Atlanta Hawks at Nets: The Rook’ (Jeff Teague) gets his shot (updated)
Woody will watch and see if Teague can D up guys better than Frank Robinson. (Curtis Compton/ccompton@ajc.com)
Secaucus, N.J.–Joe Johnson is out tonight. He’s not going to play tomorrow at Toronto, either, and Woody said J.J.’s status is up in the air for Friday’s game against Charlotte at Philips Arena.
The Hawks say J.J. has a strained Achilles’ tendon.
“He’s day-to-day,” Woody said.
Bibby’s back is better and he will start tonight. In a surprise move, Woody plans to go with My Blog People MVP Jeff Teague at point guard and Bibby at shooting guard instead of using Mo Evans to replace Johnson.
It’s Teague’s first start.
“We’ll give it a shot,” Woody said, adding with a smile: “I can always sub early.”
“(Teague) has played with different combinations,” Woody said. “This is no different. He will do what he does best: push the ball, defend, get people involved.”
Teague, low key as always, said he’s ready.
“I’ve been playing basketball my whole life, and I’ve usually started,” he said. “It will be the same as coming off the bench.”
Woody said he made the move because he wants Teague’s quickness against Nets guard Devin Harris. Harris might miss the game due to illness but presumably Woody would stick with Teague either way.
(Edit: Harris is out with an upper respiratory infection, but Woody said he probably would stick with Teague: “We drafted him for the future, and I’ve got to develop him if I’m here as coach (next year). I think he’s gotten a little bit better but we haven’t seen enough of him. I think I’ll still keep him in there.”)
“He’s quick, so you have to try to keep him out of the lane,” Teague said of Harris. “He can score; we all know that. I’m not going to say I’m going to lock him down or anything like that. I just want to try and contain him.”
The Hawks will be much smaller in the backcourt without J.J. (6-7). Teague and Bibby are both listed at 6-2. Harris is 6-3 and Nets shooting guard Courtney Lee (a ‘Naptown Pike High product like Teague) is 6-5. The Nets can also bring 6-7 Chris Douglas-Roberts and 6-6 rookie Terrence Williams (Go Cards) off the bench at guard.
Teague, the 19th overall pick out of Wake Forest, said he’s matured through the season.
“Most definitely,” he said. “At the beginning of the season I wasn’t comfortable. I was nervous and didn’t want to mess up. I’ve gotten more familiar with the coaches and they’ve gotten more familiar with me.”
I’m not sure if anyone around here has noticed, but Teague’s minutes have been up and down this season.
“Give the rook’ (credit),” Woody said, referring to Teague by the name he almost always uses to address him. “He played well in the exhibitions. It’s not like we forgot about him. We’ll give him a shot.”
– Does this game worry you at all? Hawks TV voice Bob Rathbun notes that strange things happen when the Hawks play here. They’ve lost their last five at the arena with its latest name as the Izod Center but that still is dark, dank and–after the circus just left town–stank.
“Interesting venue,” Teague said. “Older than I expected.”
The Nets are set to move to the Prudential Center in Newark next season. Coincidentally, Woody played for the Nets when they opened what was then called Brendan Byrne Arena in 1981. Larry Brown was the coach.
This Nets team is worst than any of those that beat the Hawks the last five times here. They are threatening to be historically bad, on pace to tie the 1972-73 76ers for worst record in league history at 9-73.
Obviously the Nets want no part of that, so maybe that helps to explain why they showed signs of life in recent road losses to Memphis, Dallas, Oklahoma City and Houston.
“They are playing harder,” Woody said. “In their last outing (at Houston) they were very competitive and I don’t expect anything different tonight.”
Clearly missing Harris would be a major blow to New Jersey’s efforts to beat the Hawks. But, as Rathbun says, strange things happen to the Hawks in Jersey.
– Talk amongst yourselves, Hawks fans.
MC
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278 comments Add your comment
Wabe
March 16th, 2010
9:05 pm
JT0 is struggling out there.
o.O-Mac-Town -Macon, Georgia- Westsider-O.o
March 16th, 2010
9:05 pm
I thought we were on the verge of blowing these guys out…not letting them back into the game.
Sautee
March 16th, 2010
9:05 pm
northcyde,
not doggin’ you man, but THAT’S why Ray thought you were Kirk.
He would often post “why doesn’t anybody mention X” instead of just mentioning X himself.
It comes across like you are telling people how they should post.
VenomSpitter
March 16th, 2010
9:05 pm
Now Mac Woody hasn’t just taken teague’s confidence he’s taken his entire soul. AND HE AIN’T GIVIN IT BACK.
Wabe
March 16th, 2010
9:06 pm
Are you guys seriously suggesting looking for another PG based on 10+ minutes of time from JT)?
seriously guys, shut the hell up.
Ree Roe
March 16th, 2010
9:06 pm
Why do we keep doubling on Lopez?
-REEly on Roe!!
HawksFan11
March 16th, 2010
9:07 pm
Not anymore Wabe. JT0 is done out there tonight.
Big Ray
March 16th, 2010
9:07 pm
I’m not giving up on a rookie who gets 9 minutes per game. He has to learn, this is part of the learning experience. Like I suspected, there are already posts stating that Teague sucks as a player and should be replaced. I wonder if Sam’l still thinks I’m wrong about my prediction….
o.O-Mac-Town -Macon, Georgia- Westsider-O.o
March 16th, 2010
9:08 pm
Venom…same thing said about Acie…lol what is Woodson doing/saying to these guys to have them “shook” like that? He must threatened to head butt em or somethin
Wabe
March 16th, 2010
9:09 pm
He’s a rookie, and it shows. He’s clearly got things to work on. But, I’ll say this, this is one reason we should be playing the kid more meaningful minutes in some of these games. He clearly needs to polish his game and that’ll only happen with minutes on the court.
By the way, I’ve seen JT0 play much better than this when he’s entered games for a few minutes, so I’m not taking too much away from his performance today. I wish he would’ve took advantage of this opportunity and used it as a way to boost his minutes going down the stretch, but I don’t think he’s convinced anybody that he’s ready.
o.O-Mac-Town -Macon, Georgia- Westsider-O.o
March 16th, 2010
9:09 pm
Dudes gettin embarrassed..nothing worse than getting your crap SENT.
VenomSpitter
March 16th, 2010
9:10 pm
LMAO @ Mac. Woody has punked all the young PGs that he has ever coached lol. Woody is the POINT GUARD TERMINATOR.
o.O-Mac-Town -Macon, Georgia- Westsider-O.o
March 16th, 2010
9:12 pm
“By the way, I’ve seen JT0 play much better than this when he’s entered games for a few minutes”
me too….I don’t think we’ve saw enough of Teague to fully judge, and from what we have saw, I dont think it’s as bad as some make it out.
o.O-Mac-Town -Macon, Georgia- Westsider-O.o
March 16th, 2010
9:13 pm
lmfao…chris quinn.
VenomSpitter
March 16th, 2010
9:13 pm
WTF kinda music were they just playing LMAO
Big Ray
March 16th, 2010
9:14 pm
Northcyde ,
Check this out from yesterday:
Big Ray
March 15th, 2010
6:33 pm
This is a good opportunity for minutes for Teague, but what are the expectations for him? Should we expect him to get 20 points and 10 assists? Anybody who unequivocally supports Woody by bashing Teague (and this isn’t everybody who supports Woody, so don’t go there) will take any chance they can get, waiting for Teague to fail or otherwise fail to dazzle. One game does not a player make.
He played well against New Jersey earlier, but I’m expecting solid, not spectacular play. We’ll see what happens. He should get more than 10 minutes this time around, provided he is not stinking it up out there. If he stinks it up, then of course he will go to the bench. Nothing unreasonable about that…
And this:
Ken Strickland ,
In my mind, Teague playing horribly means getting into foul trouble, blowing one defensive assignment after another, and turning the ball over a lot. If he’s doing all that and we’re losing because of it, why keep him in the game? I know that Bibby has done his fair share of blowing defensive assignments or simply not impeding his opponent’s progress. However, he has one of the league’s best assist/turnover ratios, and he rarely gets into bad foul trouble. The biggest thing is taking care of the ball. Again, if Teague turns it over, and that is causing us to lose to a team we should be (and have) squashing, then how do you justify it? Let Teague play no matter what, and lose to the Nets? I think not.
So you see, it’s already been said. Ahead of time, even.
o.O-Mac-Town -Macon, Georgia- Westsider-O.o
March 16th, 2010
9:15 pm
I wish Josh had Horford’s moves around the basket, he’d be so dangerous then.
VenomSpitter
March 16th, 2010
9:15 pm
Like I said Marvin is better when he doesn’t play with Joe
Sautee
March 16th, 2010
9:16 pm
If our “fake” center can get 4 more assists, he’ll have a triple-double.
HawksFan11
March 16th, 2010
9:16 pm
I’d love to see the kid pick it up, it just seems like he has to work on every facet of his game.
VenomSpitter
March 16th, 2010
9:16 pm
See Marvin again
o.O-Mac-Town -Macon, Georgia- Westsider-O.o
March 16th, 2010
9:16 pm
Marvin always shows out w/o Joe.
o.O-Mac-Town -Macon, Georgia- Westsider-O.o
March 16th, 2010
9:18 pm
Maaaaaaaan up by 20….let that boy Teague play the entire 4th.
VenomSpitter
March 16th, 2010
9:18 pm
Exactly Mac. Joe is just like poison to Marvin. He gets goofy around Joe LOL
Big Ray
March 16th, 2010
9:18 pm
Wabe ,
Agree. Short memories are forgetting what Teague did against the Nets earlier this year:
12/13/09- 24 minutes, 5-9 shooting (including 1-2 on three-pointers), 12 points, 3 assists, 2 steals)
VenomSpitter
March 16th, 2010
9:20 pm
Teague just needs to find away to get his confidence back and he should be alright. It’s just that nobody has ever gotten their confidence back with woody as their coach.
o.O-Mac-Town -Macon, Georgia- Westsider-O.o
March 16th, 2010
9:21 pm
Crawford bricked that last one…..the only logical explanation for that is Chris Quinn LOCK DOWN defense…..what a player
HawksFan11
March 16th, 2010
9:22 pm
A jump shot wouldn’t hurt Teague either
o.O-Mac-Town -Macon, Georgia- Westsider-O.o
March 16th, 2010
9:22 pm
Terrence Williams was trying to posterize Joe Smith
o.O-Mac-Town -Macon, Georgia- Westsider-O.o
March 16th, 2010
9:22 pm
lol what was Bibby reading
VenomSpitter
March 16th, 2010
9:23 pm
He was reading “How to Defend for Dummies”
Najeh Davenpoop
March 16th, 2010
9:24 pm
Dang, Lopez has more range than I thought.
Big Ray
March 16th, 2010
9:26 pm
Real center vs. Fake center watch:
Real center (Lopez)- 17 points, 3 rebounds, 2 blocks
Fake center (Horford)- 15 points, 11 rebounds, 7 assists
VenomSpitter
March 16th, 2010
9:26 pm
He’s on fire
Najeh Davenpoop
March 16th, 2010
9:27 pm
Nice to see the Hawks take care of business to start the 4th and leave the Nets with no illusions of a comeback.
o.O-Mac-Town -Macon, Georgia- Westsider-O.o
March 16th, 2010
9:27 pm
lol@Venom
VenomSpitter
March 16th, 2010
9:27 pm
Don’t take this the wrong way everybody but if Joe was playing I think this game would be much closer. Just sayin
o.O-Mac-Town -Macon, Georgia- Westsider-O.o
March 16th, 2010
9:29 pm
lol@I was thinkin that too…real spit
Melvin
March 16th, 2010
9:29 pm
Hawks have a 24 pt lead in the 4th and they are playing the 1st game of a back to back, Why the hell isn’t Teague in the game?????
Big Ray
March 16th, 2010
9:29 pm
Jamal Crawford shows us how to do it. After going 1 for 6 early on, he has come back to hit a total of 11 of 17 shots.
I do believe if this was a bad team he was playing for, this would be one of those 50 point nights. However, the Hawks are good and versatile, so no need…
J.J.M.
March 16th, 2010
9:30 pm
I hope crawford is on the new nba jam
o.O-Mac-Town -Macon, Georgia- Westsider-O.o
March 16th, 2010
9:30 pm
plz dont let these guys make the score look “respectable”
Big Ray
March 16th, 2010
9:31 pm
Melvin ,
Good question. Not sure what he can learn from the bench with a 24 point lead…
Melvin
March 16th, 2010
9:31 pm
Woody,
Take Crawford out the game. Please… We dont need another injury…
o.O-Mac-Town -Macon, Georgia- Westsider-O.o
March 16th, 2010
9:31 pm
lmao…handles by crawford…dude clownin out there
Melvin
March 16th, 2010
9:32 pm
Crawford is leaving the game now. Woody must have heard me…:)
Dominique a nique a nique
March 16th, 2010
9:32 pm
IsoJoe offense is really missed tonight.
Do we need JJ?
March 16th, 2010
9:32 pm
Hawks seem to be playing with more energy, more ball movement, and still destroying the nets without JJ. Jamal running the team with a mid-level 7 footer and this team will not lose a step next year, may be better even if Joe Johnson leaves. I pose this question early, lets see what happens against a quality team in Toronto tomorrow. When we had Joe Johnson before the all-star break but no Crawford we got destroyed by Miami, who is worth more on this team, I think crawford as he drives and dishes and manages the clock better.
Big Ray
March 16th, 2010
9:32 pm
Venom Spitter ,
Heh, heh, heh…I hope you’re wearing your asbestos suit, you’re liable to draw flames for having the balls to say that…
o.O-Mac-Town -Macon, Georgia- Westsider-O.o
March 16th, 2010
9:33 pm
smh..Nets