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
NUNNA!!
April 9th, 2011
9:21 pm
Superiorblogman,lol..Come on dude..Yo,its all love on here son..Its all love..We agree to disagree sometimes,lol..
northcyde
April 9th, 2011
9:22 pm
It’ll be interesting to see how Drew distributes the minutes on Monday night. Miami is going to go full strength, because they want that #2 seed. The Hawks, by all means, should probably rest JJ and Horford at the very least.
But because it’s a “big game”, both will probably play at least some.
niremetal
April 9th, 2011
9:22 pm
LD is a useless human being. Played JJ and Al 30 minutes in a meaningless game and we got blown out anyway.
MC, does he really just not get the need to let nagging injuries heal before the playoffs? Has he just forgotten that in each of the past 2 playoffs, we did not lose because of “rust” or “lack of rhythm” (we actually started strong each of the past 2 playoffs), but we did lose at least in part because the guys went in banged up and broke down quickly in the playoff grind?
He was THERE for those playoffs. He SAW how Bibby’s thumb, JJ’s foot (in ‘09) and elbow (’10), Marvin’s back/wrist, etc etc all affected their playoff performance. Does he just not care? Does he have amnesia? These aren’t idle questions, MC. I really don’t understand how on earth he thinks that rust or rhythm should be a concern. I think anyone in the world would rather drop a game due to rust than drop a whole series due to injuries and exhaustion.
Ole Hawks Fan
April 9th, 2011
9:22 pm
Who’s got playoff tickets?
Dr. Duff
April 9th, 2011
9:23 pm
It’s hilarious that the Josh lovers are trying to emphasize his value based upon 2 meaningless games where the bench played a huge amount of minutes in a games that were basically “garbage time” from start to finish.
This is a really bad way to try and make that argument, guys. At least find some meaningful games to base this off of. This is almost as dumb as saying that the Bibby was the MVP of the Hawks since the team record has been awful since he was traded. Actually, it’s even dumber than that. Wow is all I can say.
niremetal
April 9th, 2011
9:23 pm
FOR A THIRD STRAIGHT YEAR
Lp
April 9th, 2011
9:23 pm
love the new offense coach drew
The Game Has Changed
April 9th, 2011
9:23 pm
When we make it to the Eastern Conference finals this year, we will not have enough room on the bandwagon for you cry babies, impatient, disrespectful, haters. Dig That
PortCity
April 9th, 2011
9:25 pm
There’s only one thing I’m excited about regarding the Hawks. Anticipating who the new owner may be.
Dr. Duff
April 9th, 2011
9:25 pm
Larry Drew is a disgrace. Dig that. If you want to make it to the ECF, it would be best to help encourage that he is replaced as soon as possible.
Slimjr
April 9th, 2011
9:25 pm
up next Monday Night, MIAMI by 50 cents…………………………!He He
Peter
April 9th, 2011
9:26 pm
WOW looks like the team has taken steps……..Backwards, and they will get blown out in the first round.
Look the Trasher’s are dead in the water, and the Hawks are dying a slow death….The ownership group hasn’t a clue, and the product is the proof.
Slimjr
April 9th, 2011
9:27 pm
Princton Offense,more like West Georgia!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Aaron
April 9th, 2011
9:28 pm
Well, I’m out for tonight. I’ll be back for the next meaningless game on Monday. Hopefully, by then, Drew will realize that it is pointless to even play his starters for 1 second in the final 2 games, but knowing Drew, he’ll do something stupid and probably play Al, Josh, and Joe all 30+ minutes in a losing effort. At any rate, we’ll have to wait and see. Until next time…
bigdave
April 9th, 2011
9:28 pm
lol..
look @ the points in the paint and offensive rebounding differential..
if these games were for the 4th seed, those problems still linger.
meaningless or not.. its telling.. the Hawks found ways to play soundly for @ least .500 ball w/ the others out..
not so much w/ out Josh.
it’s hilarious that the Josh (haters) are trying to discount his value based upon 2 meaningless games.
if they had moved Josh @ the deadline.. you wouldve seen more of what you’ve just witnessed..
lukas
April 9th, 2011
9:32 pm
If Bill Simmons is some kind of future-teller, Josh Smith will be out of here soon: “a three-teamer that sends Smith and Pachulia to the Clippers, Chris Kaman to Cleveland (absorbed by their trade exception for LeBron James), and Al-Farouq Aminu to Atlanta”.
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/110408&sportCat=nba
It’s very funny what he has to say about the Hawks, and the deppressing part about it is that he may be right.
Sautee
April 9th, 2011
9:32 pm
The Game Has Changed,
You should take that attitude to your local bookie. I’m sure you will make a bundle and come back and tell us how “stoopid” we all are.
Go ahead if you’re that sure.
northcyde
April 9th, 2011
9:33 pm
The Game . . . I hope you’re right man. God willing, I will be at one of those Orlando playoff games, regardless of what happens in Games 1 and 2.
If we do beat Orlando, Chicago is probably the team to play, seeing that they have the least playoff experience out of Boston and Miami. If we’re somehow able to contain Rose, and the “core” shows up, we do have a shot in Round 2.
LOL . . but we got to get out of Round 1 first. Expecting the Hawks to steal one of the first 2 games in Orlando, is almost an impossible task. If anything, we need to be going to Orlando tied 2 – 2, and try to steal Game 5, so that we can close out Game 6 in ATL.
If the series goes 7 games, no way we beat the Magic in a Game 7 in Orlando.
bigdave
April 9th, 2011
9:33 pm
“soundly (defensively)”
Slimjr
April 9th, 2011
9:33 pm
Jettison the core Scottie..Make it so! AYE Captain………..
Slimjr
April 9th, 2011
9:35 pm
Hawks dont have a shot with LD at the helm..Start counting your brooms………….
Rusty
April 9th, 2011
9:35 pm
Funny thinks za za couldn’t stop a midget from scoring unless he fouled him. Mo looked like a superstar with Marvin guarding him. Jc2 not counting his shooting ability is already a better point guard than Kurt. Joe must have lost some of his money on the court as he’s always looking at the floor. Is ld picking his substitutions out of a hat with the sense they make. Again jt makes a lot of good plays I guess ld is also looking for some money on the floor as he probably will need some soon & never sees how good jt is.
Slimjr
April 9th, 2011
9:37 pm
nice way to enter the playoffs LD, 0-6!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YIKES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1
Slimjr
April 9th, 2011
9:38 pm
I would not LET LD COACH THE PLAYOFFS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! KICK ROCKS…………….
Harpie
April 9th, 2011
9:41 pm
Up until about a month ago, Al was the best thing the Hawks had had going for them for a long time. Then, all of a sudden, his game took a downturn. I’m pretty sure that the regression of his game is due to the fact that he is sick and tired of playing for the stupidest coach in the history of basketball ( not to mention, some pretty stupid teammates, too ). Larry Drew has sucked this team dry!
northcyde
April 9th, 2011
9:41 pm
ESPN clowning us on NBA Coast to Coast.
Slimjr
April 9th, 2011
9:42 pm
Its beyond embarrasing now!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Slimjr
April 9th, 2011
9:43 pm
NOT FUNNY ALL grasshopper
darrell starks
April 9th, 2011
9:45 pm
Man you can tell the different between the 2 COACHES, LD is horrible.
GO HAWKS!!!!!!!!!!
O'Brien
April 9th, 2011
9:46 pm
northcyde,
Even if the Hawks steal game 1 or 2 in Orlando, our home record is 24-16, while Orlando is 22-18 on the road. Therefore, I dont think Orlando will have much trouble winning at least 1 game in ATL.
darrell starks
April 9th, 2011
9:47 pm
This is what happen when you don’t develop your bench, they become street ballers LOL!!!!!!!!
GO HAWKS!!!!!!!!!!!
Slimjr
April 9th, 2011
9:48 pm
Why do people keep saying this game does not matter??????????????????????When you lose by one of the worst teams in the League by 32????? Are you kidding me…Does Kobe lose by 32 in a so called meaningless games???? Enough said… Iam out. I cant take it any more….Goodnight fanatics!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Next, Miami by 50 cents….
darrell starks
April 9th, 2011
9:48 pm
Flip Saunder have develop his bench as you can tell between the 2 team.
GO HAWKS!!!!!!!!!
The Rock
April 9th, 2011
9:48 pm
I don’t care who the Hawks put on the floor, they should never lose to the Wizards by 32.
This is lost #4 in a row.
This team has traded away a young player in JC2, their 1st round pick for next year, and have nothing to show for it.
It’s a good thing that next season will be cancelled in the NBA.
Najeh Davenpoop
April 9th, 2011
9:51 pm
Etan Thomas is doing spoken word poetry on SportSouth right now.
Najeh Davenpoop
April 9th, 2011
9:54 pm
“It’s hilarious that the Josh lovers are trying to emphasize his value based upon 2 meaningless games where the bench played a huge amount of minutes in a games that were basically “garbage time” from start to finish.”
Nice bullsh-t excuse there. I’m sorry, but the Magic are also locked into their seed, and they are not losing to the worst team in the league by 30+ points.
The point of that post was to refute the prevalent idea that Smoove is the root cause of this team’s problems and that this team would be better off without him. Nobody on this team is so great that they should be above criticism, including him, but the idea that he is somehow a net negative for this team is plain idiotic. This team’s problems start at the top and trickle down to the bottom, encompassing everyone along the way. There is no player who is the biggest reason for it (like Smoove) any more than there is a player on this team who is beyond reproach (including Al). The inordinate amount of Smoove-hating that goes on around here needs to stop.
Najeh Davenpoop
April 9th, 2011
9:56 pm
Sorry, I meant to say “one of the worst teams in the league”. The Wizards are not worse than Cleveland or Minnesota.
darrell starks
April 9th, 2011
9:56 pm
ZAZA lack of PT the hole year
TEAGUE lack of PT the hole year
DAMIEN lack of PT the hole year
POWELL lack of PT the hole year
JC2 lack of PT the hole year
COLLINS lack of PT the hole year
NICK VAN EXEL lack of PT the hole year
ETAN lack of PT the hole year
RICK SUND lack of PT the hole year
THE HOLE SEASON HAVE BEEN A WASTE
GO HAWKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Najeh Davenpoop
April 9th, 2011
9:57 pm
“When we make it to the Eastern Conference finals this year, we will not have enough room on the bandwagon for you cry babies, impatient, disrespectful, haters. Dig That”
I guess Michael Gearon does post here after all.
Najeh Davenpoop
April 9th, 2011
10:01 pm
Serious question: if you just crawled out from under a rock and heard about the NBA for the first time today, would you rather be a fan of a team like the Wizards, with a budding superstar in John Wall and several other solid young pieces with hope for the future, or a fan of the Hawks, who are basically stuck in 45 win/first round blowout mode until Joe’s contract expires?
Najeh Davenpoop
April 9th, 2011
10:08 pm
Also, a special middle finger to Zaza for giving me jack sh-t on a day when I picked him up in fantasy basketball to try to beat Samuel in the championship. He is murdering me right now.
Rev in Tampa
April 9th, 2011
10:09 pm
I performed a wedding up on the panhandle tonight. The groom was twenty minutes late, a water moccasin made an unexpected intrusion, and they forgot forks for the wedding cake.
Sounds like it was not nearly the fiasco that you guys witnessed on the basketball court.
It all goes back to Drew. He is either weak-minded or double-minded. I haven’t decided which. Either one ends in defeat.
Weak-minded – He is worried about his job so he tries to pad his win total, but the players know the game is meaningless so they mail it in.
Double-minded – He really can’t decide which is best: stay in rhythm or rest and heal.
The players told him by their performance against Indy what they perfer and reaffirmed their decision tonight. If they struggled to step it up and stay focused earlier in the season when the games had meaning, what on earth did Drew expect this bunch to do when the games don’t matter???
By the way, big co-sign to Ken Strickland’s post on the previous blog-posting. It was good to hear from you, Ken.
Rusty
April 9th, 2011
10:12 pm
Nique. My favorite hawk of all time I hate to say this but you suck jt makes 2 good passes in traffic which are bobbled & you say bad things against him. Kiss useless Joes ass maybe he will give you some money to pay for those suits.
Najeh Davenpoop
April 9th, 2011
10:15 pm
Yeah, I like Nique when his mistakes are limited to pronouncing words wrong, but when he starts singling out some people while ignoring the plethora of mistakes that come from everyone else, he goes from funny to annoying.
northcyde
April 9th, 2011
10:15 pm
You would be a Hawks fan, because the Wizards are never shown on TV. At least you’d get to see the Hawks in the playoffs. With the Wiz, all you’d have is “hope”, with only one or two national TV games a year.
Give me actual playoff appearances over hoping to make the playoffs, any day of the week.
In a league in which Durant, Rose, Lebron, and Dwight will be the superstars in the league 5 years from now, how likely will the Wizards be to break through the same barrier that we’ve failed to break through? Heck, even Kobe may be able to play at an All-Star level for another 3 – 4 years.
With the Hawks, I know we at least have 3 players who are All-Star or borderline All-Star caliber players that may have another 3 years of playoff basketball left in them. If we’d get lucky and find someone else to buy the team and install a competent management team to assemble complimentary pieces ( or trade the core for a true star ), we’d be much further along than the Wiz.
No way I’d trade places with them. I just want one or two of their players.
dawgforlife
April 9th, 2011
10:19 pm
The hawks are horrible. They will be swept in the playoffs. They have no heart. I have never met a bunch of men less worried about losing. It is time to cut our losses and start over. We’re stuck with JJ because of his idiotic contract. We need to keep Teague and let him grow. Will he make mistakes? …absolutely…Is one of the fastest/quickest players I’ve ever seen?…absolutely…keep Al Hortford…everyone else…show em the door and start over trying to build through the draft…playing uninspired and drafting in the 20’s every year isn’t cutting it.
Astro Joe
April 9th, 2011
10:49 pm
It’s a players league. Just because your coach makes you go out on the court, it doesn’t mean thst you will provide the same effort in s mesningless game as in game 55 when playoff positioning was still an issue. These guys are playing “not to get hurt”. They are tired, this season has been an absolute grind with few easy wins and mostly frustration for all around. And yet, they are being asked to play 30 minutes against the Wizards.
Sounds like ‘Nique picked on someone’s favorite All-Star in waiting. Haha.
doc
April 9th, 2011
10:51 pm
guys, for all the comparison to the now wiz vs the now hawks, it wasnt but a very bad contract, poor team chemistry, an imbalanced roster and an injured player that the wiz who were one step ahead of us talking about making the next step, ended up lottery. how quickly the “mighty” can fall. we saw this in the team in the playoffs, preseason and during the season. this ship might have sailed. in a short while we will see if it can right itself. which way is the arrow pointing? etan might be able to tell as he has seen both teams.
Worldwide Clyde
April 9th, 2011
10:58 pm
FIRE LD
Gearon your team got blown out by a D-League team. Do you really expect me to spend my hard earned money to see them in the playoffs? You can complain about fan support all you want but you really need to complain about team’s effort.
playmeortrademe
April 9th, 2011
11:01 pm
Well, your Atlanta Hawks are screwwwwwed. The only question is, will Orlando break their own record for margin of victory in a playoff series? Have you ever seen a team with so much potential go absolutely nowhere because of coaching and management? Three years ago after the Boston series, you had to think the team would be ready to contend for a title in two to three years, but you knew they needed a point guard better than Bibby, a presence in the paint, and a high quality head coach. The Hawks went 0 for 3, then, in a move only slightly less stupid than the Koncak deal, signed J-J-Joe to the max, which will handicap the franchise for years. After two more seasons of 1st round humiliations and predictably bad trades of Smith and Horford, the Hawks will be the joke of the league winning less than 30 games and playing in front of 5,000 fans at Philips. Ladies and gentlemen, your Atlanta Hawks.