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
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235 comments Add your comment
Geemack
November 7th, 2010
7:38 pm
lewis
Great effort on offense, but horrible effort on defense.
I expect us to kill teams like PHX…No inside presence, horrible defensive, and rebounding team. We should kill these guys at home with Hawks shooting 56% from the field.
~~MAC-ToWN~~ (Area Code 478 Westside Macon)
November 7th, 2010
7:39 pm
The good thing about basketball and baseball is after a loss like this you have a chance to redeem yourself usually the next day or day after.
Time to show ORL we arent a pushover.
bigdave
November 7th, 2010
7:40 pm
i know yall werent expecting to keep the Suns under 80 or something..
Marvin out there keeps you from having to send help on driving wings guarded by 2 guards.. turning potential wide open 3’s into contested 3’s or 2pt fg attempts..
ATL FAN
November 7th, 2010
7:41 pm
truthspitter, how the F*** are you a hawks fan???
ignition
November 7th, 2010
7:42 pm
Not having Marvin or Moe really hurt us this game.. To many shooters, especially Channing Frye causing mismatches down the stretch ..
Tough loss, but I hope they use it as a learning lesson.
One thing fo sure is that while Biddy helped bring us back with the Tres he got us killed Defensively..
YoDaddy
November 7th, 2010
7:42 pm
@Najeh
The Suns run a different type of offense and is based on shooting threes. When the 4 and 5 can shoot threes it strains the defense. Quite different from the one on one basketball the Heat play.
The Suns do this to everyone…that’s their game…to outscore you and Steve Nash top 5 pg. When the Suns get hot there’s not much you can do except keep up with them which the Hawks did.
Had a chance to win at the end…missed the shot missed the rebound. That’s how it is sometimes.
bigdave
November 7th, 2010
7:42 pm
but of course he’s not the answer to our defensive deficiencies.. but against a versatile team like PHX, who play unorthodox with bigs hanging around the 3pt line, we have the luxury of being able to adjust with our versatility ..
bigdave
November 7th, 2010
7:44 pm
Yo Daddy..
agreed.. bron and wade not really the catch and shoot type anyway..
Artie
November 7th, 2010
7:44 pm
Figures…first good team the Hawks have played!!!!!
ignition
November 7th, 2010
7:44 pm
Our guards have got to take the challenge of guarding defensively serious.. Al & Josh have to cover too much ground on the floor attempting to make up for the defensive lapses …
Reggie
November 7th, 2010
7:45 pm
Ok i have been very happy with Larry Drew until this game…why keep switching Al on Nash…it wasn’t working at all and why were Bibby and Jamal on the court when the Suns had the ball and 26 secs to play? We had 2 timeouts so we could have gone bigger and called a timeout if there was a rebound. Like i said i was very happy until Mike Woodson 2.0 somehow made his way to the sideline tonight…anyway we gotta regroup and get ready to play our masters tomorrow night…LETS GO HAWKS!!
YoDaddy
November 7th, 2010
7:46 pm
Not only that we were 2 man down on the wing….Hawks played pretty well in my opinion
If Marvin was healthy he would have been in down the stretch essentially eliminating the mismatch and sliding Crawford to the point.
bigdave
November 7th, 2010
7:50 pm
“tonight was an example of how big we needed a Marvin or Mo”
Larry Drew
bigdave
November 7th, 2010
7:52 pm
i bet you would’ve seen some Marvin guarding PF or even 2 guard position tonight..
Ray
November 7th, 2010
7:54 pm
You know what I was going to be the first to scream hawks suck during that 1st half, and when they were down by 18, but you know this team looks like they had more heart.
Plus this game could have went either way it’s a tough loss, but at least they did compete till the very end. Now the only problem is it’s a back to back game with Orlando of all people tomorrow.
If they don’t win I’d understand why, and if they do happen to win it says more about Orlando then it does for us.
bigdave
November 7th, 2010
7:54 pm
failure to secure key offensive rebs hurt ..
Najeh Davenpoop
November 7th, 2010
7:56 pm
“The Suns run a different type of offense and is based on shooting threes. When the 4 and 5 can shoot threes it strains the defense. Quite different from the one on one basketball the Heat play.”
That’s not what I was talking about. J-Rich is similar to LeBron and Wade in that he likes shooting from certain spots on the floor. Of course, Wade and LeBron dribble to their spot themselves and shoot it whereas J-Rich tends to catch and shoot a lot (at least he did in this game), but still, the focus of the defense should be to deny them the ability to get to that spot. The Hawks consistently failed at this today against J-Rich, and they consistently fail at that against LeBron and Wade when those guys beat Atlanta.
Down the stretch, J-Rich made at least three shots from almost the exact same spot on the floor, and every time the Hawks made no attempt to stop him from getting to that spot. These are the kind of defensive plays that need to be made in crunch time. As good as the Hawks’ offense was, they only needed one or two stops down the stretch to pull out this win, and they were unable to make it happen. Yes, missing Marvin hurt, but the perimeter defense was bad with or without him.
Ramon
November 7th, 2010
7:58 pm
I am proud of the Hawks. I didn’t see the game. But to know the game were that close, and how deep Phoenix went on their bench, and still barely won, it was wonderful. This team is headed in the right direction I believe. And when we’re at full strength, its going to be hard for any one to compete with them.
RA
November 7th, 2010
8:00 pm
Okay, first off, the Hawks were going to lose sooner or later! But they lost this game for all the wrong reasons. A look at the final score tells the whole story. The Hawks played the Suns game, and the Suns beat them at it, bottomline. All Atlanta had to do to win was pound them inside and fight over screens instead of switching which didn’t work last year, the year before… Drew is a fairly smart fella. The lesson I hope he takes out of all this is that if the Hawks are going to be an elite team, and I believe they can be, they’re going to have to learn to impose their will on teams that have great players.
Najeh Davenpoop
November 7th, 2010
8:01 pm
When you shoot 54% from the field, you shouldn’t lose to anyone.
ignition
November 7th, 2010
8:08 pm
I see that Offensively we are straight as 6 o’clock.. It our defense that needs work.. I wasn’t happy with the strategy tonight but with our guards Jamal & Biddy being so defensivly challenged it hurts..
Teague should be an option, I know its sounds crazy but we may have to take out one of our top scoring threats down the stretch to become more defensive minded.. ie Rondo.. It’s a risk..
doc
November 7th, 2010
8:19 pm
LD ….. or chills might have helped, good numbers with a splint on his hand.
sorry fans booing him, sad really like he was given a real chance to be here.
JeJe
November 7th, 2010
8:20 pm
This team plays no defense at all. Jesus christ
truthspitter
November 7th, 2010
8:22 pm
Well guys I basically watched the Hawks these first 7 games and saw some really disturbing things.The most disturbing thing is the fact that they are a jump shooting team you have to now add Horford and Smoove as people who don’t go inside either. Next, Drew and his lack of defensive attention is just annoying. He started off time he got the job with the talk of offense and it sure shows because the Hawks are not playing any defense at all. Lastly, the bench is very weak when you play good teams.
JeJe
November 7th, 2010
8:38 pm
LD coached like Woody tonight
Absolutely no adjustments on this Horford on Nash BS.
How the hell do u let Nash do that 5 times or however many in a row?
Astro Joe
November 7th, 2010
8:57 pm
When you shoot 54% from the field, you shouldn’t lose to anyone.
You should when the other team shoots 56% from the field including almost 48% from 3. Nice comeback but they clearly needed Marvin or Mo, especially toward the end. I’m not sure they had many other choices other than try to win in a shoot-out.
rusty
November 7th, 2010
9:19 pm
why the hell did he leave bibby in the game when he couldnt keep up with nash
cp
November 7th, 2010
9:25 pm
Tough L today. I know Bibby helped them get back in the game with the 3’s but I thought LD pulled Teague too quickly. He was looking comfortable out there and was in a nice rhythm.. Hopefully they are ready for Orlando. The perimeter defense is still atrocious
hawks_4_life
November 7th, 2010
9:31 pm
Love my short handed hawks, feel like these injuries set us up for dead.
darrell starks
November 7th, 2010
9:53 pm
LD for the first time got away from what made the hawks 6 and 0 and that was the rotation tonight was like the woody of old.
GO HAWKS!!!!!!!!!!
O'Brien
November 7th, 2010
9:55 pm
MC,
Where is the game summary?
I didnt see the game, but it looks like the BAWSE, Josh and JJ had a good game.
I didnt expect us to go 82-0, and we did not go quietly. But this is a game we badly needed to win.
Josh Smith played 42 minutes, Al played 42 minutes, and JJ played 44 minutes.
We dont have Mo, and we might not have Marvin, but we play Orlando tomorrow in Orlando.
We will be tired, and short handed. That is a tough combination against Orlando.
darrell starks
November 7th, 2010
10:00 pm
Collins should have played more min, 2 provide a defensive present in the middle, but for some reason LD got away from that 2 run up and down the court with the suns and it turn out 2 be a bad move from LD.
GO HAWKS!!!!!!!!!
darrell starks
November 7th, 2010
10:02 pm
Against the magic if LD don’t match collins up with superman it’s going 2 be a long night for the hawks.
GO HAWKS!!!!!!!!
truthspitter
November 7th, 2010
10:10 pm
Hawks 85
Magic 102
I have already seen it so there is know need to worry your brains with 2morrow’s outcome. Hawks need some better defenders, bottom line.
HawkEye
November 7th, 2010
10:22 pm
Tough loss to swallow tonight, but tommorow is another day. Great effort given even though we were short handed, played lethargic in the first half, and at one point were down by 18 points. With that being said, I am concerned about the perimeter defense.Not all that mad though. Suns took alot of jump shots and made them, but alot of them were wide open shots. If we can’t find a way to close out on shooters and apply more pressure on the ball, Hawks will continue to struggle on defense especially against the better teams in the NBA.
Ultimately, a loss is a loss. Can’t win em all so you take what you can from this one and start preparing for Orlando tommorow. I’m predicting a much better performance against Orlando than what we have displayed in the past, despite being on the tail end of a back-to-back, being short handed, and being on the road. There are no moral victories at this point for this team but a close 48 minute effort (even in a loss) would do wonders for this Hawks team.