Atlanta Hawks: Heat at Hawks
Zaza was raving the other day about a saying he saw on Twitter:
“Better to have it well done than well said.”
What he means is it’s time for the Hawks to stop talking and start doing. There are just two exhibition games left, tonight vs. the D-Wade less Heat and tomorrow at Charlotte. The season starts Wednesday in Memphis.
Can the Hawks get it together by then?
“I am sure that is a question on everyone’s mind after seeing us play five games we have already played,” Zaza said. “I am sure nobody is happy who is cheering for the Hawks. It starts from us, the players, the coaching staff, the management–nobody is happy.”
Yes, there have been injuries. There’s a new coach. There’s a new offense. It will take time.
But now the Hawks are healthy, the season is approaching and there has to be some urgency.
“We haven’t had really had the chance to play together,” Teague said. “At the offensive end it is kind of stagnant. We are still trying to figure things out. Guys really don’t know it all the way. But we can always play defense, and that’s something we have been working on really hard these last couple practices. I think you will see a whole different side of us tonight.”
Heard that one before from the Hawks. In fact, they were saying pretty much the same thing before getting blown out (again) by the Magic Monday night. Well said but not well done.
Bibby made it a point to say he would take on the challenge of getting the offense going.
“Teams have been really coming hard at us,” Bibby said. “I think it starts with me. I put that on me as far as giving energy to the team and try to get us easy baskets instead of trying to set up in the halfcourt. I think the energy will be better tonight. I am going to start with me and try to get everybody easy baskets.”
That’s fine but L.D. is trying to make it about defense. He said the Hawks made some strides when they held Orlando to 44 points in the first half Monday. He noted it will take time to create a culture of all-out defense.
The Hawks are running out of time before the games start counting.
“I think that when Coach Drew came in, a lot of people talked about the offense but I think what he’s been harping is on defense,” Al said. “I think the only way that this team can amount to anything is if we can consistently bring it on the defensive end. And I know we’ve talked about this in the past but it has to happen in order for us to have any chance. That’s effort, playing hard, really getting after it hard consistently from everybody. Because if one guy breaks down it can throw the whole thing off.”
MC
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312 comments Add your comment
Najeh Davenpoop
October 21st, 2010
10:34 pm
Refs are letting them play in crunch time. Nice to see.
Najeh Davenpoop
October 21st, 2010
10:34 pm
W… T….F
bigdave
October 21st, 2010
10:34 pm
Josh!!!!!!!!!!!1
Wabe
October 21st, 2010
10:34 pm
Common Smoove…
Under 2 minutes to go…
You can’t be chuckin’ up those types of looks.
bigdave
October 21st, 2010
10:35 pm
Larry slap him!
cp
October 21st, 2010
10:35 pm
wtf was that josh
Rev in Tampa
October 21st, 2010
10:35 pm
I was in a real happy place until Josh took that 3pt.
bigdave
October 21st, 2010
10:35 pm
LD sending the double .. like it
bigdave
October 21st, 2010
10:36 pm
Al @ the 4 offensively is what scares me.
drmaryb (*_*)
October 21st, 2010
10:36 pm
Bosh breathing like a dog! LOL! He tired.
Wabe
October 21st, 2010
10:36 pm
Let’s see if Duck can earn his first name this season…
cp
October 21st, 2010
10:36 pm
This is the Bibby we need for this upcoming season and damn was that the invisible man
Najeh Davenpoop
October 21st, 2010
10:36 pm
Hell yeah, knock ‘em down Marvin! The Hawks need 40% from him from behind the arc this season.
bigdave
October 21st, 2010
10:37 pm
this is a big confidence builder if we hang on.. knowing that, in the words of Woody..
“sh..t works”
Samuel
October 21st, 2010
10:37 pm
Good game tonight. hawks will do well against smaller teams like the Heat. Can we do it when Wade comes back? We will see. Good game however, much better effort all around. Teague still doesn’t impress me much more than last year. He still can’t shoot and doesn’t look like a leader. Bibby definitely is still the better all around player.
kwooden1
October 21st, 2010
10:37 pm
BIG Shot Marvin! He needed that more than the HAWKS!
drmaryb (*_*)
October 21st, 2010
10:37 pm
Big Z dropped his head when Marv hit that 3! Lol
cp
October 21st, 2010
10:37 pm
Gotta give it up to Marvin he knocked down the shot. Something he didnt do last season, hit open shots.
Hawks Fan In New Orleans
October 21st, 2010
10:37 pm
I knew that was going in when Marvin received the pass from JJ. This motion offense is looking god to me.
truly1
October 21st, 2010
10:38 pm
marvin what
Hawks Fan In New Orleans
October 21st, 2010
10:38 pm
“good” not “god”
Rev in Tampa
October 21st, 2010
10:38 pm
The Hawks have been getting some wide open looks at the basket with this motion offense. I wish they would hit more of the 3’s. Nice shot by Marvin, but he was WIDE open.
cp
October 21st, 2010
10:38 pm
Did you see some of the nice passes Teague made and he played some nice D on House. Its only his second game this preseason. Cats on here be ready to give up on folks after one game
bigdave
October 21st, 2010
10:38 pm
hitting shots we missed against Orl.
if anything from that game we got open looks.. just needed to knock them down..
GET A CENTER HAWKS,HORSFORD IS A PF
October 21st, 2010
10:38 pm
JOSH SMITH NEEDS TO BE TRADED
Najeh Davenpoop
October 21st, 2010
10:39 pm
More good D from Horford. He was off offensively for most of this game, but on the defensive end he’s been great, especially in this half.
bigdave
October 21st, 2010
10:39 pm
tired Lebron? get use to it..
Wabe
October 21st, 2010
10:39 pm
Good stuff tonite Hawks.
Middle fingers to you Eddie House…
bigdave
October 21st, 2010
10:40 pm
cool customer there b.
kill em wit d flow jigga man!!
bigdave
October 21st, 2010
10:41 pm
no designed improvisation.. we know what we doing.. and it looks good. IDENTITY ! ROLES!
drmaryb (*_*)
October 21st, 2010
10:41 pm
They Came
They Saw
They Measured
And, we were NOT lacking!
And, Joe got some rest from NOT pounding the ball!
Najeh Davenpoop
October 21st, 2010
10:41 pm
“Teague still doesn’t impress me much more than last year. He still can’t shoot and doesn’t look like a leader. Bibby definitely is still the better all around player.”
In this game, Bibby was better. Always nice to have a veteran insurance policy. Will Bibby play this well in a regular season game against Jameer Nelson or Rajon Rondo? Probably not. That’s where the Hawks will need Teague. And while Teague may not have scored much today, he knew where to get the ball to set up teammates with good looks.
Najeh Davenpoop
October 21st, 2010
10:41 pm
Joe just spit on David Aldridge…
bigdave
October 21st, 2010
10:41 pm
im excited.. it looks good. damn
Ramon
October 21st, 2010
10:42 pm
Think about how tired other teams will be once the Hawks get used to running this offense. This will wear down teams if they stick with it.
Ree Roe
October 21st, 2010
10:42 pm
I know it’s preseason, but excellent win. Very impressed with what I saw out of our Hawks tonight.
Instead of us fizzling out with Iso’s in the 4th, we see ball movement, solid defense & clutch shots. Solid win
-REEverend Roe!!!
Sautee
October 21st, 2010
10:42 pm
We scored 98 on a decent defensive team. Astro Joe should be happy-er.
bigdave
October 21st, 2010
10:42 pm
Najeh..
i peeped that.. lol..
said excuse me.
good thing or 303 would’ve been all over him..
cp
October 21st, 2010
10:42 pm
Its nice to see Joe not have to work so hard for his points. He got easy and open shots without all the dribbling. If they execute this offense they will be fine. More importantly i liked what i saw from them defensively. My only complaint other than Pachulia is all the missed free throws. Cant miss that many free points.
Sautee
October 21st, 2010
10:43 pm
Ramon,
Thanks for the reply. That’s all I was asking.
Ramon
October 21st, 2010
10:44 pm
Watch the same idiots who were talking the most noise about the Hawks being sorry after losing to Orlando, are going to be the same ones who come and post that tonight doesn’t mean anything because its only preseason.
Najeh Davenpoop
October 21st, 2010
10:46 pm
Co-sign everyone pointing out how easy Joe’s buckets were in this game.
I don’t think this game sends a message to Miami or anyone else, but it is a big confidence builder for the Hawks. They have had an uneven preseason trying to learn how to execute new schemes on either end, but this game should at least tell them that if they buy into the system they are talented enough to hang with anyone. Preseason still doesn’t mean much, but I think it’s big for the Hawks’ mentality.
cp
October 21st, 2010
10:47 pm
Not only that Ramon, they will talk about how Wade didnt play which a few have already done. I said in a post the other day, you cant have it both ways. The games cant count when the Hawks lose but only be preseason when they win.
Ree Roe
October 21st, 2010
10:47 pm
Definitely felt like a regular season game, the intensity on defense & energy on offense out of the Hawks was excellent. Now if we can get ZaZa & some of our bench up to speed, we look like we can again be a force in the East
-REEst up for Roe!!!
drmaryb (*_*)
October 21st, 2010
10:48 pm
I like the professionalism from our bench’s side.
No one was laughing at the opponent.
I was disgusting to see The Magic Head Coach and every player to a man was clowning The Hawks in our House on Monday night.
It was not a good look on Nat’l. TV.
They weren’t laughing when The Celtics kicked their butts.
I don’t like the Magic players.
Nice to see LeBron sent packing for a change.
Bump D-Wade and his leg, We have problems of our own!
I see Bron still making Powder Kegs before games, that is so self serving and tired. I thought he would have left the shenanigans in Ohio.
What a hot dog! I don’t like hot dogs – literally. Never touched one, don’t know what’s in it?
Hawks Fan In New Orleans
October 21st, 2010
10:49 pm
@ bigdave, me too – all the doom in gloom on these blogs was demoralizing but I was impressed with the offense and overall defense tonight. They kicked it in gear tonight – now the task is keeping it in gear for the regular season.
cp
October 21st, 2010
10:52 pm
Roe they have been trying to get Pachulia up to speed since last year. Dude is flat out terrible around the rim. He loves that weak pump fake and goes up soft and slow instead of going up with some authority. He blowed numerious beautiful passes last year and he blew a few this game.
kwooden1
October 21st, 2010
10:56 pm
I guess a beating can get you focused:
1) Much better energy on defensive and offensive
2) Great fight on a night when the shots aren’t falling
3) Much better trust in the offensive system
4) Bibby really brought his game!
Offensively Horford really couldn’t shoot, but the HAWKS will be a very good team when he starts knocking down the 18 footers. I think they got some confidence in the system and got assists in the 4th quarter. Orlando is a different beast all together, but at least this game really showed them what ball movement can do!
Samuel, I actually think Jeff played pretty well. He attacked the basket and made good decisions. The stats show he had 2 TO and 3 Assists, but I don’t remember the TOs. We will need him against most guards in this league and I thought he took some steps forward. Bibby’s a tough guy, but just can’t stay with the quicker guards. Teague is very athletic, but doesn’t have a great jumpshot. I think those guys can really help each other. Bibby can help Teague learn to be a better leader and Jeff can help Bibby get through the year with less wear and tear.
Nice game guys! Way to finish it off with 2 3s
GO HAWKS!
Hawks Fan In New Orleans
October 21st, 2010
10:59 pm
lol @ drmaryb, the term hotdog is a perverted slang word that has become a mainstay in the american english lexicon – what does a grown man look like putting a ‘hot dog’ to his face, ugh. I have trained my 3 year old son to call them franks and he calls them nothing but franks, lol.
I cannot stand hotdogging athletes, Barry Bonds to Deion – well maybe Deion gets a pass.
I like the fact the Hawks are getting NO RESPECT – gives us more reason to get out there and earn it!
brigadierjerry
October 21st, 2010
11:00 pm
Even though Wade was out and only a preseason game, The Hawks look like they match up decently with the Heat. Bosh is very overrated he reminds me of a better skilled version of Stacy Augmon.
Looking at the game it seems the Heat do not have great length and can be bullied on the boards. between wade james and bosh they will have to combine to have to score minimum 60-65 points between them for offense