NBA Feature, Joe Johnson drops his shooting progress but Atlanta roll on
Standing “6 ft 7 in,” Joe Johnson of Atlanta Hawks is one of the strongest players in the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the backbone of the Atlanta Hawks. His absence in a game is always a great point of concern for his team and fans.
Now days Johnson’s “iso-Joe” velocity seems to be running low. Joe Johnson is actually missing a multitude of spot up jump shots. Is it time for Hawks fans to panic about his output?
Currently Johnson is averaging 17.1 points on 40.8% percent shooting from the field. He is also shooting 25.6% from three-point range.
Going back to the 2008-09 season, Johnson shot 43% from the field but at the same time, he was hitting on around 38% of his three point attempts. He was averaging almost nineteen shot attempts per game, which are four more shot attempts than the fifteen
that he has averaged in November 2009. Those numbers show a significant decline but here is why we must not panic.
Among all the games of that season, December was typically one among the best months for Johnson. His shooting percentage jumped to 47% and his scoring average went up to 24 points per game. Last season Johnson's shooting percentage jumped from 43% in November
to 50% in December, a drastic improvement.
Now, if we would talk about Johnson’s performance in this month (December 2010), his scoring graph is running down. The low scoring average is concerning but so are the attempts. However, it was not as big of a problem for Hawks, again a great deal of thanks
to Al Horford and Josh Smith for shouldering much more of the offensive burden.
Atlanta pressed on without guard Joe Johnson, beating Memphis 112-109. The Hawks improved to 5-3 in the past two-plus seasons with Johnson out of the line-up.
The first game without Joe Johnson can be termed a success. After learning just before the game that they would be without Johnson for a significant amount of time, Guard Jamal Crawford was asked what they were going to do. "We are going to win," said Crawford.
They actually proved it, went out, and put forth a consummate team effort in defeating what was a hot Memphis Grizzlies team.
Coming back to Johnson’s nasty shooting percentage, his usage rate is further down to 25.07, which is his lowest number since joining the Hawks. His minutes per game (35.6), and shot attempts (15.5) are both down from last season. What is going on Johnson?
Right now, missing jump shots are the only thing preventing Johnson from being right on par for his career numbers.
Therefore, his fans are panicking and they will check the numbers again in January 2011.
We are looking for some breath-taking improvement, best of luck Johnson!
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