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.
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570 comments Add your comment
vava74
March 2nd, 2011
12:53 pm
One thing seems to pop out on Sy’s stats:
He attempted 95FTs in 23 games whilst averaging only 22 mpg.
vava74
March 2nd, 2011
12:53 pm
And on one single game he shot 15…
O'Brien
March 2nd, 2011
12:58 pm
vava,
I think Collins will last the first 5 minutes, and then LD will bring in ZaZa. I will be surprised if Collins plays more than 15 minutes for the game.
Maybe this is a game to give Hilton Armstrong a few minutes to see what he can do.
vava74
March 2nd, 2011
1:29 pm
Collins plays good man to man D in the post. Noah is not an offensive force and is never the focus of their offense.
His offense comes as a consequence of offensive rebounds and the dishes which Rose gets him.
Why start with the wrong match up? Collins is not a good rebounder and will have trouble keeping Noah off the glass.
Astro Joe
March 2nd, 2011
1:43 pm
Come on, where’s the rally cry to start Josh Powell or Hilton Armstrong?
Seriously. tonight we need a superstar-type ffort from Joe, especially if he won’t have to guard Rose for most of the game. And yes, I understand that Bogans and Brewer are both good defenders, but we need Joe to be Super Joe tonight.
Astro Joe
March 2nd, 2011
1:45 pm
vava, maybe LD will have Collins try and defend Boozer with Al on his college teamate.
niremetal
March 2nd, 2011
2:21 pm
I’m scratching my head at the decision to start Collins tonight too. I feel like that opens up a good-size risk of the Bulls getting off to a running start. Rather see Zaza in there, especially after he stepped it up on the boards in the past couple games.
doc
March 2nd, 2011
2:56 pm
vava, ken and i go waaaay back and he knows it is all with great respect. he has been know to poke unprovoked a bit, too.
besdes he knows a lot of what i say is tongue in cheek. btw, is there a little symbol that comes up for that mood? maybe manny t can manufacture one.
sometimes it is flattery to be remembered that not mentioned at all. like the coach that doesnt yell at you has given up on you kind of thing.
doc
March 2nd, 2011
3:02 pm
starting collins reminds me of the effort to use ivey as a starter since we didnt have a real no. 1 starting point guard to keep the “rotations” intact the first 5 minutes of a game so we could get to our back up point. collins might last as long as he did against utah, i think it was, when he got rung up there.
look we need some real bigs on the bench. whatever happened to the other josh? isnt he the guy who should be pushed into this role? agree with marvin at the 4 as well maybe with jj at three tonight. still think as marvin ages and matures he will be better as a back up pf than a 3 all of his career. i think that is his problem anyway as he cant really ball at three and has not developed anything along the way to get better.
doc
March 2nd, 2011
3:08 pm
yeah, if we hide him quick enough he still might have the best plus minus for the game that is if we start hot from the field.
the bright side? we wont have to worry about josh taking ill timed jumper’s tonight either. whew, nire can rest and maybe visit with his significant other after the game.
heh heh
niremetal
March 2nd, 2011
3:18 pm
Thanks for reminding me, doc
Josh’s jumpers watch update:
vs. GS: 5-10 (1-2 on 3s)
vs. Por: 0-6 (0-3 on 3s)
vs. Den: 4-7 (0-1 on 3s)
Total: 9-23 (1-6 on 3s)
FG%: .391
eFG%: .413
eFG% vs. season avg: -.019
vs. ’09-’10 avg: +.128
—————————————————
If there ever was a good time for Josh to miss a game, it was now. He was starting to get a bit too jumper happy. Every attempt against Denver was a jumper from 10+ feet away from the basket. Over the past 5 games, the percentage of his shots that have been jumpers has climbed to over 70%. That’s what you expect from a SG, not a PF.
Melvin
March 2nd, 2011
3:19 pm
Hawks are under the luxury tax by 167K. They can only sign a player who prorated salary will be equal to or less than that amount to avoid paying the luxury tax penalty.
In other words, they will have to wait around the 12th of March to sign a player to the vet min for the remainder of the season to avoid the luxury tax…..
niremetal
March 2nd, 2011
3:25 pm
Josh’s eFG% on jumpers outside 10 feet this season now stands at .431 (unadjusted FG% is .381), and 52% of his shot attempts have been outside 10 feet. I suspect those shooting percentages would be lower if short-range jumpers were included, because Josh actually has done as bad or worse on 6-10 foot and 10-15 jumpers in the past than he has on 16+ foot jumpers in past seasons (likely due to the fact that those shots are more often contested).
niremetal
March 2nd, 2011
3:29 pm
Melvin,
It’s actually a bit more complicated than that, even, because a team actually doesn’t know what their luxury tax hit will be until the players’ performance-based bonuses are calculated. Since none of us know what those bonuses are (they usually aren’t disclosed publicly), the cap hit at the season’s end may be higher or lower than what the publicly available salary figures suggest, since those publicly available figures only include the bonuses that the league considers “likely” to be met.
doc
March 2nd, 2011
3:35 pm
there is always a bright side. heh heh
Astro Joe
March 2nd, 2011
3:47 pm
nire, assuming that all of the player movement has boosted TV ratings (a logical assumption), would that help inflate the luxury tax threshold? Or said differently, do the Super-Friends and Melo-Drama help us with signing a player in a few weeks?
niremetal
March 2nd, 2011
4:11 pm
AJ,
The tax threshold is set based on the previous season’s revenues, not the current season’s – they announced it on July 1, the same day that the salary cap for this season was announced. They do it that way teams have certainty as to what the tax threshold will be when they make their offseason moves.
niremetal
March 2nd, 2011
4:12 pm
Of course, the downstream effects of The Decision and The Trade it surely would inflate the tax threshold for next season…that is, assuming there is a luxury tax next season…
Najeh Davenpoop
March 2nd, 2011
4:38 pm
I have no problem with starting Hinrich, seeing as how he was acquired to be the starter. But I hope this doesn’t mean Teague falls out of the rotation again like he did when LD overused Bibby. More bench minutes for Teague and less minutes for Jamal seems like the right way to go, especially when the Hawks are facing an opponent against whom they need defense more than offense at the point guard position.
Marvin and Damien are in for a challenging night — not because of Brewer and Bogans, but because of Kyle Korver, who plays a lot of minutes for them and plays a huge role in their offense. Those two (and to a lesser extent Joe) are going to have to contest every shot Korver takes, or else it’s going to be a long game for the Hawks.
Ken Strickland
March 2nd, 2011
5:28 pm
ASTRO JOE-We made the trade to get rid of Bibby and the problems he and LDrew created, and your points are definitely valid. However, after only 3 gms since the trade, with Hinrich missing the last one due to an injury, he’s been elevated to starter status.
I’d say Drew’s reason for promoting Hinrich so quickly, and under questionable circumstances, is due to his unwillingness to risk a possible breakout gm by Teague, which could potentially complicate his preconceived plan to start his newly acquired vet PG.
Personally, I don’t care which of the 2 gets the starting nod, as long as Teague isn’t relegated to his previous status of receiving limited and inconsistent MPG. With the solid DEF both are capable of providing, we can rely less on Jamal’s OFF, which is a good thing considering his recent struggles with inconsistency.
Ken Strickland
March 2nd, 2011
5:38 pm
One more thing. Don’t ever worry about hurting my feelings of getting me upset. Feel free to say what you think and mean what you say, because like DOC said, I’ve been on these blogs too long to cop and attitude. While my judgement about Bibby and his effect on the team was correct, it doesn’t mean I won’t be totally wrong the next time around.
That’s why I can’t afford to be offended by anyone who disagrees with me. Well, that and the fact I’ve disagreed with some of you enough that I can’t afford to cop an attitude or hurt feelings.
niremetal
March 2nd, 2011
5:47 pm
I’d say Drew’s reason for promoting Hinrich so quickly, and under questionable circumstances, is due to his unwillingness to risk a possible breakout gm by Teague, which could potentially complicate his preconceived plan to start his newly acquired vet PG.
Paging Oliver Stone…
O'Brien
March 2nd, 2011
6:03 pm
Ken S,
Teague just started 3 games. Would you classify any of them as breakout games?
He played well on defense, and he did some nice things on offense, but he did not have a breakout game (imo).
So why do you think he would hve a breakout game against D. Rose and a team that’s ranked top 2 in defense?
Ken Strickland
March 2nd, 2011
6:27 pm
OBRIEN-Remember, I said POTENTIAL BREAKOUT GM. I never said he’d had a breakout gm, big difference.
Is this the same NIREMETAL who:
1-argued me down that I was totally and completely wrong about MBibby being a liability,
2-believe that what I saw as MATADOR DEF was him deliberately funneling his man into the lane by design,
3-felt Bibby’s ability to set picks compensated for his inconsistency, inadequate scoring and DEF, or his inability to penetrate, get to the FT line, and/or create easy scoring opportunities for others?
I don’t blame you for taking a sarcastic shot at my expense, because I admit to doing the same to you on occasion. It’s all good though.
O'Brien
March 2nd, 2011
6:34 pm
Ken S,
Since Teague was relegated to the bench, hopefully that will keep his fire burning, because he should be motivated to show LD that he is capable of holding down a starting spot.
From hoopshype;
Alex Kennedy: Eddy Curry is telling those close to him that he’ll eventually sign with the Miami Heat. He has to sign before final day of regular season. Twitter.
Eddy Curry? Why would Miami want him?
O'Brien
March 2nd, 2011
6:38 pm
From espn.com;
ATLANTA — Kirk Hinrich has never been the type of guy to mince words, so when he talks about how difficult it is to guard Derrick Rose, it’s even easier to understand why the Bulls’ 22-year-old point guard has become a legitimate MVP candidate in just his third season.
“It’s a nightmare,” said Hinrich, who was traded by the Washington Wizards to the Atlanta Hawks last week. “With his strength and athleticism it definitely has to be a team effort for sure.”.
http://sports.espn.go.com/chicago/nba/news/story?id=6174636/
vava74
March 2nd, 2011
6:58 pm
Prediction:
We play a decent game and lose by 12.
niremetal
March 2nd, 2011
7:05 pm
Ken S,
Long as you don’t think that I actually said any of those things…
vava74
March 2nd, 2011
7:14 pm
that’s a charge!
niremetal
March 2nd, 2011
7:15 pm
Boozer gets away with a charge. Gotta love a guy who is coming off a calf injury and takes a charge against a 265-pound dude in his first minute back.
niremetal
March 2nd, 2011
7:16 pm
Please, please get Collins out of there. He can’t do us any good against the Bulls.
vava74
March 2nd, 2011
7:17 pm
yep, Hinrich is a warrior.
pitty that we are coming off the gate as we usually do at home these days… slow, slow, slow…
Melvin
March 2nd, 2011
7:18 pm
Starting Collins is like allowing the Bulls to have the 1st qtr lead…
It will be an uphill battle for the Hawks tonight.
niremetal
March 2nd, 2011
7:20 pm
14-0. WHAT IS COLLINS STILL DOING OUT THERE?
Melvin
March 2nd, 2011
7:24 pm
My goodness, Hawks playing zone already….
Melvin
March 2nd, 2011
7:27 pm
Al knows he can punk (i meant be physical) against Noah….
vava74
March 2nd, 2011
7:28 pm
we could have started a lot better if we had not started Collins…
vava74
March 2nd, 2011
7:30 pm
I like Collins. He is very useful, IMO, but its against Bogut, Howard, Shaq, eventually Marc Gasol, Bynum, …
Today, total mistake to start him.
niremetal
March 2nd, 2011
7:30 pm
That’s maybe the frustrating thing about the Hawks when they get in these ruts. There are no 1 or 2 players or even 1 or 2 problems that you can identify as being the cause. It used to be that the whole team would get despondent at this point. Tonight, they panicked. Frankly, I prefer the panicking, because at least then you’re giving an effort (even if it’s completely unfocused). Easier to get back to normal by playing too out-of-control than by just going soft and heaving jumpers.
Melvin
March 2nd, 2011
7:35 pm
Powell is awful…
vava74
March 2nd, 2011
7:35 pm
you gotta hand it to Thibs. These guys are playing focused and very crisp.
Melvin
March 2nd, 2011
7:37 pm
If Hilton is suppose to have decent atheletic ability, why not start him or play him behind ZaZa against the Bulls active frontline…
vava74
March 2nd, 2011
7:38 pm
But, I am not excessively worried.
We miss Josh and Hinrich is still trying to get in sync.
We both of them in/clicking the game would be different.
Melvin
March 2nd, 2011
7:47 pm
Jamal is playing like he’s on the blacktop (1 on 5)
vava74
March 2nd, 2011
7:47 pm
Hilton looks like he’s asleep. He is known to be lazy underachiever.
Another one which needs to find his inner dog…
niremetal
March 2nd, 2011
7:53 pm
The offense is still stuck in reverse, but the defense is looking very good.
vava74
March 2nd, 2011
7:55 pm
the crowd is cheering for the Bulls…
niremetal
March 2nd, 2011
7:58 pm
Pachulia playing bodyguard over Horford. I like it.
niremetal
March 2nd, 2011
7:58 pm
Vava,
What else is new?
vava74
March 2nd, 2011
7:59 pm
zaza should have knocked boozer’s teeth off. we’re too soft. next game you can be your *ss that boozer would not repeat this joke.