Atlanta Hawks: Lakers 104, Hawks 80
This was just one of several mismatches for the Hawks. (AP Photo)
Los Angeles–If I know my blog people, I figure you’d rather hear about trade chatter (some hope for the future) than a recounting of this debacle (a depressing reminder of the team’s stasis).
- So, OK . . . Yes, Kirk Hinrich is a possibility and Ramon Sessions remains in play. No to Devin Harris (who is probably headed elsewhere) and Raymond Felton (whom the Nuggets apparently aren’t looking to move).
- Basically, it seems like the Hawks have called about every decent-to-good point guard who might be available. Of course it will take more than a new point guard to fix what ailed the Hawks tonight.
- The Lakers were smarter, faster and tougher than the Hawks.
- “I can go down competing, but we are not competing at our highest level it’s frustrating,” Al said.
- These beatdowns are becoming more commonplace. That’s four Ls in five, with three of them by at least 15 points. It’s also Atlanta’s fifth loss by at least 20 points this season.
- The Hawks are back to their habit of getting down big and staying there. “We didn’t play with an edge; we gave them too much respect,” J.J. said. “We didn’t have that fire, that competitive nature that we need. It’s frustrating, man. I don’t know what to do.”
- They could start by not continuing to jack up jump shots when they a) are challenged and/or b) aren’t making them. Both things happened against the Lakers, yet the Hawks kept firing away.
- Certainly it’s no easy task to score inside against all that Lakers size but it’s not as if the Hawks ever made a focused effort to try it.
- “I don’t think we went to the rim enough,” L.D. said. “I just thought we settled, which is starting to be a pattern with us. When you fall into that type of pattern when you are not making shots you’re going to struggle. We went 1-for-15 from the three, yet we settled for the three. We have to have more basketball savvy than that.”
- The Hawks got handled 54-32 on the boards. Los Angeles collected an astounding 42 of Atlanta’s 62 misses (not counting “team” rebounds) with Gasol and Bynum combining for 21 of those.
- “We didn’t play with physicality,” Drew said. “I thought they really banged us in the half court. I don’t think we responded very well to it.”
- This game showed the limitations of the big lineup. Twin is a good position defender but he can’t hang on the boards against the better big men. The Hawks actually had more success (relatively, at least) going small with Al working outside against Gasol and Bynum.
- The Lakers made 24 of 48 shots before emptying the bench in the fourth quarter. Kobe (20 points on 11 shots) didn’t even have to do anything special in his 26 minutes. Heck Shannon Brown took it to the Hawks and Joe Smith had three blocked shots.
- “They dominated on both ends,” Al said. “We really have some soul-searching to do as a team. It’s discouraging. We had a great practice yesterday, and to come out like that, it’s frustrating.”
- The Hawks botched five fast break chances by my count. Smoove threw a couple passes that smashed the backboard.
- Here was one inept fast break sequence: Mo fumbled the ball away while standing under the rim and missed a layup; Josh Powell tried to put it back only to get his shot pinned by Joe Smith, leading to an alley-oop dunk by Devin Ebanks.
- The Lakers presented Powell with his Lakers championship ring before the game.
- “I actually want to see it,” Al said. “I kind of saw it from far away. I know what it’s like to win. I did it on the college level. We are hungry for that. We are hungry to be in that position and we are not there yet.”
Michael Cunningham, Hawks beat
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720 comments Add your comment
slimjr
February 23rd, 2011
11:27 am
WHO WANST TO PLAY IN ATLANTA???? ANSWER, NOBODY…JUST LOOK AT OUR BENCH…..WOW……..DWILL TO JERSEY………………………………..SUND YOU SUCK
allan in texas
February 23rd, 2011
11:28 am
Deron Williams to New Jersey? WOW! So the Hawks didn’t want any of that? WOW!!!!!!! DAMN DAMN DAMN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Najeh Davenpoop
February 23rd, 2011
11:28 am
If Hinrich is the guy, I hope they can either do the trade with Bibby, or if they have to give up Jamal, I hope they can also get a solid backup big man or wing in the trade. I still think they should go after some of the Pistons’ expiring players.
slimjr
February 23rd, 2011
11:28 am
GO GET CP3 YESTERDAY.HE WANTS TO COME EAST!!!!! COME ON MAN…AFROMAN BLEW IT. DONT YOU DO IT TOO SUND………….
Melvin
February 23rd, 2011
11:30 am
Deron and Melo in the East now. Joe and Al will really have to put in work to make it to the All Star Game next year…
allan in texas
February 23rd, 2011
11:30 am
I agree with you Najeh. I would trade everyone on this team besides Big Al for CP3! Step your game up Hawks!
KevinM
February 23rd, 2011
11:31 am
If I was Paul, my only destination would be East…get me away from the Spurs and Lakers as fast as possible.
Gearon, you are about to lose you walk up ticket sales if you and your idle GM doesn’t make a move.
slimjr
February 23rd, 2011
11:32 am
JOSH MARVIN CASH PICKS MONIQUE MINOR FOR C3P!! U CAN HAVE ZAZA AND EVERBODY ELSE BUT BIG AL……………………………………………..
THIS TRADE WOULD WORK
February 23rd, 2011
11:33 am
http://games.espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine
ryan
February 23rd, 2011
11:34 am
I have about had it with NBA all these mega team New York and Miami these players just want to play in those big markets like New York , Chicago , Los Angles its a lost cause Atlanta will never have a superstar hell even D. Howard does not want play in home town want to be a Laker .
Rick Sund
February 23rd, 2011
11:34 am
Hawks Fans,
I assure you we had deals in place for CP3 and Deron, but we did not feel they were FAIR.
Our main package was Mo Evans and Etan Thomas for either of these AVERAGE point guards, but we DO NOT by ANY STRETCH OF THE IMAGINATION want these AVERAGE point guards taking away minutes from Mike Bibby, who is an ELITE point guard in his PRIME
THIS TRADE WOULD WORK
February 23rd, 2011
11:34 am
http://games.espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=4qdtj36
slimjr
February 23rd, 2011
11:34 am
GEARON YOUR GIG IS ALMOST UP DUDE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!PULL THE TRIGGER AND GET CP3 YESTERDAY. WHAT EVER IT TAKES MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMAN! GET SOME BALLS AND MANUP……………………………………..
The Dude Abides
February 23rd, 2011
11:35 am
I FU.CKING HATE THE HAWKS!!! I FU.CKING HATE THE HAWKS!!! I FU.CKING HATE THE HAWKS!!! I FU.CKING HATE THE HAWKS!!! I FU.CKING HATE THE HAWKS!!! I FU.CKING HATE THE HAWKS!!! I FU.CKING HATE THE HAWKS!!! I FU.CKING HATE THE HAWKS!!! I FU.CKING HATE THE HAWKS!!! I FU.CKING HATE THE HAWKS!!! I FU.CKING HATE THE HAWKS!!! I FU.CKING HATE THE HAWKS!!! I FU.CKING HATE THE HAWKS!!! I FU.CKING HATE THE HAWKS!!! I FU.CKING HATE THE HAWKS!!! I FU.CKING HATE THE HAWKS!!! I FU.CKING HATE THE HAWKS!!! I FU.CKING HATE THE HAWKS!!! I FU.CKING HATE THE HAWKS!!! I FU.CKING HATE THE HAWKS!!! I FU.CKING HATE THE HAWKS!!! I FU.CKING HATE THE HAWKS!!! I FU.CKING HATE THE HAWKS!!! I FU.CKING HATE THE HAWKS!!! I FU.CKING HATE THE HAWKS!!! I FU.CKING HATE THE HAWKS!!! I FU.CKING HATE THE HAWKS!!! I FU.CKING HATE THE HAWKS!!! I FU.CKING HATE THE HAWKS!!! I FU.CKING HATE THE HAWKS!!! I FU.CKING HATE THE HAWKS!!! I FU.CKING HATE THE HAWKS!!! I FU.CKING HATE THE HAWKS!!! I FU.CKING HATE THE HAWKS!!! I FU.CKING HATE THE HAWKS!!! I FU.CKING HATE THE HAWKS!!! I FU.CKING HATE THE HAWKS!!! I FU.CKING HATE THE HAWKS!!! I FU.CKING HATE THE HAWKS!!! I FU.CKING HATE THE HAWKS!!! I FU.CKING HATE THE HAWKS!!! I FU.CKING HATE THE HAWKS!!! I FU.CKING HATE THE HAWKS!!! I FU.CKING HATE THE HAWKS!!! I FU.CKING HATE THE HAWKS!!! I FU.CKING HATE THE HAWKS!!! I FU.CKING HATE THE HAWKS!!! I FU.CKING HATE THE HAWKS!!! I FU.CKING HATE THE HAWKS!!! I FU.CKING HATE THE HAWKS!!! I FU.CKING HATE THE HAWKS!!! I FU.CKING HATE THE HAWKS!!! I FU.CKING HATE THE HAWKS!!! I FU.CKING HATE THE HAWKS!!! I FU.CKING HATE THE HAWKS!!! I FU.CKING HATE THE HAWKS!!! I FU.CKING HATE THE HAWKS!!! I FU.CKING HATE THE HAWKS!!! I FU.CKING HATE THE HAWKS!!! I FU.CKING HATE THE HAWKS!!! I FU.CKING HATE THE HAWKS!!! I FU.CKING HATE THE HAWKS!!! I FU.CKING HATE THE HAWKS!!! I FU.CKING HATE THE HAWKS!!! I FU.CKING HATE THE HAWKS!!! I FU.CKING HATE THE HAWKS!!! I FU.CKING HATE THE HAWKS!!! I FU.CKING HATE THE HAWKS!!! I FU.CKING HATE THE HAWKS!!! I FU.CKING HATE THE HAWKS!!! I FU.CKING HATE THE HAWKS!!! I FU.CKING HATE THE HAWKS!!! I FU.CKING HATE THE HAWKS!!! I FU.CKING HATE THE HAWKS!!! I FU.CKING HATE THE HAWKS!!! I FU.CKING HATE THE HAWKS!!! I FU.CKING HATE THE HAWKS!!! I FU.CKING HATE THE HAWKS!!! I FU.CKING HATE THE HAWKS!!! v
slimjr
February 23rd, 2011
11:36 am
RICK HEAD OVER TO STONE MOUNTAIN AND JUST WALK OFF THE CLIFF PLEASE……………GO KICK ROCKS……U BIG DUMMY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
THIS TRADE WOULD WORK
February 23rd, 2011
11:36 am
Hawks:
-Mike bibby
-Jammal Crawford
-Josh Smith
for
Hornets:
-Chris paul
-David West
The Dude Abides
February 23rd, 2011
11:36 am
WOW IF THE HAWKS DONT GET ANY BIG NAMES IM DONE WATCHING THIS TEAM UNTIL THEY BLOW IT UP AND START ANEW.
KevinM
February 23rd, 2011
11:36 am
I asked the ASG to blow this up last offseason when we had no interest in bringing in a LEGIT head coach. This is a great time to move these guys and ‘Dump the core’.
Go pile up draft picks because of your cap limits. Utah is going to get back into the playoffs again because they can halfway draft decent players.
Rick Sund
February 23rd, 2011
11:37 am
Why are you all so ANGRY?
Can’t you see what we are BUILDING here? We are building a DYNASTY.
I will reiterate my philosophy: It’s MUCH better to have many winning seasons with CONSISTENCY than to be bad for many years, good for 2 (while winning a ring), then bad.
For example, look at the Miami Heat. They were an awful team for some time, got Shaq, won a ring, then stunk for 3-4 years after.
Is that what we want to be? It’s not about winning rings- it’s about CONSISTENT WINNING SEASONS.
ELITE teams are built in the regular season, NOT the playoffs.
Why do you all disagree? I have THIRTY-ONE years of WINNING SUCCESS.
THIS TRADE WOULD WORK
February 23rd, 2011
11:38 am
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Thats not Rick sund
slimjr
February 23rd, 2011
11:39 am
RICK GO CHOKE YOURSELF……………………………………….U BIG DUMMY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1
Rick Sund
February 23rd, 2011
11:40 am
I know MANY of you are MAD about LD’s coaching, but I assure you he will be a Hall Of Famer.
He has Josh Smith on the wing shooting 3s – that is EXACLTLY what we want. Josh Smith is on track to break Ray Allen’s 3 pt shooting record with his amazing shot.
Marvin Williams has LOADS of heart and is a team leader. He gives pep talks before the games, detailing his WINNING TRADITION from Bremerton, Washington
AG
February 23rd, 2011
11:40 am
Sund needs to fire Woody Lite!!! This guy is horrible!!
KevinM
February 23rd, 2011
11:42 am
Utah already trying to deal Devin Harris to Dallas and grab another draft pick. They are going to reduce overhead in a big way.
Again, why the Mavs want a 4th PG, I do not get it.
Sund couldn’t make a quick decision if you lit up his arse! Why did he travel to LA if he was going to come back empty handed? Something doesn’t add up!
I hope the phone lines at the ASG are lighting up and getting hammered with their ’stick with the core’ junk.
THIS TRADE WOULD WORK
February 23rd, 2011
11:42 am
CLICK——> http://games.espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=4qdtj36
THIS TRADE WOULD WORK
February 23rd, 2011
11:42 am
Click ——-> http://games.espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=4qdtj36
Wabe
February 23rd, 2011
11:43 am
Favors + Harris for D.Williams?
Are you kidding me?
The Hawks couldn’t put a package together that couldn’t resemble something similar to that…
Throw in whatever you’ve got…
JC1 + Teague + JC2 + Marvin + Zaza + Mo Evans + that 3 million they got from OKC this past draft + trade exceptions + ASG + Sund
Throw everything into the basket.
Dammit man, all these PG’s on the move and the Hawks can get one decent one.
JoJo the Godfather
February 23rd, 2011
11:43 am
Now send Joe Johnson, Etan Thomas & Mike Bibby to the Nets for Murphy, Humphries, Morrow, D. James & a pick.
ryan
February 23rd, 2011
11:43 am
Mike and Mike on ESPN was very interesting they were talking about these mega teams this morning were saying its going to kill the NBA they had a lot tweets about this subject and they said the same thing .
slimjr
February 23rd, 2011
11:43 am
AFROMAN YOUR LEGACY WILL REVERBERATE FOR YEARS TO COME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES TO COME…………………………………………………………………………….
AG
February 23rd, 2011
11:44 am
Even if we made a trade, do we really want Woody Lite coaching the team?
Wabe
February 23rd, 2011
11:45 am
It sucks being a Hawks fan.
JoJo the Godfather
February 23rd, 2011
11:45 am
Then take Murphy, Jamal and two picks and get Al Jefferson & Devin Harris from Utah.
Shake Something
February 23rd, 2011
11:45 am
If I could watch the Thunder every game,then the Hawks wouldnt even be watched in my residence until they blow it up and build more around Josh and Al..
Melvin
February 23rd, 2011
11:45 am
I better see a few Hawks held out of tonight’s game b/c they were traded.
KevinM
February 23rd, 2011
11:46 am
When the Celtics say they aren’t looking to make a move, beware! They are going to stick another nail in you!
Talk about moving Big Baby and bringing in Rip and or Battier.
Hawks Fan In New Orleans
February 23rd, 2011
11:46 am
Utah gets Harris and Favors for D Will. Atlanta is left with Heinrich or Sessions.
Rick Sund
February 23rd, 2011
11:47 am
Don’t expect any trades.
We are very pleased with our core. We have NOT been blown out at all in any games this season. We have very VOCAL leaders on this team. Josh Powell brings championship experience and RUGGED defense to this roster.
JoJo the Godfather
February 23rd, 2011
11:47 am
Seriously, if Utah is blowing up their team, I’d love to get Al Jefferson to play along with Al & Josh up front.
KevinM
February 23rd, 2011
11:47 am
For the Hawks, only Andre Miller and Aaron Brooks are possible now. No way New Orleans moves Paul yet.
slimjr
February 23rd, 2011
11:47 am
DWILL IS BEING TALKED ABOUT EVERY 5 MINUTES..i CANT TAKE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! IAM OUTTA HERE!!!!!!!!!!!
slimjr
February 23rd, 2011
11:49 am
SUND TAKE WAVE RUNNER OUT INTO THE BERMUDA TRIANGLE..THAT WORM HOLE IS WAITING FOR YA……..LOL
KevinM
February 23rd, 2011
11:49 am
Jojo, I asked for Al Jefferson in the offseason to help us against the Celtics, but not many were for it…too expensive….yet the Celtics thought highly of him prior to Garnett.
It isn’t cap friendly or realistic with Gearon making that move. Gearon isn’t interested in contending…..he is interested in making a profit only.
Rick Sund
February 23rd, 2011
11:50 am
Also, remember that everyone in the NBA is like a FAMILY. There is no point RIPPING TEAMS OFF or making EQUAL TRADES. It’s best that we make do with what we have. We WILL go into the LT for the right players, and we do have cash saved from last year, but that just means the ASG will now have more money to take their children out to Chuck E. Cheeses. They have good pizza!
Let me remind you all to make sure you comb your hair and look nice for Kiss Cam for the next home game! We feel this is a very interactive experience. We are trying to bring the ENTERTAINMENT factor to Philips, not CHAMPIONSHIPS. It’s about having a WINNING RECORD and being ENTERTAINING.
Wabe
February 23rd, 2011
11:50 am
I seriously expect a move to be made…
Drew echoed a need for change a couple of weeks back. I think it was quite obvious then and even more obvious now, especially seeing we haven’t had any lineup changes, that he wants a personnel upgrade.
If Sund doesn’t make a move, nobody’s to blame but this garbo group of bums in ASG and Ricky Sund.
Rick Sund
February 23rd, 2011
11:51 am
Why would we want Al Jefferson? We already have a top 10 Center and top 20 Power Forward on this team. Isn’t that enough?!
Possible players we are looking at are Nazr Mohammed, Pekovic (on Minny), and we will say we’re interested in Dwight to please fans, but we probably won’t pursue him.
I must go now.
Best,
Rick
Booo!
February 23rd, 2011
11:51 am
I like kirk Heinrich.
slimjr
February 23rd, 2011
11:51 am
HAWKS=GEARON’S WRITE OFF..WHAT A BRILLIANT MAN??????????????????????????????
Rod from College Park
February 23rd, 2011
11:52 am
All the stars are coming east. Terrible news for the Hawks. It will be next to impossible for any Hawk to make the All-Star team unless Horford stays at center.
Freshfromatl
February 23rd, 2011
11:52 am
LMFAO!!!!! ASG and Sund are about to catch A LOT of heat real soon Lol!! I can’t wait to see them get lit up if they don’t make a move.