Cavaliers at Atlanta Hawks: Sitting On It (UPDATE: Marvin to play, other starters to sit)
Cavs coach Mike Brown said today at shooataround that LeBron and Shaq
won’t play tonight. Woody said he hadn’t made up his mind: “Game-time decision.” But chances are Hawks starters won’t play or get only token minutes considering the Hawks can’t improve their playoff seeding and that’s the way Woody approached last season’s finale under similar circumstances.
(EDIT: In pregame, Woody said Marvin would start alongside Teague, Joe Smith, and Zaza.)
The consensus among Hawks players is they’re fine with sitting.
“If anything, it helps after such a long season, Al said.
These two will watch the game tonight. (AP Photo/Mark Duncan)
For Brown, the main motivation behind sitting LeBron and Shaq is to avoid injury. “That had a lot to do with it,” he said.
This will be the fourth healthy scratch in a row for LeBron. Shaq just recently was cleared to return after missing six weeks with a thumb injury.
The Cavs will enter the playoffs with their full lineup of LeBron, Shaq, Mo Williams, Antawn Jamison and Anthony Parker having played together for just three full games. Brown wasn’t ready to say that’s not a worry because his team is so veteran.
“You worry,” Brown said. “As a coach you worry about a lot of things. You hope your worries don’t come true.”
After the shootaround, LeBron joked about whether his Atlanta fans want to see him play. Yeah, they do, and by the way does he feel for fans who bought tickets to games to see him as the main attraction? He shook his head: “I’ve played in every arena this year.”
That’s true, though I doubt it’s much solace for his fans who picked the wrong game to buy tickets. Some advice for those fans: If you want to see a star player on a good team, and his final visit is scheduled within the last week or so, best to catch him the first time he comes to town.
– There’s a feeling among the Hawks that the Heat might not go all out to beat the Nets tonight because Miami would rather face the Hawks than the Celtics. That’s not hard to believe. Heat coach Erik Spoelstra says manipulating the seeding would be “messing with the basketball gods” but, depending on how many lines you want to read between, the Hawks’ suspicions can be confirmed by looking at this Miami Herald story by Izzy:
Jermaine O’Neal, who missed one game and started only five against the Hawks (in the playoffs) last year because of a concussion, said the difference between the Hawks and Celtics is predictability.
“[The Hawks] can put you in a tough situation, especially in Atlanta,” O’Neal said. “They play at another level. But you never really know what to expect with those guys. But with Boston, you know it’s going to be very physical, it’s going to be a grind-out type of a game, every-possession-counts type of a game. So it’s kind of like, pick your poison, really.”
Of course, even if the Heat tanked it would need the Bucks to beat Boston tonight to “secure” the No. 6 seed. That should happen since the Celtics are likely to rest their starters, too, but you never know. Maybe the Bucks want the Hawks, too.
MC
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543 comments Add your comment
J.J.M.
April 14th, 2010
9:11 pm
lmaoooooo marvin has got to be traded
terrell
April 14th, 2010
9:11 pm
Marvin, Marvin, Marvin.
Big Ray
April 14th, 2010
9:11 pm
Teague missing shots left and right.
However…still keeping his teammates involved by racking up 7 dimes in the first half.
Mel
April 14th, 2010
9:12 pm
“Mo Williams = lebron n*t hugger”
CO-SIGN
its disgusting
VenomSpitter
April 14th, 2010
9:12 pm
Mo williams might be one off the biggest lebron jockriders on the planet.
Blast
April 14th, 2010
9:12 pm
Wish Jamal was playing in this game, man.
Sleepy
April 14th, 2010
9:12 pm
You guys better pray Marvin has a good playoffs so we can dump him
J.J.M.
April 14th, 2010
9:13 pm
smh I bet mo williams would do anything lebron tell him to do
cp
April 14th, 2010
9:13 pm
Teague, Pachulia, Mario, and Evans are looking good tonight. Marvin even playing with the second unit doesn’t stand out.
VenomSpitter
April 14th, 2010
9:13 pm
I think Rick Sund will use this game to justify why Marvin should go.
bigdave
April 14th, 2010
9:13 pm
i dont think this Marvin Williams things is panning out like we thought..
Sleepy
April 14th, 2010
9:13 pm
Mo Williams needs to be resting because its looking as though he has a date with Derrick Rose this weekend . Let him get his laughs in now lol
Najeh Davenpoop
April 14th, 2010
9:13 pm
If the national media was calling me an All Star just for dribbling the ball up the court, handing it to LeBron, and making 3’s occasionally, I’d be hugging LeBron’s nuts too.
o.O-Mac-Town -Macon, Georgia- Westsider-O.o
April 14th, 2010
9:14 pm
Did you guys see him on the sideline, waiting for lebron to do somethin, then he’d mimic it..like a small toddler with his father. Mo Williams is wack.
BONE
April 14th, 2010
9:14 pm
LIKE………..ORAL……………..LOL GET YALL MINDS OUTTHA GUTTA
Big Ray
April 14th, 2010
9:14 pm
I bet Varejao hair smell like hyena burps
Waaaaahahahahahahaaaa!
bigdave
April 14th, 2010
9:14 pm
“Mo Williams = lebron n*t hugger”
defines nut hugging…
cp
April 14th, 2010
9:14 pm
Big Ray I would love to see Teague go back to attacking the basket. This summer the only 2 things he should do in my opinion is work on his J and that floater. He is good at getting his teammates involved. If Joe Smith could ever hit a jumper Teague might have 10 plus dimes already tonight.
terrell
April 14th, 2010
9:14 pm
J.J.M., In order to be traded you have to find a parter. I would’nt pick Marvin to be on my team in a backyard pickup game, and you think someone is gonna trade for him? Yeah right. lol!
VenomSpitter
April 14th, 2010
9:14 pm
Marvin there is a reason why u are playing while the rest of the starters aren’t. It’s cuz u suck.
Cannon
April 14th, 2010
9:15 pm
Looking at this makes me wanna cry. Oh what could of been!!!! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2005_NBA_Draft
Sleepy
April 14th, 2010
9:16 pm
With Marvin for me at least its not about the numbers but he is like the invisible man out there when he should probably be the most the animated guy out there. With his talent,years of exp. stature he should be standing out if not the stat sheet then physically.
stupid tag line
April 14th, 2010
9:16 pm
big ray when was the last time bibby shoots 2-7 and still dropped alot of assists?
- Retarded Tag line!
BONE
April 14th, 2010
9:17 pm
TEAUGE>BIBBY NOW N FUTURE
terrell
April 14th, 2010
9:17 pm
Has Joe Smith hit that jumper at least 1 time this year? Seriously.
cp
April 14th, 2010
9:17 pm
The sad thing is, you can honestly say Mario looks better than Marvin tonight. I never thought it would be a day where I could say Mario West looks better than somebody on the court. Bring in Travis Outlaw next season im done waiting on Marvin.
VenomSpitter
April 14th, 2010
9:17 pm
Cannon we will not discuss that draft. Somebody might get hurt talkin about that. I think I wanna cry.
NUNNA YO BIZNEZZ
April 14th, 2010
9:18 pm
JT0,WITH 6 POINTS/7 ASSISTS/3 TURNOVERS IN 24 MINUTES…
HE MIGHT BE A LIL TIRED..BUT,I AS ONE THINK THAT EVEN WITH HIS NOT TOO POLISHED PLAY TONITE,THAT HE IS STILL DECENT ENOUGH TO GET MORE TIME ON THE COURT…
AND,IF HE WOULD HAVE GOTTEN THE TIME EARLIER DURING THE SEASON TO PLAY,HE WOULD LOOK A LOT BETTER AND WOULD BE A LOT MORE COMFORTABLE ON THE FLOOR
Najeh Davenpoop
April 14th, 2010
9:18 pm
The strange thing about Teague is that both my impression and the impression of most scouting reports was that he was a much better scorer than point guard coming into the league. This year he has proven the opposite — his scoring, both when it comes to outside shooting and finishing at the rim, needs a lot of work, while his ability to play point guard, particularly in transition, is pretty good for a rookie.
o.O-Mac-Town -Macon, Georgia- Westsider-O.o
April 14th, 2010
9:18 pm
just look at all the scrubs taken ahead of Monta Ellis too, including “The Sniper” Salim Stoudamire
Sautee
April 14th, 2010
9:18 pm
I want to know just HOW J.J.M. knows what hyena burps smell like?
OR Varejao’s hair?
As my daughter would say: “eeuuwwwww”
Big Ray
April 14th, 2010
9:19 pm
cp ,
Right you are. Funny, Mike Woodson was quoted saying something similar to that a couple of nights ago. Something to the affect that the bulk of Teague’s mistakes had to do with other guys not being ready for his passes. Joe and Zaza have been guilty of it. One thing is for certain though. When Teague is in the game with them and Jamal or JJ isn’t dominating the ball, they get fed.
cp
April 14th, 2010
9:19 pm
terrell honestly I dont know. The funny thing about it is he seems to go out farther and farther as if he has range.
Big Ray
April 14th, 2010
9:21 pm
Nunna Yo Biznezz ,
I agree with that, but I’m not stressin’ it anymore. Next year is his time. He needs to work on any shot he takes from the floor and keep going to the basket. Dude could run a pick and roll, I’m quite certain. And he’s quick enough to get to the basket just about when he wants to.
I think he’ll work hard on his shot over the summer. I don’t see him slacking off.
Big Ray
April 14th, 2010
9:22 pm
LOL@ Sautee …
Phone is dead as a doorknob, by the way. Have to charge it…
cp
April 14th, 2010
9:22 pm
Big Ray, ZaZa for some reason tonight is actually converting on Teagues passes while Joe Smith continues to clank those jumpers he hasn’t hit all season. But we both agree, the rook gets the ball to this teammates. He had a beautiful pass in the open court to Mo tonight.
Teague this summer lock yourself in a gym and work on that jumper and that floater. If he improves both the kid will be a problem.
LouFan
April 14th, 2010
9:23 pm
After this game so far I am going have to bow in defeat about Marvin. I thought it was because of the amount of touches. No, it is because he sucks. Start Mo Evans in the playoffs.
J.J.M.
April 14th, 2010
9:24 pm
lol@Sautee
o.O-Mac-Town -Macon, Georgia- Westsider-O.o
April 14th, 2010
9:24 pm
Did Mario West reach that milestone yet??? He had like 7 in the first quarter didnt he???
Big Ray
April 14th, 2010
9:27 pm
Still laughing at J.J.M. …
The concept alone is just killing me
o.O-Mac-Town -Macon, Georgia- Westsider-O.o
April 14th, 2010
9:28 pm
You really have to commend James Verrett for that report, as if this game is serious.
VenomSpitter
April 14th, 2010
9:28 pm
Wow that heat game looks like it’s terrible
VenomSpitter
April 14th, 2010
9:28 pm
Did ya’ll see the Bucks fan LMAOOOOOOOOOOOO
o.O-Mac-Town -Macon, Georgia- Westsider-O.o
April 14th, 2010
9:29 pm
LMAO@Venom
Big Ray
April 14th, 2010
9:29 pm
cp ,
Yep. And I have no reason to believe he won’t do it. He knows what he has to do to get better. I’m sure both the coaching staff and his teammates have made it clear.
I have every reason to believe that he will come back next season shooting much better. In the meantime, he does get his teammates involved and has been learning to play more disciplined defense, instead of relying on his quickness/athleticism.
I still like to watch him run with somebody in the open court and try for the blocked shot. I LOVE that ish…
J.J.M.
April 14th, 2010
9:29 pm
lol venom what happen?
Najeh Davenpoop
April 14th, 2010
9:29 pm
I didn’t know the Archbishop Don Magic Juan was a Bucks fan…
o.O-Mac-Town -Macon, Georgia- Westsider-O.o
April 14th, 2010
9:29 pm
I thought that buck fans was one of those “Travis Porter” dudes
Melvin
April 14th, 2010
9:29 pm
Mario has all kind of scoring moves…LOL
Najeh Davenpoop
April 14th, 2010
9:30 pm
… and it looks like he lost some weight too.