*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
Tracy McGrady (1st season with Hawks/15th
season overall)
Age:
32 (turned 33 in May)
Draft
History: 9th pick in 1997 by Toronto
Acquired:
Signed as free agent December 2011
2012
Salary: $1.35 Million
2013
Contract Status: Free agent
2012
Regular Season Grade: C+
Grade
Explanation: Played in 52 of 66 games off the bench
for minimum salary. Had a few minor issues with comments to the media but good
attitude overall. Solid when injuries were not a factor. Did miss some time and
was limited in other games due to various injuries. Was not as big of a factor
as expected. Was not as effective as hoped. Had worst season of his career in
many ways but was still okay for a minimum salary role player. Shot well on
3-pointers but did not shoot well overall. Poor FT shooting. Good distributing
and rebounding but also turned the ball over some. Adequate defense.
Overall:
I
was surprised that Tracy McGrady signed with the Hawks, but I’m not really sure
why. I guess I’ve always felt like players think of Atlanta as a great place to
party but not a great place to play. In other words, it doesn’t seem like players
think much of the franchise or the fans. A number of players live—at least part
time—in the area, and we all know that many of them enjoy the Atlanta night
life when they come to town to play the Hawks. But the team has always had
trouble luring free agents. McGrady seemed like the type of player who would
never want to play for the Hawks. My feeling was that a guy like McGrady would
be almost embarrassed to sign with the Hawks.
Thus, I was kind of
surprised when T-Mac did sign with the Hawks following the end of the lockout.
I’m not sure if my original belief—that Atlanta would be one of the last places
on T-Mac’s list—was incorrect or not. Perhaps McGrady thought more positively
about the franchise than I assumed. It’s also possible that McGrady had few
other alternatives.
Everyone is familiar
with McGrady’s injury woes which have curtailed his career. It had been years
since McGrady was a star, and in recent seasons it was almost sad to see how
much his abilities had diminished. However, I thought there was a chance the
McGrady signing could turn out to be a surprise gem. For me, the biggest
concern was McGrady’s history of injuries. Obviously, I realized there was a
chance McGrady’s health would fail him again, but I actually felt like he was
due for a reprieve from bad injury luck.
A lesser concern was
McGrady’s attitude/mindset. T-Mac has always had a reputation for being a bit
of a “diva” for lack of a better term. Frankly, I didn’t know if the Hawks had
a head coach McGrady would respect. Also, I didn’t know if the Hawks had the
sort of “team attitude” that would keep T-Mac in the fold and influence him in
the right way. Beyond that, the Hawks have some players who are not as mature
as you would like, and I thought there was some chance that McGrady could even
be a negative influence on them.
This was really a small
concern, however, as I felt like just signing with the Hawks for a minimum deal
was evidence that McGrady had humbled himself to some degree, and had a grasp
of his role as a player at this point. If his body held up and McGrady had the
right attitude, I thought there was a chance he could be a big help this
season.
All things considered,
I was slightly disappointed with how things turned out in McGrady’s season with
the Hawks. He did have some health problems, but that was to be expected, and
he avoided the kind of debilitating injury that has ruined some of his seasons
in the past. There were also a few flares ups of some of the T-Mac attitude
issues, but it was nothing serious, and it never seemed to affect the club.
In these two areas of
concern I thought things went about as well as we could have hoped. That being
the case, I was a bit disappointed with the way McGrady’s season played out on
the court. I may have overestimated how much T-Mac really had left to offer.
However, I actually thought he performed fairly well most of the time when
given the opportunity, even if he wasn’t as effective as I thought he would be.
He just wasn’t as involved in the Hawks plans as I hoped he would be. He
certainly did not hurt the team, and most minimum salary guys aren’t expected
to do much. He just didn’t have as big of an impact as I thought he would.
McGrady played in 52 of
66 games, all coming off of the bench, and averaging 16.1 MPG. He shot .437/.455/.675
and averaged 5.3 P/G, 3.0 R/G, 2.1 A/G, 0.3 S/G, and 0.3 B/G with 1.0 TOV/G. He
did miss some time here and there with various ailments. Larry Drew began
giving McGrady days of rest to try and keep him from breaking down during the accelerated
schedule.
It was said often
during the year that some nights T-Mac “had it,” and some nights he didn’t. To
be honest, I’m not the best at picking up this sort of thing. The changes in
McGrady’s physical ability from game to game were less obvious to me, but I
trust that they were real because so many smart basketball people commented on
it.
At first it looked like
McGrady would have the sort of impact that I had expected as a regular rotation
player, but he seemed to get buried deeper on the roster as the year
progressed. At times I wasn’t sure if McGrady was hurt; or if Drew was just
being overly protective; or if Drew just didn’t really want to give McGrady
more minutes and was simply using McGrady’s injuries/injury history as an
excuse.
I’ve never had a ton of
confidence in Larry Drew as a head coach, so I questioned whether or not he was
using McGrady in the best way possible. He may have grown tired of not knowing
whether or not McGrady would be physically able to perform on a day-to-day basis.
Or he may have felt like McGrady wasn’t good enough to have a bigger role. For
whatever reason, T-Mac had a fairly small role on the team for much of the
year.
One thing that any
observer of the game could see from watching McGrady was that he no longer had
that explosiveness that he once possessed. He could not play above the rim the
way that he once did, and he wasn’t going to be able to blow guys away anymore.
Thus, T-Mac’s game is heavily reliant on jump shooting. 74% of his FGA were
jumpers and he had just a .421 EFG on those shots. He had a .607 EFG on the 26%
of his FGA that came from inside.
Unfortunately, McGrady
had to play on the perimeter much of the time because he just couldn’t drive to
the basket or rise over the big men anymore. There were times when he was
effective from inside, but McGrady was often one of the key ball handlers when
he came into the game, almost like a point-forward. He tended to “settle” for
jumpers, and he just didn’t shoot that well. Making matters worse, he shot a
lot of long 2’s, while not shooting many 3’s (averaging just 0.6 3-point
attempts per game). When he did step behind the arc he was effective, shooting
.455 on 3-pointers, but he shot just .434 on 2PA.
It was not a situation
where you might think, “well, if he’s not making his shots then he shouldn’t
play” because he could still do other things. He was a good passer and
facilitator. He did turn the ball over quite a bit, but he also dished out a
number of assists. McGrady can still get his shot off basically whenever he
wants and he was pretty good at drawing fouls. The trouble was that he wasn’t
so good at taking advantage of those shooting fouls. I must admit that I had no
idea how average a free throw shooter T-Mac was. This season he wasn’t even
average, shooting just .675 from the line.
McGrady does seem to
understand his limitations to a certain extent. He is not at all oblivious to
the fact that he is no longer the best player on the floor. Just 27% of his FGA
came in the first 10 seconds of the shot clock. He had a .556 EFG on those
attempts, definitely aided by some run outs and other “high percentage” shots.
While McGrady no longer plays as if he is the team’s 1st option,
he’s not afraid to shoot if the ball ends up in his hands and there is no
obviously better option. 52% of his FGA came with less than 10 seconds on the
shot clock (.420 EFG).
During his career
McGrady got a reputation for being disinterested on the defensive side of the
game. He’s not a guy who blocks a lot of shots or makes a ton of steals.
However, he can usually guard whoever he’s assigned to and he is able to do so
without fouling. If McGrady was “disinterested” on defense this season I never
saw it. It doesn’t seem to show up in the statistics either.
The Hawks were a better
offensive team without McGrady, but in terms of points allowed per 100
possessions they were much stronger defensively when he was in the game.
Despite being less efficient offensively with McGrady on the court, the Hawks
certainly seemed to play better with T-Mac in the game. The Hawks outscored
opponents by 2.1 more per 48 minutes when McGrady was in the game as opposed to
when he was off the floor.
Tracy played in 25% of
Atlanta’s total minutes this season, almost always at small forward. He played
a very small amount of time at shooting guard and power forward, but for the
most part he was exclusively playing at the 3-spot. McGrady out-produced his
counterpart overall during the season when he was in the game. Certainly much
of this time came facing other bench players, but I must say that I rarely felt
like T-Mac was overmatched, even when he was going up against the opposition’s
regular players.
One thing you started
to notice over the course of the season was that McGrady often “disappeared” in
terms of being involved in the game. I’m not talking about his performance or
his effort. I’m saying that often times he would have his shift or two and then
wouldn’t be heard from again. Sometimes he would go long stretches on the bench
without any action at all. Larry Drew did not often go to him late in games.
As I said before, I’ve
always been skeptical of Drew as a strategist, so there were times when I felt
like he should have been looking to McGrady more, crunch time included. Drew
knew far more than I did about T-Mac’s ability to compete physically on a
nightly basis, but it seemed like he should have been able to play some minutes
late in tight games. McGrady had many moments of brilliance in big spots
earlier in his career, so I thought it would be nice to have a guy with that
sort of experience/confidence in those moments. But Drew really didn’t utilize
him that often in late and close situations.
As much as I have
always doubted Drew as an in-game coach, he may have had reason to keep
McGrady’s playing time limited in close games. When looking at the numbers, you
see that McGrady just didn’t play that well this year in CLUTCH situations.
T-Mac was on the floor for 17% of Atlanta’s CLUTCH minutes, and the Hawks had a
net +/- of +1 during that time.
McGrady shot just .222
in CLUTCH (down from .437 overall) and averaged just 11.8 P/48 (down from 15.7
overall). He shot 78% jumpers with just a .214 EFG in CLUTCH. He wasn’t shy of
taking the big shot, as 78% of his FGA in CLUTCH came with less than 10 seconds
on the shot clock. Unfortunately, he had a .000 EFG on those shots. He did hit
3 of 4 FTA and had 4 assists and only 1 turnover in CLUTCH.
Statistics:
Tracy
McGrady has had several seasons that were either wiped out or severely hindered
by injuries. He stayed reasonably healthy this season, but he got much less
playing time than ever before. That being the case, it was natural that his
total and per game numbers would be down. However, this was also a down year
for McGrady in terms of his overall on-court production, especially considering
that injuries were not as big of a problem as they have been at times in the
past.
Despite the shortened
schedule, this was the 9th time in 17 seasons that McGrady missed at
least 10 games. He failed to make a single start for the 1st time in
his career. For just the 2nd time in his career McGrady did not post
a double-double this season. His MPG, P/G, R/G, S/G, and B/G were all career
lows. His A/G was his lowest since his rookie year. His FT% was also a career
worst. T-Mac’s FG% dropped .005 from the previous season. On the other hand, he
established career bests in 3PT% and TOV/G, and his 2.08 ATO was his best since
2005-2006.
Again, lack of playing
time was a major part of McGrady’s poor season in comparison with previous
years, but he was also simply less effective than usual when he was in the game
this season. This can be seen clearly in his below average PER. T-Mac’s 13.69
PER was down 1.22 from the previous season and was the 2nd worst of
his career. His TS% (51.0) was up 0.7 from the year before, and his EFG was
down only slightly (dropped .001 to .470). McGrady’s WS/48 (.094) was up .033
from the year before.
Outside of rebounding,
T-Mac’s per 48 minute numbers were also down this year. His P/48 and S/48 were
the lowest of his career. He had his worst A/48 since 2005-2006 and his worst
B/48 since 2008-2009. Even his TOV/48 was slightly worse than the previous
season. On the other hand, McGrady’s R/48 was his best since 2001-2002.
Floor
Time Stats/Team Rankings (Unqualified)
MIN%: 25% (9th)
+/-
Per 48:
+4.9 (6th)
ON/OFF
48:
+2.1 (6th)
+/-
W-L-T:
27-25-0
WIN%: 51.9 (10th)
ON/OFF
OPHP:
-3.5 (10th)
ON/OFF
DPHP:
-5.5 (2nd)
ON/OFF
NPHP:
+2.0 (6th)
Team
Leaderboard: McGrady was 3rd on the team in ARAT
(25.6), PRO/OPP (+5.1), and SIMRAT (+4.1).
On the negative side,
T-Mac was tied for 3rd on
the team in Techs (2).
NBA
Leaderboard: None
Season
Review: McGrady played in 52 of 66 games, all off the bench,
averaging 16.1 MPG. He got off to a strong start, playing in the first 7 games
before his knee flared up. He missed a game due to the knee on January 6th
and his minutes and production were limited for a few more games after that.
In regards to the
recent decrease in playing time due to the knee problem, McGrady pronounced
himself “ready to roll” on January 11th, but that very day he
experienced back spasms which caused him to miss 3 straight games and limited
him for another. At this point T-Mac seemed to be frustrated with Hawks
trainers.
He may just have been
frustrated in general and looking for someone to blame. It didn’t seem to be
frustration with the training staff not being able to get him ready to play. It
seemed to be frustration with them not giving the “all clear” sign to Larry
Drew. McGrady said he was waiting for the training staff to “release” him, but
to be honest, I’m not sure if this was an accurate representation of what was
going on.
In my opinion, it seems
unlikely that the trainers would have held T-Mac back due to over cautiousness
or incompetence. They probably tested him physically and asked him how he was
feeling, and then reported that he wasn’t doing that great. Or it’s possible
that the trainers didn’t even enter into it that much. Drew may have gotten
irritated with not being able to count on McGrady’s availability on a
day-to-day basis and simply decided not to bother with Tracy for a while.
After missing 3
straight with the back issue from January 11th to the 14th,
McGrady played in the next 16 games with limited minutes and production. On
February 15th, McGrady was held out of the game due to “rest.” Larry
Drew had mentioned to the media that he was thinking of sitting T-Mac whenever
the Hawks had to play games on back-to-back nights.
McGrady played just 5
minutes of the next game, and then had a bit of a “shit-hits-the-fan” moment
with the media afterward. McGrady told reporters he was “tired of this shit,”
and that he had been given no explanation for the lack of playing time. He said
that he wasn’t injured. He also said that while he liked his teammates very
much he did not want to remain on the team if he wasn’t going to play.
Unless you were
following the team on at least somewhat of a “behind the scenes” level this
came pretty much out of the blue. It wasn’t totally shocking because—as
mentioned earlier—McGrady has had a reputation for being a bit of a diva. But
it was somewhat of a surprise because most people following the team assumed that
McGrady’s health issues were causing the decrease in playing time, and probably
looked at Drew’s precautionary measures as sound.
He played in the final
3 games of the 1st half and the first 2 games after the ASG, but in
the 3rd game of the 2nd half he hurt his knee and played
only 2 minutes. He played the next game and then sat out the 2nd
game of a back-to-back on March 7th. In the next game he played 16
minutes without a point. From March 7th through April 15th
T-Mac missed 9 of 22 games due to the knee, the flu, or for general rest.
McGrady then played in the final 16 games of the regular season.
All things considered,
I think it’s fair to assume that the various ailments--as well as the way his body
reacted on a particular day--affected McGrady even when he did play. He
performed okay in December/January when he was able to play. His shooting was
down in February but he still performed pretty well when he did play. He was
terrible in March. He played well in April despite poor 3-point shooting.
Through January, T-Mac
had played in 18 of 22 games, averaging 19.4 MPG, and shooting .480/.667/.737
while producing 7.2 P/G, 3.4 R/G, and 2.4 A/G with 1.1 TOV/G.
Through the 1st
game of March, T-Mac had played in 31 of 36 games, averaging 17.2 MPG, and
shooting .458/.625/.690 while producing 6.1 P/G, 3.1 R/G, and 2.2 A/G with 1.1
TOV/G.
But then from March 3rd
through April 11th he played in just 14 of 22 games, averaging 12.8
MPG, and shooting .317/.250/.583 while producing just 2.5 P/G, 2.0 R/G, and 1.4
A/G with 0.6 TOV/G.
Finally he began
playing better again towards the end of the year. He played in 7 of the last 8
games, averaging 17.9 MPG, and shooting .486/.333/.692 while producing 6.9 P/G,
4.3 R/G, and 3.0 A/G with 1.7 TOV/G.
2012
Postseason Grade: C+
Grade
Explanation: Played in all 6 games and was okay in a
backup role. He wasn’t much of a factor in games 2, 4, and 5. Played well in
games 1 and 6. Had huge 1st half in game 3 but struggled in 2nd
half. Did not shoot well in series and had some bad turnovers.
Statistics:
McGrady
played in all 6 games against Boston, averaging 15.0 MPG off the bench. He shot
.385/.000/.833 and averaged 4.2 P/G, 2.8 R/G, 1.0 A/G, 0.0 S/G, and 0.3 B/G
with 1.7 TOV/G.
T-Mac played 90 total
minutes in the series (7th on the team), the most of any player on
the team who did not start at least 1 game. He had a +/- number of -17 and a
W-L-T of 2-3-1. McGrady had a 6.50 PER (tied 9th out of 13 on the
team), amassed -0.1 WS (tied 11th), and had -.045 WS/48 (11th).
Those advanced statistical numbers are ugly
Postseason
Review: It’s hard to sum up McGrady’s performance in the
series against Boston with one word, phrase, sentence, or even paragraph. He
wasn’t much of a factor in 3 of the 6 games; played well in limited minutes in
2 of the games; and in the 1 game where he played significant minutes he had 1
good half and 1 bad half.
When you look at his
stats they seem okay for the most part, but he wasn’t able to do much to help
the team, and in some cases he seems to have hurt the team. T-Mac did not shoot
well in the series and he did not make a single 3-pointer. He also turned the
ball over quite a bit, which was especially costly against Boston.
McGrady often ended up
guarding one of Boston’s various role players (Pavlovic, Stiemsma, Pietrus,
Bass, etc.) and was adequate. However, just as every other Hawks player in the
series, McGrady was less successful when asked to deal with one of Boston’s top
offensive players. He was outmatched guarding either Kevin Garnett or Paul
Pierce.
McGrady was big for the
Hawks in the 1st half of game 3 when they were without Josh, Al, and
Zaza. But he suffered an ankle sprain late in the 2nd quarter and
was totally ineffective in the 2nd half. Drew never really went back
to him again until game 6, as he played just 16 total minutes in games 4 and 5
after playing nearly 41 minutes in game 3 alone.
While I still find it
hard to say that McGrady was a big factor in the Hawks not getting it done
against the Celtics, he didn’t do anything to help his reputation for failing
in the playoffs.
McGrady played fairly
well in 14.5 minutes during the Hawks victory at home in game 1. He scored 4
points on 2 for 3 shooting, and added 5 rebounds and 1 assist with 2 turnovers
and 1 foul. He had an even +/- number for the game.
T-Mac was in the game
to start the 2nd quarter with Atlanta up 13. He drew a foul on
Mickael Pietrus but was then called for a charge. He dished to Jason Collins
underneath for a bucket to make it 42-25 Hawks with 5:53 to go in the half. T-Mac
grabbed a rebound on the defensive end, then missed a shot from inside but got
his own rebound. He came out of the game with 4:52 to play in the quarter and
the Hawks up 17.
McGrady started the 4th
quarter for the Hawks with Atlanta ahead by 12. After Rondo scored to cut the
lead to 10, McGrady nailed an 18-footer on Atlanta’s 1st possession
of the 4th to make it 67-55. Rondo immediately brought the deficit
back to 10 and then stole the ball from McGrady, but T-Mac grabbed the rebound
at the other end. Later, McGrady put a missed jumper by Josh Smith back up and
in to make the score 71-59 with 7:35 to play. He came out of the game for good
with 5:27 remaining and the Hawks up 8.
Despite the solid
showing in game 1, T-Mac played just 5:38 in game 2 and did not get off a shot.
He scored 3 points, going 3 for 4 at the line, and had 1 block, 1 turnover, and
1 foul. He had a +/- number of -6 for the game.
T-Mac entered the game
with 37 seconds left in the 1st and the Hawks up 2. Early in the 2nd
he drew a pair of fouls on Sasha Pavlovic and hit a pair of FT’s to bring ATL
back within 2. On the next Boston possession he blocked KG’s long jumper late
in the shot clock, eventually leading to a shot clock violation. On the ensuing
ATL possession he drew a foul on Marquis Daniels and went 1 for 2 at the line
to make it a 1-point game with 9:12 to go in the half.
McGrady was then called
for a charge and came out of the game with 8:35 left in the 2nd and
the Hawks down a point. He didn’t reenter the contest until early in the 4th
quarter with the Hawks up 5. He played a minute-and-a-half and then came out
for good with 9:37 remaining and the Hawks up 2.
After the disappointing
loss in game 2, the Hawks had to play game 3 in Boston without their top 3 big
men. T-Mac had a chance to play more and he seemed inspired by the opportunity.
The Hawks needed him and he delivered in the 1st half, at times even
looking like the old T-Mac (meaning the younger one). Unfortunately, he
suffered an ankle sprain late in the 2nd quarter which seemed to
turn him back into just old.
The veteran played
40:46 of 53 minutes in the pivotal game 3 which ended up going into overtime.
He scored 12 points on 5 of 14 shooting, going 2 for 2 at the line but 0 for 3
from behind the arc. McGrady also had 9 rebounds and 2 assists, but he
committed 4 turnovers and 2 fouls. He finished the game with a +/- number of
-2, but he had a +4 entering overtime.
Tracy entered the game
with 5:13 left in the 1st quarter and the score tied 13-13. He
grabbed 2 boards in the 1st but had his only shot blocked and also
threw the ball out of bounds. He would play nearly the entire 2nd
quarter, and before injuring himself he would show flashes of his former greatness,
finishing the quarter with 10 points on 5 of 8 shooting, 4 rebounds, and 1
assist.
Early in the 2nd
McGrady drew a foul on Pietrus, but his shot from inside was blocked by
Garnett. T-Mac drew another foul on Pietrus moments later. Then he blew by
Pietrus and flew through the air for a slam dunk from the right side to make
the score 21-17 ATL with 9:13 remaining in the half. This was a stunning play,
as McGrady suddenly looked young and dangerous again. It was quite clear that
Mickael Pietrus couldn’t guard him.
On the next Hawks
possession McGrady dished to Jeff Teague for a jam to put the Hawks up 6 and
the Celtics switched Pierce onto T-Mac. McGrady drew a foul on Pierce and then
sunk a 20-footer to stop a 5-0 Celtics run. McGrady got the ball on a run out
and jammed again to make it 27-22 with 7:05 left in the 2nd. Boston
came back to tie the Hawks 34-34, but McGrady hit a short jumper and put a Joe
Johnson miss back up and in to give the Hawks a 38-34 lead with 2:17 to go
before halftime.
With 1:17 on the clock
McGrady had a 3PA go in and out. On the Hawks next possession McGrady took a 3
just before the shot clock expired and missed. When he came down he landed
awkwardly on Rondo’s foot, badly turning his right ankle.
McGrady went to the
floor and began rolling around and clutching at his leg as the Celtics pushed
the ball back the other way. This gave the Celtics a 5-4 advantage, so Kirk
Hinrich gave up a foul on Pierce to stop the play. Unfortunately, the Hawks
didn’t have a foul to give, and Pierce hit both FT’s to put the Celtics ahead
40-38. More importantly, the Hawks appeared to have lost another man to injury,
on a night when they were without Smith, Horford, and Pachulia.
McGrady was checked by
the Hawks training staff before getting up and being helped to the locker room
without putting any weight on the right leg. Sprains are always tricky because
they often look worse than they really are. This appeared to be the case with
McGrady, who went down like he had been shot, but was able to play again in the
2nd half.
I don’t mean to poke
fun at T-Mac. It was obviously very painful, and he was probably also frustrated
that this happened right when he was getting a chance and doing so well in a
big game. Also, while he was able to come back and play big minutes in the 2nd
half, he was nowhere near as effective, and it’s not much of a stretch to
assume that the injury to his ankle had something to do with it. Actually, by
the end of the game you could tell that it was causing him problems, and
perhaps it got worse as time went on.
McGrady reentered the
game with 7:03 still to play in the 3rd and the Hawks now down by 6.
He grabbed a defensive rebound, but then threw the ball away out of bounds, and
gave up a foul to Pierce on the ensuing Boston possession. McGrady played the
remainder of the 3rd but did not attempt a shot. He had 2 rebounds
in the period and did draw a foul on KG, but obviously he wasn’t as involved as
he had been in the 2nd when he scored 10 of Atlanta’s 19 points.
Tracy played the entire
4th quarter and all of overtime. Early in the 4th quarter
he got the ball stolen by Ray Allen, but moments later he drew a foul from
Pierce and hit 2 FT’s to cut the deficit to 65-62 with 10:09 to play. It was
downhill from there, however, and at times it wasn’t pretty.
The Hawks pulled
within a point, but Rondo scored on a layup, and then T-Mac missed a midrange
jumper. At the other end of the floor McGrady left Pierce in the corner to help
Jannero Pargo at the basket with a driving Rajon Rondo, but at the last second
Rondo passed out to a now wide open Pierce who hit the 3-ball to make it a
6-point game.
The Hawks called
timeout to try and stem the tide, but after the break McGrady lost the ball and
Rondo broke out for a layup to make it 72-64. Pierce was credited with a steal
on the play, but it seemed more like McGrady lost the ball, and when he tried
to make a sudden movement his ankle gave out and he fell. At this point in the
game Larry Drew was making all sorts of substitutions. McGrady often ended up
having to guard Garnett and he struggled. Even when he played very good defense
KG was still able to score.
With the Hawks down 8
and just 2-and-a-half minutes to play, McGrady swung the ball around to Willie
Green for a corner 3 that got the Hawks started on an 8-0 run to tie the score.
With less than a minute to play, McGrady missed a shot from inside that would
have given Atlanta the lead, and the game wound up going to overtime. T-Mac
finished the 4th going 0 for 2 from the floor, 2 for 2 at the line,
with 1 rebound, 1 assist, 2 turnovers, and a foul.
McGrady played the
entire overtime period but did not score, going 0 for 3 (0 for 1 on 3’s). By
the end you could see that the ankle was bothering him, and he was probably
also a bit fatigued, playing 40+ minutes against the Celtics.
In game 4 the Hawks not
only had Josh Smith back but Al Horford as well, meaning McGrady would most
likely not be asked to play big minutes. However, because the game ended up so
1-sided many of the bench players did get extended minutes. McGrady was not one
of these, however, as he played just 9 minutes, scoring 2 points on 1 for 3
shooting with 1 rebound and 1 turnover. He had a horrid +/- number of -13 for
the game.
T-Mac entered the game
with 3:54 left in the 1st quarter and the Hawks down 21-15. He
missed his only shot attempt of the quarter—an 18-footer early in the shot
clock—and got the ball stolen by Stiemsma with 35 seconds remaining in the
period. He started off better in the 2nd quarter, drawing a foul on
Pietrus, grabbing an offensive rebound, and nailing a long jumper late in the
shot clock to make it 37-26 Boston with 9:12 left in the half.
But the game quickly
got out of hand. McGrady missed his final FGA of the game—a shot from inside
the paint with 7:13 on the clock—and left the game with 6:59 remaining in the
half and the Hawks down 46-27. McGrady sat the rest of the way.
Game 5 was a complete opposite
of game 4, as the Hawks hung on to win by just a point, but McGrady played even
less in this one than he had in the blowout. In just 7 minutes of play T-Mac
had 1 assist, no points, and did not attempt a shot. He did have a +/- number
of +1 for the effort.
McGrady would see more
action in game 6 back in Boston. He played 14 minutes and scored 4 points on 2
for 6 shooting (0 for 1 on 3’s) with 2 boards, 2 assists, a block, and 2
turnovers. His +/- number for the game was +3.
T-Mac did not enter
game 6 until there was just 1:50 to play in the 1st quarter. He
immediately scored from inside to put the Hawks up a point, and then assisted
on Hinrich’s jumper at the buzzer that gave the Hawks a 3-point lead after 1. T-Mac
started the 2nd quarter off by hitting a midrange J to make it
25-20. He got the ball stolen by KG after that and then missed a short jumper,
but he assisted on Marvin’s 3-ball with 9:23 left in the half that made it
28-20. That capped off a 9-0 run by the Hawks, during which McGrady either
scored or assisted on all 4 Atlanta buckets.
That was T-Mac’s last
little bright spot in the series. He turned the ball over on a bad pass out of
bounds on the next ATL possession, and came out of the game with 8:12 to go in
the half and the Hawks up 31-25. When he reentered the game with 2:50 to play
in the 3rd quarter the Hawks were down by 5.
He missed his only shot
of the 3rd—a long jumper with a foot on the 3-point line—and would
miss both of his shots in the 4th quarter. He did block Kevin Dooling’s
jump shot in the midst of a 7-0 run by Boston in the 4th, but that
was about it the rest of the way. He missed a 3-try out of a timeout, and
missed a 17-foot jumper on his final FGA of the series. He exited with 6:34 to
go and the Hawks down 74-65.
Moving
Forward: Going into the offseason I didn’t expect the Hawks to
resign any of their unrestricted FA’s. However, a number of important
developments have taken place since I started writing these reviews, and at
this point I wouldn’t rule out anything.
First it was reported
that the Hawks wanted to retain their entire bench. Then Danny Ferry was hired
to be the new GM. After that the Hawks drafted 2 players likely to make the
team. Then came the huge trades of Joe Johnson (for multiple players) and
Marvin Williams (for Devin Harris). I still don’t think the Hawks will resign
any of their unrestricted FA’s, but you never know.
I don’t know if the
Hawks would want Tracy McGrady back. I doubt T-Mac would want to come back
unless he has no other option. McGrady was fairly healthy this season,
especially compared to the previous few years, and yet he had the worst season
of his career. I’m not sure if has much left. If he wants to keep playing I’m
sure there will be a spot for him on some roster, but I doubt it will be in
Atlanta.
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.
No comments:
Post a Comment