Atlanta Hawks at Bobcats: No. 82
Charlotte–The regular season ends anticlimactically for the Hawks tonight. They didn’t practice yesterday and I didn’t make this morning’s shootaround in Charlotte so no word on who will play and for how long. I will update pregame, in case anyone cares. . . .
PREGAME UPDATE: Hawks-Magic Game 1 is Saturday at 7 p.m. The rest of the schedule comes out later tonight.
Twin is out but his status is still a go for Saturday. “I think he will be fine,” L.D. said. “He got some work in yesterday. He came over today early and got some work in. He should be ready to go.”
Starters are Hinrich, Joe, Josh, Al and Zaza. Armstrong, Rolle and Twin are inactive.
Drew said he plans to play the starters “a few minutes.”
“I won’t have anybody in the 30s,” he said. “I will try to keep them in the low 20s.”
L.D. wasn’t talking as much about trying to use this game to gather momentum: “Just looking at what happened to the Lakers last night, Chicago had a couple of guys hurt–that’s always a fear in this particular situation. Hopefully we can get out of this game as injury-free as we can and move onto the playoffs.”
- The signing of Magnum Rolle is unrelated to Twin’s injury, which L.D. still say says is a “minor” sprain. Twin was walking around without a noticeable limp before the game on Monday. The Hawks, like a handful of teams, signed Rolle with an eye to the (possibly lockout-disrupted) summer.
- I predict that if Zaza helps the Hawks beat the Magic while leaving a trail of carnage in his wake he will become a beloved folk hero. I also predict that if the Zaza helps the Hawks forge a competitive series against the Bulls, and this in turn inspires the team to start talking about “continuing to grow the core,” then the feelings about Zaza would become bittersweet.
- Smoove, asked why opponents become so irritated by Zaza, said: “Have you seen that head?”
Now for some linkage . . .
- Sebastian Pruiti at NBA Playbook breaks down Hawks-Magic in a series of posts.
- Tom Ziller at SB Nation wonders if the Hawks can take advantage of Orlando’s high turnover rate.
- Bret LaGree at Hoopinion (accurately and depressingly) describes the futility of trying to drawn any analytical conclusions from these last four games, particularly since the task was not much easier over the first 78 games.
- HawkStr8Talk, true to form, predicts the Hawks “are not winning a playoff game, much less a playoff series” in a post at Peachtree Hoops. However, he did express a bit of joy following the reserves’ rally against the Heat and even managed some begrudging admiration for L.D.
Michael Cunningham, Hawks beat
Tell us what you think about the site
Customer Care »
Vacation stops, manage subscriptions and more
AJC Services
Sections
Other Editions
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement
© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
384 comments Add your comment
cp
April 13th, 2011
8:04 pm
the starters have looked like they really dont want to be out there these past few games so i dont get the point of playing them at all
Mac-Town #maconchevyrider
April 13th, 2011
8:07 pm
“Al Hartford”
drmaryb (*_-)
April 13th, 2011
8:09 pm
Lost and Found!
Hey Paradise, are you in the military service? How much do they pay for gas in Hawaii per gallon? Again, welcome home! My Grand-Daddy and me will have to meet some of our fellow bloggers at the Crown Royal Bar or something, soon.
Speaking of, Sautee … I will call you and the wifey soon! Can’t wait to meet your acquaintance. Been awfully busy these days.
Luke Cage
April 13th, 2011
8:12 pm
PLAY JEFF TEAGUE!!!!!!!
cp
April 13th, 2011
8:15 pm
a buch of turnovers early and Hinrich looks terrible
bigdave
April 13th, 2011
8:15 pm
smh.
northcyde
April 13th, 2011
8:15 pm
Drew . . get the starters out of there. If someone even sprains an ankle, you deserve to be fired on the spot.
lewis
April 13th, 2011
8:16 pm
yeah no one cares enough about the hawks or bobcats to get a stream going
northcyde
April 13th, 2011
8:16 pm
I’ll be on the Fire Drew bandwagon, if anything remotely happens to the core tonight.
cp
April 13th, 2011
8:17 pm
starters playing no defense
Sleepy
April 13th, 2011
8:17 pm
I would take the entire starting 5 out and sit them for the rest of the game no matter what
cp
April 13th, 2011
8:19 pm
wow Marvin wtf was that. smh LD has no clue
Joke Johnson
April 13th, 2011
8:20 pm
I told LD I didn’t want to play tonight! I wanted to stay in the locker Room and count my ca$h!
Imma make sure that LD is one and done!
J – J – J Joke Johnson – Out!
Mac-Town #maconchevyrider
April 13th, 2011
8:21 pm
SG – Kirk Hinrich
SG – Joe Johnson
SG – Marvin Williams
SG – Josh Smith
SG – Jamal Crawford
SG/PF – Josh Powell
SG – Al Horford
hard to win with so many SG
Sleepy
April 13th, 2011
8:21 pm
This is on of those situation s where when the hawks starters see who is starting they come out and put them away early . Thats on the 3 captains there is no excuse for being down to this team and that lineup when you know you are going to play 20 minutes .
Come out smack them down and tell the bench to come in and mop up .
cp
April 13th, 2011
8:22 pm
he still has all the starters but Joe in the game. the bobcats are getting whatever they want
terrell
April 13th, 2011
8:25 pm
Why is LD playing the starters, knowing good and darn well that they dont want to be out there? I’m telling yall, he’s hoping for an injury, so he’ll have an excuse. lol! And btw, Hinrich is awful. I’m sorry.
lewis
April 13th, 2011
8:25 pm
came home to watch this, such a shame
BILLY KNIGHT
April 13th, 2011
8:25 pm
IS HINRICH DRUNK
Paradise Lost
April 13th, 2011
8:25 pm
drmaryb –
Federal, but not military. Yesterday I paid $4.11 at Costco (where every local goes to fill up when gas prices jump). It’s $4.69/gal everywhere else. We’ll be home next month. Picking up on some of MC’s optimism, it would be nice to see a playoff game in person…just sayin.
Marvin off the bench…let’s see how this goes.
That reminds me…I’ve been meaning to introduce some cultural exchange to the blog. We start today with my favorite Hawaiian pidgin word: hemajang (alt sp: hammajang).
“Hemajang”: all screwed up; not put together correctly. Used in a sentence, a local who speaks “da bird” might take one look at the Hawks and say “Auwee bruddah! Dakine Hawks stay all hemajang!”
cp
April 13th, 2011
8:26 pm
Hinrich with another turnover. The starters look terrible. No effort out there
northcyde
April 13th, 2011
8:26 pm
Sleepy . . this game is meaningless. Even Woody went with the scrubs last year, while resting most if not all of the starters.
Captain Obvious
April 13th, 2011
8:26 pm
Heimlich Manure
BILLY KNIGHT
April 13th, 2011
8:26 pm
Now i see what all the fus about hinrich looking terrible, LD can’t starte this guy come playoffs
UGA
April 13th, 2011
8:27 pm
4 more games people……..period.
ag
April 13th, 2011
8:28 pm
cable down and can’t watch game. This guy is an idiot to play starters
BILLY KNIGHT
April 13th, 2011
8:28 pm
HORFORD LOOK SOFT OUT THERE
ag
April 13th, 2011
8:28 pm
For this poor effort, the same starters will start in the playoffs.
START JEFF TEAGUE
Slim the III
April 13th, 2011
8:28 pm
Heimlich Manure!!!!!!!
Magic in 4
Najeh Davenpoop
April 13th, 2011
8:29 pm
On another note, I’m all for equality and everything, but a $100,000 fine for calling a ref a f-ggot? Is there any word that is worth a six figure fine? For crying out loud, Reggie Evans only got $10,000 for trying to rip Chris Kaman’s nuts off in the playoffs a few years ago…
cp
April 13th, 2011
8:29 pm
and still no Teague
Paradise Lost
April 13th, 2011
8:29 pm
the Crown Royal Bar
Is this where I’ll need to go to sign the Free Teague petition and buy my FIRE ___ t-shirts?
Kobe Bryant@Atlanta Hawks
April 13th, 2011
8:29 pm
PHUGGIN PHAGGOTS!!!
Najeh Davenpoop
April 13th, 2011
8:30 pm
For the record, Kirk is now shooting 14 for 41 (34%) in the month of April.
Luke Cage
April 13th, 2011
8:30 pm
How can this team really be ready for the playoffs?
Kobe Bryant@Atlanta Hawks
April 13th, 2011
8:31 pm
Play Powell in the post season, at least he has a ring!!!
JJ Sucks
April 13th, 2011
8:31 pm
This team will not win a game in the playoffs and Larry Drew will be fired. They gave up their 2011 1st round draft pick for Kirk Hinrich. This franchise needs to start over. I would trade all of these clowns including Al Horford. I’m not a fan of any of these sorry ass no heart players!!!
Joke Johnson
April 13th, 2011
8:31 pm
I’m sitting here on the bench talking about ‘LD’! See, I told y’all he was a Joke!
I wanna take a nap and brush my hair to make sure my waves stay tight!
J-J-J Joke Johnson -out!
Najeh Davenpoop
April 13th, 2011
8:31 pm
Meanwhile, the Braves are getting no-hit at Turner Field in front of nearly as bad a crowd as the one yesterday. Being an Atlanta sports fan is just fantastic.
Luke Cage
April 13th, 2011
8:32 pm
Since the boston game have we been at least competitive?
drmaryb (*_-)
April 13th, 2011
8:33 pm
Cable Guy!
“cable down and can’t watch game. This guy is an idiot to play starters”
_______________
Yeah ag man, funny thing about cable. It usually goes down right before you pay the cable bill. Good news is, you don’t have to watch The Hawks get slaughtered by the D-Leaguers.
Smile.
lewis
April 13th, 2011
8:33 pm
Meant to make a comment about that. Baseball can’t even sell in this city anymore.
5thwardtexas
April 13th, 2011
8:34 pm
atlanta sports are so bad because homos dont normally support sports, and when 80% of your population is gay (95% for black males) poor attendance is expected.
Luke Cage
April 13th, 2011
8:35 pm
As soon as falcon fans realize Matty Ice is more like Vanilla Ice in the playoffs they will stop showing up there too LOL, to live in Atlanta and go (or not) to sporting events is quite funny on tv
northcyde
April 13th, 2011
8:35 pm
People that aren’t playing around the league:
Knicks – Melo, Amare, Billups
Boston – KG, Pierce, Rondo, Allen
Philly – Iguodala
Denver – Gallanari, Felton, Nene, Kenyon,
Indiana – Granger
Miami – Lebron, Wade, Bosh
The only team to go with their regular lineup, despite having nothing to play for, is the Magic . . which is stupidity on their part. If some goofball rolls on Howard’s ankle, Van Gundy will get ripped to shreds.
And Chicago is only playing their key guys because they’re fighting for the overall home court advantage.
LMAO . . and how in the (( bleep )) does Teague not play in the 1st quarter?
lewis
April 13th, 2011
8:35 pm
44 wins and Kirk Hinrich.
If you told me this in pre-season I wouldn’t have watched the previous 81 games.
cp
April 13th, 2011
8:36 pm
I wont be shocked to see Hinrich play a ton of minutes in the playoffs no matter how bad he is playing.. Its the second quarter still no Teague
terrell
April 13th, 2011
8:37 pm
Dont think Zaza and Jamal should still be in this game, considering LD’s short rotations, but that’s just me.
lewis
April 13th, 2011
8:37 pm
I wonder if there is a correlation between obesity and poor sports attendence
terrell
April 13th, 2011
8:37 pm
Where the hell is Teague?