Atlanta Hawks: Hawks at Grizzlies
Memphis–Finally, the games are for real.
Got to see at least some hints about L.D.’s offensive and defensive approaches during the preseason. The one thing that’s still a big mystery is how he will distribute the minutes because (stop me if you’ve heard this one) the injuries made a mess of the rotation.
The Miami game provided the best clue but it wasn’t definitive, unless you somehow think Jamal is going to play just 19 minutes per night.
“I have kind of got an idea of how many I want my starters to play and the guys off the bench,” L.D. said. “I don’t want to wear guys down. I will scale back on a couple starters who played I thought too many minutes in the past. I certainly want to utilize my bench more.”
Like everything else L.D. is trying to do, it remains to be seen if his wishes will match up with reality. He’s committed to going deep in his bench but that means five reserves are going to have to be consistent contributors.
J.J. is all for reduced wear and tear. He said the ideal situation is for the starters to get the Hawks going at the start of the game and after halftime; the reserves hold it down in the second quarter and bridge the third and fourth quarters; and the starters come back to finish the game.
“As long as the starters come out and we start the game off right, come out business-like, that can happen,” he said.
Lakers love
Josh Powell watched the Lakers’ ring ceremony last night and heard Phil Jackson give him a shout out. Some of the Lakers players talked about the team’s cohesiveness. Powell said it was real.
“The experiences and the relationships that I built there are definitely things to miss,” he said. “But I have a new family now and we’ve got things we are trying to accomplish. I wish their organization and team all the best this year.”
No word on when Powell will get his ring.
“I have no idea how that works,” Powell said. “I’m going to get it but I haven’t talked to nobody about that.”
Powell signed with the Hawks for a chance to play meaningful minutes, and L.D. has said Powell will get them. Even when Powell averaged 19.2 minutes for the Clippers in 07-08 the minutes were sporadic.
“For a guy in my shoes for six years and to finally have a real, true chance to be a part of something in the sense of showing what you can do on a night-in, night-out basis and bring somewhat of a leadership role to the guys, I look forward to it,” he said.
Injury report
Mo is still getting his knee up to speed. He said in hindsight he wishes he’d had his surgery earlier in the summer and not pushed the knee too soon after the procedure.
“It’s the residual effects of having arthroscopic surgery and trying to do too much and come back too fast,” he said. “As a professional athlete you are competitive and when I see the guys out there competing, it’s hard to watch. Then you get out there and have success and you get excited and you try to do too much.”
Teague’s ankle isn’t 100 percent yet.
“I feel it sometimes,” he said. “But I will be all right.”
Jamal says his back is fine.
Grizz center Marc Gasol (ankle) is out. Memphis coach Lionel Hollins is starting 6-9 Darrel Arthur in his place with 7-3 Hasheem Thabeet in reserve. Zach Randolph (6-9) can play there, too.
It will be interesting to see if L.D. will go big.
“We’ve got the bodies,” L.D. said. “Against Memphis you may end up using your bodies. They have some bodies and do a good job crashing the boards. You have to block them out. It may take all of our bodies to get the job done.”
MC
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297 comments Add your comment
cp
October 27th, 2010
10:11 pm
Jamal has missed so many wide open guys tonight with his over dribbling . smh
O'Brien
October 27th, 2010
10:11 pm
Jamal still had 6 seconds on the shot clock, and he takes the long contested 3
STEEL(Formerly VenomSpitter)
October 27th, 2010
10:11 pm
@Truth-se rum
Shut up!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Melvin
October 27th, 2010
10:12 pm
Cavs beat the Celtics…LOL..
O'Brien
October 27th, 2010
10:12 pm
Not a good game from Al.
0 points, 5 rebounds, altough he has only played 9 minutes.
Ramon
October 27th, 2010
10:13 pm
As much as I talk about Al, I’m not worried about his production at all. He’s only played a total of 9 minutes, where normally he would’ve had about 24 minutes of game time by now. And when Zaza’s playing like this (as well as Powell) how can he get in any rhythm.
J.J.M.
October 27th, 2010
10:13 pm
jamal ball hogging
nunna!!
October 27th, 2010
10:13 pm
jamaal ball hogging crawford!!
drmaryb (*_*)
October 27th, 2010
10:13 pm
Dang! Zsa Zsa got married this Summer too?
Ramon
October 27th, 2010
10:14 pm
O’brien, in reference to Jamal do you see what I was referring to? It doesn’t seem like he’s ever ‘in the offense’ or operating any type of motion.
Rev in Tampa
October 27th, 2010
10:15 pm
Jamal’s defense has looked good in the third & fourth quarters.
O'Brien
October 27th, 2010
10:15 pm
Ramon,
I see it.
Meanwhile, no minutes from Jordan, which I think will be the norm. I dont think a team that wants to take the next step with the elite can afford to have such a talented player sitting on the bench
O'Brien
October 27th, 2010
10:16 pm
Melvin,
BK drafted Shelden because we needed help in the frontcourt.
He passed on Rudy because we already had marvin.
He also passed on Brandon Roy because we already had JJ.
He messed it up so many ways…
cp
October 27th, 2010
10:17 pm
O’Brien something tells me we will see a lot of that from Jamal this year. Dude is out there dribbling like he is on the AND 1 tour.
Rufus1
October 27th, 2010
10:18 pm
I got enough KOOLAIDE for everyone…..”Bottoms UP”
Ramon
October 27th, 2010
10:18 pm
O’Brien, I think the fact that Evans was doing so good in the first half lead to JC2 not getting any time yet.
drmaryb (*_*)
October 27th, 2010
10:18 pm
In a Bibby radio interview today he said this year he feels a lot less pressure on his game and on this team! Drew seems to be soothing
Rev in Tampa
October 27th, 2010
10:18 pm
Remind me again; what was the Grizzlies preseason record?
J.J.M.
October 27th, 2010
10:18 pm
lmaoooo bibby did that dance
Najeh Davenpoop
October 27th, 2010
10:19 pm
Fun fact: the last time Zaza had as many as 17 points AND as many as 11 points in a game was April 10, 2007 against Boston, when he had 22 and 12.
nunna!!
October 27th, 2010
10:19 pm
i love the energy and the offense yall,but,besides j-smoove,we have no stopper under the basket..
zsa zsa is playing well but he got all arm on that block before the time out..
i don’t really know alot about etan ..what is the scouting report on this guy and his defense..
somebody tell me
RethinkPossible
October 27th, 2010
10:19 pm
The most impressive thing I notice as a fan is how even with Joe off the court, I still feel confident in the offense…In the past (even with Jamal), the constant threat of a pass to a open man (on our team) never existed. It is far too early to make assumptions, but this balanced offensive performance is clearly a step in the right direction. I still think our offense will really take a good amount of time to show dividends, but it sure helps to have our new offensive style to show positive signs this early.
Najeh Davenpoop
October 27th, 2010
10:19 pm
In other words, Zaza hasn’t had a game this good in three and a half years.
hawks_4_life
October 27th, 2010
10:20 pm
JJ for 3….game over
Najeh Davenpoop
October 27th, 2010
10:20 pm
This is officially a blowout. Empty the bench and get Jordan some playing time.
The Hawks really turned up the heat after the Grizzlies cut it to 5 in the 3rd quarter.
Ramon
October 27th, 2010
10:21 pm
Nunna, Etan can’t jump anymore.
Najeh Davenpoop
October 27th, 2010
10:21 pm
Amazingly, nobody in this game has hit the 30 minute mark yet in terms of minutes played.
Rev in Tampa
October 27th, 2010
10:21 pm
The Hawks are contesting every shot; even when the Grizzlies make the shot. Solid defense. Not shut-down, but solid.
Ramon
October 27th, 2010
10:22 pm
Najeh, do you think Zaza lack of production had anything to do with his dislike for Woody?
Earlier in the game, when a timeout was called, I saw LD walk straight to Teague and TALK. I don’t think I remember seeing Woody talk to Teague before. I’ve seen him yell, but not talk.
RethinkPossible
October 27th, 2010
10:26 pm
I think our bench has earned these last 3 minutes, LD needs to play em.
Najeh Davenpoop
October 27th, 2010
10:26 pm
“Najeh, do you think Zaza lack of production had anything to do with his dislike for Woody?”
Could be… or more likely, it could have just been his lack of a defined role, or it could even be that Zaza is just better conditioned this year having prepared to play in this motion offense. Who knows.
Again, I’d like to see the Hawks do this against good teams before I fully jump to the Ken Strickland side of things, but blowing out any team on the road in the season opener is a big deal, and if the Hawks can continue doing the good things they did today the outlook for their season looks promising.
STEEL(Formerly VenomSpitter)
October 27th, 2010
10:26 pm
I think its established that woody was holding this team back like i said
J.J.M.
October 27th, 2010
10:27 pm
lmao whats wrong with horford
RethinkPossible
October 27th, 2010
10:30 pm
Do we all agree, Bob Rathbun is the MAN!
Ramon
October 27th, 2010
10:30 pm
Josh = 37.5% on his jumpers for the night. Sadly, that’s an improvement.
Ramon
October 27th, 2010
10:30 pm
Rethink, be careful! NBAtv or TNT will come and scoop him up.
Najeh Davenpoop
October 27th, 2010
10:31 pm
Heh… nice way to start your career there Jordan.
STEEL(Formerly VenomSpitter)
October 27th, 2010
10:31 pm
Damn Bob said up annnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnd a airball lol
Rev in Tampa
October 27th, 2010
10:31 pm
So what was most impressive tonight?
The effort on the road?
The bench play?
The shooting pct?
Drew’s rotation?
Jordan’s airball?
Ramon
October 27th, 2010
10:31 pm
JC2 waited 46 and a half minutes to shoot an air ball. I bet he was on the bench thinking “I can’t wait to get out there and miss everything.” lol.
Ramon
October 27th, 2010
10:32 pm
Now the Hawks just have to get out of the next minute healthy.
Ramon
October 27th, 2010
10:33 pm
The best play Horford had tonight was taking out Zach, lol.
Najeh Davenpoop
October 27th, 2010
10:34 pm
“So what was most impressive tonight?
The effort on the road?
The bench play?
The shooting pct?
Drew’s rotation?
Jordan’s airball?”
Definitely Jordan’s airball.
Melvin
October 27th, 2010
10:34 pm
Good win tonight….
Ramon
October 27th, 2010
10:35 pm
Truth, I was saying on Josh’s jumpers, not total baskets. He was 3-8.
Najeh Davenpoop
October 27th, 2010
10:35 pm
Seriously though, it’s a tie between the bench play (good bench play on the road is critical) and the commitment to executing the new offense.
Ramon
October 27th, 2010
10:36 pm
Najeh, the airball reminded me of Kobe in his first playoff against Utah.
Najeh Davenpoop
October 27th, 2010
10:36 pm
Now time to flip over to ESPN and see my favorite non-Hawk in the NBA. KD is doing big things already.
Ramon
October 27th, 2010
10:37 pm
Time to watch Blake Griffin.
Grandad
October 27th, 2010
10:37 pm
for those who worried about;
“would LD make adjustments” on defense?
When we went with the zone in the 3rd with Josh up top [point]
it allowed him to shut down Conley, then roam like a
free safety.
Then when he went out with his 4th foul, Marv stepped in and
played that top position on defense almost as well.
Memphis never solved it.