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Atlanta Hawks: Hawks 108, Kings 102

2:06 am January 5, 2011, by Michael Cunningham

Sacramento–The Hawks were having a great time. They were defending, rebounding, and running while overwhelming an inferior opponent. All the starters except Josh were chilling on the bench as the Hawks took a leisurely 22-point lead.

  • The Hawks were up 92-72 after Jamal’s jumper. Josh went to the bench with the Hawks ahead 94-74. Then things got chaotic and Josh, Bibby, Joe, and Al were back off the bench.
  • “I thought we would do a better job finishing up,” L.D. said. “I wanted to give the starters some rest but we just let our guard down. We stopped defending. We stopped executing. We stopped running. They made some shots.”
  • Damien Wilkins traveled and DeMarcus Cousins scored. Carl Landry stole it from Zaza and Tyreke got an and-1. Cousins got an and-1 against Zaza. And then Cousins took it from Jamal, who seemed to be simply inattentive, and Tyreke scored again.
  • Suddenly the Kings were down 94-82 less than two minutes after being down by 20. The Hawks had to make 10 of 10 free-throw attempts in the final 45 seconds to win a game they dominated.
  • “It was a little frustrating,” Smoove said. “We were up 20 with four minutes to go. We have to go to a tough environment at Utah on a back-to-back in a mile-high road game. We could have used that rest.”
  • Jamal’s finish kind of summed up Atlanta’s night. He was brilliant (again) for most of the game, then had that head-scratching turnover. “They sped the game up and started trapping,” he said. “They junked it up and it gave them some life.”
  • Joe, too, was great for most of the night before making a late gaffe. His turnover led to Tyreke’s layup that cut the lead to 98-93 in the final minute.
  • The Hawks regrouped and managed to avoid what would have been a devastating loss. “Everyone has games like this,” L.D. said. “This is the NBA. These things happen.”
  • Joe made a couple classic iso jumpers to hold off the Kings. “We made them put their starters back in the game and Joe Johnson just kept making play after play, big shots,” Kings coach Paul Westphal said.
  • J.J. did it after sitting from four minutes of the third quarter until joining the rescue squad. “It happens that way sometimes,” he said. “You always have to stay ready.”
  • “He came in with a cold body, we put the ball in his hands and he gave us a lift,” Drew said. “I’m seeing him start to get a rhythm.”
  • J.J. got a lot of his 18 shots within the flow of the offense. He was working hard to get to the basket and was effective with his floater. “Joe is fine,” L.D. said. “I know he’s been criticized for being in a slight slump. But I’m confident once the elbow is 100 percent he will find his stroke.”
  • The quicker pace suited Jamal, who was explosive off the dribble. Once he got in the lane he made sound decisions on when to shoot or pass and also threw his body around to earn nine free-throw attempts. “I definitely feel healthy,” he said. “I’ve got my legs back underneath me and I’m just trying to be aggressive.”
  • The Hawks forced the Kings to take long jumpers early and they were making them. Eventually (and inevitably) they stopped going in, the Hawks rebounded the misses and were off and running. It was a devastating display of open-court basketball.
  • “It was fun,” Smoove said. We were able to get fastbreak points and not always depend on our halfcourt offense. It makes it easier for us.”
  • Smoove was (10 defensive rebounds and energetic defense) was a big reason they could run. Bibby (seven defensive rebounds) got it on it, too, snagging long boards, taking a few dribbles and then throwing it ahead.
  • Running like that seemed to give the Hawks a jolt. “It picks up our energy on defense because we can’t wait to get out and run on offense,” Jamal said.
  • Drew normally doesn’t like to push the pace on the road but he said he decided to unleash the Hawks when he saw the Kings weren’t getting back on D. “We got out on the run early and got some easy baskets,” he said. “It all started with Josh and Al rebounding.”
  • Early on, it seemed like the Kings took every ill-advised Hawks shot or pass and scored. Then the Hawks started moving the ball for good shots: They had 14 assists on their first 18 field goals.
  • “They have some real tough matchups for us with size and experience,” Westphal said. “Their backcourt was terrific. Bibby seemed to hit every open shot when they needed. Crawford and Joe Johnson, we just could never really get them under control at all.”
  • The Hawks ended up with 23 assists on 40 field goals. And their 20 turnovers allowed the Kings to stay in it: Sacto scored eight points off four in the third quarter and 11 off eight in the fourth.
  • Al effectively checked Cousins and Jason Thompson but couldn’t find his offense. He badly missed some open looks from his sweet spots.
  • Once the Hawks decided to run, Twin wasn’t much of a factor. Zaza was effective and physical while making his five fouls in 18 minutes count. DNP-CD for Josh Powell.
  • On to Utah for the Hawks, who won there for the first time in 15 years back in February. “They run their sets and are very fine-tuned,” J.J. said. “We’ve got to do the same and have energy and effort for 48 minutes.”

MC

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121 comments Add your comment

Fundamentals

January 5th, 2011
1:50 pm

JeJe – If LD wouldn’t use Damien, what’s the purpose of having him? Same for Etan? Why not add players we can acutally use…even though I will admit to advocating for Sy?

Jamal definitley seems to be back to business marketing himself well. His new energy on D is refreshing and hopefully giving hope that ASG might give him the $$. I’m sure there will be a luxury tax of sorts next season. All this crap of we can’t possibly pay him is BS. We can pay whomever we want. Just depends on where ownership sets their budget. After promising us to push hard for a championship, they better up the budget.

Ken Strickland

January 5th, 2011
2:06 pm

Many insist on claiming Teagues problems, and the reason he’s not getting a chance to unseat Bibby, are due to his perceived lack of aggressiveness and confidence. Well, Jordan Crawford has Michael Jordan type confidence and aggressiveness, yet it hasn’t helped him get time on the bench, let alone in a gm? So aggressiveness, confidence and talent alone aren’t the key.

Other than getting injured early in preseaons, what has Teague done to make LDrew go from giving Teague every opportunity to replace Bibby, to giving him the WOODY TREATMENT. It’s not like he didn’t have an outstanding training camp or preseason before his injury.

Look at how tentative veteran All Star JJ and 6th MOY Jamal were upon returning from their injuries, and how long it took them to show signs of returning to form. Yet, Teague is being held back, and/or punished, for having the same issues upon returning from his injuries?

While Bibby has shown tremendous confidence in his limited OFF abilities, no unbiased observer can honestly say he’s been aggressive with the ball, or running the OFF.

When it comes to Teague, a young, very talented, but inexperienced PG, he’s being held back because of his perceived lack of aggressiveness and confidence. One the other hand, Jordan Crawford, another young, very talented, but inexperienced SG, is virtually being ignored due to his perceived over confidence and aggressiveness.

The Hawks WILL NOT show any on court improvement, or become a serius playoff contender, until LDrew and his staff get their collective heads completely out of Woodson’s butt, and get serious about seeking viable solutions to the PG problems that are holding us back.

Fundamentals

January 5th, 2011
2:12 pm

Ken – Thanks again, Master of the Obvious. There have been alot of comments both ways all revolving around the same issue. Sometime before the deadline ASG must decide what to do with the PG and C situation…or bow out early in the playoffs.

Did you get the refreshing Championship Promise/ Thank You Fans email yesterday. Made me feel sooo good. Like a Christmas present that turned into an empty box once you tore it open. EMPTY!

hbcuclassics

January 5th, 2011
2:29 pm

For once, will Hawks not accept mediocrity and win back to back games? The Hawks use wins like this against pansies as an excuse to take the night off against playoff caliber teams. They are satisfied with going 2-1 on the road against the Clippers and Kings vs. defeating the Jazz and making a statement.

Fundamentals

January 5th, 2011
2:32 pm

Amen hbcuclassics – we need a strong performance tonight. It’ll be interesting to see how they handle DWill.

Ken Strickland

January 5th, 2011
2:44 pm

FUNDAMENTALS-I believe the Hawks can improve without going into luxury tax territory. This will sound crazy to some, but overall it will give us a far more balanced offensive and defensive team. So here goes:

1-See if Denver will accept a trade of JSmith and Zaza for Nene and their 1st rd pick.
2-See if the Hornets will accept a trade of JJ for CP3.

That would leave us with a starting lineup of:

SG-JoCrawford
PG-CPaul
PF-AHorford
SF-MWilliams
C-Nene

BENCH:
PG-JTeague, Pape Sy(JaCrawford)
SG-JaCrawford, (Pape Sy)(DWilkins)
SF-DWilkins
PF-JPowell
C-JCollins, EThomas or FA

We can resign JaCrawford by combining his and MEvans’ expiring contracts($10.8M + $2.5M=13.3M), plus we’re still currently under the salary cap. CPaul and Nene will more than make up for what we lose in Smoove and JJ. And I guarantee you that MWilliams, JoCrawford and Nene will thrive with a PG like CP.

L-QUE

January 5th, 2011
2:49 pm

IN my opinon Josh is a allstar now for the most part he shuts them down,when Al can play that kind of D and rotate on D, Josh wont have to help so much on Al,s man Joe play great D. Teague couldnt demand playing time on most teams in the NBA . better point guards were cut yesterday. LD must win and he knows this.Teague is the author of his own book.Blame Teague! All great players are iso. ask MC to check and see then he would stop all this ISO bull, because great scorers have to create their own shot,thats why they are called the GO TO GUY. GREAT WIN HAWKS , LD lets see Joe play some point .Just like i cried to play Twin the seven , it works with the rest the space takers. Use what you have because i wish i had hit the MEGA MILLION too.

Fundamentals

January 5th, 2011
3:17 pm

Teague would definitely fit on a roster where the team is developing. He’s basically our Royal Ivey or AC Law of today. Now that winning is at a premium, we’re behind the 8 ball trying to squeeze talent that just isn’t quite there. Will he ever be? We hope, but we also did for AC, Royal, Salim, Roy, Rashon, ect. When will the list end?

Fundamentals

January 5th, 2011
3:20 pm

If Joe needs to dominate the ball so much why can’t he play PG with Jamal at SG? Joe/Jamal/Smoove/Al/Twin That’d leave Teague or Bibby/Mo/Marvin/Powell/ZaZa on the bench? Joe could use his size to dominate smaller PG’s. It’s what we run anyway. It was not a bad pick would contend that Marvin would revolutionize the 2nd unit with his amazing talent. That’s not to bash Marvin, but more to say he could pick up Jamal’s scoring vs 2nd unit players easily and be a force there.

KevinM

January 5th, 2011
3:54 pm

Tell me what Teague can’t do that Ty Lawson is doing? I don’t buy LD’s decision to sit him….you’ve got a veteran, core, 3-5 years of the same guys playing together…and you’re telling me you can’t develop Teague along with this veteran group? I’m not buying it…this by far is LD’s worse decision of the season and Teague should be a regular in the rotation. Has Bibby ever been benched for his bad decisions on the court? I have yet to see him be made accountable.

Let’s look at Ty Lawson…getting 25.5 mpg
.489 fg%
.356 3fg% – nothing to brag about
.707 ft% – every player should get this
2.30 rebounds
4.1 assists – he gets 4 easily in 25min
.73 steals
1.64 turnovers/game
11.3 ppg

I can’t believe there is that much of a talent difference between these 2. I can see Teague getting similar numbers if he got 25mpg..but he isn’t even getting that opportunity to even lead the 2nd team. I think this hurts the playoff potential of the Hawks, who only have JC1 to look forward to to provide a punch off the bench. Give JJ some time at the 3, and let Smoove and Al man the inside and throw the ball up at that point.

LD has now sacked any thought of seeing JC2, Powell (who I like and comapre to favorably to JJ Hickson) can change his name to DNP-CD ..why the crap did you bring him in from a championship environment? He deserves better than that…and now we see Teague questioning himself since Van Exel is not around to mediate between LD and himself.

I understand the bench was a challenge in the 4th last night, and I didn’t like the comment by Smoove either(this shouldn’t have happened)…..dude, prop up your teammates, don’t drag them through the mud…sounds selfish to me like Marvin’s “I should start” comments.

Well, Damien is gone, and again no threat to Marvin’s minutes…but there are guys who aren’t held accountable for their defense. It tells you defense is not the priority going forward.

O'Brien

January 5th, 2011
4:02 pm

Ken S,

The reason why Jordan wont see any PT is because he is playing behind an all-star SG (JJ) and the reigning SMOY (Jamal). He is not better than any of those guys.

And although Jordan plays well in spurts, and he is confident and aggressive, the fact is his shot selection needs work (he never met a shot he didnt like).

Teague, on the other hand is the backup PG (Jordan is the 3rd/4th string SG), so it is more realistic for Teague to get PT.

I do think LD is making a mistake though, and I wont be surprised when one of the owners come out and say he didnt do a good job (fair or not) developing Teague.

slimjr

January 5th, 2011
4:04 pm

Hawks gave up 36 pts in a little over 7 minutes left in the game last night to the worst team in the NBA..Sund pull the trigger and jettison the core along with your bench. Make it happen before your team is embarrassed for the 3rd time come this playoff.. Your team plays “BAD BASKETBALL”!!! Quote from Kenny Smith on NBA TV. People don’t like to watch garbage. Your losing viewers and attendance for a reason. Your selling junk and people aren’t interested in your junk……………………..

KevinM

January 5th, 2011
4:06 pm

What does anyone think about our chances against the Jazz tonight?

Can we match up with Kirilenko, who does so many versatile things?

Can we contain a legit big man in Jefferson? High price tag, but he would have looked nice in our rotation.

Other than PG, don’t we match up well at the other slots?

slimjr

January 5th, 2011
4:09 pm

“What does anyone think about our chances against the Jazz tonight?”

Dwill and his JAZZ will blow out the Hawks tonight. DWILL will go for at least 24 and 12 assist!! Hawks passed up this future HOF for the legendary DUCK Williams! Thank you Billy Knight…

slimjr

January 5th, 2011
4:10 pm

Hawks suck on the road against the elites. What else is new??

newkid

January 5th, 2011
4:10 pm

Rufus, you’re correct about Smoove, he’s a Mensa-Moron (Mensa physical skills and moronic basketball IQ), and the MVP of this year’s all Mensa-Moron NBA team. Too often much too much time is spent crawling out of holes created by his all too frequent mental collapses, but to his credit he can be phenomenally dominating – on both ends of the floor – in stretches. He’s the epitomy of being consistently inconsistent, and too often a head case to boot. These sort of cats drive coaches nuts, but what can be done?

Hawks have too many important players who require constant cajoling and motivating (e.g., Smoove, Marvin, JQuick), and too few players who are low maintenance and self-motivated (e.g., Horford, JTwin, JCross).

slimjr

January 5th, 2011
4:11 pm

josh= train wreck this coming playoffs…

superiorblogman

January 5th, 2011
5:11 pm

Looks like Jamal is threatening to leave the Hawks this summer. He is playing really well but the Hawks should have long traded him to make the team better for the future. Jamal is easier to replace than it is to find a upgrade at starting PG or a legit starting C.

The Hawks should use Jamal to target Jonny Flynn, Aaron Brooks, Devin Harris, Rodney Stuckey, Robin Lopez, Gortat, Marc Gasol, or Javal McGee.

Luv Josh Smith

January 5th, 2011
5:42 pm

I am so tired of these trade suggestions moving Smoove for this, or for that, or for other PF’s, etc. Time to recognize that Josh is the MVP of this team. No one fills up the stat sheet like him and on defense he is a game changer. He is locked up at a good price and delivers strong value. He is filling the SF spot admirably, better than Marvin. ASG won’t make a trade if it won’t improve the team. Trading JJ or Josh does not improve the team. No one worthy of trading them is available.

Hawks Fan In New Orleans

January 5th, 2011
8:04 pm

Dukester,
In regards to the “Marvin The Duck” movie poster. I had a little time on my hands and the “Marvin dilema” has provided great inspiration. I also agree with your 1st post that i have really nothing to say until moves to improve this roster are made…waiving Wilkins sucks big time.

brigadierjerry

January 5th, 2011
8:07 pm

slimjr

What makes you think the hawks would be playing the bulls?If the playoffs ended today the hawks would be playing orlando and the knicks would be playing the bulls

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