games. His 15.4 MPG were also a career low. He did not record a double-double this season, tying a career low. 

As stated before, this was probably Vlad’s worst season in terms of shooting. He posted a career worst FG%; his 3PT% fell off by .035 from the year before; and his FT% dropped by .123 from the season before. Most of Vlad’s per game numbers were also at or near career lows, though much of that is to be expected since his minutes were lower than ever. That being said, Radman posted career lows in P/G and S/G, while his R/G and A/G numbers were the 2nd worst of his career. Radmanovic’s B/G was down 0.3 from the year before. On the other hand, Vlad posted a career best TOV/G and his 1.54 ATO was the 2nd best mark of his career. 

Not surprisingly, Radmanovic’s advanced metric shooting numbers and efficiency numbers were down. His 11.72 PER was down 0.87 from the year before; his TS% fell by 3.8 to 52.4; and his EFG dropped .038 to .503. On the other hand, Vlad’s .103 WS/48 was the 2nd best mark of his career. 

On a per 48 minute level, some of Radman’s numbers were up and others were down. His P/48 was down 1.4 from the year before and was the 2nd lowest of his career. His S/48 was down 0.5 from the season before and was the 2nd worst of his career. Radmanovic’s B/48 was down 0.8 from the year before. On the other hand, Vlad’s R/48 was up 0.4 from the year before; his A/48 was up 0.2 from the year before; and his TOV/48 was down 0.1 from the year before. His R/48, A/48, and TOV/48 numbers were all the 2nd best numbers of his career. 


Floor Time Stats/Team Rankings (Unqualified)
MIN%: 23% (10th)       
+/- Per 48: +2.4 (T-9th)
ON/OFF 48: -1.2 (9th)
+/- W-L-T: 23-23-3
WIN%: 50.0 (T-11th)
ON/OFF OPHP: -3.6 (T-11th)
ON/OFF DPHP: -3.0 (5th)
ON/OFF NPHP: -0.5 (9th)


Team Leaderboard: None

NBA Leaderboard: None

Season Review: Vlad played in 49 of 66 games, making 3 starts. His production and playing time decreased as the season went on, in large part due to a lingering back problem. That back issue would cause him to miss a number of games during the mid-to-late portion of the year. 

Radman was much more involved early on before his back tightened up. He played in each of the team’s first 14 games and had a fairly major role, even making 3 starts when Marvin Williams was out with an ankle injury. Vlad was a DNP Coach’s Decision on January 18th, then played in the next 19 games with limited minutes before missing the 1st game after the ASG with the stomach flu. Radmanovic returned to play in the next 7 games, with limited production in limited minutes. 

Vlad Rad missed his first game due to the back injury on March 14th. He played just 5 minutes in the next game and then sat the next 4 (March 18th to 23rd). He came back and played 17 minutes on March 24th, but he would miss the next 9 games after that (March 25th to April 11th). Radman finally returned on April 13th and would play in 6 straight games to try and get ready for postseason action. He did not play on April 24th and then played 9 minutes in the season finale. 

Vlad Rad was getting steady minutes in December and January and was productive. In February, his production fell way off despite playing close to the same amount of minutes. During March and April Radmanovic was okay when in the game, but he really didn’t play that many games or minutes.

Through January 16th, Vlad had played in all 14 games (3 starts), averaging 21.3 MPG while shooting .366/.404/.842 and producing 6.9 P/G, 3.6 R/G, 2.0 A/G, 0.9 S/G, and 0.5 B/G with 0.9 TOV/G. 

Through the 3rd game of the 2nd half, Vlad had played in 35 of 37 games (3 starts), averaging 17.2 MPG while shooting .367/.388/.778 and producing 4.8 P/G, 3.0 R/G, 1.3 A/G, 0.5 S/G, and 0.4 B/G with 0.7 TOV/G. 

The rest of the way, Radmanovic played in just 14 of 29 games (all off the bench), averaging just 10.8 MPG while shooting .400/.313/.500 and producing 3.6 P/G, 2.8 R/G, 0.6 A/G, 0.1 S/G, and 0.1 B/G with 0.6 TOV/G. 

Clearly, the back injury kept Vlad Rad off the court and kept him from performing well when he was on court. 

2012 Postseason Grade: C-

Grade Explanation: Did not play significant role in playoffs. Played in only 2 of 6 games. Accomplished nothing during a few minutes late in crucial game 3 loss. Played 12 minutes of garbage time in blowout loss in game 4. Did not score in series, missing all three 3-point attempts, and committing 3 fouls. Did not do much to help in the series, but did not get much of an opportunity either. I can’t kill Vlad Rad for not being much of a factor because his role had become very small by the time the playoffs started and he played for a minimum salary.

Statistics: Vlad Rad played in just 2 of the 6 games in the series with Boston, both off the bench, for a total of just 15 minutes (13th of 13 on the team). He did not score in the series, going 0 for 4 from the floor and 0 for 3 on 3-pointers. He had 1 rebound, 1 assist, and 3 personal fouls. Radmanovic had a -11.9 PER (13th). He amassed -0.1 WS (tied 11th) and -.231 WS/48 (13th). 

Simply put, of the 13 players who appeared in the playoffs for the Hawks, Radmanovic was by far the least impactful. Jannero Pargo, who was 12th on the team in minutes played during the postseason, still played more than 3 times as many minutes as Vlad Rad. Strangely, Radmanovic actually led the Hawks with a +/- number of +8 in the series and a W-L-T record of 2-0-0. 

Postseason Review: Vlad Rad was healthy enough to take part in the playoffs but he had very little impact on the series. He played just 15 total minutes in 2 games, and 12 of those minutes came in garbage time in game 4, as he played the entire 4th quarter, during which the Hawks never cut the deficit under 20. He did play some minutes during the 4th quarter and overtime of game 3, but missed his only shot and had very little impact. 

Vlad played 3:17 in game 3, missing his only shot (a 3PA), and committing 3 personal fouls. He somehow had a +/- number of +3 for the game. He played about 2:23 in the 4th quarter (+5), with his only mark in the scorebook being a personal foul. He played just under a minute in overtime (-2), committing 2 more fouls and missing a 3-pointer. 

Vlad entered game 3 with 6:13 to play in the 4th quarter and the Hawks down 65-76. This was his first action of the series. He fouled KG at the 4:15 mark and exited with 4:12 on the clock and the Hawks trailing 72-78. He came back on the floor briefly with 37 seconds left and the score tied 80-80. He left again with 14.9 left and the score still tied. At this point he was being shuffled in and out for offense/defense purposes. 

Vlad Rad came on with 1:00 remaining in overtime and the Hawks trailing 84-86. He fouled Pierce with 33.7 seconds to go and came out of the game with the score remaining 84-86. Again he was being used in an offense/defense strategy. He came back on the floor with 28.1 seconds left and the Hawks trailing 84-88 and would play the remainder of the game. He gave up a foul on Ray Allen with 21.4 seconds left to try and extend the game. With the Hawks down by 6, Radmanovic fired a 3-pointer that missed with 4.9 seconds left, the final play of the game, as the Hawks lost 84-90 in OT. 

Vlad Rad’s only other appearance in the series came in game 4. He played 12 minutes and did not score, going 0 for 3 from the floor and 0 for 2 on 3PA. He had 1 rebound and 1 assist. He had a +/- number of +5 for the game. 

Vlad Rad played the entire 4th quarter for the Hawks (+5). The Hawks trailed 90-73 entering the final period. He took a 3 on the 1st possession of the 4th and missed. At the 7:12 mark he missed again from downtown. He assisted on a Willie Green jumper with 6:25 to play that made the score 71-98. Finally, his 7-foot jumper was blocked by Ryan Hollins with just 3:36 to play. The Hawks lost by the final score of 101-79. 

The end of game 4 brought an end to Vlad Rad’s participation in the playoffs. He sat for all of games 5 and 6, just as he had done in games 1 and 2. 


Moving Forward: There’s not much to say here. Radmanovic will probably catch on with some team due to his ability to shoot (or at least he has shown that ability in the past) but it almost certainly won’t be the Hawks. 


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)
Turnovers Per 48 Minutes (TOV/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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