Teague’s time may have finally come
Go ahead. Say “I told you so.” Two games is a small sample, but second year man Jeff Teague may finally have seen his ship come in. With the trade of Mike Bibby to the Washington Wizards, along with the arrival of veteran point guard Kirk Hinrich, many of us wondered if Jeff Teague’s “role” with the Hawks was going to change or not. So far, it has, and in semi-dramatic fashion.
Here Comes “The Pest”
It was kind of hard sometimes, watching Jeff Teague play in spurts in the early season. He would come onto the court and show that he had another gear beyond everyone else in some games. In others, he played like he knew he would be yanked within two minutes. Where was the consistency? At the same time, the same could be asked of Head Coach Larry Drew, who would compliment Teague after a good game, then inexplicably assign him a DNP or play him in spare, all but useless minutes. Stop me if you’ve heard this one before….
It seemed that Larry Drew had embraced the idea of going with shooting and offense first, rather than speed and harassing defense. Speaking of which, last night’s game against a talented Golden State backcourt was a pretty good testament to how bothersome Teague can be to opposing point guards. It’s not like hasn’t shown flashes of this ability before, but the starting role and extended minutes (he played over 25 this time) were a confirmation of sorts. In case you think this is just a case of home cooking with local media, you need to check out some particular notes on the game from a more national perspective. On a side note, I would encourage everybody to take note of some interesting comments from Al Horford within that same article.
The Chicken vs The Egg…and Promises, Promises
Before we get too excited about the early success of Jeff Teague’s new (and possibly temporary) role, we have to recall that it has only been two games, one of which was a loss (though that loss can’t be blamed on Teague, per se). Can we expect a consistent performance out of him from the defensive end, and to continue to push the pace on offense? Will he defer if he’s in the game with Jamal, or is that simply a lineup issue that is solely Larry Drew’s responsibility? Is the future rotation at point guard forming itself before our very eyes, or is this just another flash in the pan?
Obviously, this calls Larry Drew’s past decisions into question. One quote from the above link may be condemning in some ways, depending on interpretation:
QUOTABLE II: “I’m not concerned about whether he makes or misses shots. . . . The biggest threat [from] him is when he utilizes his speed and his quickness, and when he harasses people defensively. That’s two straight games where I’ve thought he’s done a really good job with his energy.”
– Larry Drew on Teague.
Okay, that’s also two straight games where Teague has had the opportunity to prove that he can do these things that Drew claims he wants, during times in the game when it will actually matter. Did Drew have reason to believe Teague could not do this before? Was the playing time he gave Teague adequate to prove the argument in either direction? Some feel that Larry Drew would have never given Jeff Teague this chance if the trade had not occurred. Drew says he doesn’t care about Teague hitting shots. Something doesn’t seem right here, but is that even important now?
Here is the last and most obvious set of questions – will Larry Drew continue to give Jeff Teague significant minutes during games (as in 20 mpg or more)? Will he revert to using Jamal in tandem with Kirk Hinrich if Teague has rough games?
That remains to be seen, but for now, it seems like Teague’s time may have finally come.
Big Ray, Hawks Fan Nest
Tell us what you think about the site
Customer Care »
Vacation stops, manage subscriptions and more
AJC Services
Sections
Other Editions
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement
© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
570 comments Add your comment
Big Ray
February 28th, 2011
12:37 am
Nice shot from Jamal, good touch pass from Kirk.
Big Ray
February 28th, 2011
12:38 am
Man…Pachulia..he’s been the MAN on the glass tonight. Nothing but smart play from him tonight.
Melvin
February 28th, 2011
12:40 am
You can tell Hinrich does not like wearing those goggles. He takes them off at every chance he gets….
Najeh Davenpoop
February 28th, 2011
12:41 am
“Pachulia..he’s been the MAN on the glass tonight. Nothing but smart play from him tonight.”
Real talk. It’s not even just the boards either. He’s been making the right decision with the ball all game long. No getting stripped on ill-fated drives to the hoop or double-pump bricks from mid range.
Big Ray
February 28th, 2011
12:43 am
True that. No Mr. Butter Fingers tonight. I love it.
Big Ray
February 28th, 2011
12:44 am
Joe is such a beast. So hard to guard when he’s in his groove.
Big Ray
February 28th, 2011
12:46 am
LOL….anybody notice this?
Blazers can’t seem to get it done inside (outside of Aldridge), so they continue to unsuccessfully bomb away from long range. Sound familiar?
Big Ray
February 28th, 2011
12:48 am
What a screen. Pachulia put Wallace on the mat. And another board. Blazers are hatin’ this guy.
Big Ray
February 28th, 2011
12:51 am
JJ is pounding these guys.
Big Ray
February 28th, 2011
12:52 am
Great effort by Smith.
niremetal
February 28th, 2011
12:57 am
Hinrich clearly doesn’t have a feel for his teammates yet. Anyone who watched him in Chicago or Washington knows that this isn’t characteristic for him.
Big Ray
February 28th, 2011
12:57 am
Portland making a late push. Might be good to make a substitution right about now. With a ten point lead and Joe heating up, it might be good to sub Damien in, and Jamal out. Defense is more important at this point than offense.
Big Ray
February 28th, 2011
12:57 am
Portland making a late push. Might be good to make a substitution right about now. With a ten point lead and Joe heating up, it might be good to sub Damien in, and Jamal out. Defense is more important at this point than offense.
niremetal
February 28th, 2011
12:58 am
“this” being the poor spacing and turnovers…
niremetal
February 28th, 2011
1:00 am
Terrible, terrible call. Batum flopped and the refs fell for it.
niremetal
February 28th, 2011
1:01 am
Portland swarming on defense. Give them credit.
O'Brien
February 28th, 2011
1:02 am
Where is teague? 13 minutes of PT?
hawks with 23 turnovers. Big 3 by Jamal. But I don’t like the play calling down the stretch.
niremetal
February 28th, 2011
1:02 am
ANOTHER FLOP BY BATUM. What the F*** refs. This is ABSURD.
O'Brien
February 28th, 2011
1:04 am
Ray,
I don’t like LD’S lineup and playcalling down the stretch.
Najeh Davenpoop
February 28th, 2011
1:05 am
Joe really, really needs to learn how to get rid of the ball when he gets doubled.
niremetal
February 28th, 2011
1:08 am
I normally like Batum. But he’s doing his best Laimbeer impression tonight.
Looks like we’re going to pull this out. Teague wasn’t as good tonight as he was the past couple games, but that’s forgivable because Miller is a very tough matchup for him (too big and too savvy). The team got after it defensively, and forced the Blazers to earn their points even during their late run.
They need to work on how to counter a full-court press, though. They were running around like chickens with their heads cut off once the Blazers started that up. I’m hoping that is largely a function of Hinrich needing more time to acclimate himself to his teammates and to the system.
niremetal
February 28th, 2011
1:22 am
JJ did a pretty good job passing out of those double teams, actually. A couple of them didn’t look pretty, but a big, big part of the problem was that none of his teammates were moving to get open. No screens on or off the ball. The same was true of JJ when Hinrich or Jamal had the ball. In any case, JJ didn’t turn the ball over down the stretch except on the BS offensive foul call after Batum’s flop (which happened in the open floor, not in a double-team). The team just doesn’t know where to go or what to do when the other team is doing full court or even half-court trapping. At least that’s how it looked to me.
And yeah, O’Brien, I wasn’t a fan of the lineup down the stretch either. Jamal shouldn’t have stayed out there while the Blazers were on their run. We needed another perimeter defender – ie Marvin.
Also, props to Josh for hitting his free throws, but why was he out there out of a timeout on a play where we knew the Blazers would foul right away? He’s improved since last year, but he’s still the worst free throw shooter in the rotation other than Collins…
Big Ray
February 28th, 2011
1:27 am
I’ll take that win.
Gotta give Jamal Crawford credit for some clutch offense late in the 4th (despite the late turnover).
Good overall effort by the team in taking it to the Blazers. Even withstood the late push.
Some good efforts on the glass by Smith, and heady play by JJ and Kirk.
One more time for…..ZAZA!
Big Ray
February 28th, 2011
1:30 am
O’brien ,
I didn’t like the lineup situation earlier, either. We survived it, though, due in large part do a decent enough lead. That result can’t be counted on 7, 8, or 9 times out of 10 though, if you ask me.
I’ll take the win, though.
niremetal
February 28th, 2011
1:35 am
Josh’s jumpers watch update:
vs. Pho: 6-13 (1-3 on 3s)
vs. GS: 5-10 (1-2 on 3s)
vs. Por: 0-6 (0-3 on 3s)
Total: 11-29 (2-8 on 3s)
FG%: .379
eFG%: .414
eFG% vs. season avg: -.018
vs. ’09-’10 avg: +.129
Horford is our Savior
February 28th, 2011
1:55 am
Atlanta…Imagine if we could buy alcohol on Sunday
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6TOM_UuQzc0
superiorblogman
February 28th, 2011
3:15 am
Teague is our best perimeter defender by far. Andre Miller did not score a point on Teague even though he is our smallest guard. He got all of his points on Jamal and Hinrich. Hinrich is better than Bibby but he is not even close to Teague on D, but he will get all the minutes because he can make shots. Nothing has changed the same ole Hawks play the dudes that score.
Gary
February 28th, 2011
4:27 am
My whis is to play the two points together sometimes ,they are both speedy and in the east will present matchup problems,push the ball at every chance you get and utilize all those players that are just waiting to run the floor,push the ball and play good defense now that we have guys that can defend.We can run the half courts sets,but this team need to rebound ,play defense ,and RUN,AND RUN AND RUN.
E43
February 28th, 2011
7:05 am
Im calling it. Look for turnovers to be the biggest issue with the hawks. Followed by rebounding.
KEN STRICKLAND- if matt ryan was traded at halftime for aaron rodgers. Chris redman would be thrust into the starting lineup. Why? Because chris knows the playbook and terminology and is simply the safest option.Its not like chris cant throw for 250+3tds.When rodgers gets familiar then he would be the starting quarterback and chris would be glued to the bench. Teague doesnt play better because he starts. He plays better when he decides to do what is asked of him. The statline he had against portland is exactly what keeps him on the bench. Hes not there because he sucks or because LD is the antichrist and wants to pin him there. Hes there because the chances of other hawks doing what is asked of them is almost 90%. with teague you just hope and pray. You cant jope and pray for 20+mins everyday. Sometimes you simply take chances. To say LD is making changes because Rick Sund asked him to is just not logical.
O'Brien
February 28th, 2011
9:11 am
Happy for the win and a chance to finish the road trip at 4-3 if we can win tonight.
Good game by ZaZa. Maybe LD should bench him ever so often just to get him riled up.
The good thing with Teague is although he has played well enough the last 3 games, there is so much room for improvement. Imagine if he gets it together by the end of the season?
I didnt know Bibby’s (lack of) defense and guys having to scramble to help was affecting the guys that much. They seem to have a new found energy on defense. When Kirk was interviewed on ESPN, he said this team has the (interchangeable) pieces to hang their hats on defense. With Bibby here, that would have never been the case.
That being said, too many turnovers. Jamal had 6, Kirk had 4, Josh had 4, and JJ had 3. We need to take better care of the ball in Denver tonight. And I think it starts with giving the ball to Teague and Hinrich more often. And with Jamal in the game, why is he playing PG while Kirk plays SG?
Marvin had 11 and 7, and was giving good effort on D. he should have been in the game over Jamal down the stretch.
I think Bibby was a bad crutch fo LD, and I’m glad Rick made a trade. I think Jamal is a bad crutch too, because LD doesnt know the best way to use him (and always seems to go offense over defense), so it will be interesting to see what LD does if Jamal is not resigned.
Looking forward to a win tonight.
vava74
February 28th, 2011
9:35 am
Just saw the game I would summon it up by saying that we played a man’s game tonight.
In spite of the turnovers – many of them coming after ball recoveries in defensive action and quite a few on botched calls by the refs – we totally dominated POR.
Unfortunately, LD’s insistence on playing Jamal during crunch time when WE DID NOT NEED OFFENSE almost lead us to a disaster.
How many times do we have to witness LD over-utilizing Jamal and place us in a tight spot defensively due to that?
Don’t come with that: he came through with that 3 pointer and with his FTs. We should never had to be in that position to start with being up by 20 just 2 minutes before.
Jamal had a decently good overall game (it would have been much better if he had sat the whole 4th) with some flashes of decent D during the first half but after Teague had such a good second stint to open the second half, there is no justification for him not being on the floor to close the 4th.
Teague may have struggled again on offense but he is the reason why Miller got his second foul and went to the bench at a crucial moment of the first half (and he held his own really well on that match up, in particular to open the 3rd).
Zaza showed up, at last, and was fundamental in light of Al’s foul trouble and it was good to see Marvin stepping up as well and doing what he should do every night consistently: play disciplined D, rebound, run the break and get to the line…
I know that Powell has not been particularly good throughout the season, but I have noticed some significant improvement over the course of the last few games.
Since he has recovered from his knee troubles and after being relegated to the end of the bench he is starting to give us a few decent minutes, rebounding better and playing much much better D (good rotations).
His penchant to collect unfortunate TOs continues: this time he got a complicated offensive rebound and saved it over the line just to give it away to a Blazer and then was called for a botched (IMO) offensive foul. 2 TOs out of nothing.
Apart from that, he played good D around the rim, harassing Wallace and the Blazers who drove the lane during his limited minutes.
Hinrich was very, very solid and we can simply concentrate on his drawn charge with just over a minute to go as the type of play he usually brings day in day out and that we hope he can consistently show for us.
He had a couple of miss cues but these were mainly due to lack of knowledge of the team’s offense.
Much better game by Josh even struggling with his shot: his hands were active, he fought for rebounds, contested shots and tried to get his game inside.
How many times have we seen before Josh compensate poor offensive outings with a strong performance on D and on the little things that win games? IMO, not too many.
The typical Josh gets disinterested when his offensive game is not clicking. Not last night.
JJ had a very good overall game, poaching the lanes and playing steady D after being caught asleep at the start of the game a few times.
Man, what a pleasure was to see us play like this… but tonight is a fundamental game.
We need to play with the same intensity and get us another win on a road so we can come back with a 4-3 record and a good momentum to face the tough schedule ahead of us.
If we play like last night, from an intensity level point of view, I think we can survive this difficult stretch and maybe get us some solid wins against winning ball clubs.
Let’s see…
Astro Joe
February 28th, 2011
9:37 am
Zaza proved my point from yesterday evening. Some players do get motrivated as opposed to simply taking a “No Suck” pill. Zaza came out playing well, it wasn’t because he got extended minutes it was because he came out with something to prove. Sund was able to shake the team with the Bibby trade and LD did his part by benching Zaza. Both moves have seemingly kicked complacency to the curb. Let’s hope that this lasts for more than a minute. That last minute was brutal (Josh’s foul on a 3-point shot and Jamal’s bad pass to Joe under the Hawks basket). Right when you begin to feel really good about the team, they get hit upside the head with the stupid ball (again). Marvin played quite well, a +12 (team high) and that wasn’t a fluke because he contested every shot when guarding either Batum or Roy.
Melvin
February 28th, 2011
10:52 am
“Josh said. “Kirk is a hard-nosed defender. And you have definitely got to tip your hat off to Teague, who was definitely thrown in the fire after really not playing a whole lot. He’s really been handling it well.”
Even Josh admits that Teague hasn’t played that much and applaud his good play after being thrust into the rotation (which a lot of us was asking LD to do), not from a fire being lit under his butt from the trade of Bibby…
O'Brien
February 28th, 2011
11:00 am
Vava,
The lineup down the stretch (IMO) should have been Hinrich, JJ, Marvin, Josh and Al. Marvin defended well (SF and even SG on couple occasions ), and like you said, We didn’t need offense. We were up 20 with 5 minutes to go.
Maybe LD is trying to help Jamal pad his numbers to win SMOY and increase his chances of being resigned.
O'Brien
February 28th, 2011
11:05 am
Melvin,
I think both factors affected Teague. He realizes he has an opportunity to get more PT, so he has worked harder. With Bibby, I think he felt no matter what he did, he wouldn’t get PT, and rather than work harder to prove LD wrong, he went into a shell.
And now with more confidence and more PT, he is playing more relaxed and playing better.
vava74
February 28th, 2011
11:18 am
OB, Melvin,
The fact that Jamal played the whole 4th quarter is a pretty solid indication that LD will revert to DNP-CD Teague from the point that Captain Kirk takes over the starting job onwards.
Very, very disappointed with LD’s 4th quarter management so far. Completely wrong line ups over and over…
Astro Joe
February 28th, 2011
11:32 am
Melvin, where does Josh say why Teague is handling it well? Likewise, where does Josh say why he wasn’t playing a whole lot before? He doesn’t in either case. He provided a statement based entirely of known facts… dude didn’t get a lot of playing time before and is playing well now. No mention of poor coaching, poor time allocation, new motivation, new sense of urgency, removal of Bibby… none of that.
Melvin
February 28th, 2011
11:44 am
Astro,
That’s true but what do you think Josh mean by “who was definitely thrown in the fire after really not playing a whole lot.”?
However, his statement is broad enough were we both can make assumptions.
Astro Joe
February 28th, 2011
11:47 am
Interesting, the Bulls may be adding Rasual Butler in the next day or two. You have to like their collection of wings (Deng, Korver, Brewer, Butler & Bogans) in combination with Rose, Boozer and Noah. That is a very versatile team (when healthy). If they can keep Butler from being in “heat check” mode, that may be a really nice add for that team.
Melvin
February 28th, 2011
11:48 am
OB/Vava,
I totally agree with the 4th qtr lineup. It should have been Hirich/JJ/Marvin/Josh/AL to closeout the game. I said last night that Teague is being use in the Royal Ivey role. Start the opening qtrs and sit the bench for the rest of the game. Unless someone is in foul trouble and even then LD made slide Jamal into the PG spot….
Astro Joe
February 28th, 2011
11:53 am
Melvin, I think that he meant that dude didn’t play much and now he is playing. I take it for nothing more than a “news report”. If Bibby broke his ankle and Teague was “thrown in the fire” he could have made the identical statement 5 weeks ago.
Now, is it possible that Josh thinks that Teague should have been allowed to play through mistakes (considering Josh’s history of playing through mistakes)? Probably. But do I think that the other captains believe the same thing? I think that is less likely. So I don’t think there was a universal cry for the past few months for Teague to play more from his teammates. I actually think that if Teague was looking like a clear contributor to this team during the first 50 games, we would have heard it. “An unnamed player is wondering why Teague, who is a defensive terror in practices, isn’t getting more time in real games”.
vava74
February 28th, 2011
12:37 pm
Astro,
I think the issue may have been the fact that Bibby was the jokester of the group and the guy who everyone liked.
Al and Josh’s commentaries of late seem a pretty good indication that, nonetheless, they feel relieved now that they don’t seem to be need to overly compensate for Bibby’s game.
I am, however, still nervous with this:
1. Curry is a baller, but he is not a penetrator;
2. Miller is slow and not a classical penetrator since he operates more around the baseline posting up or with back door cuts.
So:
3. It’s possible that these PG match ups were not a sufficiently good test…
4. And that being overly confident with their recent performances, the Hawks lay a major egg tonight losing by 20…
doc
February 28th, 2011
12:50 pm
yes o’b, i just said the same on the other blog. i might be comfortable with it kirk, jamal, jj, josh and al as well if you need jamal there. not sure what they were playing last night as they fumbled it away, didnt watch. that “fumbling” tendency is a trend i would like to see reversed.
Astro Joe
February 28th, 2011
1:31 pm
vava, I can be as cynical as the next guy, but if the Hawks get blown out tonight, I would be more likely to blame it on the last game of a road trip than the “trade bubble” bursting. The Nuggets have a great home advantage and have their own “trade bubble” they are riding. But I agree with your overall point, if anyone if headed to Las Vegas with a mortgage payment based on a 2 game sample, then they are making a really bad bet.
O'Brien
February 28th, 2011
1:45 pm
Jordan Crawford article;
Crawford didn’t literally mean that everything he learns is meaningless if he doesn’t get a chance to show it off in game action. He credits lessons learned from Jamal Crawford, Mike Bibby and Hawks assistant coach Nick Van Exel (”like Sam Cassell here” is how he described him) for working with him in practice extensively.
But when asked to follow up a little bit more on how he tries to improve his game even given his previous lack of playing time, he went back to the same point.
“I had Nick Van Exel in Atlanta. It was good for me,” he said. “But as a person, I just feel like games is where you really get better.”.
http://www.bulletsforever.com/2011/2/28/2019630/jordan-crawford-wizards-hawks-mavericks/
Astro Joe
February 28th, 2011
1:51 pm
UPDATE: Bibby will indeed be bought out Monday, according to a source of NBC’s Dan Hellie in Washington D.C.
As noted below, Bibby could potentially land with the Heat, Celtics or Blazers.
John Canzono of The Oregonian adds this on Portland’s end: “One source tells me Blazers now lukewarm on both T.J. Ford and Bibby. Not sure the chemistry is right on either.”
As such, this could mean Boston and Miami might be more likely destinations for Bibby.
O'Brien
February 28th, 2011
2:18 pm
If I’m Bibby, I’m going to Boston. Miami already has Eddie House, Mario Chalmers and Carlos Arroyo.
Boston just traded away Nate Robinson, so there may be more minutes there. Also, Boston is a more veteran team, and if healthy, I think they have a better chance of winning the East.
Ray
February 28th, 2011
2:28 pm
If you guys were the hawks would you possibly pick up Mike Bibby as a 3rd string PG that’s if LD plays him 3rd string?
O'Brien
February 28th, 2011
2:41 pm
Ray,
No way Bibby ends up here. From what I’ve read, if the Hawks sign anybody before March 12, they will be over the luxury tax.
And I dont think Bibby will want to come here, because the team chose Hinrich over him, and Teague has played good enough to warrant more minutes. If Bibby wants to be a third string guard, he will do it for a championship contender like Miami or Boston (imo).
Ray
February 28th, 2011
2:46 pm
@ O’brien
Okay just asking if you were the GM would you pick him back up or possibly think about it I was just wondering.
Also reading that other articles seems like Jordan Crawford has been voicing an opinion we all have which is play the younger players. Think in a few years were going to pay for giving away Crawford maybe not so much with the draft pick, but Crawford we’ll pay for that one.