Atlanta Hawks at Hornets: Back in action
New Orleans–It’s been a long time . . . I shouldn’t have left you . . . without a strong blog to step to. . . .
Season’s Greetings, blog people. Hope you are having a good Christmas weekend. I had some of my people come down from The Ville to stay with me for a few days. In case they read this, let me just say it was a delightful time and at no point did I contemplate the advantages of living alone. Ain’t family great?
The Hawks are back in action (and Jamal is back in the lineup) but not before taking some time for inaction. L.D. let them loose after the W against Cleveland Wednesday, canceling an early Thursday practice because “it would have been beating a dead horse to death,” or at the very least beating down a tired team.
So the players were free from postgame Wednesday to shootaround today. Everyone showed up and they seemed to have a bit more pep.
“I noticed at shootaround today they seemed really rejuvenated,” L.D. said. “I hope it carries over to the game tonight. They seemed to be a lot spunkier. They looked to be a little fresher, there was a little vibe there. I know that was really needed because the way the schedule was the first 31. Hopefully the little break did them some good and they can come back rejuevenated.”
(The Hornets also haven’t played since Wednesday but coach Monty Williams had them practice twice since then: “I didn’t want to go into the game [after] taking two days off. It’s a long season and you have to take advantage of the breaks but at the same time you’ve got to work.”)
Jamal, Marvin, Joe, Al and Bibby all got some time to rest their nagging nicks and pains.
Jamal said he would have no physical limitations after missing five games with a sore back.
“Now it’s just going to be about getting my timing and getting my game shape back,” he said. “I am just happy to get back out there.”
Al said the swelling has gone down in his shooting hand. It’s “better” but not quite back to feeling normal.
L.D. is starting his regular lineup: Bibby, J.J., Marvin, Smoove and Al.
“We’ll start that way but we will play a lot of big lineup tonight,” L.D. said. “I want to play Al a lot at the four and just go big with Okafor at the five.”
See Pape in Utah
Pape Sy will soon join the D-League’s Utah Flash. They don’t play a game until the end of the week so it’s possible Sy will continue to practice with the Hawks until then . . .
Monty Williams on J.J.: “He plays the point from the post. He’s one of my favorite players, always has been, because he does a number of things. He draws so many double teams and he can kick it around to the open guy.”
MC
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281 comments Add your comment
LionHearted
December 26th, 2010
7:41 pm
Agreed Melvin
LD is ruining this game
LionHearted
December 26th, 2010
7:42 pm
What the Hell is LD thinking. Zaza is terrible and Jamal is is not a PG
LionHearted
December 26th, 2010
7:45 pm
Josh with the headband back on lol
Melvin
December 26th, 2010
7:46 pm
Josh found his headband while he was on the bench…lol
bigdave
December 26th, 2010
7:46 pm
somebody told Josh we were getting on him..
he brought his headband out..
Rev in Tampa
December 26th, 2010
7:46 pm
get Mo evans out of the game
Sautee
December 26th, 2010
7:47 pm
LOL,
Ms. Sautee just asked if Josh lost a bet.
Bailey
December 26th, 2010
7:48 pm
I hope L.D. makes the right decisions tonight as far as the rotation goes. I’m surprised not to see Teague at all yet, considering Jamal has been taking Marvin’s invisible man role tonight with lackluster effort and energy. Hopefully, L.D. will let Teague get some minutes in the second quarter. Also, I hope that Al returns to the game soon. It has been all down-hill since he left the floor. If L.D. is maturing as a coach, he’ll put him back in in the second quarter.
LionHearted
December 26th, 2010
7:49 pm
LD is the reason why we are LOSING right now instead of WInning by 10
{MAC-Town Georgia 478}
December 26th, 2010
7:49 pm
I wish we had guards that could do what Jack just did.
LionHearted
December 26th, 2010
7:49 pm
Another Terrible Shot from Osh Smith
bigdave
December 26th, 2010
7:50 pm
any other pg takes that ball on to the cut instead of kicking it out to Josh..
bigdave
December 26th, 2010
7:52 pm
work Josh..!
Rev in Tampa
December 26th, 2010
7:53 pm
THe rotation will not lose this game. if the Hawks lose tonight it will be because they are not boxing out at all
Sautee
December 26th, 2010
7:53 pm
bigdave,
Let’s give him credit for knowing his limitations.
Kaveman
December 26th, 2010
7:54 pm
Someone tell JOSH to stop taking those long jumpers. Please stay with dunking, blocking, rebounding & lay ups. Oh his website is jsmoove.net and please someone tell him.
Ronald D.
December 26th, 2010
7:55 pm
Well, it looks like Larry Drew’s stupidity has returned to him. I should have know that his few good moves in the past were too good to be true. This guy is absolute garbage. It’s arguable that he is the worst coach in the league. The rotations tonight have been horrid. Al Horford should be in the game right now, and Jamal should be out the game. Bibby and Jamal should be be playing together at the same time with the defensive deficiencies that they have. The only reason that the Hawks are even close in this one is due to some very poor play from the Hornets. Drew is such a disgrace. I’d really like for the ASG to let him go.
Ronald D.
December 26th, 2010
7:56 pm
Correction on my last post: *Bibby and Jamal should NOT be playing together at the same time.
bigdave
December 26th, 2010
7:57 pm
Joe w/ the Euro step..
ATL FAN
December 26th, 2010
7:57 pm
lmao i love joe johnson
bigdave
December 26th, 2010
7:58 pm
wow..
good d.
Sleepy
December 26th, 2010
7:58 pm
that right there was why we dont play on xmas lol
LionHearted
December 26th, 2010
7:59 pm
LD needs to think.
His Brain is just like his suits WORN THE HELL OUT
bigdave
December 26th, 2010
8:00 pm
Bibby getting brolic!
Sleepy
December 26th, 2010
8:00 pm
No O Okafor has his scoring average of 10 points in the first half but all people do is whine about Bibbys or Crawfords defense lol
ATL FAN
December 26th, 2010
8:00 pm
lmao lionhearted
SWAT Native
December 26th, 2010
8:00 pm
MC,I love the Rakim reference! Old school!
ATL FAN
December 26th, 2010
8:01 pm
wtf marvin??
LionHearted
December 26th, 2010
8:01 pm
LMAO @ Marvin
i_am_soulstar
December 26th, 2010
8:02 pm
Looks like another 20-something minute night for Horford
Rev in Tampa
December 26th, 2010
8:02 pm
why is marvin trying to pass out a rebound he gets in the paint.
ATL FAN
December 26th, 2010
8:03 pm
Because he doesn’t want the ball Rev, as soon as he gets it he looks to give it up…
Sleepy
December 26th, 2010
8:03 pm
@ Rev : Marvin thought it was gonna be 3 seconds lol
Rod from College Park
December 26th, 2010
8:04 pm
Marvin is the worse 6′9 finisher in the league. Never seen a guy that tall hit the ground so much.
i_am_soulstar
December 26th, 2010
8:04 pm
Marvin and Bibby w/ the careless turnovers
i_am_soulstar
December 26th, 2010
8:05 pm
WTF Jamal Crawford??!!!
ATL FAN
December 26th, 2010
8:06 pm
The Rim averages 3.4 blocks per game.
Sautee
December 26th, 2010
8:07 pm
LOL @ the LD haters.
Damn, you can’t even give the guy half a season, and you just KNOW that he’s awful.
There were some fans in Orlando AND Boston who thought that about Doc Rivers at one time early in HIS first seasons.
32 games is not NEARLY enough time for anyone to tell what kind of coach he is. Particularly with the Hawks on a 50 win pace. Y’all act like we haven’t won 8 games yet, when we’ve won eight ROAD GAMES.
ATL FAN
December 26th, 2010
8:08 pm
Oh man, Joe Johnson!!
i_am_soulstar
December 26th, 2010
8:08 pm
Marvin’s jumpshot is water though. Maybe that benching was a wake-up call.
Sleepy
December 26th, 2010
8:08 pm
Jamal shouldve waited another game and had a couple of practices hes getting checked by the rim lol
Rev in Tampa
December 26th, 2010
8:08 pm
just when the Hawks were in a position to put the hornets down they let keep letting the hornet’s guards into the paint uncontested
Andy
December 26th, 2010
8:08 pm
Sometimes, I wonder if L.D. just doesn’t like Horford. I know it might sound crazy at first, but it is really starting to seem like L.D. has some personal issue against Horford. Everyone, including L.D. knows that sitting Horford for this long is not helping the team at all. If L.D. doesn’t realize that sitting your player for entire quarters is going to result in him playing less minutes than actual foul trouble, then he doesn’t have the knowledge necessary to coach. I don’t know why we always end up getting the worst coaches in the league here in ATL. It’s so disappointing. Sometimes, I don’t even want to watch the games because I know that if even if the players play well, Larry Drew will most likely do something stupid to jeopardize the team’s chance at a win. What a disgrace.
i_am_soulstar
December 26th, 2010
8:08 pm
OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!
Rev in Tampa
December 26th, 2010
8:09 pm
iso-joe
Melvin
December 26th, 2010
8:09 pm
LD does not believe in a player being rusty. Jamal miss 5 games and playing big mins his first game back. He did the same thing with Joe after he missed 3 weeks of action…
bigdave
December 26th, 2010
8:12 pm
how is benching one of your most productive bigs while increasing the league hurting us?
sometimes i wonder if guys just want to see ZaZa and P get more pt.
bigdave
December 26th, 2010
8:14 pm
bottom line is that new orleans attacks the paint. Al picked up 2 early, 3 isnt hard to get against this team. u will need him come 2nd half.
Rev in Tampa
December 26th, 2010
8:18 pm
are any of you watching the game on channelsurfing.net? The person giving the Christmas day games replays sounds like he is doing a PBS documentary instead of calling highlights
Astro Joe
December 26th, 2010
8:18 pm
Marvin was the best 2005 draft picked player in the first half.
No first half love for Teague, hmmm.