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
Melvin
April 9th, 2011
8:56 pm
Yes, Pape made his first NBA shot…
bigdave
April 9th, 2011
8:56 pm
Sautee…
oooohh big time.
thats why they can see each other get beat, and look @ the beat man like i had my man..
drmaryb (*_-)
April 9th, 2011
8:57 pm
They are “winning” this game with pure Wizardry!
Darnell
April 9th, 2011
8:58 pm
“Yes, Al had a good quarter on offense, but Blatche lit him up on D in the 3rd. And they outscored us by 1.”
That’s actually not necessarily true. Yes, Al left Blatche alone on several occasions to help out on someone else and Blatche made him pay, but that’s not all Al’s fault. As I mentioned before, the team defense has been horrid tonight. Al’s defense definitely looked subpar at times, but it wasn’t like blatche was “lighting him up” in one on one situations and he was failing to stop it. Blatche scored most of his points on open jumps and breakaway layups/dunks. Still, I can understand what you are saying. At any rate, I think it was a good quarter by Al, but in the grand scheme of things, it obviously wasn’t going to win us the game.
Melvin
April 9th, 2011
8:58 pm
Did these guys quit on LD before the playoffs start?
Double Zero Eight
April 9th, 2011
8:58 pm
Drew mainly wants an excuse for losing. The Hawks have lost their
way. By Sund’s earlier assessments, this season is a step
backwards.
cp
April 9th, 2011
8:58 pm
nice move Sy
northcyde
April 9th, 2011
8:59 pm
Incredible that the Wiz are going to beat us by 30+ points.
Aaron
April 9th, 2011
8:59 pm
“They are “winning” this game with pure Wizardry!”
LMAO. I hope Orlando doesn’t beat us in the playoffs using Magic.
northcyde
April 9th, 2011
9:00 pm
And I guess Drew will use this game to not give Teague decent playing time during the playoffs. Meanwhile, Kirk was easily the worst guard on the floor tonight, on both teams.
Aaron
April 9th, 2011
9:01 pm
“…this season is a step backwards.”
Definitely.
bigdave
April 9th, 2011
9:01 pm
i dont think Al hitting 18 ft jumpers do anything for the Hawks momentum wise.
northcyde
April 9th, 2011
9:02 pm
LOL @ NIque . . . you know good and well Damien wouldn’t have hit that shot anyway, had Teague passed him the ball.
bigdave
April 9th, 2011
9:02 pm
i think Teague would try that floater from 3 pt depth..
get a leaner kid..
Najeh Davenpoop
April 9th, 2011
9:03 pm
Quit picking on Teague, Nique. The fact that the Hawks still have one guy who is willing to go into the paint instead of passing it to the perimeter is a blessing.
Slimjr
April 9th, 2011
9:03 pm
The fat Lady has just got out her chair..She is starting to take steps towards the stairs which lead to the stage!!!
The Hawks are in HUGE TROUBLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The brooms are out against the wall!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
bigdave
April 9th, 2011
9:03 pm
pardon.. stop and pop.
Darnell
April 9th, 2011
9:03 pm
“And I guess Drew will use this game to not give Teague decent playing time during the playoffs. Meanwhile, Kirk was easily the worst guard on the floor tonight, on both teams.”
I agree. I didn’t like his shot selection at all, and while he was definitely hustling on D, it wasn’t necessarily smart hustle. He committed a lot of silly fouls after getting burned on D. It kind of reminded me of Bibby when he used to grab players after they blew past him on D. Also, Hinrich’s decision making wasn’t at all the way it should have been for a point guard.
Najeh Davenpoop
April 9th, 2011
9:04 pm
Nice take Pape
bigdave
April 9th, 2011
9:04 pm
i think effort has a lot to do w/ believing in scheme.
OK I SEE U POPS!
cp
April 9th, 2011
9:05 pm
lol@Nique mad Teague didnt pass Damien the ball
Najeh Davenpoop
April 9th, 2011
9:05 pm
I’m a pretty big NBA fan, but I gotta admit, I had never heard of Othyus Jeffers until a few days ago and this is the first I’m ever hearing of Larry Owens.
I guess the five Wizards fans watching this are probably saying the same thing about Pape Sy.
Slimjr
April 9th, 2011
9:06 pm
LD lost this team months ago…….SHOOT…………..
drmaryb (*_-)
April 9th, 2011
9:06 pm
CNN
Airing The Reagan Assassination attempt by Henkley.
Haven’t we seen this documentary an awful lot these past 12 months?
Hmmmmm … What’s really up with that?
The interviewee just said, “A President has to be willing to risk his life at all times.”. (subliminal message?)
__________________
The Hawks are being annihilated on the boards and defense as well.
Darnell
April 9th, 2011
9:06 pm
“i dont think Al hitting 18 ft jumpers do anything for the Hawks momentum wise.”
It actually has given the team momentum before when Al hit a big shot, regardless of whether it was from 5 ft. or 18 ft. I think the guy who mentioned Al giving the team momentum in the third quarter was talking about his dunks though. I could be wrong, but since Al only took 1 or 2 jump shots in the third quarter, I don’t think he could have been talking about jump shots.
Chea
April 9th, 2011
9:06 pm
LOL @ the irony of the Wizards being too far up for JC2 to be playing, when all the burn he got here was in garbajosa time.
Wizards may set their season high for victory margin.
bigdave
April 9th, 2011
9:07 pm
which is why we have been successful against Orlando. even w/ that first loss, afterward they knew they had a game plan.. thing is we had one last year, just didnt apply it.
O'Brien
April 9th, 2011
9:07 pm
northcyde, Najeh,
If it was Jamal who overlooked an open Damien, and bricked the shot, Nique wouldnt have said a word.
I dont know what it is about Woody, LD, and even Nique. They tend to make excuses for the vets, but are quick to criticize the young pups..
Aaron
April 9th, 2011
9:08 pm
“lol@Nique mad Teague didnt pass Damien the ball”
You’ve got to have your nephew’s back! LOL.
Chea
April 9th, 2011
9:09 pm
Yi is having success, posting up de facto chairs again.
Najeh Davenpoop
April 9th, 2011
9:09 pm
For whatever it’s worth, this season the Hawks are:
4-2 without Jamal
3-2 without Al
6-4 without Joe
1-4 without Smoove
Jmac
April 9th, 2011
9:09 pm
The Hawks showed their true character tonight. They didn’t even come close to trying to play hard. The league ought to refund the money to all the people who purchased tickets to that game. What a disgrace.
Slimjr
April 9th, 2011
9:09 pm
Nique=BK,biased against 6′4″ and under ballers????
cp
April 9th, 2011
9:10 pm
I wish they would bring the Stinger back. I dont like listening to Nique
bigdave
April 9th, 2011
9:10 pm
i wish Nique would critique everyone’s game as heavy as he does for Jeff, Josh, and Joe..
northcyde
April 9th, 2011
9:11 pm
Even fuggin Yi is ballin.
Slimjr
April 9th, 2011
9:12 pm
“The interviewee just said, “A President has to be willing to risk his life at all times.”. (subliminal message?)” Yeah drmaryb..Whats up with that on CNN?
Marvin went invisible again????????????
Aaron
April 9th, 2011
9:13 pm
This really is a horrible offensive unit on the floor for the Hawks. If you look at it player-by-player, you have:
Teague: can’t shoot the ball from the perimeter
Pape Sy: can’t shoot the ball at all (I’m exaggerating, but I think you guys get what I’m saying here)
Damien: can’t shoot the ball from the perimeter
Josh Powell: can shoot the ball from the perimeter better than anyone on the floor with him in this unit, but has not post up game
Hilton Armstrong: can’t shoot the ball at all and has no post game
I would at least think that this unit would be fairly solid on defense, but apparently, that is not the case. The lead has really ballooned for washington in the fourth quarter with our bench scrub unit.
bigdave
April 9th, 2011
9:13 pm
Darnell..
Al dunked tonight????
a big shot vs a few pts here and there during a blow out that you give right back defensively is apples to oranges.
even season long i can remember Al’s “momentum” plays being him blocking a shot, or going hard to the basket resulting in a foul, or him yamming on someone.
cp
April 9th, 2011
9:14 pm
With good coaching Sy looks like he could be a solid player
superiorblogman
April 9th, 2011
9:15 pm
It’s all Teague’s fault if you ask Dominique. I am now sure he was part of that awful trade. Well I am done around here guys phuck you all and these sorry as Hawks. Die a slow death MF’ers
bigdave
April 9th, 2011
9:15 pm
well.. whats his face.. Lester Conner.. he definitely called it. shame.
Slimjr
April 9th, 2011
9:16 pm
LD looks like he wants to cry on the side line…He should of coached Highschoolers….
Najeh Davenpoop
April 9th, 2011
9:16 pm
Oh yeah, also, 10-7 without Marvin.
So to recap, the Hawks this year are above .500 when down one man for each of their top 5 players in minutes, except Smoove.
10-7 without Marvin
4-2 without Jamal
3-2 without Al
6-4 without Joe
1-4 without Smoove
bigdave
April 9th, 2011
9:18 pm
TRADE JOSH SMITH!!!!!!!
Najeh Davenpoop
April 9th, 2011
9:18 pm
“TRADE JOSH SMITH!!!!!!!”
Addition by subtraction!
Slimjr
April 9th, 2011
9:18 pm
Najeh, two words: MELTDOWN PLAYOFFS…………………………………
Chea
April 9th, 2011
9:19 pm
najeh, it’s cuz there was so much basketball iq on the floor without smoove that drew didn’t know what to do with it. there’s obviously gonna be an adjustment period for that
Roland
April 9th, 2011
9:19 pm
“For whatever it’s worth, this season the Hawks are:
4-2 without Jamal
3-2 without Al
6-4 without Joe
1-4 without Smoove”
I don’t think that last stat really means anything, since the last 2 games have been meaningless and no starter has even played 30 minutes in those games. Also, it really didn’t appear that the Hawks were trying to win this game. We need a larger sample size to see how the team fairs without Smoove. Actually, to be honest, it’s tough to tell how the team would do overall without any of these players, since it depends on the opponent.
Keep in mind that we defeated some of our toughest opponents without Joe and Josh, meanwhile losing to some of our easiest opponents without them. We beat Orlando without Joe and Chicago without Josh, meanwhile losing to some garbage teams like this. A lot of things are a mystery with this team.I definitely feel like the team would totally collapse if we had both Al and Josh out.
NUNNA!!
April 9th, 2011
9:19 pm
Northcyde,CP
I said the same thing about nique last night..
Teague had a 1 man break and jamaal was trailing and stopped at the 3 point line and teage kicked it out to him and he missed..What did nique say? Teague should have drove the ball against the 2 defenders and we were shooting too many jump shots..
And tonite when Damien was trailing on the break and Sy was running towards the lane,Teague passed him the ball and this clown starts to get on Teague because,he didn’t pass it to Damien..
Nique,i loved u as a player and i enjoy u as a side kick to Rathbun but u show too much freaking favortism to your neph son..
And lets admit it..Damien is good but he does not have the skills u had nor even his dad Gerald..
I’ll say it to yo face and i bet u won’t kick my @$&!!