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
Big Ray
April 14th, 2010
9:57 pm
Could it be that maybe a rookie pg is this aggressive in a game that does not feature the team’s top 3 scorers in it?
I wonder how much Woody would appreciate Teague taking more shots (whether he was hitting them or not) if Joe, Jamal, and/or Josh were in the game? I mean, for a while there even Bibby wasn’t taking many shots before Woody smacked him in the butt and told him to start shooting again, rather than let Joe and Jamal do it all.
cp
April 14th, 2010
9:58 pm
People can call this a scrub game as much as they like but Jamison played and he is a starter, Parker is a starter, Hickson is a starter, Delonte plays big minutes for them, Jawad Williams was in the rotation and etc. Cleveland has played most of their main guys while the Hawks haven’t.
teagued
April 14th, 2010
9:59 pm
my azzhole hurts
Melvin
April 14th, 2010
9:59 pm
The Nets can’t even beat the Heat 3rd string team…
VenomSpitter
April 14th, 2010
9:59 pm
Teague deserved at least 18 (consistent) mins a game this season
teagued
April 14th, 2010
9:59 pm
stfu teauge sucks yall are c0ck riders
o.O-Mac-Town -Macon, Georgia- Westsider-O.o
April 14th, 2010
10:01 pm
did notice that@cp
It just goes to show you how much the other Cavs players that are sitting out this one mean to them..
Lebron, Refs, etc.
J.J.M.
April 14th, 2010
10:01 pm
uh oh the nets coming back
Melvin
April 14th, 2010
10:01 pm
CP,
You forgot about Big Z.
Blast
April 14th, 2010
10:02 pm
Bob, don’t worry about keeping us posted about the playoff picture. We keeping watch on our own!
VenomSpitter
April 14th, 2010
10:02 pm
Teague 18 pts 12 ast
Melvin
April 14th, 2010
10:02 pm
Lebron and Mo Williams has left the Cavs bench. Those chumps couldnt stand to watch this beat down any longer. Nor did they want to shake hands after the game. Punks…
Nacho
April 14th, 2010
10:03 pm
I did not realize that a point guard could rack up so many assist! Wow!
Teague can take the Hawks to a new level. We need a backup center and a SF shooter and our team can fly.
Point Guard, what an intersting concept.
Go Teague.
BONE
April 14th, 2010
10:03 pm
LOL WE ACTAUALLY HAVE A BENCH……???? WISH I CLDVE SEEN IT MORE DURING THE YEAR FIRE WOODY
Sleepy
April 14th, 2010
10:04 pm
Teague didnt deserve 18 min . Anyone who tries to use this game to argue for Teague is no better than Northcyde arguing that a bad performance would justify the opposite.
Lacsho
April 14th, 2010
10:05 pm
Bottom line Teague should start next year!!!!
N-Trigue
April 14th, 2010
10:05 pm
Teague should be starting he would be way further along if wouldve been playing! And have you all every seen bibby giving Teague advice??? Nope!!!
Melvin
April 14th, 2010
10:05 pm
Cavs guards cant advance the ball past half court against Teague and Mario quick hands….
O'Brien
April 14th, 2010
10:05 pm
I know we’re playing against scrubs, but did anyone notice how BETTER our defense looks without all that switching?
Big Ray
April 14th, 2010
10:05 pm
LOL@ Sautee
Yeah, the whole all-star thing was obviously a conspiracy. Remember what Doc Rivers said about Horford when asked if he was a center or power forward? “I don’t know what he is, but he’s a heck of a player, a beast.”
J.J.M.
April 14th, 2010
10:06 pm
heat bout to choke
VenomSpitter
April 14th, 2010
10:08 pm
Teague ballin. Bibby is seeing his starting job slip away lol
tiger woo
April 14th, 2010
10:08 pm
No worries with Horford – how many true dominant centers are left anyway that give Horford trouble?
D. Howard, Shaq (used to be dominant), Duncan (getting old) Yao, Bynum, Bogut (maybe)
Melvin
April 14th, 2010
10:09 pm
Mario enforcing the no layup rule in the paint..
Ree Roe
April 14th, 2010
10:09 pm
Even tho I’m unable to see the game live Im readin the boxscore & the Rook is hoopin somethin serious! I still remain a huge critic of his, but I’m glad to see him have some success. How many home wins in a row will this be for us?
-REElease the Roe!!!
VenomSpitter
April 14th, 2010
10:09 pm
the heat don’t wanna win
Sautee
April 14th, 2010
10:09 pm
Truth-serum,
You say that if we had one of the top 7 centers, we’d be in the hunt.
Other than Howard, who are those other 6 centers you think are better than Horford?
Seriously, I’m curious who you think we’d be better with.
tiger woo
April 14th, 2010
10:09 pm
“And have you all every seen bibby giving Teague advice”?
Haven’t been to too many Hawks practices – have you?
Sleepy
April 14th, 2010
10:10 pm
@Truth with Crawford based on how our starters played this year we are not getting 4th but are fighting with Charlotte and the Bucks duking it out in the 5th 6th 7th range. Our starting 5 has regressed as a unit the addition of Crawford has actually hidden that as people automatically place him as a 6th starter .
Blast
April 14th, 2010
10:11 pm
At worst next season, Teague should get as many minutes as Bibby, win or lose.
Melvin
April 14th, 2010
10:11 pm
Im the Heat and Nets now. Can you a major tank job the Heat are trying to do in the 4th. They were up 13 now up 3 with 2:46 mins left.
Mel
April 14th, 2010
10:11 pm
Heat about to choke 73-70 under 4 mins
o.O-Mac-Town -Macon, Georgia- Westsider-O.o
April 14th, 2010
10:11 pm
Bobcats over ORL in the 1st rd.
Melvin
April 14th, 2010
10:12 pm
I’m watching the Heat and Nets now. Can you say a major tank job the Heat are trying to do in the 4th. They were up 13 now up 3 with 2:46 mins left.
J.J.M.
April 14th, 2010
10:12 pm
I guess the heat wants to play us
J.J.M.
April 14th, 2010
10:15 pm
lol somebody yelled “shoot it jeff”
tiger woo
April 14th, 2010
10:15 pm
I don’t get it – why would the Heat want to tank the game and play Atlanta? Makes no sense . . .
J.J.M.
April 14th, 2010
10:16 pm
lmaooooooooooo@big z
Nacho
April 14th, 2010
10:16 pm
If our 2nd unit (even with out JC) can out play the might bench of Cleveland, perhaps we have under utilized our bench throughout the year.
This is nice to see.
Mel
April 14th, 2010
10:16 pm
Hey Melvin,
where you from?
Big Ray
April 14th, 2010
10:17 pm
Truth Serum ,
Well, we shall see what happens. Yeah, we could have gone a different way with Flip vs. Crawford. I think the deal was there though, so Sund took it. Seriously, offloading Acie and Speedy for a guy who gets you 18ppg off the bench? Hard to beat.
I wanted us to sign Rasheed Wallace early on. Now I’m glad Sund didn’t do it. Dude is 6′11″ and can defend like crazy, but he refuses to do it. Instead of protecting the rim and dunking, he hangs around and shoots 3s.
I think Horford has some appreciative fans like myself and Sautee. The guy came into the league and gets asked to play a different position. He’s actually not a weak defender at all, we disagree there. There is a reason why he doesn’t always protect the rim. It’s called a switching defense. If you put Dwight Howard in the switch defense, which requires that a guy move around and often end up playing against quicker guards and what not, there’s no way he would be able to block as many shots.
In fact, Josh Smith should be blocking 3 shots per game, but he can’t because he has to switch off, too. Josh blocks as many as he does because he will leave the man he is supposed to be guarding and go after somebody else’s shot. At the same time, he lets guys like Troy Murphy, Rashard Lewis, and Michael Beasley shoot jumpers over him all day long. Which hurts worse?
I’m not making excuses, that’s the way Woody has those guys playing defense, and he said out of his own mouth that he does this to protect or hide guys like Bibby and Jamal, who don’t “D” up their man so well. Leave Horford in the paint and he might actually block 2 shots per game and lay some hard fouls. But we can’t do that. Even Detroit didn’t do that, and that’s where the switching defense came from. The difference was, Detroit had 5 guys in the starting lineup who could all guard their own positions, so switching wasn’t a problem. ‘Sheed had Big Ben’s back and Josh has Al’s back.
I know we disagree on Horford’s ability to defend, but I see that he doesn’t defend his position or the rim every night. He has to defend wherever the switch defense takes him. Ask guys around the league if he’s easy to score on. The Celtics absolutely hate him.
I wish we had a prototypical, franchise center, but we don’t. And I don’t know how we’re going to get one without gutting half the roster (and that’s still if a team will go for such a trade).
New Jersey has a franchise cornerstone center in Brook Lopez and a near all-star level point guard in Devin Harris, two of the biggest pieces of the puzzle. It was good for how many wins this year? See what I’m saying…there’s just more to it.
But I’ll say this: Woody’s switch defense was part of a team that has won 52 games (soon to be 53). And Horford’s defense is part of that same team. Can’t have one without the other, can’t have it both ways.
Melvin
April 14th, 2010
10:17 pm
South Africa – I mean Carolina . . .
VenomSpitter
April 14th, 2010
10:18 pm
tiger woo umm the heat have beat the hawks times thats why
VenomSpitter
April 14th, 2010
10:18 pm
*3 times
Sautee
April 14th, 2010
10:18 pm
Glad to see Teague playing well.
‘Night y’all.
bigdave
April 14th, 2010
10:18 pm
Arroyo blowing it.. he missing purposely…
VenomSpitter
April 14th, 2010
10:18 pm
uh oh it’s tied
tiger woo
April 14th, 2010
10:18 pm
Flip Murray was too inconsistent – Crawfors i a big upgrade . . .
bigdave
April 14th, 2010
10:19 pm
tied in MIA..
Melvin
April 14th, 2010
10:19 pm
Those last two shots by Carlos Arroyo to allow the Nets to tie the game looks suspect…