How Players Deal with a Bad Shooting Night

Posted by HoopsAvenue on July 21, 2008 under NBA Stats | Be the First to Comment

Every player reacts differently to having an off night shooting. Some will let it get to their heads and their entire game falls apart while others are able to focus on getting their teammates involved or hitting the boards. We decided to take a look at how players reacted last season to having a game where they shot under 30% from the field. How were their assist, rebound, and turnover numbers affected? To keep everything relevant, we only looked at players who averaged at least 10 points per game during the season and who had at least 10 games where they shot under 30% from the field.

On a per minute basis, we found that rebounding averages were the same in bad games as during the season, but assists dropped 3% and turnovers increased 4%. So, that wasn’t very interesting, but some of the individual players stood out. Linas Kleiza of the Denver Nuggets must have pleased coach George Karl with his ability to tune out bad shooting performances and increase his rebounding by 29%, his assists by 38%, and decrease his turnovers by 36%! Although he doesn’t record many assists to begin with (1.2 per game), the increase in rebounding is interesting.

If you’re not impressed by Kleiza because he isn’t enough of an impact player, how about Hedo Turkoglu? Hedo increased his rebounds by 24%, his assists by 18%, and decreased his turnovers by 6% in bad shooting performances.

Ok, so now you’re wondering, who are the guys who completely stink up the joint when their shot isn’t falling. Sam Cassell falls into that category with his turnovers going up 22%, rebounds down 37%, and assists down 14%. There’s not much trash to talk when Sam I Am is having a bad game, apparently. Grant Hill, surprisingly, isn’t much better with his turnovers going up 16%, rebounds down 14%, and assists down 34% in bad games. Josh Smith is pretty consistent with his rebounding and assist numbers in bad games, but he turns the ball over, pathetically, 51% more often when he’s having a bad shooting night! (Sorry for posting this while you’re on the free agent market, Josh)

The turnover numbers are the most interesting here so let’s look at the increase in turnovers for the 10 biggest culprits (of letting their poor shooting get to their head):

Coach, you might want to bench these guys when their shot isn’t falling (except Pierce, he might get hot)!

Free Agent Spotlight: Josh Smith

Posted by HoopsAvenue on July 11, 2008 under Atlanta Hawks, NBA Rumors | Be the First to Comment

The dominoes are falling fast in free agency this summer. We’ve already got Gilbert Arenas re-signing in Washington, Elton Brand going to Philadelphia, Corey Maggette and Baron Davis swapping teams, and Lebron James going to New Jersey (oh wait, that’s not for 2 more years). Josh Smith, though, hasn’t made a decision yet. Mostly that’s because he’s just outside the top tier of free agents, but, after this season’s playoff performance, maybe he should be more of a priority? Regardless, the man is going to make big money and he’s still seeking a monster deal, and that is what makes his free agency so interesting. Nobody doubts Josh Smith’s athleticism or ability to put up numbers, but is he the kind of player that can carry a team? It looks like the Sixers don’t think so now that they passed up Smith and sunk their money into Elton Brand. Most teams would probably do the same going for the reliable big man over the flashy athlete.

So, the Hawks are facing a pretty big question these days as they try to decide what to do with Josh Smith. With the Clippers losing Brand and Maggette, they are probably going to make a big offer to Smith. They’re going to make a big offer, it’s just a matter of whether it goes to Smith or Emeka Okafor. Smith would seemingly be the better fit for the LA market and that seems to be how Donald Sterling makes his decisions most of the time. Now, Smith is restricted so assuming he does get a big offer from the Clippers, the Hawks would have 7 days to match it.  Should the Hawks go all-in on Josh Smith?

If I’m the Hawks, I do it.  It’s true Smith is young and mostly unproven, but we’ve seen what he can do in the playoffs and for the city of Atlanta.  Barring an injury, there should be a lot of exciting games and a pretty good team in Atlanta for years to come.  He is not going to be Lebron or Duncan, but neither is anyone else on the market right now and you can’t attract them to a listless franchise anyway.  Atlanta probably never will be a championship team with Josh Smith as its centerpiece, but when you’re putting “championship” and “Atlanta” in the same sentence, you’re probably dreaming anyways.  Don’t ruin a good thing, Hotlanta.  Re-sign Josh Smith.