Atlanta Hawks at Heat: Begging for bench boost
Miami–The Hawks survived to beat the hapless Kings but to do it needed big minutes from Al, Bibby, J.J and Smoove.
Now they face the Heat, who are without Bosh tonight but get back LeBron. The Hawks have been suspect defending in transition lately anyway and now I’m imagining D-Wade and LeBron galloping in the open court against their tired legs.
About 90 minutes before tip, L.D. said he wasn’t sure which starting lineup he would use. He was waiting on Erik Spoelstra to reveal his starters.
“There’s going to be a wait-out,” Drew joked.
Atlanta’s pregame board had Bibby matched on Arroyo, J.J. on Wade, Smoove on LeBron, Al on Juwan Howard and Twin on Ilgauskas.
Whichever way he goes, the Hawks will be looking for a bench boost. Jamal is a pretty good bet to give them something but the other guys are a mystery.
“I wasn’t anticipating playing my starters the amount of minutes I played [them] last night,” L.D. said. “I’m going to need production from my bench tonight. Coming in on a back-to-back, playing a team like Miami it’s going to take a total team effort.”
Still here
Damien Wilkins is glad to still be with the Hawks on another 10-day. He knows his time could be limited and admits it’s hard not to think about that because he so badly wants to stay with Uncle ‘Nique’s franchise.
“If this was a team where I wasn’t happy here, it wouldn’t be on my mind as much and not bother me,” he said. “It’s tough because this is where I want to be.”
Last time Atlanta was here Wilkins did a good job harassing LeBron. He plans to use the same strategy this time: Get physical and cut off his space. And he wants redemption.
“I felt so bad about letting Tyreke get that layup last night,” Wilkins said. “I couldn’t even sleep. I was pissed about that. Luckily, we got that win. But tonight is a totally different animal. I am up for the challenge. He is a great player. I love watching him play and IU love playing against him.”
Etc.
“Limit” was the theme for the Hawks’ pregame board. On defense the Hawks want to limit transition scores, offensive rebounds, 3-pointers foul shots and the crowd. On offense they want to limit turnovers, bad shots, missed screens and standing. . . .
The Heat has been slipping defensively, too. Spoelstra: “We have to get back to our identity and do it consistently. It has been a long time since we’ve held a team to under 90 points and under 40 percent [shooting]. We were doing that semi-regularly in the month of December.”
MC
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635 comments Add your comment
Najeh Davenpoop
January 18th, 2011
9:26 pm
Jamal heating up.
Najeh Davenpoop
January 18th, 2011
9:26 pm
LMAO @ Zaza
Blast
January 18th, 2011
9:26 pm
It’s easy to score 25+ points a game when you go to the line 10-20 times!
bigdave
January 18th, 2011
9:26 pm
thats a damn shame. bench his sorry @ss
cp
January 18th, 2011
9:26 pm
Pachulia is garbage smdh
O'Brien
January 18th, 2011
9:26 pm
In a big game against a big time opponent, we need JJ to do what he has been doing all month.
But instead…JJ is 6-20 tonight, including 0-6 from 3.
And when was the last time ZaZa went up strong in traffic?
drmaryb (*_*)
January 18th, 2011
9:26 pm
ZaZa!
DUMguy
January 18th, 2011
9:26 pm
KEEP IT UP JJ. 6 OF 20.
MAYBE YOU CAN FINISH THE GAME 7 OF 30.
MORONIC OWNERSHIP TO CONSISTENTLY LET THIS CRAP GO ON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
IS IT TOO LATE TO GIVE JJ ANOTHER EXTENSION??????????????
Najeh Davenpoop
January 18th, 2011
9:27 pm
I literally started laughing out loud as soon as Zaza caught that. There was ZERO CHANCE the 6′11″ Zaza was going to make that over the 6′4″ Wade.
{MAC-Town Georgia 478}
January 18th, 2011
9:27 pm
zaza didnt want to mess up his hair…calm down guys thats all….
Najeh Davenpoop
January 18th, 2011
9:27 pm
Zaza hasn’t yet fulfilled his daily quota of one illegal screen per game.
Blast
January 18th, 2011
9:27 pm
If Al is hurt, that is gonna be a BIG problem.
gusman354
January 18th, 2011
9:28 pm
hahaha the hawks pay joe 120,000.000.00 dollars they most be desperate or crazy, we got wade,le ‘brown and bosh for less than that.
SteveW
January 18th, 2011
9:28 pm
Well both teams have the scrub units in basically.
And Rod, I didn’t say Marvin was a great defender, just arguably the best perimeter defender on the Hawks according to many. I actually think JJ is.
And I didn’t just quote 10 games of stats, 4 months – get the facts straight..
SteveW
January 18th, 2011
9:28 pm
ZaZa may lose the game for us
drmaryb (*_*)
January 18th, 2011
9:29 pm
Jj is NOT the problem. He is being tripled teamed all night. Someone else has to step up!
hawks_4_life
January 18th, 2011
9:29 pm
Stop rushing shots
gusman354
January 18th, 2011
9:29 pm
hahaha THE HEAT IS ON.
SteveW
January 18th, 2011
9:29 pm
Ok Josh is back in, maybe we can take over the game, even without Al
isssie
January 18th, 2011
9:30 pm
IS IT TOO LATE TO GIVE JJ ANOTHER EXTENSION??????????????
MORONIC OWNERSHIP TO CONSISTENTLY LET THIS CRAP GO ON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Najeh Davenpoop
January 18th, 2011
9:30 pm
Gotta get those boards.
Rod from College Park
January 18th, 2011
9:30 pm
Zaza just committed the weakest play of the year. He looked like Marvin.
SteveW
January 18th, 2011
9:30 pm
Uh oh – This our still our game for the taking – but momentum with the Heat
Hawks vs Heat
January 18th, 2011
9:31 pm
they just really need to stop with all the 3 point attempts .. all these misses, try something different
SteveW
January 18th, 2011
9:31 pm
Come on guys, quit throwing up 3’s – get it down low
O'Brien
January 18th, 2011
9:31 pm
What kind of shot was that by Josh? Wow.
Hawks are jump shot happy.
hawks_4_life
January 18th, 2011
9:31 pm
Lol Crawford went for the dunk lol
Blast
January 18th, 2011
9:31 pm
Hope the Fans are getting their money’s worth on NBA TV.
J.J.M
January 18th, 2011
9:32 pm
josh is just not smart…most people would drive the ball if they are sucking shooting
SteveW
January 18th, 2011
9:32 pm
I still say we got this game if we want it.
Najeh Davenpoop
January 18th, 2011
9:32 pm
Marvin is a f-cking Hall of Famer compared to Zaza. You gotta at least give him that much credit.
isssie
January 18th, 2011
9:32 pm
mary b wants WWOOOODYY BACK AS COACH.
STUPPPIDDD.
MARY, ARE U STILL MAKING 10 GRAND A DAY, BUT DRIVING A 1980′S HONDA??
STOOOPID.
Melvin
January 18th, 2011
9:32 pm
Hawks shot selection is the only reason Miami is leading. Otherwise, this would have been a blowout for the Hawks.
jason
January 18th, 2011
9:32 pm
hope the hawks can pull off a win
Sautee
January 18th, 2011
9:33 pm
Rod, even Marvin looks better than that 60% of the time.
SteveW
January 18th, 2011
9:33 pm
Drmaryb – Agree – JJ is not the problem
isssie
January 18th, 2011
9:33 pm
DRMARYB BLOWS JJ.
ALL THE TIME
jason
January 18th, 2011
9:33 pm
jamals been off of his shop hope that he isnt injured or nuthin..
Jordan Smith
January 18th, 2011
9:33 pm
Josh Smith’s shooting tonight has been horrid. However, he has played pretty good defense. Joe’s shooting has also been awful. We are definitely going to have to step up our defense to win this one with all of the terrible shooting.
Najeh Davenpoop
January 18th, 2011
9:33 pm
Bob Rathbun is a funny dude.
jason
January 18th, 2011
9:34 pm
shot*
isssie
January 18th, 2011
9:34 pm
U2, STEVE?
GUESS JJ LIKES GUYS TOO
Najeh Davenpoop
January 18th, 2011
9:35 pm
That’s open look number 6 or 7 for the Heat from 3 this half. Hawks are lucky they have only connected on about half of them.
Rod from College Park
January 18th, 2011
9:35 pm
SteveW
“And Rod, I didn’t say Marvin was a great defender, just arguably the best perimeter defender on the Hawks according to many. I actually think JJ is.
And I didn’t just quote 10 games of stats, 4 months – get the facts straight..”
If you are not posting his season or career stats, your points are invalid. He is not a better perimeter defender than Joe or Josh or Damien for that matter. Many are wrong also.
bigdave
January 18th, 2011
9:35 pm
he could drive if he wanted to.. he just doesnt.
O'Brien
January 18th, 2011
9:35 pm
Omg Smith…
SteveW
January 18th, 2011
9:36 pm
Ok, for those that love the +/- stat – Bibby is -14, worst on the team tonite.
And i think LD reads this blog, and is just being stubborn by not playing Teague.
Najeh Davenpoop
January 18th, 2011
9:36 pm
Don’t blame Smoove for shooting jumpers if the Hawks guards are going to hog the ball until there are 5 seconds left on the clock before passing it to him.
jason
January 18th, 2011
9:36 pm
careless turnover josh
O'Brien
January 18th, 2011
9:36 pm
These are the games where Josh frustrates me.
he is struggling from the field (4-15), but the minute he gets the ball a few feet inside the 3 point line, he hoists a shot.
Now he is 4-16. Come on Josh. Be smarter than that!