Hawks 97, Pacers 83
Greetings, all-
Hope you enjoyed the game, though it certainly didn’t look like a game anybody would enjoy at the start, particularly people who like to see baskets. Hawks started 1-for-12 and both teams were 11-for-41 in the first quarter. Yikes.
Notables for the game: Jeff Teague, who gave the Hawks a lot of energy after coming in with 3:26 to go in the first quarter; Al Horford, who had an off night shooting (7-for-2o) but compensated with an excellent night of defensive work on Roy Hibbert (3-for-14); Jamal Crawford, who was 7-for-16 from the field, 9-for-11 from the line and made way more offensive impact than his three assists would indicate.
Larry Drew: “I thought our bench did a great job in the second quarter. I thought Jeff Teague was the catalyst of that. His speed and his energy when he got into the game got us going.”
On Hawks’ scoring: “We got it off of movement. First of all with Hibbert, the one thing we wanted to do was keep him on the move, and we did that. We were able to get some really good looks.”
Drew put Horford back at center, replacing Jason Collins, to exploit the Hibbert matchup. Drew also said he could see Collins starting some when Joe Johnson comes back. Interesting possibility.
Josh Smith also came through with a couple three-point plays when the Pacers closed to seven. Drew: “I’ve got to stay on him about shot selection, but the thing with Josh, there’s some things you’ve got to live with and I’m willing to live with them when he’s giving me the energy and effort defensively and he’s still making great plays and great decisions on the offensive end.”
Josh Powell sprained his right knee, the same knee he sprained earlier. He hurt it colliding with Damien Wilkins defending a shot. Drew did not have an update on prognosis.
Odds and ends – Hawks have beaten Pacers eight straight. They’ve also won eight of their last 10 and are 16-9. Their record last year after 25 games was 19-6. Pacers took 28 3-pointers (making eight), which is the most taken by a Hawks opponent this season.
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223 comments Add your comment
Fundamentals
December 13th, 2010
4:06 pm
Ms Dee,
If they take your offer we get:
Marvin(6.7m), Zaza(4.2m), Mo(2.5m)=13.4 plus the TPE or the 3mil we got from draft night. Nash(10.3m) and JChill(6.5m)=16.8mil
That’d leave us a roster slot for Damien, but a definite need for a big. Getting Chills back would offset the chatter we’d get from losing Marvin. Nash should give 2-3 years, possibly more based on his level of fitness. Mo is easily replaced by Damien’s minutes.
How can we fill the need for a big? Can Etan step up enough to serve as C w/ Collins?
JeJe
December 13th, 2010
4:07 pm
Joe has a house in South Beach? Damn!!
tom
December 13th, 2010
4:07 pm
glad to see how jamal crawford is approaching the contract situation from the article. i hope we can keep him around.
JeJe
December 13th, 2010
4:09 pm
LOL. NO team is taking Marvin, ZaZa and Mo.
COME ON. LOL you think a team will trade its best player and a 2 time MVP for our 3 WORST ROTATIONAL PLAYERS?
PHX isn’t that desperate.
I mean we traded garbage for Bibby, but he is not a star nor was he
Fundamentals
December 13th, 2010
4:10 pm
If Jamal can show the defensive intensity he’s been showing lately and improve his PG play he’ll get multiple offers from real contenders. His stay in ATL has only helped him shed his image of being a 1 dimensional player.
I loved the fact that he addressed the fans and media when others on this team wouldn’t last season. He stepped up. He showed leadership, whether his numbers did or not. I think he’ll fare better in the post season this year b/c he now has experience and he also has an offensive system that isn’t 100% predicatable.
Play your game Jamal. You’ll be fine come contract time.
Fundamentals
December 13th, 2010
4:11 pm
JeJe – I guess Dee and Dr think Nash is really pushing hard to leave. I don’t see it, but speculation is well, speculation. At least she’s got a deal serving up 3 of your favorite Hawks on a platter. Grant them that at least.
Fundamentals
December 13th, 2010
4:13 pm
MC – Can we get an update on Joe’s Elbow and Sy’s back.
Maybe Sy is sore from carrying his new wallet or maybe he drove with it in his pocket long distances? What gives?
drmaryb (*_*)
December 13th, 2010
4:13 pm
Link Master!
Lewis said in part:
” steve”…. nash stand no chance against the likes of Jameer, DRose, Jennings, Rondo, CPaul, DWilliams, and just about every other contending team’s pg”
Do you have any game stats that indicate The Nash led Suns lost to all those teams last season and this season?
I know the Suns are not the same team w/o Amare this year though.
But, last years the Suns did face The Lakers in their WCF and played quite well.
I’m just wunderin’ why you make that statement. I rating team -vs- team, since Basketball is a TEAM sport.
KevinM
December 13th, 2010
4:16 pm
Marvin, Zaza and Mo probably aren’t even worth Eddy Curry….that’s how bad those signings have been.
Lesson learned for the ASG, I hope going forward.
JeJe
December 13th, 2010
4:17 pm
Fundamentals,
You and I think similarly:
What are your thoughts on this brilliant trade of Joe for Hinrich (LOL)
JeJe
December 13th, 2010
4:19 pm
If we had someone like Travis Outlaw instead of Marvin and a Brendan Haywood instead of Mo+ZaZa, and kept Damien, we’d be so much better constructed. 1/3 of our main rotational players are pure garbage.
Marvin could care less if he sucks. He only does well every 10 games or when a coach calls him out (if he played under Avery or Popp, his @$$ would be in gear – no pun intended – no homo).
ZaZa cares more about his restaurant
Mo is still hurt and is too short to play the 3 and can’t put up numbers
Ken Sugiura
December 13th, 2010
4:23 pm
i can’t say i’ve seen a ton of kirk hinrich, but for whoever thinks the hawks would use joe johnson to trade for him, as some noted, doesn’t seem real likely.
i would say that a pure point guard might be helpful, but would you need one with two players already – jamal crawford and joe johnson – who do a lot of driving to the basket, not to mention mike bibby?
some jeff teague insight from drew. right now there’s a lot of guys playing the 2 – damien wilkins, mo, marvin and jamal, which means that drew is playing jamal more at 1 to keep him on the floor, which cuts teague’s minutes at 1.
i don’t know if this is rationalizing. you can decide for yourself.
drew: “He just has to keep working and stay ready. i haven’t given up on him by any stretch of the imagination because I still believe in him. I know with his speed and his quickness, he brings something to the table that we don’t have.”
i was a little surprised when he said that because i hadn’t said anything about anyone giving up on teague. but apparently he felt it necessary to address that possibility.
he said this before the game, after he’d given teague two DNP’s in the past three games, and before he gave teague 19 minutes.
tony
December 13th, 2010
4:24 pm
The reason why Kirk Hinrich makes sense to me is because he has leadership qualities and he will not disrupt the team chemistry. He’s not just a good assist player but he’s one of the best defender in the league.
I tell what, when JJ return Josh Smith will revert back to his old ways then all you Kirk Hinrich haters will start complaining about how JJ has hurt the team chemistry . Mark my word. I will just sit back and wait.
JeJe
December 13th, 2010
4:25 pm
Can we also get a comment from Joe when he claimed he’d recruit players then said he liked the roster we have? Why did he say he’d recruit players?
Rufus1
December 13th, 2010
4:27 pm
@JEJE
You do know that Outlaw and Hayward have been bench…7mil and 11mil players.
JeJe
December 13th, 2010
4:33 pm
Great comments, MC.
Haywood is benched because Chandler is having a damn good season. Everyone knows that Haywood commits hard fouls and is a great presence. He didn’t get that contract for nothing. I’d love to have him on this team. And Haywood only makes around 8M a year throughout his contract – Outlaw makes 7. I understand if Haywood is a bit too expensive
JeJe
December 13th, 2010
4:34 pm
Ken – my bad. Not MC ha
JoJo the Godfather
December 13th, 2010
4:35 pm
Is this team in a position to take a chance on two young “busts” or “unprovens” like OJ Mayo & Hasheem Thabeet? Together, they make over $9m this year, over $10m next year, and then Mayo is restricted while Thabeet has a team option year before becoming restricted in 2013.
Besides the obvious the Hawks have to offer (expiring contracts and draft picks), I wonder if Memphis would have interest in a guy like Bibby to backup Conley? Bibby’s dad is on the coaching staff, and Mike could almost be a player/coach for a year and a half in that backup PG role. You might think that a guy like ZaZa might interest them as well with Thabeet on the way out, and Haddadi & Gasol free agents.
Would it be worth it to take a step backwards just to gamble on the raw abilities of these two kids?
Fundamentals
December 13th, 2010
4:59 pm
JeJe – I love Hinrich, but he’s not worth trading Joe unless we find a way to get someone like McGhee in tow as well.
Fundamentals
December 13th, 2010
5:03 pm
JoJo – Not sure those two guys are our ticket. OJ just doesn’t seem to be a real PG prospect, more of a SG that we already have 97 of. Thabeet might be attractive to alot of teams if he could show some progress. Right now he just seems like he found a meal ticket, not a job he’s passionate about. In the past I’d say yes, but nowdays its just too tough. We need solid additions, not projects.
MsDee
December 13th, 2010
5:08 pm
@JeJe,
Dont act like it isnt possible to trade good for ‘garbage’ cause like the saying, ‘ones trash could be someones treasure” or something like that! LOL! We traded Jon Barry for TLue when TLue had gas still in the tank, and lets not forget Acie & Speedy for Jamal…It just depends what one team is looking for and what one team just dont need anymore!
MsDee
December 13th, 2010
5:20 pm
I’m not going to give up on the idea of getting Nash on this team..HE IS A DOUBLE/DOUBLE PG FOR GOD’S SAKE!! How can he NOT help this team????? With his crafty style to score AND his willingness to pass the rock AND his ability to take over the game when NO ONE ESLE seem to know how (JJ), is exactly what we need on this team!! Come SUND, PLEASE MAKE IT HAPPEN!!
Ken Sugiura
December 13th, 2010
9:33 pm
Fundamentals – no real news on Joe’s elbow. he’s started his rehab, but i think the timeline for return is the same. Don’t know about Sy’s back.
Thanks, JeJe. I’ll take it as a compliment.