How good has John Salmons been?
Written by Erick Ward   
Monday, 01 February 2010 10:00

Derrick Rose’s All-Star selection came down like an MVP trophy handed to the Bull most responsible for the team's improved play. Rose is good and all, and if there was such award, he’d win it, but is Rose good enough to be solely responsible for the Bulls’ best long road trip since 1997?

I'm sure of one thing: Rose is so good, no one is upset that he gets all the credit; however, as far as this season is concerned, Rose’s improvement would only mean so much had everyone else kept struggling. This “historic streak” needed All-Star Rose, along with help from the others, mainly on offense.

Kirk Hinrich’s promotion to the starting lineup coincided with the current 13-5 run. This makes it easy to give kudos to Hinrich, especially considering the things he does to help Rose: He handles the ball, and defensively, he handles point guards when Rose can't. Plus, since joining the starting lineup, Hinrich’s shooting has crept closer to his career average – a 48.0% career effective field goal percentage (eFG%).

But while Hinrich's numbers have been regressing to his career mean, John Salmons has become an entirely different person. Since being removed from the starting lineup, Salmons has an 84.3% eFG% on 3-pointers. At this rate, Salmons is a better fit for the Phoenix Suns, a team that has four players among the top 13 in 3-point eFG%.

As a starter, Salmons’ eFG% on 3-pointers was 49.6%. 

Along with improved shooting, Salmons' shot selection is more efficient. I don't believe there is a stat to track this, but Salmons has cut down on "I haven't taken a shot in a while, I think it's my turn" possessions. You know, those possessions when the offense consisted of Rose dribbling over half court and passing to Salmons. Then, Salmons would ignore everyone on the floor and try to take his man off the dribble. He would do all of this before launching a contested, long 2-pointer.

In January, inefficient 16-23 feet jumpers became smarter 3-pointers. Of course, where the shots are coming from are less important than how often they go in. But fewer stupid shots are nice too. From December 26 (when Vinny Del Negro made the lineup switch) to now, Salmons' ratio of long jump shots (16-23 feet) to 3-pointers is about 1:1. This is a significant improvement from the 3:2 ratio in November and December.

It's just too bad 3-point shooting at this rate cannot last.

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