Atlanta Hawks at Orlando Magic: ‘Next step’ for Hawks?
It’s only November. This is just one of 82, as they say.
Except this date with Orlando is the first since you-know-what, and I don’t think anyone believes the ramifications won’t go beyond one game in the standings.
Hawks tri-captain Al rejected the notion they need this one for their psyche. Credibility is another matter.
“I don’t even think it has to do so much with confidence, but I think if we want to be considered as a contender to win the division, this is the step we have to take,” he said.
There’s been no indication that the Hawks have the quality of depth to compete with the Magic. Orlando is without Jameer Nelson, and that’s a major break for Atlanta. VC will play with a bum hip.
But the Hawks left Marvin and Mo back in Atlanta. L.D. says Marvin could miss up to two weeks: “After the first week, it’s about how much he can tolerate the pain.”
L.D. is going with Twin as the starting center again. Orlando reporters, who apparently examined Atlanta’s roster, asked L.D. if the Hawks really have the personnel to allow Al to move to power forward on more than a temporary basis.
“We’ve got some big pieces that can allow him to play some four,” he said. “That was a focus this summer was to bring in some more big bodies.”
When Al talked about the Hawks needing a bona fide center to be a true contender, obviously this is one of the matchups he was talking about. But it’s interesting that when the conversation with Al turned to Dwight’s impact on this series, he talked less about Dwight and more about Orlando’s shooters.
“In the past obviously he has hurt us, but more importantly their outside shooters have hurt us,” he said. “That is the challenge is to limit them. We can’t be giving them threes like that.”
Unfortunately for the Hawks, they just played a game in which they gave up all kinds of threes to the Suns. Or maybe it’s actually fortunate for them because L.D. had some fresh video to show them this morning detailing how their main issue was failing to match up in transition due to poor floor balance.
“When that shot goes up, I freeze the frame and I see that first guy not taking that first step,” he said.
By that, he means the guards. He wants them to help on the defensive glass but they “are not big offensive rebounders” so he doesn’t want them to think about helping on the offensive glass at all. If the threes or fours are caught on the perimeter and don’t have a chance for the board, he wants them to get back, too.
“All of that has been identified,” L.D. said. “Guys know what their jobs are.”
Take the jumper. Please
Dwight so far is taking and making more shots from beyond 10 feet. The goal is for him to diversify his offensive game, and maybe it works– L.D. said Dwight looks comfortable shooting from out there: “It just reminds you so much of Tim Duncan.”
Still, until Dwight starts making jumpers with the same consistency that he brings the thunder, L.D. picks door No. 2.
“Coaches are going to play the percentages,” he said. “I’d rather see him take a 12 foot jumper than to post up in the paint, because I know when he’s in the paint he’s almost unstoppable. At least when he shoots the jumper there’s a chance he will miss.”
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
403 comments Add your comment
Melvin
November 8th, 2010
8:02 pm
Is Ethan rusty or just too old…LOL
bigdave
November 8th, 2010
8:02 pm
oh my.
oh goodness.. he sorry as hell.
Wabe
November 8th, 2010
8:02 pm
Etan…
Cut.
Teabagger Johnson
November 8th, 2010
8:02 pm
Etan is really stinking it up . . . time to do something Etan!
YoDaddy
November 8th, 2010
8:02 pm
Etan is a shell of his former self….but then again he hasn’t really played yet so cant really blame him. Still though…layup we need that
Bailey
November 8th, 2010
8:02 pm
Get Etan out of the game and put Al back in!
Wabe
November 8th, 2010
8:03 pm
Cut.
Eldridge Recasner
November 8th, 2010
8:03 pm
Game starting to get away from them. Orlando outscored Hawks by 20 since quick start. Business as usual.
bigdave
November 8th, 2010
8:03 pm
gotta get him out Drew.
Wabe
November 8th, 2010
8:03 pm
Get his a$$$$$$$$$$$$$ out the freakinnnnnnnnnnnnnn game
Najeh Davenpoop
November 8th, 2010
8:03 pm
And a travel too? Now all he needs to do is set an illegal screen and Etan’s filled the Zaza role to perfection.
Melvin
November 8th, 2010
8:03 pm
Ethan is not ready to play…
ATL FAN
November 8th, 2010
8:03 pm
WOWAWIWA
ignition
November 8th, 2010
8:03 pm
OK Etan you look like a huge mistake putting you on the court..
Wabe
November 8th, 2010
8:03 pm
damn man.
they’ve pretty much broken us since dude came in the game.
Box
November 8th, 2010
8:04 pm
I told you suckers the hawks were not a good team. 2 losses in a row coming and another orlando blowout. just now, they were up 3 5 minutes ago and now they are down 10. they beat up on crap teams and of course the morons around here were guzzling the kool aid.
magic 109 hawks 82
ATL FAN
November 8th, 2010
8:04 pm
J SMOOOOOOOOOOOVE
bigdave
November 8th, 2010
8:04 pm
oh my..
oh goodness..
that boy good.
Jody
November 8th, 2010
8:04 pm
This team needs to add another defensive big guy, ala Twin. Thomas and Pachulia can’t guard anybody.
ignition
November 8th, 2010
8:04 pm
Thank You Josh… Please take over the game !!!!!
Wabe
November 8th, 2010
8:04 pm
thank goodness…
Najeh Davenpoop
November 8th, 2010
8:05 pm
Smoove with a dime, then a board, and then an and-1.
The offense has to run through him. Every time.
YoDaddy
November 8th, 2010
8:05 pm
give Etan some time folks….he’s a tough defensive player. let him get used to the game speed again
ATL FAN
November 8th, 2010
8:05 pm
LOL BOX spoke too soon… ur not a true hawks fan idiot
bigdave
November 8th, 2010
8:06 pm
way to get that board Mike..
Wabe
November 8th, 2010
8:07 pm
Don’t the new announcer sound just like Kevin McHale?
Or is it just me?
Jody
November 8th, 2010
8:07 pm
Etan is a 4 trying to play 5 in my opinion.
bigdave
November 8th, 2010
8:07 pm
YoDaddy..
agreed.. just f-in with him.. you gotta admit he’s looking pretty bad in the process..
Bailey
November 8th, 2010
8:07 pm
L.D. is driving me crazy with these lame substitutions. Etan should not have been placed in the game at such a key point. It obvious to anyone watching the game that the Hawks are much better with Al Horford on the court. It was obvious at the start of the game when the Hawks got off to a hot start, and it became obvious how much they missed him when Al went out early in the first quarter to the bench. Then, Al came back in and the Hawks seized control again. He should have played the rest on the second half. He only has 2 fouls and isn’t that foul prone. Etan has hurt the team more than helped them. L.D. is hurting the team much more by keeping Al out than helping by preventing him from picking up a third foul. The Hawks could have a double digit lead right now if he were in.
bigdave
November 8th, 2010
8:08 pm
good half..
Wabe
November 8th, 2010
8:08 pm
LMAO…
Etan…
Speechless.
Najeh Davenpoop
November 8th, 2010
8:08 pm
The worst part about this half has been that the Magic haven’t skipped a beat without Dwight Howard on the floor. Brandon Bass and (to a lesser extent) Marcin Gortat have been way more effective than they should be.
Freshfromatl AKA Fresh
November 8th, 2010
8:09 pm
LD got balls staying with Etan lol.
bigdave
November 8th, 2010
8:09 pm
starters will log heavy mins in 2nd half. keep them fresh and out of foul trouble.. LD manages game well..
cp
November 8th, 2010
8:10 pm
Very good game so far. The guys are getting after it tonight. The second unit killed them though. The starters are going to log big minutes because I don’t know if i would even want to put Pachulia and Powell back in the game.
Najeh Davenpoop
November 8th, 2010
8:11 pm
Same problems for the Hawks today as in every other game this season — too many turnovers and too many offensive boards for the other team.
lewis
November 8th, 2010
8:12 pm
they all played 42 minutes last night LD is resting them for the 2nd half run
bigdave
November 8th, 2010
8:12 pm
2nd chance pts killing us..
like Braves committing errors.. w/ 2 outs.. giving a good hitting teams more outs..
Najeh Davenpoop
November 8th, 2010
8:12 pm
I thought the Hawks would come in to this game emotionally drained from yesterday’s loss, but now it looks like if anything yesterday’s game might have been a bit of a trap game. The Hawks certainly haven’t been lacking for intensity.
Wabe
November 8th, 2010
8:13 pm
I agree.
LD was solid managing the rotation. Etan bugged the ish out of me. The second he came in the game, we looked like we could lose our grip on this game. But, J.Smith made some critical plays that got us out of that 9 point hole.
I applaud L.Drew for staying patient with the bench, even though most of them didn’t perform up to par. But, keeping the starters fresh for this second half, and knowing that they gotta handle a much bigger front line, he didn’t want to risk any of our key starters picking up a bad foul.
Also, Drew’s sets obviously give us a much better look on offense against a pretty solid defensive team. Gotta give him credit for that.
Other than the bench, we’re solid.
~~MAC-ToWN~~ (Area Code 478 Westside Macon)
November 8th, 2010
8:15 pm
whew….for a minute there I thought the Hawks were gonna have to start singin this
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jA0wN46d3Co
hereeeeeee
wweeeee
gooooo
here we go again
~~MAC-ToWN~~ (Area Code 478 Westside Macon)
November 8th, 2010
8:16 pm
Watchin Etan Thomas out there makes me long for the glory days of HOFers such Anthony Johnson, Tyron Lue, and Solomon “Solo Dolo” Jones.
Yeeaahh…maybe not.
Leon
November 8th, 2010
8:17 pm
Najeh,
You mention that Brandon Bass and Marcin Gortat have been way more effective than they should be. I think that the main reason for that has been due to L.D.’s questionable substitutions. He had Powell playing Gortat at one point, giving up a huge size advantage, and also decided to go with Etan down the stretch of the second half. Both of these substitutions were bad moves in my opinion. First off, Al should have played a lot more than 10 minutes in that first half. He was doing a great job guarding his men. When Al went out, L.D. should have elected to place Zaza on Gortat, and keeping Collins on Dwight. The guys weren’t in heavy foul trouble, and with the number of bigs we have available, I think Zaza is expendable in terms of fouls. Etan’s offense and defense was very questionable during his minutes. I would have risked Al picking up a third foul (which is not likely) and stuck with him and Josh down the stretch of the first half, meanwhile swapping out Collins at Zaza at center while dwight was in, or putting Al at the 5 to guard Gortat. I think L.D.’s rotation hurt the team a bit in that first half. Particularly though, Etan and Zaza played poor bench minutes.
O'Brien
November 8th, 2010
8:21 pm
As bad as etan looked, keep in mind this is his first game all year.
I blame LD for not getting him any PT before tonight. And I blame LD for sticking with him.
Hawks down 4 isn’t bad. But we have seen Orlando go on a third quarter run almost every time we play them. LD needs to earn his money at halftime and make sure hawks are ready to play in the third.
~~MAC-ToWN~~ (Area Code 478 Westside Macon)
November 8th, 2010
8:22 pm
I agree w/ Leon
Sautee
November 8th, 2010
8:22 pm
I hope it lasts, but isn’t it nice actually competing with this team?
Najeh Davenpoop
November 8th, 2010
8:23 pm
I agree — I would have ideally rather seen Collins stay in the game — but I’m guessing the reason LD played Etan so much is because Collins was as effective as he was (meaning LD wants to use him more aggressively in the 2nd half and doesn’t want to saddle him with more foul trouble) and Zaza was totally ineffective (eliminating the possibility of leaving him on the floor with 2 fouls).
We’ll see. If Collins can play big minutes in the 2nd half and help neutralize Howard, LD’s questionable first half substitution pattern will have paid off.
~~MAC-ToWN~~ (Area Code 478 Westside Macon)
November 8th, 2010
8:27 pm
always nice seeing joe get to the line
Najeh Davenpoop
November 8th, 2010
8:28 pm
Magic are really clamping down on D. Gotta run the offense through Smoove.
bigdave
November 8th, 2010
8:29 pm
defense has been just beautiful..