Phoenix Suns at Atlanta Hawks: Larry Drew stays big with lineup
L.D. is using the same lineup today as he did at Minnesota: Bibby, J.J., Josh, Al and Collins.
That alignment “worked out better than I thought it would” against the T-Wolves, Drew said, but he considered changing it today for one reason: “Their strength is they have one of the best pick-and-roll players in the game.”
That would be Steve Nash, of course. Remember that Woody’s switches worked pretty well on Nash because Josh and Al could contain him on the dribble and make him take challenged jumpers.
Nash’s numbers against the Hawks in two games last season: 9 points, 8.5 assists, 33.3% FG, 0% 3FG, 29 min. His numbers overall: 16.5 points, 11 assists, 51% FG, 43% 3FG, 33 min.
L.D. said the Suns run so many pick-and-rolls the Hawks will get caught in switches whether they want to our not. If it turns out the bigs can’t handle them then he said he would go smaller.
“I don’t want to put them in bad situations,” he said.
As for Smoove at small forward, L.D. said he “did a good job picking and choosing his spots” to take jumpers against the T-Wolves. There were a few times in that game where you could see Josh think about taking an early jumper before passing back out to set up the offense. That a sign of Smith “getting a better feel for the game and the flow.”
So far Drew said he’s not concerned about Josh’s ability to guard small forwards.
“Smoove at the three is just as effective defensively as he is at the four,” he said. “I will stay with [the lineup] for now, until we run up against a team where it gives them a clear advantage.”
And what about Twin’s increased role?
“He’s a solid low-post defender,” L.D. said. “You really don’t have to be concerned about helping him down there.”
Injury report
Mo (knee) is out. L.D. ruled him out for Monday at Orlando, too. Marvin will be reevaluated later this week. There’s a chance he will miss more time.
Chills is back
Josh Childress said he he never thought there was no way a return to the Hawks couldn’t happen: “You never know.”
The way it ended up is he’s in Phoenix and the Hawks got a trade exception that they still hold.
“I’m definitely happy with the result,” he said. “I had a great time in Atlanta. For those two years they did well, and I did well. It worked out for both parties.”
Did he feel like there was never much enthusiasm from Hawks GM Rick Sund to bring him back?
“It’s part of the business,” he said. “It’s something you learn playing in the NBA. They made a business decision, just as players do. I’ve just got to roll with it.”
Childress is playing with a splint on the index finger of his right hand. He will wear it for another 3 1/2 weeks.
“I’m just trying to get out there and contribute until it heals,” he said.
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
235 comments Add your comment
bigdave
November 7th, 2010
7:19 pm
wow..
welikebaseball2
November 7th, 2010
7:20 pm
Wow…these Suns have got some shooters! I guess we do too!
J.J.M.
November 7th, 2010
7:20 pm
man the suns cant miss worth nothing
Melvin
November 7th, 2010
7:20 pm
Lick those fingers Jamal.
Wabe
November 7th, 2010
7:20 pm
Was just about to say that Crawford’s shot was a stupid look…
But, if it goes in, doesn’t matter.
Melvin
November 7th, 2010
7:22 pm
Why have Bibby in the game to play defense?????
bigdave
November 7th, 2010
7:22 pm
thats fine.. good d Mike..
~~MAC-ToWN~~ (Area Code 478 Westside Macon)
November 7th, 2010
7:22 pm
Crawford for a game winning 3?
Freshfromatl AKA Fresh
November 7th, 2010
7:22 pm
Jamal for 3?
Hawks v Suns
November 7th, 2010
7:22 pm
might need a last second 3 in order to beat them, they’re not missing
Geemack
November 7th, 2010
7:23 pm
The Hawks have some of the dumbest defensive assignments I’ve ever seen.
bigdave
November 7th, 2010
7:23 pm
maybe LD trusting in him.. ? i dont know..?
J.J.M.
November 7th, 2010
7:23 pm
you can see where marvin is miseed…go for the win here hawks wont win in overtime if josh has 5 fouls
lukas
November 7th, 2010
7:23 pm
Bibby on Frye? in the low post? really???
Freshfromatl AKA Fresh
November 7th, 2010
7:23 pm
I see everyone’s thinking the same lol
bigdave
November 7th, 2010
7:23 pm
Jeff has been getting killed off the dribble too though.. if not off the dribble w/ nifty moves down in the painted area.. so..
welikebaseball2
November 7th, 2010
7:23 pm
There’s that switching defense again! Bibby ends up on Frye?! Seriously?! What happened to all this talk Drew gave about playing better one-on-one defense…about not switching so much?
Wabe
November 7th, 2010
7:24 pm
Dammmit
Hawks v Suns
November 7th, 2010
7:24 pm
not really a smart play
Wabe
November 7th, 2010
7:25 pm
The last guy you want to send to the damn line.
J.J.M.
November 7th, 2010
7:25 pm
out of all people you let nash get the ball
Hawks v Suns
November 7th, 2010
7:25 pm
this was a taxing game, I’m guessing because they played so hard today they won’t able to do so two days in a row … they’ll lose 2 straight games
Wabe
November 7th, 2010
7:26 pm
Weren’t gonna go 82-0…
But this sux.
bigdave
November 7th, 2010
7:26 pm
think we have another TO as well.. score here.. who knows?
YoDaddy
November 7th, 2010
7:26 pm
not a bad game at all
we take this L like men
lewis
November 7th, 2010
7:27 pm
yeah good effort im not even that pissed
bigdave
November 7th, 2010
7:27 pm
prolong the game..
its like being down 10.. and taking the 3 on 3rd down..
Geemack
November 7th, 2010
7:28 pm
The Suns ran the same pick and switch play the entire 2nd half and Atlanta never made an adjustment.
LD need to make sure these guys focus on defense.
~~MAC-ToWN~~ (Area Code 478 Westside Macon)
November 7th, 2010
7:28 pm
steal and a 3
~~MAC-ToWN~~ (Area Code 478 Westside Macon)
November 7th, 2010
7:28 pm
guess not lmao
welikebaseball2
November 7th, 2010
7:29 pm
Gritty performance by the home team. Only thing I’m concerned about is the defense. Like last year, a quick PG killed us. Like last year, we continue to switch on defense & end up with mismatches.
Wabe
November 7th, 2010
7:29 pm
Ball game.
bigdave
November 7th, 2010
7:29 pm
well.. they got the onside kick.. lol.
good game Hawks..
~~MAC-ToWN~~ (Area Code 478 Westside Macon)
November 7th, 2010
7:29 pm
must say though…..Bibby guarding Frye in the post = Mike Woodson philosophical school of defense
J.J.M.
November 7th, 2010
7:29 pm
im pretty sure if marvin was healthy hawks would have won
Wabe
November 7th, 2010
7:30 pm
Would’ve been a great sports day had the Hawks pulled this one out to get to 7-0 seeing that the Falcons won as well…
But, 82 games, not gonna win them all.
Melvin
November 7th, 2010
7:31 pm
I’m mad about this loss. Why did LD have Bibby in the game on the cruical defensive possession?
Real Talk
November 7th, 2010
7:31 pm
Ok the Hawks showed a little HEART during the second half which is a slight improvement from last year. Joe earned some of that $ today. They should have shown Heart through out the game than maybe they would have won it. Let’s see can the second half Hawks during today’s game play the Magic like this tomorrow night.
Wabe
November 7th, 2010
7:31 pm
But, I’m wondering what they’ll look like tomorrow…
~~MAC-ToWN~~ (Area Code 478 Westside Macon)
November 7th, 2010
7:31 pm
didnt realize BAWSE dropped 30.
YoDaddy
November 7th, 2010
7:32 pm
Steve Nash dominated…that pick and roll was killer because of how many shooters the Suns have…not having Marvin really hurt this game…
Bibby was bombing threes so can’t really be mad…helped us get back in it but ultimately the exploitation of mismatches won out.
bigdave
November 7th, 2010
7:33 pm
That would be Steve Nash, of course. Remember that Woody’s switches worked pretty well on Nash because Josh and Al could contain him on the dribble and make him take challenged jumpers.
Nash’s numbers against the Hawks in two games last season: 9 points, 8.5 assists, 33.3% FG, 0% 3FG, 29 min. His numbers overall: 16.5 points, 11 assists, 51% FG, 43% 3FG, 33 min.
L.D. said the Suns run so many pick-and-rolls the Hawks will get caught in switches whether they want to our not. If it turns out the bigs can’t handle them then he said he would go smaller.
“I don’t want to put them in bad situations,” he said.
Najeh Davenpoop
November 7th, 2010
7:33 pm
The defense down the stretch was just atrocious. Hawks showed a lot of guts to claw back from that 15 point deficit, but you gotta be able to get stops. If they can’t keep Jason Richardson off his spot, how the hell do they expect to do that with Dwyane Wade or LeBron James?
I like the offense, and the ball movement is good enough to where they should be able to hang with anyone theoretically, but the defense has some serious problems right now that are not entirely a result of not having Marvin. A lot of it is just the guards’ inability to apply ball pressure and beat players to their spots.
J.J.M.
November 7th, 2010
7:34 pm
not having marvin was the reason jamal had to guard childress down the stretch and all the switches had bibby on fry
truthspitter
November 7th, 2010
7:34 pm
No bench at all. Like I have been saying Zaza is so overrated by you bloggers. Teague and Jamal were the only 2 even worth bringing off the bench. This team has no depth. The only thing I like about this win was that Josh and Al did not even acknowledge Childress. Joe’s punk arse did and I just lost respect for him. The Hawks went 6-0 a couple of years ago and they are no better now. It is sad that the switching defense comes back whenever the guards get tired. No discipline this team sucks arse. 6-2 coming 2morrow with a 25+ point blowout just to make sure you lames get the message that nothing has changed.
Najeh Davenpoop
November 7th, 2010
7:35 pm
The 3-point brickeration in the first half really hurt too. If some of those go in, the Hawks don’t have to climb out of nearly as big of a deficit.
YoDaddy
November 7th, 2010
7:36 pm
The switch really had to do with the personnel. Everybody knows the suns send 5 three point shooters out on offense.
I think they would have benefit from a hard show by Horford instead of the outright switch but then again the Suns were at their best in knocking down shots today
bigdave
November 7th, 2010
7:36 pm
Nash hit some tough shots.. was just filthy..
Freshfromatl AKA Fresh
November 7th, 2010
7:37 pm
Damn…Is Marvin Playing tomorrow?
Tyler
November 7th, 2010
7:38 pm
This loss really hurts, not just because of the fact that the Hawks came so close and missed on a shot that could have changed the game, but because the Hawks have to face the best team in the league tomorrow. I really think the issue with the Magic is more mental than anything, but considering we are missing both of our SFs and the magic have a ton of shooters, tomorrow night’s game is going to be the toughest of the season. It’s also really annoying to know that the Suns won this game basically shooting jump shots. The Hawks defense in the second half really wasn’t that bad. If they had played focused from the start, this would have been a win.
On a positive note, you have to give big props to Al Horford. He was a beast again, and his presence and play tonight was the main reason why the Hawks were in the game. Still, even playing with a limited roster having a bad defensive first half where we couldn’t throw it in the ocean from 3-point range, we could have won this game.