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
Bailey
December 26th, 2010
10:03 pm
Well said, cp. I strongly agree with your 9:57 pm post. I’m very disappointed with what I’m seeing from L.D., and the lack of accountability and random rotations really drive me crazy. One thing I’d like to add though, is that even if L.D. is trying to coach to win as many games as possible, what he is doing isn’t going to win many games. The fact that he continues to make the same mistakes over and over again, makes me wonder if he just doesn’t realize that what he is doing isn’t working, or if he just doesn’t know what else to do. At any rate, things need to change.
slimjr
December 26th, 2010
10:04 pm
Jersey getting two feet of snow tonight! Wow….
slimjr
December 26th, 2010
10:05 pm
LD=Jim Mora! In way over his head………………………………..
O'Brien
December 26th, 2010
10:15 pm
Same script, different director.
Hawks have 31 points in the second half. And despite Jamal’s 5 turnovers, despite Bibby’s 2-8, despite CP3 and Jack combining for 32 points, Teague did not get any minutes, despite the fact that he played well his last 3 games.
The more and more the season goes, is the more similarities I see with LD and Woody.
Steve
December 26th, 2010
10:16 pm
Honestly, people, I’m curious…can you think of 5 coaches in the league who are worse than Larry Drew? I’m having a tough time coming up with many.
The only coach that I can think of who may be legitimately worse is Kurt Rambis in Minnesota. There are several teams with worse records, but most of those teams have inferior players. The Clippers are an exception since they have a roster loaded with talent, but can never seem to figure out how to use that talent. I can’t put that on Vinnie Del Negro though, since no one has really been able to ever get the clippers going, and Del Negro did a decent job coaching the bulls, given the roster that he had. If you look at the teams below us in the east, it’s tough to find a worse coach.
I’d like to hear some opinions on this, and please don’t throw in the line that L.D. is a rookie coach. I just want to hear who you all think may be worse than L.D.. Remember, I’m talking about active NBA coaches, so there are only 29 active candidates.
slimjr
December 26th, 2010
10:16 pm
“Nice recap of the 2005 draft in this final minute. CP3 hits a clutch jumper; Marvin fumbles a pass out of bounds right underneath the hoop.’
Billy Knight you are a GENIUS!!! Not……………….
Borat
December 26th, 2010
10:18 pm
Pamela, I am no longer attracted to you…NOT!
Borat
December 26th, 2010
10:21 pm
Larry Drew is the leading candidate for coach of the year…
…NOT!
Borat
December 26th, 2010
10:22 pm
I’m so glad that Larry Drew was signed for 2 years…NOT!
SteveW
December 26th, 2010
10:23 pm
Where was Teague? Bad move by LD not playing Teague unless Teague was hurt or something.
Weirdest rotation I think I have ever seen in the 4th quarter from the Hawks. We hadn’t played our bench enough (Wilkens and Teague DNP coaches decision), then we play weird bench combos. LD must have an egg nog hangover.
31 pts in the 2nd half. Must have been outrebounded by a ton in the 4th quarter also.
Ronald
December 26th, 2010
10:30 pm
SteveW,
When you are playing four guards and 1 big man, you are most likely going to get out-rebounded. Also, when your one big in the lineup is guarding the other team’s point guard on the perimeter, you are going to be out-rebounded. That was only one of the issues tonight, also. Larry Drew had the the worst coaching performance (out of all coaches in the league) of the season tonight, as far as I’m concerned, and he wins that award by a landslide.
SteveW
December 26th, 2010
10:31 pm
Hope the Marvin Williams haters begin stepping up. Some said if he put a few games in a row together, they would think there is hope. For his last 16 games, 11 in double figures, including:
26 @ Boston
22 vs. Philly
18 tonite
17 twice
16
15 twice – Once again the Spurs in San Antonio. Now he’s no Chris Paul or DeRon Williams, but is he starting to play a little better? Maybe LD has the key to Marvin. If so, hope he also has the key to ZaZa and Teague, because if he does, now we may have something good going on.
P.S. LD’s master plan – Use Bibby so much he tires out or gets hurt then he has to play Teague. Bibby at 41 minutes tonight, most on the team. Vs. Chris Paul and Jarrett Jack
SteveW
December 26th, 2010
10:35 pm
Ronald – Can’t disagree with you. Horford at 28 minutes? Was he hurt or something. The guys at Hoopinion keep saying Horford is All NBA calibre. They just did a stat comparison between he and Dwight. Al with intangibles is closer to Dwight than many think.
They said every day ATL does not run the offense thru Al Horford is a wasted day by the Hawks franchise. Gotta agree.
Byron
December 26th, 2010
10:39 pm
SteveW,
Nothing good is going on under L.D. He doesn’t have any “key” to Marvin or anyone on the team. The only reason why Marvin is averaging more points lately is due to the fact that he is getting more shot attempts and more touches on the offensive end. This has nothing to do with L.D., it has to do with the fact that Joe and Jamal have not both been active for quite a while, so there are more attempts to go around. Marvin averaged 15 ppg under woody before Jamal arrived. This looks like the same Marvin as before, he’s just not being ignored as much as he was last season and early on this season. L.D. doesn’t have keys, he has locks. He knows how to lock up Horford, Williams, Teague, JC2, and pretty much anyone on the team who isn’t named Jamal or Joe, or who isn’t a jumpshooter. Don’t expect anything out of L.D. The guy is garbage. He’s only hurting the team, not helping. There was been no player development at all under Drew, and the players who have developed are not even used as they should be.
Clyde
December 26th, 2010
10:39 pm
I knew Drew would turn into Woody. What happened to his motion offense?
cp
December 26th, 2010
10:41 pm
” One thing I’d like to add though, is that even if L.D. is trying to coach to win as many games as possible, what he is doing isn’t going to win many games. The fact that he continues to make the same mistakes over and over again, makes me wonder if he just doesn’t realize that what he is doing isn’t working, or if he just doesn’t know what else to do. ”
@Bailey, replace LD’s name with Woodson and you have the same thing from past seasons. Woodson would continue to do the same thing over and over even if it didn’t work and it drove me crazy. Last year in the playoffs during the Magic series Woodson was asked was he going to change anything or do something different and he replied no, that he was going to keep doing what got them there. New coach still no accountability… I just dont understand how Teague and Wilkins get no pt when they had been playing well defensively recently.
Ronald
December 26th, 2010
10:42 pm
SteveW,
Horford wasn’t hurt, L.D. just chose to bench him for the majority of the first quarter again. By the way, I agree with the Hoopinion people as well, and I like the fact that they have hard evidence to back up their claims. There is some good content on that site. By the way, they are not the only ones who see the value in Horford. NBA.com had him in the their last “Race to the MVP” segment. If only L.D. saw the value that he had in Horford.
Ronald
December 26th, 2010
10:43 pm
I meant to say “bench him for the majority of the first half”, not “first quarter” in my last post.
Bailey
December 26th, 2010
10:46 pm
You’re right, cp. The similarities between Woody and L.D. are becoming more and more apparent by the day. I was really hoping that we would get an expeirenced coach that was brand new to our team, that way we would have a different foundation building and not a continuation of what we’ve been frustrated with for years. But, you know what they say, you get what you pay for.
drmaryb (*_*)
December 26th, 2010
10:51 pm
This Team really Sucks!
Aye Sund! Build your damned team.
Aye Drew! Nail Josh’s stankonia AZZ to the paint – where it belongs!
If Josh is not in the paint? Doin’ Work? He is killing this team!
At least, Woodson did do THAT!
Larry Drew
December 26th, 2010
10:57 pm
Goodbye, second place in the southeast division.
Hello, losing streak.
Goodbye, ball movement.
Welcome back, Iso-Joe. Oh, how I’ve missed you.
Welcome to the party, Iso-Jamal.
Nice to meet you, see you later, Damien Wilkins.
Goodbye, Jeff Teague.
Make yourself at home, Mike Bibby.
What are you doing on the court, Al!? Get back on the bench!
How are those street clothes treating you, Jordan Crawford?
…
(5 months later)
…
Goodbye, coaching.
Hello, unemployment.
I act like i know what i'm taking about when i really don't.
December 26th, 2010
10:58 pm
Screw this team, lets start rebuilding already.
I’m tired of having the same team year after year only to see them FAIL.
I act like i know what i'm taking about when i really don't.
December 26th, 2010
11:00 pm
But lets keep Al Horford.
Bailey
December 26th, 2010
11:04 pm
You’re spot on with your comments on Josh, drmaryb. If there was one positive thing that came out of Woodson’s coaching, it was the fact that he actually had Josh playing inside and refraining from taking long jump shots and threes. It’s funny that it took Woodson six years to accomplish that feat, and after all of that work, it took Josh about six minutes to revert back and convince himself that he is Ray Allen.
rusty
December 26th, 2010
11:08 pm
I am finding it hard to blog anymore. I watch every game & read every blog. This is so depressing this guy is dumber than woody, I just cant believe what is happening
Larry Drew
December 26th, 2010
11:15 pm
drmaryb,
Josh has been working on his jump shot over the summer. I want him to take that shot with confidence. I love jump shots. That’s what my system is all about. I need to have as many jumpshooters on the floor at once as I possibly can, as long as their names aren’t Al…I like him to sit on the bench and watch. We just need to get into a rhythm on our jump shots. I need shotmakers in the game, that’s why I play Bibby and Jamal together, they are shot makers. Sometimes, we just miss our jumpshots, but I want us to take more. I want Joe and Jamal to take 20 shots a night, at a minimum, or however many it takes for them to score at least 15 points, and I need Bibby out there to direct traffic by passing the ball to either Joe or Jamal for more jumpshots. I can’t play Teague, he has an ugly jump shot, and sometimes he passes the ball to Al in the post. I hate that. I don’t want Al to get shots, especially not in the post where he shoots at 60+%. A shot for Al is taking away from my other jumpshooters. I Teague sometimes tries to get into the seems of the defense and puts up floaters. Floaters are ugly, I want jump shots, damn it! Damien just doesn’t have the type of jumpshot that I like. I like that smooth shooting stroke. I’m going to start playing Mo more, because he has just the kind of brick-laying jump shot that I used to have when I played. We need to maximize the number of jumpshots that we are taking. Any shot inside of 15 feet is getting my guys a trip to the bench, and if anyone passes the ball to Al, instead of Jamal or Joe, I’m sitting them down. I need to start playing Josh Powell more minutes. I love his jump shot. I’m trying to find just the right combination of players, so that everyone on the floor is shooting jump shots, all of the time.
Down the stretch, you might not see as many players getting jump shots, because I need to turn to my clutch shooters down the stretch. Joe, Jamal, and Bibby are shot makers. I need to Joe to dribble the air out of the ball until he gets into a rhythm.I want him to pull up for a jump shot right before the end of the clock on each possession down the stretch. His jump shot is unbelievable. I dream about it sometimes. Don’t worry if we are struggling, we just need to take more jump shots.
Ben G.
December 26th, 2010
11:18 pm
rusty,
I couldn’t agree more. I feel the same way these days.
Samuel
December 27th, 2010
12:07 am
Woody’s fault.
slimjr
December 27th, 2010
1:38 am
Unfortunately it is too late for Josh to learn how to shoot a “pro” jump shot. His mechanics stink. He never learned when he was growing up. He’s all ready pre-wired, that’s why he looks so awkward when he takes his set shot. Add on top of that he’s not a scorer even though he thinks in his mind he is.Plus he has no handle.His body language says fail every time he faces the basket with his two left feet. Its just brutal to watch a “PRO” who on the offensive side of the ball has not even graduated high school. So he easily gets frustrated because of his severe lack of offensive skills at the pro level..It becomes a major liability at “crunch” time in the 4th quarter. Means your team gets smoke come playoff time…..AGAIN…
slimjr
December 27th, 2010
1:41 am
So Josh is a “James Worthy” without a jumpshot! He need a Magic to set him up. Darren Williams in the 05 draft could been his magic Billy Knight you Genius……Not..
slimjr
December 27th, 2010
1:44 am
Larry start packing dude. It’s gonna be a quickie for you..Keep up the great work Sir..NOT…