Rockets at Atlanta Hawks: Few fans focused on Falcons?
It will be interesting to see how the Hawks come out for this one . They are facing a sub-.500 opponent but one that can score and has penetrating guards. The sparse crowd figures to be distracted by the happenings across the street. And it’s the end of a weird, weather-afflicted week for the Hawks.
This probably wouldn’t be a good time for the Hawks to fall back on their make-some-shots, play-a-little-D and pull-out-a-W approach.
“It may be a case tonight where especially at the start that we are going to have to generate our own energy,” L.D. said. “That’s just the way it is. We can hope that we get a crowd out there at the start of every game that will get our players pumped up and jacked up and motivated to play but the [reality] is that’s not always going to be the case. So we have to learn our own energy, particularly at the start of the game.
“We can’t wait for crowds to try to do it for us. I want our guys to eventually be self-driven, and driven to point they can start a game, don’t care if all the seats are empty, they can generate the energy right at the get-go.
Working in Atlanta’s favor: The Rockets aren’t exactly feeling chipper, either, after blowing one against the Hornets last night.
Etc.
Marvin is still out. L.D. says he’s progressed to shooting jump shots but there’s still no timetable for his return.
The starters tonight: Bibby, Mo, J.J., Smoove and Al. J.J. draws Battier and Mo gets Kevin Martin.
MC
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93 comments Add your comment
Show me state
January 15th, 2011
6:58 pm
I’ll start off by watching da hawks at 6pm CT but will turn my attention to da falcons at 7pm CT….regardless i hope both da hawks and falcons will tonight…do it big for ATL….Go Hawks!!! and Falcons!!!
Show me state
January 15th, 2011
6:59 pm
*Hopefully da hawks and falcons win tonight is wat i meant…I like both of their chances tonight…Go Hawks and Falcons!!!!
Blast
January 15th, 2011
7:02 pm
Houston plays scrappy. Not gonna be a cakewalk. Hawks need to bring it!
Let’s Go Hawks!!!!!!!
Melvin
January 15th, 2011
7:05 pm
From Hoopshype…
Atlanta Hawks (26-14)
Quiet as kept, the Hawks are once again on pace for a 50-win season and their fourth consecutive playoff appearance. The difference is how the club has managed to maintain their winning ways. Atlanta is under the leadership of a rookie head coach and has successfully implemented a brand new offensive scheme. The Hawks have also survived the early season injury bug. Last season the Hawks’ top six players missed a total of 14 games. Through 39 games this season those same players have combined to miss 24 contests as Joe Johnson, Marvin Williams and Jamal Crawford have all battled through an assortment of ailments.
The most notable trade asset for the Hawks is Crawford, the reigning Sixth Man of the Year. It is a widely known fact that Crawford wants to remain in Atlanta as his career winds down but the franchise recently invested over $180 million to Johnson and Al Horford, putting his future with the squad in limbo.
The team has attempted to find a taker for Williams’ contract in the past to no avail, but losing him without receiving a serviceable small forward in return would weaken the team since there is currently no depth at the position. Veteran guard Mike Bibby is enjoying a career resurgence shooting 49 percent from three-point range this season, but is clearly past his prime so this may be the ideal time to receive some value in return.
Notable Trade Chips: Jamal Crawford (1 year, $10.1 million), Mike Bibby (2 years, $11.8 million), Marvin Williams (4 years, $30 million), Maurice Evans (1 year, $2.5 million).
Salary Cap situation: $12 million over the salary cap and $1.1 million under the luxury tax
Trade Exceptions: $3.6 million (J. Childress)
Read more NBA news and insight: http://www.hoopsworld.com/Story.asp?story_id=18456#ixzz1B9NFTXVF
ATL FAN
January 15th, 2011
7:07 pm
LETS GO FALCONS!!!! and hawks
northcyde
January 15th, 2011
7:10 pm
Smoove shooting under 40% FG in the 5 games we’ve played so far this month. Hopefully he’ll take the ball to the rim tonight, and not shoot everytime he’s open.
Both JJ and Jamal are averaging 27 ppg – shooting over 50% – and shooting over 40% from 3 point range, in games this month.
Mo on Kevin Martin huh? LOL . . that’ not gonna work. Look for Damien to log at least 15 minutes tonight.
Najeh Davenpoop
January 15th, 2011
7:13 pm
As always, if you want to stream one game and watch the other one on TV (like I’m doing tonight), go to atdhe.net or channelsurfing.net.
Najeh Davenpoop
January 15th, 2011
7:20 pm
Scola’s hook is hard to stop. They need to stop allowing him to get position that close to the basket.
J.J.M
January 15th, 2011
7:21 pm
scola post game is 10 times better than josh
Val
January 15th, 2011
7:22 pm
Scola owns Josh, L.D. should have Al guarding Scola. This team is very annoying to watch. The offense looks awful tonight in the half-court. No involvement for Al, and nothing but long jumpers for everyone else.
Najeh Davenpoop
January 15th, 2011
7:24 pm
Mo is so much more effective defensively when he gets to play his natural SG spot.
J.J.M
January 15th, 2011
7:24 pm
how tall is scola?
Najeh Davenpoop
January 15th, 2011
7:26 pm
Just saw the shot of the crowd. That looks like the crowd at the draft party a couple of years ago.
Najeh Davenpoop
January 15th, 2011
7:27 pm
Halfcourt offense is heating up for the Hawks. Good ball movement and good decisions on the last few possessions.
J.J.M
January 15th, 2011
7:29 pm
lol joe thats clearly a foul
drmaryb (*_*)
January 15th, 2011
7:35 pm
Neither team playing defense tonight.
Jeremy
January 15th, 2011
7:35 pm
LOL. The ice cream man has turned Josh into his b!tch for the night. L.D. needs to make some adjustments on that matchup. If it weren’t for that mistmatch, the Hawks would probably be up by double-figures.
Rev in Tampa
January 15th, 2011
7:35 pm
How about that? Zaza can actually leave his feet.
Jeremy
January 15th, 2011
7:37 pm
I wonder if Joe is going to be a victim of the 2-foul rule tonight, or if that only applies to our starting bigs.
northcyde
January 15th, 2011
7:38 pm
Damn . . I thought for a minute there that we would pull away. Oh well. I guess Scola is going to score 34 on us.
Steven
January 15th, 2011
7:40 pm
RISE UP!!!
Najeh Davenpoop
January 15th, 2011
7:40 pm
Good to see Aggressive Teague show up.
northcyde
January 15th, 2011
7:42 pm
The only way JJ doesn’t come back into this game before halftime, is if the team extends the lead without him. Otherwise, look for JJ around the 5 minute mark.
Najeh Davenpoop
January 15th, 2011
7:43 pm
Steelers-Ravens coming down to the wire.
Jeremy
January 15th, 2011
7:44 pm
Patterson has a nice midrange shot for a rookie big man. I guess it makes sense considering he is basically an undersized 4 without a post-game. He plays pretty smart and under control for a rookie though.
northcyde
January 15th, 2011
7:45 pm
Enter your comments here
Najeh Davenpoop
January 15th, 2011
7:47 pm
Teague does a generally good job staying in front of his man, but one area he needs to work on is going through screens.
J.J.M
January 15th, 2011
7:49 pm
I guess the rockets are that good
northcyde
January 15th, 2011
7:49 pm
What ever happened to the “great” David Andersen? He was supposed to be our backup C/PF. Is he even on the roster anymore?
Jeremy
January 15th, 2011
7:50 pm
I like the aggressiveness by Al tonight. He’s looking to score and drive more tonight. If only the Hawks could pick up the defense…and find a way to stop Scola.
JeJe
January 15th, 2011
7:51 pm
Well, looks like the team is taking the night off defensively.
This team is no different from any GSW team over the years.
Letting Jordan Hill look like Kevin Garnett vs us LOL
Jeremy
January 15th, 2011
7:51 pm
northcyde,
Andersen has been gone for quite a while. I believe he is a backup big man for the Raptors at this point. I’ll have to double-check on that. Last season, he was the backup C/PF for the Rockets.
JeJe
January 15th, 2011
7:52 pm
WE NEED STOPS
PLAY SOME D
STOP LETTING THEM POUND IT INSIDE TO JORDAN F’ING HILL
J.J.M
January 15th, 2011
7:52 pm
look at josh just standing…so much for motion offense
Najeh Davenpoop
January 15th, 2011
7:54 pm
Smoove!
northcyde
January 15th, 2011
7:55 pm
Welcome back JJ.
No 2 foul rule for you sir.
northcyde
January 15th, 2011
7:59 pm
Who says that JJ doesn’t pass to Smith on the break?
Najeh Davenpoop
January 15th, 2011
8:03 pm
Hawks lost about 8 points in that half from unlucky rolls and missed point blank layups. Good offensive half, not so great defensively.
Houston is a scrappy team. They get the most out of their talent.
Jeremy
January 15th, 2011
8:05 pm
L.D. desperately needs to make adjustments on that Scola matchup because Scola is having a field day out there. I don’t think Josh has stopped him once. I wouldn’t recommend doubling him, but L.D. should at least try putting someone else on him, like Al. It’s not like it would hurt putting Smoove on the undersized Chuck Hayes. On a rare night where the opposing PGs are not killing us, the bigs are. Both Jordan Hill and Scola abused Josh in that first half. I really hope that L.D. took notice of that has a plan to make adjustments in the second half. It’s almost inevitable that the perimeter players for the Rockets will eventually get it going, and we can’t compact that problem by allowing Scola to dominate inside.
RaJaH
January 15th, 2011
8:11 pm
The Raptors traded Andersen to the Hornets earlier this season.
Melvin
January 15th, 2011
8:14 pm
Bo, Luke, Uncle Jessie & Cuda sung the National Anthem for the Falcons game….lol
Najeh Davenpoop
January 15th, 2011
8:25 pm
Defensive energy has picked up in this 3rd quarter.
Rev in Tampa
January 15th, 2011
8:26 pm
I was disappointed at all the offensive rebounds & tips that the Rockets were getting the first couple of possessions of the half, but the Hawks have picked up the intensity. Nice block by Josh.
Rev in Tampa
January 15th, 2011
8:27 pm
Big play Falcons!
Rev in Tampa
January 15th, 2011
8:29 pm
That was the worst NBA shot I’ve ever seen… even if he was trying to draw the foul
Jeremy
January 15th, 2011
8:35 pm
Excellent adjustment by L.D. to put Horford on Scola in the second half. Scola was on fire scoring 18 points. In the second half, with Al on him, he’s scoreless so far. That’s been the story of the game in my opinion.
Rev in Tampa
January 15th, 2011
8:35 pm
Touchdown Clabo! He pushed Turner into the endzone
bjrufino
January 15th, 2011
8:36 pm
please use josh powell
Rev in Tampa
January 15th, 2011
8:39 pm
The Hawks have had many opportunities to open up a double digit lead, but they slack off when they get up by seven or eight.
Najeh Davenpoop
January 15th, 2011
8:40 pm
No excuse for the Hawks blowing what was a 9 point lead halfway through that quarter.
hawks_4_life
January 15th, 2011
8:41 pm
NOT A JAMAL FAN AT ALL……DO HE KNOW HOW TO PASS?
hawks_4_life
January 15th, 2011
8:43 pm
AND HE PLAYS NO D
Jeremy
January 15th, 2011
8:47 pm
We should really bench Jamal right now. He’s not scoring and not really contributing anything possible at this point. We could use the defense over offense right now.
Val
January 15th, 2011
8:48 pm
Wow, Jamal is really hurting us right now. His selfish play is becoming a big problem in this game. I agree that he needs some time on the bench in favor of more defense.
Najeh Davenpoop
January 15th, 2011
8:49 pm
Houston is getting too many cheap points. At least make them work for it.
hawks_4_life
January 15th, 2011
8:49 pm
I swear they went on the run whrn he checked in
Rev in Tampa
January 15th, 2011
8:51 pm
Hawks seem disinterested
Najeh Davenpoop
January 15th, 2011
8:53 pm
The Hawks are looking like the team that went to sleep at 2:45 AM.
Rev in Tampa
January 15th, 2011
8:53 pm
OUCH!
Paradise Lost
January 15th, 2011
8:54 pm
They tryin to finish so they can get across the street by half-time.
Jeremy
January 15th, 2011
8:55 pm
Look at that. After Josh is placed back on Scola, Scola immediately scores. Things are getting ugly now. One of the biggest problems is Jamal. His lack of defense and selfish play on a long string of possessions caused a lot of trouble, and L.D. has continued to keep him in. I don’t like that at all. I also don’t like Josh’s shot selection in the fourth. He was playing smart on the offensive end for most of the game. Now is a really bad time to start being an idiot. I hate the matchups with Jamal and Josh out there right now. I’m not feeling very confident with those at all.
Rev in Tampa
January 15th, 2011
9:02 pm
No defense to stop brooks drive to the basket
Rev in Tampa
January 15th, 2011
9:04 pm
That’s the ball game
Eldridge Recasner
January 15th, 2011
9:05 pm
Joe Johnson is a BUM
Jeremy
January 15th, 2011
9:07 pm
I put a big part of the struggles tonight on Jamal. When the game was close, he was awful on both ends and his selfish play let things get out of hand.
superiorblogman
January 15th, 2011
9:10 pm
Drew is a horrible coach and the Hawks do not play to there strengths all the time. Those 2 factors are why they lost this game. Changing lineups every game means that you are trying to matchup with the other team instead of forcing your personality on the other team. The Hawks are garbage. They can’t handle success and are poorly built for true success which is winning championships. I am done with this team until they get a real coach, a real PG and a real C.
Najeh Davenpoop
January 15th, 2011
9:11 pm
That was a game the Hawks should have won.
Najeh Davenpoop
January 15th, 2011
9:11 pm
Can’t win games when you get killed on the boards and you play no defense.
hawkfan
January 15th, 2011
9:15 pm
man if we had won this game we would much closer to the heat and the standings in the east since either the bulls or the heat will lose tonight and would still be ahead of magic, oh well maybe go on another win streak will do, go hawks!!!
northcyde
January 15th, 2011
9:17 pm
Exactly Najeh. They didn’t stop the Rockets all night. Oh well. At least there weren’t that many eyes on this game tonight.
Ron
January 15th, 2011
9:17 pm
Really disappointing letdown tonight. Right when the Hawks were starting to go on a nice run and gaining major ground in the east, they lay an egg against a subpar team. This one really hurt, especially when you consider how important these games are with respect to the difficult upcoming schedule.
At least there are some positives from this. Al was amazing tonight, and was by far the best player in the game. Joe seems to be completely back to his star self, with nice shooting and he’s really being more of a team player and willing passer. Josh, for most of this game, played great also. He was selective with most of his shots and was big on the glass.
The negatives are that after showing improvement on the defensive end for many games, the Hawks looked like they’d regressed in this one, giving up a lot of points. Also, I didn’t like the way Jamal played at all tonight. He was a culprit on both ends of the floor and did little to help the team at all. This team is just too inconsistent to really judge at this point. You can never tell when they are improving or regressing since they basically are up and down constantly. No significant improvement has been maintained for long stretches yet. At least we still have the fact that Marvin is out with injury to fall back on. His defense is definitely something that we are missing on the perimeter. No Marvin has caused us to play both Bibby and Jamal at the same time way too often, which has really hurt us badly on the defensive end. I just hope the Hawks regroup well from this.
With the upcoming schedule, we need to put together a very big winning streak (several of them actually) in order to have a shot at homecourt in the playoffs this year. The east is better than it’s been in a long time this year, and we are just at the top of the second tier teams in the conference. We need to make a push to get into that top-tier, and these types of letdowns are a big reason why we get very little respect.
SteveW
January 15th, 2011
9:29 pm
Uh! That was ugly. And JJ is not a bum. But we did seem disinterested tonight, from the Coach with his rotations on down.
superiorblogman
January 15th, 2011
9:35 pm
Seriously, what is the Hawks identity? It is not offense because they are middle of the pack in the NBA and it is obviously not defense if you watch them, the have no presence to deter anyone at the rim, Josh does not block shots on the regular, and no perimeter defense to add to that fact. So,what is the identity of this Hawks team that they keep selling you people on that they are so in love with and you should be in love with?
Andrew
January 15th, 2011
9:36 pm
I hope that this game is an eyeopener to people in regards to Jamal Crawford. I like him as a person and as a player, but I’ve always felt that he is less valuable to the team than most people think. He does provide “instant offense” when he has it going, but he’s just too one-dimensional for my liking. This game is a prime example of the fact that he contributes almost nothing to the team when he isn’t scoring. In fact, when he’s not scoring, he hurts the team more than helping the. Our best players (Joe, Al, and Josh) are complete players in the sense that they are able to still contribute and have a significant positive impact on the game even when they are not scoring because of their defense, assists, etc. We just don’t have that with Jamal. It’s nice to have that sort of offensive spark coming off of the bench, but on a team which already struggles with perimeter defense and has abundance of guys who can score, I think we would be better suited with a defensive-minded pass first guard (obviously, a play-making point guard who plays defense is the ultimate dream for this team) . I think it’s very apparent now that we should try and shop Crawford the closest thing we can get to that.
Jamal is sort of the odd-man out when you think of how replaceable his contributions are. More shots for Al, improved play from Marvin, and a solid rotational player off of the bench makes up for Jamal’s contributions. We have enough scorers as it is, heck, we even have a young clone of Crawford in street clothes (Jordan Crawford) on our bench each night. This team needs to make a move to improve our perimeter defense and our PG position to take the next step forward, and Jamal is one of most easily replaceable pieces, as well as one of our most attractive trade chips amongst non-”core” players.
JeJe
January 15th, 2011
9:44 pm
LOL @ this team playing no Defense vs. a team that LOST in overtime the NIGHT before. The Hawks had THREE days off and FOUR days off before that
Worst defensive effort I’ve ever seen.
LD should be ashamed of himself
Ron
January 15th, 2011
9:45 pm
There’s another positive from tonight’s game that I forgot to mention. L.D. is improving as a coach. You can see it in his in-game adjustments. He was smart enough to put Al on Scola to shut him down when Josh was getting abused. Also, he was smart enough to take Jamal out of the game when he realized that Jamal simply didn’t have it on the offensive end and was hurting the team defensively. I think that last adjustment came a bit too late, but at any rate, I like the fact that L. D. is starting to make smart in-game adjustments. Under Woodson, we almost never saw adjustments to counter mismatches.
Ron
January 15th, 2011
9:47 pm
On the flip-side of L.D.’s positives though, there are the negatives surrounding the facts that he played Bibby and Jamal together for long stretches, and that really got the perimeter players going for Houston.
JeJe
January 15th, 2011
9:52 pm
LOL @ LD hoping we could outscore them. I guess he forgot that K.Mart didn’t play much either.
Pathetic.
IT’S YOUR JOB TO MAKE SURE WE PLAY DEFENSE. GOD.
JeJe
January 15th, 2011
10:00 pm
Mike Bibby is a joke.
His defense is worse than if we had a statue standing there as him. He couldn’t even stay in front of Kyle Lowry who isn’t even fast. All he does is take contested shots. ALL he does is take contested shots
PLEASE trade for Lowry
dap01
January 15th, 2011
10:13 pm
You will not win in the playoffs if you rely on long jumpers and little perimeter defense. This is simply not a recipe that works in the NBA playoffs. This style will be fun to watch at times but….
Jamal was not too interested in passing tonight. Their was more ISO tonight. We are going into the playoffs without developing anyone to play defense on the perimeter.
O'Brien
January 15th, 2011
10:24 pm
GB is hosting a clinic. Wow. Falcons D look worse than the Hawks D.
northcyde
January 15th, 2011
10:25 pm
I’m not a Falcons fan, but it is kind of sad for them to go out like this. I forget what commentator it was, but one of them kept asserting that the Falcons really hadn’t had a quality win.
Oh I think I know who it was. It was Skip Bayless on First Take. And he had been saying it all year.
So understand tis about the Hawks. If we don’t start beating these top level teams on a regular basis, we may see the same result this year, that we saw last year.
Wow . . Aaron Rodgers looks like Dan Marino tonight.
Clyde
January 15th, 2011
10:28 pm
People always talk about the fans in ATL but what about the teams? The Falcons had everyones hopes up tonight and get blown out at home. The Hawks lose to a mediocre team at home and have no chance at a championship.
Can you blame me for not wanting to show up to the games when all we do is lose?
Clyde
January 15th, 2011
10:29 pm
Hawks defense > Falcons Defense
Najeh Davenpoop
January 15th, 2011
10:39 pm
“People always talk about the fans in ATL but what about the teams? The Falcons had everyones hopes up tonight and get blown out at home. The Hawks lose to a mediocre team at home and have no chance at a championship.
Can you blame me for not wanting to show up to the games when all we do is lose?”
Exactly.
Clyde
January 15th, 2011
10:42 pm
Free Jordan Crawford
Let him play point. Anything is better than Bibby at this point.
Rich
January 15th, 2011
10:43 pm
I guess Matt Ryan’s 2 int’s had nothing to do with it huh.
O'Brien
January 15th, 2011
10:46 pm
LD said our defense was lacking tonight. But yet all season long, he has been all about offense.
Isnt that why he consistently plays Bibby over teague? Isn’t that why he gives Jamal so many minutes (sometimes over Marvin)?
isnt that why in the ASG letter to fans, they said they are pleased with LD and his new offense?
The bottom line is, the Hawks dont have the personnel to be a good defensive team.
And defense and rebounding is what wins in the playoffs. Tonight, Houston shot 54% from the field, and outrebounded us by 13.
Clyde
January 15th, 2011
10:55 pm
Yall can call Horford an allstar all you want but in my opinion allstars are good on both ends of the floor.
northcyde
January 15th, 2011
11:03 pm
LOL O’Brien. It’s almost like if they talk about the offense enough, that they’ll convince us that we really don’t need defense.
The crazy thing though is that the offense is maybe a B . . sometimes a B-. It’s not like we have a Grade A offense or something, that is so efficient, that we don’t have to stop people.
So we got a B/B- offense . . and a defense that fluctuates from a B to a D at any given time.
Trade for Nash or trade for Iguodala.
slimjr
January 16th, 2011
12:56 am
it was a horrible pick
Marvin just take the rest of the season off. You wont be missed…
slimjr
January 16th, 2011
12:56 am
Matty Ice had a melt down……
slimjr
January 16th, 2011
12:58 am
Josh or Marvin for Andre Iguodala