*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/SF
Joe Johnson (7th season with Hawks/11th
season overall)
Age:
30
Draft
History: 10th pick in 2001 by Boston
Acquired:
Received from Phoenix in trade August of 2005
2012
Salary: $18.04 Million
2013
Contract Status: $19.75 Million
2012
Regular Season Grade: B
Grade
Explanation: Played 60 of 66 games, leading team in
MPG and P/G. Was hampered by a knee injury during the middle portion of the
year and missed 6 games. Had good season shooting 3’s and a very good season at
the FT line. Played well late, making a number of big shots in close games.
Solid defense. Did not perform like an $18 million dollar player.
Overall:
When you think about it, Joe Johnson has to be one of the more interesting
sports figures in Atlanta history. I don’t mean his personality or demeanor,
which is as bland and featureless as it gets. I mean “the case of Joe Johnson.”
The guy is forever
linked to Atlanta Spirit Group and the turmoil that his acquisition caused. You
can make a case that by no fault of his own, Johnson doomed ASG, the Hawks, and
the Thrashers. It’s certainly not Joe’s fault that the team traded for him and
gave him all that money. It’s really not his fault that the team gave him all
that money again in the summer of “The Decision.”
He’s not worth all of
that money; not even close. But it’s not his fault that ASG keeps thinking he
is.
This is all true, but
if you get paid like a superstar, we have to judge you on that scale. And
obviously Joe comes up woefully short of justifying his huge salary.
Joe played in 60 of 66
games this season, all as a starter, averaging 35.5 MPG. He was hindered by a
knee injury during the middle part of the season which hampered his production
and forced him to miss 6 games. Once the knee got healthy Joe’s play really
improved, but of course he was still well short of being an $18 million dollar
type of player.
Johnson shot
.454/.388/.849 this season, averaging 18.8 P/G, 3.7 R/G, 3.9 A/G, 0.8 S/G, and
0.2 B/G with 1.9 TOV/G. When Joe was on his game this season he was deadly as
always in the dribble-drive game, hitting runners, floaters, and fade away
jumpers. He was also even more dangerous than usual as an outside shooter this
year.
Even during the part of
the year when Joe was struggling, he was still able to hit the big shot late in
the game more often than not. With Jamal Crawford gone, Joe was back to being
the only option at the end of the game when the team needed a 3 or a tough shot
against all-out defensive effort. Joe was able to come through time and again.
Joe isn’t a superstar,
and because he’s paid like one and (at least in the past) has been billed as
one, people seem to overlook a lot of the really good things about him as a
player. When healthy, you can always count on Joe to play big minutes, to take
big shots, to put in work defensively, and guard the opposition’s best player
if need be.
One of Joe’s most
impressive traits is his ability to play solid defense without fouling. He’s
not a gambler, but he still winds up forcing his fair share of turnovers and
starting run outs and fast breaks. Yet he never gets himself into foul trouble
and rarely puts the other team at the line. He finished 3rd among
all NBA players in PF/48 this season, averaging just 1.7 fouls per 48 minutes.
It’s true that while
Joe can be magician like getting off tough shots and scoring on 1-on-1
breakdowns, the “Iso-Joe” strategy can be a weakness at times, especially late
in games against good teams. When Joe is on—or let’s just say, when it
works—letting Joe dribble the shot clock down and then scoring is great,
because it eats clock and demoralizes the other side. When he’s not on—or if
you prefer, when the shots just don’t happen to go in—it looks awful.
Sometimes the Hawks
aren’t intending to go “Iso-Joe,” it just sort of ends up in his hands and he
has to try and make a play. When it works it can salt away the clock and secure
victory. When it doesn’t work it can be a key catalyst in a sizeable lead
melting away in a short time. It’s typically not going to be as successful
against the best teams, and sometimes Joe dribbles into a turnover that leads
to a fast break the other way. But you have to remember that there aren’t that
many guys on this team who are both capable and willing to take the shots and
make the plays at the end of the game.
That was especially
true this season. Teague lacks the confidence to be a big time player late in
the game. Zaza is just not sure handed or coordinated enough to trust in those
moments. Marvin? No. Josh will definitely take the ball, but the possible
negative outcomes usually outweigh the positives. With Crawford in Portland and
Horford out for almost all of the season, Joe was the best option many nights,
even if he was going 1-on-3 and even when he wasn’t having a particularly great
game.
Joe Johnson played in
88% of the Hawks CLUTCH minutes and had a .456 FG% in those situations
(slightly higher than overall FG% of .454). Joe had just 9 assists and 8
turnovers during CLUTCH, but his P/48 was 38.1 (significantly higher than his
25.5 P/48 overall).
The Hawks “Iso-Joe”
tendencies are evident in Johnson’s shot selection and shot clock usage numbers
in CLUTCH. 47% of Joe’s FGA came with less than 10 seconds remaining on the
shot clock this season. In CLUTCH that number jumped to 60%. In fact, 32% of
Joe’s CLUTCH FGA came with less than 5 seconds on the shot clock (up from 20%
overall).
Joe doesn’t get to the
line as much as other scoring guards. We know the reasons for this. He falls
away and floats in the lane on drives rather than going hard to the basket. He
doesn’t pump fake guys and get them in the air and draw fouls on jump shots. 87%
of Joe’s FGA this season were jump shots. In the CLUTCH, that number rose to
92%.
He still gets a fair
amount of shooting fouls, and-1 situations, and non-shooting fouls because he
plays a lot; he has the ball a lot; he shoots quite a bit; and the Hawks
usually try to get the ball in his hands when they have a lead late because
he’s their best FT shooter. But compared with other high scoring guards Joe
draws a very, very low number of fouls.
Johnson was fouled on
just 5.4% of his FG attempts this season. By comparison, Kobe Bryant was fouled
on 11.8% of his FGA, and Paul Pierce was fouled on 13.8% of his FGA. When you
consider that Joe took nearly 1000 shots from the floor this season (986 to be
exact), you realize how many more FT’s he would have taken if he was fouled on
10% of his FGA instead of 5%.
One thing that can be
annoying is that for all the deep treys and off balance shots Joe can make
falling away, he’s not as good of a free throw shooter as you think he should
be. Since coming to Atlanta, Joe has always been a pretty good FT shooter, but
not as good as some of his “peers.” Going into this year, Joe was an 80.4% FT
shooter in his Hawks career. That’s not bad, but there are a number of big men
in the league who shoot better than that from the line every year. This year
Joe was really good from the line, hitting close to 85% from the stripe,
finishing ahead of Kobe Bryant and right behind Paul Pierce in FT%.
The other thing about
Joe’s FT shooting is that he’s never been as good as he should be at the line
in close/late situations. How many times have we seen him go to the line in a
big spot needing to get both frees to either tie a game or put a game away, and
he gets only 1 of 2? I can think of 6 or 7 off the top of my head. Let’s face
it: you’re not that confident when he steps to the free throw line in a huge
spot, needing to get both frees. But this year (at least in the regular season)
Joe was an excellent clutch free throw shooter. He took 36 free throw attempts
during CLUTCH time—despite being fouled on just 4 of 94 FG attempts—and made 33
of them (.917).
Joe was on the court
for 65% of the Hawks total minutes, playing 4 different positions for at least
some time (he played PG and PF for a miniscule amount of time). Johnson played
significant minutes at SG and SF, and he easily out-produced his counterpart at
both spots overall this season. His P/48 at both positions was much better than
opposing players at those positions while he was on the court (+8.2 P/48 vs.
opposing SG; +9.3 P/48 vs. opposing SF). His PER was also much better than his
counterpart at both spots while he was in the game (+6.50 PER at SG; +6.7 PER
at SF).
As you would expect,
the Hawks were a much better offensive team with Joe on the court. His ON/OFF
OPHP was +7.0. What’s interesting is that the Hawks allowed 2.1 fewer points
per 100 possessions when Joe was off the court. He still had a +4.9 net points
per 100 possessions number, but that ON/OFF DPHP number surprised me.
One thing to note is
that the Hawks were stronger in offensive efficiency when Joe was at small
forward as opposed to shooting guard. However, they were much stronger in
defensive efficiency when he was playing the 2 rather than the 3. Joe’s +/- Per
48 was better as a SG than as a small forward. His WIN% at the 2 positions is
pretty interesting: .638 as a 2-guard; .511 as a small forward.
Another interesting
thing is that Joe’s ON/OFF 48 was similar to Teague’s. The Hawks had a +5.2 net
differential per 48 minutes with Joe on the court and a -0.2 net differential
per 48 minutes when he was off the floor. Joe’s +5.5 ON/OFF 48 was slightly
better than Teague’s, but significantly weaker than Josh Smith’s.
There’s one more thing
that needs to be talked about. This was the first season since Al Harrington
left after Johnson’s first year in Atlanta that Joe wasn’t the no-doubt main
man offensively for the team. When Al Horford went down, it left Joe and Josh
as the only 2 primary scoring threats. Josh stepped up and took on a bigger
role offensively, which had both good and bad results.
But the point here is
that the Hawks ran a lot of plays for Josh this season. He took a lot of
outside shots and tried to be more of a scorer near the basket as well. While
he may not have been a better scoring option than Joe, Josh was arguably more
involved in the offense this season than Johnson.
Joe’s FGA/G fell off
again this season, and he ended up taking 1.2 fewer shots per game than Josh.
No teammate had ever taken more shots per game than Joe since coming to
Atlanta, and it had never really been that close either. Joe’s USG% fell way
off and was lower than it had been since the 2005-2006 season. In fact, Josh
Smith was the first teammate to have a higher USG% than Joe since Al Harrington
did in Johnson’s first year with Atlanta in 05-06.
Joe seemed to adapt to
the change well. He became much more of an outside shooting threat and made
that a bigger part of his game. When he needed to be the man late in the game
he was still comfortable and capable in that role. It will be very interesting
to see how everything fits together next year when Al is back in the lineup.
Statistics:
Joe
had a decidedly better season this year than last year all around. In many ways
this was one of his best years since coming to Atlanta. He did miss at least 6
games for a 3rd straight season, but his MPG dropped only a tiny bit
from last year despite the knee problem and the compacted schedule.
Joe’s FG% was up .011
from 2010-2011. His 3PT% was up .091
from the year before and was his best ever mark as a Hawk. And while I talked
about Joe not always being the most automatic guy at the line, his FT% was up
.047 from the previous season and was the best of his career. Joe’s P/G
increased by 0.6 from the year before, but his R/G fell by 0.3 and his A/G
dropped by a fairly significant 0.8. His S/G, B/G, and TOV/G improved slightly.
Joe improved in the key
advanced metrics as well this season. He had a major improvement from 2010-2011
in PER, with a 2.04 increase to 18.50. Joe’s 55.7 TS% was up 4.0 from the year
before and was his best number since 2006-2007. His EFG was up .040 to .521 and
that was also his best mark since 2006-2007. He increased his WS/48 by 0.65
from the year before, finishing at .145 WS/48, the best number of his career.
Joe’s per 48 minute
numbers basically mirrored his per game stats. He increased his P/48 by 0.8
from the year before, and was up 0.2 in both S/48 and B/48, but his R/48 fell
by 0.5 and his A/48 dropped by 1.2. He averaged 0.1 fewer TOV/48.
Floor
Time Stats/Team Rankings (Unqualified)
MIN%: 65% (3rd)
+/-
Per 48:
+5.2 (4th)
ON/OFF
48:
+5.5 (3rd)
+/-
W-L-T:
36-22-2
WIN%: 62.1 (4th)
ON/OFF
OPHP:
+7.0 (3rd)
ON/OFF
DPHP:
+2.1 (T-12th)
ON/OFF
NPHP: +4.9 (3rd)
Team
Leaderboard: Johnson led the Hawks in FT%
(.849), 3PM (125), 3PA (322), EFG (.521), MPG (35.5), 3PM/G (2.1), 3PA/G (5.4), P/G (18.8),
PF/G (1.3), PF/48 (1.7), and OWS (4.4).
Joe was tied for 1st on the team in OFF-PPP (1.08).
Joe was 2nd on the team in FGM (423), FGA (931), FTM (158), FTA (186), PTS (1129), ATO (2.00), PPS (1.213), FGM/G (7.1), FGA/G (15.5),
FTM/G (2.6), FTA/G (3.1), P/48
(25.5), 2PM (298), 2PA (609), 2PM/G (5.0), 2PA/G
(10.1), SPF (0.64), TOV% (10.3), USG% (24.9), WS (6.4), PER (18.50), VA (253.9), EWA (8.5), +/- (+232), +/- Per 48 (+5.2), WIN%
(62.1), PRO/OPP (+7.1), ON/OFF (+5.5), SIMRAT (+6.6).
Joe was tied for 2nd on the team in DEF-PPP (1.03).
Joe was 3rd on the team in G (60), GS (60), MIN (2127), FG% (.454), 3PT% (.388), AST (232), A/G (3.9), 2P% (.489), A/48 (5.2), TOV/48 (2.6), A% (19.7), ORAT (110), WS/48 (.145), TS% (.557), TOVRAT
(8.5), MIN% (65%).
On the negative side,
Joe was 3rd on the team
in TOV (116).
NBA
Leaderboard: Here are Joe’s appearances on the NBA
leaderboard.
PF/48 (3rd)
3PM (8th)
3PA (9th)
3PM/G (9th)
3PA/G (9th)
P/G (18th)
FGA (19th)
PF/G (T-19th)
MPG (20th)
FGA/G (21st)
PTS (T-21st)
EFG (22nd)
FGM/G (24th)
MIN (25th)
FT% (25th)
FGM (25th)
OWS (25th)
P/48 (26th)
SPF (29th)
A/G (32nd)
WS (32nd)
+/- (32nd)
USG% (34th)
VA (34th)
EWA (34th)
3PT% (37th)
TOV% (39th)
ATO (41st)
AST (T-42nd)
2PM (46th)
A/48 (46th)
2PA (48th)
A% (49th)
GS (50th)
FG% (51st)
WS/48 (51st)
Season
Review: Joe played in each of the team’s first 32 games (all
as a starter) before missing the final 2 games before the ASG with a knee
injury. He played in the first game after the ASG, but then sat out the next 4
due to the knee issue. After returning, he played the final 27 games, all as a
starter.
Joe’s production was
way down in February, perhaps due to the ailing knee, perhaps due to some
fatigue, perhaps due to tougher competition, or maybe a combination of all 3.
In March, when Joe came back from the knee problem, he played his most minutes
of the season and was at his best. He was also very good in April but played
fewer minutes.
Overall, Joe was much better
after the ASG. Through February, Joe had played in 33 of 35 games, averaging
35.8 MPG, and shooting .423/.341/.880, while producing 17.6 P/G, 3.5 R/G, 3.7
A/G, 0.7 S/G, and 0.2 B/G with 1.8 TOV/G. During March and April, Joe played in
27 of 31 games, averaging 35.0 MPG. He shot .494/.443/.819 and averaged 20.3
P/G, 3.9 R/G, 4.0 A/G, 0.9 S/G, and 0.2 B/G with 2.1 TOV/G. As you can see he
was better in nearly every category during those final 2 months.
2012
Postseason Grade: C
Grade
Explanation: Gets passing grade but did not play very
well overall. Level of competition he faced and percentage of the load he was asked
to carry must be taken into consideration. Started all 6 games and led team in
minutes and points. Underperformed compared to regular season, particularly in
3PT% and FT%. Disappeared at times. Made a number of costly turnovers. Was badly
outplayed by counterpart players on Boston, who he also struggled to contain on
defensive end. Made some big shots but
also missed a number of big shots. Played poorly in game 1 win and was a total
non-factor in blowout loss in game 4. Played pretty well in games 2 and 3.
Played okay in games 5 and 6. Did not play great in any game during series. Certainly
did not perform like a “superstar” or justify his $18 million dollar salary.
Statistics:
Joe
started all 6 games against Boston, playing 40.5 MPG, and shooting
.373/.250/.750. He averaged 17.2 P/G, 3.5 R/G, 3.5 A/G, 1.3 S/G, and 0.2 B/G
with 2.7 TOV/G. Looking simply at that line, you could make the case that this
was Joe’s worst postseason as an Atlanta Hawks player.
All the numbers were
way down from the season, and most of that had more to do with playing a very
good team than Joe not playing well under pressure or something. Again, Joe’s
paid like a superstar and has been billed as one in the past, but he’s not, and
his performance against the best competition in the biggest games is one of the
biggest strikes against him.
Joe led the team in
minutes, playing 243 of 293 in the series, and led the team in points (103),
steals (8), and P/48. He had a +/- of -9 for the series (7th out of
13) and a 2-4 W-L-T. Not coincidentally, that was also the team’s overall
record in the series. Joe had an 11.7 PER for the series (6th),
amassed 0.2 WS (tied 5th), and .042 WS/48 (8th).
Obviously those are
ugly numbers, especially for the team’s top player (at least in theory).
Postseason
Review: On the whole, this was not a good postseason for
Joe. He had some good moments in the series and made some very big shots, but
overall he just didn’t play very well. He had a very good regular season from
behind the arc but was way off in the postseason. He made only 9 of 36 3PA
(.250) during the Boston series. Based on his regular season 3PT%, Joe should
have made 14 of 36 3PA. In games 2 and 3 he did hit some big shots late
(although even in those games he also missed some shots late) but couldn’t
deliver a victory. In games 1, 4, 5, and 6 he had a total of 3 4th
quarter points.
The Celtics did a good
job of containing him overall. Joe’s FT shooting was also way off from his regular
season numbers, and he turned the ball over more than usual. Joe had a tough
defensive assignment in this series, as he was asked to guard various players,
several of whom are extremely tough to guard. He had trouble stopping Paul
Pierce, Rajon Rondo, and Ray Allen, but in fairness to Joe, most players have a
hard time with that trio.
Many, many times during
the series Joe played very tough D against Rondo or Pierce and he was simply
beaten by better offense. Other times Joe went to help against one of the C’s
players who are tough to stop (Rondo, Pierce, Garnett, Allen, etc.) and ended
up allowing his man to get open for a good look. And I’m not mentioning that to
say that Joe made dumb decisions. I’m saying that it was very much pick your
poison.
Joe was off
dramatically in the Hawks game 1 win at home, going just 3 of 15 overall, 0 for
9 on 3’s, and 5 of 8 from the line. He played 38 minutes and scored 11 points
with 4 boards and 5 assists against 4 turnovers. Joe did not play well in the 4th
quarter and was a big part of what was looking more and more like a collapse,
until the Hawks got the benefit of a foul called on Brandon Bass on a loose
ball. Rajon Rondo then blew up for a
pair of enormous technical fouls for berating and then bumping the ref. Despite his ice cold shooting, Joe’s +/-
number for game 1 was +24, 7 points higher than the next best number for anyone
on the team.
Joe actually started
the playoffs on a good note outside of some missed wide open 3’s. He had 7
points, 3 rebounds, and 4 assists against no turnovers in the 1st
quarter of the series. He also drew 3 fouls and went 3 of 4 at the line in the
1st. Johnson got ATL’s 1st score of the postseason just
22 seconds into game 1, scoring from close in on a pass from Smith to make it
2-0 in favor of the home team. He hit
from 19-feet out about 4 minutes into the game to make the score 18-6, as the
Hawks got off to a blisteringly hot start. He made a nice lob pass to Marvin
for a dunk that made it 24-10.
But after scoring on
his 1st two shots, Joe may have gotten lured into taking 3’s simply
because he was so wide open and because the Hawks had a chance to put Boston in
a major hole. About halfway through the 1st quarter Joe fired a 3PA
late in the shot clock and missed. Josh rebounded and fired it back out to a
wide open Johnson, but Joe bricked it from 3 again. Joe missed again from
3-point range with 5:05 left in the 1st, making him 0 for 3 from the
3-point line over the last minute of game time.
It was 31-18 Atlanta
after 1. Joe missed another 3 early in the 2nd before scoring in the
paint to make it 38-25. Joe got his next shot blocked by Mickael Pietrus, but
he dished to Josh for a score on a driving layup with 4:43 left in the half to
make it 44-25. That was his final assist of the game. In the final 3-and-a-half
minutes of the half, Joe missed from inside the paint, threw the ball away
twice, and went just 1 for 2 at the line.
Nevertheless, the Hawks
led by 14 at halftime. Unfortunately for Joe, his play continued on a downward
path early in the 3rd quarter. In the first 5 minutes of the 3rd,
Joe had 1 rebound, turned it over again with another bad pass, and missed 2
more open 3’s. He missed a jumper with less than 3 minutes to play in the 3rd.
Despite Joe being just 1 for his last 10 in the game, the Hawks still led by 15
points as the clock went inside 2 minutes remaining in the quarter.
With Atlanta leading by
12, Joe started the 4th on the bench. By the time he reentered the game
with 9:14 left on the clock the lead was down to 8. He immediately missed
another 3. He missed a long 3 with 6-and-a-half to play that would have pushed
the lead back to 13. With the C’s on a 6-0 run and the lead cut to 6 points,
Joe got it stolen again at the 5-minute mark. He missed a long 3, late in the
shot clock with just under 4 minutes to play, and the C’s scored on the other
end to make it a 5-point game with 3-and-a-half minutes left.
The missed shots and
turnovers by Joe and Josh had helped the C’s make their rally, and in the final
minutes there was a hint of that fear/panic feeling of everything falling apart
and not being able to stop it. Who knows what would have happened if Josh had
not been standing near the top of the circle when Joe got it knocked away from
him with less than a minute to play and then gone to the floor where Brandon
Bass jumped on him and was called for a foul.
Not only did that save
the Hawks from another turnover, it led to Rondo’s demonstrative response to
that call, which in turn led to him being T’d up. That technical foul led to
Rondo completely losing it and bumping the ref, which led to the ref giving him
another tech. The bump got Rondo kicked out of the rest of this game and the
next one.
Most importantly it
gave the Hawks enough chances at the line to basically put the game away. Joe
hit the first tech FT, but missed the 2nd. The Hawks hung on,
despite Joe going 0 for 3 from the field (all from behind the arc) and 1 for 2
from the free throw line for 1 point with 1 turnover in the 4th.
After making his first
2 shots of the game, Joe went 1 for 13 the rest of the way. In the 1st
quarter Joe had 7 points (2/5 from the floor, 0 for 3 from the arc, 3 for 4 at
the line), 4 assists, 3 rebounds, 0 turnovers, and 3 fouls drawn without
committing a foul. Over the final 3 quarters, Joe had 4 points (1/10 from the
field, 0 for 6 from behind the arc, 2 for 4 at the line), 1 rebound, 1 assist,
4 turnovers, and 2 fouls drawn.
Joe played much better
in game 2, going 7 for 17 from the floor, 3 of 8 from behind the arc, and 5 for
6 at the line. He again played 38 minutes, this time scoring 22 point with 4
boards, 5 assists against 3 turnovers, and 3 steals. However, it wasn’t enough
to get the Hawks the win, even with Rondo suspended. Paul Pierce ended up
taking this one over, as Joe couldn’t figure out a way to stop him without
fouling. Joe racked up a highly unusual 4 personal fouls and ended up with a
+/- number of -3 for the game.
Even though the C’s
were down in the series and missing Rondo and Allen, this was still a bigger
game for the Hawks, because if they lost home court advantage things would immediately
turn in Boston’s favor. Joe had needed the team to pick him up in game 1, and
he needed to respond with a big game in game 2.
He dished to Josh for a
dunk early in game 2 to make it 4-4, but the Celtics scored the next 5 points.
Joe drove and scored on a layup to get on the board 3 minutes into the game,
and on the ensuing Boston possession he stole the ball from Pierce and knocked
it to Josh for a breakaway that should have made it a 1-point game. Instead,
Josh tried a ridiculous bit of showboating and missed the dunk.
With just under 7
minutes to play in the 1st quarter Joe drove to the basket again and
tipped in his own missed shot to tie the score at 11-11. On the next ATL
possession Joe missed from 3-point land, making him 0 for 10 from beyond the
arc in the series, but he broke the streak on the next Hawks possession,
nailing a 3 late in the shot clock to make it a 1-point game. Pierce missed a
jumper on the ensuing Boston possession, and Joe rebounded and passed up ahead
to Hinrich who buried a 3 to give Atlanta their first lead of the game.
The next rest of the 1st
quarter went badly for Joe. He missed a shot from inside the paint and picked
up 2 fouls in less than 2 minutes and had to come out of the game. Still he
scored 7 points and had 2 rebounds, 2 assists, and a steal in the 1st.
With 5-and-a-half minutes left in the 2nd quarter Joe found Teague
for a wide open 3 that tied the score. Then he got the ball to Josh for an easy
score on a fast break to give the Hawks a 36-34 lead. With 4 minutes left in
the half Joe was called for traveling, but he scored from inside on the next
ATL possession, and dished to Josh for a layup on the possession after that to
give the Hawks a 6-point lead.
At the half the Hawks
led by 3, and Joe had 9 points (4 for 7), 5 assists against 1 turnover, 2
rebounds and a steal. Joe scored the Hawks first 5 points of the 2nd
half, nailing a 3 and sinking a pair of free throws to extend the Atlanta lead
to 8, but it could have been even bigger. In between the 3 and the FT’s, Joe
stole the ball from Pierce and drove to the bucket but couldn’t get a layup to
fall, and then stole the ball from Pierce again but missed a short jumper.
Over the next 6 minutes
Joe missed a pair of 3’s but drew an offensive foul from KG and the Hawks
increased their lead to 11. Kevin Dooling’s 3 got the C’s back to within single
digits with 3-and-a-half to play in the 3rd, but Joe answered with a
3 to push it back to 11.
The Hawks were only up
by 5 at the start of the 4th, but Joe sat for the first 2-and-a-half
minutes, and by the time he came back in it was just a 2-point game. The C’s
soon tied it, but Joe scored from just inside the free throw line to give the
Hawks a 70-68 lead.
Boston soon retook the
lead and at the TV timeout with 5:07 to go the Hawks were down 74-72. Out of
the timeout Joe tried to make something happen but got called for a charge. At
the 4:20 mark Josh Smith exited the game with a knee injury. The C’s trapped
Joe near the 3-point line on the next ATL possession and Pietrus knocked Joe’s
pass to Paul Pierce. Pierce and Bradley ran a fast break and Pierce jammed to
put the Hawks down by 4. Moments later Pierce hit a 3 to put Boston ahead 7
with just 3-and-a-half minutes to play.
The stretch of the game
from the 6-minute mark to 3:29 when the Hawks called time following the Pierce
3 was key. Josh got hurt, and Joe turned the ball over twice, with one of the
turnovers leading to a dunk for Pierce.
It wasn’t looking good
for the Hawks but there was still time to rally. Joe hit a pair of FT’s to make
it a 4-point game with 2:18 to play. Joe drew another foul on the next Hawks possession,
and he had a chance to trim the lead to 2 points with 90 seconds still to play.
Joe missed the first one.
Even though the game should
still have been in doubt at that point, Joe’s miss had a devastating effect.
For most people, that miss ended the Hawks chances. Joe hit the 2nd
FT to make it a 1-possesion game, but KG got fouled at the other end and hit a
pair to make it a 5-point game. Joe then missed from 3 and Pierce hit a pair of
free throws to close out the disappointing loss for the Hawks. He scored 5
points and had 2 rebounds in the 4th, but he also had 2 turnovers.
Joe’s best game came
when the Hawks were depending on him most, in game 3, with Josh, Al, and Zaza
out, and Rondo and Allen back in for the C’s. Joe played 46 of 53 minutes, as
the game went into overtime. He didn’t exactly shoot lights out, going 11 for
28 overall, but he hit 3 of 7 treys and 4 of 5 FT attempts. He finished with 29
points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals, a block, and 2 turnovers. In the end,
it wasn’t enough. Joe’s +/- number for the game was -5, but he entered overtime
with a +1 mark for the night.
Joe was called for
traveling on Atlanta’s first possession, but he dished to a cutting Marvin
Williams for a layup that gave the Hawks their first points and tied the game
at 2-2 about 90 seconds in. Johnson missed his first shot of the night (a
3-pointer), but with 7:20 left in the opening quarter he drove to the basket
and laid one up and in to get on the board and give the Hawks an 11-10 lead.
He missed his next shot
(mid-range jumper) but then went on a bit of a run in the final 5 minutes of
the quarter, scoring from inside to give the Hawks a 15-13 lead, and then
banging home a 3-ball to make it a 5-point game. Moments later, Joe rebounded a
jumper missed by Bass, drove back the other way and got fouled in the act of
shooting. Once again Joe went 1 for 2 at the line.
It was the 3rd
straight game that Joe had a very productive 1st quarter (8 points,
2 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 turnover). Once again, the 2nd quarter was
not as productive. Joe sat the first 5 minutes of the 2nd and ended
up going 2 for 7 for 4 points with 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 TOV, 1 foul, and 2 of
his shots blocked during the quarter. The Hawks were down 2 at the break.
In the 3rd
quarter Joe missed his first couple of shots and didn’t do much of anything as the
Celtics pushed their lead to 6. But finally Joe hit another 3 with 5:22 to go
in the 3rd, cutting the deficit in half. He missed a shot for the
lead but then drove for a layup to put the Hawks ahead by a point with 4 to go
in the 3rd. Joe missed a 3 that would have made it a 4-point lead,
and the Celtics went back ahead by a point, before Johnson hit a long 2-point
shot that made it 53-52 Atlanta.
Joe went 3 for 7 to
score 7 points in the quarter, but Boston led by 2 heading to the 4th.
Boston pushed the lead to 8 in the first few minutes of the 4th. Joe
converted a technical foul FT for illegal defense but then missed a mid-range
jumper that would have made it a 3-point possession. Joe drove to the basket
and missed with 6-and-a-half to play, and it wasn’t looking good, as the Hawks were
now down 11.
Jeff Teague scored 5
straight and Joe hit a pair of FT’s to cut the deficit to 6. Teague then stole
the ball and passed up ahead to Joe, but Johnson once again couldn’t get a
layup to go. With 3 minutes left the Hawks were down 8 in Boston and it looked
over.
The Hawks would somehow
climb back in it and eventually have a chance to win, and the rally started
with some resolve being shown by Johnson. The Hawks played good defense on
Boston’s next possession but Rajon Rondo took advantage of Jeff Teague not
paying him enough attention, slicing in for a huge offensive rebound, but
instead of pulling it back out, Rondo tried to go up and score and Joe blocked
him. Rondo got the ball back and went up again but Joe defended and Rondo
missed. Joe grabbed the board and Willie Green hit a 3 at the other end to cut
it to 80-75.
The Hawks then got a
stop and Joe hit a tough fade away with a man in his face from 11-feet to make
it 80-77. Jason Collins then made a big time play, drawing an offensive foul
from Pierce, and at the other end Joe lulled his man to sleep and then popped a
3 to tie it up at 80-80 with 1:23 left. It was classic Joe.
Joe again played good
defense, Rondo missed on a drive and layup, and Joe grabbed the board, but
T-Mac couldn’t get a layup to fall at the other end. KG then missed a long
jumper, Joe grabbed another rebound and the Hawks called timeout with 38
seconds left. Out of the timeout, Willie Green got off a decent shot late in
the possession but missed. The Celtics got the rebound and called timeout with
14 seconds left.
It was Pierce time and
that meant pressure on Joe. He played it perfectly, giving up the foul with
just 3 seconds left, and then after a timeout, playing super defense and
avoiding fouling Pierce as he got off a long jumper that missed to send it into
OT.
Boston scored on the
first possession of overtime, and Joe missed from inside on the other end, but
he got his own rebound and the Hawks eventually scored to tie it up on that
possession. Boston eventually went up by 4 but Joe drove inside and put a
floater up over KG and in to make it a 2-point game with 1:45 to play. Joe
rebounded a long jumper by Rondo that missed and then drew a foul with a minute
to play.
Eventually Joe got off
a mid-range jumper for the tie that wouldn’t go and Boston scored on a follow
jam by Garnett to go up 4 with only 28 seconds left. Joe then missed a 3-point
try, Boston rebounded, and that was basically that. Joe had 8 points, 3 boards,
and a block in the 4th, but he had just 2 points on 1 of 4 shooting
and 3 boards in the OT.
Joe didn’t have
anywhere near enough in game 4. Perhaps he was tired, or perhaps he was thrown
off by trying to incorporate both Josh and Al back into the flow. He hit 4 of 8
shots, but missed his only 3-pt try and was 1 of 2 at the line. Joe had just 9
points, 1 rebound, 3 assists, and a turnover in 31 minutes, as the Hawks got
steamrolled. He finished with a -21 +/- for game 4 (worst on the team).
Joe hit a long jumper
on the Hawks’ 1st possession of the game to make it 2-0 Atlanta.
That would be the Hawks’ only lead of the game, and Joe did not take his 2nd
shot of the night (a short jumper that he hit) until there was less than 5
minutes to play in the 1st quarter. Joe scored 5 points (2 jumpers
and another 1 for 2 trip at the line) on 3 shots and had an assist and a
rebound, but the Hawks were down 13 points by the end of 1.
Joe had another assist
in the 2nd and scored inside on his only shot of the quarter, but by
that time the Hawks were down 20. He scored 2 points on 4 shots in the 3rd,
missing his only 3PA of the game, and then sat out the entire 4th
quarter.
With the Hawks needing
a win at home to stay alive in game 5, Joe played in 45 of 48 minutes, scoring
15 points with 3 boards, 4 assists, and 2 steals. He was 2 for 2 at the line
and his +/- number for the game was +2. However, he turned it over 4 times,
went just 6 of 17 from the floor, 2 for 2 from the line, and hit just 1 of 5
3-pt tries. But this time it was enough to get the win and send it back to
Boston.
Early on in game 5 Joe
stole the ball from Avery Bradley but got it stolen right back. It was a 2nd
straight quiet 1st quarter for Joe, as he had 2 points on 1 of 4
shooting, 2 rebounds, 2 fouls, and an assist on a Jeff Teague 3-pointer. In the
2nd he stole the ball from Rondo but then stepped out of bounds to
give it back, 1 of 2 turnovers in the quarter.
But Joe did go on a
burst in the 2nd, scoring 9 points with a rebound and an assist. He
went 3 for 7 from the floor, 1 for 3 from behind the arc, and 2 for 2 at the
line in the 2nd. He hit a 3 to tie the score at 37-37 with 45
seconds to play in the half.
Joe was extremely quiet
in the 3rd, scoring just 2 points on 3 shots. He had an awful turnover
with 4 seconds left, as Ray Allen stole the ball and got it to Mickael Pietrus
for a last second score that cut the Atlanta lead to 66-64. Joe was also just 1
for 3 for 2 points in the 4th quarter, but he made some good plays
late.
He dished out an assist
to Al on a jumper that gave the Hawks an 87-83 lead with 1:34 left. With the
Hawks up by just a point, Joe played super defense on Pierce, sticking right on
him and challenging without giving up a foul. Pierce shot with 19 seconds left
and missed. Despite Josh’s horrible inbounds pass a few moments later, the Hawks
hung on to win by 1.
In game 6 the Hawks
were again facing a must win, this time in a very hostile environment. Joe
played 44 of 48 minutes, scoring 17 points on 7 of 17 shooting, including 2 of
6 from 3-point land. He had just 1 rebound, 2 assists, a steal, and 2 turnovers,
finishing with a +/- number of -6 for the game. He made his only free throw,
but other than that technical FT he did not get to the line all night, and the
Hawks came up just short in their bid to take it back home for a game 7.
Joe got off to a
terrible start in game 6, scoring 3 points on 1 of 5 shooting (0 for 2 on 3’s,
1 for 1 at the line) with 1 assist in the 1st quarter. It was his 3rd
consecutive quiet 1st quarter. He went 2 for 3 in the 2nd,
missing his only 3-point try. He also had a couple of turnovers that led to 4 Boston
points the other way. Joe scored all 4 of his 2nd quarter points in
the last 2 minutes before the half, including an 18-footer that cut the deficit
to 6 with 5 seconds left.
Joe came out strong in
the 3rd, hitting a long jumper on his 1st attempt of the
2nd half. On the next Atlanta possession Joe rebounded Josh’s long
jumper and put it back up and in to get the Hawks within 6 again. A 3-pointer
by Ray Allen put the Hawks behind by 8 with only 2 minutes left in the 3rd.
Joe got the Hawks back within 5 on a 3-ball with 1 minute to go in the quarter.
He then nailed another one to make it 65-63 with 26 seconds left. Unfortunately,
Rondo hit a long, contested jumper at the buzzer to push the C’s lead back to 4
heading to the 4th. Joe finished the 3rd with 10 points
on 4 of 6 shooting (2 for 3 from deep) with 1 rebound.
Unfortunately, Joe was
unable to get anything going in the final—and perhaps most important—quarter of
the season. He had 1 assist and a steal but went 0 for 3 from the floor and did
not score.
Joe assisted on an Al
Horford 20-footer that cut the deficit to 2 on Atlanta’s 1st
possession of the 4th, but Boston went on a 7-0 run after that while
the Hawks went scoreless over 5:02. The Hawks then went on a 12-2 run to turn a
9-point deficit into a 3-point lead with just 2:23 to go.
Pierce drove to the
bucket and scored to make it a 1-point game with 2:04 to play. With a minute to
go Joe missed an 18-footer that would have given the Hawks a 3-point advantage.
Kevin Garnett put Boston ahead by a point on a mid-range jumper with just 30
seconds left.
As discussed in an
earlier entry, every Hawks player (including Joe) was within 1 foot of the
3-point line when Josh took that ugly shot and missed, despite the fact that
the Hawks were only behind by a point.
Ray Allen missed 1 of 2
FT’s, meaning the Hawks could tie with a 2 or take the lead on a 3 with just 9
seconds remaining. The Hawks advanced the ball to midcourt with a timeout, Joe
got the ball back after inbounding it, and went hard to the rack to try and
score or at least get fouled. I have to say I appreciate what Joe was trying to
do here. There was no time to mess around and he had not been shooting well, so
he tried to do it at the rim. He was also willing to take the last shot and he
was willing to do it at the free throw line if need be.
Unfortunately, Paul
Pierce played excellent defense on the play, staying right with Joe and
blocking his attempt out of bounds without fouling. If you focus solely on the
ball, it looks like Pierce’s block is clean. However, if you watch Pierce’s
defense before Johnson went up for the layup you can see that he had his left
arm hooked on Joe’s right arm and then shoved Joe in the back with his left
forearm as he went up for the shot.
What’s interesting is
that for some reason this play was recorded incorrectly by whatever service is
responsible for the play-by-play data used by every basketball site I have
checked. I’ve yet to find a website that does not have this play as “Paul
Pierce blocks Marvin Williams’ layup.” And it’s not just the play-by-play data
that is affected. On all the sites I’ve checked, Joe is recorded as being 7 for
17 in game 6, but he should be 7 for 18 in the game.
Considering the
technology we have today and the amount of attention focused on pro sports,
when you see something like that it makes you wonder how many inaccuracies
there were in the past. I mean, considering that no video exists, are we sure
Wilt didn’t have 99 points? Maybe he scored 101. Who really knows for sure. Anyway,
what we all know is that Al eventually went to the line and made only 1 of 2
free throws and the Hawks fell short in game 6.
Moving
Forward: The Hawks and all of us fans are just stuck with Joe
for awhile. There’s no denying it: while the Hawks have a better chance of
making the playoffs every year with Joe, their chances of being a legitimate
contender for the title would be better if they were not shackled to his
contract. On the other hand, there are worse guys to be stuck overpaying.
The biggest concern with
Joe is that his game will decline precipitously over the next few years as he
enters his 30’s. He’s unlikely to get any better, but hopefully he won’t have
the sort of rapid decline that a lot of basketball people have predicted since
that 2nd deal was announced. It will also be interesting to see how
Joe, Al, Josh, and Teague all fit together next year. And it will be
interesting to see if Joe can match the outside shooting numbers he put up this
season.
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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