Atlanta Hawks at Kings: Good team, bad team
Sacramento–Lester Conner’s pregame board has a different look tonight. The offensive and defensive keys are each labeled with “good teams.” As in . . .
Defensively, good teams: box out, defend one-on-one, defend in transition and play hard. Offensively, good teams: take good shots, make the extra pass, execute the offense, put away bad teams.
At the bottom of the keys: “REALIZE We are a good team.”
The Kings, who own the worst record in the league, qualify as a bad team. Sacto has won two of its last three, though, and the Hawks haven’t truly crushed a “bad” team on the road since Nov. 28 at Toronto.
“We don’t even look at the record,” L.D. said. “You have got to respect all opponents. Anybody can be beaten on any given night. They are a team that’s capable. I watched their game against Phoenix, and if you would have stopped the tape at the five-minute mark you would have thought that Phoenix was going to come away easily with a win. Sac kept playing, they made some shots and they ended up winning the game.
“In this league, anything can happen. We have got to play with that consistent effort that we have been searching for for a few games now.”
Going big
L.D., influenced by Kings rookie DeMarcus Cousins, is using the big lineup again.
“He is a load,” Drew said. “I didn’t want to put Al on him at the very beginning. At some point Al will be at the five but I didn’t want to start with Al banging with him because he is a presence in the low post. He’s a big body. He’s been playing pretty well.”
Cousins is averaging 21.7 points in his last three games. . . .
It doesn’t appear JC2 is joining Pape Sy in the D-League anytime soon.
“His name came up even before Pape went,” L.D. said. “That hasn’t been anything solid as far as that is concerned. We brought his name up weeks and weeks ago. We are just going to leave our options open with that.”
MC
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220 comments Add your comment
SteveW
January 4th, 2011
10:37 pm
Samuel – Thank you
Melvin
January 4th, 2011
10:37 pm
No love for Teague tonight….
honest_abe
January 4th, 2011
10:38 pm
there seems to be this misperception that depth somehow translates into a championship roster. most championship teams have six guys they can depend on. quality over quantity. we sit here for hours dissecting minutes of who exactly! bibby or teague? wilkins or evans? duck butt or jsmurf? ld or woody? players who are necessary but not necessarily essential for this team to make some legitimate noise in the east. need a big three. who’s ours? looks like there’s four wannabe horsemen trying to settle who rightfully deserves to be a part of this unholy trinity. if that flew over your head it’s ok because i have no idea what it means other than that damien needs more PT!!!!!!!!
an aside…. silence is golden when compared to listening to nique breakdown the game.. “I tell you Bibby is really shootin that ball.” for the one hundreth time… geez do some freaking homework.
i hear what you guys are saying about thibodeau but “CMON MAN!!!!”…. that dude ain’t all that. he’s got one heckuva roster though. he should be a major contender in the east with rose, boozer and noah. it’s ok. i know you guys are smarter than that. i’ll let this one slide. shall we take a look at the bull’s last ten wins? raptors, cavs, nets, bucks, pistons, wizards, 76ers, raptors, pacers, timberwolves. those teams look familiar? pretty much the same team the hawks ran through. tom thibodeau is an ok head coach and an awesome assistant coach. instead of competing for championships that team will settle for a 2nd round bow out reminiscent of our hapless hawks.
J.J.M
January 4th, 2011
10:39 pm
^^^nobody will read all that
Melvin
January 4th, 2011
10:39 pm
Najeh,
my badd.
SteveW
January 4th, 2011
10:39 pm
Time to bring in Teague and Wilkens
SteveW
January 4th, 2011
10:42 pm
Can we just not blow out a bad team? I don’t think anybody read Conner’s whiteboard.
And maybe we’re saving Teague for tomorrow against DeRon?
SteveW
January 4th, 2011
10:43 pm
Kenny Smith, “I don’t like to watch bad basketball. And the Hawks play bad basketball” Co-sign.
But Go Hawks!!!!
Melvin
January 4th, 2011
10:43 pm
Bibby can’t even guard Pooh Jeter….LOL
bigdave
January 4th, 2011
10:44 pm
“Jeter”
-Bob
Samuel
January 4th, 2011
10:44 pm
LD and Sund must be “showcasing Bibby”, LOL!!
J.J.M
January 4th, 2011
10:45 pm
nice ball movement…but whats up with horford
SteveW
January 4th, 2011
10:46 pm
Way to crash those boards Hawks. I like ZaZa and Al in there together
Melvin
January 4th, 2011
10:46 pm
Nice to hear Bill Walton on the broadcast. I know he was battling health issues these past few years…
SteveW
January 4th, 2011
10:47 pm
Another board for our leading rebounder Bibby!
bigdave
January 4th, 2011
10:47 pm
we have to ignorant ball clubs going @ it tonight folks.
Ramon
January 4th, 2011
10:47 pm
Why isn’t Horford being more aggressive in this lineup?
Jae Evolution
January 4th, 2011
10:48 pm
More Hawks players need to adapt Pachulia’s mentality, of go in the paint and get your ass fouled enough of these jumpers.
Melvin
January 4th, 2011
10:48 pm
Take Mo out. We already got his 2 limit avg for good plays for tonight.
SteveW
January 4th, 2011
10:48 pm
Way to do it Mike!
SteveW
January 4th, 2011
10:49 pm
I would come out of ths break with Teague in the lineup for Jamal.
honest_abe
January 4th, 2011
10:50 pm
i’m not done jjm
as for the ongoing discussion about marvin. he sucks. can he be a decent piece in the right situation? maybe. he’s slow, awkward and not all that athletically gifted. add to those facts he’s an under avg passer and dribbler and you have one pretty pathetic baller. not to mention second overall pick.
jsmurf please go far, far away.
too many guys on this team trying to be “the” “da” man? jsmurf and his desires to transform into a poor mans lebron is just wasted energy. jj and his “i don’t give a damn about you i’m rich b*tch!” attitude is warranted but disappointing from your captain and supposed leader. ld and his stuttering make for a painful interview but he’s a bright guy that actually conceptualizes and theorizes (is that a word?) the game but he’s too much of a p***y to demand the players give him what he expects.
why is every atlanta them “rise up” pretty lame if you ask me.
Rev in Tampa
January 4th, 2011
10:50 pm
SteveW, if Teague gets only a little time tonight, he will get less tomorrow. It makes no sense.
Sleepy
January 4th, 2011
10:51 pm
we really need more plays of us ACTUALLY PASSING THE BALL AHEAD AND THEN RUNNING THE FLOOR it seems everyone always wants to dribble it all the way up and that kills our fast break opportunities . We need to pass ahead and haul butt to fill the lane . I think we could get 8-10 more easy baskets a game like that
Randolph
January 4th, 2011
10:51 pm
It’s amazing how many mistakes nba scorekeepers make…
SteveW
January 4th, 2011
10:51 pm
Good balanced scoring. No Hawk in double figures. Now can we beat the Jazz tomorrow night? Please!! Give me a quality win on the road.
SteveW
January 4th, 2011
10:52 pm
Rev – Weird
Samuel
January 4th, 2011
10:52 pm
Maloof,
You are absolutely correct. I’m outa here.
SteveW
January 4th, 2011
10:52 pm
Rev – Your not weird, the Teague deal is weird. I don’t get it.
Sleepy
January 4th, 2011
10:53 pm
The Kings are bad …..
SteveW
January 4th, 2011
10:54 pm
Way to go Josh and Jamal!! Let’s get a big lead at the half.
SteveW
January 4th, 2011
10:55 pm
Jamal’s on fire again!! It would have been a bad move possibly to take him out after that TO. And Bibby’s got like 7 or 8 rebounds. Headed for a double double!
SteveW
January 4th, 2011
10:57 pm
Memphis beat OKC.
Ramon
January 4th, 2011
10:58 pm
Josh has 5 pts, 5 ast, and 7 rebs tonight.
SteveW
January 4th, 2011
10:59 pm
Horford’s off tonight. I wonder if his hand is hurt?
J.J.M
January 4th, 2011
11:00 pm
lol the heat check line
SteveW
January 4th, 2011
11:00 pm
Ramon, that is correct, and has only taken 3 shots. Good job Smoove!
Melvin
January 4th, 2011
11:03 pm
That was a bizarre offensive call on Josh….
Rev in Tampa
January 4th, 2011
11:03 pm
SteveW, my kids think I’m weird
J.J.M
January 4th, 2011
11:03 pm
tripple tripple tonight
SteveW
January 4th, 2011
11:03 pm
And then Smoove misses two FT’s and makes an offensive foul. Ow! That hurt.
Rev in Tampa
January 4th, 2011
11:04 pm
LOL, Josh knew that Bibby would get run down from behind on the fastbreak
SteveW
January 4th, 2011
11:05 pm
9 boards and 5 assists for Smoove at the half – Very good!
yodaddy
January 4th, 2011
11:06 pm
up by 14? Shocking
JeJe
January 4th, 2011
11:06 pm
What the hell is the deal with LD’s rotations?
How doe Teague not play 1 second vs. this Jeter kid?
Unbelievable.
I don’t have the box score in front of me, but I’m pretty sure Bibby played at least 18 minutes in this half
Any coach who cannot develop a consistent rotation is a failure.
Where the hell are Damien? Powell?
SteveW
January 4th, 2011
11:07 pm
Still a dangerous game we could easily lose. Sure played those starters alot in the 1st half, with a flight to Utah, then a game in less than 21 hours after this one ends.
8 man rotation. But we’re up, and that’s good!
SteveW
January 4th, 2011
11:08 pm
Bibby, Josh and Al all played 18 minutes.
Rev in Tampa
January 4th, 2011
11:08 pm
NBATV picked up the Hawks game just before half, but they are using the Kings announcers. But its not all bad because Bill Walton is helping call the game. I hope they carry the rest of the game after the half since it offers me a rare opportunity to watch the Hawks in HDTV rather than on a computer
SteveW
January 4th, 2011
11:08 pm
Rev – Ha!
JeJe
January 4th, 2011
11:08 pm
This team went for too many daggers in the 2nd qtr. Too many 3s and rushed shots. We should be up 20
USE DAMIEN AND TEAGUE
How does Damien not play at all on Tyreke?
How does Teague not play on Jeter?
Pathetic
Worse coach than Woody