Atlanta
Philip Maymin
Basketball News Services
What a difference a year makes! Or does it? Al Harrington has already started more games this season than he did all of last year. But he moved to Atlanta not only in search of a starting role, but also more playing time, which he has achieved, averaging nearly nine minutes more per game than last season. The reason he wanted all that? To prove to the league that he's the next great thing, perhaps even a candidate for Most Improved Player. Do the stats support his belief? The answer is a definite maybe.
His stats for last year and this year are shown below.
| Year | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | OFF | DEF | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | TO | PF | PPG |
| 03-04 | 30.9 | .463 | .273 | .734 | 2.10 | 4.40 | 6.40 | 1.7 | 1.01 | .28 | 2.06 | 3.20 | 13.3 |
| 04-05 | 39.8 | .461 | .241 | .625 | 2.20 | 4.60 | 6.80 | 3.5 | 1.27 | .18 | 2.91 | 4.10 | 17.8 |
First things first. His accuracy from the field and from the three-point line are about the same as last year, maybe a slight dip from trey-land, but nothing to get upset about, or least, nothing more to get upset about than his already low percentage. But what's astonishing is what a disastrous effect Antoine Walker has had on Harrington's free throw percentage.
Harrington used to be a 70-75% free throw shooter. But pair him with Walker's near-coin-toss of a performance and suddenly Harrington is under 65%! Let's hope that's just a small sample and that he bounces back from it. It's hard to explain it any other way. Is he more tired when he's shooting free throws than he was last year? If so, then why are his field goal percentage numbers unchanged?
To be sure, Walker is definitely rubbing off on Harrington in terms of unselfishness. Walker is a terrific post passer and Harrington has learned quickly, nearly doubling his assists per game. He has also been increasing his steals relative to his blocks, possibly because he is playing more of a small forward than a big forward role in Atlanta. And though Harrington's turnovers and fouls are up a bit as well, it's not quite a calamity.
The key differences, or lack thereof, come in his point production and rebounding. His points have shot up, but not significantly so on a per-minute basis. Had he played at the same pace as last year but with this year's minutes, he would have been averaging 17.1 points per game. Instead he's getting 17.8.
But on the rebounds, he has shown far less improvement than would be expected. Again continuing last year's pace one would expect Harrington to be pulling down 8.25 rebounds a game, not 6.80 which is barely different from last year's numbers.
The problem may well be that Walker is not well-suited to playing any but the power forward position. At the three, he is not as quick as Harrington to defend the opponents. At the center, where Dallas tried him for a stint last year, he is easily overpowered and has difficulty finishing with finesse over the big people.
Harrington, on the other hand, is a versatile player who can play either forward spot. His three-point accuracy is not particularly impressive for a small forward but he is fleet of foot and also strong of body so he could play either position.
Should Walker find this to be a one-year-and-done deal, then Harrington will have benefited from his wisdom and guidance, and will step easily into the power forward slot next year, and for many years to come. And then we will see huge improvements in rebounds, and probably even more so in free throw percentage. He will finally then be able to call himself one of the most improved in the league.
NEXT GAME
The Hawks (4-18, fifth in the Southeast) host the Portland Trail Blazers (10-11, fourth in the Northwest) TONIGHT at 7:30pm Eastern. The game will be broadcast on Turner South and NBA League Pass. This will be the first meeting between the two clubs this season. The second and final meeting will be February 25, 2005.
TEAM NOTES
The All-Star nominations are out, and Hawks players Antoine Walker, Al Harrington and Peja Drobnjak are on the ballots. Want to see them in the 2004-05 All-Star contest? Don't forget tocast your votefor your favorite players now. So far none of those players are among the top 10 vote-getters in their categories, but a couple hundred thousand clicks could change that overnight.
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INJURY UPDATE
Chris Crawford(torn ACL) is out for the season and on the injured list.Donta Smith(back) is also on the injured list.
Karen Rosen ofThe Atlanta Journal-Constitutionwrites: After the Hawks lost to Houston Wednesday night, a member of the Rockets organization shook coach Mike Woodson's hand outside the locker room and said, "Nice young players.""Lot of work, though," Woodson responded with a smile. "Lot of work." The Hawks take heart knowing that the NBA season is a long one. They have 60 games left in the 82-game season, starting Friday night at home against Portland. But if the 4-18 Hawks have many more games like the one against Houston, it'll be a very long season indeed.
Our own Tracy S. Graven writes inHoopsworld.comwrites: Tracy McGrady sustained a left ankle sprain on Thursday after landing awkwardly on Hawks guard Tony Delk's foot, but the Rockets' leading scorer played through the injury and finished with 25 points, six rebounds, four assists, and four steals in a win over Atlanta.
Dwain Price ofThe Ft. Worth Star-Telegramwrites: Coach Don Nelson said Thursday that Jason Terry will start at point guard Saturday when the Mavericks play host to the Atlanta Hawks.Terry is the third player to start at point guard this season for the Mavs. He replaces Darrell Armstrong, who started the previous five games after being acquired in a Dec. 3 trade with New Orleans.
The Casper Star-Tribunewrites: Wyoming announces All-century hoops team: ... Theo Ratliff (Demopolis, Ala., 1992-95) Wyoming's all-time leading shot blocker with 425 (a career average of 3.8 blocks per game). Ratliff holds nearly all Wyoming's blocked shot records. An All-WAC first team selection two years in a row, he also finished his UW career among the top 15 in both scoring and rebounding. A two-time winner of the Gene Benson Agency MVP Award. Ratliff twice had 11 blocked shots in a game, and led UW in scoring and rebounding in two consecutive WAC tournaments (1994-95). He was drafted by the Detroit Pistons in the 1995 NBA draft with the 18th pick in the first round (the first WAC player selected that year). He has played for the Pistons, Philadelphia 76ers, Atlanta Hawks (where he led the NBA in blocked shots in 2002-2003), and is currently a member of the Portland Trailblazers.