72 reasons to be excited about the Atlanta Hawks: #20 Marvin Williams' game winners

by hawksdawgs on Oct 12, 2009 3:34 PM EDT Comment 10 comments

Marvin Williams is a cold blooded assassin who happens to be in semi-retirement.

He hoisted a would be game winner against the Celtics last year before the Hawks allowed a final gasp to be breathed by one of the two players they should have denied. Still, Marvin hits free throws in the clutch and drives to the basket with such ease in the fourth quarter you are too busy pumping your fist to ask where that was the other three periods. He knocks down warm up jumpers with two minutes to go. A Marvin shot goes in late in the game you find yourself saying "thank you..." as if it is what you wanted all along even though you had not thought about it until now.

Marvin Williams is the must clutch guy that has never really been clutch ever. He doesn't have many (any?) game winners. He just makes it so they are not necessary. Marvin makes leads happen, and his non-nonchalant attitude goes from annoying to irreplaceably great.

Marvin's clutch statistics (stats in the last five minutes with neither team up more than five points) are kind of ridiculous. His adjusted shooting percentage on his jumpers is 78.6%. That stat is not a misprint. Marv draws a foul 15% of the time. That is double the rate of Joe Johnson. The dude's adjusted shooting percentage overall is 76.5% in these clutch moments.

The sample size is small. Marvin does not have many shot attempts in these areas, but just when he is on the floor, the Hawks are +31 in these clutch moments. The problem is Marvin makes those baskets 79% of the time off assists and 81% of the shots are jumpers. Marv is ready. He is waiting, cold blooded, but the semi retirement is keeping him from taking the strong initiative that could wipe out whole teams.

So Marvin, if their is one place I would love to see your ability meet reality, it is in your "I will rip your heart with a calm mustache smile" mojo. I am excited for game winners. I am excited for awkward dancing. I am excited for Marvin to come out of retirement.

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Ever wonder what Marvin would look like if...

he was swapped with Reshard Lewis? Think he could do as good, if not better, as the 123 million $ man.

by Mr. Sanchez on Oct 12, 2009 4:27 PM EDT reply actions

are you asking if we traded for Reshard or

if Marvin was paid 123 million? I know i dont like one option and am not sure about the other.

by hawksdawgs on Oct 13, 2009 6:45 AM EDT up reply actions

Just saying...

I don’t think the current Hawks roster is best suited for Marvin to flourish. Put him next to a dominant big, like say Dwight Howard, and let him play in a spread out offense, I think he would look as good as Reshard Lewis does for the Magic.

by Mr. Sanchez on Oct 13, 2009 8:58 AM EDT up reply actions

i have given up a decent amount of hope

that marvin will ever be a guy that demands the ball and shoots when a play is not called or created for him. (and for most player that is a good thing).

but i never see Marvin defer when he does get the nod from woodson. so even in this offense i think Marv could wildly more successful if woodson gave him more opportunities.

is that the coaches job? in some part, but in some part is making up for Marvin’s makeup as a player.

and Marvin can do a lot of things better than Rashard, but lewis is in another world shooting the ball. dude can drill.

by hawksdawgs on Oct 13, 2009 9:36 AM EDT up reply actions

true on Lewis' shooting..

but how would Marvin look if he actually pulled the trigger more often? It’s obvious when the ’Stache gets to work on things, they improve. If he worked on being a deadeye shooter, and actually started taking 15 shots per game, what would we see?

by Mr. Sanchez on Oct 13, 2009 11:11 AM EDT up reply actions

Sooo....

What you are really saying is that really we should run the ISO-Marvin so that he gets all the last second shots of every possession?

"This is America, if we can’t self-righteously look down on others and blame them for our faults, the commies win."-----Cormican on Bleeding Green Nation w/r/t fans overreacting to the Eagles signing of Michael Vick

by Jesse28 on Oct 13, 2009 11:11 AM EDT reply actions

i find isolations

where there is only one option are the worst (WORST!) last second plays. so many teams run a play where everyone knows who is going to get it and that he is going to keep it and shoot it. And then when a double team fade away jumper goes up, people say “I wouldn’t want it in the hands of anyone else.”

run plays with options. get open looks. surprisingly easy to do on last second shots. but no, i am not saying marvin needs to have the ball and shoot it on last seconds, but that, in the past, woody runs iso joe, iso joe down the stretch. with three minutes to go, the stats show Marvin is a much better option.

by hawksdawgs on Oct 13, 2009 11:40 AM EDT up reply actions

sorry for the confusion

/endsarcasm?

Haha, text and failed intentions always lead to bad things.

Yeah, I don’t like the ISO either, but if he’s putting up those numbers with the time running out, maybe he should get it a little more often. I don’t see that ever happening because that would mean Woodson knows a different type of offense. That would also make me wonder how long he has known it and why he has been holding out on us all these years.

Oooh, look, cascading thought flows, prettyyyy…..

by Jesse28 on Oct 13, 2009 1:06 PM EDT up reply actions