Hawks 100, Kings 98
Greetings, all-
Hope you enjoyed the game. Sorry this is a bit late. I felt bad for Moses, the poor soul has to wait for me to leave the media work room before he can go home, and went home to write the blog.
An impressive comeback for the home team, though one necessitated by the Hawks’ lack of interest in playing defense in the first half and to some extent in the third quarter I asked Larry Drew if he was more encouraged by the way the team played in the fourth or discouraged in the first three quarters, particularly given that they fell into the same trip against Houston on Saturday and, not surprisingly, he said the former.
“This could have been a really bad loss going into Miami,” he said. “That’s just not a good feeling.”
More from Drew: “After the way we played against Houston, I really expected us to come out and play with more of a sense of urgency, especially having lost a game, having had a bad performance against Houston. … I told our guys at halftime we came out soft and we played soft across the board.”
He and Joe Johnson both made mention of how the team can’t afford to overlook teams like Sacramento and just turn it on in the fourth. But the fact of the matter, at least Monday, was that they could. I guess the Hawks had some things in their favor, like that the Kings had to be a bit taxed because they’re at the end of a six-game road streak, but I suppose it’s sort of a good sign that the Hawks can play that badly for a half and still win.
- A pretty forgettable night for Zaza Pachulia. He got his first foul as soon as he checked in, on a rebound off a free throw, got his second less than a minute later and got his third the next time he was in. Three minutes, three rebounds. He did have one rebound. And he put a heck of a clothesline on Beno Udrih.
- Jeff Teague was the only Hawk who didn’t get in. If memory serves, I think Drew had put in the whole team besides Teague by the end of the first quarter. He had a DNP the first time the Hawks played Sacramento Jan. 4. His minutes have been kinda skimpy this month. In the five games he’s gotten in, he’s gotten nine, three, five, seven and 11 minutes.
- As you might have seen in the notebook, Drew said the team is going to re-sign Damien Wilkins to a second 10-day deal. The first one ends Tuesday. I talked to Wilkins before I knew what the team was going to do, and he was in the dark. He just said he planned on making the trip to Miami.
“I don’t know what’s going to happen once we land or I wake up in the morning, but we’ll see,” he said.
Drew said the team doesn’t know what it’ll do when this 10-day runs out. The Hawks will have to either sign him for the rest of the year or let him go.
- Udrih was a team-best plus-13 for the Kings. He was the only starter who was the plus side. He was getting to the basket pretty easily, particularly in the first half. While I’ve never seen Udrih play before, I’m going to guess the Hawks’ flimsy defense had a little bit to do with it.
- Josh Smith said he hopes LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh play Tuesday. James has missed the past two games with an ankle injury. Wade is nursing a knee injury, Bosh an ankle.
“You’re trying to get wins, but you definitely want to do it against a full deck on their side because you really can’t measure where you are as a team if you don’t play against the big three,” he said.
- Johnson is turning it on. He’s shooting 52.4 percent and averaging 28.9 points per game in January.
“You can see he had that bounce in his step,” Drew said. “He wasn’t hesitating on his shot, he was getting some good looks. I thought he was aggressive off the dribble. When he did have a chance to isolate, he made some things happen.”
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125 comments Add your comment
Slimjr
January 18th, 2011
5:02 pm
MAN WE WANT CHAMPIONSHIPS!!!!! NOT EXCUSES>>>>>>>>>>>>>>.2080 maybe???
JeJe
January 18th, 2011
5:03 pm
If LBJ plays tonight, no matter how hurt he is, he will have 28 thru 3 quarters AT LEAST
Just Dumb
January 18th, 2011
5:04 pm
No that was not why woody got fired. He was never a Rick Sund hire. All new GM’s usually hire a new Coach. Oh and losing to the magic the way we didnt help his cause either.
Grandad
January 18th, 2011
5:09 pm
Rod from College Park;
thank you ever so much for those kind words. It’s funny that you say
I don’t rely on stats (which I don’t) but I’ve been doing a thorough
study of the (+/-) statistics, not just for the Hawks but for the entire League. (mostly for trade idea purposes) My good friend
Ken Strickland is going to be upset with me and my findings. I’ll not try and post all of it today but it may surprise us all to discover
that Mike Bibby is our 2nd [best/most efficient] player.
Big Al is our # 1. I even looked @ combinations of players and with
combinations of 2,3,4,& 5 players Bibby is 1st or 2nd in all. Surprised!
Not surprising; Al, Bibby, Joe/Josh (tie), & Jamal are our best combo.
* In that order! Collins is next.
Our least efficient and most expendable players are; (ascending order)
Josh Powell, Zaza, Teague, Mo, & Marvin.
*[Etan ranks high in his limited min as well as JC2]
Oh well, let the haranguing begin!
I can support all with stats and will do so over the next 2 or 3 days.
* “Rod from College Park” – I still watch and observe!
drmaryb (*_*)
January 18th, 2011
5:19 pm
This from rotoworld.com:
_____________________
Hawks’ Big Three go nuts in win over Kings
Joe Johnson (G) – Atlanta Hawks
(Mon, Jan 17 – 7:29pm ET)
Joe Johnson scored a season-high 36 points on 16-of-27 shooting (1-of-7 from downtown) with five rebounds, six assists, and a steal in the Hawks’ 100-98 win over the Kings on Monday.
J.J. has turned his season around and suddenly looks like the pick everybody thought they were getting. Congratulations are in order if you bought low. Not to be outdone, Al Horford added 23 points, nine boards, six assists, and a career-high seven blocks, while Josh Smith added 19 points, 10 boards, four assists, two blocks, and a steal.
____________________________
Like NorthCyde said, we are not Boston. We don’t have a bench beyond Jamal!
We need to upgrade our roster. I’m not sold on Teague, but I’m definitely not ready to give up on him, he just happened to be drafted by a winning, play off team and hasn’t been able to crack the rotation consistently, but if we remain patient, Teague will produce and give us that intangible “IT” factor sooner rather than later. Sund will not trade him for a bag of socks, but I would trade him for a Nash or Billups, right now. Because now, is all that matters in the East!
The reason Bibby is so valuable is because he draws a defender out of the paint when he is parked on the 3 point line. When this happens, Bibby makes great decisions to hit the open man: Horford (@ 15 feet), Jamal, Joe or Josh. Bibby makes those good passes w/o a turnover and if the open man knocks it down? That’s an assist for Bibby. But, unlike Teague he makes the right pass to the right shooter. Bibby, just doesn’t throw the ball away like Teague does.
Coach, said the PG job was for Teague to take, teague hasn’t done that yet. That’s on Teague, not Drew. Having said that, we still need a true PG who can penetrate, defend and set up winning plays. Who can we get now?
Nash or Billups? No one else will make that difference. Until then, we got Bibby.
JeJe
January 18th, 2011
5:20 pm
RICK SUND HAS NOT MADE ONE MOVE WITH THE CORE BESIDES RESIGNING MARVIN AND BIBBY TO BLOATED CONTRACTS AND THAT JAMAL TRADE. HE TRADED FOR A PLAYER HE WON’T EVEN RESIGN
GOOD JOB SUND
NEXT YEAR WE CAN EXPECT TO HAVE COLLINS POWELL AND DAMIEN BACK SINCE WE KNOW ASG DOESN’T PAY ANYTHING MORE THAN THE VET MIN FOR BENCH PLAYERS
Rod from College Park
January 18th, 2011
5:23 pm
Rufus1,
We have already established that you don’t watch the games. You have never seen Joe have to guard Marvin’s man or Josh switched to Marvin’s man either. I have witnessed it many times, and I know I’m mot seeing things. It’s been discussed many times on this blog over the past 3 or 4 years. Again if you substitute Jamal Crawford and Flip for Marvin, of course your defensive ability will go down. Neither is a considered a good defender, and it makes our team much smaller with JJ at the 3. That stat does not prove that Marvin is a stellar perimeter defender (LOL).
JeJe,
To many computer wizzes here to reveal my identitiy, but I will say that I played D1 in South Carolina in the 90’s, and overseas for 3 years before I tore up my knee. My era was the James Forrest, Darren Hancok, and Eric Manuel in Georgia. I think the number one player in the country was Chris Webber, followed by guess who? The great Allen Henderson (LOL). Actually it was either Henderson or Big Dog (Glenn Robinson). Played against many of those high profile guys of that era.
Grandad
January 18th, 2011
5:29 pm
Trust me and I know you will. (ahem)
* ‘Nene’ is who we need from the players who may become available.
Research shows.
Plus, if we could squeeze Billups out of Denver as well!
O'Brien
January 18th, 2011
5:30 pm
In fairness to LD, one of the challenges with Teague is that he may only have 5 minutes to make a positive impact against a good team (while Bibby or Jamal is resting).
And if he doesn’t, LD doesnt want to leave him out there in case the game gets away from his guys.
Teague has to play more consistently in limited minutes before LD will give him extended minutes.
I dont agree with how LD handles the Teague situation, but I can see why he does it. However, I think it will come back to bite LD in the playoffs.
drmaryb (*_*)
January 18th, 2011
5:34 pm
Grand-Daddy’s per +/- just proved my Bibby point for starting over Teague.
A Coach has these same stats that Grand-Daddy just posted. In his right mind, Drew can not logistically just GIVE Teague Bibby’s minutes. If he does, we lose all these winnable games. Coach will not last two years and the Hawks will NOT make the play offs as a 5th or better seed with any shot at home court advantage in the first round. Not winning the first round is NOT an option for Drew, regardless of what his salary is or how he looks in a cheap suit.
About his suits, he has a wife and 2 sons in college. With his salary level, can he really afford an Armani Suit and support his family on the West Coast cost of living rates? Come on fellas, let’s be fair! That man has got to pay child support! Besides, what would yall do in his position. Drew has to maintain the winning level that Woodson did – at best.
LOL-ROF
Rod from College Park
January 18th, 2011
5:37 pm
Agreed drmaryb. That cost of living on the west coast ain’t no joke.
drmaryb (*_*)
January 18th, 2011
5:50 pm
O’Brien
Teague does show flashes of brilliance, but now is NOT the time to experiment with him. Severe injuries, still ongoing with Marvin and Jamal and Joe has just recently figured out the new offensive schemes. They now seem comfortable with the offense, so does Marvin and Horford. Josh, still is working his way in to see where his shoþs should come from. Surprisingly, Josh’s jumper has come around nicely, but he needs to improve his bad shot selections and make more passes.
There just hasn’t been an opportunity to tinker with Teague nor JC2. JC2 is wild and will shoot from the parking lot if you put him in there. He has to learn the motion offensive principles. We have some very nice talent with Teague and JC2.They will get their chance in the 2nd half, but they just have to be ready to fit in, like Nate Robinson did last post season for Doc Rivers. Remember, Doc sat Nate for 38 games after the trade deadline last season? Everybody knew Nate could drop 41 on The Hawks! But, Nate had to learn how to play the Celtics – Way! That’s what Teague and JC2 has to do as well.
Patience, is what we must have. Meanwhile, we need a true PG and Center.
The Hawks are just too damned small to contend for a title in the paint!
Who in the hell do we have that can stop the Bigs of ?
Lakers
Boston
Magic
_________________
NOBODY! Certainly not Teague and JC2.
We got needs! We got needs! We got needs! Teague and JC2 ain’t gonna help us win a Title! Look at the Big Picture, don’t sweat the small stuff.
drmaryb (*_*)
January 18th, 2011
5:58 pm
And if, Horford can block Jason Thompson and make Dalembert irrelevant? How can those two help us stop the:
Lakers
Celtics
Magic
If, they can’t even stop the Hawks! Nene couldn’t do it with Birdman and Kenyon and Melo and Billups? So, how can he help us either? We need a BIG that’s bigger than Al! We need what we always did – A damned PG & Center!
We are NOT Elite! See Sund! We got a nice team, but make no mistakes – We are NOT a contender! Neither is Miami nor Orlando nor The Bulls!
____________________
Celtics and Lakers all the way!
{MAC-Town Georgia 478}
January 18th, 2011
6:09 pm
Joe Johnson’s up and under reverse layup driving by 3 defenders made Sportscenter’s top 10, and during the highlight they couldnt even resist throwing in a “will they ever go deep in the playoffs??? probably not”
no justice
January 18th, 2011
6:16 pm
Bibby is not the answer. Lers’ get that straight, he is not the answer. He is, however, much better that Teague hands down. When LD look at the bench and see his choices, he his finger goes to the player that give him the best chance to win. The player that makes the least mistakes, run the team best, is the better shooter and has the least amount aint’ gots.You know aint go no shot, aint got no leadership ability, aint got no confidence. Just Sayinng!!!
Grandad
January 18th, 2011
6:20 pm
As of right now: [G-dad's power rankings] {{{-Stats Based-}}}
(1) LAL – (will 3-peat)
(2) Boston
(3) SA Spurs
(4) Dallas
(5) Heat – (will be hurt in playoffs due to a lack of depth)
next tier…..no particular order:
ATL, Chicago, Utah
*Orlando;
according to my (+/-) stats are incomplete
due to starting over after the trades.
Najeh Davenpoop
January 18th, 2011
6:30 pm
I’m no more thrilled than any of you are by Teague’s sporadic playing time under LD, but I’m not going to call LD a failure solely because of that. The fact is that the Hawks are playing better team defense and sharing the ball better on offense this year than they were last year, and those are two major improvements LD has made over Woody. Yeah, it sucks that he’s not playing Teague, but all things considered he’s done a good job. This team is winning at the same pace as last year’s team despite missing a LOT more games to injury, and the improvements on D and in offensive ball movement are likely to translate to better play in the playoffs.
Najeh Davenpoop
January 18th, 2011
6:31 pm
All this Bibby/Teague talk is a moot point if the Hawks trade for Nash, which they should try to do sooner rather than later. The trade deadline is about a month away.
ryan
January 18th, 2011
7:06 pm
The Hawks are playing good right now the Hawks need a C or a PG Orlando GM says D. Howard may not be there much longer just like Mello wants to go home we need to bring Howard home .
Ken Strickland
January 18th, 2011
7:27 pm
NORTHCYDE-when your starters, or primary bench players, don’t get the job done, you’re certainly no worse off, are you. Why is it so important, to some, who gets it done as long as it gets done?
You can’t tell me JTeague, JPowell and JoCrawford aren’t talented enough to produce on this level and help this team. Just because players like Teague and Marvin don’t do everything we what exactly how we want it done, doesn’t mean we should ignore what they do, or have the potential to do, in favor of someone that’s DEFINITELY not going to get it done.
How many players develop themselves sitting on a bench getting limited and sporatic mins, and name a bench that’s developed, talent wise, without being regularily engaged? I’ve noticed you like to use subjective stats to try and prove your point, but I prefer relying on my own observations.
Since Bibby is our starting/primary PG and plays 30MPG, he plays the majority of his mins with either JJ or Jamal, sometimes both. Although he’s our primary PG, he DOESN’T control the ball or the OFF the majority of the time he’s in the gm. He regularly defers to JJ and Jamal and turns that responsibility over to them. They individually control the ball and the OFF more than he does.
It’s a definite misnomer to say he controls the ball or the OFF, when he seldom goes below the 3pt line with it in his hands, or the OFF, because he gives it up far too often to one of them. When Teague is in the gm, he at least controls the ball most of the time, takes it below the 3pt line, and initiates the OFF, rather than immediately giving it up shortly after getting it across half court.
Despite your stats to the contrary, what I see, and what isn’t factored into your DEF stats, is with Bibby in the gm, we have to use gimmick DEF’s and do a ton of switching to compensate for his lack of lateral movement, inability to fight over picks, and recover once he finally gets past one. We don’t see or need that type of massive DEF coverup and/or compensation with Teague.
Your stats don’t factor in the number of fast break pts Teague has prevented by blocking or altering shots. All we get from Bibby is a foul, at most.
Melvin
January 18th, 2011
7:36 pm
Let’s get it on….
Sautee
January 18th, 2011
7:37 pm
Let’s see how we measure up.
Sautee
January 18th, 2011
7:39 pm
New Blog Up (damn you MC, why do you wait?)
ATL FAN
January 18th, 2011
7:46 pm
jj to start it off… another hot night that will go unnoticed for him
northcyde
January 18th, 2011
7:53 pm
Ken, you see what you want to see with Teague.
I don’t want the kid to fail, but I’m not going to act like he’s playing well enough to take minutes from Bibby either. And Teague doesn’t have control of the offense either, when he’s playing alongside Jamal, because Jamal dominates the ball even more than JJ does at times. It wasn’t a coincidence that Teague played some of his best ball when Jamal was out.
Ken, the bottom line is that for our bench guys to get more playing time, they’re going to have to start playing well together as a unit. That means if 4 of them are in the game together + a starter, they can’t get outscored by 7 points in 3 minutes.
Interesting start to this game. Looks like JJ might roll another big number ( knock on wood to avoid the jinx ).
Let’s see how it unfolds the rest of the way.