Hornets at Atlanta Hawks: ‘Good to have options’
L.D. wanted to go big against the Hornets so Twin can deal with Okafor. But now Al’s not playing and L.D. is . . . going with Twin to deal with Okafor.
(Drew said the Hawks would decide after the game whether Al or Marvin will travel to Charlotte but it’s likely both guys will stay in Atlanta.)
Mo is at shooting guard, Josh, Joe is at small forward and Josh is at power forward–except for when Josh plays the three and Mo or Joe checks Chris Paul
The point is, with Twin now a regular contributor and so many guys who can play multiple positions, L.D. has multiple combinations he can use.
“It’s good to have options,” Drew said, smiling.
Trevor Ariza is out for the New Orleans after suffering an ankle injury at shooataround. Rookie Quincy Pondexter starts and J.J. will start off on him while Mo gets Paul.
“The first couple of trips up and down the floor may end up seeing Joe on Chris Paul,” L.D. said. “They will flip-flop all night long.”
Powell, Damien, and Zaza all figure to play more minutes.
“It really depends,” Drew said. “We will use different lineups and what’s working we will stay with. I am sure we will be in situations where we have to adjust to them, and they will adjust to us.”
Speaking of options . . .
Paul is decent on pick-and-rolls. The Hawks are bad at defending them. L.D. has mostly stuck with his “accountability” approach and stayed away from the switches. Is he ever tempted to switch more or is he adamant on playing straight up?
“I’m not that adamant,” he said, laughing. “If it starts hurting us and we find ourselves in a switchable situation, we go ahead [and do it]. As much as you don’t want to do it, some teams put you in that situation by the pace of how they run things.”
He cited that play at the end of the Miami game when Bibby ended up guarding LeBron on a switch. L.D. saw the ESPN segment where analysts pointed out that LeBron should have went baseline on Bibby.
“But actually Mike was up on him far enough, [LeBron] had the ball in his left hand and he could not crossover in front of Mike,” L.D. said. “He played that switch the right way and funneled it right to the help [Smoove] was.”
Michael Cunningham, Hawks beat
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269 comments Add your comment
Najeh Davenpoop
January 21st, 2011
9:12 pm
Teague should get in now and play for the rest of the game. This entire second half has been garbage time.
SteveW
January 21st, 2011
9:14 pm
JC2 has seemingly leapfrogged Teague in LD’s pecking order. Clear the bench and get rested for tomorrow!
bigdave
January 21st, 2011
9:15 pm
Teague is good for garbage time.. thats about it.
if our “point guard of the future” is on this team.. he’d be playing.
Nique's Revenge
January 21st, 2011
9:15 pm
Pros don’t really play for anything anyway. they are all rich, going through the motions. just a pimp and ho show every night. whatever.
Ramon
January 21st, 2011
9:15 pm
Josh seems like he wants to go Sprewell on Mo.
SteveW
January 21st, 2011
9:15 pm
Why is Josh Smith still in the game? Get Powell and Etan some burn.
WOLLEY STEKCAJ
January 21st, 2011
9:16 pm
I have tried to watch the Hawks tonight, getting slaughtered by the Hornets. No passion, no energy, no excitement, no execution. Why would anyone pay to go watch this group? Same old, same old, story about overpaid athletes that do not give their all to the fans each time on the court. Switched to the Spus Knicks game and at least found teams working hard. The Hawks make soccer, tennis, and nascar look interesting, and they should be ashamed of that. Just pay the players to stay home on game night, a group from the fan base could easily take their place and lose!!!!!!
{MAC-Town Georgia 478}
January 21st, 2011
9:16 pm
put in jason heyward
Najeh Davenpoop
January 21st, 2011
9:17 pm
Put Jason Heyward in, let him play point guard.
drmaryb (*_*)
January 21st, 2011
9:17 pm
A Lazy Effort!
A Laugher!
Turn the Channel and watch a horror movie: Friday the 13th!
SteveW
January 21st, 2011
9:18 pm
Hawks may not score 75
bigdave
January 21st, 2011
9:18 pm
thats who needs mins.
Mr. PJ Jones
January 21st, 2011
9:19 pm
Jordan Crawford is a funny looking dude, with his little socks, who knew he could dunk?
Nique's Revenge
January 21st, 2011
9:19 pm
maybe the bench is hungry!! empty the bench! big run 4th quarter!
Dept. of Unintended Irony
January 21st, 2011
9:19 pm
“Pros don’t really play for anything anyway. they are all rich, going through the motions. just a pimp and ho show every night. whatever.”
SOME bloggers don’t really blog for anything anyway either. Except apparently to spread their racial code words.
Odd that a racist would steal ‘Nique’s good name. Go away.
SteveW
January 21st, 2011
9:20 pm
Maybe LD has a personal vendetta against Teague, and he’s afraid if he puts him in and he plays well, he’ll be forced to play him more in the season. All I can figure. Mr Sund, get on your coach!
JSS
January 21st, 2011
9:20 pm
Wow, what happened?
SteveW
January 21st, 2011
9:21 pm
Jordan Crawford dunked on LeBron! Look it up
Hawks partied to much in their win over the Heat. What a laugher! And what a pathetic performance, by players and coach alike.
Najeh Davenpoop
January 21st, 2011
9:22 pm
Orlando won, so Hawks are back in 5th after they finish losing this game.
SteveW
January 21st, 2011
9:23 pm
Put Teague, JC2, Wilkens, Powell, and Etan in. Can’t get much worse, and at least Teague, JC2 and Etan are fun to watch.
Ramon
January 21st, 2011
9:23 pm
Najeh, Orlando will lose tomorrow, lol
Melvin
January 21st, 2011
9:23 pm
I’m not making anymore excuses for LD. He refuse to try to develop Teague. It’s obvious that he has no trust in him. The team down 30pts and he still will not play the young fella. I dont care if Teague plays the entire 4th qtr, he should have let him play in the 3rd qtr while CP3 was still in the game.
cp
January 21st, 2011
9:23 pm
perfect game to play Teague but it seems like LD would rather stick with Mo who does nothing
JSS
January 21st, 2011
9:24 pm
@ Davenpoop…
I left you an answer on the ASG blog about the Nuggets cross ownership issue…
Now, again, what in the World happened tonight?
Sautee
January 21st, 2011
9:24 pm
Najeh, you don’t think we’ll come back from 25 down? Don’t you remember the Lakers / Blazers playoff game?
Oh yeah, they had Kobe. Never mind.
Mr. PJ Jones
January 21st, 2011
9:24 pm
@SteveW Oh yeah i forgot, thanks for reminding m e.
SteveW
January 21st, 2011
9:24 pm
yay! Teague is in. Here comes the comeback, and egg on LD’s face. Ok, maybe not.
bigdave
January 21st, 2011
9:24 pm
thats a foul.
Hawks Fan In New Orleans
January 21st, 2011
9:25 pm
Ugly. But Jo Craw’s gustle was a silver lining
Jared
January 21st, 2011
9:26 pm
Just out of curiosity, how many of you are planning on watching the rest of this game?
Sautee
January 21st, 2011
9:26 pm
Melvin,
When Teague was in earlier, Paul picked his pocket clean.
SteveW
January 21st, 2011
9:26 pm
Josh Powell is a brick layer
Mr. PJ Jones
January 21st, 2011
9:26 pm
45 points with 10:15 to play, wow that’s embarrassing.
Rev in Tampa
January 21st, 2011
9:26 pm
Josh Powell is just making things worse by taking selfish shots when the shot is not open.
Najeh Davenpoop
January 21st, 2011
9:26 pm
“you don’t think we’ll come back from 25 down? Don’t you remember the Lakers / Blazers playoff game?
Oh yeah, they had Kobe. Never mind.”
But we have… JOSH POWELL! OMG DID YOU KNOW HE WAS ON THE BENCH WHEN THE LAKERS WON THE TITLE? WHAT A GREAT LOCKER ROOM PRESENCE!
Najeh Davenpoop
January 21st, 2011
9:27 pm
“what in the World happened tonight?”
Pretty much the same thing that happened in the Dome last weekend.
Nique's Revenge
January 21st, 2011
9:27 pm
PROs | dotdot dash dash dot dot | just go through the motions | dot dot dash dash dash dot dot |
aint Dept. of Unintended Irony callin the kettle black (or white) heh
SteveW
January 21st, 2011
9:27 pm
Sautee – And that’s ok, Teague’s got to learn somehow. LD just needs to leave him in. He wasn’t in the game when we got down by 32 (Teague wasn’t).
Mr. PJ Jones
January 21st, 2011
9:27 pm
Even the Cavs can do better.
bigdave
January 21st, 2011
9:27 pm
Za Za not giving a f.
Najeh Davenpoop
January 21st, 2011
9:27 pm
Jordan Crawford hasn’t exactly impressed in this game either, aside from that one play.
SteveW
January 21st, 2011
9:28 pm
Take zaZa out and put Etan in
Ramon
January 21st, 2011
9:28 pm
I don’t like Teague’s body language. He is out there like he has an attitude or having a temper tantrum. Teague does come across like he can be a brat, or that he was the cry baby on the playground.
Rev in Tampa
January 21st, 2011
9:28 pm
Hawks Fan In New Orleans,
Just a little friendly advice. Don’t wear any Hawks shirts tomorrow. You will be laughed at mercilessly.
Najeh Davenpoop
January 21st, 2011
9:29 pm
“Just out of curiosity, how many of you are planning on watching the rest of this game?”
I’m watching just to see if Nique will say “heat check” or “nimbers”. I don’t think he has said either one yet.
Hawks Fan In New Orleans
January 21st, 2011
9:29 pm
Powell shooting fade aways is counterproductive. This is embarrassingly disgusting. This is why even after the Heat win in Miami-we are not taken seriously.
WOLLEY STEKCAJ
January 21st, 2011
9:29 pm
The only way to get the attention of the Hawks brass is to not buy tickets, do not watch or listen to the lazy effort they provide. Go look at B Ball attendance at miserable Georgia Tech, want take long now for Hewitt to get fired.
Maybe the Hawks need a wake up call from the fan base, problem is the fan base is almost as lazy as this team! I am done, no more interest in a team that has no interest in the fans!
SteveW
January 21st, 2011
9:29 pm
Najeh – Jordan is def. a work in progress
cp
January 21st, 2011
9:29 pm
well nevermind he is in and man this game is ugly. I still doubt this forces Sund to make a move. He will use injuries as an excuse
Salim
January 21st, 2011
9:29 pm
“what in the World happened tonight?”
Al missed the game with an injury. End of Story.