Bucks at Hawks, AKA Waiting on Big Z and Looking For Tough D
At least three reports surfaced over the weekend saying Zyrdunas Ilgauskas will re-sign with Cleveland.
His agent, Herb Rudoy insisted those reports are “very premature” and said the Hawks are still in contention to sign Ilgauskas.
“I’ve gotten a number of calls about that, and it’s absolutely not true,” Rudoy said today. “Could it happen? Absolutely. But he has not made a decision. That will be at least a few more days from now if not more.”
Rudoy said he wasn’t sure of Ilgausaks’ motivations other than a desire to play for a team with championship aspirations.
“We haven’t gotten past this whole thing of being traded away,” he said. “That was sort of expected but it didn’t make him happy. He’s got a lot of years invested in Cleveland, and that makes it a very complicated decision for him. He wants to win a championship, but I don’t know how (else) he will make a decision. He told me he’s taking his time, and that’s what he will do.”
According to reports, the list of suitors for Ilguaskas had grown to include Boston, Miami and San Antonio as well as the Hawks, Cleveland, Dallas, and Denver. If money is an issue for Ilgauskas, who reportedly gave up $1.5 million to secure a buyout from Washington, then the Hawks, Jazz and Heat can offer him the most salary.
Those three teams have their full mid-level salary cap exceptions available and could offer Ilgauskas 36 percent more in prorated salary than Cleveland, which has only its bi-annual exception available. The Jazz and Heat are near the luxury-tax line while the Hawks are comfortably below.
The Hawks, who also have their bi-annual exception, have appeared reluctant to use either to sign Ilgauskas. Rudoy wouldn’t discuss the specifics of the offers to Ilgauskas but said the Hawks have been “very aggressively pursuing” him.
“Rick Sund calls me at least once a day to talk about how Zyrdunas would be helpful and would have a great opportunity there,” he said. “Joe Smith has called him told him what a great situation it would be for him. I just don’t know what he’s going to do.”
– Over the first 45 games, the Hawks allowed 10 opponents to shoot better than 50 percent and 17 to beat them on the boards. In the last 12 games, six opponents have shot better than 50 percent and eight have collected more rebounds.
No doubt the Hawks have issues on offense, especially late in games. But maybe that wouldn’t matter so much if they defended and rebounded at the level they did for much of the first half of the season.
“(The slippage) has been huge in terms of how we started the season and where we are today,” Woody said. “Somehow we’ve got to get our mojo back in terms of our defensive attitude and rebounding the basketball because we are just barely hanging on in those areas. We are going to need that the rest of the way. You look at the good teams that are winning, they are getting after it defensively and they are rebounding the ball. If we come in with the mindset that we are just going to outscore teams that’s not good enough for me.”
Why the slippage considering Woody’s a defensive guy?
“Our scoring is up,” he said. “I don’t know if guys just feel like we’ll make it up on the offensive end. Sometimes that’s good and you do that. In the past couple years I can count on our guys to get key stops and rebounds and hustle plays. We are not doing enough of that right now, and we’ve got to get back to that.”
And he said all that before the Mavs shot 52.2 percent and had 50 rebounds to 41 for the Hawks. Now here come the Bucks, who’ve won six straight and nine of 11 overall and six straight on the road. They are tied for 14th in the league with a 50.3 percent rebounding rate while the Hawks are tied for 24th at 49.4 percent.
– Late add: The post-game blog will go up late tonight because I’ve got to run and catch the team’s flight to Chicago. You know, in case you care.
– Talk amongst yourselves, Hawks fans.
MC
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
593 comments Add your comment
JeJe
February 28th, 2010
9:41 pm
WOODSON DOES NOT USE THE BENCH. IT WILL BE THE DEMISE OF THIS FRANCHISE.
ROUND 2 SWEEP
BIBBY IS OVERWEIGHT . I SAID HE SHOULDA LOST WEIGHT BUT NO ONE LISTENED
MARVIN SUCKS
CRAWFORD IS SUCKING MOSTLY
BENCH SUCKS
WONT MATTER IF WE GET 3RD OR 4TH SEED.
CLEVELAND AND ORLANDO ARE SO FAR MORE ELITE THAN US.
TAKE AWAY DWIGHT VINCE AND RASHARD AND WE STILL LOSE TO ORLANDO
GOOD NIGHT
cp
February 28th, 2010
9:45 pm
Its to the point where anything Bibby and Marvin gives us is a surprise. They have been so bad that I don’t expect much from them anyway. Teague once again plays well only not to play in the second half. Great development there Woodrow. Woodrow is trying to get as many wins as he can so the bench will be shortened. So it wont be shocking if guys are tired around playoff time.
Just win Baby
February 28th, 2010
9:51 pm
Pat, I will go easy on Al because you are right, he the best we have at the position, but I like to keep the pressure on management to fix it as soon as possible because although we can be good with al at the 5 we will never be great!
JeJe
February 28th, 2010
9:52 pm
MARVIN AND BIBBY HAVE A COMBINED 6 YEARS AND 40+ MILLION LEFT ON THEIR CONTRACTS. NO ONE WANTS THEM, NO ONE OFFERED THEM A CONTRACT. GOOD JOB SUND. 42 MILLION DOLLARS!
O'Brien
February 28th, 2010
9:55 pm
cp,
Hawks have been very fortunate when it comes to injuries. Even the Bucks have been bit by the injury bug. They lost Redd for the year, and I think even Bogut missed some time. Miami has been playing without Wade, Bosh has missed time for Toronto, and the list goes on.
I just hope it doesnt come back to bite the Hawks, because imagine if one of our players gets hurt the last couple games of the season, or the first game in the playoffs.
We would not know what to do, because we haven’t faced that kind of adversity all year.
Ken Strickland
February 28th, 2010
10:16 pm
After breaking the gm down, here’s what I came up with. We’re at home and playing the front end of a back to back, and had to go into overtime to win. Here are the mins Woody forced his top 6 players to log. JSmith-46:14, MWilliams-40:15, AHorford-38:33, JJ-43:33, JCrawford-31:36 and MBibby-23.27. Of the 4 bench players other than Crawford that played, Zaza-14:22(5pts), MEvans-14:10(6pts), JTeague-7:10(4pts)either matched or exceeded MBibby’s pt total, and JoSmith played scored 3pts in only 5:40mins.
As long as our DUMB “A” HC keeps holding JTeague back, while giving Bibby’s nonproductive OFF and nonexistent DEF extended mins, we’ll continue struggling on OFF/DEF, especially down the stretch. ALTHOUGH WOODSON IS OFFICIALLY THE HC OF THE ATLANTA HAWKS, HE’S COACHING THE TEAM WITH THE MENTALITY AND APPROACH OF AN ASSISTANT COACH. ONLY A HC WITH AN ASSISTANT COACH’S MENTALITY WOULD BE STUPID ENOUGH TO PUBLICALLY STATE HE DOESN’T CARE ABOUT OFF, ESPECIALLY WHEN HIS TEAM IS HAVING OFF PROBLEMS.
Does anybody think we would have managed to take the gm into overtime if Skiles had played a zone against us down the stretch? JUST A THOUGHT.
Sautee
February 28th, 2010
10:19 pm
Once again Truth-serum (Just Win Baby) is outright LYING about Horford.
Here’s some reality:
Horford: 10th in scoring among centers (not 22nd)
.74 steals per game (not 0.4)
Tied for 6th in rebounds among centers (not 9th)
17th in blocked shots among centers (not 23rd)
All of the above can be fact checked at: http://www.nba.com/statistics/player/
Hoops
February 28th, 2010
10:20 pm
If Big Z has any ill feelings toward the Cavs, he could really stick it to them now that Shaq is out, by signing with the Hawks!
AllenW
February 28th, 2010
10:27 pm
The Hawks will be ok. They have a tendancy (like other Atlanta teams)to choke when they are on national television. It seems as though they think that they are suppose to lose when all eyes are on them. Hopefully they will play BIG when it counts playoff time.
Rod from College Park
February 28th, 2010
10:27 pm
Najeh Davenpoop,
“Rod, Marvin has actually played a decent game today. He’s not the reason the Hawks have struggled. Blame the backcourt in this game.”
OK!!! LOL
Rod from College Park
February 28th, 2010
10:29 pm
Stackhouse>Marvin
JeJe
February 28th, 2010
10:33 pm
I’d trade Marvin and Bibby for RIDNOUR and Stackhouse/Salmons any day.
What a joke
O'Brien
February 28th, 2010
10:34 pm
Rod,
Salmons > Marvin
JeJe
February 28th, 2010
10:34 pm
AMEN, KEN STRICKLAND.
ALL SKILES HAD TO DO WAS PUT IN STACKHOUSE TO GET THE WIN. DUDE HAD 20. HE COULDA DROPPED 40 ON US BECAUSE DUMB@$$ SUND DIDNT WANT TO PAY 700K FOR A CAREER 18+PPG PLAYER THIS PAST OFFSEASON
IDIOTS
Just win Baby
February 28th, 2010
10:37 pm
PLAYER NAME, TEAM NAME GP MPG BLK PF BLKPG BLKP48M BLK/PF
1
Dwight Howard , ORL
59 35.5 166 214 2.81 3.81 .78
2
Andrew Bogut , MIL
52 32.2 120 166 2.31 3.44 .72
3
Greg Oden , POR
21 23.9 48 84 2.29 4.59 .57
4
Brendan Haywood , DAL-WAS
56 33.1 121 159 2.16 3.13 .76
5
Samuel Dalembert , PHI
58 25.7 120 187 2.07 3.86 .64
6
Brook Lopez , NJN
58 36.9 110 188 1.9 2.47 .58
7
Kendrick Perkins , BOS
57 28.2 105 170 1.84 3.14 .62
8
Roy Hibbert , IND
59 24.0 103 207 1.75 3.5 .5
9
Emeka Okafor , NOH
59 29.7 100 165 1.7 2.74 .61
10
Marc Gasol , MEM
59 35.9 93 214 1.58 2.11 .44
11
Joakim Noah , CHI
50 31.1 78 158 1.56 2.41 .49
12
Erick Dampier , DAL
39 26.3 59 114 1.51 2.76 .52
13
Andrea Bargnani , TOR
55 34.8 81 167 1.47 2.03 .48
14
Jermaine O’Neal , MIA
54 28.9 78 167 1.44 2.4 .47
15
Joel Przybilla , POR
30 22.7 43 95 1.43 3.03 .45
16
Andrew Bynum , LAL
55 31.0 78 162 1.42 2.2 .48
17
Joel Anthony , MIA
58 15.0 79 114 1.36 4.37 .69
18
Ronny Turiaf , GSW
29 20.6 39 67 1.34 3.13 .58
19
Andris Biedrins , GSW
33 23.1 44 117 1.33 2.77 .38
19
JaVale McGee , WAS
33 10.9 44 45 1.33 5.89 .98
21
Chris Kaman , LAC
52 35.8 66 146 1.27 1.7 .45
22
Ben Wallace , DET
59 29.6 72 116 1.22 1.98 .62
23
Al Horford , ATL
57 35.3 68 161 1.19 1.62 .42
24
Shaquille O’Neal , CLE
Ken Strickland
February 28th, 2010
10:37 pm
SAUTEE-are you actually expecting an ANAL MINDED MORON like TRUTH SERUM, who’s sole purpose is to belittle AHorford to further his own agenda, to be honest about his accomplishments? I’ll bet this MORON will have difficultly accepting the fact that Horford outplayed ABogat tonight. Coming into this gm, Bogat was one of the NBA’s hottest players, averaging 20PPG and 14.5RPG over their 6gm win streak, and his seasonal averages are 16PPG and 10.5+RPG. Well, AHorford held him to 14pts and 9 rebounds, while scoring 17pts and grabbing 10rebounds.
UNDERSIZED, PLAYING OUT OF POSITION, NATURAL PF AHORFORD DID SOMETHING NO OTHER BIG HAS BEEN ABLE TO DO OVER THE LAST 6GMS, AND THAT’S HOLD THE NBS’s HOTTEST BIG MAN UNDER HIS SEASONAL AVERAGES, WHILE SURPASSING HIS OWN SEASONAL AVERAGES AGAINST HIM. HAVING A BIG DOMINANT CENTER CERTAINLY DIDN’T HELP THE BUCKS WIN TONIGHT, DID IT ANAL MINDED MORON(ALIAS TRUTH SERUM, SYBIL).
Just win Baby
February 28th, 2010
10:37 pm
Get your fact straight bytch!
Just win Baby
February 28th, 2010
10:40 pm
steals
Al Horford , ATL
57 35.3 85 1.5 2.0 1.47 .49
Just win Baby
February 28th, 2010
10:43 pm
Gee he moved up to nine from ten. how impressive.
1
Dwight Howard , ORL
59 35.5 209 3.5 586 9.9 795 13.5 18.2
2
David Lee , NYK
58 37.2 155 2.7 513 8.8 668 11.5 14.9
3
Joakim Noah , CHI
50 31.1 184 3.7 385 7.7 569 11.4 17.6
4
Andrew Bogut , MIL
52 32.2 167 3.2 378 7.3 545 10.5 15.6
5
Brendan Haywood , DAL-WAS
56 33.1 226 4.0 356 6.4 582 10.4 15.1
6
Samuel Dalembert , PHI
58 25.7 167 2.9 389 6.7 556 9.6 17.9
7
Marc Gasol , MEM
59 35.9 175 3.0 380 6.4 555 9.4 12.6
8
Emeka Okafor , NOH
59 29.7 189 3.2 364 6.2 553 9.4 15.2
9
Al Horford , ATL
57 35.3 152 2.7 381 6.7 533 9.4 12.7
Just win Baby
February 28th, 2010
10:47 pm
Mr. Strickland, I can admit Al play much better in the second half and had a good game playing over his head. Yes, we agree, he is a power forward. Glad you can admit that. Its been two seasons in the making.
Having said that, we still need a center. I understand you are emotional, but go easy on the caps.
Have a good night!
Just win Baby
February 28th, 2010
10:48 pm
Al Horford , ATL
Turnovers
1.5
Just win Baby
February 28th, 2010
10:49 pm
Ditto on the DUMB AZZ SUND!
nunna yo biznezz
February 28th, 2010
10:49 pm
jeje,don’t call sund dumb!!
it was woody who said at the beginning of last year and this one that he didn’t have a bench in the ‘08 season,and sund brought in some young talent for him to develope last year and he didn’t..
then,he said after last years season that he needed some vets,and sund brought in crawford,joe smith and still some young talent in Jeff Teague,and he still has not developed the bench nor the youngster at all..
the reason sund did not sign stackhouse is because he gave woody what he wanted,and yet still,he is playing the freak outta these players and come playoffs time,they will have no legs..
in a way,i think he is getting back at woody and telling the ASG,”look,i gave this guy everything he wanted,so when are u gonna let me find a real coach to bring in here and move us along”??
and only then,will they listen..
JeJe
February 28th, 2010
10:51 pm
nunna, good stuff. I hope you’re right
FIRE MIKE WOODSON
Just win Baby
February 28th, 2010
10:52 pm
GET YOUR FACTS STRAIGHT BYTCH SALTEE!
nunna yo biznezz
February 28th, 2010
10:52 pm
CORRECTION!!
jeje,don’t call sund dumb!!
it was woody who said at the beginning of last year that he didn’t have a bench in the ‘08 season,and sund brought in some young talent for him to develope last year and he didn’t..
then,he said after last years season that he needed some vets,and sund brought in crawford,joe smith and still some young talent in Jeff Teague,and he still has not developed the bench nor the youngster at all..
the reason sund did not sign stackhouse is because he gave woody what he wanted,and yet still,he is playing the freak outta the starters and come playoffs time,they will have no legs..
in a way,i think he is getting back at woody and telling the ASG,”look,i gave this guy everything he wanted,so when are u gonna let me find a real coach to bring in here and move us along”??
and only then,will they listen..
Just win Baby
February 28th, 2010
10:53 pm
FIRE TEAGUE!
nunna yo biznezz
February 28th, 2010
10:58 pm
the thing that gets to me jeje,is that sund might wait till the end of the season when i think that the move needs to be made right now..
woody has to go..he likes to be in a situation to where he does not have to draw up x’s and o’s and all he has to do is say,”we need to rebound better”,or “we need to drive to the hoop and get more fouls on them”,or smile at josh when he is arguing with the refs and making dumb shots and say,”come on j-smoove,come on”..
mo evans had a good game,and when he called for him to come back into the game,mo took his time and thats when u saw him say to mo,”come on come on”!..then woody started talking crap to mo and mo just tuned him out and turned his head..
this team is tuning him out..
O'Brien
February 28th, 2010
10:58 pm
nunna yo biznezz,
Does Woody blame Sund for not getting him better bench players, or does Sund blame Woody for not developing the bench players he has, or does Sund blame the ASG for not giving him more money to sign better bench players?
I wonder if they will play the blame game this offseason…
nunna yo biznezz
February 28th, 2010
10:59 pm
lmao@just win baby
nunna yo biznezz
February 28th, 2010
11:09 pm
O’brien,woody asked for more scoring off the bench and vets..and thats what he got..we had a draft pick in the 1st and Sund saw a need for a PG,(which i don’t blame him for getting),but our coach does not have the know how or patience to work with PG’S at all..
Sund might blame both woody and the asg..woody for not working with him on the talent that he brought in with what he had to work with the salary cap and all..and sund may also blame the asg for tying his hands and keeping woody and not get the players he wanted..
i blame woody..all the way..how can u be so backwards and not show that u can coach..that u can develope players and put together a team and do something with them..
how is woody gonna defend his resume??huh??
we got better every year despite his coaching..
why do u think that j-chills said no??
the golden state game showed us that teague,horford,smoove,crawford and moe evans would benefit this team to RUN,RUN,RUN!!
and when woody went back into his iso joe and iso jamaal halfcourt offense,we sucked..its not fair nor is it smart to have fans out coach your coach atlanta..its not!!
Patrick
February 28th, 2010
11:10 pm
How is this for raised expectations though: People are arguing on this forum on where to distribute blame after a win over one of the hottest teams in the league. To think we would be here five years ago…
nunna yo biznezz
February 28th, 2010
11:13 pm
yall have a good nite people..i got to get up in 9 hours and get on the phone and go to work..if u get a telemarketing call on your job or at home,its probably me..
looking forward to talking to ya!!
nyb
nunna yo biznezz
February 28th, 2010
11:20 pm
hello patrick,
we have people on here who share your view too…
and we have people who share mine as well..
it does not make sense to others like myself when you do win against one of the hottest teams like u said,but,we win in a way that we did not have to be..
when u keep your hot players in and they are outplaying the other team and then u take them out and they never come back in at all..just like tonite..and u wear down your own legs..
sad!!
so,how would you feel patrick??
to be like othello hunter and work his butt off and get cut to bring back someone who can’t shoot..
or,randmo,and lose weight and not get into games at all,and now u are in the speedy claxton wear section,lol…
just to name a few
shannon
February 28th, 2010
11:33 pm
Hey look at it like this.. We were major players in the mario west sweepstakes instead of signing Stackhouse lol
Patrick
March 1st, 2010
12:13 am
I don’t think either opinion is right or wrong, just interesting how expectations change over time. I think that the problems that occurred tonight are not new issues. Woodson doesn’t use his bench enough, except for Crawford, who he plays too much. Joe settles for jumpers too much. None of this matters too much now. The playoffs will prove if the Hawks are in a 4-team top tier of Eastern Conference teams (optimistic outlook) or the best non-contending team in the East (pessimistic). A frustrating win against the Bucks in February doesn’t change that picture ultimately.
Something of a side note, but I can’t help but ask this question. Do you think that the Hawks made such a stink about going after Big Z because they knew there was no chance he would go anywhere except back to Cleveland, so it would make Sund/ASG look like they were trying to spend money to upgrade for the playoffs? If the Hawks were willing to use their MLE on Z (who is largely washed up and would have to be taught a completely new system), why wouldn’t they have used that money on better talent (Ramon Sessions and Nate Robinson come immediately to mind) during the previous off-season? Just seems really hard to believe that ownership really thinks Big Z is the missing piece to the puzzle.
Clyde
March 1st, 2010
12:17 am
JeJe your posts remind me of me 2 tears ago. Keep it up man. But at the end of your posts put FIRE WOODY instead of Fire Mike Woodson. I have it trademarked but you can use it.
I don’t like Horford either but lying on the man’s stats is dead wrong.
FIRE WOODY
bigstack19
March 1st, 2010
12:23 am
The NBA is such a joke of a league anyway. You trade a guy away to a team that releases him just so he can end up re-signing in a month with the team that traded him is absolute b.s. If it helps LeBron the NBA will never change it. Also, if you get within 5 feet of LeBron you get called for a foul. The NBA refs are the worst in all of pro sports. The stars of the NBA today, i.e. Dwayne Wade, LeBron James, Dwight Howard and even Kobe are good, but they couldn’t hold the jock straps of players like Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Dominique Wilkins, and the rest of those players who helped rebuild the league in the 80’s.
Ken Strickland
March 1st, 2010
12:41 am
PATRICK-where have you been when we’ve lost to the worst teams in the NBA, or teams missing several keys players, and at home no less? We definitely added more talent, size and experience to our bench. We’ve also avoided injuries, unlike last yr, and even though we’ve defeated Boston 4 times, and they’ve had to deal with key injuries, we’re struggling to stay even with them for 3rd place in the East. We’ve played poorly and inconsistently over the last 32-33gms, struggled to win at home and been unable to defeat the 2 teams we’ll have to defeat if we expect to better last yrs playoff results.
The hottest team in the NBA also had 2 players recently add to the roster, Salmons and Stackhouse, and those 2 players gave us fits. They victimized us early by taking advantage of Woody’s beloved switching DEF by using pick and roll to isolate Bibby on one of their Bigs. At least Woodson had the sense to get Bibby out of the gm and didn’t play him much down the stretch.
And for those wondering and/or complaining about JJ not attacking the basket, remember, because of Bibby’s inability to defend, JJ had to play the much quicker and faster PG that Bibby couldn’t play, and he played 45:33mins. HOW IN THE HELL CAN YOU ATTACK THE BASKET WHEN HE WAS EXHAUSTED BECAUSE HIS DUMB “A” HC WOULDN’T GIVE HIM A REST? THANK GOD FOR HALFTIME.
BravesFan404
March 1st, 2010
12:48 am
come on, you guys sound like a bunch of losers cryin about a team of monkeys playing a bafoonery game . its not that serious. doesnt take much to put a ball in a hole, follow a REAL sport and stop crying over these overpaid thugs
Coach D
March 1st, 2010
9:19 am
Get off Big Duck’s tail! He doesn’t get enough PT.
heelsfan
March 1st, 2010
2:18 pm
For at least once, Woody would you please get a technical or maybe even two. You just let the refs call anything without much debate.You act like you dont want anyone else on your staff to prove that the can make adjustments. Please develop another offensive scheme. What the hell happen to the highlight factory. It’s been more of a twilight factory lately.
heelsfan
March 1st, 2010
3:09 pm
@BravesFan404. Why they have to be thugs? You going a little hard aren’t you.