Atlanta Hawks at Pistons: Bibby’s back, J.J. rests, Pistons show life
Bibby is back in the starting lineup vs. the Pistons. Zaza is available. Collins is not. J.J. is out until at least Friday vs. Toronto. Woody said: “If Joe had to play, he could play. But this gives Joe an opportunity to rest as well. He’s not played as many minutes as last year but he’s still top 10 in minutes played (he’s actually 11th). That’s OK. He’s not burned as much as last year and hopefully that will help for the playoffs.”
Rip Hamilton (ankle) is out for the Pistons. So are Tayshaun Prince (personal), Jason Maxiell (back) and Chris Wilcox (hamstring).
– Other than the daily injury tidbits, it seems the Hawks are in a sorta holding pattern. The Magic clinched the Southeast. The Hawks’ race with Boston for No. 3 in the East looks like it could come down to the final couple games. There’s lots happening elsewhere, though, starting with the Pistons.
Coach John Kuester apparently finally lost it and lit up his team during a practice. Charlie Villanueva, a $35 million bust (both for the Pistons and my fantasy team, though at least I didn’t pay him), took to Twitter to complain about it. So did rookie Austin Daye. And then both players missed the team flight to Philly on Monday. That’s an overpaid vet and a rook on a bad team complaining about their coach getting mad and then making matters worse by missing the flight. Nice.
What happens after all of that? Naturally, the Pistons beat the Sixers last night to end an 11-game losing streak with Villanueva going for 25 points and Daye for nine. So the Pistons might be rejuvenated just in time to welcome the Hawks to The Palace (though Prince did play at Philly).
– The Hawks could use a W since the Chris Bosh-less Raptors will be hard-pressed to put up a fight against Boston tonight. The Celtics are a good road team and they are still smarting after losing to the the Knicks a couple nights after they beat the Cavs.
– Don’t look now but as my boy Perk notes Dwyane Wade is ticked off. He’s balling and the Heat is climbing in the standings at the same time Milwaukee is just trying to survive after Bogut’s surgery. The Heat has unofficially replaced the Bucks as the team the Hawks don’t want to see in the first round.
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
345 comments Add your comment
Najeh Davenpoop
April 7th, 2010
10:17 pm
Boston and Atlanta are now both 49-29, with Boston holding the tiebreaker.
After the Hawks lost to Philly, I projected the Hawks to go no better than 7-3 over their last 10, which would have meant the Celtics would have had to go 5-5 or worse in order for the Hawks to pass them for the 3rd seed.
Boston is currently 2-4 with 4 games left, while the Hawks are 3-3 with 4 games left, over this final 10-game stretch. So far, Boston is doing their part, so the Hawks can’t exactly use the excuse that Boston just caught fire.
The last four games for Boston are vs. WAS, @ MIL, @CHI, and vs. MIL. Based on how they have been playing recently, 2-2 over those 4 games is a fair prediction.
The last four games for Atlanta are vs. TOR, @ WAS, @ MIL, and vs. CLE. Based on how they have been playing recently, 2-2 over those 4 games is a fair prediction.
If my predictions come true, Boston and Atlanta would be tied for the 3rd seed, and Boston would win the tiebreaker. So once again, losing a winnable game to an inferior team comes back to bite the Hawks in the azz. And not having Joe Johnson is not a valid excuse here — not only were they in position to win the game, but Detroit didn’t have Rodney Stuckey for most of the game either.
The wild card here is whether or not Cleveland chooses to rest LeBron James in the final game of the season. If that happens, that game suddenly becomes much more winnable, although even a LeBron-less Cavs team is a formidable opponent for these size-challenged Hawks.
o.O-Mac-Town -Macon, Georgia- Westsider-O.o
April 7th, 2010
10:17 pm
It really doesnt make sense for any team to continuously choke so bad in the 4th quarter, let alone one that is supposed to be on the verge of elite status. No heart or real leadership. I guess by time the 4th comes around their Midol starts wearing off.
drmaryb
April 7th, 2010
10:17 pm
Ain’t this a B I A T C H!
northcyde
April 7th, 2010
10:20 pm
People hollering for me like I’m the President or something . . lol.
Bibby was point shaving at the end. So was Crawford and Smoove. I just don’t understand why this team can’t make shots coming down the stretch of games? And the defense . . smh.
We finally get a good game out of Marvin, and we still find a way to lose . . smh.
Ya’ll can rip whomever you want tonight. Just make sure you rip EVERYBODY that had a direct hand in this loss.
BONE
April 7th, 2010
10:20 pm
STFU DAN YOU PROBABLY THINK THE HAWKS ARE A THREAT FOR THE EAST CHAMPIONSHIP, JUST STFU AND GTFO
JeJe
April 7th, 2010
10:22 pm
LOL @ northcyde. Not once does he even mention WOODSON
Najeh Davenpoop
April 7th, 2010
10:23 pm
“Detroit came into the game missing starters Tayshaun Prince(notes) (personal reasons) and Richard Hamilton(notes) (ankle), then lost Rodney Stuckey(notes) to a first-half rib injury. The Pistons were also missing reserves Jason Maxiell(notes) (back) and Chris Wilcox(notes) (hamstring).”
But… but poor widdle Hawks were missing their leading scorer…
O'Brien
April 7th, 2010
10:24 pm
Bibby had a -12 rating tonight. but Woody played him 36 minutes.
Crawford, Evans, Marvin, Josh and Al were playing well in the fourth, but then Woody brought Bibby back in.
Woody said it looked like Bibby was laboring out there as the game went on. but yet he still played him 36 minutes coming off the toe situation.
Did I mention Teague only played 5 minutes?
Woody was spot on with his comments though. He said he wanted Bibby out there to help settle us down, and make shots. Unfortunately, our veteran guards did not do that.
The bad thing is, Woody always tells us what went wrong after the game, but can’t do anything to stop it.
Rick Sund
April 7th, 2010
10:25 pm
Dan is absolutely correct. Our young pg looked scared last night. The loss had nothing to do with our great front line getting absolutely torched on defense. It was great to have our future hall of fame pg back in the lineup. Yes he had a -9 out there. Yes he played no defense. Yes he made crucial turnovers. Yes we had a chance to win against one of the worst teams in the league who were missing what seems like half their team. But at least we had his veteran leadership on the floor tonight. I mean we couldn’t score at all in the fourth but at least we had the great Bibby out there to orchestrate this wonderful offense. Who needed a pg out there who could actually play defense and set up his man when we have one who does neither. So everyone take Dans advice.
Greg
April 7th, 2010
10:26 pm
Up 4 with about a minute to go and Josh Smith misses two FT’s. Don’t score the rest of the game. Choking players and “DeadWood” the clueless head coach are a nasty combination. The Hawks are going to have 4-5k empty seats at their first playoff game and the players will be bitching about fan support. Win some damn games that matter and then talk about fan support….and don’t give me this crap about beating the Lakers. The Hawks were just damn lucky to play them on the last game of a 5 game road trip. The Hawks suck so bad on the road that they’d have trouble putting away the Clippers in a 7 game series.
nique
April 7th, 2010
10:27 pm
can we hire the braves to find a superstar for the hawks now?
JeJe
April 7th, 2010
10:28 pm
OK.
Look, I know everyone here hates me.
But we just LOST ON THE ROAD (AGAIN!!) TO A TEAM without its 3 BEST PLAYERS and 2 key big men!!!! LOL.
Somehow Marvin’s 17 points really were garbage points to me.
This guy sucks
Woodson sucks
nique
April 7th, 2010
10:29 pm
deadwood roflmao
too bad the clippers aren’t in our conference. so they could sweep the hawks 1st round.
JeJe
April 7th, 2010
10:29 pm
How do NBA players (500 or so of the BEST BASKETBALL PLAYERS IN THE WORLD) shoot FTs so badly?
I just don’t get it. How is Smoove getting paid 12 million a year BUT CAN’T MAKE A FREE THROW. WHAT DOES “FREE THROW” MEAN? iT MEANS “FREE” THROW!
GOD DAMNIT
MAD-DONNA
April 7th, 2010
10:30 pm
Check the minutes played! This is Woodson’s modus operandi (method of operation, or M.O.). What a farce this guy is! The Hawks won’t make it out of the first round!
Atlanta Hawks Starters Min PTS FG 3PTS FT PF TO OREB DREB REB AST STL BLK
M. Williams F 37 17 7 – 13 0 – 1 3 – 6 2 2 4 5 9 2 1 0
A. Horford C 39 14 6 – 13 0 – 0 2 – 2 1 0 2 10 12 6 0 2
M. Bibby G 36 14 6 – 14 2 – 7 0 – 0 4 2 0 5 5 3 1 0
J. Smith F 37 13 6 – 10 0 – 0 1 – 5 2 6 4 4 8 3 1 3
M. Evans G 32 8 3 – 9 0 – 2 2 – 3 1 0 1 1 2 0 2 1
Bench Min PTS FG 3PTS FT PF TO OREB DREB REB AST STL BLK
J. Crawford 34 19 8 – 20 0 – 7 3 – 3 3 3 2 4 6 5 3 0
Z. Pachulia 12 3 0 – 1 0 – 0 3 – 4 1 0 2 1 3 0 0 1
J. Teague 6 0 0 – 0 0 – 0 0 – 0 1 1 0 1 1 1 0 0
J. Smith 6 0 0 – 3 0 – 0 0 – 0 1 0 0 2 2 1 1 0
M. West 1 0 0 – 0 0 – 0 0 – 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
J. Collins 0 0 0 – 0 0 – 0 0 – 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
J. Johnson 0 0 0 – 0 0 – 0 0 – 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
R. Morris 0 0 0 – 0
JeJe
April 7th, 2010
10:30 pm
The Hawks winning doesn’t lead to fan support. There are hardly more ppl at games this year than there were 2 years ago. No one watches this team besides true fans/diehard fans. Walk around Atlanta and ask people (who didn’t watch the Braves or watched some of it) how the Hawks did tonight. I assure you no one knows how the Hawks did.
JeJe
April 7th, 2010
10:31 pm
I told you all:
WOODSON does NOT use the bench in the 2nd half or in close games.
How hard is this to see?
Ken Strickland
April 7th, 2010
10:31 pm
I guess we have to blame Marvin for this loss, or maybe Horford, for playing out of position, or JJ for being hurt, but we damn well can’t blame it on poor coaching, hell no! WE GOT OUT PLAYED, AND WE CERTAINLY GOT OUT COACHED. The lack of an effective halfcourt OFF reared its ugly head once again.
How can we expect to make any noise in the playoffs when we’re struggling to win gms at home and on the road against weak teams with starters missing? With 4gms left, and as poorly as we’re playing and being coached, we’ll be lucky to win 2 more gms. That would give us 51 wins, which is 4 more than last yr. Hell, Crawford has won more than 4 gms for us this yr, so that means Woodson has done nothing from a coaching perspective to make this team better.
With no committment during the yr to develop Teague, and the regression of Bibby and Marvin, as well as the likely departure of JJ, what good will it do to resign Woodson? We need to hire a HC that’s:
(1) committed to developing and working with young players,
(2) that gives a damn about OFFENSE and isn’t too stubborn to bring someone in that has a clue,
(3) that has enough sense to know when a particular DEF is working and when it isn’t,
(4) and you know the rest.
GET WOODSON’S A$$ OUT OF HERE!!!!!
JeJe
April 7th, 2010
10:33 pm
LOL AMEN KEN STRICKLAND
IT’S THE SAME POSTS FROM THE SAME PEOPLE EVERY BLOG
1) MARVIN SUCKS
2) BIBBY SUCKS
3) WOODSON IS GARBAGE
DOES ANYONE IN THE HAWKS STAFF READ THIS?
nique
April 7th, 2010
10:33 pm
JeJe because most players playing now grew up wanting to fly like jordan
but didn’t want to learn fundamentals
it’s ok I’m sure josh is in the gym 3 hours/day shooting thousands of free throws to improve his game. oh nah, gotta drive around in the Ferrari and bang hoes instead.
Harpie
April 7th, 2010
10:36 pm
Mike Woodson: WORLD’S WORST COACH!!!!!!!
JeJe
April 7th, 2010
10:42 pm
How do NBA players (500 or so of the BEST BASKETBALL PLAYERS IN THE WORLD) shoot FTs so badly?
I just don’t get it. How is Smoove getting paid 12 million a year BUT CAN’T MAKE A FREE THROW. WHAT DOES “FREE THROW” MEAN? iT MEANS “FREE” THROW!
GOD DAMNIT
Grandad
April 7th, 2010
10:47 pm
1. Wdsn. drawing up Iso-Jam [forgets Joe not in] Det. doubles Jamal everywhere he goes.
2. Nique: “The Hawks must drive/penetrate & kick out for the ['3']“;
[realizing Det. was gonna double Jamal with Wallace, & Bibby couldn’t
drive on ‘Bob Rathbun’ much less Wes Bynum, & Teague was napping on
the bench, He goes:
“oh, it looks like the Pistons are gonna let Al shoot it”; you think?
3. Opinion: You reckon after 70 some odd games & 5 guys play virtually
the whole game and almost entirely the 2nd half…maybe…just maybe, they could use a breather here & there ? ? ? What do I know?
Consistent 4th qtr. meltdowns, not just a pattern, but a reliable presupposition, one searches for an answer.
Greg
April 7th, 2010
10:51 pm
Jeje, the Hawks are clearly a pretender, not a contender….and it’s not hard for even a fan of passing interest to recognize that. While Joe Johnson is a very good player, he’s not going to draw fans to the arena. Josh Smith is the closest Hawk to that, but something is missing with him too. Not a truly elite player that can raise them to a championship level. Cavs vs Magic in the Eastern finals is about as close to a lock as there can be. So what is there to get excited about?
JeJe
April 7th, 2010
10:57 pm
“You reckon after 70 some odd games & 5 guys play virtually
the whole game and almost entirely the 2nd half…maybe…just maybe, they could use a breather here & there ? ? ? ”
LOL!!!!!!!!!!!
YES
Clyde
April 7th, 2010
11:05 pm
Just got off work and the Fire Woody train is now taking off. MC we might need a new blog up asap for this one.
FIRE WOODY
Clyde
April 7th, 2010
11:08 pm
SAMUEL WHERE U AT BUDDY? Come defend your COY.
FIRE WOODY
Grandad
April 7th, 2010
11:09 pm
Hawks bench minus – Jamal = 24 min. P.T.
Pistons bench minus – Ben Gordon = 61 min. P.T.
Det. / Austin Daye = rookie [44 min.]
Det. / Jonas Jerebko = rookie [33 min.]
Det. / DeJuan Summers = rookie [11 min.]
Atl. / Jeff Teague = rookie [6 min.]
Clyde
April 7th, 2010
11:13 pm
Will Bynum goes for 17 and Ben Gordon goes for 22. Just another night on the defensive end for Bibby.
FIRE WOODY
JeJe
April 7th, 2010
11:20 pm
RESIGN WOODY
HE’S SUCH A GOOD COACH
JeJe
April 7th, 2010
11:21 pm
MIKE BIBBY IS THE WORST DEFENDER IN THIS LEAGUE.
EVERY TIME I SEE A PLAYER OPEN FOR 3 ON THE OPPOSING TEAM, BIBBY IS “RUNNING” TOWARD HIM. HE CANNOT STAY IN FRONT OF A BRICK WALL
Clyde
April 7th, 2010
11:21 pm
Good coaches know how to coach thru injuries. That’s why you give your reserves as much playing time possible so when you do have injuries you don’t miss a beat. Get this through your head Woody. All those DNP’s for Teague, West, Joe Smith, and Mo are not coming back to haunt you.
FIRE WOODY
JeJe
April 7th, 2010
11:22 pm
““We self-destructed again coming down the stretch,” Hawks coach Mike Woodson said. “We’ve got to figure it out.”
LOL. HOW THE HELL HAVEU NOT FIGURED IT OUT? IT’S ABOUT PLAYING TEAM DEFENSE AND ACTUALLY HAVING AN OFFENSIVE PLAN/ BEATING THE ZONE
JESUS CHRIST
GOD DAMNIT
cp
April 7th, 2010
11:22 pm
The sad part is that you could clearly tell Bibby was gassed. Dude was huffing and puffing walking up the court after a timeout. He had no gas left. I guess Woodrow didn’t feel the need to get him more rest. The fact that he was tired and getting owned on defense makes it even more obvious he shouldn’t have been in the game.
Clyde
April 7th, 2010
11:23 pm
Maya Moore > Bibby
FIRE WOODY
Clyde
April 7th, 2010
11:25 pm
Bibby was out of gas last year but Sund gave him a new contract.
FIRE WOODY
nique
April 7th, 2010
11:26 pm
woodson.
seriously?
really?
you could of taken your B game and got a win in New Fallujah.
but you got flushed out of the malice palace.
as someone posted after an equally embarrassing hawks loss a few months ago, woodson can’t ride this bronco
get avery johnson to coach. this 4th quarter nonsense would end.
Clyde
April 7th, 2010
11:27 pm
That’s how stubborn Woody is. Playing Teague 6 minutes when Old Man Bibby is gasping for air makes no sense.
FIRE WOODY
Clyde
April 7th, 2010
11:28 pm
FIRE WOODY
Clyde
April 7th, 2010
11:30 pm
“We’ve got to figure it out.” – Woody
Dam Woody 6 years and you still can’t figure it out? SMGDH
jomo
April 7th, 2010
11:33 pm
Don’t the Hawks players watch game films? Most of the games that were lost in the closing minutes were due to careless passes, poorly executed plays. Everyone in the lineup during those were periods were potential scorers, yet the ball hardly moves. JJ acts as if he’s afraid that if he passes it he might not get it back. So what? If the ball is swinging like it should somebody is going to be open. While it’s cool to have the ball in the hands of your most reliable scorer, it’s even cooler if it goes to an open man during the double team.
Clyde
April 7th, 2010
11:40 pm
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
FIRE WOODY
irishmafia116
April 7th, 2010
11:59 pm
Lousy coach once again he does not have team prepared to play a recurring theme year after year game after game particularly noticeable against poor teams dump his sorry ass even after the past two “successful” years still has the worst coaching record in NBA history for a coach with over 100 NBA games
Pistons (90) Hawks (88) Game Recap | Soaring Down South | An Atlanta Hawks blog
April 8th, 2010
9:00 am
[...] are hardly a playoff team. The Pistons came into the game surrounded by the controversies of a Coach’s explosion at practice, angry player tweets, and then two players missing a team plane. Add to that the Pistons were without Rip Hamilton, Tayshaun Prince, Jason Maxiell, and Rodney [...]
hawfan2
April 8th, 2010
1:55 pm
People say, well we lost to them when JJ played, so this & Charlotte loss would have occurred with or without JJ, but what is our record without JJ? 2-3, a losing record, losing 60% of our games so far. I bet in the long run this is a barely .500 team without JJ, we are fighting for the 7th or 8th seed.
And now people are beginning to see Crawford’s shortcomings on defense as he got exposed, plus his offense is hit or miss, especially when they start paying attention to him or he gets mega minutes without the benefit of having JJ as the focus.