hawks players grades through 26 games

[Jcrawford11]

mike bibby B-

Joe johnson B+

Marvin Williams C-

Josh smith A-

Al Hortford A

Jamal Crawford A-

ZaZA B-

Mo Evans B-

Joe Smith C

Jeff Teague C

Randolph morris B-

Jason Collins F-

Othello Hunter incomplete


Reason i gave Joe a B is selfish play it is pretty clear he is forcing issue to get his number for a max contract....

[JoshB914]

Bibby- A: doing everything we want him to do. Money from downtown; great facilitator; smart player.
Joe- B: Solid start. Shooting better from three. Has been more unselfish recently.
Marvin- D: Terrible start. Lacking confidence and losing minutes. We need to get him back mentally.
Smoove- A: Probably the main reason for our success. Playing at an All Star level this year on both ends. Hit those free throws!
Al- B+: The leader of the team; tough as nails; still not the best on offense but much better there.
Craw- A-: Exactly what we needed. Scoring off the bench; takes pressure off Joe. A perfect fit for Woody's offense
Zaza- B: Toughness off the pine. Gotta love this guy.
Joe Smith- B: Pretty much as expected. Will pay big dividends come playoff time.
Mo- B+: On fire from outside the arc. Looks more comfortable than last season.
Teague- B-: Only recently started to distinguish himself. Looking good now.
Randolph- C+: Hard to grade him. Has been solid on offense in limited minutes.
Collins- F" The F can stand for failure or fat. Still can't complain about another vet big for insurance.
Othello- Inc.

[HoopsGuru25]

All the rotation players except one have met or exceeded expectations so far. I'd say that Crawford and Smith are easy A's and Marvin can't get any higher than a D.

[LL Cool Scott]

Selfish play?! Joe is leading the team in assists and is one of 3 players in the league averaging 20/5/5.

Bibby: B+ (running the offense beautifully, killing those 3's)
Joe: A (he's now the 3rd best 2 guard in the league, tremendous all around player)
Marvin: C (a poor man's Bruce Bowen at this point, huge disappointment)
Josh: A- (Finally reaching his potential, his inconsistency only thing keeping him from an A)
Al: A- (Doing all the little things, great defender/rebounder, improving offense)
Crawford: A- (he's been fantastic, if only he played defense...)
Mo Evans: B (fills his role perfectly, defense and 3 point shooting)
The Zaza: Golden God
Joe Smith: B+ (fills his role very well)
Teague: C (terrible decision maker, lot of potential when he figures it out and develops a jumper)

Woodson: A (team plays hard for him, everyone seems to really like him, we're arguably overacheiving right now)
Sund: A (has he made a bad move yet?)

[dpaulh]

I cannot stress how much these posts piss me off about Joe being unselfish. He is still by far our best offensive player and he leads the team in assists. We have a star on our team and he is doing what stars are supposed to do. He puts the ball in the hoop more than anyone else on the team as well as gets others open looks to do the same. If the ball wasn't in Joe's hands as much as it is, Al and Josh would have worse field goal percentages... Bibby would not be having his best 3-point shooting year... The Hawks would not have the fewest turnovers in the league... And most importantly, we would not be 19-7!
We have a true star so get over it.

Ok, I'll step off my soap box now.

[dpaulh]

Sorry, I meant to say "selfish" in the top line. I think people who say Joe is selfish don't watch enough of the Hawks.

[Jcrawford11]

u can have 10 assits and still play selfish.....joe only passes if some1 is wide open...sometime he actually dribbles away from the double team and still goes one on one

[dpaulh]

That is exactly what we need him to do. Joe is our workhorse on offense and he makes everyone that much better on the offensive end. If you notice, he will put up shots when 2-3 people are on him because Josh and/or Al are waiting for the rebound. Is that selfish? He doesn't get any credit for those, but Al and Josh are two of the best offensive rebounders in the game right now.. Coincidence?

[HoopsGuru25]

The scenario you just named is selfish and Al and Josh aren't 2 of the best offensive rebounders in the game.

My take on the "selfish" thing is that it depends on what you define as selfish. Joe dominates the ball alot and has since he's been here. He was 2nd in the league last year in terms of isolations behind Kobe. The only reasons why I think people are sensitive about it this year are because of the myth that Joe is intimidated by Crawford and/or he is trying to pad his numbers because he's in a contract year.

[MaceCase]

The scenario you just named is selfish and Al and Josh aren't 2 of the best offensive rebounders in the game.

My take on the "selfish" thing is that it depends on what you define as selfish. Joe dominates the ball alot and has since he's been here. He was 2nd in the league last year in terms of isolations behind Kobe. The only reasons why I think people are sensitive about it this year are because of the myth that Joe is intimidated by Crawford and/or he is trying to pad his numbers because he's in a contract year.

Truth if I've ever read it. Some people are acting like a jilted girl on prom night in regards to Joe. They found him great and attractive when he wanted to take them out but now that he may take someone else instead he aint ****.

[JoshB914]

^^^ The stuff about Joe being jealous of Craw is complete crap. A lot of us have been criticizing Joe for years now for reasons aside from that tabloid BS.

[Skyhawk1]

I'm a bit tougher on this guys than most of you.

Bibby : A- . Anyone who thinks he's not a true PG with above avg court vision is nuts. Had the Hawks let him go in the off-season, we would not be nearly as good as we are.

Johnson: C : I have to confess I used to be a huge JJ fan. He played with a bunch of imature players for years and had to do it all himself. Things have changed since then. JJ's game has not. He doesn't trust his teammates as much as he should. He looks very hesitant at times. The ball literally stops whenever he touches it. Still, he's a reliable 20-5-5 player in the league, which makes him intriguing. You get the good and the bad with him IMO. I'm not as afraid about losing him in the offseason as I was a year or two ago.

Smith: B- : He's improved a lot . Still has some work to do. His rebounding is still not that good. I think he got better on D. If he shut that big mouth more I'd give him a B+

Horford: A+ : He's the man. As solid as anyone can be. He has improved on the offensive end. I really think he could be around 16/10 if we needed him to score. He's nearly flawless on D. Guy has to be an All-star this year.

Marvin C- : For those who think that Marvin could be a 18ppg on any team in the NBA, I'm not sure what kind of medication you're on. He was born to be the 3rd, 4th, 5th option on any team. He's comfortable with that, and for some reason, that happens to fit our team just fine.

Crawford A-: I really wish JJ had half of Crawford's killer instinct. I also wish JJ had the shoot first instead of the hold first mentality that Crawford has.

Zaza C: Does any veteran in the NBA look more like a rookie than him? You're NOT supposed to stay in the paint for more than 3 secs buddy, that works for both ends of the floor, alright?!?!?

Teague C: I see some potential. He needs time and confidence like most rookies. We can't expect to get from him what we did from Horford in his rookie season.

J. Smith B-: I've liked the little we saw from him. Great pick up.

R. Morris C : He looks much better, can at least get on the court these days.

Mo. Evan B-: Streaky shooter/player, he's always ready to play though. I wish Marvin had some of his fearless attitude.

[dpaulh]

Ok then, so you all think that the Hawks are better than 20-7 without Joe? This will be one of those things that we won't miss him until he's gone. I promise you that.

[dpaulh]

Another thing with these player grades... We are playing extremely well so I don't get why some of the grades are so low. The only person that shouldn't be an A according to their capabilities is Collins. Everyone else is meeting or exceeding expectations thus far. I am very proud of our team and players and coach, we are all on the same page, having fun, and winning games.

[JoshB914]

Ok then, so you all think that the Hawks are better than 20-7 without Joe? This will be one of those things that we won't miss him until he's gone. I promise you that.

Of course not he's our best player. But I do think we could be a better team if we spent our $$$ elsewhere this offseason should the right opportunity arise. As far as stars go, you can do MUCH better than Joe.

[LL Cool Scott]

^ Who can we afford, that will come here, that's a better fit for this team than Joe Johnson?

And how anyone can rate Josh Smith below an A or A- is beyond me. He's the leading candidate for defensive player of the year!

[killbuckner]

Seriously... Joe Johnson gets a C!? Josh Smith B minus? You think the Hawks best 2 players have played poorly yet they are still doing so well?

[conleyorbust]

Bibby - B: As badly as I want to give him an A, I just can't. He plays as hard as he can. He's become more of a pure point guard than he ever was in Sacto. He hits his open 3s like few others. I'm actually happy his scoring is at a career low, he's such a smart vet of offense. I just have to penalize him for his D, even if he can't help it. The fact is that he is a HUGE liability on that end.

Joe - B+: His scoring efficiency is back up, which is good, because when it was low and he was still pounding the rock like that, he was essentially useless. He's the go-to wing scorer with passing skills that every good team in the league has to have. Positives: We need him, no question about it, he isn't our most efficient scorer but he has the best scoring ability, he can have an offense run through him. Negatives: (same ol, same ol) crappy attitude, poor passer out of doubles, overdribbles, slipped noticably as a defender. Unlike some, I do NOT want to see Joe gone. I think he could be a better player than he is, Larry Bird like if he used his size to hit the glass and contributed to quicker ball movement, but he's still a great player and the best we can get at his position.

Marv - C: I'd be fine if he were hitting his shots. We don't need 5 go-to guys... but he needs to hit his shots.

Josh - A-: Blocking shots again, all over the place on D. For the most part, making legitimately good decisions of offense. Career year on the glass overlooked by low minutes. Goes nuts when his teammates do anything remotely interesting. BUT. Could still tighten the shot selection a little. Could still control his temper a little. Could still rebound a little more.

Al - A: Efficient offensive player who is finally playing aggressive and seems to realize that he is not at his best in the post. Vesatile and effective defender. Good teammate. Nothing bad to sa about Al right now.




Jamal - A: Not better than Joe. Not on Joe's level. Lets get it out of the way. He's perfect for his role. Finally off the bench where he belongs. Fills in the scoring gap when we need him to.

Mo - A-: Hits 3s and plays D. Works hard. Smart guy on and off the court.

Joe S - B+: Just want the doctor ordered. Shooting big with tons of experience. Can rebound and defend a little. GET HEALTHY.

Zaza - B-: Minutes are down but he's underpoducing when he's out there. He's still our bruiser and the coolest guy on our team and in the world.

Teague - B: Young rookie. More of a point guard than expected and athletic as all hell. Needs to tighten his shot up though. Already a contributor in limited minutes.

RandMo - B: Best season in the pros. Still sucks. Good for you big guy.