Atlanta Hawks: Bobcats 96, Hawks 85
Charlotte–The starters were -53 in this game, a number that’s enhanced by Zaza and Hinrich the entire third quarter alongside reserves. Over the final four games of the season Atlanta’s starters were -215.
- The Hawks finished with 44 Ws and a six-game losing streak. They were 11-20 after Feb. 5.
- The Hawks didn’t put much into these last four games. It’s still not a good look for a group with a history of taking that approach for games in which the outcome does matter.
- L.D.: “I was hoping it wouldn’t end like this. Those couple of games on the road, at Indiana and Washington, I was really hoping the guys would play at a high level but they didn’t respond to that. Now that this thing is over with, we have got to flip the switch. I am pretty confident we will do that.”
- The Hawks say they will be ready come Saturday.
- Al: No question. We were in a different situation since we already clinched. I felt like our focus shifted a little bit because we felt secure. We didn’t feel the need to go out there and play like that. Now it’s different. The playoffs are here and our minds are shifting towards that.”
- “We don’t have much of a choice,” J.J. said. “I am sure we will be ready.”
- “We will be ready for sure,” Jamal said. “Get some practices in, have the proper preparation, and we will be ready to go.”
- “What I saw these last four was not the team I saw a week and a half ago against Boston and two weeks ago against Orlando,” Drew said. “They turned the switch off. Now it’s time to turn it back on.”
- The end-of-bench guys gave a pretty good account of themselves again. Josh Powell, Damien, Etan and Pape Sy all contributed.
- The reserves played the Bobcats even after the starters opened the game nonchalantly. Then Al and J.J. returned in the second quarter and things went awry again.
- Drew finally threw in the towel for his starters after that. “I could have played them the second half but with the energy I saw the first half, it would have just been jeopardizing those guys,” he said.
- After halftime the Hawks made a game of it with their backups. Maybe this means the reserves can take some confidence into the postseason.
- “I hope so,” Damien said. “I don’t expect to get those type of minutes during the playoffs but anything is possible. We will see. All of the guys who have been getting these minutes the last couple games just want to play. At the same time, we have a good group, guys that have been here, guys that have experience in the playoffs. We have just got to find a way to keep winning.”
- Hinrich was the only regular starter to play after halftime and he finally had a positive run: 4 of 7 from the field and he kept Augustin in check. Hinrich appeared to have more pep than he had lately. “My primary focus at the start of that third quarter was to get Kirk in a rhythm,” Drew said.
- Zaza had 10 rebounds. Soon after he left the game in the first half Kwame Brown got going.
- J.J.’s jump shot is still missing. He’s been getting his post-ups and floaters lately but those won’t come so easy with Dwight roaming the paint.
- Josh wasn’t noticeable out there. He says the knee is good.
- Al logged just 10 minutes: “I thought I was going to play a little more but at the end of the day I needed the rest. Just looking forward to having a good practice tomorrow.”
- L.D. said the practice sessions over the next two days would be mostly about “mental work” without much in the way of contact.
- It’s come to this for the Hawks: Twin sat out while the normal starters played because he’s indispensable vs. Orlando. “The last thing we would need is for him to hurt the ankle again or something weird to happen,” Drew said.
Michael Cunningham, Hawks beat
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171 comments Add your comment
Astro Joe
April 14th, 2011
10:47 am
If Dwight tries to dominate on the offensive side, the Hawks may win. He simply isn’t a devestating offensive player. I think he can average 30 points in the series and the Hawks could still win if they control the other players.
Slimjr
April 14th, 2011
10:49 am
Shop Allstar AL
Shop Josh
waive goodby to the invisible man
JC1 run dont walk
KevinM
April 14th, 2011
10:51 am
JeJe, that one move by LDII gave Carolina their moxie back. He has been dragging them down like Saul Smith kept Tubby’s teams from improving….Chris Duhon had zero interest being an understudy.
LD the coach might be a good #2 but he def is overmatched as a 1…..like sending Andy Roddick up against Nadal…..like sending Lenny Wilkens’ teams in Cleveland up against the Bulls in the playoffs…just overmatched all the way around. See the Jazz’ history against the Lakers in the playoffs.
Slimjr
April 14th, 2011
10:54 am
LD,BOB WIESS,MORA,N. TURNER. WADE PHILLIPS,COX= ROUND PEG,SQUARE HOLE…
JeJe
April 14th, 2011
10:57 am
KevinM,
I agree with your points but I don’t think Sloan was overmatched by Phil Jackson. The Lakers just have a far better and more complete roster than anyone in the league. Didn’t the Lakers destroy Utah 3 years in a row in the Playoffs? LOL
JeJe
April 14th, 2011
10:59 am
We need Collins healthy, but if Dwight is hitting his free throws, we may be in trouble. We need to get that Chant going with the “10, 9, 8….”
BTW who exactly is that section that is always wearing the same color? It is behind the Hawks bench kinda but way toward the back under the balcony. I’m sure someone here knows. I remember the Milwaukee series last year when they did the “naw naw naw naw hey heyyyy goodbye”
Good stuff
Section 303
April 14th, 2011
11:10 am
JeJe, you have to try out to be part of that section. If you make it, I believe you get into the game for free. Not sure when/where you try out, though.
That section has always struck me as a wannabe IZZONE or Cameron Crazy section.
JeJe
April 14th, 2011
11:22 am
Good stuff, Section 303.
I think their chant during Dwight’s FTs rattles him. It’s good to see that at least someone/some people in the arena actually have passion or care. I wish the whole arena was like that
JOEY1
April 14th, 2011
11:24 am
if the hawks can play good d on d howard and limit the perimeter shooters shot made we can easily win this series, but we have to have no show johnson actually show up and play with some heart , if jj shows up abd plays with heart as he did against boston 3 years ago , the hawks can make it to the eastern conference finals….but who on the hawks team really plays with heart minus zaza, teague and smith??????
The Game Has Changed
April 14th, 2011
11:25 am
@JeJe- The Bulls and Thunders have all stars what are you talking about. There may be 4 or 5 bench players that you dont know but you know the starters and the first guys that come off the bench.
JeJe
April 14th, 2011
11:32 am
The Game Has Changed,
Ibaka, Sefolosha, Ronnie Brewer, Korver etc. don’t come to mind as big-name players, but they are all hella good and productive
We have guys like Smoove, Crawford, and Marvin who all underachieve quite a bit. I don’t think we’re less talented than either of those teams, 1-7 – especially Chicago
JeJe
April 14th, 2011
11:33 am
We have 2 All Stars (although I don’t think they really are good enough to be All Stars next year), Smoove, Jamal, Marvin, and Hinrich. That right there is enough to compete with either of those teams talentwise.
BUT THEY HAVE FAR BETTER COACHES AND NO UNDERACHIEVERS
The Game Has Changed
April 14th, 2011
11:38 am
For everyone talking about shaking up the roster, you are just spitting in the wind. We just need to add a center and a point guard. Not a guard yall say plays D and gives us 3 points a game. Mario West and Moe Evans gave us that. We need or should I say we need to keep our core
Najeh Davenpoop
April 14th, 2011
11:46 am
“And LD sux, but is it fair to judge LD’s 1st year, based on Woody’s 6th? Just asking.”
No, it’s not fair to grade a rookie coach on the same curve as a sixth year coach. But at the same time, LD’s preexisting familiarity with the strengths and weaknesses of this team give him a little less margin for error than if a rookie coach with no prior connection to this organization had been hired.
What I’m afraid of is that LD will never be able to succeed with this group due to his familiarity with them. His problems seem to be related to motivating players, not X’s and O’s. It would seem to me that it’s easier for a good motivator like Woody to make changes to his system and get his players to buy into those changes (if there was someone like Woody who was actually willing to change his system) than it is for a poor motivator with a good system to suddenly improve on his ability to motivate the same players who have already tuned him out once.
lewis
April 14th, 2011
11:48 am
Hawks fan
April 14th, 2011
8:48 am
John kuester Kurt rambis Byron Scott Flip Saunders should be fired along with LD at the end of the season
How can u put Byron Scott with those names? He is a great coach in a bad situation.
JeJe
April 14th, 2011
11:54 am
If we are worried about what happens this summer, I’d try extend Damien for 2 years ASAP. He is a solid defender, has heart, and actually can hit jumpshots (contrary to what people believe).
Najeh, I don’t think Woody would EVER make changes. He NEVER EVER changed the starting lineup, even with Marvin sucking. It didn’t help Collins wasn’t in shape, but Woodson was NOT a good coach and his offfensive strategies (or lack thereof) was garbage
LD AND WOODY ARE GARBAGE
GET A VAN GUNDY IN HERE AND CONVINCE THEM THIS TEAM IS WILLING TO SPEND MONEY
ag
April 14th, 2011
12:00 pm
I disagree because most of those ooaches inherited bad teams, unlike LD. He should never have been hired. His career should have began with a bad team that he could help grow. I think LD should start Teague in the playoffs. Another sign of disrepect, he played KH more than the starters.. to get him going, when a player is clearly outplaying him, but is on the bench.
Najeh Davenpoop
April 14th, 2011
12:14 pm
“Najeh, I don’t think Woody would EVER make changes. He NEVER EVER changed the starting lineup, even with Marvin sucking. It didn’t help Collins wasn’t in shape, but Woodson was NOT a good coach and his offfensive strategies (or lack thereof) was garbage”
I agree. I think I worded my earlier post wrong. What I meant to say was that if there was someone who could motivate players like Woody, but who was also willing to make changes and adjustments to his system unlike Woody, they would be more likely to improve as a coach with this group of players than someone like Drew.
Najeh Davenpoop
April 14th, 2011
12:20 pm
“they got rid of bibby.. now marvin should be next.. slowly changing the core… ”
Why does everything with this team have to be “slowly”?
OKC had the #2 pick in 2007 and now they are legitimate championship contenders. CHI had the #1 pick in 2008 and now they are legitimate championship contenders. ATL had the #2 pick in 2005 and now they are in no man’s land. Not that I’m blaming Marvin for all the Hawks’ problems by any means, but the point is that it took four and three years respectively for those teams to go from the top of the lottery to the cream of the crop. It has taken our beloved Hawks six years to go from the top of the lottery to middle of the pack.
Najeh Davenpoop
April 14th, 2011
12:23 pm
“If Howard and SVG figure out how to handle Twin, then all we can hope for is that Dwight’s FT shooting is off.”
Exactly. And if we should remember anything from the first round of the playoffs last year, it is that good coaches find a way to adjust their schemes to attack opponents at their weakest point when given extra days to prepare in the playoffs. Scott Skiles found a way to shred the switching defense in the first round and Woody barely counter-adjusted in time to avoid getting eliminated by the Bucks. Orlando will surely have a counterattack planned for Collins.
Wink
April 14th, 2011
12:27 pm
Playoff time…4 games to go…BOOM!
News Flash: Breaking News…..
Atlanta Spirit Group fires Larry Drew! In serious negoiations with Bobby Petrino to take over coaching duties… seems he has heard about the CORE and is familiar with the city. ASG quoted as saying “Nothing like getting a Quitter to lead a team of Quitters!!!
Wink
April 14th, 2011
12:30 pm
Any word on Woody…..have not seen or heard from him all season. Must have had an anonymous clause in his contract!!
SteveW
April 14th, 2011
12:51 pm
Orlando is vunerable. One reason ASG fired Woody (or did not renew his contract to be more precise) was, as Gearon said, a misutilization of Collins. I think he was referring specifically to the Orlando series, when Woody finally used Collins it was like wow, we can handle these guys. But Woody being Woody wasn’t about to shift mid stream. I’ve never seen another coach totally incapable of changing a strategy as Woody was. Imagine that, 2 terribly bad coaches straight for the Hawks (actually, alot more than that – last good Coach was Lenny).
SteveW
April 14th, 2011
12:59 pm
Anyway, we basically did our entire off season roster with Orlando in mind it seemed. Collins got fit. Etan comes in. We’re preparing for Dwight.
Now with Hinrich/Teague, I think we have a slight answer for Jameer, Arenas, Duhon, if LD will rotate properly. My concern is he does the Bataan death march with Hinrich and Jamal at Point, the Richardson’s and Reddick get hot from outside, as well as Turk and Anderson, and we are toast once again.
And I would feel alot better about this series with one more perimeter defender like Mo’ Evans. Can’t believe LD’s stupidity cost us not only JC2 and a 1st pick, just because he wouldn’t play Teague more at PG, but also cost a situational player for this series and the playoffs in Mo.
Now Mo’ was playing terrible, and LD for whatever reason couldn’t make himself play Wilkens (still can’t, weird). But I wouldnt’ mind having him as an option to run at the Magic perimeter guys on occasion.
LD has cost this team in so many ways…
BTW – I’m glad that Pig Miller trade fell thru with Houston at the deadline. ZaZa has been a beast since, or at least a beast for ZaZa’s standards.
Trojan
April 14th, 2011
1:01 pm
The Thunder are an example of what happens when you actually have a plan and try to CONSTRUCT a team.
The Hawks are an example of what happens when you go through the motions as cheaply as possible and hope for a miracle despite not really worrying about having drafts of forwards each year.
Kendrick Perkins could have helped the Hawks, oh, I forgot he makes more than the vet minimum.
SteveW
April 14th, 2011
1:02 pm
If LD had any sense as a HC we could have:
Had Teague playing 30 minutes per night on Jameer
Had JC2 playing 3 spot minutes per half at PG also
Had Bibby for long range shooting, leadership, and fresh only playing 10 minutes per game or so.
Had Mo’ as well as Wilkens for perimeter D.
LD messed us up
darrell starks
April 14th, 2011
1:04 pm
Trojan there is nothing wrong with the hawks they have talent, it’s just that woody and ld just can’t coach.
GO HAWKS!!!!!!!!!!!!
schmeckdawg
April 14th, 2011
1:05 pm
4 more games and the Drew experience will be all over. But at least he didn’t quit like his punk a$$ son!
darrell starks
April 14th, 2011
1:07 pm
If hinrich and marvin starte the hawks will loose the series.
GO HAWKS!!!!!!!!!!!
darrell starks
April 14th, 2011
1:08 pm
Teague and Collins have starte if the hawks are going have a chance.
GO HAWKS!!!!!!!!!!!!
SteveW
April 14th, 2011
1:08 pm
Playoff roster if the LD destruction had not taken place:
Starters vs Magic:
Collins
Horford
Smith
JJ
Teague
And a great bench of :
Jamal
Marvin
Wilkens
Mo
ZaZa
Bibby
And JC2 or Etan depending on what you wanted to do.
Deep, situational, and physical against Dwight.
Now again, I know Mo was playing terrible before the trade. But I have a feeling that at some point in this series, we are going to say it sure would be good to have 1 more defender to throw at the Richardson’s and Reddick.
SteveW
April 14th, 2011
1:11 pm
Last time I saw Hinrich on Jameer, it wasn’t pretty.
Last time I saw Jamal on anybody, it wasn’t pretty.
Hope LD has sense enough to play Teague, but I doubt it.
SteveW
April 14th, 2011
1:13 pm
We are gonna need Marvin on Anderson and Turkoglo, because I don’t know who else we have long and lean enough to guard them. Josh and Al will have defensive problems against them.
And Bass may “Chucky Hayes” Al.
darrell starks
April 14th, 2011
1:16 pm
Not one time have i seen COACH LD curse a player out, the greatest player 2 play M.J. have been curse out by Phil Jackson, thats the different between a good coach and a weak coach, at least woody would pull a player 2 the side and get in there grill, but LD is so laid back that the hawks have become a soft team.
GO HAWKS!!!!!!!!!!!!
SteveW
April 14th, 2011
1:17 pm
I think that’s the frustrating thing; we finally have Orlando in a vunerable position, and we may not have the Coach to exploit it.
And with a decent Coach, I’ve always thought we match up well with Chicago, and even the Heat.
Maybe LD is praying to God for wisdom. God will grant it. And the Hawks will be in the ECF. It seems like our only hope.
SteveW
April 14th, 2011
1:20 pm
Maybe Sund got Hilton as a throw in just so he can help defend Anderson a little bit, I don’t know.
And for those that like Teague and JC2, thank Pendergraft. I think we finally have a guy that can pinpoint talent maybe, at least guard play.
JOEY1
April 14th, 2011
1:20 pm
1 if the hawks can play good d on d howard and limit the perimeter shooters shot made we can easily win this series, but we have to have no show johnson actually show up and play with some heart , if jj shows up abd plays with heart as he did against boston 3 years ago , the hawks can make it to the eastern conference finals….but who on the hawks team really plays with heart minus zaza, teague and smith??????
O'Brien
April 14th, 2011
1:21 pm
I am ok with Kirk starting on Jameer. However, if it is clear from early on (first-second quarter) that Jameer is having his way with Kirk, then LD needs to go to Teague and see if he can provide a spark.
My fear is LD will automatically bring in Jamal to replace Kirk. If that happens, all we can hope for is that Jamal’s shot is on, because he will give up alot of points on defense.
SteveW
April 14th, 2011
1:22 pm
So we finally get a talent evaluator, and we trade one of his 1st picks that he drafted (JC2), trade another 1st pick (#18), and refuse to use another of his picks (Teague). Sad, if it weren’t so funny. Or stupid.
darrell starks
April 14th, 2011
1:23 pm
Steve W marvin is horrible Josh give you 10 times more of effort than marvin at the 3, plus you put josh on the block at smallforward he score at will all day, you put marvin in the post he fall and trip over his on shoes, marvin is clumsy.
GO HAWKS!!!!!!!!!!!!
SteveW
April 14th, 2011
1:36 pm
Kirk, this is what we brought you here for – step up to the plate please!
Matchups:
C- Collins, Etan, ZaZa on Dwight – I think we know this matchup. We can at least slow Dwight.
PF – Al and Josh on Bass and Anderson – We are way more talented, but Bass the bruiser and Anderson the outside guy provide unique challenges for us.
SF – Josh and Marvin against Hedo – Again, I think Hedo provides a little bit of a match up problem for us. Nothing good coaching couldn’t solve however. Adjustments will have to be made during the flow of the game.
SG – JJ and Jamal vs. Jason Richardson and Reddick. J Richardson is a real enigma. The guys a player, but he hasn’t done well since the trade to Orlando. I think he’s a key to this series for them. If he’s the Jason Richardson he should be, Orlando is going to be hard to beat by anybody in the playoffs, including us. But if he’s still in a funk, we gotta shot, especially if Reddick doesn’t become Vinny Johnson junior.
PG – Hinrich and Teague against Jameer, Arenas, and Duhon. If LD will rotate this properly, we can neutralize this position. If LD let’s Hinrich and Jamal get destroyed by Jameer, then LD is just stupid.
Other role players: Wilkens, Powell, Hilton for us – maybe Sy but i doubt it – and Q Richardson and Malik Allen for the Magic. Probably about a wash.
So the key will come down to Coaching, specifically player rotations and enforcing your game plan on your players. And in those two areas, I don’t trust LD one bit. We have the potential to win this series, but LD hinders us.
SteveW
April 14th, 2011
1:41 pm
Darrel – I feel your pain. But do you remember the Chicago game we won? Against Hedo and Ryan Anderson, that’s the Marvin we need. Both of those long lean athletes will take advantage of Josh outside, watch and see.
And based on this year, I don’t trust Josh to take either of them on the low block either. He could, but I’m concerned Josh will try to beat Hedo and Anderson at their game. And he’s not nearly as good at their game as they are.
But yes, if Josh would play the way Josh should, he can have some match up advantages. Whether Josh will remains to be seen.
SteveW
April 14th, 2011
1:43 pm
I mean Orlando has a couple of 6-10, 6-11 guys who are deadly from long range. Perimeter defense is not Josh’s speciality, help and to a lesser extant man defense is. We better have somebody on the roster that’s long (6-9) with an enormous wing span than can guard those 2. Because a defense of hoping they miss for the entire series is not a good plan.
Section 303
April 14th, 2011
1:47 pm
SteveW, that’s a pretty good break down.
My concern with stopping Howard comes from the officials. Twin always has done decent work against Howard. Remember Game 2 last year (that’s the game the Hawks kinda-sorta tried hard in)? Twin drew two clear charges on Howard that were called personnal fouls on Twin. If the games are called that way, we have no shot.
If the games are called like the last game here in Atlanta we have a chance. Howard was in foul trouble most of the game (Twin drew 2 charges). He goes out. There no Gotat coming to back him up. The Magic are stuck with Brandon Bass or Ryan Anderson (the last game in Atlanta Anderson came off the bench for Howard in the 2nd quarter).
As a Michigan State Spartan alum, I love J-Rich. I agree with you, SteveW. J-Rich could possibly do some damage in this series.
SteveW
April 14th, 2011
1:49 pm
Last season Dwight and Jameer killed us. They opened up the wings and we were beaten in historic fashion, just as Woody’s assistant who is now HC has lead us to historic beatdowns this season (great having 2 history making coaches this close together isn’t it?).
But we can neutralize both those guys if we will I just hope Teague doesn’t turn an ankle, or we’ve got some real match up problems at the Point.
SteveW
April 14th, 2011
1:53 pm
303 – I agree about the officials. I remember last season the ‘Cats really pushed the Magic, because Larry Brown just went right at Dwight and got him in foul trouble. I am totally perplexed that Orlando didn’t get a backup C at the trade deadline. You would think they could’ve gotten somebody better than Malik Allen, but they didn’t.
It’s a shame officiating may determine this series.
And don’t you think the NBA wants LeBrat and Kobe in the Finals? $$$$’s all around.
The Game Has Changed
April 14th, 2011
2:01 pm
@JeJe-We will have 3 all-stars next year.Josh cant get any worse and Joe should be healthy. Also those players you named are not big time but we all know them. So sit back and watch us shock the world the first and second rounds
SteveW
April 14th, 2011
2:03 pm
When I was to frustrated with this team to blog, I ran across an interesting theory I’m not sure was posted here. And I don’t think I buy the premise, but it is worth mentioning – it was from Bret LaGree if I’m not mistaken.
The theory went that Jamal and LD must have had some type of financial understanding. That even if LD was fired, since he’s only making like 1.5M next season anyway, that if he continued to play Jamal big minutes, even to the detriment of the team, that Jamal would make it worth his while.
Again, I don’t think I buy it, but thought it was worth mentioning. Anybody else see the article?
JOEY1
April 14th, 2011
2:04 pm
again this is the key to winining ther series-if the hawks can play good d on d howard and limit the perimeter shooters shot made we can easily win this series, but we have to have no show johnson actually show up and play with some heart , if jj shows up abd plays with heart as he did against boston 3 years ago , the hawks can make it to the eastern conference finals….but who on the hawks team really plays with heart minus zaza, teague and smith??????
Section 303
April 14th, 2011
2:06 pm
SteveW, your LeBrat/Kobe comment reminds me of my brother in-law. He won’t watch the NBA because he thinks it’s fixed. I pointed out to him, if that were the case, why have we not seen LeBron and Kobe in the Finals together? That’s the matchup everyone (not me, you , or anyone else on here) wants to see.
I forgot about Allen. I bet they still give Anderson first shot at backing up Howard (Bass starts, right?). Anderson is a good player, but the Hawks can match him. In fact, when Anderson has to guard Horford that’s a huge advantage for the Hawks.
Uh-oh……I’m starting to talk myself into thinking the Hawks have a chance in this series. I need to re-read Michael’s game recap and get those thoughts out of my head. Those “flip the switch” quotes just killed my attitude when I read them this morning.