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
VenomSpitter
March 16th, 2010
9:33 pm
I just feel that there would be a real lack of ball movement if JJ was out there.
Najeh Davenpoop
March 16th, 2010
9:33 pm
Kind of an awkward way to get your first dime, but I’m sure Teague will take it.
Big Ray
March 16th, 2010
9:36 pm
Yeah Najeh , you take it how you can get it. Been many times where he got a sweet pass into Joe Smith or Zaza Pachulia, but they didn’t convert. So that happen in many games.
o.O-Mac-Town -Macon, Georgia- Westsider-O.o
March 16th, 2010
9:36 pm
@Do we need JJ?
Interesting. I’m very curious about how we look in T-DOT against the Raps as well.
Things look great right now…but then again it is the Nets.
Melvin
March 16th, 2010
9:37 pm
Big Ray,
I think Venom Spitter is trying to commit Blog suicide…
o.O-Mac-Town -Macon, Georgia- Westsider-O.o
March 16th, 2010
9:38 pm
uh oh..the TWIN TOWERS
Sleepy
March 16th, 2010
9:38 pm
Just checked the numbers and Crawfords shooting 51% from 2 and 50% from 3 for the month of march and averaging 20 ppg.
O'Brien
March 16th, 2010
9:38 pm
By getting this big lead, the startes will get some rest, because they play Toronto tomorrow (without JJ again, and the Raptors are much better than the Nets).
Big Ray
March 16th, 2010
9:38 pm
Sleepy ,
Nice…
o.O-Mac-Town -Macon, Georgia- Westsider-O.o
March 16th, 2010
9:39 pm
Randmo makin his presence felt quickly with the brick.
VenomSpitter
March 16th, 2010
9:39 pm
I hope the Joe lovers don’t try to kill me for what I said lol
Melvin
March 16th, 2010
9:39 pm
Is RandMo the new human victory cigar???
Wabe
March 16th, 2010
9:39 pm
I know it’s the Nets, but it’s still extremely satisfying to see us do what we were “supposed to do” against the Nets minus our star 2-gaurd, JJ.
VenomSpitter
March 16th, 2010
9:39 pm
LOL Jason Collins Runs in slow motion.
O'Brien
March 16th, 2010
9:40 pm
Is it just me, or is Teague’s shot usually short?
o.O-Mac-Town -Macon, Georgia- Westsider-O.o
March 16th, 2010
9:41 pm
Teague’s really gonna be in Woodson’s dog house now.
Do we need JJ?
March 16th, 2010
9:41 pm
Melvin,
Venom Spitter is not the only one questioning the Joe Johnson situation, I have watched almost every Hawk game this year and the team just changes when Crawford is out there, the play with an extra step and if notice the nights they win its cause they create separation when Crawford is out there in the second, third, and closing out the fourth. I think more time with Crawford and mid-level center then Joe’s contribution would be spread more among the team and not missed, rest of the players will easily make up that 22 points per game.
VenomSpitter
March 16th, 2010
9:41 pm
I wonder if Mark Price is working with Teague becuz his shot is still broken. Hopefully it can be fixed.
Nite Owl
March 16th, 2010
9:42 pm
I love Joe but I wouldn’t give him max money. Give his spot to Jamal (and extend him), and give the leftover shots to Marvin, who we’re stuck with for good or bad anyway because of his contract.
Smoove and Al will continue to grow and take over this team. Find a scorer or two for the bench—and you’ve still got a hell of a team without Joe.
Just my half a cent.
Melvin
March 16th, 2010
9:42 pm
No 4th qtr mins for Josh. I’m sure he doesn’t know what to do with himself on the bench. He just may give Bibby a manicure…
o.O-Mac-Town -Macon, Georgia- Westsider-O.o
March 16th, 2010
9:42 pm
After this game, Woodson is gonna have more confidence in Frank Robinson than Teague.
Wabe
March 16th, 2010
9:43 pm
Teague will be SOLID threat if he can develop a decent mid-range jumper to go and get that floater in the lane down. I think he can already play a decent role as a true PG because he has the ability to weave his way through traffic and penetrate. He just needs to find a way to let his offense loose. He was a explosive scorer at Wake Forest, so he’s capable of getting there. He just needs time to adjust and let his game translate.
VenomSpitter
March 16th, 2010
9:43 pm
Nobody benefits more from Joe not playing than Marvin the Duck.
15 pts 5 rebs 3 ast 1 stl
o.O-Mac-Town -Macon, Georgia- Westsider-O.o
March 16th, 2010
9:44 pm
lmao….
VenomSpitter
March 16th, 2010
9:44 pm
Uh Oh Teague is havin fun now
Ken
March 16th, 2010
9:44 pm
Teague is not ready to lead the team. After watching him start tonight, he seemed lost and did not take advantage of this opportunity at all. I think he has a confidence issue . Now I see why Woody has been so hesitant to use him more despite Bibby’s struggles. I was expecting more from him tonight and was really dissapointed.
Melvin
March 16th, 2010
9:45 pm
Mario West nickname is Crash and Burn. The man knock himself to the floor after a breakaway dunk…LMAO…. I love that guy…
Big Ray
March 16th, 2010
9:47 pm
Good to see us blow these guys out, without JJ.
Marvin had a good game, Crawford was on it, Horford played very well. Decent contributions from the bench.
Now for the real test in Toronto…
o.O-Mac-Town -Macon, Georgia- Westsider-O.o
March 16th, 2010
9:47 pm
….no clue why the Nets have such a lousy record with athletes and play makers like Chris Quinn.
Big Ray
March 16th, 2010
9:49 pm
Wabe ,
Exactly. Which is why Woody always endorses the kid, even while limiting his minutes. I think Teague will work hard this summer on his jumper. He knows what he has to do. Now we get to see how good (or bad) his work ethic is.
Najeh Davenpoop
March 16th, 2010
9:49 pm
The problem with using a game like this to assume that the Hawks would be better off without Joe is that you are blaming Joe for Woody’s shortcomings. Joe, I’m assuming, didn’t arrange a secret meeting with Woody to hatch an evil scheme to always run isolation instead of installing a scheme that involves ball movement. My guess is if Joe leaves and Crawford starts, you’ll be seeing an awful lot of iso-Crawford next year. And as much as I like Crawford, his shot selection gets a lot worse when you rely on him to carry your offense, as he’s proven throughout his career.
Over the course of a season, I would prefer iso-Joe to iso-Crawford. Crawford is perfect in his current role.
section119lady
March 16th, 2010
9:49 pm
Hopefully we are well rested for game tomorrow night, especially Smoove who is gonna need to have a good game defensively tomorrow.
Maybe Marvin will understand he can play like this when Joe comes back, and maybe Joe can play a little more team ball when he gets back from his nap.
You think Woody will play these guys more this 7 man rotation act is not gonna work.
Melvin
March 16th, 2010
9:49 pm
Well dang, the last time the Hawks beat the Nets in that dump, TLue and the popcorn maker (Lorenzen) was on the team…. I’m glad we are passed those days…
VenomSpitter
March 16th, 2010
9:50 pm
WTF was he doin. That was one of those pushes str8 outta NBA jam when your shoes light up LOL
Melvin
March 16th, 2010
9:50 pm
Mo Evans should have pass that ball anyway…
Wabe
March 16th, 2010
9:50 pm
We didn’t need that bucket Mo Evans.
o.O-Mac-Town -Macon, Georgia- Westsider-O.o
March 16th, 2010
9:52 pm
Somethin tells me….even if its in the back of his mind…..that JJ has some ill thought about this game
“man dang, they didnt look like the missed me tonight”
Big Ray
March 16th, 2010
9:55 pm
Najeh ,
Agreed on that…
VenomSpitter
March 16th, 2010
9:56 pm
Hey Mac Joe is probably texting Marvin right now “U know u only had a good game cuz I wasn’t there right? U betta play yo duck position when I get back” lol
Sautee
March 16th, 2010
9:57 pm
Najeh,
If Joe WERE to leave, why wouldn’t we just share the ball like we did tonight.
Yes, I understand the need for ISO’s on occasion, but why should sharing not be the staple?
Ree Roe
March 16th, 2010
9:57 pm
Solid all around game by everyone on the roster. Teague obviously struggled, but the rest of the team picked him up. Jamal, Marvin & Al were huge & we’ll need more from them tomorrow w/o Joe (again). I find it hilarious that some of yall think the team is better off without Joe just because we beat the Nets. GTFOH
-REEalize I’m Roe!
Big Ray
March 16th, 2010
9:58 pm
Dang, if I recall correctly, Northcyde guessed pretty damn close to what Teague’s whole stat line was going to look like…
o.O-Mac-Town -Macon, Georgia- Westsider-O.o
March 16th, 2010
9:59 pm
Venom, Marvin probably replied “lol (random smiley face picture here)”
Big Ray
March 16th, 2010
9:59 pm
Ree Roe ,
You kill me with your signature line at the bottom of every post…
HawksFan11
March 16th, 2010
9:59 pm
Najeh,
Can’t agree 100%. Joe is an All-Star and the team captain. He has to recognize when the iso-(fill-in-the-blank) isn’t working and refocus the teams efforts. As great a scorer as JJ is, a natural team leader, he ain’t.
Nite Owl
March 16th, 2010
10:00 pm
Good point, Najeh. Still not sure I want to give Joe the max, though.
I think Jamal is ready to be the man at two, and he’s heading into his prime. He’s been selfish on bad teams, but he’s no Isaiah Rider.
But yeah, what WOULD Woody do with that bunch? Don’t bring me down, man…
VenomSpitter
March 16th, 2010
10:00 pm
If I was Marvin I would Text “Shut the DUCK” to Joe lol
Ree Roe
March 16th, 2010
10:01 pm
Oh yea. Hawks are 3 GB of ORL now. We still have a shot at this division people…ORL in the A next Wed is a MUST WIN game for us
-REEap what you Roe!!!
Sautee
March 16th, 2010
10:02 pm
Final nimbers Fake vs. Real:
Real center (Lopez) 36 min 21 pts, 4 reb, 1 ast
Fake center (Horford) 30 min 15 pts, 11 reb, 7 ast
Wow, I guess sometimes less is more.
Ree Roe
March 16th, 2010
10:05 pm
@ Big Ray, no doubt bruh, lol
-REEtarded, not Roe!!!