Atlanta Hawks vs. Warriors: Marvin still not feeling bench role
L.D. is using his normal lineup tonight so Marvin is back among the starters. He looked pretty good in his two most recent games coming off the bench. He played fewer minutes than his average but he got up 17 shots in 50 minutes. I think the Hawks benefited from him playing on the second unit.
None of that changes Marvin’s preference to start.
“I’ve played what, two games off the bench?” he said. “I’ve played how many starting? Now start me for 300 games and see how I play.”
Truth is Marvin has played well the last couple weeks as both a starter and reserve. But L.D. notes that he can get Marvin more involved when he’s on the floor with the reserves.
“When he comes of the bench, it allows him to be more of a guy I can go to a little bit more as far as play sets that are called,” L.D. said. “When he’s in the starting lineup with Joe, Mike Smoove and Al he can be a first option at times, he can be a fourth option at times. When he is in there with the reserves, he is going to be either one or two.
“To me, he’s adapted well in coming off the bench when I’ve gone with my big lineup. He actually looks more comfortable. I think he knows in that second unit he will get more touches, I am able to run more plays directly for him. And most of the time he will be playing against their reserves.”
All of those things may be true but, again, Marvin has always been a starter and wants to keep it that way. Not that he takes it personally when he’s not.
“I love L.D. He’s been nothing but good to me,” Marvin said. “I’m not upset at him about anything and I don’t think he’s upset at me. It’s just the choice he made and I’ve got to live with it. It doesn’t make me mad at him or mad at my team or anything like that.”
Pick up the pace?
The Warriors are among the fastest-paced teams in the league. The Hawks still are among the slowest.
L.D. doesn’t like it when the Hawks play too fast on the road but he doesn’t mind picking up the pace at Philips.
“We definitely want to control the pace but we don’t want to get away from what we do, especially at home,” he said. “We want to get up and down, we want to run. We don’t want to get into a quick shoot contest with them. That’s kind of what they want.”
Atlanta’s pace at home is 92 possessions per game, still slow.
It’s pretty obvious why Drew is using the regular lineup against the Warriors, who are small to begin with and now are without Andris Biedrins (ankle) and Dan Gadzuric (groin).
“They don’t have the big forces inside,” Drew said. “They’ve got some very good centers, guys that can play the position very well but not a situation where we have to look to come and double team.”
What the Warriors have are swift backcourt partners Stephen Curry and Monta Ellis. The Hawks have J.J.. Something’s got to give.
“We do have Joe against the smaller guards. We are definitely going to try and exploit that,” L.D. said. “On the other end they have the advantage of smaller guards having the speed and the quickness. Maybe Joe doesn’t have the speed and the quickness to stay with them. We try to combat that on the other end.”
Curry is working his way back from an ankle injury and played 29 minutes against Portland on Saturday and 28 against Philly on Monday. Ellis is third in the league in scoring and 10th in usage rate.
“Very, very explosive,” L.D. said. “I’ve always liked him. He’s a guy that has a knack for scoring. He’s really explosive so have to do a good job on him collectively. He’s too good, too explosive and he gets too many touches. It has to be a team effort. We have to make sure we load up on him in transition. We have to contest all of his shots but more importantly we have got to keep him out of the paint. It’s going to take all five guys to do that.”
Michael Cunningham
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244 comments Add your comment
bigdave
December 29th, 2010
8:03 pm
Josh pissed and he has a right to be..
he didnt even bother to stop ball @ the end of half..
YoDaddy
December 29th, 2010
8:03 pm
we need to restructure Joe Johnson’s deal ASAP….deteriorating at an alarming rate
Najeh Davenpoop
December 29th, 2010
8:04 pm
Smoove is right. As usual, any possession for the Hawks in which the offense doesn’t run through the big men is a possession wasted.
terrell
December 29th, 2010
8:05 pm
Is there a scoring pg out there who we could get for Jamal and Mo’s expiring’s? Thats all we really need. And what did Damien do to LD? Or better yet, what did Mo Evans do for LD?
Sautee
December 29th, 2010
8:05 pm
Bad enough that Marvin can’t post up without losing the ball, but his man is killing us with JUMPSHOTS.
Marvin, would it hurt you to at least put your hands up when Wright shoots? And how about getting within a few feet of him, since that’s who you are SUPPOSED to be guarding.
kwooden1
December 29th, 2010
8:07 pm
I don’t really understand why Teague has a played a minute in this game. GS has decided to stop playing defensive and just take a lot of shots. You don’t want to get into a jumpshooting contest with them, so why do you need Bibby. You need to have a guy who’s going to drive to the basket and not take jumpers!! Yes, Teague may speed the game up and that plays into the Warriors hands, but he’s got to learn sooner or later about controlling his speed.
I’m just happy the HAWKS have a lead at half time.
Najeh Davenpoop
December 29th, 2010
8:11 pm
KG just seriously injured his knee, and someone in the Detroit crowd apparently yelled “That’s what happens when you make fun of cancer patients!” LMAO
Bailey
December 29th, 2010
8:15 pm
Al and Josh were great in that first half, but outside of those two, we haven’t gotten many contributions. Bibby has been invisible, Joe has just been off (again), and Marvin looks like his usual self tonight back in his starting role. Jamal has been okay, but I think our backcourt, overall, needs to pick up the intensity on both ends. I’d really like to see Teague get some playing time. It makes almost no sense why he wouldn’t be getting any minutes in this type of game, with two very quick guards starting for Golden State.
At any rate, I hope the Hawks make a conscious effort of pounding the ball inside during the second half. Al can pretty much get whatever he wants against the Golden State bigs, and Josh has some clear advantages down there over his defenders as well, especially when he is at the 3. I’d like to see the defense pick up a bit also. It has been decent off and on, but not that solid or impressive. Golden State has missed several open looks. I want to see the Hawks pressure the ball-handler more and close out on all of those shooters. On the interior, we are doing great, but I’m not very excited about our perimeter defense. I think Teague would go a long way in helping in that regard. Also, on a night where Bibby really isn’t providing much at all offensively, you don’t lose much on the offensive end by putting Teague in over Bibby, and you certainly don’t lose anything on the defensive end.
Grandad
December 29th, 2010
8:18 pm
Are the Hawks perimeter players dumb or just plain selfish?
They can score at will INSIDE !
Then Mo [stops the ball like Joe] Joe, et al get out of the
game plan. Drew calls a TO, one wouls assume to re-remind them;
“Get The ____ Ball Inside”!
But Joe…..dribble…dribble…dribble…force a shot [air ball]
Marvin waits to feed the post until there’s a double team, plus,
he uses a terrible / lazy angle.
Mo…never mind.
Where’s teague?
Bibby uses 19 seconds of the shot clock to get the ____ ball down the floor.
Throw The Ball INSIDE !
YoDaddy
December 29th, 2010
8:19 pm
gs score 30 this qrtr guaranteed
Sautee
December 29th, 2010
8:22 pm
Now THAT is ball movement.
rusty
December 29th, 2010
8:24 pm
What the fk is wrong with ld.
Melvin
December 29th, 2010
8:26 pm
Bibby with the alley oop to himself…LOL
rusty
December 29th, 2010
8:27 pm
Where is jt,dw or jc2,play them idiot
Najeh Davenpoop
December 29th, 2010
8:29 pm
What is the crowd chanting at Louis Amundson?
J.J.M
December 29th, 2010
8:31 pm
hawks are pure garbage
Astro Joe
December 29th, 2010
8:32 pm
Najeh, “why have you doubled your average?” is what they are chanting.
O'Brien
December 29th, 2010
8:33 pm
Dorell Wright is averaging 15 points, 6 rebounds, and 3 assists at SF. I know alot of it is because of Golden State’s system, but he makes $3.5 mil, compared to Marvin at $7.5 mil.
Marvin averages 12 and 5 for his career in 31 minutes per game.
Dorell Wright averages 7 and 4 for his career in 21 minutes for game.
I know his defense is not as good as Marvin, but if he got 31 minutes per game, he would put up Marvin’s numbers easily (imo). And he makes less than half of what Marvin makes.
bigdave
December 29th, 2010
8:34 pm
Josh pissed about something..
bigdave
December 29th, 2010
8:34 pm
lol
J.J.M
December 29th, 2010
8:35 pm
zaza weak self cant just dunk the ball
Najeh Davenpoop
December 29th, 2010
8:35 pm
All five Warriors were standing in the paint watching as Mo Evans drained that 3.
bigdave
December 29th, 2010
8:35 pm
inside from who Nique?
terrell
December 29th, 2010
8:35 pm
Zaza is just dreadful. I’m sorry.
Bailey
December 29th, 2010
8:37 pm
I hate how the Hawks have a tendency to go away from what works. The inside play has almost disappeared entirely so far in this half. The Hawks have made almost no attempt at all to even get the ball inside to either Al or Josh. I don’t like the jumpshot-heavy approach that they are going with right now. That plays right into the hands of Golden State. I hope the Hawks don’t try to beat GS with jumpers because that is a recipe for defeat. The team needs to get back to pounding the ball inside.
Sautee
December 29th, 2010
8:38 pm
terrell,
Don’t be sorry. The truth hurts sometimes.
Najeh Davenpoop
December 29th, 2010
8:38 pm
“Josh pissed about something..”
Probably the fact that most of his teammates suck.
Najeh Davenpoop
December 29th, 2010
8:39 pm
Zaza doesn’t even make an attempt to challenge shots. So what if you are not a shot blocker. You are still a big f-cking oaf and you can foul people, can’t you?
Najeh Davenpoop
December 29th, 2010
8:41 pm
8 free throw attempts for the entire Hawks team in this game.
That’s a complaint about their unwillingness to go inside, not about the officiating.
YoDaddy
December 29th, 2010
8:41 pm
Hopefully we can hold this lead and win this one
Astro Joe
December 29th, 2010
8:41 pm
OB, Dorell plays 39 minutes a night, shoots 40% for the season and takes about 4 more shots than Marvin. Oh yeah, and he plays on an awful team that essentially focuses on one side of the court.
Najeh Davenpoop
December 29th, 2010
8:41 pm
And maybe even worse, the Hawks and Warriors are tied in rebounding for this game.
Melvin
December 29th, 2010
8:42 pm
LD has complained that his team takes too many jumpshots but he will not play his best dribble drive player (Teague)…
Sautee
December 29th, 2010
8:43 pm
yodaddy,
about that guarantee………
Rod from College Park
December 29th, 2010
8:44 pm
O’Brien,
Dorell Wright> Marvin. If he got the same minutes and same open shots Marvin gets, he would probably average 20ppg in Atlanta. Marvin’s defense does not look so good tonight, and he is hurt again, because he is so goofy, and can not stay off the ground.
northcyde
December 29th, 2010
8:44 pm
While everyone is complaining, the Hawks are pretty much limiting the Warriors to a ton of jumpers.
Keep in mind, Monta Ellis is a top 5 scorer in the league. But the defensive gameplan the Hawks have tonight on him, has limited him big time ( mainly because he can’t get into the lane ).
Yeah, it’s baffling that LD has only played 8 people . . and we’ve seen no sign of Teague.
But holding a high scoring team like Golden St to 69 points through 3 quarters, is impressive.
Najeh Davenpoop
December 29th, 2010
8:44 pm
Who is this #0 for the Hawks? Did they sign Arenas?
Astro Joe
December 29th, 2010
8:44 pm
Zaza has been bad this season but seriously, can you expect him to look good against a team that plays at this pace?
Melvin
December 29th, 2010
8:44 pm
Finally LD plays Teague…
Najeh Davenpoop
December 29th, 2010
8:45 pm
“But holding a high scoring team like Golden St to 69 points through 3 quarters, is impressive.”
This has more to do with pace than defense. Golden State is shooting 47%.
northcyde
December 29th, 2010
8:45 pm
LOL . . and soon as I post that . . . a Teague sighting.
Teague – Jamal – Mo – Smith – Zaza
Let’s see if this lineup can hold the fort, or if they’ll give up the 9 point lead.
Astro Joe
December 29th, 2010
8:45 pm
Rod, he gets more minutes (and shots) per game than Marvin.
Najeh Davenpoop
December 29th, 2010
8:45 pm
With Marvin injured, will Damien Wilkins get some burn?
yoursporthouse.com
December 29th, 2010
8:46 pm
I concur Rod from College Park. Same old Marvin. He doesn’t like coming off the bench but the dummy doesn’t realize he’s played better coming off the bench.
terrell
December 29th, 2010
8:46 pm
Marvin with another back injury. Wow! How many of those has he had in his career?
Rod from College Park
December 29th, 2010
8:47 pm
Marvin will not return. How surprising. He can’t stay off the floor.
yoursporthouse.com
December 29th, 2010
8:47 pm
What up Melvin, that’s what I’ve been saying. This is the perfect game for Teague.
northcyde
December 29th, 2010
8:47 pm
Doesn’t matter Najeh. The fact that Monta Ellis isn’t destroying us, is a feat in itself. And they’re only shooting 47% because Dorrell Wright is having the game of his life. Every other Warrior is pretty much in check.
Slowing the game down works in our favor, because it limits the amount of possessions the Warriors can get.
O'Brien
December 29th, 2010
8:47 pm
AJ,
I gave credit to GS’s system as a big contributor to Dorell Wright’s season average.
But I also compared their career numbers.
Marvin; 12 and 5 in 31 mpg. Dorell; 7 and 4 in 21 mpg.
Melvin
December 29th, 2010
8:48 pm
WTF is Mo doing….