Tim Hardaway Jr went from bricking completely wide open shots, and being invisible in the first half, to prime Larry Bird in the second, shooting lights out and putting the Lakers away as Dallas got the Christmas win.
Last night’s hot and cold streaks were just a microcosm of his utterly inconsistent career, and why he’s the most infuriating player to have on your team.
What up everybody, my name is Stefan and this is Heat Check. Let’s get into it.
So far this season in 32 appearances, Hardaway had 9 games with 20+ points which is a great accomplishment obviously, but on the other hand he also had 9 games where he scored only 6 points or less. That’s like having 1 great game, and one terrible game from a valuable piece on your team. You cannot set any type of expectations before the next game. As we can see from the game logs. In one game he scores 21 and in the very next game he goes 1-9 FG and only 3 points. Against the Clippers in November he didn’t manage to score a single point in 22 minutes of action, just to explode the next day against the Rockets for 28 points. You simply can’t count on him getting a certain contribution every night. You either get Hardaway the flame thrower, or the average Tim who can’t hit anything. And yesterday, we saw both versions of him in one game.
We’ve been aware of Hardaway’s ability to get hot in a split second ever since his rookie season and that memorable showcase against Dion Waiters back in 2014 Rising Stars Battle, as Tim scored 4 straight 3’s in that outing. But the thing is, this is actually his problem.
Despite his athletic build and quickness, Hardaway doesn’t exactly utilize any of that, and relies heavily on just his jump shot, even tho he’s not great at it.
A career 35.7% three point shooter, this is just average, but Tim has been jacking up more than 7 threes per game as if he’s the elite of the elite.
And this season it’s amplified to the point where he attempts so few 2 point shots, that he’s basically acting like Matt Bonner on the court. Like a slow spot up shooter.
Completely wasting away all that athleticism, quickness and ball handling ability.
No drives to the basket, not getting to the foul line, as he never did actually…nothing.
Back when he wore the Knicks uniform and earned his current contract, Hardaway attacked the rim for 1 third of his total points, while almost just as many came from behind the three point line.
This is a well balanced diet of shots. Ever since then however, especially this season, has been the complete opposite.
Almost 2/3 of his points come from downtown, and only 15% are points at the rim.
And an inconsistent shooter who all he does is jack up threes, equals to an inconsistent player overall with huge point discrepancies from game to game.
Sure, playing with Luka in this offense, requires some type of adjustment, as he has the ball most of the time, but on the flip side, the double teams on him generate some great wide open looks, which Hardaway hasn’t been able to knock down consistently.
And I’m not sure which team likes a player with those attributes who btw will cost them 19 and a half million for this season, 18 for the next one, and 16 million in 2024.
The Mavs are pretty much stuck with him, so their only hope would be that he somehow starts shooting lights out similar to how he was 2 seasons ago.
And that’s Tim Hardaway Jr in a nutshell. You just hope that he’s going to have a great game.
Can the Mavs win the championship with him as one of the key pieces on the team? Let me know in the comments. That’s it for now, subscribe and talk to you in the next one. Peace out.
