Atlanta Hawks: Larry Drew’s dilemma
Washington–I honestly don’t know the right answer to this health vs. momentum dilemma faced by L.D. There is some inherent contradiction in his declaration that health is most important and his desire to finish the season with momentum but, in my view at least, both have merit.
Several Hawks players are banged up and could probably use some rest but don’t they also have to stay in tune? The team hasn’t played well since February but, at this point, aren’t the Hawks as good as they are going to get and so the “fine tuning” L.D. is looking for is too little, too late?
You can sense that players also aren’t quite sure how to feel about the situation.
J.J. says health is the main concern but in the next breath he says he wants to get his game in gear. “My main concern right now is getting into some kind of rhythm going into the playoffs,” he said.
Al says it’s important for the Hawks to “get better as a team and keep up our shape” but then comes out of the equation favoring time off.
“I wouldn’t be opposed to that, just being honest,” he said. “But I think [L.D.] would rather have us play.”
Drew said he still doesn’t plan to sit any of his regulars. Instead, he’d like for the Hawks’ reserves to play well enough that the starters wouldn’t be required to play extended minutes.
“If I’ve got bench guys out there and they are in a real good rhythm I will leave the starters on the bench as long as I can,” he said. “If it’s not getting anywhere and we’re not playing well or we are not in a good rhythm, I don’t want to finish the season like that. I want to finish feeling good about how we play.”
Notes
- Al on the ankle: “It’s good. It’s as good as it’s been, so that’s good news. I am pretty much back to normal.”
- Joe on the thumb: “It’s all right. It’s never going to be 100 percent until the season is over but it’s nothing that is going to stop me from doing anything. I’ve just got to play through it.”
- Joe on the elbow: “It’s good as it’s going to get.” How good is that? “It’s pretty much 100 percent. It feels a little weak every now and then but it’s good.”
- Marvin on his back: “I feel pretty good. It gets sore at times.”
- JC2 and Mo visited with Hawks players and team personnel after they got up shots prior to the game.
- “It was good seeing them again,” Jordan said. “I was real close friends with them. It became like a family in the little time I was there. I expect to spend more time with them through the years. I talk to them all the time. They always congratulate me after every game.”
- Jordan on his feelings at the time of the trade: “I knew it was a business coming in. They wanted to try to make a playoff push. Now I am getting playing time. It was good for both of us.”
- With the Wizards, JC2 is averaging 33.2 minutes, 17.2 points and 16.6 shots. “You have got to play to get better,” he said. “Hopefully next year we win more games. That’s my goal.”
- Drew on JC2: “We are going to treat him like any other scorer. We have to be with him on the catch. We have to affect the pick-and-roll but more importantly keep him contained and not let him get it going.”
Michael Cunningham, Hawks beat
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318 comments Add your comment
O'Brien
April 9th, 2011
7:45 pm
Northcyde,
Welcome back. My mom had her gall bladder taken out a couple years back, so I know how rough it is.
As for the team and their play, regardless of what they say, and regardless of what LD says, I think the guys have checked out mentally, and are just waiting for the playoffs.
So why continue to play them if they are getting blown out? Is that helping with momentum? Nope. And there still is a risk of injury.
Najeh Davenpoop
April 9th, 2011
7:45 pm
Also, Hilton Armstrong is a scrub. Yeah, he can block shots, but he has little to no awareness of team defensive concepts.
Darnell
April 9th, 2011
7:47 pm
“For a guy who, by every available metric, is the best defensive player on this team, Smoove’s defense is awfully underappreciated by Hawks fans.”
This actually isn’t entirely true. He’s the best help-defender on the team, hands-down, and a great team defender, but he’s not the best individual defender on the team. Still, he may be the best defender, overall, but not in all categories, just overall. Josh is not a great individual post-defender, but I’d say that’s his biggest weakness on the defensive end. That, and his occasion inability to stay disciplined when playing defense. He bites on too many fakes right now, that’s why his shot blocking is down this season.
northcyde
April 9th, 2011
7:47 pm
LOL @ Najeh . . just had to take a shot at JJ.
If it wasn’t for JJ, Jordan would’ve played the entire 1st quarter and he’d probably have 12 points by now, and we’d be down 28.
A lot of you still think one of the major problems with the Hawks is JJ. I think JJ knows that he’s going to have to be in “hero mode” during the playoffs, or else we won’t win. This team isn’t rebounding or defending lately.
Washington getting anything they want, inside or outside.
Art Vandelay
April 9th, 2011
7:47 pm
Wizards announcers pretty much jizzing their pants over JC2 lol.
Sautee
April 9th, 2011
7:47 pm
NO effort from JJ on that loose ball. Pitiful.
O'Brien
April 9th, 2011
7:48 pm
“With the Wizards, JC2 is averaging 33.2 minutes, 17.2 points and 16.6 shots. “You have got to play to get better,” he said..”
JC2 and JT0 probably have that discussion all the time…Shaking their heads at LD…
tremaine
April 9th, 2011
7:48 pm
Najeh Davenpoop
April 9th, 2011
7:45 pm
So when the Hawks lose this game in a manner just as embarrassing as their losses to Philadelphia and New Orleans earlier this year, will people start anointing Smoove as the Hawks’ MVP the way they did for Al when he missed those games? Just wondering.
Nope, clearly the starters would rather be resting for the playoffs than out there playing the Wizards. I don’t blame them.
northcyde
April 9th, 2011
7:49 pm
There you go Jamal.
northcyde
April 9th, 2011
7:51 pm
And I’m sorry . . . Jordan could’ve played point for us. I knew Drew was full of crap earlier in the year, when he said that Jordan was a 2.
No Larry . . he’s a combo guard in the mode of Randy Foye/Steve Francis.
Wabe
April 9th, 2011
7:51 pm
This is dumb.
What’s the point of playing your starters? Might as well rest them. They’re not even really playin…half-arse effort.
I think being down double digits to the Wizards should give Drew an obvious answer to his ‘dilema’. No use in playing your starters when they’re not even playin.
Aaron
April 9th, 2011
7:51 pm
“So when the Hawks lose this game in a manner just as embarrassing as their losses to Philadelphia and New Orleans earlier this year, will people start anointing Smoove as the Hawks’ MVP the way they did for Al when he missed those games? Just wondering.”
I doubt people will do that since most people are under the impression that these games don’t count for much, and Drew is also not playing his starters regular minutes. With that being said, I doubt we will lose by 40 in this game. That New Orleans loss is pretty much cemented as the worst loss of the season at this point. By the way, we realize that you love Josh. That’s very clear. I understand you are trying to emphasize his value to the team, but I don’t know if these posts are really encouraging that in this type of situation.
Art Vandelay
April 9th, 2011
7:51 pm
Wow, the Wiz are pretty much putting on a clinic.
Hawks better be “taking it easy” and getting pumped up for the playoffs….
Sigh….
Wabe
April 9th, 2011
7:52 pm
What momentum can they really carry forward into the playoffs when they’re getting worked by scrub teams?
cp
April 9th, 2011
7:52 pm
Jamal has been on fire but the Hawks might have the worst collection of back up bigs in the league
Ole Hawks Fan
April 9th, 2011
7:52 pm
FIRE LD RIGHT NOW!
Aaron
April 9th, 2011
7:53 pm
@ Wade at 7:51 pm,
You are exactly right. It’s too bad Drew is not intelligent enough to realize that.
northcyde
April 9th, 2011
7:53 pm
That’s where JJ needs to start living. Drive the lane and shoot that floater as much as you can.
ISO ball in full effect tonight.
JJ is 3 – 5 for 6 points
Jamal is 5 – 7 for 13 points
Ole Hawks Fan
April 9th, 2011
7:53 pm
Capt Kirk Is TERRIBLE!
Art Vandelay
April 9th, 2011
7:54 pm
Something sort of irrelevant to the game, but…
Jamal really has a pretty shot. Nice release, nice swooping arch.
Najeh Davenpoop
April 9th, 2011
7:54 pm
“A lot of you still think one of the major problems with the Hawks is JJ. I think JJ knows that he’s going to have to be in “hero mode” during the playoffs, or else we won’t win. ”
We have already seen what Joe in “hero mode” gets the Hawks — the worst series sweep in the history of the NBA playoffs. The last thing I want to see is Joe controlling the ball more. All I ask of him is that he make decisions quickly. Is that too much to ask? Is it too much to ask to see JaVale McGee coming over to double and quickly passing the ball to Zaza instead of waiting for five seconds to decide what to do?
The Hawks came away empty on at least five possessions in the first quarter thanks to the following sequence: Joe gets the ball in the post, Wizards double, the gears turn at a snail’s pace in Joe’s head as he figures out what to do, the ball goes out to the perimeter, and the Hawks either end up with a bad shot or a turnover. And this is against the Wizards’ pathetic defense. What is it going to look like when Dwight Howard is down low controlling the paint while Joe is taking his own sweet time deciding what to do with the basketball against the double team?
When supposedly lesser players — namely, Smoove — can get the ball out of their hands against double teams quickly, it’s not asking too much for Joe to do the same thing. He did it against Houston. Why can’t he do it every game?
northcyde
April 9th, 2011
7:55 pm
There you go JJ. Make the superstar type shots.
I was worried that he was going to shoot the 3. I’d much rather for him to take the “superstar shot” than the open 3.
Monger
April 9th, 2011
7:55 pm
I really hope Jordan Crawford goes for 50 in this game, and absolutely embarasses the Hawks gaurding him, just so our ownership understands what big losers they are and how much of an embarrasment they are to the city of Atlanta!!! However, I dont think that will happen as they seem to have some sort of major denial issues and become blind at any critisism of their stupidity, also this team is immune to embarrasment and strangely seem to thrive in getting embarrassed. Just a night after losing to the 8th seed Pacers by double digits ,we are getting slammed by the Wizards by almost 20 points and its not even halftime!! Joe as usual cant hit the side of a barn with his shot, commiting bunches of turnovers, and seems to have checked out. They seemed to love getting embarrassed and run off the court in every major city including their own…How else can you explain a suppossed playoff team losing by double digits 14 times this year. They lost to the Bulls by 40 or so, Blown out by the Heat by 30, Blown out by the Lakers by 30, Blown out by OKC, Washington, They seem to relish it and our actually smiling on the bench getting blown out by the lowly Wizards, and Larry Drew is the worst coach in the league, maybe in the history of the league. I have no idea how he can be so bad at teaching a defense, teaching an offense, putting in the correct players, calling the right plays, preparing game plans….He fails MISERABLY at EVERY coaching category…HE HAS TO BE FIRED OR FORCED TO RESIGN!!!
Sid
April 9th, 2011
7:56 pm
a first round fizzle…..what a waste of time.
Najeh Davenpoop
April 9th, 2011
7:56 pm
6′2″ John Wall blocks 6′10″ Aldrea Bargford.
cp
April 9th, 2011
7:56 pm
smh Al getting swatted by pg’s and this team cannot rebound
tremaine
April 9th, 2011
7:57 pm
Me and my fantasy team still waiting for the Jordan Crawford show to come on.
northcyde
April 9th, 2011
7:57 pm
Wrong Najeh. I’ve already illustrated to you a few weeks ago that JJ didn’t even shoot enough in most of those games to make a difference. The only game he really tried to take over, was Game 3 of the Orlando series.
Your best players need the ball in their hands. Not to be decoys for other inconsistent shooters.
When the playoffs come around. JJ, Jamal, Smith, and Horford need to be taking the vast majority of the shots. And they need to take their shots in their spots.
O'Brien
April 9th, 2011
7:57 pm
Northcyde,
LD is full of crap, because everyone and their mama know Jamal is a 2. But that hasn’t stopped LD from playing him at PG, so why should JC2 be any different?
northcyde
April 9th, 2011
7:57 pm
Nice Marvin . . did the basket count?
northcyde
April 9th, 2011
7:58 pm
lol O’Brien . . . good point
Jordan wasn’t a PG . .but Jamal frequently plays PG, even though it’s OBVIOUS that he’s not a PG.
Najeh Davenpoop
April 9th, 2011
7:59 pm
“everyone and their mama know Jamal is a 2. But that hasn’t stopped LD from playing him at PG, so why should JC2 be any different?”
Great point.
O'Brien
April 9th, 2011
8:00 pm
northcyde,
One thing I agree with Najeh on. Hero mode or not, JJ takes too long to pass the ball out of the double team. if he passes it quickly, maybe he gets it back, or maybe we get a better shot off.
Is that too much to ask? Be more decisive with the ball.
northcyde
April 9th, 2011
8:00 pm
Offensive rebuonds:
Hawks – 1
Wizards – 9
drmaryb (*_-)
April 9th, 2011
8:01 pm
Northcyde!
Ouch! You had a porcelain gallbladder (completely calcified/bone/stones). I’ll bet you had some indigestion too?
No more cheese, fries and buffalo wings for you.
Just rabbit food! Your wife will have to lead the way.
Broiled fish, chicken, steamed veggies and fresh fruits.
We should all eat that way, all of us! I’m glad you’re still alive and kicking. What would we do without our statistician and knowledgeable one? I don’t even want to know.
__________________
Has Al even been in the painted area consistently since last year?
Where has the thrill gone? Have this team quit on another coach in less than 2 years? What do they do at night, when they go home?
Somebody need to investigate this.
Najeh Davenpoop
April 9th, 2011
8:01 pm
I wouldn’t even mind Joe taking 20 shots a game if he would just be decisive. If he is going to hold the ball for five seconds trying to decide what to do and let the defense key in on him, though, the vast majority of those 20 shots are going to be contested bricks. Joe is not good enough to consistently make contested shots.
Rusty
April 9th, 2011
8:03 pm
The reason jj doesn’t pass well out of a double team is because he isn’t looking to pass, he wants the shot iso joe
Art Vandelay
April 9th, 2011
8:03 pm
According to NBA.com, our entire team is negative in the +/- column.
bigdave
April 9th, 2011
8:03 pm
the Hawks will get murdered come playoffs if they keep jogging back in transition defense.
those will be 3 balls against Orlando.
Najeh Davenpoop
April 9th, 2011
8:03 pm
As Marvin’s jumper has gotten better over the last few weeks, Al’s jumper has seemingly gotten worse.
bird
April 9th, 2011
8:04 pm
Free Pape Sy!!
northcyde
April 9th, 2011
8:04 pm
LOL . . and why has Teague only played 7 minutes in this game?
OMG . . Horford got an offensive rebound.
cp
April 9th, 2011
8:04 pm
just pathetic
Najeh Davenpoop
April 9th, 2011
8:04 pm
“The reason jj doesn’t pass well out of a double team is because he isn’t looking to pass, he wants the shot iso joe”
I don’t even think this is the case. I wouldn’t say Joe is selfish. I think he’s just slow.
northcyde
April 9th, 2011
8:06 pm
Rusty . . actually, JJ is purposely trying to draw the double team, so that he can pass the ball. Like a lot of people, I would rather he’d just go quick and look for his own shot. JJ plays his version of the “Wildcat offense”.
A main scorer that doesn’t even take 17 shots a game, is NOT a ball hog.
Rusty
April 9th, 2011
8:08 pm
Joe lives to be the man unfortunately he is not good enough.
Art Vandelay
April 9th, 2011
8:08 pm
Is LD telling Al to take his game outside?
I don’t see any other reason why our FREAKIN CENTER is always near the 3 pt line…
Aaron
April 9th, 2011
8:08 pm
These last few games are incredibly boring. I just hope the team shows some life once the playoffs start because, as most people have already pointed out, the team looks like they are just going through the motions in this one. Everyone is reacting very slowly and the players look lethargic out there.
northcyde
April 9th, 2011
8:09 pm
The Wiz are the total aggressor in this game
20 FT attempts
10 offensive rebounds
6 steals
6 blocks
Hawks
6 FT attempts
2 offensive rebounds
3 steals
3 blocks
Sautee
April 9th, 2011
8:09 pm
Awful job blocking out by Joe on that last shot of the half. Mo went right around him for the tip.