thecampster

2:05 mark. Al is out of position guarding a wing at the top of the key, easy OOP-dunk. 2:11 mark. Al vs Dwight 1v1. Al gets caught trying to save position. Dwight uses him as a stripper pole. 2:13 mark. Al out of position again trying to stop penetration with a block. Not only does he shield off Patterson from trailing on D, problem is it’s a pass-off to Al's man. 2:16 mark. Al loses Dwight and is on wrong side of lane. 2:18 mark. Al fails to get back in transition. Korver alone in a 3 on 1. Dwight with the easy throw down. Was a 1-point game at the time.

The Hawks were #1 last year in FG% against, holding teams to a league best 43.2% shooting. But that number is misleading. The Hawks held the league to the 5th lowest 3PT % at 33.8%, while allowing the league the 15th most 3PT Attempts per game at 24.5/game. Part of the problem here is that although the Hawks had the best FG% against, they allowed the 5th most FG attempts at 86.1/game. This is in large part because the Hawks gave up the 4th most rebounds per game last year at 46.5 and the allowed the 4th most offensive rebounds per game at 11.5. So to combine all that, the FG% was low because of all of the 3PT attempts against, many of which were off of Offensive rebounds, kicked out for 3. Now Al is your center. Many of those 11.5 offensive rebounds per game fall directly on him and his positioning. I don't completely blame him, he is undersized for the position. The saving grace for the defense was 9.1 steals per game (3rd in the league) and 5.9 blocks per game (5th best). Drilling down into those numbers, Al was 6th in the team in steals at .8 and 2nd in blocks at 1.48 per game. Al was outperformed by Millsap in all 5 categories, Points, Assists, Steals, Rebounds and Blocks. Al - > was/is an average NBA center on defense. He has always been out of position in Atlanta. No one is saying he sucks or should be pounding sand. But what I am saying is that Dwight is an upgrade in almost every facet of the game and most definitely on defense. Every metric points to it, only the homer in us tells us otherwise. 16 different players in the league finished with more blocks than Al, 28 players finished with more rebounds per game. Let the Celtics have him. I have no need for a center at max money that can't register in the top 15 in both rebounds/blocks. Just look at those numbers.....29th in rebounds....from a center getting max money. 17th in blocks...again....very, very average. Some people may read this and have no idea how bad it really was. You get used to things seeing them on every other night. But it was bad, really bad. The team was stellar on perimeter defense, but gave up rebound after rebound. Al was average....numbers rarely lie.

I think I'm going to keep reposting this, until people stop just believing the hype about AL. http://www.82games.com/1516/15ATL14.HTM Scroll to the bottom. On Court, the offense scored 106 points per 100 possessions with AL, but 106.9 without. On Court, the Defense allowed 102.3 points with AL, but 104.3 without. Who was playing defense when Al wasn't on the floor? SCRUBS, and yet it only made a 2 point per 100 possessions difference...just one made shot per 100 possessions with or without AL. Al is no defensive stalwart. He is an average guy. His Opponent's PER at center was a 19.4. More than half the starting centers in the league posted better (including Dwight at 17.9). This myth that Horford was a defensive presence has got to stop. The numbers do not and have never born that out. He is average, very average. and I've already posted the defensive comparison for Jeffy and Dennis...it isn't even close. Dennis' opponent's PER is a paltry 13.6 vs Teague's 15.1. We improved defensively at both positions.

Thabo didn't play a full season because the NY Police department bounced him off a car hood and cracked his leg with a baton. I think that hardly counts as injury prone.

By the end of the year, Korver will be the 6th man.

I hate that phrase. The key to not getting hurt is playing within the fundamentals of the position. Al was constantly away from the basket, out of position, then having to crash in whenever he felt he needed a rebound. Those are the plays you get hurt on. Just playing it straight is the safest and best thing to do. Establish early position, box out, get that rebound. That is by far the safest thing a big man can do. Offensively, set up early deep in the post. Make one or less fakes and go quick to the basket. Again, incredibly safe and effective. I have never been a strong fan of Al, though I've mustered enough to be a good soldier and say nice things. His departure allows me the space to point out his failings.

Dennis played 20:15 mpg last season. Move him up to 31 (50% more) minutes per game and just multiplying his stats by 1.5...you get 16.5 PPG 6.6 APG 3.9 RPG 1.4 steals 3.45 t/o I think any Hawks fan would be okay with that....I'll actually say 17/7/3 with 3 t/o

So I just got done reading the Hawks roundtable article on Peachtree Hoops and found myself once again feeling the need to defend the Dwight Howard vs Al Horford signing. What follows is one very simple metric.... it is the net points per 100 possessions differential stat. The stat is figured by taking the net points per 100 possession on court and subtracting the off court stat. These are the stats for the past 5 seasons for both Horford/Howard Player Horford vs Howard Season 10-11 +4.3 vs +9.8 (Howard +5.5) 11-12 +4.2 vs +9.1 (Howard +4.9) 12-13 +7.7 vs +3.4 (Horford + 4.3) 13-14 +5.3 vs +6.3 (Howard +1) 14-15 +1.3 vs +7.4 (Howard + 6.1) As should be obvious, except for the injury plagued year in LA, Howard's floor time has been significantly more impactful than Horford's (Al trending down for 2 straight years), with a 6.1 point gap last season. The reason for this gap, is a significant drop in team defense when Howard is off the floor. No such gap exists with Horford. Last season, the defense was 2/3 of a point better per 100 possessions, with Horford on the bench. Compare that with Howard whose team gave up 5.4 more points per 100 possessions with Howard out of the game. The "experts" at Peachtree Hoops drive me crazy. They do not understand the value of rebounding and rim protection.

82games.com. Dennis posts a 16.2 PER at PG, his opponents a 13.6. Dennis spent most of his time with the second unit. This is just one stat showing he was dominant against 2nd tier points. While on the floor, Dennis was a combined +223 last year. That makes his per36/per game +4. Dennis posted the second highest +/- simple rating last year...behind only Paul. Dennis 3.2, Horford 2.9, Teague 0.7. Dennis was a part of 7 of the top 11 - 5 man units. Teague - 4. Dennis already outperformed Teague statistically and typically with lesser talent on the floor. His On Court/Off Court statistics are just as encouraging. Offense On court - 107 points per possession, Off Court - 105.8 +1.2 Defense On court - 100.1 points per possession, Off court - 104.1 -4.0 The stats bear out the offense was better with Dennis on the court as was the defense. Teague was -1.7 on offense and +4.7....worse in both categies with Teague on the floor. 1 year worth of stats which show team performance...much better under Dennis per 100 possessions, especially on Defense.

Way to challenge that shot Al!

Thoughts on Defense and Rebounding, from some of the greatest basketball minds of our time. Read and think about the effect Al had, every time he drifted away from the basket. “No rebounds – no rings” – Pat Riley “I feel all great teams have two things in common: defense and rebounding. So, we stress defense and rebounding every day as the most important aspects in the game to win” – Larry Brown “Good basketball always starts with good defense!” – Bob Knight “The difference between a good defensive team and a bad defensive team is as little as three possessions” – Brad Stevens “The idea is not to block every shot. The idea is to make your opponent believe that you might block every shot” – Bill Russell “I’m looking for activity. I put players in and take them out based on effort and defense, not making or missing shots” – Doc Rivers “Winning is more related to good defense than good offense” – Dr. Jack Ramsay “What do you do to help us win when you’re not scoring baskets?” – John Calipari “My philosophy of defense is to keep the pressure on an opponent until you get to his emotions” – John Wooden "Basketball is a simple game. Your goal is penetration, get the ball close to the basket, and there are three ways to do that. Pass, dribble and offensive rebound” – Phil Jackson “You don’t need great skill to be a tough rebounder; being a rebounder is all about effort, determination, and physicality” – Mike Malone

I've posted on this a few times, the numbers don't bear out the narrative. When playing the PF, Horford's Opponent PER was a paltry 13.5. But when playing the center, his opponent posted a 19.4 PER. Howard's opponent managed a 17.9. Comparing to a few other centers in the league, Cousins opponents scored a 17.8 PER at center, Tristan Thompson's a 17.8, Gortat's against a 17.2, Gasol- 15.4, Bogut 16.4. At least half the centers in the league held their opponent's PER lower than Horford. Looking at Horford's opponent PER, the difference is rebounding. Horford scored a - 4.6 rebounds differential against opposing centers per 48. Rebounding for a big man is 1/2 of your defense. Horford no longer is in the right position to be effective on the defensive end.

You need about 40 games for Prince/Bembrey to adjust to pro style defense and then yes. You completely left Prince out of the discussion. He has very real potential and an amazing mentor in Thabo.

http://www.ajc.com/news/sports/football/neal-tamme-get-into-first-fight-of-camp/nr7kF/ So I read the article. Look, I realize you are trying to get to game 1 healthy....but you drafted Neal to corn hole people.....its football. If you don't want to get hit by safeties, don't become a tight-end.

Well Wal-mart needs to figure that out. I needed a new hat and tried finding a Hawks ball cap....not there...settled on a pretty cool UGA one, but never even occurred to me they wouldn't have Hawks apparel in stock.

He won't make the team. There are no roster spots. The only way he makes our roster is if we do a multiplayer trade (trade away more than get back).

One of the biggest mistakes people make when analyzing how good a team will be next year, is they only count the players added. They rarely count the players lost. Boston gained a Horford but lost a Sullinger and Turner. They only mildly addressed their pressing need of scoring inside (Al doesn't really do his scoring inside). They didn't have a need for a defensive big or a soft big. The team loses toughness in Sullinger who was at least a very big body who could box out (8.3 rebounds in 23.38 minutes/game). Looking at 82games.com. When Al Horford was on the floor, the Hawks grabbed 45.8% of rebounding chances. Off the floor, the Hawks improved to 48.4%. Showing that the Hawks were a better rebounding team with Horford on the bench. Compare that to Sullinger, while on the court the Celtics grabbed 50.6% of rebounds, off the court, 49.4%. Losing Sullinger provides a mild loss in rebounding for the Celtics. Adding Horford further exaggerates the loss. Although Horford improves a few things for the Celts, he weakens them in areas they were previously strong. Now adding in Howard's numbers. The Rockets were a 49.6% rebounding team with Howard on the floor, but dropped to 48.9% without. Looking at rebounding alone, it is easy to discern that Losing Horford and Gaining Howard equals a net improvement in rebounding for the Hawks. While Gaining Horford and losing Sullinger is a net loss in rebounding for the Celts. As for Indiana, they are going to suffer terribly on the perimeter. Their Center position is not set. Although they did improved from last year, the improvement isn't a great as advertised. Al Jefferson could only manage 23 minutes a game last season. Thaddeus Young is a solid addition, but the loss of several key players (Mihinmi, Hill, others), minimize the additions. It took 57 wins to win the East last year. Indiana finished with an impressive and unexpected 45 wins. It is hard to see them making the jump over Cleveland, Toronto, Atlanta. Atlanta won a disappointing 48 games, missing a 25 minute per game player in Splitter and dealing with players recovering from off-season injuries (Korver/Thabo). Assuming no crazy injuries, Atlanta's continuity, + improved rebounding should easily keep them ahead of Indiana. The teams I'm bothered the most by are New York and Chicago. I really have no idea what to think of New York....if magic happens there for one season...everyone stays healthy, they could be really good.

To understand Bird and free throws, you had to grow up in rural Indiana like I did. Every kid has a hoop (or had) in their driveway. We spent more time playing Horse than 1 on 1. Some Horse games would go on for an hour as kids would just hit, hit, hit. In Winter, old people (who had the best driveways) would always put up a basketball hoop. The neighbor kids would shovel their driveway for free just to play on their hoop. The old people would let you put your spare balls by the fireplace. When the one you were playing with would get too cold and go flat, you'd take it inside, put it by the fireplace and get a warm ball. Playing 1 on 1 in below freezing weather, wearing coats and gloves with the fingers cut out is almost impossible...but you can always have shooting competitions. 20 free throw competitions for each other's lunch. Tennis ball shooting games. Passing games with outdoor Nerf hoops (2 step/no dribble rules). Indiana = shooting, shooting, shooting (and a bit of passing). As a matter of fact, I'll lay out an offer. Anyone on the board who wants to drive up to Northwest Indiana with me for the high school tourney, I'll go. As an example, here is the high school gym I grew up watching games in. The atmosphere during the state tournament is incredible.

FT shooting percent is pointless if you aren't drawing fouls. Per 48 free throw shooting for 2015 Player,,,,,,,,,FTM/48,,,,FTA/48 Howard,,,,,,,,4.9 - 10.0 Humphries,,,,5.2 - 7.3 Splitter............3.2 - 4.0 Tavares...........2.0 - 5.3

actually I did...the end result of a big not seeing the back of the rim is to put more arc on the ball in an attempt to drop it straight through or shooting with little to no arc to avoid the extra velocity.

I discussed this in a previous thread (about 10 days ago). The biggest issue with shooting free throws as a big is the taller you are, the less you can see the back of the rim. It throws off your natural ability to see the depth you are shooting.

Shaq didn't just say he should have punched Harden in the mouth.....Shaq emphatically said he should have punched Harden in the mouth and then pressed the issue....I nearly crashed the car laughing.

Bazemore, 6'5", 201, above average defender. Elite athleticism. Hardaway, 6'6", 205, average to below average defender. Above average athleticism. Korver 6'7", 212. Makes more sense to me at the 3 except for foot speed. Below average athleticism. Prince 6'7", 220, above average, elite potential defender. Elite athleticism. Why would Hardaway start at the 3? Hardaway as the backup 2 makes more sense to me. Baze/Hardaway Prince/Korver (early sub) Makes the most sense.

Prince. Bembry is a nice player and is going to be a rotational player for years to come. But Prince has limited all-star potential.

Call me crazy but I want to see this most nights: Dennis Baze Prince Millsap Howard Subs Delaney Bembrey Korver Humphries Splitter 3 games of summer league was all I needed to see to confirm what I already thought about Prince...the kid needs burn and he needs it right away. Defense and rebounding win championships...I'm starting free Taurean Prince before the season even starts. and fyi, I'm perfectly fine with Jack/THj/Thabo in the second unit as well