Nuggets 102, Hawks 87

northcyde

March 17th, 2011
1:16 am

HAHA @ “Team Jump Shot”

Great line Ken S.

Najeh Davenpoop

March 17th, 2011
1:22 am

“Denver, which kind of plays like you’d hope the Hawks would play – moving the ball, transition game, putting pressure on opponents defensively, several players who can score”

Real talk.

In fact, forget the entire team playing like the Nuggets; if even a couple of Hawks played like their Nuggets counterparts, this team would be so much better.

I stopped commenting on the previous blog at halftime thanks to my screen name getting stolen, but I spent the entire second half watching Lawson and Felton driving hard off their screens with a full head of steam and Nene making strong, decisive moves in the paint. All I could think the entire time is if the Hawks used Teague (and to a lesser extent Kirk) the same way as Lawson (screen for him and get him to go hard into the paint off the screen) and Al played with the same mentality as Nene offensively, this team would be so good that they could probably win despite Smoove having a horrible offensive game like he did in this one.

northcyde

March 17th, 2011
1:23 am

“It’s kind of the trap with this team. Periods or games like that serve to reinforce the notion that they can thrive as an outside-in team.”

Damn right it’s a trap. And everybody in the arena and at home can see it. If Josh makes a few early shots, expect a lot of them to go up. If JJ hits a 3, he’ll start jacking too. Same with Jamal.

The team just settles for the easy way out too much. Sometimes, you just have to take the action to people and draw fouls. But on “Team Jump Shot”, everybody loves the 20 footer . . from the center down to the PGs.

We survived Josh’s cold streak, then JJ went on his. Horford didn’t touch the ball, nor try to grab offensive boards. And we didn’t well defend at all in the 2nd half.

Another bad home loss for a team looking for some respect, and an identity.

LOL . . everytime fans want to get back on the bandwagon, they jump off again when the Hawks play sorry.

Philips will be rocking on Friday night. Let’s see if the team will rise up . . or lay down.

RaJaH

March 17th, 2011
1:23 am

While watching the Warriors/Mavs game, I thought I heard Mark Jackson say that the Warriors wanted to trade Ellis for Law.

Najeh Davenpoop

March 17th, 2011
1:27 am

I realize LD’s a rookie coach and is going to make rookie mistakes, just like a rookie player would. But when he refuses to learn from his rookie mistakes, that is when he becomes infuriating. It hasn’t even been a week since the Hawks lost to the Bulls due in large part to LD playing Jamal at point guard against a quick opponent who seized on the opportunity to take over the game. So what does LD do? He benches his defensively solid back court and rolls with Jamal at the point for the majority of the second half, and predictably Lawson and Felton got whatever they wanted.

LD’s substitution patterns are just plain insane.

Najeh Davenpoop

March 17th, 2011
1:29 am

Also, I get called out occasionally on this blog for defending Smoove, so for those of you who do so here you go. I’m not going to waste my time defending him on a night when he was horrible offensively and didn’t make the necessary adjustment to his game when he noticed his shot wasn’t falling until it was too late. He did a nice job crashing the boards but his foul trouble prevented him from doing much defensively (especially in the second half when he provided zero resistance) and he didn’t start going inside until it was too late to make a difference. He’s going to get the lion’s share of the blame since his mistakes always look worse than everyone else’s mistakes, but whatever. Tonight, he deserves it.

Jae Evolution

March 17th, 2011
1:29 am

If Al Horford, and Josh Smith switched mind sets we’d have a frontcourt that could go toe to toe with the best of em.

Booo!

March 17th, 2011
1:30 am

^

+1

Booo!

March 17th, 2011
1:31 am

“He benches his defensively solid back court and rolls with Jamal at the point for the majority of the second half, and predictably Lawson and Felton got whatever they wanted.”

I cant even waste my time on LD right now. Dumbest move of the night! Smh…

K.W.

March 17th, 2011
1:33 am

Here They Go Again…

rusty

March 17th, 2011
1:34 am

LD as usual never took any blame. I wished someone would call him out at not having jt or kh in at the 4 th quarter. JJ ruins any team play pounding the ball & forcing the ball. The difference between us this game was our lousy coach

superiorblogman

March 17th, 2011
1:34 am

Fire LD trade Josh Smith problem solved.

Najeh Davenpoop

March 17th, 2011
1:35 am

With that said, there’s plenty of blame to spread around.

Broadway Joe from the Bucks game returned to being Average Joe, and it is the same damn story with him. Dude killed at least three or four possessions where he could have made a decisive move or taken an open shot by holding the ball and allowing the defense to reset. He makes it so much harder on himself when he insists on grinding the ball movement to a halt as he sloooooooowly tries to decide what to do.

Same usual story with Al Horford. Yeah, the Hawks should feed him more, but he needs to quit passing up opportunities to score too. It’s admirable to want to be a team player and make the extra pass, but at some point, he needs to understand his teammates and adjust his game accordingly. The most efficient offensive player on the team shouldn’t pass the ball when he gets the ball in an area conducive to him scoring. Be like Nene. Get that ball and either make a strong move or use that top-10 mid range jump shot.

Teague has played outstanding D in every game since the Bibby trade except the two games against the Nuggets. Tonight, like the game at Denver, he was only OK defensively, and for the most part he didn’t play very well offensively. He’s gotta start learning how to finish more aggressively at the rim and draw some fouls.

Same usual story with Jamal. Stretches of great offense negated by sustained bad defense.

Nice games from Kirk (when he was allowed to play) and Zaza (despite not being able to contest anything at the rim as usual, he still played a solid game). Another solid bench performance from Marvin.

Jae Evolution

March 17th, 2011
1:35 am

When everyone was on their ‘We Want Woody’ chant in the last blog, it reminded me of the highlights I had watched prior to this game of Game 6 of the Hawks vs. Heat in 09′, don’t know why I was watching this? The Heat came out swinging and the Hawks fell down early in the 1st qtr. Woody called a timeout and chewed Josh out making Smoove looking like he wanted to cry. This is what I wish someone would do to the kid, get his mind right, how can LD let him keep shooting when his only 4 makes were from 10 ft or closer?

Najeh Davenpoop

March 17th, 2011
1:39 am

Also, I wouldn’t use this game as a referendum on this lineup. It’s entirely possible the Nuggets are just a bad matchup for this team and this lineup will work better against other teams. I am still a little wary of Joe having to guard LeBron for the majority of the game, but I’d give it at least another week and a half or so before making a judgment.

Najeh Davenpoop

March 17th, 2011
1:41 am

““When somebody comes and gets me (to take him out of the game), as a teammate, I just sit down and understand what I’m doing wrong and try to correct it when I get back in the game.””

Much like LD, at least he’s saying the right thing. But much like LD, his actions (at least in this game) belied his words.

superiorblogman

March 17th, 2011
1:41 am

Teague played good D again tonight. He was not on the floor when the team lost the game in the 4th by letting Felton run the same play every time. Finally, that’s what PG’s do, they fine something that is working and milk it without the coach telling them to. Jamal has never done that, Bibby has never done that and Teague is not being given a sufficient chance to do it. These team is not going to cause me to lose sleep. New GM, Owners, and coach all needed. Then move to the players.

Najeh Davenpoop

March 17th, 2011
1:44 am

“If Al Horford, and Josh Smith switched mind sets we’d have a frontcourt that could go toe to toe with the best of em.”

Co-sign.

rusty

March 17th, 2011
1:45 am

Nortcyde there is a reason why I leave out the h .you treat jj as he was a great player ,woody & Ld
as if they were great ,treat jc2 & jt as if they were scrubs & bore the hell out of me with your meaniless stats while not seeing the obvious

Najeh Davenpoop

March 17th, 2011
1:52 am

Finally, I will never understand why our supposed offensive genius of a head coach won’t run more pick and rolls with the personnel he has now. One super quick point guard, enough shooters on the wings to spread the floor, and two athletic front court players who can both pass and finish. Seems like the ideal personnel with whom to run pick and rolls all day long, and seems like a pretty surefire way to get Smoove and Al in the paint more often.

SteveW

March 17th, 2011
1:53 am

Props for LD, he didn’t play Josh Powell. That’s one of the few things LD has gotten right on rotations this season.

Jamal at point and presto! We get blown out.

Jeff Teague 0 turnovers. And the last time Ty wasn’t in double figures scoring was also against ATL, Feb. 28. Felton wasn’t either. Teague/Hinrich play Ty/Felton about as well as anyone lately.

Buddy Grizzard

March 17th, 2011
1:55 am

MC, in his “Teague’s Time” blog post, made mention of theories by the blog peeps that LD played Bibby because he was worried about his job security. He made a good point about LD’s predecessor’s failure to utilize Teague, and that being a contributing factor in his downfall.

So I’d like to present you with a new theory. This shall be hereafter entitled, “Teaching how to quit: How Larry Drew’s entitlement issues affect his player rotations.”

I believe that the incident of Larry Drew II quitting on North Carolina in the midst of contending for an ACC championship sheds a lot of illumination on not just Larry Drew II’s character, but the character of his biggest influence, Larry Drew, Sr.

Roy Williams told reporters that when LD Sr. called to inform him his son was leaving North Carolina, he was told the decision was final and there was nothing further to discuss. Some on this blog have questioned my contention that LD Sr. advised his son to leave North Carolina. If LD Sr. wasn’t telling his son to leave, wouldn’t he at least have told his son to try working things out with Williams before he quit?

So LD II leaves North Carolina, which goes on win the ACC regular season championship behind the play of his replacement, freshman point guard Kendall Marshall. Days later at his 21st birthday, LD II takes the mic to rap about his former squad. Among his lyrics:

“They tried to tell me just to play my role … but who wants to stick with a script full of typos?”

Clearly, LD II’s actions are the result of selfish motives. But his actions are more destructive to his NBA prospects than coming off the bench would have been. Just ask former North Carolina sixth man Marvin Williams. He has now demonstrated to the world that he would rather cast away something millions of kids can only dream about, the chance to win multiple NCAA basketball championships, because he lost a starting position he felt entitled to.

This reminds me of when I was an assistant coach for my little brother’s 10-12 year old church league team. The most talented player on the team was also the tallest, and he wanted to play point guard… not because he wanted to distribute the ball but so that he would have the ball in his hands and could look for his own shot whenever he wanted. When the coach insisted that he play center, where he could both score and collect rebounds, the child announced that he was quitting the team.

The coach then relented and allowed the child to play point guard for the rest of the season, against my advice. I remembered thinking what a horrible message this sent to all the kids on the team. Here was a kid who would always have a sense of entitlement. Through his actions, the coach had assured that the child would never understand the concept of team.

LD II’s actions, and the bad advice he received from his father, cost him the best opportunity he had to gain exposure and possibly capture the attention of NBA scouts. Only by playing on the biggest basketball stage could he hope to emerge as an actual NBA prospect.

All of this leads me to question if LD Sr. belongs in the position of a head NBA basketball coach. If he teaches his own son to quit, how can he teach the Hawks to succeed? LD’s insistence on playing Bibby starter’s minutes long after his skills had declined below an NBA level now appears to me to have been motivated by a sense that Bibby was entitled to those minutes. Henry Bibby would never have to make the call to Drew that Drew made to Roy Williams.

And I imagine how that call would have gone if I had been in LD Sr’s shoes:

“Hello, coach Williams? I wanted to let you know that my son is extremely upset about losing his position as a starter. I wanted to ask you what we can do to help my son learn to deal with adversity and become a man. By the way, thank you for taking my call. You are a basketball coach of vastly greater stature that I will ever attain.”

Instead, LD Sr called Williams to say his son was leaving, and there would be no discussion of the decision. LD II wrote himself out of Williams’ script full of typos, and ensured he will always be remembered as a quitter. At least Williams knew how to spell “ACC Champions.”

Booo!

March 17th, 2011
1:56 am

“Also, I wouldn’t use this game as a referendum on this lineup. It’s entirely possible the Nuggets are just a bad matchup for this team and this lineup will work better against other teams. I am still a little wary of Joe having to guard LeBron for the majority of the game, but I’d give it at least another week and a half or so before making a judgment.”

+1

Booo!

March 17th, 2011
2:03 am

WOW,

Buddy Grizzard for post of the Week!

Najeh Davenpoop

March 17th, 2011
2:04 am

About the Nuggets — that impending Nuggets-Thunder first round matchup has classic written all over it. It just sucks that one of those teams won’t be in Round 2.

Najeh Davenpoop

March 17th, 2011
2:06 am

“Just ask former North Carolina sixth man Marvin Williams. He has now demonstrated to the world that he would rather cast away something millions of kids can only dream about, the chance to win multiple NCAA basketball championships, because he lost a starting position he felt entitled to.”

He has also demonstrated that when faced with the opportunity to sign a multi-year multimillion dollar contract at age 20, he won’t pass it up, just like 99% of the world’s population. Marvin was all but guaranteed to be a top 5 pick in 2005. He would have been insane not to jump to the NBA. Ask Matt Leinart how passing up being a top 5 draft pick for an extra year in college worked out for him.

Buddy Grizzard

March 17th, 2011
2:29 am

Or ask Ken Swilling.

TheAntiMe

March 17th, 2011
3:13 am

I’m far from the first to say this but the Hawks play with a mindset and stubbornness that totally defies logic. They know that every team in the league knows what the Hawks are going to do. All teams know that if they can make it tough for the Hawks inside early in the game that, like Ohm’s Law, the Hawks will always take the path of least resistance and stand on the perimeter jacking up jump shots which is exactly what every other team wants them to do.

Last season the Hawks were able to run the break effectively to change the style when needed from their half-court offense, but this season that strategy when employed has been working against them as they have become a turnover prone team after being one of the least turnover prone teams last season.

The obvious thing to all that they should be doing is to establish the inside game and work the ball inside out but they haven’t shown the mental or physical toughness to be able to do so. Also, the fact that they go long stretches where they just quit playing defense makes it very difficult for the Hawks to avoid losing games.

The promotion of Larry Drew to Head Coach has not served the team well. It’s plain to see that the Hawks don’t listen to LD any more than they did to Woody last season. And now the Hawks players are back to pointing the finger to blame other teammates for their losing ways the same as they did last season when things weren’t going well. Al Horford is right. “There’s no question something needs to be done.” Unfortunately, I’m not counting on a whole lot being done about anything regarding the Hawks right now. I very much hope that I am wrong. After all, this is the same team with the same players that won 53 games last season. Get it together, men! Please.

Grandad

March 17th, 2011
3:14 am

Hey 71 yr old Rusty

If you wer born in 1930 or 40 or whatever,
in what city did you see Babe Ruth pitch?
in other words what team was he pitching for?

I’ll give you time to look that one up on the internet, as well.

I guess you didn’t feel like looking for any world events.

What year did we land on the moon, Rusty?
Be careful, it’s a trick question.

Grandad

March 17th, 2011
3:15 am

* were born in 1939 or 40

LD II musta been rappin’ about me.

Grandad

March 17th, 2011
3:30 am

Buddy Grizzard

You may be on to something.
My son just finished playing collegiate basketball.
As a father, I would never intercede and do his talking for him.
note *[not saying I never spoke to the coach on a professional level]
However, part of learning to be a man is letting your son grow up.
If he quit, then Son should have talked to RW man to man.
[not on the phone]
Once again, if LD1 had a conversation with RW fine,
but, when it comes to nut cuttin’ time,
you must let your son grow up.

Is this a “Drew family character” problem ?

His handling of the team makes one wonder ?

Time for LD1 to nut up !

“Sports do not build character. They reveal it.”
— John Wooden —

Andrew

March 17th, 2011
4:02 am

If Larry Drew (Sr.) lacks character, then maybe unemployment will help to build some character. Make it happen, ASG.

Hawks Fan In New Oreans

March 17th, 2011
4:13 am

Great post Buddy Grizzard. You dug deep on this one and exposed a possible and potentially serious character flaw.

I am tired of complaining redundantly and LD’s redundant mistakes in game-planning, adjustments, substitutions and commanding respect.

wordsmithtom

March 17th, 2011
4:26 am

Hopefully, first the ASG getting bought out. Then, new ownership installs new GM who will want his own coach. Clean house. What we have now is disfunctional. GM gets guys who never play. Coach names captains who don’t do what he tells them. This mess needs a new broom, starting with the top.

Jamill

March 17th, 2011
6:59 am

The jordan crawford trade will go down as the worst thing this franchise has done it even will eclipse marvin because marvin was scouted highly and kirk is just a trade chip. Gave wizards the best back court wtf

tremaine

March 17th, 2011
7:14 am

Last night game was the reason why they need to trade Josh Smith and get a center.

tremaine

March 17th, 2011
7:17 am

- Smith missed seven of his first eight and was pulled. I don’t know that I’ve seen that happen this season that quickly.

No you haven’t seen that this season.

Roundfield on Roundball

March 17th, 2011
7:24 am

Typical Hawks loss. The night after Joe gets everyone excited – he craps the bed. What a dumpster fire his contract will be for this franchise. The post game quotes from game 68 are the same we heard after every loss. “We ought to do this, we ought to do that.” It is so depressing. If the Hawks were a college team, they would be the one that “didn’t belong” in the field of 68. Where are their quality wins? In Miami, o.k. 1. You see how they’ve done as “strength of schedule” has increased. Inevitably, they will blow this team up, new coach, dump Marvin, but without resources to sign anyone of fan interest, and the lame draft for 2011, more of same looms. The Hawks are overlooked for a reason.

RweBlind

March 17th, 2011
7:29 am

Did anyone happen to watch the NBA TV replay of the ‘95 Bulls/Magic game yesterday? Amazing stuff.

After watching this and then watching the Hawks/Nuggets (along w/ the MIA/OKC game) later, I felt like I was watching the NBA and then later a couple of average church league games.

In the entire first half of the Bulls/Magic game, I only remember around 3-5 total shots being taken from outside of 10-12 feet by both teams combined in the entire first half!

Jordan was an unreal defender. His ability to get through/around picks was unlike anything I’ve seen by anyone in todays game. He literally played the entire floor defensively and had an absolutely sick ability to recover from virtually anywhere. The fluent, cat-like manner in which he moved was almost frightening. There is no comparison between Jordan and any of today’s players. Period. None. Not even close. There’s light years between him and Kobe, James, Wade, etc.

Either of those teams would have destroyed the elite teams of today. Today is church league by comparison. It’s not just the Hawks, the entire NBA product is in serious decline. Man, what a rude awakening.

Enough with the jumpers, NBA. Even little girls can shoot them.

O'Brien

March 17th, 2011
7:35 am

Team loss tonight, from the HC down. I still dont understand why we are losing so many home games. The ASG needs to have a talk with the coach and the players to let them know that losing home games will not convince fans to come watch them play.

Najeh,

The problem for the Hawks against Miami is who will show up on offense. If we start JJ and Marvin, that could be 2 positions that dont give us much offensively. And on defense, JJ will be on Wade, and Marvin will be on LeBron.

I think Josh or Al will have a good game, but I’m not sure what to expect from Teague or Hinrich.

The scary thing about Miami (when they put their mind to it) is:

1) They can be a very good defensive minded team
2) They (Wade and LbJ) can get to the FT line almost at will

At this point in the season, I have no idea what the Hawks’ “will’ is. Said Jamal “I think we have to learn to handle adversity..

Except for the Celtics playoff series, we have not handled adversity well for the 3rd season in a row (imo).

O'Brien

March 17th, 2011
7:37 am

From 2 blogs ago;

He still was not a bad pick,

You said We have a all star pf that is forced to play c.

Actually, we have an All-Star Center. If Al was playing PF, would he have made the All-Star team the last 2 years?

Rufus1,

You made a good point. I don’t think Woody and LD have done a good job of defining all the player roles, and getting them to play to their strengths.

O'Brien

March 17th, 2011
7:39 am

And for the record, I would not mind if the Hawks made a coaching change this off-season, as long as they also trade one of their core.

This being the Hawks of course, I dont expect any kind of moves from them…

ReddJonn68

March 17th, 2011
7:49 am

When will someone finally try to talk some sense into Josh Smith head, about the fact that he has no outside game to speak of !!! The best outside shooting PF ever was Robert Horry, but only because of his shot selection & clutch ability. There have been many other great shooting PFs, but most of them could not knock down that dagger 3 pointer. Josh does not even possess an average range jump shot ( the 15 to 18 footer).

He just does not care about the team concept & will cost the Hawks dearly when the Heat & Bosh play against them. Bosh will make his mid range jumpers & Josh will get sucked into trying to play H O R S E instead of team ball. Larry Drew has very little leadership skills. Good luck Hawks your going to need it trying to play 4 vs 6 !!!

joe

March 17th, 2011
7:53 am

the Hawks big move was to get Kirk H., huh? That is a move that is typical of the Hawks, just doing something to be able to say you tried….. The only more inept team in handling personel in the NBA is the Clippers! Huge contracts to Marvin, Bibby, Patuela and 120m to JJ ????? WOW

Geemack

March 17th, 2011
8:09 am

So after a few months the team is already tunning LD out.

It took Woody 6 years to get to this point.

Section 303

March 17th, 2011
8:11 am

I told myself I was not going to read the blog today….not because of anyone on here, but because I did not want to read the same stupid quotes from the Hawks coach/players. Alas….I broke down and read the blog. Now, I’m annoyed.

I love how these a$$holes have been in the league for years now and still have to talk about learning to handle adversity.

I’m just done with Josh Smith. I hate watching that guy play.

Geemack

March 17th, 2011
8:14 am

RweBlind

Yeah it’s easy to look that good when the competion watered down.

The NBA perimeter competion was watered down from 91-98 (until Kobe came into his own).

phil

March 17th, 2011
8:26 am

LD is a horrible coach. But that was obvious when he was hired. Zero enthusiasm, zero personality, and clearly zero ability to motivate these guys. Never mond zero ability to handle the x’s and o’s….

at any rate, another typical game. Miami will run them out of the joint friday nite….please spare yourselves and don’t pay it any attention until the post mortem, which will be nearly identical to most of the games….

drmaryb (*_-)

March 17th, 2011
8:27 am

“The ASG needs to have a talk with the coach and the players to let them know that losing home games will not convince fans to come watch them play.”
____________

O’B said it best! Enthusiastic co-sign. The brass need to stop being the equivalent of 8 orangutans throwing feces at each other and start throwing some of that at these players, after a game like last night.

There seems to be no sense of urgency. The play offs start in 4 weeks and the core is still saying we have to share the ball? Where is the TRUST? Isn’t that what team chemistry is all about? If they pass it from side to side the defense will move and open those lanes.

Last night in the end of the 3rd qrtr, they stopped defending the three.

rk

March 17th, 2011
8:37 am

JT will not be in the NBA when his contract is up.No other team will take him. He can’t shoot. Denver did not even check him. That is why he did not play much.They were doubling other players and given him the shot. He is quick but does not know how to penetrate and dish like a point guard. Denvers pg’s showed how quickness shoud be used. The team does not want to call JS out. The say words like share the ball more. AH has the fourth best shooting percentage in the league and gets about 5 to 6 shots a game. JS takes 16 to 18 shoots a game. We need a coach to define JS role. Who ever heard of a power forward hanging on the 3 point line and trying to run the fast break. Sure sometimes he makes good plays but for the most part it hurts the team. He has alstar ability but this coach will not bring it out. The longer he is allowed to play this way the harder it will be for him to change.

STRETCH

March 17th, 2011
8:57 am

“It’s plain and simple, which I told them at halftime,” Drew said. “We can’t come down and take a bunch of long shots. We have to establish an inside game.”

That was Larry Drew once again. Man, Avery Johnson would have had this team fighting for atleast a 2nd seed!

Jerry West

March 17th, 2011
9:16 am

Avery Jawnnnnson woulda grated on these dudes and they’d have quit on him. And the ASG wasn’t gonna pay him.

Thibodeau on the other hand doesn’t make a whole lot more than LD, but wasn’t considered it seems. Ah well.

terrell

March 17th, 2011
9:25 am

JAMAL IS NOT A PG! Why does everyone know this except LD? Got 2 pg’s that play defense on the roster, yet he rolls with Jamal in the 2nd half. Fire his azz. And stop talking boutplayers taking jumpshots, if you’re not going to do a damn thing about it.

STRETCH

March 17th, 2011
9:27 am

Im still trying to figure out how a team with

- 2 players with back to back allstar seasons each, one that could have been an allstar, but the votes dont lie (the fans know he’s a head case).

- Reigning 6th man of the year

- A first round pick PG

- KH, a guy with a rep around the league as a solid player, tough defender

- Five guys 6-10 or taller, three of them who NEVER see the court

What gets me is that after every loss, they are still talking aobut the same reasons about why and how they lost. TIME TO BREAK THIS THING UP, THEY ARE DONE…IM DONE WITH THIS GROUP!

I MUS WRITE

March 17th, 2011
9:29 am

Enter your comments here

SteveW

March 17th, 2011
9:45 am

LD’s wife got their son kicked off his High School team recently. Google it

prison mike

March 17th, 2011
9:46 am

If I had to choose a player that lost this game, it would be JS. With that said, it’s obvious something is wrong with legs/knee.

I MUS WRITE

March 17th, 2011
9:47 am

So the team has stopped listening to ugly suit man huh? SMDH I dont think they every really listened to him -all summer he said the same garbage about Josh/Al posting up more …..Fail -they have been shooting from the perimeter all year even against smaller teams.

Joe Johnson- Im looking for this man like i used to look for waldo. WTF is up with him -he pulled a david blain just like I thought he would. its almost like he doesnt show when we play teams over 500. IMO Wilson chandler has out performed Joe and marvin this year. I really wanted him and Chandler in FA last summer.

I keep say’n this but teague is a liability 50% of the time. Denver gave him open shot after open shot and that yungn was gun shy all night . He is super quick in the open court but he doesnt convert at the rim enuff for me. In the playoffs its more of a slow down grind it out half court game and his inability to knock down the open shot will be exposed.

Maybe when the team is sold we can get that PG/C that we’ve been looking for since Mookie and Mutombo left. Al is a warrior but is helpless in the paint against guys like Bogut,Dwight,and NeNe.

JEEZUZ …………ZAZA is a Joke. he is the worst big we have IMO. I counted atleast 10 plays where he got the ball within 8 feet of the rim and couldnt score. Birdman Anderson and Ne Ne took his lunch money. this dude is an unathletic flopper who does nothing but get an occasional put back or rebound. 2 down 2 more to go. Bibby Evans gone………next up Marvi/ZAZA

Can't Watch Any More

March 17th, 2011
9:48 am

I can’t watch these Hawks any more. We have good (not great) players who refuse to simply play as a TEAM. Until the Hawks can establish an inside post game from 1 of their players NO reason for them to be in the play-offs. It looks like time to break up the core and try and at least get a MAN to play post-up basketball.

I MUS WRITE

March 17th, 2011
9:50 am

Salmon Gritz Eggs Toast Coffee good way to start the day.

SteveW

March 17th, 2011
9:50 am

We got better talent, Denver has a better Coach. That about sums it up.

And Marvin is way better off the bench than starting.

And Ld’s gotta take drastic action to get Josh’s attention. Pull him alot sooner when he’s following the game plan. Yell at him. Something

Eatin' Turnips

March 17th, 2011
9:52 am

Not too worried about last night. Anyone noticed that Denver may be the hottest team in the league right now? Playing with chips on their shoulders, they are not only beating, but manhandling a lot of good teams. Hawks should have their act together tomorrow night…

SteveW

March 17th, 2011
9:54 am

“not following the game plan” in the last post is how it should read

ShempHoward

March 17th, 2011
9:56 am

The Hawks have found the WINNING FORMULA and the SECRET WEAPON for success. The Hawks now have TWO point guards who immediately CHANGE THE INTENSITY OF BALLGAMES. When Hinrich comes in the defensive intensity goes up several notches and the Hawks give up nothing. Then when supersub Spud “Jeff Teague” Webb comes in, the Hawks play an uptempo game and they have the potential to run their opponents right out of the gym. These two subtle changes in their lineup should last all the way through the end of June and should allow the Hawks to hoist the championship trophy at the end of the season.

vava74

March 17th, 2011
9:57 am

I’ll try to be brief since the Hawks are no longer worth the hassle of too much typing and too much time off from my responsibilities (I’ll probably fail to be brief anyhow):

First and foremost culprit is LD.

LD said that he can live with Josh’s antics.

That allowed Josh to regress from his all-star play of last year to the Jekyll & Hyde 2010-11 version (with Hyde capitalizing).

Last night it took LD 7 missed jump shots from Josh in 6 minutes to bench him… what an idiot!!!

LD continues to use Jamal at the PG slot to close the 3rd quarter and start – and sometimes even finish – the 4th quarter – and lose game after game in the process.

Seeing the Nuggets run the exact same pick n’ roll play with Felton and Nene on the right block over and over with Jamal failing (not trying) to keep up and then the defense scrambling leaving shooters free, like JR Smith was PATHETIC.

LD is like a dope addict and Jamal is his dope: after the second half against POR in which Jamal played well and scored 20 and then against the MIL sleepwalkers dished 8 assists LD simply could not resist to dump the defensive backcourt experiment and go back to his dope…

Only and idiot coach would not realize what was happening last night against the Nuggets and try to stop it. A DARN IDIOT!!!

And that was not the only period of the game in which Jamal was on the floor during DEN runs:

check this:

http://popcornmachine.net/cgi-bin/gameflow.cgi?date=20110316&game=DENATL

Jamal started the second quarter on fire and help us get a 12 point lead – THAT WAS THE MOMENT TO TAKE HIM OUT AND DEFEND THE LEAD.

Later, midway the quarter, DEN made a run and Jamal was on the floor.

EVERYONE KNOWS THAT BB IS A GAME OF RUNS. WINNING BB is all about making your own runs (where Jamal is useful) and then FEND OFF the opposing runs (where Jamal is useless).

LD should have gone with Wilkins immediately after we got the 12 point lead. HOLD THE FORT since DEN was bound to make a push.

It can’t be a coincidence that most, if not all, opposing game changing runs happen with Jamal on the floor.

Also:

LD says that he can live with Josh’s jumpshots and with Jamal’s extra streaky shooting and nearly absent D but then he can’t live with Teague’s offensive struggles? Even after he has proven his worth as a decent defensive PG which greatly improves the team’s overall defensive play?

Why?

Teague was not particularly good last night but he had 2 steals and 1 block in 20 minutes, which is sometimes what Josh brings – statistically – on the defensive end (reversed is more the norm with 2 blocks and 1 steal).

Teague was damn unlucky when he blocked Ty and the fumbling ball went back to him for a lay up to end the half, but YOU CANNOT IGNORE that Teague was doing his job on that play.

Surely those stats (2 steals 1 block) alone negate somehow 3 of his missed shots… this without entering into the discussion that even having trouble against Ty and Felton (who are currently giving problems to EVERYONE in the league) he was still able to keep up moderately well and contest shots.

During the first quarter, Ty and Teague matched up had the following numbers (7min 31sec):

Ty – 0/2FG 2/2FT 2 reb 1 ass
Teague – 1/3FG 1stl

Then Ty had a very good second quarter with the last 8 minutes, but Teague was on him only 5 minutes and still produced 1 stl 1 blk and 2FT.

Teague did miss his FGA, but heck, who isn’t missing them these days? JJ was 0/4 from the field during that DEN run.

At least Teague’s shots are usually in the paint and have produced a few put backs.

Teague played approx 12.30 of the possible 24 in the first half. We were down by 4, even withstanding Josh’s first quarter, JJ’s horrible shooting in the second and an unlucky layup by Ty to close the half.

Teague played 7 minutes (3 in garbage) of the possible 24 in the second half. We lost by 15 (-11 in the half).

Second line of culprits:

Players themselves:

Josh and Jamal: they are what they are and LD is responsible for managing their characteristics (miss managing is the correct status quo) and for giving them too much slack.

Nonetheless, their basketball IQ is close to ZERO.

Al: he should stop whining about touches and use his body and drive. Last night he was again intimidated by Nene on both ends of the floor. I am starting to consider him a powder puff b*tch. Does he only play as a man against his buddy Noah? Clearly he took upon himself to play like a man on that game, why doesn’t he do it all the time?

Sure, Noah is lightweight but “heart” beats “sheer mass”. Noah brings it every night (I am recanting my position on the Noah-Horford debate).

JJ: Another b+tch: I am 100% convinced now that JJ instead of manning up and imposing his will against Josh’s antics and Jamal’s lack of D and against LD’s utter lack of skill as an HC simply sulks and goes into “autistic mode”.

Last night JJ went autistic when he saw Josh trying to emulate his game against MIL jacking up stupid jump shot after jump shot.

Also, I am 100% sure that what happened in Josh’s head was:

“JJ dominated last night with his jump shots, so I need to dominate tonight and show him and everyone that I am also the man and that I can shoot”

Basically, Josh instead of using his head, uses his dick to dictate what he does on the court.

He must have an inferiority complex due to his jumper just like guys who have small dicks overcompensate with big/fast cars or any other stupid ego boosting scheme.

These guys are headed nowhere and will be humiliated again in the playoffs.

They are just like stupid little backstabbing b*tches who are envious of one another, always trying to steal each other’s boyfriends (playtime/shots/attention/recognition) on their backs and to add up to this, have a spineless idiot as an HC.

Someone around here wrote an interesting “essay” on LD using the benchmark to evaluate his character the way that he and his son treated the benching of LD Jr at North Carolina: like spineless wimps.

I don’t know the intricacies of that situation but it seems to fit the mold of what we have with the Hawks: LACK OF BACK BONE TO FACE ADVERSITY/RESISTANCE FROM OTHERS

Sautee

March 17th, 2011
10:09 am

From last night’s blog:

cp,

“Woodrow had one plan and one plan only. If that didnt work then the Hawks were in trouble because he didn’t have a plan b.”

cp, you know the answer to this one. Of course Woody had a plan B.

Plan B was to try harder at Plan A. (Thanks, O’Brien)

Huskie

March 17th, 2011
10:15 am

Said all along, play Hilton Armstrong and Hawks win, you don’t play him and Hawks lose. Do the hawks play defense? Josh Smith needs to sit if all he wants to do is shoot 3’s.

Sautee

March 17th, 2011
10:17 am

Buddy Grizzard,

Nice post, but I have a question. And I’m not trying to defend LD here, but I have a 27 year old son. At times I needed to let him fail in order to learn.

So my question is this: What if LD was convinced that his son was better off out of the spotlight of UNC? As a dad, you do what you think is best for your child. If that was the case, and it was a done deal by the time LD spoke with Roy, then what else needed saying?

If you have “knowledge” that this was not a possibility, then let us in on it.

And, no doubt, LDII made a horrible decision to talk that way about his time at UNC. Stupid quote, just stupid.

CavilierJones

March 17th, 2011
10:33 am

Huskie: Amen brother. All Josh Smith ever does is DO THE SAME STUPID THINGS EVERY SINGLE SOLITARY BALLGAME. I WONDER WHY THE COACH (LARRY DREW) IS AFRAID TO TELL JOSH TO S-T-O-P DRIBBLING THE BALL DOWN THE COURT LIKE A GUARD, AND TO STOP LAUNCHING THREE POINT SHOTS. THIS IS WHAT HE DOES ALL GAME IN ADDITION TO TURNING THE BALL OVER. What you get from Josh Smith is 3-fold and you get it every single game. 1. Dribble the ball down court as if he is a guard (ALTHOUGH HE IS NOT); 2. Launch 3-pointers as many as possible; and of course 3. make as many turnovers as you possibly can (maybe set the record for turnovers in a game). These are josh’s three goals every game and I wish someone would sit down and talk to him about it and tell him to stop it because it is hurting his team and preventing the Hawks from being a consistent winner.

Sautee

March 17th, 2011
10:35 am

rk,

You said this: “AH has the fourth best shooting percentage in the league and gets about 5 to 6 shots a game. JS takes 16 to 18 shoots a game.”

Sorry man, but that’s incorrect. Here are some average shots per game:

Al :12.1
Josh: 15.6
Joe: 21.2
JC1: 16.5

I agree that Al should shoot more BUT he passes up opportunities over and over. It’s almost like he’d rather be a point forward. He needs to be set up as he is somewhat challenged to create his own shot. I’d like to see him post up more, but that doesn’t seem to be in the offensive plan (your complaint and mine). I also think he should drive more from the top of the key.

But he gets more than 5 or 6, and if he were more aggressive, like Josh, he’d get even more shots. I think Al has a hard time being selfish.

Rev in Tampa

March 17th, 2011
10:55 am

Although it is PAINFULLY obvious and has been stated several times today I will feel better saying it myself. By limiting Teague and Hinrich in the second half in favor of Jamal LD lost this game for the Hawks. The team all but overcome Josh’s horrible start to the game by coming within three points of the lead, but having a porous perimeter will eventually catch up with you.

andre`

March 17th, 2011
10:57 am

I’VE SEEN AND READ QUITE A FEW YOUR COMMENTS.IT IS CLEAR THAT NONE,IF ANY PERCITIPATES IN ANY SPORTS.I’M 44 YRS OLD AND HAVE LIFTED WEIGHTS FOR OVER FOR OVER 20 YRS.MY MAX ON BENCH 425LBS. SQUATTED 500LBS. DEADLIFTED 450LBS.THE LESSON THAT’S COME MY WAY IS….NO MATTER HOW WELL PREPARED ONE MAY BE,IT’S A WHOLE DIFFERENT THING PUTTING IT INTO ACTION…EXAMPLE..EVEN AT MY PEAK STRENGTH I FOUND IT DIFFICULT AT TIMES TO 225LBS FOR REPS. WITH ALL THE SPORTS COMBINED,YOU PROBABLY COULDN’T PRODUCE MORE THAN 100 ATHELETES THAT CAN PERFORM ON A DAY IN AND DAY OUT BASES.YOU’D BE HARD PRESSED TO FIND THAT MANY. THINK ABOUT IT THIS WAY…..THE HAWKS HAVE FIVE DIFFERENT PLAYERS ON THE FLOOR AT ONE TIME,SOME PEAKING,SOME NOT UP TO PAR.ALL HAVE THE DESIRE TO WIN,BUT AT THE SAME TIME EITHER YOUR MIND OR BODY HAS OTHER IDEAS.IT DOSEN’T MATTER HOW MUCH YOU’RE GETTING PAID.THE HAWKS ARE HUMAN.IMPERFECT HUMANS AT THAT.AND SO ARE THE REST OF SPORTS WORLD.THAT WOULD INCLUDE YOU ALSO.PLEASE ENJOY THE GAMES.THAT’S ALL IT IS TO US SPECTATORS A GAME.THE HAWKS ARE DOING WELL.THEY ARE GOING TO THE PLAY OFFS,AND I HOPE THEY SUCESSED.IF NOT I’VE ENJOYED THE SEASON.THANK YOU.

tony

March 17th, 2011
11:08 am

ASG need to sell this team before they run it completely into the ground. That’s the only thing left to do because every year they make poor decisions for the team.. Here’s my reasons for saying this.

1) They traded away our 2001 draft pick to Vancouver to bring Shareef Abdur-Rahim(another forward) to Atlanta when we needed a center. Pau Gasol could of been our future center if we had the right people making the decisions for this team .

2) In 2004 they drafted 2 forwards in the 1st round when we needed a true pg. Instead of taking JS they should of draft Jameer Nelson.

3) They traded Boris Diaw and 2 1st rd draft picks for a player(JJ) who has ZERO leadership ability. If they needed a sg who has leadership ability they should of sign Manu Ginobili or Ray Allen.

4) It was super clear that we needed a true pg when they draft MW. Chris Paul, Deron Williams and Raymond Felton were there for the taken. The sad thing about drafting MW is that he was a bench player. I was furious when they call his name. I thought I was having a bad dream.

I had no idea that they were going to replace Mike Woodson with a inexperiece hc. I thought for sure they were going to hire a high profile coach who has a winning record especially since we were so close to going deeper into the playoffs. With the recent trade for Captain Kirk.might have hurt our chance of drafting a true center(Keith Benson) in this year’s draft class.

Hire Bill Laimbeer

Draft Keith Benson-c and Darius Moore-pg

Sautee

March 17th, 2011
11:53 am

Thank God March Madness is here. We get to watch players who CARE.

O'Brien

March 17th, 2011
12:00 pm

I hate to bring this up (I really do). And maybe I’m out of line. And MC/Ken Sugiura, feel free to comment.

But…LD is the head of his family, the leader of his household etc…right?

Well considering the issues his family has been dealing with, does that carry over/reflect on his leadership as a HC?

One of his sons was kicked off his high school team, and it was reported that LD’s wife had something to do with it.

Their other son quit on UNC in the middle of the season, and it’s reported that his wife had something to do with. Also, it was LD Sr who called UNC’s coach to tell him of his son’s decision, and the UNC coach and players were all caught off-guard by it.

And it’s reported the main reason for leaving is because LD’s son lost his starting job to a freshman.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/writers/seth_davis/02/07/hoop.thoughts/index.html
/

So is it unfair to compare LD’s leadership at home to his leadership at his job?

Miles D

March 17th, 2011
12:02 pm

First of all, we need to start running our offense through our bigs or should I say Al Horford! Our offensive set where we have our post guys getting the ball at the three point line is not where they need to get it! LD needs to switch up offensive sets. We are too predictable like the Falcons! Teams adjust to our set and we don’t have ANY option but to go one on one when once our options break down! He needs to tell Teague to breakdown the D, then kick! I garantee we would be better off that way! Just like Nash does for Pheonix does. Our points need to probe the D for pressure points and weaknesses like what Denver does to us! Simple and plain. LET’S GO HAWKS!

Miles D

March 17th, 2011
12:04 pm

And by the way! Sit Josh Smith if he keeps shooting jumpers because EVERYTIME we lose we lose because we lost the points in the paint war and play JJ at the 3 more!!!

Rufus1

March 17th, 2011
12:08 pm

I posted this before, I think it need to be re-posted….LD has provided no true direction for this team. I can’t tell if we are a defensive or offensive team…we build a lead playing our defensive players, we lose playing our offensive.

I blame the coaching over the past 6 1/2 years….

I blame the coaching over the past 6 1/2 years for the lack of defined roles on this team. The players on this team all think they are GREAT all-around players…THEY ARE NOT.

Woody and LD never created defined role for each player, so they could compliment each other. They have spent their careers mimicking each other instead of becoming GREAT AT ONE THING.

ALL OF OUR CORE PLAYERS ARE AVERAGE…

Al is a “A” jumpshooter but “D” low post players and has an “F” left hand.

Josh is an “A” shot blocker, “C+” Rebounder, “D” jumpshooter and a “D-” right hand.

Marvin is a “C+” jumpshooter, “C” rebounder, “B” defender and “C” low post player because he can finish with his left hand.

Joe is just a “B” all-around players, except he get an “F” for drawing fouls.

If Woody had a solid offensive Identity we would not be in this position.

Marvin should have been our defensive and 3pt specialist.

Josh should be our low post presence(7 years and can’t finish with his right hand)or he should be a shotblocking and rebounding specialist.

If Woody understood the importance of DIRECTION, we would not be complaining about all of our players and draft picks.

Popavinch, told Jefferson that he would have to play off GINO, Parker and Duncan…so he developed a 3pt shot and became an asset.

LD and Woody coached like every player is a Star(except young PG) and we have suffered for it.

We blame Marvin for not being aggressive. We blame Josh for being too aggressive. WE SHOULD BLAME THE COACHES FOR NOT PROVIDING ENOUGH DIRECTION.

PerryHenderson

March 17th, 2011
12:23 pm

If Josh Smith were to RUN RAMPANT THROUGH THE PAINT LIKE AN ANGRY BULL scoring inside baskets from the low block [THE SAME WAY THAT ANTOINE CARR AND KEVIN WILLIS USED TO DO FOR THE HAWKS DURING THE FRATELLO YEARS]. NO ONE PERSON IN THE LEAGUE CAN STOP JOSH ONE ON ONE WHEN HE IS DRIVING THROUGH THE PAINT. Why doesnt Josh realize it and utilize his skills to help us win. Instead Josh is just hoisting up 3-pointers as if he is playing in the 3-POINT SHOOTING CONTEST AT THE ALL-STAR BREAK. Josh, if you are reading this blog, NEXT YEAR PLEASE ENTER THE 3-POINT SHOOTING CONTEST AT THE ALL-STAR GAME SO THAT WE CAN ALL WATCH YOU MAKE A FOOL OF YOURSELF. THANK YOU.

SteveW

March 17th, 2011
12:23 pm

Vava74 – Agree mostly with your post. It is like clockwork. Bring Jamal in at Point in the 4th, and most of the time, lose the game. Only exception is if he’s hot.

Sautee – We will agree to disagree about Sund. ZaZa 19 and 10 last night, supposed to be backing up Horford. At the time, with the dearth of NBA C’s right now, his under 5m per year contract for a 26 year old big man seemed reasonable. Has he regressed? Yes. But a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. You don’t know who else you could’ve gotten.

Marvin – Again, yes he’d hurt his back, but the overall consensus in the League was that the Hawks got a good deal. A 22 year old #2 pick who had shown flashes, and was at least good defensively with potential to develop, the 5 year deal seemed reasonable.

Bibby was the guy you and I didn’t want to re-sign. I wanted Andre Miller. And you make a good point about the team option for the 3rd year.

Trading Jamal in the off season was problematic. SMOY, the fans would have gone crazy. And who are we sure we could’ve gotten for him? Devin Harris? Sign and trad for Felton? And who would’ve known he would go back to being the “old” Jamal, and not the career year Jamal? I don’t fault Sund for that one.

And can LD coach his players to shoot better than 41.5%? Many times a Coach can. Call timeouts, tell the players they are forcing shots. Explain where you want them. When they so flagrantly disregard you after the half, call timeouts, pull guys in and out etc. That’s why your the Coach. I understand KS’s point in the above post, but it’s going to get LD fired I’m afraid.

But Sautee – I enjoy your posts – sometimes guys just gotta agree to disagree, and agree on we both want the Hawks to go 82-0 every year and win a Championship.

Rufus1

March 17th, 2011
12:24 pm

By not sitting Josh, LD could be losing the rest of the team. They seem tired of Josh “Jacking up” long Jumpshots. HE DOESN’T EVEN ROLE TO THE BASKET….HE POPS OUT FOR THE JUMPSHOT.

Jamal….UGH!!

The Nuggets score on 11 of 12 trips and LD takes Marvin out….Marvin was scoring and playing defense.

We may have had 2 of the DUMBEST coaches on the bench in the past 7 years.

SteveW

March 17th, 2011
12:30 pm

The blogmonster won’t let me post the Landon Drew story about he and his mother in the LA Times

mykhalc

March 17th, 2011
12:30 pm

still don’t think Woodson was a good coach but at least we NOW know part of his problem was havin’ LD to his left…gggeeeesssshhhh

it really has been a version of the SAME thing for 6+ years now. get a f’n HC and blow this team up…PERIOD!!!

i predicted 6-12 in their last 18. the BB IQ on this team will be lucky to get it!!!

Rod from College Park

March 17th, 2011
12:48 pm

Where does this Josh’s team is tired of him shooting jumpshots nonsense come from. They are the ones who keep passing him the ball. Al gets the ball in the low post, gets stuck and passes to Josh. Marvin will pass up a wide open shot to pass to Josh. Joe dribbles for 20 seconds, and then passes to Josh. Coach Larry Drew keeps designing plays with him standing on the perimeter, regardless of him playing the 4 or the 3. Obviously, the teams wants him shooting those shots. Stop believing LD when he says those thing about Josh. He is the one who came up with this magical offense, that no one else runs.

LuellaPatterson

March 17th, 2011
12:54 pm

IF JOSH IS SO GIFTED AT SHOOTING JUMPSHOTS AND HIS DUMB, IGNORANT, STUPID TEAMMATES CONTINUE TO PASS HIM THE BALL OUT ON THE PERIMETER TO SHOOT, WHY DOESNT JOSH JUST GO OVER TO THE HALF COURT LINE AND START LAUNCHING MISSILES FROM HALF-COURT. HE MIGHT AS WELL BECAUSE JOSH HAS THE SAME CHANCE OF MAKING A HALF COURT SHOT AS HE DOES A 3-POINT BOMB. NO CHANCE WHATSOEVER!

Grandad

March 17th, 2011
1:11 pm

Ken Sugiura:

“Remember this may be Drew’s only chance at a head coaching job. Perhaps he would like to be more hard-line but this isn’t high school basketball. I’m guessing he doesn’t want to be remembered for being the guy who got in a shouting match with one of his best players during a game that precipitated the team going in the tank the rest of the season.”

Valid point;
except…the remark about it isn’t HS basketball.
Leadership is leadership, period.
If you’re a Dad, an officer in the military, a Coach [HS, collegiate, or pro],
a CEO, Priest, boy / girl scout troop “leader” or any number of lots in life
which may come your way.
Leaders are natural born or leadership can be a learned trait.
However, two essentials are courage and being true to yourself.
There are many ways to lead, from rump kickin’ to huggin’ with a plethora
of methods in between.
LD clearly has not found his niche as a leader as demonstated within
his family and now seems to have permeated his decisions as Hawks HC.

I am not jumping on your statement only because I once coached HS.
It’s that in my day I never knew of HS coaches argueing with Players
on the sidelines. Most were totatally in charge and the majority a father
figure.

Final thought, being a Dad is the greatest leadership responsibility in
a lifetime for a man. Everything else is meringue.

rusty

March 17th, 2011
1:11 pm

Drmaryb. I guess you were going under the assumption that the coach knew what he was doing when mb played & jt dnp or when moe played while jc2 dnp, sure as hell should have known better

Grandad

March 17th, 2011
1:16 pm

rusty

Are you skipping school
—or—
just not paying attn in class.

O'Brien

March 17th, 2011
1:19 pm

Ken Sugiura,

Being a rookie head coach managing a room full of millionaires is probably trickier than we realize..

Especially when that head coach is on a 2 year contract and is one of the lowest paid coaches in the league.

I guess you get what you pay for…

O'Brien

March 17th, 2011
1:22 pm

Steve W,

(IMO) You don’t give a 22 year old who has missed 25% of the season 2 out of the last 3 seasons a 5 year deal. Even with his potential, you have to guard against injury. Plus did Rick think about PT, rank on the team etc. Because did Rick really think Marvin would stay healthy, and develop into more than a 4th option (since we already had JJ, an improving Josh, and our #3 pick Al)?

Plus for a team that operates under the luxury tax, don’t you give short term contract s to maintain your financial flexibility going forward, and don’t you have to find guys that can outperform their contract?

Also..you said And who would’ve known he would go back to being the “old” Jamal, and not the career year Jamal?.

Almost all of the bloggers on here said it. 1) Jamal’s talent does not fit well with the motion offense and 2) Regardless of one very good year, averages are averages for a reason.

So why wouldnt Rick assume that he would go back to his “average”.

rusty

March 17th, 2011
1:28 pm

Grandad I see grandma has finally waken you up, did she give you all of your pills

O'Brien

March 17th, 2011
1:28 pm

Steve W,

And I did not even mention supply and demand with Marvin. He was a restricted free agent, which meant the Hawks could match any contract offer, but they didnt even wait to find out. And there was no report out there (to my recollection) that suggested Marvin was in demand.

rusty

March 17th, 2011
1:32 pm

Please tell me what kind of motion defense do we have. All I see are passes on the perimeter & everybody taking jumpshots. I don’t see passes leading to easy baskets like every team in the NBA does.

Grandad

March 17th, 2011
1:33 pm

O’Brien

Either you have it or you don’t.
Pure and simple.

Kinda like Marvin as a player.

Seriously, managing millionaires is the same as anyone else.
They are just big kids.
All men are just 16 year olds who got older. [they are still 16 inside]

Any coach cannot be scared.
Scared of what?
Losing your job?
It does not matter if your a pro coach or a HS coach,
one’s job is just as important as the other.
What else is there to be scared of?

LD or Marvin;
at this late date you can’t just grow a pair.
Biological science has not come that far,
I don’t think?

mykhalc

March 17th, 2011
1:34 pm

Marvin has NO demand other than we demand his a$$ stay on the bench…

Grandad

March 17th, 2011
1:38 pm

rusty

She left ‘em out for me.

Did you mean motion offense,
—or—
motion defense???
—or—
motion sickness ?

Rufus1

March 17th, 2011
1:38 pm

“Please tell me what kind of motion Offense do we have”….Co-sign

Nobody cut to the basket.

mykhalc

March 17th, 2011
1:41 pm

seriously…what does money have to do with it??? either one can lead, be heard, and is followed or one cannot!!! if ANY of those 3 are missin’ one is NOT a leader in the situation in which they are tryin’ to lead. it’s that simple!!! if the fact that someone is a millionaire keeps one from leadin’ then it’s nothin’ more than ‘their’ reason/excuse. substitute Jerry Sloan into situation!!! what cha got then??? A LEADER…PERIOD!!!

rusty

March 17th, 2011
1:41 pm

Hey ld’s wife says on the blog they are all millionaires living the good life. What is he afraid of

mykhalc

March 17th, 2011
1:42 pm

substitute Jerry Sloan into THIS situation!!!

Grandad

March 17th, 2011
1:47 pm

mykhalc: Co-Sign (I reckon this makes me your follower)

XavierDaniels

March 17th, 2011
1:55 pm

I believe that the reason why josh continues to #1:turn the ball over; #2:begin the fast break dribbling downcourt like a guard and #3:hoist up an unlimited ton of 3-pointers is because JOSH HAS NOT BEEN DISCIPLINED BY HIS HEAD COACH LARRY DREW. The way to fix josh permanently is to FINE HIM $1000.00 for every three pointer he launches since that is obviously out of his range. You cant fine him for the turnovers, but for every time the ball is passed in to him in which he doesnt give it up to a guard to dribble the ball downcourt (in other words if josh dribbles the ball himself down the timeline across midcourt, fine him $1000.00 every time he does that in a game. Hopefully these fines will get the message across to him that he MUST change his habits for the Hawks to consistently win.

I MUS WRITE

March 17th, 2011
2:00 pm

Random thopughts: Andre nobody cares how much you bench or squat get a life and stop waste’n ours.
When JJ is stinking up the place LD doesnt pull him or jamal, but everyone wants Josh pulled- last night wasa bad gam for Smoove but to his credit he’s been hitting his shots all year long and has played better this year than any other. Yeah yeah yeah-he will piss u off sumtimez and he will do sumthing stupid from time to time but atleast he plays hard and gives his all unlike some of the overpaid guys on our team. cough cough -Marvin JJ

I MUS WRITE

March 17th, 2011
2:01 pm

game

Section 303

March 17th, 2011
2:06 pm

Ken,

That’s a fair point about Drew. He is a rookie coach and he could lose Josh Smith if he is always on him.

That’s why, and I’ve said this a million times on here, Mike Woodson was such a good coach for Josh Smith. Woodson would not take Smith’s bullsh#t. Just look at the Josh Smith from last year and the Josh Smith this year.

Last year, Josh took no threes. This year, he has taken about 40 too many. Last year, no blow ups on the bench. This year, there’s been two that I could see from my seats in Section 303.

But, as a long time season ticket holder, I want Josh Smith gone. I’m so tired of watching him play. He has his moments. I get that. But, he has more moments of lazy play, complaining to refs, and blowing up at coaches. The guy just needs to leave here.

Besides finding a solution to the labor issue, my biggest hope of this offseason is that Josh Smith gets traded and the Hawks get decent value in return. I would enjoy watching the Hawks play so, so, so much more.

Section 303

March 17th, 2011
2:08 pm

andre, shut the f*** up. You’re not enlighting anyone on here. People on here care about the Hawks and want them to do well. They feel the need to vent when they don’t. Go take your “holier-than-thou” attitude and go f*** yourself with it.

mykhalc

March 17th, 2011
2:12 pm

@Grandad…LOL

drmaryb (*_-)

March 17th, 2011
2:17 pm

rusty

I never question the coaches because I respect their authority. I figure if you are a head coach, then you should know more than me. Heck, I can’t even play basketball myself.

I’m a tennis star with pro skills and an avid golfer. At the gym I’m a pool runner. I tried basketball and was awful, it is a lot harder than it looks on TV. So, yes I assumed Woodson and Drew knew best..

Now, I’m beginning to question Drew.

Astro Joe

March 17th, 2011
2:26 pm

When Al Horford says “something has to be done” and “we need to share the ball” after watching Josh take 8 shots (and miss 7) in the first 6 minutes of the game, I don’t see how LD would lose the team by taking a stronger stand. It is pretty clear that he has conceded any position of leadership to Josh. And sadly, he has announced it to the world. He has conceded that he will live with long distance shots, passes in the stands and quick-triggered shots that undermine a 5-man attack. The scary thing is that generally speaking, once a leader concedes his ground to a subordinate, it is really, really hard to reclaim it. Because even if you manage to do so, there will remain an expectation that eventually, you will lose ground again. It may be a bumpy ride for the next ~97 regular season games. And remember, the ASG has not fired ANYONE associated with the Hawks during their ownership tenure. Not BK. Not Woody. No one. Those guys left when their contracts expired. LD’s contract expires in ~97 regular season games.

mykhalc

March 17th, 2011
2:34 pm

and his ‘captain-naming’ tactic was ill-fated and WEAK to begin with. even that confirms what Joe just posted…LD started off from a place of weakness!!!!

SteveW

March 17th, 2011
2:39 pm

OB – I was talking to Sautee, not you about Marvin’s contract. But since you asked, I’ve posted on previous posts the demand for Marvin in that off -season, and how most of the NBA world thought we got a good job by Sund low balling Marvin. We could have done like Josh, and waited for some team to come and overpay for Marvin and then match it, but I think we probably saved about 5 mill. by signing Marvin the way we did.

And yes, we have posted before all of the stupid contracts players signed that off season, like Hedo for 5 years at 55 mill, being like 34 or 35 at the end of the contract, Charlie V.’s contract etc. Again, we could have waited, or we could have negotiated. We negotiated. And unless Marvin becomes a good player – he has looked good off the bench recently – we negotiated and lost.

But if, and probably when based on what was happening that off season, another team would have come and offered Marvin, front loaded contracts etc. that means we may not have been able to match w/o luxury tax etc, we would have been in a predicament. I still say Sund did the best he could with the cards in front of him, no matter how bad we can’t stand Marvin, he’s a failure etc.

And trust me, if I felt based on the available evidence that Sund had done badly, I would let everybody know.

And the Jamal deal, just who did you mention that we could have gotten for Jamal?

SteveW

March 17th, 2011
2:43 pm

Josh for Marc Gasol in a sign and trade anyone? Doubt the Griz’s will take it, the have a 4 and a 3 unless Zach leaves them.

Josh for Biedrins? Not in this lifetime

Josh for Nene? And who would the Nuggets put a C?

Josh for ????

Now Marvin and some second picks for Sessions and Manny Harris I can see all day long in the off season.

terrell

March 17th, 2011
2:51 pm

What’s scary is, Woody was the Coach, and LD was his lead assistant. YIKES!

lewis

March 17th, 2011
2:53 pm

that article makes a ton of sense. LD’s coaching has thus far been all about politics.

Blue

March 17th, 2011
2:54 pm

Jordan Crawford is averaging 19.5 points in his last three games for the Wizards. And we traded this kid with tremendous potential for basically a bag of chips. Was this ASG’s or Rick Sund’s bright idea?

Blue

March 17th, 2011
2:55 pm

Hell, he scored 27 points Tuesday against the Bulls.

Wabe

March 17th, 2011
2:59 pm

Najeh Davenpoop

March 17th, 2011
1:27 am
“I realize LD’s a rookie coach and is going to make rookie mistakes, just like a rookie player would. But when he refuses to learn from his rookie mistakes, that is when he becomes infuriating. It hasn’t even been a week since the Hawks lost to the Bulls due in large part to LD playing Jamal at point guard against a quick opponent who seized on the opportunity to take over the game. So what does LD do? He benches his defensively solid back court and rolls with Jamal at the point for the majority of the second half, and predictably Lawson and Felton got whatever they wanted.

LD’s substitution patterns are just plain insane.”

Co-sign. Exactly what p!ssed me off last night. How can you even explain the rotations LD went with?

Section 303

March 17th, 2011
2:59 pm

On second thought….shouldn’t the ASG step in and help Coach Drew if he is getting sh#t from players? That way it would not just be Coach Drew getting on Josh, it would be everyone….Sund, too, for that matter…

Weak leadership on this team. Starts at the top and just filters its way on down through the organization.

lewis

March 17th, 2011
3:02 pm

Yes, he got lucky and scored 21 in the first half and then sucked awfully in the second half. Dude has a ton of potential but, so do a lot of people. His bodytype won’t allow him to defend the position that well, and this league has plenty of Jamal Crawford’s, Jason Terry’s, Lou Williams, J.R. Smith type combo guards. I don’t care if he’s the next Monta Ellis, guys like that don’t win championships. Kirk Hinrich is recieving the LD treatment by being forced to play SG with Jamal at the point.

lewis

March 17th, 2011
3:05 pm

^^ n i specifically turned on the second half of that game to watch him play

Astro Joe

March 17th, 2011
3:11 pm

IMO, when LD starts Hinrich at SG he is sub-optimizing Captain Kirk’s ability to provide leadership to the team. I thought we were trading for a starting PG capable of playing 30 effective minutes on both sides of the court (and settle down the team in half-court sets).

At the same time, starting Teague allows LD to maintain his choke hold on the offense. Teague isn’t out there calling any sets… LD is doing that. Hinrich needs the keys to this team, preferably sooner than later.

mykhalc

March 17th, 2011
3:15 pm

@Joe..CO-SIGNED!!! i wanna see Kirk/JJ/Josh/Al/Hilton. i’ve seen enough of everybody else…PERIOD!!!

mykhalc

March 17th, 2011
3:18 pm

actually i’ve seen ENOUGH of EVERYBODY!!! KA BOOM…PLEASE!!!

Melvin

March 17th, 2011
3:35 pm

Ken,

Could you ask Josh where does he feel he’s most effective, on the perimeter or in the paint? Could you phrase the question where he has to choose an answer and not say both?

Thanks in advance.

Najeh Davenpoop

March 17th, 2011
3:43 pm

vava, your 9:57 post made me laugh out loud. The sad thing is you’re probably right about most if not all of that.

atlgent

March 17th, 2011
3:46 pm

HMMMMM..Just a question to the masses!
First, I did not see the game last night. I notice that many on here are being hard on J Smith for missing like 7 or 8 shots and being benched in the first quarter.

Ok. I get that.

But I also read that the Hawks were down by 4 at the half and were within 3 at some point late in the third or early fourth. May I ask if J Smith did anything beyond that point which caused the Hawks to lose that game last night?

It’s just a question because I have heard no one make reference to his impact from that point forward. Did HE do anything to cause us to lose the game in the fourth?

Najeh Davenpoop

March 17th, 2011
3:51 pm

“1) They traded away our 2001 draft pick to Vancouver to bring Shareef Abdur-Rahim(another forward) to Atlanta when we needed a center. Pau Gasol could of been our future center if we had the right people making the decisions for this team .”

In fairness, neither the DASG nor Billy Knight was in charge when this went down. In fact BK was the Grizzlies GM then and as such was on the winning end of that deal.

doc

March 17th, 2011
4:09 pm

atigent, he didnt do anything really to help us win and maybe shot us out of a significant lead. i was there and it was sad to see him sooooo self-absorbed. yes, more so than usual. it is what keeps josh off all star teams and easily targets him as a lightening rod. best player last night? zaza and says how bad everyone else was.

since you asked, does that answer?

drmaryb (*_-)

March 17th, 2011
4:12 pm

Water Hole!

“substitute Jerry Sloan into situation!!! what cha got then??? A LEADER…PERIOD!!!”
____________

You can lead a horse to the water hole, but you can’t make him drink.
Did Sloan make Deron Williams run his plays! Heck no.

Sloan called a T.O., drew up a play and Deron went out there and called an audible, (Q.B. changes play @ line of scrimmage) -wink-
Well, that didn’t sit to well with Sloan, so he blew up on the side line, which spilled over to the locker room. The players had to separate the player and coach who were having a fisticuffs conversation.

A few days later, Sloan signs a one year extension. 24 hrs later he quits the team in mid-season. Now, what sane person believes that’s how Sloan planned to hang ‘em up after 25+ years of coaching the same team? Deron Williams is a b!tch azz “coach killer”! Period.

Utah had to get his grumpy little b!tch azz outa’ there. If you can’t play for Sloan, how are you gonna play for Avery Johnson. Answer, you’re not for very long! His voice alone will drive you nutz.

Here’s my point: Ken Sigura said it best! “These millionaires are difficult to manage.”. -paraphrased-

I’ve said it several times. Josh is a hand full. He and Woodson also mixed it up and Woodson had to call his Dad. The three of them had to meet over a steak dinner and iron some things out. But, credit Woodson, he didn’t back down to Josh and ultimately he’s gone. When the players stop killing the coach, then the disciplinarians may return to coach the million dollare babies:

Larry Brown
Hubie Brown
Pat Riley (he battled Shaq who refused to practice)
Jerry Sloan
Lenny Wilkens
ETC.

These players are horrible. See Tyreke Evans and Derrick Cousins (uggh) that’s another whole talk show, those two!

Good Luck Drew, he is too nice of a guy.
These cats need The General Patton!

Astro Joe

March 17th, 2011
4:13 pm

atlgent, to be clear, LD’s decision not to use Hinrich in the 4th quarter is what kept the Hawks from making a comeback. Josh’s decision to take more shots than the rest of the team (combined) to start the game was eventually overcome (an unnecessary uphill climb). Josh continued to take some ill-advised shots but so did Joe and Jamal. Again, there was a stretch when the Nuggets ran the same play and the Hawks failed to stop them… and Hinrich was glued to the bench (along with Wilkins and Marvin) while Jamal continued to play (and Josh was forced to try and guard JR Smith… unsuccessfully).

Rufus1

March 17th, 2011
4:14 pm

atigent

LD didn’t help either with his defensive strategy…Jamal gaurding Ty Lawson.

SteveW

March 17th, 2011
4:24 pm

There was some type of irony with Josh guarding J. R. Smith in the 4th quarter.

I think Dr. Phil was the ref.

There were probably about 6 different conversations going on between the 2 of them simultaneously.

If Cousins would have been there, it would have just been a group therapy session time on the Court.

LeeWestwood

March 17th, 2011
4:28 pm

JERRY SLOAN SHOULD BE CONTACTED IMMEDIATELY FOR THE HAWKS COACHING VACANCY. I BELIEVE IF THE HAWKS CONTINUE TO LOSE 9 OUT OF EVERY 10 GAMES, COACH LARRY DREW WILL GET FIRED SOONER THAN LATER AND WE WILL NEED A REPLACEMENT. COACH SLOAN DESERVES A CHAMPIONSHIP AFTER COACHING UTAH FOR 30+ YEARS WITHOUT A RING. THE HAWKS POSSESS CHAMPIONSHIP QUALITY CALIBRE TALENT ON THEIR ROSTER BUT THEY HAVE A BOZO COACHING THEM.

SteveW

March 17th, 2011
4:31 pm

I like Teague starting. He brings energy and good defense.

That being said, I still wish LD would start Hinrich at PG, and bring Teague off the bench. Or even vise versa. I know Teague plays better with the regs.

The point is LD seems to think he either starts Teague and Hinrich in the same backcourt, or Teague is out of the rotation. I say have Hinrich/Teague as your Point regardless, and just relegate Jamal to SG.

Jamal vs. Ty and Felton? Give me a break.

Remember, it was just Friday night Teague didn’t play a minute against DRose. Not in the rotation. The next night he starts. I wonder if Gearon Jr/Sund had a little talk with LD to make that happen?

Rod from College Park

March 17th, 2011
4:34 pm

“IMO, when LD starts Hinrich at SG he is sub-optimizing Captain Kirk’s ability to provide leadership to the team. I thought we were trading for a starting PG capable of playing 30 effective minutes on both sides of the court (and settle down the team in half-court sets).”

Why on earth would you think that. Before he came to Atlanta, the guy has only started 86 games in the past 3 years, and a large percentage, more than half of those starts, were at the SG. We traded for a backup point guard.

SteveW

March 17th, 2011
4:35 pm

We have won 6 of our last 17. That has got to be one of the worst records in the League over that time frame.

I wonder if Sund will be re-signed and be the one who blows the core up over the summer? And unless there is some kind of vast improvement, I’ll say it again, I think LD is gone. I can see scenarios where he is gone before the end of this season actually. I know ASG is cheap, but a new Coach may mean more playoff games. Which means more money in the coffers.

NorcalHawk

March 17th, 2011
4:38 pm

Hawk post-game comments as predictable as their on-court play. Here’s a question: what’s it going to take for you guys to actually starting looking for each other and sharing the ball?

SteveW

March 17th, 2011
4:38 pm

Well in other news, Morehead St. beat Louisville and Kentucky is losing to Princeton about halfway thru the 2nd half.

SteveW

March 17th, 2011
4:40 pm

We basically have 2 backup PG’s in Teague and Hinrich. And that’s not all bad. At least one of them should be fresh.

LD thinks we have another PG in Jamal.

Grandad

March 17th, 2011
5:02 pm

Watch Cap’n Kirk’s body language.
You can tell the Hawks are not running the plays that are called.
He gets so frustrated.
I think he already knows the offense better than Joe + others.
[also Joe is stubborn]
But you can tell the Hawks break off from their assignments.
otherwise, what does it mean, * “we need to trust our teammates”.
*[a popular refrain]
It is so very obvious our Hawks refuse to be a team.

Grandad

March 17th, 2011
5:04 pm

* capital “O”, yawl figure out where it goes.

Samuel

March 17th, 2011
5:16 pm

LD’s new excuse: “We just ran into a good team tonight”. But I thought we were a good team.

drmaryb (*_-)

March 17th, 2011
5:18 pm

Back-Stabbers!

Allededly, word on the street is: Sloan said, Deron went upstairs and colluded with team owner about Sloan’s lame, boring and predictable offense. Deron didn’t buy into it and refused to run it anymore. Deron looked at it and said, how many titles has Sloan won running them plays into the ground?

Sloan, felt the owners was taking Deron’s side and views over his. That was the straw that broke his back, along with the heated name calling and physical altercation in the locker room that week.

Sloan, just walked away at that point. Sloan is a very stubborn man in his own right. Deron had to be shipped out, he told them basically that he wasn’t resigning there – allegedly.

I got this from rumors on hoopshype website. IDK how New Jersey snuck in there and got Deron. He was not shopped by the org. Everyone was surprised. I guess Deron’s Agent has an inside track with that owner/GM.

No team saw that trade coming. No one, I guess it developed lightning quick. I guess some Agents have rapport with certain teams and some don’t? Hey fellas, it’s all about building relationships in the NBA. In football, some teams refuse to deal with certain Agents and vice-versa. I have heard of Agents steering their clients away from certain teams due to lack of good faith in dealing negotiations, low balling tactics, etc. I wonder is ASKG is on that black-balled list too. I know the Clippers are.

O'Brien

March 17th, 2011
5:26 pm

Rod from CP,

Before he came to Atlanta, the guy has only started 86 games in the past 3 years, and a large percentage, more than half of those starts, were at the SG..

The main reason why Hinrich has not started many games (at PG) the past 3 seasons is because he was on the Bulls when they drafted Rose #1. Would you start Hinrich at PG and bring Rose off the bench? I dont think so.

And then this season, he was with Washington, who drafted John Wall #1. Would you start Hinrich at PG and bring John Wall off the bench? I dont think so.

(IMO) Hinrich is a legit starting PG in this league, but he is not good enough to start over Rose or Wall. And the fact that he started some games at SG shows his versatility.

drmaryb (*_-)

March 17th, 2011
5:27 pm

Grand-Daddy, don’t you think it seems Jamal’s agenda is to audition for HIS next team, in case ASKG want to low ball him this Summer.
He may be a passive aggressive personality type who is seething
underneath? I think so. Playing selfish this year, prolly thought he was gonna’ be traded this Feb. I don’t think Sund communicates well with player’s agents. Refusal to discuss a deal at all?

That will also destroy a team’s cohesiveness.

Run

March 17th, 2011
5:28 pm

it’s simple. the hawks beat bad teams most of the time and fold when they play good teams. yes, they do luckup and beat a good team 2 to 3 times a season, but they are what they are. an average team that’s not getting better. do we really want to see this team in the playoffs?

bigdave

March 17th, 2011
5:31 pm

MC you aight bruh..?

there’s always…. next year.

1st rd. is always crazy, but did you see that one coming?

Z hicks

March 17th, 2011
5:33 pm

The hawks need to step it up. you cant just rely on Joe all the time. I’m not just talkin bout Al and Marvin I mean the whole bench to. Its like we loss a player and we fall apart Come on!!!!!

Sleepy

March 17th, 2011
5:37 pm

Did I read someone call teague and Hinrich a defensively sound backcourt ? roflmao

Did you even see the game ? Felton and Lawson did whatever the hell they wanted to at the start of the first and 3rd quarters.

The past 3 games everytime jamal has come in without Teague or Kirk weve gone on runs and closed deficits or taken the lead . Hes not a natural pg but he commands way more respect than either Teague or Kirk at this point

At this point in time our best lineup may actually be Jamal,JJ,Marvin ,Al,Zaza

Teague and Kick are rotation players but you are not going to have them in during the 4th quarter if you actually are trying to win the game. They simply dont garner the same respect nor can they handle ball pressure well.

But I digress point guard had nothing to do with the outcome of the game .This seems like a lot of fans are in denial.

teams in the nba simply dont win a ton of games if your top 3 players cant consistently bring there A games and so how many times this season have JJ,Al,and Josh all played well at the same time ?

Think about the top 8 other teams best 3 players and how many times youve seen them all cooking in the same game and then look at ours .

2 of our big 3 are not showing up nearly every game people are blaming the bench players or the role playing starters .

We didnt build our team as a balanced “team” like the Nuggets are trying to do so why would you expect them to play like that ?

We built our team around this “core ” concept and so now that core has to deliver and it hasnt been until they do how much can you expect out of everyone else when your best players routinely dont play like it .

The Bulls are where they are because there best player Rose bring his A game every night and when he has the occasional bad game like against us the entire league is shocked simply because of how high of level he has been playing at . His high level of play allows Deng to be a 3rd scorer Noah to focus on rebounding and defending and Boozer to be a second scorer and rebounder . It allows guys like Bogans ,Brewer,Korver to focus on all out hustle and the strengths of there games .

Our big three should be peaking instead theyve all gotten paid and they are regressing

The excuses for this debacle needs to simply stop. Either they play better or we dont its that simple

vava74

March 17th, 2011
5:46 pm

Najeh,

Thanks for the props. We have good material, not 5 star deluxe but good enough to play good basketball if properly lead and coached.

Sooo frustrating.

Najeh Davenpoop

March 17th, 2011
5:52 pm

MC, sorry about your Cards.

slimjr

March 17th, 2011
5:55 pm

Time for Josh to KICK ROCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Josh for RUDY GAY!

AL for NENE!

Waive Marvin……………………………

slimjr

March 17th, 2011
5:56 pm

up next Miami by 20 Friday night………………………….Shoot…………………………..

slimjr

March 17th, 2011
5:58 pm

NeNe played like an Allstar last night Al????Keep it up you wont be there next year………..If you hurt sit your azz down………………….

Rod from College Park

March 17th, 2011
6:17 pm

O’Brien,

I know exactly why Kirk has only started the amount of games he has in the last three years. That still does not change the fact that he has been mainly a backup point or a 2 guard for the last 3 years. If he was good enough to be Chicago, and Washington’s point guard, they would not have drafted Rose or Wall. I’ll will also say that I’m not that impressed with Wall’s game at all. He’s fast, and that’s about it. Oklahoma City would not have taken John Wall, Boston would not have taken Rose, Utah would not have drafted either, New Orleans would not have drafted either. He is a serviceable point guard, who is a good defender.

atlgent

March 17th, 2011
6:32 pm

Thanks gentlemen for your answers…Honestly, I was just curious and I hadn’t notice anything said of relevance to the 3rd quarter and beyond on JS behalf..

Which brings along this question, Do you think the benching had a positive influence on JS playing after being reinserted into the game?

ag

March 17th, 2011
6:32 pm

When Boston played Miami the last game, Rondo checked LeBron preventing him from bringing the ball up…

Samuel

March 17th, 2011
6:35 pm

Kirk Hinrich is an average ball player. On a championship team he would be a 7th or 8th man. He’s nobody to write home about. If you really watch Jeff Teague you’ll see that he’s really not a good defensive player. He very rarely keeps his man in front of him and constantly get’s beat with screens. Sure he makes an occasional steal but he’s not a good defender. Hinrich is gutsy but no “stopper” by any stretch of the imagination. Our record is 5-6 since he’s been here.

superiorblogman

March 17th, 2011
7:01 pm

Festus Ezeli is not NBA ready. Sure his stats look good, but if you watched that game he does not finish well enough around the rim even in college and he has the size advantage every night. His rebounding also does not impress me. He does not rebound outside his area at all. I wonder how much he really likes the game as opposed to just being blessed with great size to play the game.

Jae Evolution

March 17th, 2011
7:12 pm

I know many people on here don’t necessarily like this website, but this epitomizes the frustrations EVERY single Hawk fan has.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/638410-seat-starting-to-boil-why-hawks-coach-larry-drew-might-be-unemployed-soon

Jae Evolution

March 17th, 2011
7:13 pm

It even sounds like someone on this blog wrote the article, lol.

superiorblogman

March 17th, 2011
7:22 pm

Good find Jae but I feel like Drew will be back because it is not about winning around here, it is all about the money and the luxury tax.

Josh Smith for Andris Biedrins and the Warriors lottery pick. Clippers traded Baron Davis and a lottery pick for Mo Williams, people think this draft is that bad. If Perry Jones, Harrison Barnes, or Kyrie Erving is there I would do it in a minute. Once again, Josh Smith for Biedrins and the Warriors lottery pick would be a good trade for the Hawks and Warriors.

Jae Evolution

March 17th, 2011
7:37 pm

^ I hope not, regardless of all Mike Woodson’s faults, he did something that I can appreciate and get in his players head it was apparent last year Josh stopped shooting threes, not one a game, he stopped. This year Josh was let off the reigns and he is running wild, no discipline this is what you get.

SteveW

March 17th, 2011
7:50 pm

Sleepy – Your comment about Jamal coming in the game and us charging back is so weird. We take out Hinrich and Teague, put Jamal at the Point and we go from down 3 to blowout. What game were you watching? What games?

What you said happens once every 3-5 games. Every other game – Jamal at the point, we’re toast.

The Game Has Changed

March 17th, 2011
7:53 pm

@Jae Evolution-Amen bro. We should have kept Woodson. Josh didnt want to resign with the Hawks at first if Woodson was still coaching. And we all know why. He feels he is that good and shouldnt be jumped on. He needs to get up out of here. Wonder the players havent gone to the coaches about his selfish play. They may have

SteveW

March 17th, 2011
7:55 pm

Actually, I can only remember 1 game recently with Jamal at the Point in the 4th quarter where it actually worked in the Hawks favor.

rusty

March 17th, 2011
8:01 pm

Drmaryb. I play 18 holes of golf 5 days a week

Astro Joe

March 17th, 2011
8:14 pm

atlgent, check out Josh’s shot chart for each quarter. In the first quarter, Josh was binge drinking… doing his best Charlie Sheen impersonation. He took 8 shots in 6 minutes. If he played 36 minutes, he would have taken 48 shots. Obviously, that wasn’t happening. So did the benching lead to him eliminating poor shots? No. Did it cut down on the poor shots? Hard to tell. Will he take poor shots in the first quarter of tomorrow’s game in light of the lesson taught in the first quarter last night? We’ll find out tomorrow around 7:40.

http://espn.go.com/nba/shotchart?gameId=310316001

Astro Joe

March 17th, 2011
8:27 pm

Rod, who should Chicago have drafted ahead of Rose? Michael Beasley? When you have the #1 pick, that typically means that you sucked the previous year. If you draft someone #1, you should play him. Rose was the consensus #1 pick that year and clearly a more promising PG than Hinrich. On this team, Hinrich should be starting at PG, we don’t have Rose on this squad. LD’s offense doesn’t require a dominant ball-handler, it calls for someone to be unselfish, knock down open jumpers and selectively push the tempo. And beyond that, this team needed a quality defender and someone who would bring a little toughness to the court (and leadership off of it). If you’re simply comfortable with a Teague/Hinrich backcourt because it places your favorite player on the bench, then start Hinrich at PG and Wilkins at a wing position. I don’t care, start Zaza at center…. just put Hinrich at PG.

O'Brien

March 17th, 2011
8:32 pm

Rod from CP, Samuel,

I’m not saying Kirk is a top 10 PG. but to say he is a backup PG…its all relative. D Fisher is averaging 7 points, 3 assists. He could be considered a backup PG too. But he has started 68 games for the Lakers.

And Kirk is a whole lot better than Bibby, who was our starter most of the season. Where were the complaints from you guys about Bibby?

Bibby goes to Miami and is the backup to Mario Chalmers? Is mario a starting PG in this league?

O'Brien

March 17th, 2011
8:36 pm

This was from the Hawks article.

It was their 16th loss by 10 or more points, which is more than they had in either of the past two seasons..

I wonder when Rick evaluates LD this summer, how does he ignore those numbers? And how does he ignore the Hawks home record this year?

I just dont know what’s up with these Hawks. Another interesting excerpt.

Center Al Horford tied his season-low with five shots Wednesday, making three. Seven Hawks took more shots than the two-time All-Star as the team mostly played around the perimeter.

“We weren’t playing through me,” Horford said. “That’s that.”

The Hawks are 21-9 when Horford takes 13 or more shots and 15-18 when he takes 12 or fewer..

This is why I’ve asked if the Hawks have a statistician on staff. Isnt that something LD should know, so that he can try and get his team to get Horford more shots?

Those are some of the numbers LD should focus on…

Najeh Davenpoop

March 17th, 2011
9:01 pm

Al sounds pretty frustrated with the way things are going, and with his lack of shot attempts. So maybe, instead of passing the ball every time he gets it, he should start being more assertive and take more shots. Get yours, Al. Nobody is going to question it if one of the 10 most efficient offensive players in the league ramps up his usage rate.

darrell starks

March 17th, 2011
9:09 pm

Why do every one think AL can play center ? he is not a center so why can’t woody JR reconize that hmmmmmmmmmmm
GO HAWKS!!!!!!!!!!!!

darrell starks

March 17th, 2011
9:15 pm

The hawks look more fluent and smooth when AL playing powerforward, last night nene destroyed al down low, it took zaza 2 put nene back in to his place.
NUGGETS 43 REBOUNDS HAWKS 35 THIS IS 90PERCENCENT OF THE GAMES HAWKS GET OUT REBOUNDED, FIRE LD
GO HAWKS!!!!!!!!!!!

Worldwide Clyde

March 17th, 2011
9:16 pm

Josh Smith needs to start watching tape of Kris Humphries.

darrell starks

March 17th, 2011
9:21 pm

HEAT 105 HAWKS 85
HEAT 50 REBOUNDS HAWKS 27
BLOW OUT CITY TOMMORROW NIGHT
GO HAWKS!!!!!!!!!!!!

Astro Joe

March 17th, 2011
9:37 pm

If everyone has to “go for theirs” then this thing is about to quickly fall into a death spiral. And in a battle royal for shot attempts, I’m putting my money on Jamal.

super stishon

March 17th, 2011
9:43 pm

Joe wear the headband tomorrow.

darrell starks

March 17th, 2011
9:47 pm

HAWKS STARTER TOMMORROW TEAGUE, HINRICH, JOE, JOSH, HORFORD
HEAT STARTER TOMMORROW CHALMERS, WADE, LEBRON, BOSH, DAMPIER
What a bad matchup tommorrow LD is SMART COACH LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!
GO HAWKS!!!!!!!!!!!

Booo!

March 17th, 2011
9:49 pm

Before we call Jeff Teague a “Backup Point Guard”, lets remember that Nobody and I mean Nobody believed that Rondo deserved to be on the same team as KG, Pierce, and Ray Ray let alone in the starting 5. Heck in NBA 2k8 (the season of the big boston trade) I would always start Eddie House and Bench Rondo lol….oh how time changes things.

Can we al least give Teague the chance to make mistakes and get comfortable in his Role? All of the PG’s mentioned on the blog today were afforded that oppourtunity, so why not JT?

Defensively, Jeff Teague is Definetly a starter, and thats not something I would have said last season. Teague has the tools, we just need to let him learn how to use them. We’ve got time….unless you think we’ll see the Lakers this june? Because ultimately, thats what it’s all about.

SteveW

March 17th, 2011
9:57 pm

I’m one of the guys who called JT and Hinrich backup PG’s. What I mean by that is neither one is top 18 or so right now. Hinrich is solid, offensively and defensively. Teague is young and learning. But neither are elite, or even very much above average. But together they can handle most PG’s in the League defensively.

Booo!

March 17th, 2011
9:57 pm

Seems like a balanced matchup to me.

Chalmers 6′3 (Average at everything) Vs Teague 6′2 Excellent Defender (VERY fast draws fouls and starts fast breaks)

Hinrich 6′4 Vs. Wade 6′4

Joe Johnson 6′7 Vs. LeBron 6′8

Ru Paul 6′10 (overrated….bet very skilled) Vs. J-Smoove 6′9 (Defensive Beast)

Some Scrub Big Man Vs. Al Horford (2-time All Star)

We also have Jamal, Marvin, Damien, and Zaza coming off the bench which is nice. Marv and Wilkins will bw needed BIG TIME in this game.

Booo!

March 17th, 2011
9:57 pm

*Be

Sautee

March 17th, 2011
9:59 pm

Najeh,

I posted earlier that if Al had Josh’s aggressiveness on offense, we’d be better off.

SteveW

March 17th, 2011
9:59 pm

And Hinrich/Teague is so much better than Bibby. But I still am concerned that LD will turn this into the Hinrich/Jamal show at PG, and we have the same problems defensively, especially in the 4th quarter if LD plays Jamal instead of Hinrich.

Hinrich/Teague should be the PG combination for the Hawks at this point. End of story.

Booo!

March 17th, 2011
10:03 pm

SteveW,

Gotcha, I see what you mean and I agree, neither are elite but man they are a breath of fresh air defensively! I really hope JT develops into the PG we all hopes he can.

SteveW

March 17th, 2011
10:03 pm

Booo! That is one thing I see with this new lineup. We have the ability to have a very effective 9 man rotation in the playoffs.

SteveW

March 17th, 2011
10:09 pm

Now if we do play Orlando in the 1st round, our lineup will be:

Zaza/Collins
Horford
Josh
JJ
Teague/Hinrich

And if Josh will not be crazy, we got a shot with that lineup.

And I’ve always thought we matched up well with the Heat:

Al/ZaZa can take Dampier/Anthony
Josh can handle Bosh – Hey, that rhymes!
Marvin/Wilkens are at least good defensively on LeBron
JJ/Hinrich can play DWade about as good as anyone
Teague/Hinrich can punk Chalmers/Bibby

We can beat this team if:

Josh focuses
LD Coaches
JJ shows up
And everybody sticks to their roles.

OK, so we probably lose, but we don’t have to!

SteveW

March 17th, 2011
10:12 pm

I’ve been a Jeff Teague fan before we drafted him BTW.

Now if we can get his brother Marquis in 2 years, that’s a player. Probably a top 5 pick, maybe #1. Going to UK I think.

Booo!

March 17th, 2011
10:15 pm

SteveW,

LOL! That’s right, We don’t have to loose Darnit!

Jae Evolution

March 17th, 2011
10:15 pm

Defensively Jeff Teague is better than Derrick Rose, easily.

The Bulls play the best ‘Team Defense’ in the league, this isn’t taking anything from Rose but he is an average defender and an offensive monster.

When Teague is able to convert on these floaters and layups along with adding a mid-range jumper, this kid can become Ty Lawson for us. He has defense down we’ve all seen that, he now needs to develop his offensive tools, when he does this and he is the lone man running the Hawks offense without a stupid HC that doesn’t give the guy a chance, Teague will become our PG of the future.

Booo!

March 17th, 2011
10:18 pm

Yeah Marquis is going to UK, I think beilive he’s listed as the #1 HS player right now. Bigger than teague with a better jumpshot, not nearly as fast though. He reminds me of Flip Murray in a lot of ways.

SteveW

March 17th, 2011
10:18 pm

The Knicks slaughtered the Griz’s tonite. If we go 7-7 the rest of the way, the Knicks got to go 12-3 to beat us, 11-4 to tie. I’m not sure who wins the tiebreaker, the Knicks maybe? Or yet to be determined?

And it will help if we can win that game at Philly in a few days to hold them off.

SteveW

March 17th, 2011
10:22 pm

And if we were to go 7-7, by no means a sure thing, Philly would need to go 12-2 to beat us and 11-3 to tie us. Maybe this next game between us would determine the tiebreaker.

SteveW

March 17th, 2011
10:26 pm

To catch Orlando will be tough. If the Magic went 6-7 the remainder of the way, we need to go 11-3 to win, 10-4 to tie. but the Magic play some pretty cream puff games the rest of the way, with a few tough ones interspersed.

Jae Evolution

March 17th, 2011
10:38 pm

SteveW – The only games I’d be able to understand losing is to Spurs and Boston, we have and can beat any other team upcoming in our schedule excuses are not allowed this late we can go 12-2 this team just needs to play the correct way.

SteveW

March 17th, 2011
10:41 pm

I’m hoping the Spurs will have locked up homecourt throughout the playoffs by the time we play them, so we get to play their scrub team.

Their scrub team may beat us however.

SteveW

March 17th, 2011
10:53 pm

I may have misunderstood a post a while back. But by my count Kirk Hinrich has played 183 games the last 3 seasons. Maybe they meant only a certain amount at PG.

Steve

March 17th, 2011
11:57 pm

This off season offer Doc Rivers the gm and coaching job and tell him to clean house but keep Al Holford because he is a true team player

Grandad

March 18th, 2011
12:20 am

Rusty

Rusty must have a job at:

” Pirate’s Cove Adventure Golf ”

What ?
Do employeess get to play putt putt for free ?

Grandad

March 18th, 2011
12:26 am

*employees, such as Rusty.
* employeess was the typo, not rusty.

Now chill Rusty, I’m throigh messin’ with you.
[unless]?

Grandad

March 18th, 2011
12:27 am

* throigh, I’m goin’ to bed.

Najeh Davenpoop

March 18th, 2011
1:21 am

Interesting article on Tyler Hansbrough’s recent ascent from scrubby bench player to productive starter. A lot of the stuff in this article could apply to the Hawks and Teague.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/blog/ball_dont_lie/post/Tyler-Hansbrough-Jim-O-8217-Brien-8216-didn-;_ylt=An.NQqA9MDIvSh_DLrK4xqu8vLYF?urn=nba-wp306

DJK

March 18th, 2011
2:39 am

I really wish we had someone else on our team(Atlanta’s team) who could or would go to the post or the lane to get fouled so we could make some easy baskets. The main problem with this team is that we should be better in the effort the department and realizing how to play together the guys that have been here for over three years behave on the court as if they are strangers that have never played together. In a relationship, being teammates included consistency is the key fellas. Please can’t watch the offensive and defensive lack of effort read your scouting reports look like professionals please earn the money don’t just keep taking it.

DJK

March 18th, 2011
2:46 am

Where is our team heart did it leave with Woody you from time to time during the year would have to get in Smooth’s face to get his point across. Is this the only way he gets anything through his skull. Why don’t we have anyone who understands the way to stop a run is go to the foul line. Stop crying for calls and play ball the agressive team always gets fouls called even when they are not fouled they still go to the line. Is our defense worse than our offense? It seems that way sometimes I think we play with less intensity there than on offense which is what produces our poor results in games. Just horrible effort at least we should losing by less than ten in our loses.

Buddy Grizzard

March 18th, 2011
3:05 am

SteveW
March 17th, 2011
9:45 am

LD’s wife got their son kicked off his High School team recently. Google it

Sautee – If that was the case, and it was a done deal by the time LD spoke with Roy, then what else needed saying?

And the Jamal deal, just who did you mention that we could have gotten for Jamal? – SteveW

The thing with Denver running the same play over and over again in the second half, as Dominique pointed out on the air, reminds me of the first loss to Phoenix. At the close of that game, there was a stretch of close to 10 consecutive possessions where Nash forced a switch and ended up with Horford guarding him. I’ve actually been a proponent all year of LD’s ability to draw up plays. Where he’s failing is in leadership, getting the players to buy into his system and execute, putting the correct personnel on the floor and making adjustments.

Sautee, I don’t have any inside information other than what I can find with a Google search. You asked, “If that was the case, and it was a done deal by the time LD spoke with Roy, then what else needed saying?”

My response is, if LD Sr. called Roy Williams to break the news and explained to him that he thought it was in his son’s best interest for psychological reasons, I doubt Williams would have expressed disappointment publicly. If LD II’s departure was about his mental well being, Williams would have announced to the media that he was sad to see him go but that he supported his decision.

This wasn’t about LD II not being able to take the spotlight at North Carolina. This was about LD II feeling entitled to a starting job and feeling disrespected when it was taken away from him. According to Seth Davis at SI.com, Drew told the Raleigh News that the decision was made before the season even began. This makes no sense, because if he had transferred 4 weeks earlier, he would be playing again by mid season next year, instead of having to sit out an entire season.

SteveW there is some crazy stuff floating out there about Sharon Drew. I wish somebody could confirm if she actually called Kendall Marshall’s parents “obese” on the Inside Carolina message boards. Regardless if those posts are authentic, the fact that her other son got kicked off his high school team (to be later reinstated by the principal) because of her actions, makes one question if she’s entirely stable.

Buddy Grizzard

March 18th, 2011
3:13 am

Forgot to address SteveW’s comments about Jamal. After JJ was signed for $120m before the season, I commented on this blog that JC1 would be traded at the deadline since the Hawks will not be able to resign him in the offseason. I wondered after the trade deadline passed why he wasn’t moved, and if Sund had decided to let the Hawks make one more playoff run with Jamal.

Now I believe there was no deal for Jamal because teams were not offering equal value assets. Consider a team like New Jersey, which has very little time to surround Deron Williams with talent. They must be thinking, “why surrender assets for Jamal Crawford when we know ASG won’t go over the tax threshold, and he will be an unrestricted free agent this summer?”

JC1’s game has regressed this year, as others have pointed out, and his absence next season and beyond should help the Hawks become a more offensively-balanced, defensive-minded team moving forward.

sam'l

March 18th, 2011
4:24 am

Disappointing loss. The Hawks still have no brains, no heart and no courage. Smith is out of his mind….Watching him line up three’s in painful, and now we find out he doesn’t like half court sets…….Josh, I sincerely hope your leg heals and that continue to be “athletic” because without that, I fear your playing days are numbered.

Larry Drew’s days should be numbered.

Like I say, disappointing loss.

terrell

March 18th, 2011
6:32 am

I swear to gosh, if Smoove comes out shootin jumpers tonight, I’m jumping on the trade Josh bandwagon. Dont want to see none of those dumb 30 ft passes either. Cant take it anymore.
Maybe it’s time to go traditional? Something like
Kirk/JJ/Damien/Horford/Hilton or Collins
Teague/Jamal/Marvin/Josh/Zaza
That would give us one of the best benches in the East.
Doubt LD has the (basket)balls to bring Josh off the bench though.
Easy to bench Marvin, but how bout Mr hybrid himself.

O'Brien

March 18th, 2011
7:17 am

Najeh,

From the Tyler article, he said former coach O’Brien never believed in him. Prior to the Bibby trade, did you think LD believed in Teague? (and I don’t buy into LD’s comments anymore).

One interesting excerpt to me was Obviously a coach can’t shoot his chances in the foot by force-feeding minutes consistently to a player that is still figuring it out, but we figured out James Posey(notes) a long time ago, and yet Obie kept going to him at big forward for long stretches. It made no sense..

It reminds me of how we figured out that Bibby was sucking big time, but LD still gave him major minutes. Or how LD continues to play Jamal late 3rd and into the 4th as backup PG. It doesn’t work.

AJ,

If Al decides to “get his”, I think there will be a trickle down effect, which will lead to Josh, Jamal and JJ getting more of theirs than they did before.

In the military, if you are the same rank, then the next factor is time in service. Al and Josh are both captains, but Josh has more “time in service” in the league. So if Al goes to Josh to talk about his shot selection? And if he does, does Josh pull rank on him?

I wonder if coaches and players are afraid to come down too hard on Josh because he is a kamikaze, so they dont know what his reaction will be?

O'Brien

March 18th, 2011
7:20 am

Steve W,

I’m one of the guys who called JT and Hinrich backup PG’s. What I mean by that is neither one is top 18 or so right now..

I agree that Teague is a backup PG who happens to play much better with the starters. However, can you name 18 PGs who you would take over Hinrich?

DJK

March 18th, 2011
7:40 am

JT needs to play the only way to become better is to play no one who does not play has a chance to become better without minutes on the court. I believe also that if you look @ the rest of our team every backcourt player JJ, JC1, and Kurt all have over ten years in the league which is a lot wear and tear. So while I understand that Smooth was forcing the issue trying to get the team kick started, the problem was not once he saw he was not getting the correct results he should have passed the ball or went to the goal aggressively but not keep firing away distant jumpers when the gun needed it a cleaning. Coach please coach to go through Al for @ least 15 plays tonite he is your best decision maker. Unselfish concerned with winning only will step up in clucth games if given the touches.

Atticus

March 18th, 2011
7:47 am

Same BS, same results as last year, first round exit. You have a joke ownership group, a cheap, over his head coach that was an assistant to the last failed coach, players not being led…..on and on. It’s a joke.

Trojan

March 18th, 2011
8:17 am

Does it seem like Josh seems to not really care what LD wants him to do. Josh is going to shoot outside and stand outside not matter what. That my friends, is not what help builds a championship in anything.

Trojan

March 18th, 2011
9:49 am

Point guards: Having a number 18 point guard is better than having a 42nd rated pg.

RalphPoindexter

March 18th, 2011
10:06 am

I hate to burst anyones bubble, but at the rate the Hawks have been losing over the last 20 games [they are currently losing 9 out of every 10], next year the Hawks will have the worst record in the NBA. However, if the Hawks FIRE LARRY DREW, AND HIRE JERRY SLOAN TO REPLACE DREW, then next year the Hawks will win the NBA championship. What would you rather have (A) WORST RECORD IN LEAGUE (B) NBA CROWN. Make your choice and hire Jerry Sloan to replace the bum we have as our head coach.

doc

March 18th, 2011
10:26 am

najeh you beat me to it.as i read that is exactly what i was thinking. it probably happens more than folks realize. i still want to see follow up games from teague because he hasnt quite gotten to the consistent productivity curve tyler is on; tyler didnt get there in one game either. jt0 is still a mystery and i hope it unfolds as we want.

Rufus1

March 18th, 2011
10:28 am

Josh’s Jumpshot

Joakim Noah gets just as many open looks, but doesn’t take them….Noah take 9 FG attempts a game and averages 12.3pts and 11.6rbs….He impacts the game with hustle.

We have one hustle big man on this team, ZAZA(maybe Hilton). We need balance, we need consistancy and we need toughness. WE HAVE NO BALANCE!!! We need to start a TRUE center…instead LD starts 2 PG’s and 2 PF’s.

WE NEED BALANCE

Rufus1

March 18th, 2011
10:33 am

Theory

The Hawks only get-up for the eastern conference teams they may see in the playoffs(Very immature, but I believe true). I think they will be ready for the Heat game and I think we win.

SteveW

March 18th, 2011
11:16 am

OB – Since I’m a big Kirk Hinrich fan, not me personally, but I guess I’m saying maybe general consensus. And alot of PG’s near him would be about a wash, so you could argue the point about some of them. And remember, I like Kirk, so this is not just me, but some you could make an argument about:

Rondo, Nash, Paul, Williams, Calderon, Wall, Felton, Westbrook, Kidd, DRose, Conley, Harris, Parker, Lowry, Curry, Holiday, Nelson. That’s 17

Now arguments could be made for:
Augustin, Stuckey, Sessions, Collison, Ty, Bledsoe, Barea and some more.

But the NBA is very PG heavy right now. And very light on the C’s and SG’s (but some good young ones are emerging). Very heavy on PF’s right now also.

OB – Not a slap at Kirk, and I like him, just saying arguements could be made based on various factors for the above 24.

SteveW

March 18th, 2011
11:24 am

Many of us are kind of excited about Teague and Hinrich. I don’t think LD is as excited. A DNP for Teague against DRose last Friday. Kirk and Teague not in crunch time against the Nuggets.

Some of the things we see as fans, LD doesn’t see evidently. Or maybe there’s something to the entitlement theory the more I look at it.

LD is definitely marching to the beat of his own drummer.

And here is an article I found interesting about the Nuggets game. Has some stuff I haven’t seen elsewhere:

Case in point: the fourth quarter of this game. With 7:52 left and the Hawks down eight, Larry Drew went with a big lineup: Jamal Crawford and Joe Johnson in the backcourt and Josh Smith, Al Horford, and Zaza Pachulia in the frontcourt. The express purpose of this lineup was to get the ball to Josh Smith, in an advantageous matchup against JR Smith, in the post. Granted, this effort to get the ball to Smith (13 points on 16 shots, 7 of them jumpers, all 7 of them missed, 1 assist against 2 turnovers) in the post came approximately 40 minutes and 8 seconds (of game time) too late but, theoretically, it’s sound.

Theoretically* sound offensively.

*Practically, the Hawks suffered both from Smith’s inability to finish in the paint and Joe Johnson’s willingness to stop the ball when Smith drew, then appropriately passed out of, double-teams.

Defensively, the lineup was a disaster. Defensively, Josh Smith is at his worst when he has to close out on shooters. On the second and third Denver possessions following Larry Drew’s decision to go big, JR Smith caught a simple, direct, initial pass and made three-point baskets over the sagging Smith. On the next three possessions, the Nuggets played 1/5 pick-and-roll with Raymond Felton and Nene against Jamal Crawford and Zaza Pachulia. Nene scored twice, then Felton made an uncontested layup.

For the sixth straight possession on which the Nuggets scored, JR Smith broke Josh Smith down off the dribble before pulling up for an essentially uncontested 13-footer. On the seventh straight scoring possession, Smith made a long three-pointer as the shot clock expired. On the eighth straight scoring possession for the Nuggets, Felton made another layup. At that point the Hawks were down 16, Drew pulled the passive (just five shots in 33:47, plus, granted, six assists) and possibly still-injured Al Horford and the game was over with 2:47 left, just five minutes after Drew made his bold tactical choice.

Bold and different, yes, but essentially the same choice that Drew made so often earlier this season when he left Crawford and Johnson and Bibby on the floor in an effort to catch up on offense, not acknowledging that such a perimeter troika would do little to stop the other team from scoring. One might argue that tonight’s fourth quarter lineup was actually worse as it invited Denver to attack Josh Smith’s greatest defensive weakness and allowed the Nuggets to make Al Horford a non-factor. After the Nuggets scored on three straight Felton/Nene pick-and-rolls, Horford switched onto Nene. The Nuggets then used Kenyon Martin (now matched up against Pachulia) to set ball-screens.

To be fair, Larry Drew doesn’t have a lot of options from which to choose. Then again, if the Atlanta Hawks had been in the market for a coach who accounted for as many contingencies as possible, he probably wouldn’t have his job.

From Hoopinion

drmaryb (*_-)

March 18th, 2011
11:33 am

It’s a Shame!

Rufus1

Its a crying shame borderline satirical that you “consitantly” prove that you use a word that you clearly can not spell to make some point about
CONSISTENCY.

The only saving grace is that you consistently misspell the word that you complain about. It it were not so bothersome to me, it would actually be laughable. Please refrain from using words you can NOT spell. It makes your argument worthless. How can you expect someone to do something you are not willing to do?

Please stop this abuse of such a potent word, before I either a) have a nervous breakdown or b) begin spelling it incorrectly too.
For the love of english, please stop it.

Not, laughing at all!
__________

The Hawks should win this game or go home and cry.

drmaryb (*_-)

March 18th, 2011
11:38 am

Shooting Blanks!

Rufus1 said this in his post titled: “Josh’s Jump Shot!”

“We need balance, we need consistancy”
_____________________

Josh’s jump shot is more “consistent” than your spelling of this word
consistently correct, if ever.

Sleepy

March 18th, 2011
11:40 am

@ Steve W – Your comments are exactly what Im talking about some of you dont even know whats actually going on in the game .

against Portland jamal picked up 2 quick fouls and sat most of the 1st half and we were losing that entire time even with Teagues stellar game . But when he checked in the 1st half at the 5:35 second mark its 7-7

Jamal checks into the game at 7:47 IN THE 3RD its 45-39 Blazers . WE IMMEDIATELY GO ON A 34-14 run and by the 7:45 mark of the 4th quarter its 73-59 Hawks

Against the Bucks jamal checks in at the 4:58 mark of the 1st and its 15-12 Bucks

Jamal checks out at the 2:51 mark of the second and its 51-33 Hawks

Against the Bucks jamal checks in at the 4:28 mark and its 12-11 Nuggets (notice a trend) when he leaves in the second its 34-31 hawks

In the second half he comes in at the 7:18 mark and its 59-49 Nuggets but with jamal at point its 72-69 Nuggets and we had momentum when they call a timeout and out of a timeout Josh shoots a crazy three and Damien walks and then LD puts back in Joe and Al and thats when the game gets out of reach with Smith hitting those threes .

Teague and Hinrich have been horrible offensively for this team HOWEVER I dont blame them I blame our big three for not showing up because Kirk and Teague are supposed to be role players there to support them and when the big three doesnt show up it puts more pressure on them and and thats why Jamal is in the game because hes a impact player.

The reason why Kirk didnt play in the second half ?

Well jamal had made 3 shots in a row and we were on a roll and then he didnt touch the ball for 4-5 possessions and we allowed them to get right back in the game. LD called a timeout and if you notice after that timeout the first play ran was for jamal.

If you want to see more of Teague or Kirk at point then the big three needs to play better because if they dont LD has no choice but to actually go with someone who can pick up some of the slack of those 3 which is jamal .

doc

March 18th, 2011
11:49 am

nice o’b, also superior coaching to take advantage so quickly of the mismatches our own coach created and then couldnt account for quickly enough before we were buried in four minutes. again, i am beginning to see that drew is not in control of the game and clock or himself to even come close to doing the same for his players. i saw us being thrashed attempting to close on unattended shooters throughout the game. it always seemed we were bunched on one side and they had a single player spotted up to quickly receive the ball before a late closing defender could come close to contesting the shot. they were also making the shots.

mismatches are on the bench, too. what kind of a team are we? what do we do best? do we continue to press any advatage? are we always a team in the making? does anyone remember the line we got our rotations set now? how many times have we undergone change since then? what is my teams’ personality? stick to a plan and do it.

DudleyDoright

March 18th, 2011
12:07 pm

The Hawks hired Larry Drew to replace Mike Woodsen, because there were no other options. But now that Jerry Sloan is available and still hungry to win a title, THE HAWKS SHOULD WASTE ABSOLUTELY NO TIME AT ALL IN CONTACTING SLOAN’S AGENT TO WORK OUT A CONTRACT SHORTLY AFTER DREW’S CONTRACT IS TERMINATED. JERRY SLOAN IS THE GREATEST COACH EVER TO NOT WIN A TITLE, AND ONCE SLOAN IS HIRED, SLOAN SHOULD CONTACT VETERAN KARL MALONE TO BE HIS ASSISTANT PLAYER-COACH AND HAVE MALONE WORK WITH JOSH SMITH TO IMPROVE JOSH’S PATHETIC GAME.

Rufus1

March 18th, 2011
12:13 pm

@DMB

I will correct my mispelling…Thx

darrell starks

March 18th, 2011
12:37 pm

My biggest problem is how some people on the blog feel good incorporating the lyrics of miss spelling word, wow how conclusive people can be sometime.
GO HAWKS!!!!!!!!!!!

darrell starks

March 18th, 2011
12:42 pm

STARTERS TEAGUE, JOE, JOSH, HORFORD, HILTON OR COLLINS
BENCH HINRICH, JAMAL, DAMIEN, MARVIN, ZAZA
RESERVE POWELL, COLLINS
THIS ROTATION THE HAWKS WIN TONIGHT.
GO HAWKS!!!!!!!!!!

darrell starks

March 18th, 2011
12:53 pm

Hawks can become a good team with a balance and solid rotation.
1.Starte teague and hinrich back up at 1.
2.Starte joe and jamal back up at 2.
3.Starte josh and damien back up at 3.
4.Starte horford and marvin back up at 4.
5.Starte hilton or collins and zaz back up at 5.
This rotation the hawks have a solid balance with bangers in the paint and a solid 9-10 man rotation to keep the player fresh thru out the season.
THE HAWKS RIGHT NOW ARE RANK 26 IN THE NBA IN REBOUNDING LD HAVE 2 STOP STARTING THIS SMALLISH LINE UP AND STAY BIG.
GO HAWKS!!!!!!!!!!

darrell starks

March 18th, 2011
12:56 pm

HAWKS RANK 26 IN REBOUNDING JOSH, HORFORD IS NOT GETTING THE JOB DONE 2 SMALL IN THE FRONT COURT.
GO HAWKS!!!!!!!!!!!!

O'Brien

March 18th, 2011
1:09 pm

Steve W,

Rondo, Nash, Paul, Williams, Calderon, Wall, Felton, Westbrook, Kidd, DRose, Conley, Harris, Parker, Lowry, Curry, Holiday, Nelson. That’s 17

Now arguments could be made for:
Augustin, Stuckey, Sessions, Collison, Ty, Bledsoe, Barea and some more..

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and PG probably is too. I agree on most of the names, but not all.

However (as AJ says), I think LD has not done a good job of using Hinrich effectively, and is not helping him to have the impact he is capable of having.

Peter

March 18th, 2011
1:20 pm

Hey it was a good thing we got rid of Jordan Crawford……. Gee we could have given up Ball Hog JJ and had basically the same team.

Horrible ownership has gotten Atlanta to this point yet AGAIN !

Najeh Davenpoop

March 18th, 2011
1:36 pm

“Prior to the Bibby trade, did you think LD believed in Teague? (and I don’t buy into LD’s comments anymore).”

LD has conditioned me not to believe anything he says, so I’m inclined to think he probably didn’t believe in him. But more importantly, I think leaning on veterans and shying away from developing young players is the easy way out for a coach, especially at the point guard position. I think this is probably a more accurate explanation for LD’s budgeting of minutes even now, post-trade. He’s just taking the path of least resistance, just like his team.

StewartJackson

March 18th, 2011
1:58 pm

The players that we failed to draft and gave away could make an all-star team.
Jordan Crawford: (over the last 5 games is averaging 19.5 points, scoring even more than Jamal Crawford)
Moe Evans: a deadly 3-point shooter who, when hot, can literally carry a team. we gave him away for nothing.
Deron Williams: we could have drafted him but instead drafted Marvin Williams (marvin being the worst player to ever play in the nba)
Chris Paul: we could have drafted him but instead decided that Marvin Williams was the second coming of christ.
Josh Childress:was was once touted the next wilt chamberlain but since coming back from greece has hardly been heard from.

Now taking into consideration how much talent we lost, we should package a trade and send Marvin Williams, Kurt Hinrich and Jeff Teague in return for Rashad Lewis. That trade, if done quickly, can help the Hawks at least advance to the Eastern Conference Finals.

Sleepy

March 18th, 2011
2:21 pm

The wizards are 0-5 in the past 5 games too and have won exactly ONE GAME since the trade . Anyone who keeps touting Jordan Crawford as something we are missing right now should be slapped.

Buddy Grizzard

March 18th, 2011
2:50 pm

Rufus’ scrip full of typos DrMaryB!

doc

March 18th, 2011
4:09 pm

ding

then

buddy, you are a tattle tale.

time for a new blog to turn the page here.

SteveW

March 18th, 2011
5:36 pm

Sleepy, you wrote in defense of Jamal the following, “…you dont even know whats actually going on in the game .

against Portland jamal picked up 2 quick fouls and sat most of the 1st half and we were losing that entire time even with Teagues stellar game . But when he checked in the 1st half at the 5:35 second mark its 7-7

Jamal checks into the game at 7:47 IN THE 3RD its 45-39 Blazers . WE IMMEDIATELY GO ON A 34-14 run and by the 7:45 mark of the 4th quarter its 73-59 Hawks

Against the Bucks jamal checks in at the 4:58 mark of the 1st and its 15-12 Bucks

Jamal checks out at the 2:51 mark of the second and its 51-33 Hawks

Against the Bucks jamal checks in at the 4:28 mark and its 12-11 Nuggets (notice a trend) when he leaves in the second its 34-31 hawks

In the second half he comes in at the 7:18 mark and its 59-49 Nuggets but with jamal at point its 72-69 Nuggets and we had momentum when they call a timeout and out of a timeout Josh shoots a crazy three and Damien walks and then LD puts back in Joe and Al and thats when the game gets out of reach with Smith hitting those threes .”

That’s 3 games, and we all know if Jamal is clicking, which I’ve acknowledged, he is an impact player.

But we were specifically talking about Jamal at the Point in the 4th quarter. You did not address that. The only game I see he made a difference in the 2nd half was Portland. The Nuggets going from 10 down to 3 down, then staying in the game and getting blown out is not much improvement.

Give me some stats that on a consistent basis, when Jamal is at the Point, we improve, then we can talk. I’ve already said that once every 3 to 5 games it may work, when Jamal’s clicking. But usually he’s a defensive liability.

And nobody is talking about him coming off the bench at SG. Even though he has been off in that role as well this season.

O’Brien – I left off Tyreke, Mo Williams and Udrih to name some more in the PG department. Some would even throw Arenas in there also, and still others like Andre Miller etc..

The point being Hinrich is top 10 defensively, but probably somewhere about 19-23 overall, maybe lower to some. But definitely not higher to most folks. He doesn’t drive enough, and he’s not quite athletic enough to be much higher.

drmaryb (*_-)

March 18th, 2011
5:55 pm

“Marvin Williams, Kurt Hinrich and Jeff Teague in return for Rashad Lewis. That trade, if done quickly, can help the Hawks at least advance to the Eastern Conference Finals”
__________________

If, The Hawks make it to the ECF this season and Rashard Lewis helped them? It would only be because he drove the team bus. I read on
rotoworld.com that as of yesterday he is shut down for the year, due to his knee injury. So much for that idea, I guess.
_____________

I sure hope we play some stiff defense tonight. I don’t give a damn about offense anymore, all we got to do there, is score one point more than them.

SteveW

March 18th, 2011
6:00 pm

O’Brien – Some would argue Aaron Brooks, I left Chauncey Billups off, Beaubois, Bynum, Toney Douglas, George Hill, Brandon Jennings (by most), Jarrett Jack, maybe an Eric Maynor or a Luke Ridnour (I wouldn’t), and Lou Williams.

That’s 39 PG’s right there that you can make an argument that are better than Kirk, or close to his equal.

But I like Kirk, but let’s take him for what he is. Better than Bibby.

Worldwide Clyde

March 18th, 2011
6:01 pm

Sleepy when Jamal leaves this summer we will miss Jordan Crawford.

drmaryb (*_-)

March 18th, 2011
6:15 pm

Rufus1

Thank You, because I thoroughly enjoy reading your posts. Your comments are spectacular, informative and insightful. I have actually changed some of my ideas from grappling yours. Very sound comment
are what you bring to the blog table.

Hey, I use slang, part-words, and make tons of typos, heck we all do. The older I get, the more I have to check my spelling. But, baby, that consistently was driving me nuts. LOL, for a minute I thought I was wrong, ha ha. Grammar is a pet peeve of mine, but I enjoy artful and colorful languages too; rap, slang, part-wa, whatever, its all good! -wink-

Thank for saving me from a nervous breakdown, I was starting to “tick”. LOL, I’m just kidding. You are a class act, so thanks.
___________________

Now, if we just get our team to get along and play nice? We might have something! I hope the pepsi-fans don’t start that MVP chant for the two ego maniacs we play tonight. I hope we send them home crying.

drmaryb (*_-)

March 18th, 2011
6:34 pm

“My biggest problem is how some people on the blog feel good incorporating the lyrics of miss spelling word, wow how conclusive people can be sometime.”
_________________

Hugh? What does this statement mean, can you rephrase this understandably? And, if “some people” means drmaryb, then say that then. Don’t be a coward and make back handed comments. If you got something to say, speak up and say it then.

That was an A & B conversation. Do you really want some?

drmaryb (*_-)

March 18th, 2011
6:41 pm

I better log off and go take my “b!tch pills” now, it really isn’t that serious.LOL and SMH at myself.

Let’s Go Hawks! I hope the Hawks put their game face on too, I got the eye of the tiger tonight and I’m ready to fight a paper dragon.

ag

March 18th, 2011
6:50 pm

I said in an earlier post that Teague needs to check LeBron while he is bringing the ball up the court and standing on the perimeter trying to make a move. Rondo frustrated him so much and I am sure Teague will do the the same. They just have to rotate when LeBron decides to post him up. In addition to substituion patterns, coaching also utilizes strategy.

ag

March 18th, 2011
6:52 pm

lol driving the team bus – Rashard Lewis! Why are people still suggesting trades when the deadline is over?

drmaryb (*_-)

March 18th, 2011
6:54 pm

* very sound comments are what you bring …

drmaryb (*_-)

March 18th, 2011
7:01 pm

ag

Because, like the “bloginator”?
The Trade Machine never sleeps – oh well.

drmaryb (*_-)

March 18th, 2011
7:03 pm

680 The Fan is on!

D3 and Brandon Leak

drmaryb (*_-)

March 18th, 2011
7:05 pm

680 The Fan is about to play a tape of a Bibby interview today.
Check it out now!

northcyde

March 18th, 2011
7:15 pm

Horford: “The Hawks are lacking in maturity late in games.”

Who are you talking about Al? JJ? Smith? Yourself?

I guess they’re talking about JJ, because SportSouth had clips of Al, Kirk, and Josh talking about that issue.

Sautee

March 18th, 2011
7:15 pm

Buddy Grizzard,

You have every right to express your OPINION of what might have happened with LDII quitting UNC.

You also have every right to post conjecture about what MIGHT have happened.

I just disagree with conjecture about someone’s family matters. Unless you know everything that was said (or thought) in that family, then you are just guessing.

And, once again you have the right to say it.

I just think it’s tacky.

drmaryb (*_-)

March 18th, 2011
7:16 pm

Bibby said, ” the trade hurt, because you have friends, know your way around the city and get comfortable. The Hawks felt they needed to make a change at the PG position. One man’s trash is another man’s treasure, it worked out good for both teams. Of course, I will give my new team the inside of The Hawks. I know all their plays, tendencies and habits, that will help us tonight.”
_____________

Translation, let Josh shoot all the threes and jumpers his heart desires?
I just hope Josh attacks them inside, all night long.

bigdave

March 18th, 2011
7:18 pm

Joe needs to take 20 shots tonight.

bigdave

March 18th, 2011
7:21 pm

dont settle for the 3 ball Joe..

drmaryb (*_-)

March 18th, 2011
7:23 pm

MC

I hope you are ok? Are you enjoying March Madness?

drmaryb (*_-)

March 18th, 2011
7:30 pm

Game Thread?

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Nuggets 102, Hawks 87

259 comments Add your comment

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