Mario West is Joe Johnson's shooting coach
If you go to Hawks games at Philips and get there for the pregame warm-ups (which means I may literally only be talking to the people who read this blog and John Hollinger), you know that Mario West guards Joe Johnson as Joe heaves jumpers from all over the floor. Mario does not shoot. He does not stretch. He does not say hello to the refs or an opposing player. He contests jump shots. Naturally, Joe Johnson would not have it any other way. Contested jumpers are Joe's safe place. "Tough shots" are his wheel house. A hand in his face is his open look. And Mario provides all of this. He guards Joe like he is not trying because it warmups but he is Mario West so of course he is trying. It all leads to Joe Johnson preparing for the game on a diet of contested jumpers. Does anything make more sense than that?
Of course, Mario did not make the team to start the season. He was signed Jan. 10th. Joe had no one with a hand in his face except for the apparently never gets old swat from behind from Mike Bibby (seriously, this always makes NBA players laugh). It was a big deal. He shot open jumpers for the better part of two months. Any other all-star in the league not practicing his go to move? I think not. So I decided to dig deep, check out the stats.See how this late addition to the Hawks roster has affected Joe's shooting.
And it could not be more clear. (Well it could be, these two things could actually be related. That would make it more clear.)
Pre-Mario, Joe Johnson made 291 of 644 shots so shooting 45.1% from the floor.
Post-Mario, Joe has put in 209 of 430 shots for a shooting percentage of 48.6%.
And people say Mario West is a waste of a roster spot.....
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This was a great idea in theory...
…but I just ran the numbers, too.
JJ’s eFG% prior to Mario West: 50.4
JJ’s eFG% with Mario West: 51.8
He’s taken 433 shots since then, meaning that the “Rio” difference, if it even existed, has resulted in an extra 6 points scattered over 23 games.
The Hawks’ win% prior to Mario: 0.649
The Hawks’ win% with Mario: 0.652
That amounts to a whopping 0.29 extra wins over the course of a full season.
Thankfully, West hasn’t been taking Teague’s minutes.
lol super Mario helping jj out
It still suprises me and drives me crazy that jj lives on tough shots and contested jumpers and layers but he hates contact…….
by Hawksgirl on Mar 3, 2010 9:18 AM EST via mobile reply actions
I think he hates contact because he's not benefiting from it by getting to the free throw line
as often as LBJ or D-Wade. I would shy away from it too. For a time there, he was getting a lot of calls, but since then, it’s kind of slacked off.
Also
without all the contact Joe might end up having a longer career then Dwade. Also remember in phoenix he hit his face pretty hard he still might not want to attack the basket because of that
Reminds me of NBA Live...
I think 98. Reggie Miller was automatic if he had a hand in his face or was fading away. Easy shots were sure misses, but everything tough would fall. You’d almost force fades and tough shots to ensure they dropped.
Laphonso Ellis on live 98
was automatic, lol. rhythm three everytime
Atlanta will win a championship....someday
I was a Pacers man in that game...
although the Knicks were nice too with Camby doing whatever you’d want defensively. But the Pacers were my team on that, with Smits able to hit shots, Perkins and Miller were money from three. Add Derrick McKey, Mark Jackson, among others, and they were a great squad to play with, mainly cause I could drop bombs all day with Miller and Smooth Perkins.
if mario made it to the free throw line
and the entire arena started chanting mvp, it would be the greatest moment of my life.
Yeah...picturing this is making me giddy.
Can we start a grassroots movement to make this happen? I bet Horford would laugh so hard he’d cry.
I might come to every remaining hawks game
just waiting for the moment that mario west got an mvp chant.
That would be amazing.
Im not hating
but there is a difference between shooting coach and practice dummy. I love Mario though but I wanted to throw this out there.
What are Marvs stats since Mario came back?
Mario probably guards Marv during practice. AND Marv has been doing slightly better lately.
Hawksdawgs you are so right
This happens before EVERY game. I wonder how this ritual is initiated? Does Joe say let’s do it or what? lol Well, I got my fill of useless knowledge for the day. I love it!!
Its so true
only the the real fans know this along with how Josh “Jsmoove” Smith does a hook shot after the national anthem is played.
I swear I thought I was the only one who noticed these things
I particularly like thee fist bumps that everyone gives to press row before the tip… well everyone but marvin who apparently just dances with teague nowadays
Ha
its all about the drumline and how when they announce coach woodson, he’s always staring at the clipboard.
He's probably looking down because he knows when they're announcing his name they're
showing his head coaching record (100-600) at the same time. Lol!! Marvin also has ritual at the rim. I think he does a pull up or something.
He's not staring
He’s writing something. One day, I’d like to sit behind him and see what’s on that clipboard.
pfft, i bet it's squares
he only competes with himself
"Big Ten can have this challenge. Duke loses, we all win..."
-Marcus Ginyard, G - UNC
He's writing something with broad strokes
He moves his hands a lot. So it’s not like he’s writing a complete sentence. Maybe he signs his name in BIG letters.
He's working on spirographs...
did you know that there’s a direct correlation between the decline of spirograph and the rise in gang activity? Think about it.
Totally off the subject but....
Zaza was mentioned as one of the dirtiest players in the NBA! Wow!! Who’d have thunk it!!
Yeah, that link is broken.
Here
This was voted on by other players. They are wimps, there is a difference between a, clean, hard foul, and a dirty play.

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