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
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384 comments Add your comment
Rusty
April 13th, 2011
10:15 pm
How could any coach in the world be worse than ld & I don’t only mean basketball coaches
terrell
April 13th, 2011
10:16 pm
You mean to tell me, we couldnt of used Etan Thomas this year? And where the hell was the hotel tonight?
terrell
April 13th, 2011
10:16 pm
Bob Weiss and Lon Krueger all over again.
Slimjr
April 13th, 2011
10:17 pm
CONGRATS TO THE HAWKS FOR UNDER ACHIEVING LIKE THEIR SPORTS BRETHREN ACROSS THE STREET THE ATLANTA BRAVES……………………………
drmaryb (*_-)
April 13th, 2011
10:18 pm
Najeh!
Get ‘Em! I love a good ole’ fashioned azz whuppin’.
Bump That “Trent – Darby” Fool!
Rusty
April 13th, 2011
10:18 pm
If they keep ld they are insane.
superiorblogman
April 13th, 2011
10:19 pm
I’m glad this shi+ is over. Since Teague was the second to last guy off the bench I am now sure he will not see the floor unless it is a blowout in the playoffs. I am ready for the season to be fully over. The lockout will give Teague a chance to work on his floater, jumpshot, and get even stronger. He already has a cut body, he can add some more strength to that also. Thanks Teague for giving me hope. Phuck you Drew, phuck you Sund, phuck you ASG.
BILLY KNIGHT
April 13th, 2011
10:19 pm
Okay now it’s time for LD 2 show the world how good of coach he is, RISE UP ATL IT’S PLAYOFFS TIME.
Rusty
April 13th, 2011
10:20 pm
Lame duck
Booo!
April 13th, 2011
10:22 pm
superiorblogman, I couldn’t have said it better myself.
Slimjr
April 13th, 2011
10:22 pm
HEY CONNERS YOU WANNA COACH THESE WANNABE PROFESSIONALS IN THE PLAYOFFS?
Rusty
April 13th, 2011
10:22 pm
Lame donkey ass
Rusty
April 13th, 2011
10:24 pm
If anyone shows up to watch this team in the playoffs they are fools.
Najeh Davenpoop
April 13th, 2011
10:28 pm
I wonder if any team has ever gone into the playoffs on a six game losing streak.
The silver lining, hopefully, is that ticket prices for these playoffs games go down to the point where lower level seats for these playoff games start going for $20. Already 100-level seats are under $50 on Stubhub.
O'Brien
April 13th, 2011
10:37 pm
Props to the Bulls. They went from 41 wins last season to 62 wins this season. Did anybody see that coming? And Boozer missed 22 games, Noah missed a bunch of games too.
Rose: MVP, Thibs: COY.
W.R.Terrell
April 13th, 2011
10:38 pm
IT’S ALMOST OVER!!!!!!! LD will be gone soon, a month at the most before they remove his sorry arse out of the building. I am soooooo happy. I never thought a professional coach could be so dense but that guy is bad…..bad…..bad. I’m looking forward to next year. I refuse to get hyped about the playoffs but I know a lot of folks think Orlando will fall to the “SOFT’S”, well, that is a thought. Right now i’m in full throttle because LD is about to be set free, have mercyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy.
SteveW
April 13th, 2011
10:45 pm
Wow! And Whew! The most horrifically coached season I have ever witnessed on any level at any sport (and that’s saying something) is finally over. The players like JJ and Jamal know, judging by their comments, that LD is a total disaster. They are not planning on listening to LD it seems, and will try to salvage the playoffs themselves.
I predicted 46-36 before the season, and said 44-38 would be a total meltdown, worst case scenario unless we had Portland like injuries or something to justify it.
I think we will play Orlando tough, but probably lose in 4 straight unless they have injuries or something.
It’s weird, I always want the Hawks to win. But I almost want them to lose 0-4 so LD will get fired. But I also don’t trust ASG/Sund. He’s liable to stay even at that.
I just couldn’t bring myself to blog about this total disaster of a team and season the last couple of weeks….depressing.
And we traded JC2 and the #17 pick or something like that, when all we had to do was either fire LD, or make him play Teague 20-25 mpg. We did neither, now we have Hinrich, who must be hurt I’m assuming (surely he can’t be worse than Bibby can he?) and no future until we bring in Adelman, Brown or somebody decent who can Coach.
Section 303
April 13th, 2011
10:46 pm
Trent = d-bag
Glad this game is over. Only positive I will take from it is Hinrich playing better.
I’m ready for the playoffs. I can’t believe it, but I am really starting to think the Hawks are going to show up and play well in this series. There is no logical backing I can give to that (other than the 3 to 1 edge in season series). Just a feeling that the Hawks will play well.
SteveW
April 13th, 2011
10:53 pm
O’Brien – Certainly almost no one on this blog, when it was suggested that the Bulls had leapfrogged the Hawks. The epitaphs rained hot and heavy saying only an idiot would say that adding Boozer and a couple of shooting G’s, Asik, and having Noah, Rose, and Gibson a year older made them better than the Hawks.
Guess the cumulative blogosphere wisdom was wrong on that one.
My preseason went
1) Miami
2) Orlando
3)/4) Chicago/Boston – wasn’t sure of the order
5) Bucks – I blew that one
6) Hawks
And i think I actually had the Sixers and Knicks at 7-8 or something like that.
As bad as I can’t stand Coach Drew, I think I will still be rooting for the Hawks
Section 303
April 13th, 2011
10:55 pm
Blake Griffin has 11 pts in the first 2-minutes of the Clipper game.
SteveW
April 13th, 2011
11:01 pm
Of course we could have used Etan this season. But we have a terrible coach, who is overmatched worse than any I can ever remember.
And those that have seen my posts on other sites, you know I’m very patient with Coaches:
1) I thought Hewitt still had a shot after the first UNC game, and the young talent he had assembled.
2) Backed Richt, Donnan, and Goff
3) Thought Tech was stupid for firing Chan
4) Thought Dennis Felton deserved 1 more year
5) Wouldn’t have been mad if Woody had been retained. I was 50/50 on that one.
The point being, when I think a Coach is done, after having been a Coach, he must be absolutely awful. Which LD has been.
LD hasn’t just been awful. He’s been vindictive, irrational. My vocabulary is not extensive enough to describe his awfulness as the Head Coach of the Hawks. Indescribably bad.
SteveW
April 13th, 2011
11:05 pm
Najeh – And if I never post again, due to my frustration with this team and organization, I did want to tell you that on 80% of your posts or so, you are better than any sportswriter I read anywhere.
Yes, you defended Smoove irrationally a few times, but not lately, like at least the past couple of months. But that notwithstanding, I don’t know what you do for a living, but I would seriously consider sports journalism. You’ve got the talent.
MC may be the best I read on a consistent basis.
Your better.
Just being honest – keep up the good work!
SteveW
April 13th, 2011
11:11 pm
Now Brent LaGree is pretty good also
But between LaGree, Najeh, and MC, they walk circles around Bradley and Schultz. I wouldn’t be surprised if MC went on to bigger and better – and man I was and am a Sekou fan, but MC can get brutal, which is just what this organization needs.
Rusty
April 13th, 2011
11:22 pm
It’s just unbelievable that ld never played Etan all season when we needed someone to be a physical presence on a soft team. He would have helped tremendously. Etan must have thought this was one hell of a wasted year.
Rusty
April 13th, 2011
11:25 pm
I believe ld is a joke in the NBA & really made the whole city look bad.
Najeh Davenpoop
April 13th, 2011
11:25 pm
“The epitaphs rained hot and heavy saying only an idiot would say that adding Boozer and a couple of shooting G’s, Asik, and having Noah, Rose, and Gibson a year older made them better than the Hawks.
Guess the cumulative blogosphere wisdom was wrong on that one.”
Funny you should bring up the Bulls… I don’t know if I was one of the people raining epitaphs, but I was dead wrong about the Bulls. I thought the Hawks would easily be better than them.
Thanks for the props. I just try to call it like I see it. Like Charles Barkley says, only God is an expert.
Rev in Tampa
April 13th, 2011
11:25 pm
SteveW,
You expressed EXACTLY what I am feeling about Drew. I have never seen a worse coached team on any level in any sport. And he never has assumed any blame for any loss. It used to be that the players get credit for the win and coaches take the blame for the loss – when character mattered. But in blowout after blowout and 4th quarter meltdown after 4th quarter meltdown Drew would make some comment about the players that made it seem as if he was just an observer from the stands.
Drew has no character. He said all the right things to MC in the interviews but did not follow through with the really difficult decisions. How much did we hear about making players accountable?
It dawned on me when the 4th quarter started and Pape Sy had not seen the court in a completely meaningless game that Drew only cares about Drew. I understand that professional athletes get paid their money to sit on the bench if the coach decides to give a DNP-CD, but why not give a young man some playing time in a game like tonight? Players respond to a coach who leads them, pushes them to excel, and cares for them.
Somebody said that Drew looked like an UNDERTAKER in his brown suits and sour demeanor. The name fits him.
Rev in Tampa
April 13th, 2011
11:27 pm
SteveW,
I was referring to your 10:45 post.
drmaryb (*_-)
April 13th, 2011
11:27 pm
Pump – Faked!
I’m at the Q-Trip gas pump and just filled my hog for $80.
This little white guy just came over and said, “Mam can I have $5 for some gas? I have a car full of little kids and we don’t have enough gas to make it home.” I looked back and saw the little kids sad faces and gave him $10 for at least 2.5 gals., he goes inside , runs out and drives off w/o any gas. I backed up to his pump and it read $58.95.
I go back inside and asked Mark, “What did that guy in the red Tee purchase?”. Mark said, “2 packs of Kools.” Now, I feel like a jack-azz. My stomach hurts. I hope that guy runs out of gas and die of lung cancer, before he gets home. Next time, I will go inside pre-pay for his gas.
__________________
Lesson learned. Beware of the: “cigarettes-for-gas” hustle at these pumps. He pump-faked me at the three point line and drove to the basket for a poster dunk! I feel like a Hawk in the post!
SteveW
April 13th, 2011
11:44 pm
Rev – I agree totally about Sy tonight. Man I’m depressed and confused about the Hawks.
Best case scenario – LD resigns tonight, Adelman or somebody is fired tonight and we get Rick A. or Mike Brown to Coach us in the playoffs. Then I would feel totally comfortable rooting for them they way I want to.
Rev in Tampa
April 14th, 2011
12:02 am
I think what gets me most is that I follow the Hawks as my outlet from a stessful job. But observing Drew’s stubborn incompetence is anything but relaxing.
Rev in Tampa
April 14th, 2011
12:20 am
Reading everybodys comments on the blog is always enjoyable even if the Hawks are stinking it up on the court.
northcyde
April 14th, 2011
12:36 am
Najeh Davenpoop
April 13th, 2011
10:28 pm
I wonder if any team has ever gone into the playoffs on a six game losing streak.
The silver lining, hopefully, is that ticket prices for these playoffs games go down to the point where lower level seats for these playoff games start going for $20. Already 100-level seats are under $50 on Stubhub.
***********************
Quick glance at the ticketmaster.com website in which you can actually pick your seat . . it looks like about 2,000 – 3,000 tickets available on that site. But like you said, it may be quite a few people ( season ticket holders ) looking to sell their tickets at lower prices on other sites, especially if we lose the first 2 games.
Game 3 on next Friday . . Game 4 on next Sunday.
I usually play it safe and go the ticketmaster route, but I may have to check out stubhub, if I can get a 100 level tix for $50.
If we go up 2 – 0 coming back home, Game 3 will be pretty live. If we come home 0 – 2 . . we may not sell out the game.
We’re playing the right team though. Magic fans won’t take over our arena, even if we do only have 12,000 Hawk fans in attendance. It would be a different story for the other 3 top seeds.
northcyde
April 14th, 2011
12:50 am
LOL drmaryb . . . God will give you that money back, and then some. Your heart was in the right place, so you will be rewarded when you least expect it.
As for the Hawks . . the “core” needs to play at the highest level possible. If we can continue to keep Howard in check, we have a shot. What we don’t need, is for one of the other Orlando people going off on us . . like an Arenas or Richardson or somebody.
We’re winning defensive, low scoring battles vs Orlando. So if the defense is sound, we’ll be right there. I just want to see us come back to Philips at least tied at 1 game a piece. If that happens, I like our chances to take the series.