*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
Marvin Williams (7th season with Hawks/7th
season overall)
Age:
25 (turned 26 on June 19th)
Draft
History: 2nd pick in 2005 by Atlanta
Acquired:
2005 draft
2012
Salary: $7.5 Million
2013
Contract Status: $8.29 Million (Pending possible trade)
2012
Regular Season Grade: C+
Grade
Explanation: Played 57 of 66 games, 37 as starter, 20
off bench. Missed time with ankle and hip injuries. Had best season in years.
Big improvement in 3-point shooting. Better rebounding and more of an impact
defensively. Did not turn the ball over. Played solid defense with few personal
fouls. Poor season at the FT line and on 2-point shots. Not aggressive enough
offensively. Not enough intensity and energy on defense. Grumbled about playing
time. Still not a difference maker most of the time. Did not justify $7.5
million dollar salary.
Overall:
The Hawks have made several major announcements/changes since I began writing
these player reviews, the latest of which appears to be a trade of Marvin
Williams to Utah for Devin Harris. This is a surprising development, as it was
thought that unless the Hawks could “amnesty” Marvin they would be stuck with
him for the remainder of his deal.
The stunning news of
Marvin’s possible departure came on the heels of the even more shocking news of
a possible trade of Joe Johnson to New Jersey. In the previous entry I talked
about Johnson being forever linked with the ASG turmoil; the failures of this
generation of Hawks teams; and even the eventual move of the Thrashers. I don’t
think you can take it that far with Marvin, but in terms of on-court success,
the Marvin Williams acquisition (selection) might have been even more damaging
than the Joe Johnson trade/resigning.
Joe and Marvin are not
obviously linked because we look at Joe as ASG’s great blunder (or rather, 2 of
ASG’s greatest blunders, first the controversial sign-and-trade, and then the
resigning to a max deal) and Marvin as former GM Billy Knight’s great blunder
(or rather, one of the worst of Knight’s many, many blunders), but in fact,
they both came to Atlanta around the same time. Perhaps in the future Johnson
and Williams will be linked together when we look at the ASG era.
It makes sense in so
many ways. They both failed to live up to expectations. They both caused Hawks
front office/management personnel to be highly criticized. They both have a
sort of “emotionless” on-court personality. They both became scapegoats for the
team’s shortcomings. And they were both unloved by a large portion of the fan-base,
despite being key members of the team for 7 years. But of course, Marvin’s
arrival in Atlanta was less complicated, if not less damaging than Joe’s.
The story is by now as
well known as any in recent Atlanta sports history, but we’ll recap it one more
time. Coming off of a miserable 13-69 season, the Hawks had the #2 pick in the
2005 NBA draft. The Bucks were set to select 7-footer Andrew Bogut at #1. The
Hawks obviously needed everything, as they had won just 13 games the year
before, and they figured to be years away from contending for anything.
With that in mind,
Knight selected young Marvin Williams with the 2nd overall pick out
of UNC. Williams had been labeled a “freak athlete,” and he had been able to
contribute even as an 18-yearold freshman on a North Carolina team that won the
national championship. On the other hand, he was thought to be a “project.” I
don’t mean that he was a low risk/high reward type of player who might or might
not grow into something special. Here, “project” meant an immense talent who
might take a few years to become a great basketball player.
Years later, when
Marvin looked to be something of a bust; when both Deron Williams (taken 3rd)
and Chris Paul (taken 4th) had turned into superstars; and when the
Hawks’ had a glaring hole at point guard, this looked like the most idiotic
decision of all time. In fairness to Knight—who as far as I know doesn’t
deserve anything more than fairness—not everyone thought Deron Williams and
Chris Paul were obvious superstars at the time, and it didn’t seem ridiculous
for the Hawks to draft a player who might not reach his potential for a couple
of years, as they were coming off of a 13-win season.
However, when you have
a chance to draft a star point guard, you can’t afford to pass it up unless
you’re taking a guy who can be something close to a star from day 1. More
importantly, when you have the #2 pick, you simply cannot miss as badly as
Knight did taking Marvin ahead of both Williams and Paul.
For the last few years,
any evaluation of Marvin Williams was likely to begin with something similar to
the following statement: “At this point, Marvin basically is who he is. He’s a
decent player, but he’s almost certainly never going to justify being taken
with the #2 pick in 2005.” Unfortunately, that statement continues to ring
true, and never more so than now.
It seems strange to
talk about a guy who is only 26 years old as having reached his ceiling, but
that certainly seems to be the case with Marvin. Remember, Marvin’s no ordinary
26-year old. He was 19 for his entire rookie campaign, and he’s already played
7 full seasons in the NBA. He’s had opportunities as a starter and a backup.
He’s played all over the floor. He’s played on bad and good teams. He’s played
for a couple of head coaches and with many different teammates. He just is who
he is. He’s Marvin.
Marvin’s a decent
player, but he’s not worthy of a #2 overall pick or the $7.5 million the Hawks
paid him last year. He shows flashes, but never turns the corner. He’s not
aggressive enough or a good enough shooter to be an impact player on offense.
His intensity isn’t high enough on a nightly basis for him to be a lockdown
defender. He’s improved, but only slightly.
If there was going to
be a season when Marvin stepped up and asserted himself, you thought this could
be the year, as Al Horford was lost after the 11th game of the
season. There had been times in the past when Marvin did step up and seemed to
be more aggressive when a couple of key guys were out, but that never happened
this season, even when Joe was out as well. Marvin did not step up and take
over Al’s share of the production.
Amazingly, Marv was
moved to the bench for the final 6 weeks, with Kirk Hinrich—in the midst of his
worst season ever—taking Marvin’s spot in the starting lineup. But while Marv
didn’t seem to be any less involved coming off the bench, he wasn’t able to
outperform other bench players anymore than starters.
This season Williams
played in 57 of 66 games, making 37 starts, and averaging 26.3 MPG. He missed
time with an ankle injury early on and a hip injury during the middle portion
of the season. After starting in his 1st 36 games, Marvin game off
the bench in 20 of his final 21 appearances. During the season Marvin shot
.432/.389/.788 and averaged 10.2 P/G, 5.2 R/G, 1.2 A/G, 0.8 S/G, and 0.3 B/G with
0.7 TOV/G.
It has always been a
struggle for Marvin to find his niche. In recent years the Hawks have tried to
get him to become more of an outside shooter, and he improved in that area
again this season. Marvin shot 70% jumpers last season and had a .426 EFG (up
from 61% and .390 the year before). This season 67% of Marvin’s FGA were
jumpers and he had a .473 EFG. The difference was that this season Marvin took
that next step and became a decent 3PT%.
He was much more
effective from deep this season than he had been in the past, setting personal
high’s in 3PA/G (2.6) and 3PT% (.389). Unfortunately, the jump in 3PT%
coincided with a decline in 2PT%, as Marvin shot just .452 on 2PA (down from
.489 the year before), so it really never seemed like Marvin was shooting the
ball better this season.
For the most part,
Marvin has always been a passive offensive player, rarely taking control or
creating his own shot (he was assisted on 73% of his FGM, compared to 50% for
Joe Johnson). It’s no surprise that Marvin was a better shooter early in the
shot clock this season rather than late. 42% of his FGA came in the 1st
10 seconds of the shot clock, and he had a .576 EFG on those shots. 40% of his
FGA came with less than 10 seconds on the shot clock, and he had just a .444
EFG on those attempts.
Marvin has always been
a tremendous finisher, but he seldom flashes his athletic ability in the half
court game. Whenever he does—either with a strong put back or a flying dunk off
of a missed shot out of nowhere—you’re always surprised. I have learned from the Marvin Williams
situation that rare athletic ability is not that important if your basketball
instincts are poor. Whether you want to say that Marvin is passive, not
aggressive enough, or lacking in intensity, the bottom line is that he just
doesn’t have great instincts.
Marvin still does some
work inside (33% of his FGA came inside, as compared to 13% for Johnson) but
he’s just not that good at it. While Marvin is a decent FT shooter (especially
if you consider him a big man at all), he doesn’t draw as many fouls as you
would expect considering the physical advantage he often has on the guy
defending him (fouled on 10.0% of FGA). He also gets his shot blocked quite a
bit (9% of FGA blocked, as compared to 2% for Johnson). In fact, 20% of
Marvin’s non-jumpers were blocked this season.
One of the annoying
facets of Marvin’s game has always been that for as athletic as he is and for
as impressive as he is as a leaper, runner, finisher, etc., he’s always been a
bit uncoordinated. I have always said about Marvin that being “freakishly
athletic” does not necessarily mean being even marginally coordinated. I’m
talking mainly about his hands. Whether it’s not controlling a rebound, not
being able to handle a tough pass, or mishandling a ball in traffic, Marvin’s
hands have always been suspect.
Be that as it may,
Marvin is not a problem in terms of turning the ball over. Some of this goes
back to his passivity/lack of instincts. Marvin is not a great passer and he’s
not that involved in the offense most of the time. He doesn’t create for
himself, and he rarely creates for anyone else. Still, he does a good job not
turning the ball over.
Defensively, Marvin is
solid. He’s athletic, quick, and long enough to guard the opposition’s best
wing player much of the time. However, he just doesn’t have the
toughness/intensity to do it night-in and night-out. He’s not a gambler and he
doesn’t bring much in terms of blocking shots and creating steals. He’s not the
smartest defensive player or the toughest defensive player.
However, Marvin doesn’t
often foul either, rarely getting himself into foul trouble or putting the
other team at the line. If he’s not normally as aggressive as you’d like him to
be as an on-ball defender, he usually refrain’s from making dumb fouls. In
addition, Marvin seemed to be getting a better handle on how to be a more
impactful on-ball defensive player and rebounder this season.
During his career,
Marvin has usually been even more invisible late in close games. This season
Marvin played in 52% of Atlanta’s CLUTCH minutes. He shot .387 from the field
in CLUTCH (down from .432 overall) and made just 10 of 15 FTA for a .667 FT%
(down from .788 overall). In addition, Marvin had just 3 assists against 3
turnovers in CLUTCH and did not draw a single shooting foul on 31 FGA.
However, Marvin’s P/48
was 19.4 in CLUTCH (up from 18.5 overall) and he shot pretty well late in the
shot clock. 19% of his FGA in CLUTCH came with less than 5 seconds on the shot
clock, and he had a .750 EFG on those shots.
Marvin was on the court
for 46% of the Hawks total minutes this season, slightly out-producing his
counterpart overall. He actually played 4 different positions for the Hawks
this season. It might surprise some that while Marvin played SG for a miniscule
amount of time, he actually played center a decent amount of time. As you can
imagine, the Hawks did not fare well with Marv at center, as he was badly out-produced
by his counterpart and had a 7-13-0 W-L-T while at the position.
Marvin played a good
deal of time at PF, and was slightly out-produced by opposing PF’s while he was
in the game. But Marvin played most of his time at the #3 spot, and he out-produced
other SF’s while on the court. In general, the Hawks were more efficient
offensively with Marvin at the 4-spot, but stronger defensively with Marvin at
small forward. While Marvin was better off playing the #3 spot, the Hawks fared
better against the opposition when he was at the #4.
The Hawks were a better
offensive team with Marvin on the floor, but they were not as strong
defensively with him in the game this season. In fact, Marvin’s ON/OFF NPHP was
-0.8 this season, suggesting the Hawks were better when he was not in the game.
He also had a -2.2 ON/OFF 48, meaning the Hawks outscored the opposition by 2.2
more per 48 minutes without Marvin as compared to with him on the floor.
Statistics:
As
stated before, Marvin has never “turned the corner” or had that breakthrough
season that made you think he had found himself. However, it must be said that
despite becoming even less a part of things this season in terms of minutes,
Marvin improved fairly significantly in production this season after plateauing
for the last few years.
While it was anything
but obvious, 2011-2012 was actually Marvin’s best season in a number of years.
You could even make a case that it was his best season yet, albeit not good
enough at age 25 to justify his #2 draft pick or his $7.5 million salary.
Marvin’s 26.3 MPG this
season was his lowest since his rookie year. You would expect his per game
production to fall off along with his playing time, but Marvin’s per game
numbers in the main counting stats (points, assists, rebounds, steals, blocks)
were all basically the same as they were in the 2 previous seasons. He did set
career bests in TOV/G and ATO (1.82), while posting a career low 2 DD.
Marvin’s 3PT% increased
dramatically. He shot .063 higher than the year before on 3’s and had a career
best 3PT%. Unfortunately, Marv’s FG% fell off .026 and was the worst of his
career. In addition, his FT% fell .057 and was his worst mark since his rookie
season.
Because of the fall off
in 2PT% and FT%, Marvin’s TS% fell 0.9 to 54.2. Marv’s increase in 3PT shooting
was enough to bring his EFG up .001 to .494. But despite the modest shooting,
Marvin experienced a fairly significant jump in PER, finishing with a 15.87
mark (up 2.36 from the year before and his best number since 2008-2009).
Williams’ WS/48 increased .054 to .156, his best mark ever.
As hinted at earlier,
Marvin’s production on a per 48 minute basis was up this season. Marv improved
his per 48 minute numbers in points (+1.1), rebounds (+1.3), and steals (+0.6),
while his assist and block numbers remained the same. He had 0.4 fewer TOV/48
than the year before. Williams had career best marks at R/48, S/48, and TOV/48.
Floor
Time Stats/Team Rankings (Unqualified)
MIN%: 46% (5th)
+/-
Per 48:
+2.2 (11th)
ON/OFF
48:
-2.2 (12th)
+/-
W-L-T:
33-24-0
WIN%: 57.9 (7th)
ON/OFF
OPHP:
+1.3 (7th)
ON/OFF
DPHP:
+2.1 (T-12th)
ON/OFF
NPHP:
-0.8 (10th)
Team
Leaderboard: Williams led the Hawks in TOV/G
(0.7), TOV/48 (1.2), TOV% (6.8), ORAT (113), WS/48
(.156), and TOVRAT (6.1).
Marvin was 2nd on the team in 3PT% (.389), FT% (.788), 3PM (58), PF/G (1.5), and PF/48
(2.7).
Marvin was tied for 2nd on the team in 3PA (149).
Marvin was 3rd on the team in OR (76), DR (218), REB (294), 3PM/G (1.0), OR/G (1.3), DR/G (3.8), R/G (5.2), P/48 (18.5), R/48 (9.4),
SPF (0.56), BPF (0.21), OWS (2.7),
and PER (15.87).
NBA
Leaderboard: Here
are Marvin’s appearances on the NBA leaderboard.
TOV% (5th)
TOV/48 (6th)
TOVRAT (9th)
TOV/G (14th)
ORAT (28th)
PF/48 (30th)
PF/G (33rd)
3PT% (34th)
SPF (42nd)
WS/48 (42nd)
DRAT (46th)
Season
Review: Marvin played in 57 of 66 games for the Hawks in
2011-2012, 37 as a starter and 20 coming off the bench. He has still never
played in every game of a season, and this was the 4th time he
missed at least 9 games in a year.
Marvin started the
team’s 1st 9 games, but then suffered an ankle injury early on
against the Bulls on January 7th and missed the next 3 games. He
started 19 in a row after returning, and then missed the game in Chicago on
February 20th due to a death in the family. He started 8 straight
after that.
Marvin played well in
December and January, but then went ice cold in February. As mentioned in
several other entries, this could have been due to fatigue, change in level of
competition, a combination, or something else entirely. Marvin was not happy
with his playing time at this point in the year and there was a report that he
had requested a trade.
Marvin was still in the
starting lineup in early March, but then on 3/11 and 3/13 he came off the bench
in back-to-back games after starting in each of his first 36 appearances.
Marvin then missed 5 straight games with a hip injury. He returned to play in
the final 19 games, but came off the bench in 18 of them. After starting in
each of his first 36 games played, Marvin started just 1 of his final 21 games
played.
Despite the hip injury
and coming off of the bench, Marvin’s highest MPG came in March/April. He
played better in the final 2 months than he did in February, but not as good as
he had in December/January.
Through January, Marvin
had played in 19 of 22 games (19 starts), averaging 24.1 MPG, and shooting
.431/.500/.754 while producing 10.6 P/G, 5.8 R/G, 1.4 A/G, 0.7 S/G, and 0.3 B/G
with 0.7 TOV/G.
Over the rest of the 1st
half (before the ASG), Marvin played in 11 of 12 games (11 starts), averaging
24.3 MPG, and shooting .361/.321/.800 while producing 6.3 P/G, 4.5 R/G, 0.9
A/G, 0.4 S/G, and 0.1 B/G with 0.7 TOV/G.
Excluding the final
game of the season, Marvin played in 26 of 31 games after the ASG (7 starts),
averaging 28.9 MPG, and shooting .462/.347/.811 while producing 11.7 P/G, 5.1
R/G, 1.3 A/G, 1.1 S/G, and 0.5 B/G with 0.6 TOV/G.
Marvin’s best per game
numbers came towards the end of the year, but on a per minute basis, he was at
his best in December/January. Moreover, Marvin appeared to be about as good
coming off the bench as he was as a starter (better FG%, P/48, A/48, S/48 off
bench; better 3PT%, R/48, B/48, and TOV/48 as a starter).
2012
Postseason Grade: C+
Grade
Explanation: Was not much of a factor in games 1-4
and shot horribly in those first 4 games. Caught fire from 3-point land in the
last 2 games and was a big part of the win in game 5 and the close loss in game
6. Struggled defensively throughout the series. Disappeared at times. Certainly
did not play up to his salary or like a former #2 pick. Overall, he was okay.
Statistics:
Marvin
played in all 6 of the Hawks playoff games, starting 3 of them. He averaged
24.2 MPG during the series and shot .356/.500/.778, while averaging 7.8 P/G,
5.5 R/G, 0.8 A/G, 0.5 S/G, and 0.3 B/G with 0.5 TOV/G. Marvin played in 145
total minutes (4th out of 13 on the team) and had a -18 +/- number
(11th). His +/- W-L-T record in the series was 2-4-0. Marvin’s PER
in the series was 12.40, which sounds bad but was actually 4th best
on the team. He had 0.4 WS (tied 2nd on the team) and .121 WS/48 (4th).
Postseason
Review: Marvin had a strange series against the C’s. He
started the series shooting terribly from behind the arc. He just couldn’t hit
anything, and he looked like a total zero, or perhaps even worse. Then over the
final 2 games he exploded out of nowhere, hitting just about everything.
Whereas in previous
postseasons Marvin usually had flashes of brilliance in between lengthy periods
of non-descript play, this year he added to the mix 3-point shooting at one
extreme or the other. He finished red hot, which is why people are more likely
to have positive memories of him in the series, but he was equally awful early
on in the series.
In the first few games
it looked like Marvin was putting the exclamation point on his career up to
that point (completely worthless when it matters). In the last couple of games
he enjoyed one of the few truly bright spots in his 7-year career.
Marvin was handed many
different defensive assignments in the series at various different positions.
He guarded pretty much everyone on the Celtics roster from Rondo to KG. For the
most part, whenever Marvin was tasked with stopping one of Boston’s big 4
(Rondo, Pierce, Allen, KG), he was unable to do it.
He really had no chance
against Garnett and was not effective guarding him. He couldn’t stop Pierce and
he couldn’t stay with Allen. Marvin also struggled to fight through the waves
of screens that Boston threw at the Hawks. He had trouble figuring out his
defensive assignment when the play broke down or when Boston ran a bunch of
interference.
Marvin did not play
very well at all in the Hawks game 1 win at home. He played 13.5 minutes and
had just 2 points, 1 rebound, and 2 fouls. He shot 1 for 5 from the field and
did not attempt a 3 or a FT. He had a -6 +/- number for the game. He was asked
to guard Kevin Garnett for various parts of the game and struggled.
The highlight of the
game for Marvin actually occurred very soon after he first entered the game in
the middle of the 1st quarter. Ivan Johnson knocked the ball away
from Brandon Bass while the C’s were setting up their offense, and Marvin
picked the ball up between Bass and Mickael Pietrus and started the break the
other way. Marv passed up ahead to Joe and then got the dish back and jammed it
home to make the score 24-10 Hawks.
It was mostly downhill
from there. In game 1 the Celtics seemed to be giving the Hawks open jumpers
and the Hawks got off to a red hot start. The Celtics really didn’t seem to
change much defensively but the Hawks eventually cooled way down. However,
Atlanta never really stopped taking long jumpers, as they were able to maintain
a double digit lead for most of the game. Marvin seemed to fall into that trap,
along with Joe Johnson, who went 0 for 9 from 3-point range in the game. But in
fewer minutes, Williams was almost worse than Johnson, as he repeatedly missed
the worst kind of shot possible: the really long 2-pointer.
With less than a minute
to play in the 1st quarter Williams had to get off a shot very late
in the shot clock and ended up bricking a 21-footer. Early in the 2nd
Marvin missed another 21-footer and then had to foul Garnett on the other end.
Marvin entered the game
late in the 3rd and immediately had to give up a foul against
Garnett. Then with 34 seconds left in the 3rd Marvin fired up a 22-ft
jumper early in the shot clock as the Hawks tried to get a 2-for-1 to end the
period. He missed. Marvin began the 4th quarter on the floor, but
after missing a 10-foot jumper and grabbing 1 rebound, he was taken out as the
Celtics got within single digits.
The Hawks survived to
win game 1, and they didn’t have to worry about Rondo or Ray Allen in game 2,
but it didn’t help. Marvin struggled again, playing 21 minutes off the bench,
and scoring just 3 points on 1 of 6 shooting (0 for 2 from behind the arc, 1
for 2 from the line). He did have 6 rebounds and 1 block but his +/- number for
the game was -13 (worst on the team). Marvin was most active in the 4th
quarter of game 2, going 1 for 3 with 5 boards in the final period.
For the 2nd
game in a row Marvin made his best play of the game almost as soon as he
entered in the 1st quarter. After a missed shot inside by Josh,
Avery Bradley tried to catch the Hawks being slow to get back and drove to the
basket and then spun, but Marvin rejected him, leading to a basket the other
way for the Hawks that gave them a 19-18 lead.
With 2-minutes
remaining in the quarter, Marvin missed a long 3 (28-feet) late in the shot
clock. 20 seconds into the 2nd quarter Marvin missed another long 2-pointer,
this one from 22 feet. Late in the 3rd, with the Celtics on a 6-0
run, Marvin drew a foul from Kevin Dooling and hit a free throw to make it
66-60 Hawks with 46.7 left in the quarter. But he missed the 2nd FT.
With 7 seconds left in the 3rd, Marvin missed a tip of a short
jumper by Teague and the quarter ended with Atlanta ahead by 5.
Early in the 4th,
Marvin drew a foul on Ryan Hollins, then grabbed a rebound and went down and
fired a 25-ft 3-pointer early in the shot clock that missed. Marvin had a
couple more defensive rebounds after that and missed a 13-foot jumper at the
shot clock buzzer with 6:38 to go. When given the chance to try and stop Paul
Pierce midway through the 4th Marvin could not do it, and the
assignment went back to Joe.
With just under 6
minutes to go, Marvin rebounded a miss by Joe and went back up and in to tie
the score at 72-72. He then drew a loose ball foul from Pierce after Pierce
lost the ball and he grabbed another defensive rebound. Then with 4:20 left,
Marvin drew a charge on Kevin Garnett to give the Hawks the ball, down 2.
However, Josh Smith exited the game with the injury at that point, and on the
ensuing Hawks possession the C’s stole it from Joe and scored to go up 4, and
never really looked back.
With Rajon Rondo and
Ray Allen back for the C’s and Josh Smith out for the Hawks, Marvin got the
start in game 3 at Boston. He played 20.5 minutes, but could not get going
offensively, scoring just 3 points on 1 of 6 shooting (0 for 1 from behind the
arc, 1 for 2 at the line). Playing much of the night as the tallest Hawks
player, Marvin grabbed 11 rebounds (all defensive) and had 1 assist, 1 steal, 1
turnover, and 1 foul. He had a +/- number of -10 for the game (2nd
worst on the team).
Marvin had 2 points (1
for 2 from the floor) and 5 rebounds during the 1st quarter. He
fouled Pierce, leading to a pair of free throws that put Boston up 2-0 early,
but then cut to the basket and scored from inside on a dish from Joe to tie it
up 2-2 at the other end. It was his only made basket of the game. He missed
from 3-point range later in the 1st.
In the 2nd
quarter Marvin went 0 for 3 from the floor. He had 1 point, 2 rebounds, a
steal, and an assist, along with a turnover and 3 missed shots from the field.
Marvin was called for
traveling soon after reentering in the 2nd, but moments later he
dished the ball inside to T-Mac for a score that put the Hawks up 4. Later,
T-Mac jammed on a drive from the right to put the Hawks up by 5, and Marvin
alertly stole a lackadaisical inbounds pass from Rondo beneath the basket, but
he rushed to score after the turnover and missed a 4-footer.
He missed another long
2 (20-ft) very late in the shot clock on the next Atlanta possession. Marvin’s
last miss of the quarter came late in the shot clock again, this time from
18-ft out, but he hit a technical free throw for Atlanta (3 seconds on KG) that
tied the score 30-30 with 4:36 remaining before halftime.
With Zaza, Al, and Josh
all out of the lineup, Marvin was stuck attempting to guard KG at times in game
3 and it was always a major mismatch. He just couldn’t stick with Garnett.
Marvin started the 3rd quarter for the Hawks and had 3 more
defensive rebounds. He missed his final shot of the night—another long 2 (this
one from 21 feet)—with 7:37 remaining in the 3rd and came out with
7:03 to play in the period.
Marvin reentered the
game with 7:40 left in the 4th and the Hawks in dire straits. He
grabbed 1 more rebound and went to the line to shoot another tech FT with the
C’s on an 11-1 run and leading by 11 with 6:13 to go. Marvin missed and was immediately
taken out of the game. He came back in the game with just seconds to play and
the score tied in order to stick Rondo while Joe guarded Pierce 1-on-1. Marvin
sat the entire overtime session.
Marvin went back to
coming off the bench in game 4, as Josh Smith was back in the starting lineup
along with Kirk Hinrich and Jason Collins. Marv played just 17:42 in the Hawks
blowout loss in game 4, but in some ways it was his most productive outing yet,
as he scored 8 points on 2 of 6 shooting (1 for 2 from 3-point range, 3 for 3
at the line). He had 3 rebounds and hit his 1st 3-pointer of the
series, but he had a -5 +/- number for the game. Marvin drew the assignment of
guarding Ray Allen in this one and he was no-match. Particularly in the 2nd
half, when the game was out of hand, Marvin just could not stay with Allen, and
eventually was moved over to Marquis Daniels.
Williams entered the
game midway through the 1st and hit his 1st shot of the
night, a 20-footer to make the score 19-13 Boston with 4:52 to play in the 1st.
It was his 1st made jumper of the series. With 2:10 left in the 1st,
Marvin tried to score from inside late in the shot clock and was blocked by
Pierce.
Marvin left with 8:24
remaining in the 2nd and the Hawks down 13. He did not reenter until
there was just 3:19 left in the 3rd, and by that time the Hawks were
down 29. With 1:45 left in the period, Marvin hit his 1st 3-pointer
of the series. He then got fouled on a 3 by Greg Stiemsma with 0.2 seconds left
in the period, and hit all 3 free throws.
It would be hard to say
that this got Marvin going, as he went 0 for 3 with 3 rebounds in the 4th.
He missed a 12-footer late in the shot clock early in the 4th, then
missed a 3 early in the shot clock, and then got blocked by Daniels on a
13-footer with 6:27 to play and was removed.
With Al Horford having
proven himself ready in game 4, Larry Drew had him in the starting lineup in
place of Jason Collins in game 5. For whatever reason, Drew decided to start
Marvin Williams as well in place of Kirk Hinrich. Marvin had started ahead of
Hinrich only once since mid-March.
This turned out to be a
good move, as Marvin produced more in game 5 than he had in the first 4 games
combined. He played 35.5 minutes and scored 15 points on 5 of 9 shooting (3 of
6 from behind the arc, 2 for 2 at the line) with 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal,
2 turnovers, and 2 fouls. He had a +/- number of +14 for the game (best on the
team).
Early on it didn’t look
like game 5 would be a breakout performance for Marvin. Marvin missed his first
shot of the game (a 3-pointer) about 3 minutes in, then got the ball stolen by
Paul Pierce, leading to a Boston score at the other end to make it 9-3 Celtics.
Marv’s only other FGA in the 1st was a missed put back of a Josh
Smith brick.
With 4:58 to play in
the opening quarter Williams drew a foul on Greg Stiemsma and hit a pair of
frees to cut the score to 13-9. Marvin had just 2 points, 2 boards, and a
turnover in the 1st quarter, going 0 for 2 from the field, 0 for 1
on treys, and 2 for 2 at the line. When he came out of the game with 4:20 to go
in the 1st the Hawks were down 6 points.
Marvin checked back
into the game with 7:50 remaining in the 2nd and the Hawks down 8.
He grabbed a couple of defensive boards but missed yet another 3-pointer with
5-and-a-half to play in the 2nd. Then after Boston turned the ball
over on a shot clock violation, Marvin’s bad pass was stolen by Rondo at the
4:40 mark. To that point he had done more negative things than positive things
in the game.
But then all of the
sudden Marvin got himself going from outside. With Atlanta trailing by 5 and
just over 2 minutes left until halftime, Williams nailed a trey-ball to cut the
deficit to 33-31. He fouled Brandon Bass at the other end leading to a pair of
free throws, but he made up for it with another bomb from long range to bring
the Hawks within a point with less than 90 seconds left in the 2nd.
Marv’s mini-hot streak
seemed to be contagious, as both Joe and Teague drilled 3-pointers after that,
and the Hawks would have held a 3-point lead at the half if Rondo hadn’t hit a
3-pointer with a man in his face at the buzzer. Marvin was 2 for 3 in the 2nd
(all from deep) for 6 points. He also had 2 rebounds, a foul, and a turnover in
the period. He played the final 7:50 of the 2nd quarter, helping the
Hawks go from down 8 to tied 40-40 at intermission.
Marvin couldn’t resist
a “heat check” to start the 3rd, firing and missing from 3-point
range just 32 seconds into the 2nd half. But he drew a charge from
KG on the ensuing Boston possession, and on the Hawks next possession he assisted
on a 17-foot jumper by Al that gave the Hawks a 42-40 lead. Marvin gave up a
foul to KG a minute later, his 2nd of the game, but it would also be
his last PF of the game.
Marv got his 1st
non-3pt FG of the game with 7:52 to go in the 3rd, scoring at the
rim on a dish from Josh to make it 52-46 Atlanta. A few minutes later, Marv
took the ball away from Pierce at one end, and got it back from Teague at the
other end and banged home a transition 3 to give Atlanta a 61-54 lead with just
4-and-a-half remaining in the 3rd.
Marv scored 5 points on
2 of 3 shooting in the 3rd (1/2 on 3’s) and by the time he exited
with 1:43 remaining in the quarter the Hawks had extended their lead all the
way out to 10. Williams also had a steal, an assist, a foul, and 1 “charge
taken” during the 3rd quarter.
Marvin had a quiet 4th
quarter. His only statistical impact came on a fairly big play midway through
the last period. With the Hawks clinging to a 1-point lead, Josh blocked Ray
Allen’s shot from close in, and then threw an outlet to Marv who finished at
the rim to make it 77-74 Atlanta with just 6:23 to go.
That was Marv’s only
shot of the 4th, but he was a major part of the team gutting out
that win, even if it didn’t show in his 4th quarter stats. After
beginning the 4th on the bench, he reentered the game with 9:42 to
play and the score tied 68-68 (had been 66-56 Hawks when Williams left in the 3rd).
He played the remainder of the game, as the Hawks survived for a 1-point
victory that extended the series.
Marvin had come out of
nowhere for some huge buckets to help the Hawks stay in the series in game 5.
Surprisingly, he more than backed it up in game 6, putting up his best
performance of the series--in an elimination game, in Boston--and nearly
leading the Hawks to a victory that would have forced game 7 in Atlanta. Marvin
played 36:20 in game 6, scoring 16 points on 6 of 13 shooting (4 of 5 on 3’s)
with 8 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, no turnovers, and 4 fouls. He had
a +/- number of +2 for the game (as pointed out in the Joe Johnson entry,
Marvin was actually 6 for 12 in the game, but official scorers have yet to
correct an error in the play-by-play data from late in game 6).
Marvin’s confidence
carried over into game 6, as he scored on a 9-footer late in the shot clock on
the Hawks 1st possession of the game to put Atlanta up 2-0 (1 of the
few short-to-mid range jumpers he hit in the series). On the Hawks 2nd
possession Marvin nailed a 3 to make it 5-0, as he scored the game’s 1st
5 points; a fairly impressive statement considering that the Hawks were playing
a do-or-die game in Boston.
Over the next few
minutes Marvin was perhaps a bit too aggressive, picking up a loose ball foul
on Pierce, and taking a long 3PA very early in the shot clock that was off
target. The C’s went on a 7-1 run to take the lead before Marvin made a nice
pass inside to Josh late in the possession for a score that put the Hawks up
8-7 with 7:13 to go in the 1st. Marvin scored or assisted on each of
the Hawks first 3 baskets.
A few minutes later
Marvin drilled another 3-ball late in the shot clock to extend Atlanta’s lead
to 19-13. He came out of the game with 3:24 to go in the 1st and the
Hawks up by 5. Williams finished the 1st quarter with 8 points on 3
of 4 shooting (2 for 3 from behind the arc), 1 assist, and 1 foul.
Marvin was back on the
floor to start the 2nd quarter and he stole the ball from Kevin
Dooling on Boston’s 1st possession. Over the first few minutes of
the quarter Marvin grabbed a rebound, missed an 11-foot jumper, and drew a foul
on Ray Allen. Then he knocked down another 3 to make it 28-20 Hawks with 9:23
to go in the half.
But the game really
turned over the next few minutes. When the game clock hit 5:00 to play in the 2nd,
the Hawks were down 38-31. At that point Marvin had gone 9 for his last 12 from
the field since there were 2 minutes to go in the 2nd quarter of the
previous game. With nothing working for the Hawks offensively, Marvin started
to force it a bit. He missed a long jumper, got his own rebound, and missed
again. He then went back to taking the worst shot in the game (the 2-pointer
from 22 feet) and the miss led to a score the other way for Boston to make it
43-33 Celtics with 2:53 remaining in the quarter.
Marvin grabbed another
rebound and then had his shot from down low blocked by Brandon Bass with 1:16
on the clock. Marvin assisted on a long jumper by Josh late in the shot clock
to cut the deficit to 47-39 with 37 seconds left, and the Hawks went to the
break trailing 47-41. Marvin finished the 2nd quarter with 3 points
on just 1 of 6 shooting (1 for 1 from downtown) with 1 assist, 1 steal, and 3
rebounds. He played the entire quarter, during which the Hawks were outscored
by 9 points.
Marv started the 3rd
quarter on the floor and picked up an early foul on Brandon Bass. He grabbed 4
boards over the next few minutes before picking up another foul, this time on
Pierce, who promptly hit a pair of FT’s to make it 53-45 Boston with 7:53 left
in the 3rd.
Then Marvin got going
again. He hit a transition 3 to make it a 2-point game with 7 minutes to play,
and then scored at the basket on a pass from Josh to make it 58-55 Boston with
5:10 left in the quarter. At the 4:27 mark, Marvin blocked Pierce’s shot from
up close to keep it a 3-point game. He came out with 2:50 remaining in the 3rd
and the Hawks down 5, finishing with 5 points in the 3rd on 2 for 2
shooting (1 for 1 from deep) in addition to 4 rebounds, 1 block, and 2 PF.
For the 2nd
game in a row Marvin was a big part of the Hawks staying in the game late,
despite little statistical evidence to show for it. He began the 4th
quarter on the bench, coming on with 6:34 remaining and the Hawks down 9
points. He grabbed a defensive rebound and dished inside to Al for a score that
cut the deficit to 74-71 with 5:13 left.
As we know, the Hawks
had several chances to tie or win the game late in regulation but couldn’t get
it done. Marvin was erroneously marked down in the official play-by-play of
game 6 as having his shot blocked by Pierce with 3.9 seconds to go, but as we
all know, it was Joe who had his layup attempted blocked by Pierce. Thus, Marv
should’ve gone down in the record books as being 6 for 12 in the game, not 6
for 13.
After Al made only 1 of
2 FT’s with 2.3 left on the clock, Marvin had to give up the quick foul to
Pierce, which he did with just 1.3 tics left. Pierce made both FT’s to make it
a 3-point game. Marvin got the inbounds pass in to Teague but he never got a
shot off and the Hawks fell, 83-80. Marvin finished the 4th quarter
without attempting a shot, scoring no points with 1 rebound, 1 assist, and 1
PF. The Hawks outscored Boston by 6 points while he was in the game in the 4th.
Moving
Forward: Well this certainly has changed since Monday
morning, hasn’t it? I was all set to talk about how—baring the league allowing
the Hawks to “amnesty” Marvin’s contract—the Hawks were basically stuck with
Marvin for the next couple of seasons. I was going to say that Marvin needed to
prove that his 3-point shooting wasn’t a fluke, while at the same time bringing
his 2-point shooting back up to previous standards. I was ready to say that it
was time to accept that Marvin is Marvin, which means he’s a decent player, but
he’s never going to be worthy of that #2 pick.
And then new Atlanta GM
Danny Ferry pulled off his 2nd miracle trade of the day, moving
Marvin to Utah for Devin Harris. And just like that, the Marvin Williams era
was over. I’ll be interested to see how Marvin responds to the trade and reacts
to his new environment. It’s going to be a drastically different situation for
him, as his entire career (save the 1 season at UNC) had been spent with the
Hawks in Atlanta, playing for Mike Woodson/Larry Drew, and playing alongside
Joe Johnson and Josh Smith. It’s gonna be a helluva culture shock for Williams
as well. Salt Lake City is not Atlanta. That’s about all I need to say about
that.
If I had to guess, I’d
say that Marvin will basically be the same as always next year. There could be
a slight drop off in production due to all of the changes, but if he gets more
playing time he could end up having “better looking” numbers. I suppose it’s
possible that the move to Utah will somehow lead to Marvin experiencing a
breakthrough and blossoming as a member of the Jazz, but I’m not that worried
about it. It’s much more likely that he’ll be the same player he was during his
entire career in Atlanta, which is to say, he’ll be an okay player, but not
worthy of being drafted #2 ahead of Deron Williams and Chris Paul.
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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