Rodney Hood vs. J.J. Redick
Rodney Hood – 12.7 PPG, 3.4 RPG, 1.6 APG, 0.6 STL, 41.1 FG%, 37.5 3P%
J.J. Redick – 15.1 PPG, 2.2 RPG, 1.4 APG, 0.7 STL, 44.6 FG%, 43.3 3P%
The major concern with this match-up will be whether Rodney Hood will be healthy or not. He’s been in and out of the rotation with a slew of injuries this season and that has hindered his ability to get into any sort of rhythm. That in turn has most definitely hurt his stats and prevented him from taking the leap many thought he would in his third NBA season.
However, even when healthy, Hood has become quite the streaky player. If his shot is on, he can be deadly from deep. When it’s not, though, he doesn’t do enough other things well enough such as passing or defending to be much of a threat.
Ironically enough, Redick has somewhat of a similar role for the Clippers. He’s a shooter through and through and he’s on the floor to stretch the floor and convert on good looks whenever he has the opportunity. The gap between Hood and Redick is certainly smaller than the one between Hill and Paul, but although Hood does some things better than J.J., the fact of the matter is that Redick is much better at his role as a shooter.
The numbers say it all. With a field goal percentage in the mid-40s and a sky-high three-point percentage, Redick is without a doubt a more reliable shooting threat which is exactly what the Clippers need him to be. Perhaps Rodney enters the postseason healthy and finds a way to outduel Redick, but based on what we’ve seen this season, that seems unlikely.
Therefore, I’m giving the Clippers the edge once again in this match-up due to Redick’s red hot shooting ability and Hood’s glaring inconsistency.
Advantage – J.J. Redick, Clippers