Utah Jazz at Atlanta Hawks: Still happy, together?
L.D. called guys out during the Thursday video session and apparently some feelings got hurt. When the team huddled up after practice, he told them: “This is no time to be sensitive. I’m willing to admit when I’m wrong and you have to be able to look in the mirror. There is going to be accountability.”
Smoove and Al, who got into during a timeout huddle in the Bucks game, both said the team remains together.
“It took a game like that to wake us up to doing things the right way and staying together,” Smoove said.
“I think for a moment there everybody kind of went their own ways on the court,” Al said. “We came back together [Thursday] solid. We have to make a commitment to each other to always try to stick together even when the going gets tough.”
Wednesday night’s debacle was reminiscent of Atlanta’s meltdown against Orlando last spring, but L.D. said he’s fine with some healthy disagreement:
“It kind of comes with the territory any time you lose. The most important thing is that we don’t fragment. I want those guys upset. I want them mad that they didn’t play well, they didn’t play the way capable of playing. I want them them jawing at each other but do it in a constructive way and allow that frustration to transfer to [Friday] night’s game and let’s take it out on the Jazz. I think it’s healthy for a team if it’s done in the right way. But it it causes any kind of problems among the players, then it’s a problem. I embrace that, especially if it’s done the right way.”
Crucial conflict
At Hoopinion, Bret LaGree succinctly sums up L.D.’s dilemma when it comes to his reserves:
Larry Drew’s commitment to using his bench both to develop depth* and not to exhaust his starters is theoretically sound. Practically, he lacks the personnel to accomplish either goal without suffering in-game consequences. Jamal Crawford** and Zaza Pachulia are his only (healthy) quality reserves. There are very good reasons why Josh Powell, Jason Collins, and Etan Thomas have not been rotation players in the NBA for years and the drop-off from All-Star starters to sub-replacement level reserves will cause conflict between Drew’s desires and the realities of winning basketball games.
**Jamal Crawford is still a valuable offensive contributor to this team but, as he reverts to his career norms following a career year and has to fit into a team concept which does not suit his particular skills as well as the absolute scoring freedom Mike Woodson gave him, his weaknesses become more apparent with each passing game.
And the consequences of the conflict for Drew that LaGree desribes, which has been exacerbated by injuries exposing Atlanta’s unbalanced roster, lead to the kind of things you saw in the Bucks game: Guys are playing out of position, not suited for their roles or simply not good enough, and suddenly the whole thing falls apart and everyone’s frustrated.
Mo is back tonight (L.D. said he would come off the bench) and Marvin is close so perhaps when those players return and the rotation gets back to normal things won’t be so out of whack for the reserves.
“I like our bench,” Zaza said. “We have great guys. We’ve got bigs, athletic, shooters, quickness. I feel confident about our bench. We just need to make it more consistent.”
MC
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254 comments Add your comment
Peter
November 12th, 2010
10:25 pm
Can we fire the owners ?
drmaryb
November 12th, 2010
10:28 pm
i would trade joe for melo straight up!
Brendon
November 12th, 2010
10:28 pm
Peter,
To address your question on Joe starting on other teams. He’d probably start on any NBA team because of his skill and versatility. Even if the other team had he was being sent to already had a great SG, they’d probably put him at the 3 or switch up their lineup to fit him into. A guy who gets after it on both ends and can create his own shot as well as be a spot up shooter or cutter is very valuable..
Fundamentals
November 12th, 2010
10:30 pm
Dissappointing. My dad called the loss in the 3rd sighting free throws. I’ll admit he was right, but we also just let it get away by losing our focus late? What happened to the killer instinct we saw at the end of the first 5-6 games? It’s like they’re happy to be above .500 and that’s all that matters?
It’ll take more than beating MN to gain any respect. Great job Hawks, you’re really endearing to your fans. How can we fill Phillips with these types of performances? Dissappointed again…tomorrow’s another day.
Melvin
November 12th, 2010
10:30 pm
Stop the madness. Kevin Love has 31pts and 31rebs against the Knicks with a min left in the game.
Fundamentals
November 12th, 2010
10:30 pm
Fire our focus!
Fire our effort!
Fire our TEAM play!
superiorblogman
November 12th, 2010
10:31 pm
Trade Josh “the crybaby” Smith, Jamal “one good year” Crawford, Marvin “the bust” Williams and Jeff “the bust” Teague and never draft another ACC player in your lives and you can get your season and franchise back or just tank move the team from KKK land and draft Perry Jones and you can take your team to championship heights.
Peter
November 12th, 2010
10:32 pm
Show the Spirit your love….watch the games on TV until they go under and have to sell the team !
Melvin
November 12th, 2010
10:33 pm
drmaryb,
we may get too much Love on Sunday….
Bailey
November 12th, 2010
10:34 pm
Fundamentals,
Tomorrow is indeed another day, but for the Hawks that might not necessarily be a good thing. Sometimes, when you lose, you get something positive out of it. It may make you stronger or help you grow, but in the case of the Hawks I’m not seeing them getting anything out of these losses. If anything, they look the same if not worse. That’s 4 straight losses. I don’t remember if we even had a losing streak that long all of last season. Changes need to be made and quickly. Enough talk. Talk means nothing. I’ve heard L.D. preaching and the players talk about what has been going wrong, but they haven’t done much to fix it. Lets see something get done for once.
Melvin
November 12th, 2010
10:36 pm
Kevin Love 31pts and 31rebs against the Knicks tonight. Forget block out in the paint. The Hawks better set a road block I-20 so he cant get to the hightlight factory…
superiorblogman
November 12th, 2010
10:38 pm
Fundamentals
November 12th, 2010
10:30 pm
Dissappointing. My dad called the loss in the 3rd sighting free throws. I’ll admit he was right, but we also just let it get away by losing our focus late? What happened to the killer instinct we saw at the end of the first 5-6 games? It’s like they’re happy to be above .500 and that’s all that matters?
It’ll take more than beating MN to gain any respect. Great job Hawks, you’re really endearing to your fans. How can we fill Phillips with these types of performances? Dissappointed again…tomorrow’s another day.
Your dad doesn’t know anything. The game was lost with the gameplan. The gameplan was obviously for Josh Smith to dominate the ball and get more touches than Al Horford. Al never got into the flow of the game, hence he was missing his few wide open jumpers that he has been making all year. It was totally stupid of that career backup Larry Drew to go to him down the stretch what a dumb arse coach.
just a thought
November 12th, 2010
10:38 pm
people are constantly complaining about how joe handles the ball too much down the stretch but he was involved in maybe two out of the last seven or eight possessions. and if it was him that had missed those two free throws, he would be getting crucified all over this board. i’m sorry but the hawks issues run deeper than this whole joe johnson thing and it really starts with that bench.
Bailey
November 12th, 2010
10:39 pm
Also, our next game is against the West’s doormat, so even if we win that, it won’t mean much. I want to see the team improve and excel. I’m tired of all of this talking and posing B.S. L.D. is a great at saying all the right things, but what I’m wondering is if he’s preaching the wrong things to the players, or if they just aren’t listening to what he is saying. I hate being on the outside looking in.
Sidereal
November 12th, 2010
10:40 pm
Same old lazy ass multimillionaires shuffling around around without a care in the world besides collecting their next paycheck. Most of these jerks should be digging ditches for a living.
Gordon
November 12th, 2010
10:40 pm
Superiorblogman, I actually agree with your 10:38 post in regards to the gameplan. I noticed the same issue.
drmaryb
November 12th, 2010
10:42 pm
ive been eating my popcorn. there really isnt too much to say that hasnt been said to ad nauseum all summer long, this team has been together too long to say we’re still learning the new princeton offense.
how many brain cells does it take to run a damned play?
why should i care to use caps and punctuation, when it’s obvious this team has certain players who refuse to pass the ball in crunch time and trust their teammates to make a play. jamal has a sour attitude and for some reason likes to post his man up from half court every time he gets the ball. whats up with playing with his back to the basket from beyond the three point line? how is that ish fundamental? pass and move b!tch! joe is back to pounding the ball in crunch time and turning it over too! marvin was invisible too. where was twin tonight?
make a trade sund! find some damned talent to build this roster! i have better things to do with my valuable time and i dont give a damn about miami either. get it together hawks! what happened to home court advantage?
peace!
Seen this before...
November 12th, 2010
10:42 pm
Fire the whole bunch and start over.
drmaryb
November 12th, 2010
10:44 pm
joe, josh and al all bricked their free throws all game long! focus and you make those!
Section 303
November 12th, 2010
10:57 pm
If Sund does not make a move soon, then we should all just cut our ties with this team. I knew they were all headcases. Did not realize they were all born losers, too.
Why did we re-sign Joe, again? Nothing like watching a guy making 24 million a year defer to Marvin Williams down the stretch.
Al Horford = complete choke job. He was exposed as a complete fraud tonight.
superiorblogman
November 12th, 2010
10:58 pm
Gordon
November 12th, 2010
10:40 pm
Superiorblogman, I actually agree with your 10:38 post in regards to the gameplan. I noticed the same issue.
Gordon, it’s good to know that someone else can see with unbiased eyes that the gameplan called for something that may not have been so smart to start with but to then draw up a play that would obviously put the ball into the hands of a guy that was not in the flow is what made it just stupid. Larry Drew should have stayed a career backup.
Richard
November 12th, 2010
11:01 pm
Section 303,
Stop dissing Horford. He had an off-night tonight, it happens, but at least you know that off-nights are rare for him. It’s not like he keeps doing the same things over and over to annoy you like some other players on the team do. Al should have been given more touches tonight to help get him into a rhythm.
Even at that, I’ll agree that he didn’t deliver on those free throws and that’s on him, but it was a rare issue for him. It’s not like he’s a notoriously bad free throw shooter. I’ve seen the same thing happen to 90+% free throw shooters.
His overall play was not bad. He played great defense on Jefferson and it’s the fault of the team and staff for not running more plays for him on the offense end that his scoring wasn’t higher. The only thing that I was really disappointed with in regards to Horford tonight, was his rebounding. I’m not sure what’s going on there, but I’m sure he’s twice as disappointed as we are.
cp
November 12th, 2010
11:05 pm
Taking the invisible man over Deron Williams and CP3 continues to haunt this team smh. All these years later and we still need a pg. Marvin must have looked great shooting jumpers all by himself in his workout. smh.
Raveesh
November 12th, 2010
11:05 pm
It’s like the next game for the Hawks can’t come fast enough. We really need to get a win quick and see some dominant individual and team performances to get that bad taste out of everyone’s mouths and get back on track.
Jordan
November 12th, 2010
11:07 pm
cp,
Why are you still talking about the draft mistakes of 5 years ago? The Hawks chose Marvin Williams, they can’t reverse that. They can’t go back in time and get Chris Paul or Deron Williams instead. You just have to deal with that and make the best of it. Complaining about it isn’t going to help at all. What’s the use in crying over spilled milk?
vava74
November 12th, 2010
11:08 pm
I’m confident for the future. These losses prove that Crawford is a bad fit and that when comes in our offense stagnates.
Today he shot reasonably well but even so his negative influence was clear.
LD is an intelligent man and I am sure that he will understand soon that he needs Teague to be the first guy off the bench.
cp
November 12th, 2010
11:11 pm
Because 5 years later we still need a pg. Trying to make the best of having Marvin WIlliams aint helping either
Section 303
November 12th, 2010
11:14 pm
Richard,
Was not dissing Horford, until the choke job tonight. He’s a fraud. But…really, the same could be said for the entire team.
And, I think we can put aside the Teague debates from earlier this week. The guy sucks. That is all that needs to be said.
Seventeen Street
November 12th, 2010
11:16 pm
I can’t believe believe that the Hawks are under .500 at home. How could this happen? As heavily criticized as Woodson was, at least he had these guys playing with the mindset that they had to always defend homecourt. They look like they give less effort at home than they do on the road now.
Jonh Koncak couldn't jump high
November 12th, 2010
11:19 pm
How come we didn’t draft Chris Paul a few years ago….????
superiorblogman
November 12th, 2010
11:21 pm
I have been reading this blog for quite some time without posting. I noticed during the preseason how Josh and Joe were turning the ball over way too much and it has not stopped. Josh and Joe accounted for over half of the teams turnovers again tonight and that is a constant. Nobody will want Joe and his contract unless you are gonna move him to the Clippers in a deal that includes Baron Davis or to the Wizards in a deal that includes Gilbert Arenas and Joe is still better and more valuable than either of those 2. Josh Smith basically needs to be moved and the stipulation needs to be Marvin goes with him.
Jonh Koncak couldn't jump high
November 12th, 2010
11:23 pm
I was stationed in Germany in the Air Force when we lost to Boston in 1988 or 1989……listened on the radio game ended at 5am…..I can handle anything after that…that was the best Hawks team we’ve ever had…
Richard
November 12th, 2010
11:24 pm
Section 303,
One bad game, actually one bad trip to the free throw line, and Al is suddenly a fraud to you? Wow, some fan you are. Ask any coach in the world, or pro basketball player in the world if this guy is a fraud and they’ll tell you what’s up. I hope that all of our fans aren’t this naive. All I can say is wow. I guess Kobe is suddenly a fraud for going 11-32 last night, or Lebron a fraud for hitting the side of the backboard on a three that could have changed the momentum of the Heat game last night. I guess Wade is a fraud for shooting 2-12 last night. Hmm, the Magic must all be frauds too since they lost a game to the raptors. I guess the Celtics are frauds because they lost game seven. Hmm, maybe Jordan is a fraud for not being able to shoot 3’s. LMAO, the nerve of some people.
rusty
November 12th, 2010
11:25 pm
the moment we resigned jj i got sick. this team will never be much with him. his mentality is to dribble & dribble. i dont care what everybody thinks. i think he is a ball hog & choker & by the way him trying to guard williams is a joke.
rusty
November 12th, 2010
11:27 pm
jj is a ballhog & choker.him guarding williams was a joke
Ramon
November 12th, 2010
11:31 pm
How come everyone keeps talking about Chris Paul, D. Williams and others? The entire draft is a crap shoot. Truthfully, the PG position has been overrated in some since, until Rondo came along. The last superstar PG to win a title was Isaiah Thomas. If Marvin ended up having the career that every one projected of him (which was similar to a cross between Grant Hill and Melo), the Hawks would be an elite team, and the PG play would be minimized. As bad as the losses have been, I can’t say I’ve been terribly disappointed in Bibby’s performance. And on defense he’s a lot better than Crawford. Let us not forget that the starters have been playing quite well the entire season, even when one have a bad game, the others been contributing. Its the bench that has been losing games over and over again.
STRETCH
November 12th, 2010
11:38 pm
Wow, Toronto beats Orlando IN ORLANDO and these Hawks have only beat them 1 out of the last 10 games? And the only way they won that game was cause it was late in the season and Orlando was resting starters for the playoffs.
This team is full of quitters, egos and guys playing out of position. But the only people that can see this is the fans!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And im still trying to figure out how does anyone think that they have a chance of making it to the finals or even the playoffs with 3 captians (1. JJ-No leadership and voice, Al-3 yrs in the league and Smoove-TOO IMMATURE) along with Etan Thomas, JCollins and Powell to go with ZaZa???
Section 303
November 12th, 2010
11:41 pm
Richard, hmm…he’s a fraud.
Eric C.
November 13th, 2010
12:13 am
The Hawks have no fire…dismantle this “team” or bring in Nash
dacheesecakeman
November 13th, 2010
12:22 am
when you have a team that is owned by NINE men, who can’t agree with one other nor afford quality players or go over the luxury tax, etc, it’s hard to get excited this season. the money they paid jj, could of went to paying an establish coach which could of lured other talent. getting blownout by the bucks is unexcusable
Miles D
November 13th, 2010
5:32 am
Problems start with ownership! First off, no single-mindedness bout the direction of the team & the type of players needed to get to where we need to go. Owners can’t agree on who to keep & who to get rid of. Players are too comfortable with their positions! With noone to push them for their spot! How r they supposed to or y should they want to get any better. Secondly, there r too many guys that play the same position, playing out of position ( Al, Josh, Marvin)! Coupled with the fact that none of the players r fundamentally sound offensively & defensively! Due to the fact that they missed out on the fundamental teachings they would’ve recieved in college had they gone & or stayed there long enough! With JJ & Al being the only two exceptions.But with that being said, they both r still respectfully developing defensively (JJ) & offensively (Al)! And lastly, we do not have a real floor leader! Despite his enormous paycheck JJ is NOT A LEADER, or at least a vocal one anyway! Josh is atheletically gifted but lacks maturity & humble nature to do what it takes to be a REAL team leader by developing a consistent post-game, mid-range, & hitting free throws! Marvin needs to develope a post-game also. He has a nice mid-range but needs to improve ball handling,& I’m convinced he is not a starter. But a seventh or eighth man at this point in time. Al is capable of being a great leader but is still developing while playing out of position. However, I believe he is one to build around because of his CONSISTENTLY great attitude & work ethic (they don’t call him boss for nothing)! Bibby should be relegated to spot duty! & Teague, while he needs more playing time! I’m not sure if he know if he’s the answer! So, all of these problems are compounded & magnified when we lose but overlooked when we win! Truth is Hawks fans…WE HAVE A LOOONG WAY TO GO! However if guys can come together & play for eachother, the love of the game & city! Things could very well change. & FROM ONE TRU HAWKS FAN TO ANOTHER! WE TOO AS FANS HAVE A HAND IN THIS! WE NEED TO SHOW MORE SUPPORT & SHOW UP TO GAMES NO MATTER WHAT.. OR WHO WE PLAY! & LETS NOT B SO NEGATIVE & PROD THEM ON TO B BETTER! CAN’T GET POSITIVE FROM A NEGATIVE!!! GO HAWKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
E43
November 13th, 2010
9:16 am
you know i just think that theres too many hawks fans reading about excuses made by people that dont know the direction the hawks are trying to take. believe it or not, every decision thats been made is the right one for the team and the future. Stop complaining about everything and be a little more supportive coz the last time i checked there have been only 3 eastern conference NBA champions since 99. The east has pretty much been standing still. Orlando, Cleveland,and Miami have had a combined 1 championship over the last 60 years. Its a shame that were shooting squading our own team based on teams that haven’t really done anything. Joe Johnson may not be the superstar that lebron is but just what exactly has lebron done in terms of championships?
tidog
November 13th, 2010
9:40 am
The hawks didn’t play the game with a sense of urgency. way too many lackadasical efforts. dunks that should have occured never happened, rebounds, loose balls poor concentration on the line etc. they could benefit from watching the urgency that the the falcons play with. i hate to write it but i don’t see the determined heart of a winner. i hope they can find it.
JeJe
November 13th, 2010
11:11 am
This site is such a damn mess. Not only does it take time just to figure out where the most recent post in the blog is (or to find the right page), there are like 8 blogs open on AJC Hawks page at all times and more keep being posted. Where the hell are we supposed to post?
AND I’M READY NOW, CLYDE
FIRE DREW, FIRE SUND
SELL THE TEAM
Rick Sund
November 13th, 2010
11:19 am
Hawk Fans,
Let me remind you that we are a YOUNG, ATHLETIC team with TONS of potential. We have a WINNING record. Miami has 4 losses – so do we. What does this mean? It means we are as good as a team which has 2 of the 3 best players in the NBA.
In addition, even though we suffered THE WORST BEATING IN AN NBA PLAYOFF SERIES EVER IN THE SPRING VS ORLANDO, we nearly beat them the other night.
That means we are CONSTANTLY GROWING and becoming a better team.
We are YOUNG and still learning how to play the game. I LOVE this core and would probably turn down a trade of Marvin Williams for Kobe Bryant because Kobe is too expensive, and also because Marvin is an INTEGRAL part of this core.
Best,
Rick
Hea
November 13th, 2010
12:23 pm
Need a new small forward
ant banks
November 13th, 2010
4:45 pm
the hawks are like wiley e coyote when he runs off of a cliff. he does fine the first 10 yds, until HE REALIZES HE CAN’T FLY. then he drops into a cloud of dust. the HAWKS were doin’ fine until they realized…THEY CAN’T FLY!! LOL.
Ken Strickland
November 13th, 2010
7:30 pm
Now that we’ve followed a 6gm winning streak with a 4gm losing streak, the NEGATIVE MINDED GLASS HALF EMPTY DOUBTERS have come out in full force. When the Heat Bulls, Bucks, Celtics and Magic finished signing their FA’s during the off season, and the Hawks decided not to go that route, most Hawk fans went ape and started predicting we’d finish below all of these teams. The ASS-U-MED the East was much improved and the Hawks would be the only team affected by that improvement.
Well, after a 4gm losing streak, here’s how these teams stack up to the Hawks so far this season:
BULLS 4-3
BUCKS 4-5
HEAT 5-4
CELTICS 7-2
MAGIC 5-3
Like I tried to tell everyone earlier, the Hawks aren’t the only team that will be affected by the Eastern Conference improvement.
Nique's Revenge
November 13th, 2010
8:17 pm
FIRE JOKE JOHNSON I WANT MY MONEY BACK BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
WTF???????????????????
SCRUB ASS. ALSO FIRE EVERYONE WHO GAVE HIM ALL THAT MONEY. STUPID!
EmirS.
November 13th, 2010
8:57 pm
Wow….
I dont know what to say.
We beat 6 teams, who most likely will not make the playoffs. But lost to 4 teams who most likely will make it in. I’m still not convinced either way. Wheter we’re real or fake. I remember the NBA.com article, on the Hornets and Hawks. I think it was written by Frank Blinebury, Im not sure. But bascially he called out the Hornets and Hawks. He stated the Hornets are VERY real. The Hawks…very fake. I was so upset with the article, but lately it seems to be true.
I still think its to early in the season. Like I said in the offseason, I’ll wait until atleast 20 games into the season, till I judge.