Atlanta Hawks: Zaza is out sick; Hawks to stay big
News and notes . . .
Zaza is sick and won’t make the trip to San Antonio. I refuse to be blamed for this. My theory is he caught something from the Magic players because they banged with Zaza in the post, not me.
Anyway, L.D. said he plans to stick with the Bibby, Marvin, Smoove, Al, Twin lineup. So far the results of the big lineup have been good, particularly on defense.
Not sure how the look would do long term but right now L.D. is deploying Collins in situations where his bulk is a plus and his relative lack of mobility and rebounding are masked. The Hawks benefit because they don’t have to scramble all the time.
“We are able to play straight up and not have to run around trying to get to shooters,” Drew said.
But now the Hawks run into the Parker-Ginobili-Duncan pick-and-roll-a-rama. They caught a break when Jameer was out for the Magic and defending the screen-rolls wasn’t much of an issue against the Nets since the Hawks were scoring whenever they felt like it.
So this is the first big test for the big lineup against an opponent that can carve the Hawks up.
“If one of my big guys get into trouble I will look to the bench,” L.D. said.
– Collins has already played more minutes this season than he did all of last year. The possibility of more playing time was motivation for him to get in shape over the summer.
“Either way, I’m ready,” Collins said. “I’m a professional. Whenever my name and number is called, I am ready to go out there and help my team win. It doesn’t make a difference to me. As a professional, you have to always be ready.
“I really worked hard this offseason to put myself in a position to help my team. Whenever my name and number is called, I am ready to go out there and play.”
That’s a true vet answer. There’s a reason he’s stuck around this long.
– The theme for the Hawks before they left for San Antonio was transition D. That’s always a point of emphasis for L.D., especially on the road, but Parker is a menace in the open court and the Spurs rank 10th in pace factor and fourth in fastbreak points per game.
They are also seventh in defensive efficiency and second in offensive efficiency. That’s why they are 18-3 with Ws against OKC, Utah, Chicago, Orlando, and New Orleans (twice).
“A typical Spurs team,” L.D. said. “Just solid in every aspect of the game.”
That’s how it figures to be as long as Duncan and Gregg Popovich are around. Pop was a coach for the the 2003 U.S. National Team, which Bibby helped to a 10-0 finish at the FIBA Americas Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Puerto Rico.
Bibby said his experience with Pop is why he’s not surprised by San Antonio’s amazing consistency
“Good guy, but he makes you work,” Bibby said. “I can see it. Ever since I’ve been playing they’ve had the best defensive teams in the league. I remember first coming in they were the hardest team for me to play against because of their help defense. They are just great defensively.”
– After slumping a bit amid his very public marital problems Parker has found his groove again. From Mike Monroe of the San Antonio Express-News:
Parker has endured the public scrutiny associated with the breakup of his marriage to actress Eva Longoria. Both have filed divorce petitions, with the accompanying tabloid publicity.
The effect on Parker’s game was most pronounced in Los Angeles, where he scored only two points in a loss to the Clippers after reportedly meeting with Longoria at the team hotel before the game.
After scoring 19 points and handing out six assists in just 26 minutes and 46 seconds of the Spurs’ 109-84 victory over the New Orleans Hornets at the AT&T Center on Sunday, Parker said he believes he has returned to the productive level of play that characterized the first weeks of the season.
MC
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133 comments Add your comment
L-QUE
December 9th, 2010
11:07 pm
The HAWKS have to continue to play big .believe it or not i like our matchup with the Spurs , if LD make them matchup to us ,they lose TONY orGINO for huge minutes, MO is an invitation to attack us,Sorry MARVIN changes the complexity of a game by size along, look at our wins, if he score early its on.” do them HAWKS “
Boooo!
December 9th, 2010
11:41 pm
Unrestricted Free Agents we should be Targeting at for next season:
Tayshaun Prince (SF)
Joel Pryzbilla (C)
Jonas Jerebco (SF)
Patrick Mills (PG)
Dante Cunningham (SF)
Players who we need to be purged of:
Mo Evans
Marvin Williams
Zaza Pachulia
Etan Thomas
Damien Wilkins (he’s nice but we can do better…plus I’m still angry about that 42pts he dropped on us P.S. he never scored like that again in his life he will also be 31 next season AND HE HAS NO OFFENSIVE GAME WHATSOEVER)
Players who need to be retained:
Jamal Crawford
Josh Powell
Jason Collins
Boooo!
December 9th, 2010
11:50 pm
PDX is looking to deal. We shouls send them Marvin for Przbilla right now so that we can use most of the MLE on Tayshaun next season. Then we sign Dante and Jonas to replace Mo Evans and Damien Wilkins.
We will be significantly better for it next season.
Boooo!
December 9th, 2010
11:51 pm
I guess we can keep Zaza
Boooo!
December 9th, 2010
11:58 pm
Unrestricted Free Agents we should be Targeting for next season:
Tayshaun Prince (SF)
Joel Pryzbilla (C)
Jonas Jerebco (SF)
Patrick Mills (PG)
Dante Cunningham (SF)
Players who we need to be purged of:
Mo Evans
Marvin Williams
Zaza Pachulia
Etan Thomas
Damien Wilkins (he’s nice but we can do better…plus I’m still angry about that 42pts he dropped on us P.S. he never scored like that again in his life he will also be 31 next season AND HE HAS NO OFFENSIVE GAME WHATSOEVER)
Players who need to be retained:
Jamal Crawford
Josh Powell
Jason Collins
PDX is looking to deal. We should send them Marvin for Przbilla right now so that we can use most of the MLE on Tayshaun next season. Then we sign Dante and Jonas (700,000 minimum deals) to replace Mo Evans and Damien Wilkins.
We will be significantly better for it next season.
I guess we can keep Zaza. He is not that bad as a 4th option center off the bench.
Boooo!
December 10th, 2010
12:02 am
More than Likely we will need to trade our draft picks away or stash the players overseas. I would rather trade them because I dont trust Rick Sund with the picks. We would be better off just taking other teams young players (like Jerebco and Cunningham) who are already proven.
SteveW
December 10th, 2010
12:25 am
After the 1/2 season or so lockout most expect next season, there will probably be a hard cap in place. The Hawks have prepared for this eventuality by having JJ, Josh, and Al as our core. Jamal will be gone unless he agrees to a substantial pay cut. And Jordan Crawford will take Jamal’s spot, Sy or Wilkens are designated for Mo’s spot. And the Etan, Collins, Powell spots will be determined by cost and production, who we draft etc.
And all of this is off the table if Sund comes up with a big trade.
And ZaZa, I don’t mind you doing the boxing in the off season, but could you this off season hire Ida Cavin, or even Hakeem Olajuwon for that matter like Dwight did, and just get better at basketball for next season? Look at Roy Hibbert, you can improve like that as well.
MsDee
December 10th, 2010
12:42 am
@Grambling,
I hate u getting on my girl Dr Mary and all but u do have my college screen name..did ya go to Grambling? if so when?
MsDee
December 10th, 2010
12:43 am
WOW..Orlando on the brink of a 3 game losing streak!!!
MsDee
December 10th, 2010
12:44 am
Dwight the ONLY PLAYER in double figures!!!!!!!!! WOW!!
MsDee
December 10th, 2010
1:33 am
Orlando on a 3 game losing streak!! Hopefully we can pull out an upset against the Spurs..
Hey northcyde,
Do u think if we beat the Spurs, (the #1 team in the league right now, ON THEIR COURT, W/O JJ), we would THEN get the respect from the NBA world even though we didnt get SHAQ during the off season?? I ask that since u said early on in the season that the Hawks would have been one of the popular teams around the league had we picked-up Shaq.
Ramon
December 10th, 2010
1:46 am
Would anyone be interested in acquiring Batum from Portland?
Here is my dream trade of the day.
Hawks get:
Brandon Roy
Joel Pryzbilla
and 2nd round pick
Blazers get:
Jamal Crawford
Jeff Teague
Zaza
Mo Evans
and 2 first round draft picks.
Portland is scared of getting burned by Roy’s knee like Oden. And salary cap relief will leave them able to rebuild quickly on the free agent market. Atlanta gets to be the team who takes the gamble on Roy’s health going forward. And with Joe on the roster, Roy can have time to get healthy before the last stretch before the playoffs. Rumors are starting that Portland is discussing dealing Roy. Why not go Back II the Future and see Roy and Joe play together?
Also, Joe is a good enough shooter, to be able to play alongside Roy, unlike Wade and Lebron, lol. Roy, Joe, Josh, Al and Collins (or Joel) to close out games would be huge in the playoffs. Imagine running motion with that line up.
Ramon
December 10th, 2010
1:50 am
That deal doesn’t work on Trade Machine because of Roy’s BYC contract. But it should work in a couple of weeks.
wordsmithtom
December 10th, 2010
3:53 am
Rev in Tampa,
I’ve seen Charles Barkley play golf…..wheelchair golfers outplay him. He’s also smart at the gambling table.
But, typical of NBA snobbery, they have their “elite lists” and until you prove you belong there, you don’t. So far, young birds haven’t. I don’t think he can call the season this side of Christmas, but that’s the way they see it. Call it “under the radar” if you will.
drmaryb (*_*)
December 10th, 2010
4:33 am
Missing Parts!
The Magic downplayed that lost to the Joe-less Hawks, by issuing insults.
The gave our team NO credit for a quality win, then the so called pundits chimed in that they had the flu.
Well, IMO, if the Hawks game was so irrelevant, Why rush Dwight and Peitrus back to play us? Why not rest your guys for the long-term benefit?
Because, winning matters!
The Magic are NOT as potent as they were last year! Hedo and Matt Barnes have been downgraded! They are regressing
dukester
December 10th, 2010
7:36 am
The hawks are not making any trades they are happy with their team. Sund will not make a deal unless it is a steal. I feels good to hope and wonder but we are what we are.
Najeh Davenpoop
December 10th, 2010
7:59 am
Don’t overreact to early Magic struggles. You can put an endless array of defensively above average 3 point shooters around Nelson and Howard and pencil that team in for the conference finals.
And as for Roy, he is the face of that franchise and its most popular player. If they decide to move him for some reason, it’s going to be for a lot more than Jamal and spare parts. And even if his knee becomes a major issue, they would be better off financially just keeping him and letting insurance pay the cost of his salary.
drmaryb (*_*)
December 10th, 2010
8:03 am
Co-Sign that Najeh.
Ramon
December 10th, 2010
8:16 am
Najeh, Roy has 5 seasons left on his contract. They will not be able to get more for Roy than what Denver can expect to get for Melo. And that deal is better than anything else they would get elsewhere. They get 2 expiring deal. They trade Joel Pryz’s contract for Zaza’s contract which is better. Crawford in the West, is still 22 ppg. And they also get their young PG of the future, with 2 draft picks. And the fact is I know they wouldn’t accept Marvin or Bibby in the trade. And I wouldn’t trade Joe, Josh, or Al for him alone. (Although I may would trade Al for Roy and Camby).
JeJe
December 10th, 2010
8:45 am
LOL @ people thinking that Marvin is underperforming because he’s still hurt. If he had 3 or 4 good games, obviously he’s not hurt.
THE GUY DOES NOT WANT TO BE A STAR IN THIS LEAGUE. HE DOES NOT WANT THE BALL IN HIS HANDS NO HOMO
PLUS HE HAS A HORRENDOUS BACK AND LOOKS LIKE AN AWKWARD STIFF OUT THERE
JUST PAY THIS GUY NOT TO BE ON THE TEAM. HE IS USELESS
Westurd
December 10th, 2010
9:00 am
Marvin = Useless
Grambling = Useless.
Grambling, you’re a Charlotte hoops fan? Hows that citys NBA team doing?
Hawks get it done tonight…..party at Phillips on Saturday night!
Mike is back
December 10th, 2010
9:32 am
MC, dang can a bothra get back in.lol
I thought that was a great response by JC1…The Hawks can ill afford to fall down big to the Spurs…they want recover…They need to stick together and play together…NO MATTER WHAT…and try to get to the fourth quarter under 10 points…that way…at lease you give yourself a chance to steal one at the end.
LET’S GO HAWKS…IT’S TIME TO SEND A MESSAGE TO THE BOYS AT ESPN, TNT, AND SADLY…NOW THE NBA CHANNEL.
justin' case
December 10th, 2010
9:33 am
wonder if other cities have a problem with keepin’ a NEW blog posted that corresponds with the MOST recent game? is it that hard to keep up? just put a few paragraphs and we will do the rest…
O'Brien
December 10th, 2010
9:49 am
Ramon,
ASG cannot afford to pay JJ, Brandon Roy, Josh, Al, and Marvin. Plus with Bibby expiring in a couple seasons, they will be looking for a PG.
I dont know if Portland can get a better deal, but I dont think they would trade Brandon Roy. He is the face of their franchis.
They are morelikely to keep him, and just hope and pray that he gets healthy.
O'Brien
December 10th, 2010
9:51 am
MsDee,
Hawks get no respect, and even if they beat the Spurs in San Antonio, w/o JJ, the media would talk about what the Spurs did wrong, ignoring what the Hawks did right.
That being said, I’m not expecting a win. But I would like to see us in a close game all the way.
Rufus1
December 10th, 2010
10:11 am
The Bulls Elite…..Really?
When did the Bulls become ELITE? I must have missed the Memo. The Bulls got thrashed by the Magic,Celtics and haven’t played the Hawks or the Heat….I DIDN’T KNOW GETTING YOUR BUTT HANDED TO YOU BY GOOD TEAMS MAKES YOU ELITE!
Barley’s Comments are a classic example of what they want to happen, not what they know. They are simply trying to HYPE the Bulls to elite status….Too bad for them, you still have to play the games.
4-1 without our best players and 2 road wins….I call that elite.
Najeh Davenpoop
December 10th, 2010
10:12 am
” They trade Joel Pryz’s contract for Zaza’s contract which is better. ”
Przybilla gets paid $7 million this year and expires. Zaza gets $4.75 million on average per year and has two years after this year. And it goes without saying that Przybilla is the far superior player.
Rufus1
December 10th, 2010
10:12 am
“Barkley” “Player”
Najeh Davenpoop
December 10th, 2010
10:16 am
“When did the Bulls become ELITE? I must have missed the Memo.”
The Bulls have beat the Mavs and Suns on the road and the Nuggets at home, all without Carlos Boozer. All three of those teams are better than any team the Hawks have beat except the Magic. I don’t think the Bulls are “elite” — to me “elite” implies that they are an NBA Finals contender, which the Bulls are not yet — but it is perfectly fair to rank them ahead of the Hawks.
Najeh Davenpoop
December 10th, 2010
10:28 am
I really don’t think Zaza can be realistically included in any trade without the Hawks taking back an equal or greater amount of dead weight in return. A relatively unproductive player can have trade value if they have a manageable contract (like Mo Evans), but when they are locked in for two years after this one at 80% of the mid level exception, they are pretty much untradeable. And I don’t think Jamal has enough value to offset the burden of taking on Zaza’s deal for any team.
Even with Marvin, you can try to make the argument that he is merely average and a team may take a gamble on him, as unlikely as it may seem. In Zaza’s case, you’re talking about a well below average player, not just an average one.
dukester
December 10th, 2010
10:32 am
Can I make my apologies to my fellow blogster’s. I faile to greet you all this morning with my usual:
MARVIN TRADE OR TIRADE!!!!!! (music playing)
Rufus1
December 10th, 2010
10:33 am
@Najeh
They are 12-8 and they lost to the Knicks at home by 20pts. Also Boozer wasn’t on their team last year, so they didn’t have to adjust to him. Tell their elite when they win without DRose.
No Najeh I do not put them over the Hawks, because we won a playoffs series last year, and they can’t be the Magic either.
They 1st need to win ONE PLAYOFFS SERIES, ATLEAST ONE if you want to label them ELITE.
Geemack
December 10th, 2010
10:41 am
Rufus1
3 of those 4 wins are against horrible teams. They are 1-1 against teams with a winning record during that stretch.
Now if they beat the Spurs then people will give them their props.
However this is how tonight’s game will go; Tony Parker & Manu will have a field day against the Hawks guard.
The game will be over by the end of the 3rd. TD will have a so so game offensively simply because the Spurs didn’t need him in the 4th.
Post game comments: Our guys were tired from the 4 games in 5 night stretch and we didn’t bring any energy.
During these times our bench have got to step up.
We need the bench to come with energy. Blah, Blah, Blah, Blah.
Same excuse different game.
JeJe
December 10th, 2010
11:19 am
Tonight is going to be an ugly game, win or lose.
I hope these guys are ready for a low-scoring defensive game. That’s the only way we’ll win tonight. We need Josh to be MATURE and make good decisions. If he starts jacking jumpshots 3 plays in a row again, we will lose by 35.
AND GET HORFORD MORE PLAYS
Sautee
December 10th, 2010
11:31 am
If Horford can’t find DeJuan Blair and block him out, Blair will get 17 rebounds or so.
This is NOT a good matchup for the Hawks.
Let’s hope they can play over their heads and pull out a win.
Rufus1
December 10th, 2010
11:42 am
@Geemack
We won 53 games last and AL, Josh and Bibby are already better. I refuse to subscribe to the idea that we are not better than last years team.
Why is the loss of JJ discounted so much in our victories. If the season had started without JJ, people would say we wouldn’t make the playoffs….He isn’t here and we are still winning, so the wins are minimized.
I don’t know what some of you Hawks fans want….You sound like Falcon fans, minimizing every victory.
I SEE A TEAM TRULY BECOMING ELITE OFFENSIVELY AND DEFENSIVELY.
(Heat 89pts, Magic 74) + No JJ = ELITE when he returns
cp
December 10th, 2010
11:47 am
Sautee I agree with you. Against the Nets that Humphries cat was all over the glass and I didn’t see Horford blocking him out at all. Horford has to keep a body on Blair and keep him off the glass….As JeJe stated, we need the good Josh tonight. We don’t need the version that takes the bad jumper or thinks he is a pg. Josh has to play under control tonight and not try to do too much….We might see Teague tonight because I don’t think any of the other guards can stay in front of Parker. I’m sure Mo will get minutes tonight and look horrible again. We need Marvin to have a good game but he is Marvin so who knows if he comes to play tonight or if he will be invisible again.
Joey
December 10th, 2010
11:48 am
I probably couldn’t play very wello if I met Eva Longoria at the team hotel, either . . .
Geemack
December 10th, 2010
11:54 am
MO and Jamal for Pryzbilla and Miller. It works in the trade machine.
Why would Portland do this trade? 1)13mil of caps space in the off season vs. 7mil (from Pryzbilla expiring contract).
2) B. Roy is injured and Jamal gives you a scoring guard off the bench to make up for B. Roy’s down productivity.
Why would the Hawks do this trade? Millier is a penetrating and defensive minded PG. Pryzbilla is a defensive minded center that can rebounds. Plus if Pryzbilla don’t work he comes off the books this summer.
Ramon
December 10th, 2010
12:27 pm
Najeh and O’Brien, you guys are probably right. But I would act least try the deal. As I said, after Portland got burned by Oden and others in the past. I think they would take good value for Roy now.
nique
December 10th, 2010
12:29 pm
Imagine if Teague and Marvin could consistently contribute to this team……
JeJe
December 10th, 2010
1:19 pm
I have a feeling we’ll lose by 25+ tonight and Jamal will have a horrendous game & Bibby will be guarded so closely he won’t do anything, as will Marvin.
We need to play our best basketball tonight
Boneyard Randy
December 10th, 2010
1:42 pm
HAWKS!
northcyde
December 10th, 2010
2:33 pm
@ MsDee 1:33 am . . . if we beat the Spurs, people should take notice a little, seeing that we’d beat Orlando and San Antonio in the same week. Plus the Spurs have like a 25 game win streak at home or something.
So yeah, if we beat the Spurs, we should get some love.
But the big game is the TNT game next week vs Boston. That’s the one we need to win, in order to get some “respect”.
And even then, people may not take us that serious, because they never do.
drmaryb (*_*)
December 10th, 2010
3:12 pm
Deal or No Deal!
I hear all the trade talk, but why does anyone believe The ASKG will do anything, much less orchestrate a trade? Blockbuster or Otherwise!
Based on, what?
drmaryb (*_*)
December 10th, 2010
3:23 pm
Laughable!
And since The Hawks have proven to be laughable in the playoffs, who would want our dead weights? Unless, we are offering Joe, Al or Smoove?
No one else is desirable on this team.
Like Al said, “I will go to WAR with what I got!”
So, trade machine all you like and have some fun with that.
Meanwhile, I’m looking forward seeing what Coach and Team Hawks will do tonight in San Antone’ and the balance of December with this pool of talent, he has been handed.
Got my popcorn and cherry coke ready!
Let’s Go Hawks!
Jamillion
December 10th, 2010
3:44 pm
Why do u guys drink the cool aid for the bulls. Who haven’t gotten out the first round yet in three years. You sound as pathetic as the people who rank a houston team which is like 8 games under 5 hundred above the hawks? We win more games every year than the one before. We have three real all stars on our team. We smashed S. A . Last year. So little faith
Boooo!
December 10th, 2010
3:54 pm
Marvin is a team guy, but he has no ambition See Ron Artest:
6:38 p.m. — I ask Jackson why he’s playing Artest fewer minutes this season. “I’m not,” Jackson says. “Ron overheard [substitute forward Matt Barnes] asking me for more playing time, so he’s been raising his hand just to get Matt more time.”
Why, Ron Ron?
“Because we’re a team. I just want to win another title. Who cares about minutes? Who cares about points?”
Uh, everybody else?
——————————————————————————–
7:41 p.m. — Tonight’s assignment: Check Tyreke Evans, the Kings’ best player by far. Enter Artest Logic.
“I overtrained swimming this week,” he said on the way to the game. “So I’m going to be really tired tonight. Which is kinda how I like it.”
Sorry?
“I can be too strong for some small forwards, so they don’t want to go at me, so I get bored. So sometimes I overtrain on purpose before a game just to see if I can lock a guy down with only half my energy.”
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/news/story?id=5902468
Boooo!
December 10th, 2010
3:56 pm
Asrto Joe has a good point though from the Fan Nest Blog:
Astro Joe
December 10th, 2010
1:26 pm
Marvin averages the 6th most FGAs on the Hawks. I wonder how many guys who average the 6th most FGAs on their team still produce close to 10 PPG? Someone has to shoot the ball the 6th most times on their team, right? On the Mavs, it is Jose Barea who averages less than 8 PPG. Same for Nate Robinson with the Celtics (less than 8). On the Thunder, it is Harden who averages 9 PPG and shoots less than 36% from the field (Marvin is at 46%). On tonight’s opponent, Dajuan Blair is 6th in FGAs and averages less than 7 PPG.
My point? Someone on every team ranks 6th on FGAs and our guy likely has one of the highest scoring averages, a very respectable FG%, plays above average defense and never whines, sulks, plays selfishly, hogs the ball or makes statements about playing out of position (even now when he clearly isn’t playing his “natural” position in LD’s big line-up).
Boooo!
December 10th, 2010
3:57 pm
Tonight, the coaches have told him to force Evans to his left, but the first four times Evans touches the ball, Artest forces him right.
Explain, Ron Ron?
“Just to see if I can stop them,” he says. “I like looking at a guy’s face when he realizes that even his best moves aren’t going to work on me all night. They look depressed.”