Thunder at Hawks, AKA Kevin Durant: Dat Boy Good
– Woody says Thunder forward Kevin Durant should be considered for MVP: “His numbers are ridiculous right now.”
– Indeed. Durant has scored 30-plus in five straight games, including 36 in Oklahoma City’s 98-80 victory against the Heat Saturday. Miami coach Erik Spoelstra has seen enough:
“I’m glad that we don’t play (the Thunder) again this year,” Spoelstra told The Oklahoman. “Give us some time to figure him out. He is so big and skilled and can shoot it over the top of you. Even if you are there, he doesn’t even notice you. When he shoots it like he did (Saturday), it just makes it that much tougher. He has grown a lot. I remember in his rookie year, he was nothing like this.”
– Zaza is back.
– Jamal Crawford is quoted in an MLK Day/NBA piece in the Contra Costa Times:
“For the most part, players of this generation try to treat everyone equal no matter their color or gender. … Try to respect one another. There are still situations in life we can improve on, but overall, I think Dr. King would be proud of how far we’ve come.”
– Pretty ho-hum field announced for the All-Star Slam Dunk competition: Shannon Brown, Nate Robinson, Gerald Wallace plus the winner of a “dunk-in” between DeMar DeRozan and Eric Gordon.
Smoove, slam dunk winner as a rookie in 2005, still says he’s done with it for good. Can’t blame him. He’d rather be an All-Star.
– Fire alarm went off in Philips Arena before the game. Joe Johnson ducked in Woody’s office to see if he should panic. Told that he shouldn’t, J.J. told the coach and reporters: “Y’all gonna burn up by yourself.”
– Super commenter northcyde took issue with my critique of the Hawks’ switching D against the Suns. He (you’re a dude, right?) notes that Steve Nash didn’t get his usual numbers and credits the defensive strategy for that. Says northcyde: “It was a great defensive game plan that will go unnoticed by traditional basketball fans that feel that a guard should always be matched up against a guard.”
Well, I don’t think it always has to be that way, but northcyde make some good points. Props.
– After the Hawks overcame a four-point deficit in the final six seconds against the Suns Friday, the Elias Sports Bureau says the last team to come back from a four-point deficit with six or less to win was the Lakers. The did it with four seconds left against the Heat on Dec. 24.
– I see you are accustomed to an open game thread, so talk amongst yourselves.
MC
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217 comments Add your comment
Melvin
January 18th, 2010
4:10 pm
Dang it, bad shot by Jamal
bigdave
January 18th, 2010
4:11 pm
hmm…. gonna have to fight for this one…
Melvin
January 18th, 2010
4:13 pm
6mins left Hawks down 7. They gonna have to win this one with defense.
bigdave
January 18th, 2010
4:14 pm
thats right… get it and go young fella…
O'Brien
January 18th, 2010
4:15 pm
Kevin Durant has played 33 minutes, while JJ played 39. I wonder how many minutes would JJ play if we didnt have Crawford to help him out? I like the efficiency of JJ this game though. 8-19.
That being said, Hawks shooting 42%, Thunder shooting 48%. Hawks need to man up, get some more stops, and take good shots.
Hawk n the Ham
January 18th, 2010
4:16 pm
J Smoove’s 3rd straight double-double game.
bigdave
January 18th, 2010
4:17 pm
hmm…
Melvin
January 18th, 2010
4:17 pm
Drive the ball to the rim.,…
bigdave
January 18th, 2010
4:17 pm
Joe dog tired…
Najeh Davenpoop
January 18th, 2010
4:18 pm
Other than that Josh Smith And-1, I don’t think the Hawks have taken a single good shot in this entire quarter. If they had, they would probably be leading. That last possession was just atrocious.
bigdave
January 18th, 2010
4:18 pm
oh…!!
Melvin
January 18th, 2010
4:20 pm
Can we give the ball to Crawford on offense and let him create. Joe is taking to long to make his move….
bigdave
January 18th, 2010
4:21 pm
another reason why i cant understand the lack of mins for Teague or the defense of it… sure you will take away mins but is that really a bad thing??
Mac-Town'z Finest 478
January 18th, 2010
4:22 pm
finally tied it
Hawk n the Ham
January 18th, 2010
4:22 pm
Clutch = Smoove
Mac-Town'z Finest 478
January 18th, 2010
4:23 pm
smh
bigdave
January 18th, 2010
4:23 pm
brutal possession…
Melvin
January 18th, 2010
4:24 pm
Get the ball to Crawford…
Sid
January 18th, 2010
4:24 pm
sometimes all you can is WTF
Melvin
January 18th, 2010
4:25 pm
We got a break from the refs with that out of bounds call
Mac-Town'z Finest 478
January 18th, 2010
4:25 pm
Would kill to see what Woody had drawn up on that chart
BONE
January 18th, 2010
4:26 pm
And MR. Anti Clutch blows the game
Mac-Town'z Finest 478
January 18th, 2010
4:27 pm
Joe looked tired bringin it up…..horrible
2 of the last 3 shots were joe and josh tryin to do too much….
Najeh Davenpoop
January 18th, 2010
4:27 pm
Worst shot I have ever seen.
Sid
January 18th, 2010
4:27 pm
wasting so much of the clock ? WHY !!!!!!!!!!
Melvin
January 18th, 2010
4:27 pm
Terrible shot by Joe..
bigdave
January 18th, 2010
4:27 pm
sorry folks… thats a foul call for even mid level performers… Joe gets no whistles…
BONE
January 18th, 2010
4:27 pm
Mr. anti clutch
Najeh Davenpoop
January 18th, 2010
4:28 pm
Antoine Walker and Glenn Robinson would have cringed at that shot Joe Johnson just took. You gotta be kidding me.
If the Hawks had played like even an average offensive team in this quarter, they would have this game in the bag.
Melvin
January 18th, 2010
4:28 pm
Put Mario in for defense…
bigdave
January 18th, 2010
4:28 pm
damn.
BONE
January 18th, 2010
4:28 pm
Embarrased
Melvin
January 18th, 2010
4:29 pm
Nice play by Green….
O'Brien
January 18th, 2010
4:29 pm
Hawks 3-14 (21%) from 3. Bibby 1-5, JJ 0-4. Brutal. While OKC 4-9 from 3 (44%).
BONE
January 18th, 2010
4:29 pm
Where are all the Joe defenders LMAO
Sid
January 18th, 2010
4:29 pm
We put in defensive subs and then give up A DRIVE A DUNK and A FOUL ROFLMAO !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
BONE
January 18th, 2010
4:30 pm
And no that wasn’t a foul Joe just made took a bad shot
Melvin
January 18th, 2010
4:30 pm
bigdave,
Joe should have lean into his defender not fade away. Refs not going to call that. Joe have to sale the foul…
Najeh Davenpoop
January 18th, 2010
4:31 pm
Notice how Horford didn’t step up on that Jeff Green drive… because he had five fouls.
Worst offensive quarter I’ve seen the Hawks play this entire season, and yet another example of how far the Hawks are from beating a healthy Cavs, Magic, or Celtics team, regardless of what ESPN.com’s power rankings think.
Clyde
January 18th, 2010
4:31 pm
When you don’t have a offense to run you go one-on-one
Sautee
January 18th, 2010
4:31 pm
I swear JJ takes tougher shots than he has to. It’s as if he LIKES a high degree of difficulty.
bigdave
January 18th, 2010
4:32 pm
Melvin…
before the fade action there was body contact..
BONE
January 18th, 2010
4:33 pm
Nobody is gonna call a foul on that unless your Lebron. Why don’t u understand that.
Melvin
January 18th, 2010
4:33 pm
Can we bait the defender into a foul while attempting a 3pt shot…
bigdave
January 18th, 2010
4:33 pm
there you have it folks. happy..
Clyde
January 18th, 2010
4:33 pm
Najeh Horford does that all the time. He just stands there flat-footed with no desire to protect the basket. Sean Williams would have atleast gave a hard foul and sent him to the line.
Melvin
January 18th, 2010
4:34 pm
Dang….
BONE
January 18th, 2010
4:35 pm
The hawks coulda won this game if the Hawks actually had an offense. How many times are the hawks gonna have bad 4th qtrs. LOL @ all of u who think we can compete with the Cavs or the Magic.
Najeh Davenpoop
January 18th, 2010
4:36 pm
I gotta give you props, Clyde, you stick to your guns. Who does Sean Williams play for now? Tulsa 66ers? Efes Pilsen? Shanghai Sharks?
Melvin
January 18th, 2010
4:37 pm
bigdave,
I hear ya but he has to sale the foul. forget trying to make the shot. make sure you get the refs to blow his whistle by throwing your body, hands, yelling or even flopping to get the refs attention…