Philadelphia 76ers Stat Monkey Brief: Sixers/Hawks (3/6/13)

Thank You, Doug

Yesterday, I called for Arnett Moultrie to get off the bench. Doug Collins, to his credit, said he would get the rookie on the court and was a man of his word. Against Boston on Tuesday, Moultrie played 20 minutes and continued to wreak the havoc he had in limited minutes, scoring 10 points on 5-5 shooting. His troublesome rebound rate dropped with more playing time, though, as he registered a 10.5 total rebounding percentage. For the season, Moultrie is still rebounding a higher percentage of available offensive rebounds than defensive, a bit of an anomaly.

On his first possession of the game, Moultrie ran back on defense while tying his shorts, managed to bat a pass away for a steal, and ran up court (still tying his shorts) to finish the possession with a layup. He showed energy and athleticism all night, getting his points off of steals, cuts and rebounds. So, Doug, thank you, may we have some more?

To Shoot or Not to Shoot

The Hawks probably wish Josh Smith’s answer to the above question was “not” far more often throughout his career. Despite being a very effective interior scorer, Smith has resorted to taking long jumpers for much of his career. This season, Smith is taking nearly as many shots from 10-23 feet (4.7) as he is at the rim (5.1). While it's okay for the KDs and LeBrons of the world to have the kind of shot distribution, that’s not the case for J-Smoove.

Smith is shooting even worse than usual from mid-range this year. He’s making just under 30 percent of those 4.7 attempts, compared to an astounding 77.8 percent on shots at the rim. Why coach Larry Drew hasn’t drilled it into him to stop taking those shots is beyond every national critic’s comprehension and is one of the reasons the Hawks won’t stop Smith on his way out the door this summer.