Atlanta Hawks: Practice report

get marvin on the bench and keep him there

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What’s good Sautee and Ken Strickland!!!

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BENCH MARVIN WILLIAMS. SHOULD HAVE BEEN DONE 3 YEARS AGO. LD, if you question Teague’s confidence, why do you continue to start Marvin? Marvin’s last 5 games, 4pts, 2 pts, 4pts, 8pts, 8pts. A five ppg average. No way possible that if you give Damien Wilkins Marvin’s minutes, that he won’t be able to give you better numbers than that.

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Najeh,

•#Hawks F Josh Powell declined comment on arrest in traffic incident. Apologized to team for distraction. Status with team unaffected..

I’m sure you were pleased, because I know how much you would hate to lose the one player on the Hawks with championship experience

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LD:“I certainly can see it. I have said it from day one with Jeff’s speed and quickness, we don’t have anybody on this team that comes close. When he’s playing at a high level it makes us better..

This from the guy who refused to play Jeff against D-Rose, despite Jamal being beat (and the team not scoring)? I really think LD needs to talk less, because the more he talks is the less seriously people take him.

LD:We will probably look at it even more as we wind down the stretch of the season.”.

Sorta like how he was thinking about tinkering his lineup, although it took a losing streak for him to finally try something different 10 games later? Whatever LD.

Rod from CP,

I like the Teague, Hinrich, JJ, Josh and Al team because it brings Marvin off the bench, and gets Josh away from the SF position.

And when Marvin comes off the bench, he seems to play more focused (with more consistent defense and rebounding), and he can also get more minutes at backup PF, reducing the need for Powell to get any PT.

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I think Drew needs to swallow his pride even more and start playing Etan Thomas, Twin, and Hilton Armstrong more. With Zaza and Horford already in the mix that’s 30 fouls you can use on defense to protect the paint and wear down bigs from the other team.

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Josh Powell declined comment on his arrest in a traffic incident near Philips on Saturday. He said he planned to release a statement later. As for his state of mind, Powell said: “It’s good, man. I’ve done a lot of praying. I’m trying to maintain a positive mind. I appreciate all the people that have been supportive in this situation.”

lol Powell actin like somethin tragic or serious happened. He wanna feel important.

whoa now slow down big dawg

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Teague is a PG on a 50win Team…

Once he perfects that “floater”, he might be our future star. Teague combines a scores mentality with Super quickness, he will be an 18 to 20pts scorer with time….and when Josh Smith figures out he isn’t a scorer or a PG.

Teague will also be top 5 in the league in steals…

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Josh Smith is a scorer.

He needs to figure out that he’s not a 1 or even a 2.

He also needs to figure out that he CAN dominate in the paint.

He also needs to figure out when to and when not to take a jumper.

He also needs to get back to running the floor and hustling like he always did.

It seems at times that Smith is like an 18 year old NBA Vet, whose lost his legs under him and can’t keep up witht he stamina and energy required to run up and down the floor. I can’t stand seeing him “LaLa Skip” up the floor to get abck on defense. It irritates the crap out of me.

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Even if Teague doesn’t start, will people still expect him to impact the game? Or will he get a pass when he plays poorly, because LD still has him as the backup PG? No more passive PG play out of Teague, if he expects to get consistent minutes. Playing alongside Jamal shouldn’t have him be that ineffective.

As for what LD said, I think that’s an indication that there won’t be any changes to the starting lineup. If anything, he’ll go big, not bench Marvin and go small. But if Horford is still out, who knows? Maybe he’ll start Teague and Zaza again.

From now on, I’m taking the position of not believing a word that Drew says, and simply watching what he does. In the end, he’ll be judged by what he actually does, not by what he says he’s going to do.

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i was just gonna say, Rod from College Park has to be loving the idea of JJ moving to the 3 and Marvin heading to the bench.

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One thing I’ve always thought about Teague coming off the bench is that it’s hard for him to play with Jamal who dominates the ball pretty frequently. If you give it to him with less than 16 seconds on the clock, you probably won’t get it back unless you’re a big and Jamal does a drive and dish. This is why I’ve never liked playing Teague with Jamal. Their offensive styles of play are not compatible as both need the ball to make something happen. You can’t play 2 combo guards together! Somebody’s gonna suffer.

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“i was just gonna say, Rod from College Park has to be loving the idea of JJ moving to the 3 and Marvin heading to the bench.”

Iv’e been advocating that move for the last 3 years. Not just because Marvin sucks, but also because of JJ’s game. JJ rebounds at the same rate as Marvin, playing the 2, and his game is better suited to play the 3. Just like Boston moved Pierce from the 2 to the 3, the Hawks should do JJ the same way.

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“Just like Boston moved Pierce from the 2 to the 3, the Hawks should do JJ the same way.”

This has been my hope for 2 years.

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amen to lewis and rod on jj being a three. rod you took the words right out if one of my recent blogs. jj isnt a two like allen and is more a three like pierce. the way he is shooting the three now, i prefer him closer to the basket. the team numbers on 82 games with him in that position are pretty good if i remember in the past.

northcyde, i thought it might be an imposter when i saw it.

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Weve all become Lakers fans.

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The times Teague played bad this season have been few and far between. Taking a couple of minutes to get used to a Chris Paul or an Aaron Brooks, yes, but rarely bad. And LD wouldn’t let him play thru it like other players either.

Now Teague will have 5 turnover nights, no question. DRose does on a regular basis. But even when Teague is 2-9, and 1 assist, he still just fits athletically with this team. His pushing the ball, playing good straight up mand D may not show up in the box score, but LD says we need to run, Teague’s the man for the job.

Having Coached, my predilection is to side with Coaches. In this instance, I’ve just had to say LD won’t deal with the vet personalities on this squad, except occassionally Marvin, and move on. And it makes LD look like an idiot to the fans. We see the obvious, and so does LD probably. He’s to smart not to in BB. But not wanting to offend a vet etc., he makes terrible decisions, that have led to the Hawks from being pretty good to abysmal recently.

Sund has tried to cover for him with personnel moves. But eventually LD will Coach this team or he will be removed from duty,

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“All players have strength and weaknesses. These josh haters will focus strictly on his weakness and give a very back handed compliment to his strengths. Nothing will change there.”

Very true. then they will turn around and say that Marvin deserves more shots(LOL). At least Jeje and Slim Jr bash Josh, but they also destroy, Marvin, Bibby and sometimes Joe. How you can bash Josh all the time and not let the other guys have it is unbelievable to me.

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I think Josh is a very good player (border-line all star at times). but the reason (imo) why fans get mad at him is becuase his faults are easily corrected.

Marvin has his faults, but there is no way to correct them – he just isnt very good.
Bibby has his faults – but its mostly because he is old and slow

But Josh’s faults are easy to fix.

1) Give up the ball to the PG on the break
2) Make a concerted effort to get in the post, and shoot less 3’s
3) Stay focused, even if calls dont go your way

But the HCs (Woody and LD) have let Josh get away with it for various reasons.

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Joe Johnson Sucks !!!

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I think Kirk is better suited with the second unit along with Marvin. Teague seems to play better with the first unit than Kirk

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Celtics lost.

Bulls and Cletics tied atop the East standings.

Heat up by 10 over the Spurs at halftime.

Very tense….

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Hey does anybody have a link (DL or Stream) to the ATL-POR game? I didn’t get to watch it. Wanna see soon of that Teague Goodness.

Oh yeah, and LD is still full of it -_-

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Ranked and Filed!

J from the A

Thanks for the power ranking update. Did you notice the one thing all thoses teams have in common? Yep, you got it!

PG
Center

They all have the Right Stuff! Balance. Oh! And don’t over look the stability of their ownership groups are solid and not acting like, as Najeh would say, “8 orangutans throwing feces at each other.”

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Lets face the truth,the only way in hell the hawks have a chance to win is to just give the ball to Jeff.with bib as the pg the offense ran through jj,that meant a slow plodding offense.we don’t have a strong inside presence or good enough jump shooters to win that kind of game.jj is too inconsistent to depend on & really makes the rest of the team look bad in a slow tempo game. LD has hurt this team with sonmant stupid moves,he talked a great game ,uptempo good defense holding every body accountable & moving the ball for easy shots but he didnt do any of thes things making us look like old men just each one playing iso shooting jump shots.

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Starting Hinrich at the 2 is a joke..there is nothing he can give the team offensively or defensively against opposing 2 guards..and Larry Drew Kirk playin along side Wall is prolly the reason for Washington bein in the cellar..

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Well with the Knicks and Sixers finally cooling off, it’s time for the Hawks to get out of the Danger Zone.

Celtics also lost tonight which shocks me, and the Heat are looking to pull the W.

I’m hoping Orlando lose tonight so we can gain some ground on them tomorrow with a probable win against the Bucks.

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@Northcyde
I agree Josh Smith lacks the ball handling skills and consistent shooting stroke to be even remotely considered a scorer..The team has suffered tremendously from He and Al Horford thinking they are scorers instead of bringin their hard hat how they did earlier in their careers..

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@Steve W
Josh Smith used to be a good defensive player and shouldn’t even be in the voting for defensive player of the year..He defensive mentality was ruined when Larry Drew experimented with him as a small forward..

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Even though Teague has a lot to learn, I would be perfectly fine with him being our starting point guard, as long as he can give us at least decent production and allow us to play at an uptempo style.

However, I don’t like the idea of playing a 3 guard lineup with Teague, Kirk, and Joe as our starting PG, SG, and SF, respectively. My main reasoning for this is that I feel this lineup partially takes away the strengths of our players. For example, playing Kirk Hinrich at the 2 basically takes away his play-making ability. I realize that Hinrich has played at the SG position for a large part of his career, yet I feel like his best position is the PG position and he had his most productive years when playing at the PG position. For that reason, I’d like to play Kirk at the point, rather than the 2, as much as possible when he’s on the floor. This team needs play-making (Kirk at the 1) more than it needs jump shooting (Kirk at the 2).

Similarly, I’d rather play Joe at the 2 than the 3. If you look at Joe’s game the last couple of years, he plays a lot slower than he did early in his career, and he’s never been very explosive with ATL. In my opinion, Joe’s main advantages are his size and ability to create offense off-the-dribble and make tough shots. If you put Joe at the 3, his size advantage is no longer a great factor. He’ll still have a size advantage over a lot of defenders, but he’ll also have a size disadvantage when he has to guard players like Lebron James and Carmelo Anthony. Without his size advantage, I feel like Joe would play much more perimeter-oriented, where he is less effective. If Joe regained the sharp-shooting prowess that he had earlier in his career, I don’t think it would matter much switching him to the 3, but with the way he is playing lately, I feel like there would be a negative dip in his production if he played the majority of his minutes at the SF position.

Another large reason why I wouldn’t want the 3 guard lineup for a starting lineup is due to the fact that it leaves us no pure point guards to come off of the bench. Personally, I hate (with a strong passion) when L.D. plays Jamal at the PG position and asks him to run the offense. Jamal is a scorer, that’s what he does. His best skill is scoring and he should not be asked to be a play-maker when he has developed his entire career as a high-volume scorer. You take away a lot his effectiveness when you expect him to initiate the offense and focus on passing rather than focusing on his own game. If Teague and Hinrich both start, then Jamal is left to play PG coming off of the bench at some point, unless either Teague or Hinrich plays major minutes.

With that being said, although I feel like Hinrich should really be a starter on this team, it may be best if he came off the bench as our backup PG. That would certainly make our bench more potent and give us an actual playmaker coming off of the bench. With Kirk playing alongside Jamal, Jamal could focus on scoring while Hinrich initiates the offense for the second unit. It’s no surprise that our second unit lacks a lot of offensive firepower and I feel like Hinrich would help that. L.D. could use Hinrich a lot more offensive if he were playing with the second unit. A second unit that includes Hinrich, Jamal, Damien, Zaza, and either Horford or Smith (assuming Josh Powell continues to ride the pine) would have solid offensive output and sufficient defensive potency.

The only thing I don’t really like about using these lineups is the fact that it involves starting Marvin and bringing Hinrich off of the bench, when Hinrich is clearly more deserving of a starting role. Marvin is a true SF (the only 1 we have on the team) though, with great size, and having him out there with the starters allows guys to play closer to their natural positions (e.g. Joe at the 2), and it gives us the ability to switch on screens when it’s advantageous, while still having a very athletic lineup that is built to run. All of this assumes that Marvin can give decent production, which he hasn’t done often this season. If Marvin can just play solid defense, the way he has in the past, and hit open shots, that’s all we really need from him, along with help on the glass (that’s a plus it happens).

Basically, this suggests that our starting lineup should be Teague, JJ, Marvin, Josh, and Al, while the bench lineup would be Hinrich, Jamal, Damien, Zaza and (Horford or Smith), unless L.D. actually plays Powell regular minutes. While there are advantages and disadvantages to using these lineups, I feel like they may be the best lineups to use based upon the arguments that I’ve stated above.

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I just hope we get it all together before playoff time. It would be so nice doing some damage in the post season.

And I hope Kirk starts at PG. JT should be in the rotation in a big way however. I wonder if Sund/Gearon had “the talk” with LD after Chicago?

Teague goes from out od the rotation at Chicago, to starting the next night. Something sure smells fishy to me

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O’Brien

March 14th, 2011
7:34 pm
I think Josh is a very good player (border-line all star at times). but the reason (imo) why fans get mad at him is becuase his faults are easily corrected.

Marvin has his faults, but there is no way to correct them – he just isnt very good.
Bibby has his faults – but its mostly because he is old and slow

But Josh’s faults are easy to fix.

1) Give up the ball to the PG on the break
2) Make a concerted effort to get in the post, and shoot less 3’s
3) Stay focused, even if calls dont go your way

But the HCs (Woody and LD) have let Josh get away with it for various reasons.

What’s up man. I love it when fans make your 1rst and 2nd comment. Truth is for number 1 to happen we actually have to have a pg that will do something with it instead of just wait to pass it to Joe. We finnaly have that, That’s why I said I would like to see him give it up to the pg. And #2, the coach has to actually call post plays if he wants Josh in the post. #3, I think you are spot on on that one.

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I totally agree Grandad. Our best players should be on the floor, and Marvin is not one of them.

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Grandad,

How are you? You have introduced a new word to me: “patois”. What does that mean?

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It’s not always about having all of your best players on the floor at the same time. Their styles and skill sets have to complement eachother in order for things to work well. What’s it’s really about is maximizing the strengths of your players and developing a system in which players are able to play to the best of their ability and utilize their best talents to help the team. It’s also about balance, that’s the reason why there have been a lot of occurrences where very good players have come off of the bench in favor of inferior players. The Spurs used to bring Manu Ginobili off of the bench and had success with it, the Nuggets bring J.R. Smith off of the bench (whom is arguably the best SG on their roster), the Blazers bring Gerald Wallace off of their being and he probably their second best player. Sometimes, you need to bring one of your better players off of the bench to make your second unit more potent, or to help fully utilize the talents of your team.

For example, imagine you have a team with 4 great offensive players whom all play different positions, yet some of them score in similar ways. If you start all 4 of them, you will have trouble fully utilizing those players since you cannot call plays for each of them consistently,and they will have to give up a lot of shots for eachother. However, if you bring one of those players off of the bench, then it gives you more flexibility as a coach to diversify your attack and it enables you to more fully utilize the scoring ability of these players by giving each player more play calls and more opportunities to score. It also gives you the advantage of having a spark coming off of your bench that can dominate against second units.

Reasons such as what I have just described are why it’s not always the best solution to simply put your five best players on the floor. Certainly, that may be the case in crunch time or winning time, but that’s not always the best solution, overall, if you want to be a great team.

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Co-sign James.

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James

Well stated and valid point.

” It’s not your five best players but your best five that play together ”
— John Wooden —

However my point was not as contradictory to your point
as it may have sounded.
My greater point was not worrying about putting labels on players.
Such as:
Josh; is he a [3, a 4, or a 5] ?
who cares, he’s one of your best players as is Al.
Both are labeled as a [4] and folks worry about that constantly.
A greater worry to me is;
we don’t have enough size regardless what you call Josh & Al.
But, and again, but we need Josh and Al on the floor.
I have been very critical of Joe;
but if he plays the [3] and it gets Marvin off the floor,
then it helps the team in multiple ways.

Back in ‘86 [greatest "team" ever]
Ainge and Johnson both played guard.
*[just guard] -&- (both were starters)

Hopefully what I’m saying makes sense
and doesn’t contradict your post so much.

When I coached;
I played 10 players every qtr.
(ran them in and out)
played man to man + ran motion offense.
When I subbed I didn’t pay much attn to positions…
I just put in a basketball player.
*(one who was going to defend & rebound)
*[and play balls to the wall]

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* ‘86 Celtics

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SteveW

Coach Karl has been complaining about T.Lawson being “lazy”.
[his words]

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SteveW

Amazing how it helps the esprit de corps.

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Steve, double high posts can wear an opposing back court out quickly, because it frees the guards to slash towards the basket, and find holes on the baseline.

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Ha, the Magic announcers are offended that the Lakers took Kobe out of the game with 3:30 to go in the game and the Lakers up by 16. They are saying that the Magic could easily come back with their 3 point shooters.

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felton and lawson 22 dimes tonght between them with felton ringing up 12 and felton 10. could be textbook basketball to watch on wednesday and the phil.

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“i dont think the nuggets are a good match up for us right now. they just went 17/29 at the three stripe against the hornets and have felton and ty both playing long stretches together running hard at the defense. it will be a good test for our revamped defense without bibby but it could get nasty if we cant score because they will be hard to stop. ”

All good points. One big advantage the Hawks have over most other teams is that they really never need to double team anyone. Sometimes some of them forget this (mainly Jamal) but the Hawks now have the defensive players at every position to be able to play straight up defense all the time. The good thing about not being reliant on the double team is that a team like Denver that can get hot from 3 is much less likely to get open looks from out there. If the big men can put a body on Nene all game and Hinrich/Teague can do a pretty good job keeping Felton/Lawson out of the lane (easier said than done of course) I like the Hawks’ chances.

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doc

We are one talented Big away from really competing.
*[a true Big (a real 7 ftr) who happens to also be a real player]*(starter)
**[not a stiff]
Plus a long, rim defending side-kick for Josh and Al. (off the bench)
The kind of players I propose bringing in should be;
first and foremost *Rebounders !

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He dominates a game not by scoring, but by doing some of everything. That’s what makes him a 5-Tool Player and not a “scorer”.

COOOOOOOO-SIIIIIIIIIIIIIGN !!!

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najeh, denver has been winning since the trade. i look forward to being there hoping the hawks can do what you say. i wont be surprised if they cant because this team might be a sleeper in the playoffs.

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Josh Smith is a very good player who can create his own shot, is electric , can go coast to coast, is exciting to watch, plays with an attitude and is a leader on this squad. Hes better than Horford who is a very weak defender and only average a scorer and doesnt excite anybody.

Extendez Woodson!!!

Duh

Hawks suck!
Teague is a Bust! and a Scrubb.

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Josh smith has had eight games or more over 20 points this year and is almost always in triple double category.. a sign of a complete player.

Go J Smoove!!

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that doesnt happen for any player, rk. All players take bad shots and good ones.
Teague has a low BB IQ
Josh is a triple double candidate every night. Complete package on offense and the best powerforward in the game defensively. Which makes him a very valuable asset to any team. and In particular the hawks

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northcyde,

Josh isn’t a scorer. He’s a very good utility player. Or a better description . . he’s a “5-Tool Player””.

Actually, Josh is a 6-tool player. Dont forget turnovers

Ron,

Another large reason why I wouldn’t want the 3 guard lineup for a starting lineup is due to the fact that it leaves us no pure point guards to come off of the bench..

All LD has to do to work his way around this issue is to keep Kirk in the game when Jamal comes in (as a sub for JJ), and slide Kirk to PG.

SB75,

Truth is for number 1 to happen we actually have to have a pg that will do something with it instead of just wait to pass it to Joe. We finnaly have that, That’s why I said I would like to see him give it up to the pg. And #2, the coach has to actually call post plays if he wants Josh in the post. #3, I think you are spot on on that one..

I agree that playing with Bibby the last season and a half could be one of the reasons why Josh felt he could run the break. Hopefully with Kirk and Teague playing PG, Josh will adjust and give the ball up more now.

And I think the coach is a big reason why Josh is where he is on the court. LD needs to do a better job helping Josh play to his strengths. But I think LD has given up that battle.

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Ignoring bibby on the break is the main reason why he leads the break. No point of giving it up to bibby while the 9 other players are down at the other end already in their sets while bibby is just passing the half court line.

He’s hardwired to lead the break but he will soon start to quickly pass it the new point guards…

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yeah it was fun watching bibby again lead the fast break last night? uh not.

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24 points, crazy block, steals like a cleptomaniac, runs the floor, penetrates, outstanding defense overall, yet Drew is still just CONSIDERING starting Teague???? What a joke. When was the last time Bibby or Marvin impacted a game like that on both ends of the floor? NEVER! Start Teague. WE WANT TEAGUE, WE WANT TEAGUE, WE WANT TEAGUE………………………….

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terrell (don’t call me Te-Relle)!

With all that mantra? I hope you will be in the stands, and behind the Hawks bench. No one will hear you on the blog, at the game.
_______________

Josh, as infuriating as he may be, is not The Hawks down fall to winning the bulk of these games. The roles must be defined and understood by these players.

Like Sund said, “At some point, the players need to step up too.”
________________
When?

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“When he’s playing at a high level it makes us better”. What about Marvin, Josh, and the 120 mill $ man? That statement should be directed to the entire Team, not just Teague.

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If you think your’re a dumbass, keep your mouth shut. If you talk, you prove it.

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co-sign on the magic announcers being the most condescending i’ve heard

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Ron,

Nice post last night at 10:51.

I totally agree that Jamal should never play a minute at PG. There was one thing however, that I disagreed with:

“For example, playing Kirk Hinrich at the 2 basically takes away his play-making ability.”

Ron, to me there’s absolutely no reason that Hinrich couldn’t create plays for others from the 2.

Doesn’t JJ lead the team in assists mostly playing the 2?

SG and play-making are NOT mutually exclusive.

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o’b, we somethimes are on the same track. over the weekend, on both blogs, i have pointed out how off jj has been the last month as well. it is amazing to look at what he did the first 5 weeks of the new year and what he hasnt done since in comparison. i didnt go back and figure it up exactly but my guess is his productivity has declined by 50% in comparing the two time periods. it is like a switch went off on actually about the 5th of february i think when he had a respectable game. only about two games over 20 and he has been continuing to shoot from long distance. i would rather see josh load up right now than jj from three, especially if he cant think about it and just shoot. jamal is also on about the same decline in the same amount of time but less impressive in total numbers.

jj had five games over 30 in january i think and three games at 28, 28 and 29. where have you gone joe johnson hummed to mrs. robinson? i thought it was 11-4 down in the first 15 of the new year, to 5 and 11 over the last 16 games as he went into his funk. and boy with him and his expressions, it is pure frigging funk.

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The Turnover effect…

A turnover can change the outcome of a game by shifting the games momentum.

Many on this blog do not see the value of a turnover and how devastating or uplifting to a team.

2 examples..

1) Bulls Game..
The Hawks are leading at the half, confidence is high then…..Josh makes 2 BAD EARLY 3rd qt turnovers….Ignites the Bulls, deflates the Hawks, LD loses his mind(Jamal gaurding Rose) and the Hawks lose going away.

2) Blazers Game…
Hawks down 18 to 13, Jeff goes on a steal frenzy at the end of the 1st qt and the Hawks are ignited. Jeff has multiple steal during the game at key times and was the most important factor in the Hawks win.

Steals and turnovers have an emotional and pyschological effect on team and the way they play. So we can’t simply dismiss them because of the good that one player does.

The players on this team are paid according to expectation and our 2nd and 3rd highest paid players commit the most turnovers.

When you get paid 11mil and 12mil a year, you are paid to make winning plays….YOU SHOULD NEVER GET A PASS WHEN YOUR MAKE 4 AND 5 TURNOVERS IN A GAME, UNLESS YOU WERE DOMINATE.

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J from the A,

Dept of Unintended Irony most definitely missed a gem with that one lol.

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Horford at power ford with a big next 2 him make him more effective than him playing against center every night.
GO HAWKS!!!!!!!!!!!!

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If phil jackson was coaching the hawks i guarantee you would never see horford play center, because phil understand the physics of basketball noing you have 2 have a big at center, phil put player in position of there strength knowing how 2 get the best out of his players.
GO HAWKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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I guarantee that if Phil Jackson were coaching the Hawks, we would be somewhere close to 50 wins for the season right now. We have that kind of talent.

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Al should be playing tonight.

LD could shoose to go with the same lineup (Teague, Hinrich, JJ, Josh and Al), but since Collins started the previous 2 games against the Bucks, I think LD will go with the big lineup of Twin, Al, Josh, and JJ.

However, who will be the starting PG? Will Teague get the start again? I dont think LD will start him, but I think Teague should start regardless of whether LD goes big or small.

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TEAGUE play better when he starte than coming of the bench, just like marvin play better coming of the bench than starting, i wonder why LD don’t recognize that.
GO HAWKS!!!!!!!!!!

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IMO, I don’t know if one great performance has earned Teague the starting position tonight. However, I do think that the combination of notable improvement + the one great performance has earned Teague very solid rotational minutes. (And these should include a decent amount of minutes with the starters.)

So, if the Hawks go with their normal line up, Kirk should probably start, but Kirk and Teague need to be splitting time at the PG position. This splitting of time should include Teague working the point with the first unit quite a bit.

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Teague looks bad with the 2nd unit because….

We have only 6-7 legit NBA quality players on this team and we start 5 of them. If we have an injury that is one those players, Teague would be on the floor with 3 scrubs level players and a “ballhhog”.

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its amazing how many excuses people around here make for Teague not being able to play PG.

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Didn’t I post about that exact error last week?

Sorry I missed it guys, but hey my surrogates did just fine. Go ahead, put me out of a job. Please.

The funny thing is that there have been at least two other people posting as DOUI. Of course one of them didn’t know what irony was, so you have to discount that.
But imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, so I suppose I’m flattered. Better than being flattened. Or fattened. Or battered.

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How about this…

You draft 2 PG’s in he 1st round at the position of greatest need and you don’t play either player….THAT’S AMAZING!!!

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^ Thats a BS post. Were you sleep when you wrote it? Bibby Sucks, He can’t dribble, cant defend, and now he cant shoot. The only person holding Jeff Teague back was our incompetent Head Coach. Stop Lying to yourself.

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Damn, when did Teague become a superstar.. Can we hope he plays well instead of blaming everybody else for his earlier problems. Some of you’ll make it hard to like the kid. (Teague that, Teague this, Teague played bad because of this/that player). Relax and let’s see what happens before you’ll crown him king.

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“Not geting 24 and 5 every night doesnt justify a slew of DNP-CD’s”

Thats all i’m sayin’.

Did we not play better with Teague in the strting lineup after the Bibby trade even after Kirk suited up? What has the result been since he’s gone back to the bench with significantly less playing time?

That’s all i’m sayin’.

JT doesnt need to be a suberstar. Rondo’s not. He just has to play his role. Deny penetration to make it easier on our frontline, penetrate, dish and draw fouls. Heck him being able to dribble the ball past the halfcourt mark against pessure makes him way mor valuable than mike Bibby. Superstar or not.

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Al on another team playing against the hawks would have have me drawing up plays to isolate him under the basket whether hes at the 4 or the 5. That is an easy basket. Just ask tony parker or nate robinson. Horford is a defensive liability no matter where you play him

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I am not knocking what Kirk has done offensively or even defensively since he got here (some nice defensive efforts and some great 20+ point games. His shooting had been an upgrade over Bibby as well.), but like astrojoe stated, Kirk is great against PG’s with good strenth and above average speed (Ander Miller, Chauncey Billups, Jason Kidd, Deron Williams) but he cant stay with the “speed kills” type of point guards (Rose, Rondo, Westbrook, Parker, Brooks, Lowry, Bledsoe etc.)

JT brings that “Edge” though. His ability to fastbreak and slash into the land while drawing fouls is what this team has never had. When the game is on the line for the Hawks all we get is missed jumpshots/post-up attempts. Teague gives us that dynamic, Kirk does not (even though he is an excellent FT shooter). In a world of jumpshooters would it not be wise to have one slasher?

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J from the A,

IMO, I don’t know if one great performance has earned Teague the starting position tonight..

After the trade;

At Phoenix (starting): 19 mins, 10 pts, 2 assists (L)
At Warriors (starting): 26 mins, 6 pts, 6 assists, 2 rebs, 3 steals (W)
At Portland (starting): 13 mins, 2 pts, 2 assists. 1 steal (W)
At Denver (starting): 34 mins, 7 pts, 2 assists, 6 rebs (L)

He didn’t play great, but he played well enough under the circumstances to deserve more consistent minutes.

However, LD decided to start Hinrich the next game. As for Teague…his next 5 games? 7 minutes, 14 minutes, 11 minutes, 9 minutes, 3 minutes. And some of those minutes are garbage time.

LD has not done a good job (starting or otherwise) of bringing Teague along, especially when he never stopped believing in him…

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Good to see that Teague gets the start tonight. Brandon Jennings is a very different type of challenge than Andre Miller. Looking forward to seeing if Teague is up to the task. I really, really hope he strings a few Portland-caliber games together and forces LD’s hand into starting him.

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We are not making excuses for Teague…

We are CONFUSED!!!! We haven’t been able to understand what our coaches have been doing with the PG position for the past 7 years.

No one can tell me Patty Mills is better than Teague, but he gets consistant minutes.

If our coaches valued the position more than just its name, we would not be in this postion.

I stand by the belief that LD does not know how to coach a ball dominate PG and that is Teague’s problem more than anything else. TEAGUE DOES NOT FIT HIS OFFENSIVE MODEL..

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BTW, another Hawks wild-card may also be Damien matched-up against Maggette as well

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At this point Kirk is actially a better fit at SG than JJ. Kirk DOESN’T HESISTATE to shoot unlike Joe (McSlowsky) Johnson. Kirk is smaller and more able to run around screens for his own shot or to defend other shooters running off screens. For example 6′4 J.J. Redick or 6′5 Ray Allen. Size wise, at 6′4 with great defense he is more than capable. Look at all the SG’s 6′5 or shorter who have had success in the league recently (Ray Allen, Wade, Eric Gordon, Wesly Matthews, Courney Lee, Ben Gordon, Keith Bogans, Roger Mason Jr., Brandon Roy) So Kirk *on certain nights* can have favorable matchups at the SG spot. Also Joe needs space becuase he isn’t shooting well.

He also Takes pressure off Joe because he gives us another CAPABLE ballhandler/shooter (Sorry Marvin). With Teague penetrating, this will open up more shots for Joe and Kirk. I like it, I like it a lot. Also I heard that Kirk as played some pretty good D on Wade before.

On the other hand, JJ Vs Carmelo, Lebron, Deng, Turkoglu, Artest, Battier, Perice etc. doesnt thrill me, but with Smoove and Horford in the paint, I doubt it will be too big of an issue as long as JJ stays out of foul trouble.

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Teague is a backup on 65% of the teams in the NBA. Thats the hawks problem. They are in love with mediocrity.

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What a pathetic franchise. I cant believe some of us still support this group who will be nothing more than mediocre (fading away from that fast) at best as long as the team is constructed like it is( players owners etc.). Thats just the bottom line. Stop being content with getting to the first round and loosing. This team has no heart, no toughness, and remotely no identity whatsoever. Demand greatness from a team and franchise not status quo. Absolutely sick.

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If you took a poll on weather or not Bibby should have been starting, I bet most would rather him not start. Question, Is he starting for Miami? Has mike Bibby “Maintained energy level?” Personally I never wanted Bibby resigned in the first place. I felt he was too much of a liability on both ends of the court. We paid him too much to be an undersized and underachieveing SHOOTING GUARD. We should have re-signed Flip murray and had Murray, Crawford, and Teague surrounding JJ.

“For all the talk of the Blazers game 17 shots and 3 assists ”

“are those PG numbers ”

Hmmm, I imagine those are Tony Parker/Derrick Rose numbers on many nights….unless you don’t consider them Point guards.

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“Teague is a backup on 65% of the teams in the NBA. Thats the hawks problem. They are in love with mediocrity.”

You can’t prove that because Teague hasn’t played for all of the teams in the league now has he?

I can prove that Jeff Teague is the starting Point Guard for the Hawks tonight. I can prove that Mike Bibby is the BACKUP point guard for the Miami Heat behiend the “great” Mario Chalmers. I can also prove that Bibby only played 9 minutes and 47 seconds for the Heat last night even though they blew out the Spurs.

Facts are facts TS

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a BIG hallelujah!!! Marvin’s on the bench!!!! i truly hope this is NOW in stone!!! but bein’ how LD wears blinders, probably not…

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*neither has any team ask for him in trade

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Crawford, Wilkins, Marvin, and Zaza off the bench looks good to me. I would love to see Pape get some scrube minutes as well.

Moreover, I think some teams have asked for him in trade talks actually. I’d have to ask MC or Sekou to be sure. Also, Bibby starting was just lockerroom politics if you ask me, nothing more.

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Dept. of Unintended Irony,

You know if Teague was involved in any trade talks?

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my problem with Teague is i just don’t see that killer instinct!!! doesn’t mean he can’t find it or develop it tho. this team has been lookin’ for a leader and PG play all season…and i’ll just point to THIS season. when i look at players in similiar situations like Teague around the league, how many look as tentative/scared to play THEIR game??? JC2 woulda luv’d Teague’s chances…no matter how few ’some’ of you think those chances were. i like what Teague showed against POR!!! i hope he can do it 2 games in a row..PERIOD!!! as i said yesterday, personally, i’d prefer Kirk/JJ/Josh/Al/Hilton as my startin’ lineup. but i do like tonite’s startin’ lineup for it’s defense and yep…Marvin’s on the f’n bench!!!

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*Infection

Dept., Thanks!

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“What is JJ doing with a skin inection on his head?? ”

What the “f”?

Sorry Booo, it was just too tempting.

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Joe probably needs to wear a plastic hospital cap under that headband!!! :-0

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myk …..marvin for smoy award. just so he stays there he will get my vote.

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Dept., Hahaha!

O_O Yes! Marvin for SMOY! Sorry Jamal!

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sixth…slow…daylight savings time messin with me!!!LOL

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“No doubt he rubbed up against some floozie at Magic City and got that..”
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Or, took a shower behind some skank basketball player in the locker is more likely.” Actually, skin infections in sports is extremely common due to sweat (body fluids) on any fomite object, like work out equipment, door knobs, or sweat flying in games onto a scratch, or cuts from shaving. That is a much higher probability than him getting that from a sweet young lady. She should be the one who is on guard from the promiscuous male.
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IMHO and medical opinion.

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we don’t need a true pg, we need someone who can penetrate, score and play D – smh @ all of yall

Teague/Hinrich/JJ/Josh/AL –

It’s too bad Hinrich’s calf is bothering him, JJ has an injury he’s keeping to himself, Josh is still not 100% from the MCL, not to mention Al’s ankle injury.

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