Atlanta Hawks at Magic Game 2: Dwight Defense and jump shots Part II?
Orlando–Some stats types are dismissive of the Hawks’ Game 1 victory because of the way Hurricane Dwight scattered them and also because of all of those long jump shots they made.
Example: Mike Prada of SBNation.
Apparently, it is possible for an NBA team to allow a player to score 46 points and be universally praised for it. Dwight Howard ran all over the Atlanta Hawks’ single-coverage, but because nobody else on his team decided to do much of anything, the Hawks came away with a Game 1 victory on the road. Howard and Jameer Nelson scored 73 points; everyone else on the Magic scored 20. Howard and Nelson shot 26-41; everyone else shot 8-34. It was a brilliant strategy by the Hawks to make sure that their horrible teammates had horrible games. Let’s praise them for it!
Snark aside, the bottom line is this. Playing Howard straight-up and taking away the three-point shooters is a strategy. Allowing Howard to score 46 points and hope his teammates shoot 8-34 is not. Luckily, the Hawks shot nearly 50 percent from 16-23 feet and made it work. That doesn’t mean it’s a sustainable long-term strategy, but whenever writers are given the chance to question Howard’s worth as a player for being just the 11th player since 1985 to score 45 or more points in a playoff game and lose, they’ll take it.
I like the snark, especially in service of going against the grain to knock down memes. But Prada’s take is pretty cynical. “Nobody else on the team decided to do much of anything” makes it sound as if the Hawks gave Dwight’s teammates lots of opportunities and they just didn’t take them. Similarly “hope his teammates shoot 8-34″ could instead be construed as “try to make sure they do.” Isn’t that the whole point of staying home on them?
And I hope no one is questioning Howard’s worth as a player based on Game 1 (or based on much of anything, really). Heck, if I’m the Magic, I don’t worry about getting anybody else involved if Dwight is hammering the Hawks again. Why give more chances to players who are not going to be as efficient? If Dwight has another monster game, the Magic could simply cut down on their turnovers, get more stops (which Stan Van Gundy acknowledges won’t be easy because of the match ups) and win. If so, the Dwight Defense will have been conquered.
Game 1 is not an indictment of Howard’s worth as a player. Instead, as Rob Mahoney noted at ProBasketballTalk: “This series could stand as an exercise [in] the limits of superstardom, as even a game-changing force like Howard is left a spectator to the shortcomings of his own teammates.”
It’s true the Hawks made a lot of long 2s but put that in the context that they made them at a higher percentage than any team during the regular season. It’s a tad dismissive to chalk it up those Game 1 jumpers to luck when the Hawks have more skilled jump shooters than most teams (and when the Magic don’t have the defenders to consistently challenge those shots). And much to my surprise the Hawks, thanks to J.J., were more than just a jump-shooting team in Game 1.
Van Gundy is a stats guy and also outspoken, so I thought he would shrug off Atlanta’s ability to make the most inefficient shots in basketball over the long run. But he didn’t do so.
“They are efficient with it,” Van Gundy said. “A lot of people don’t know that Al Horford, outside of 10 or 12 feet, he is the highest-percentage shooter in the league. That includes guards and guys like Nowitzki. Now he doesn’t stretch it out to three but he can make those shots. . . . They have a lot of guys who shoot the ball very well from that range. If we can get them down below what they normally do then I think we have a hell of a chance.”
Sounds like Van Gundy isn’t only hoping the Hawks miss those shots but believes the Magic actually have to do something to stop them.
Notes
- Unlike yesterday, Josh didn’t have ice on his sore elbow prior to shootaround. “It feels better,” he said. “Two days [rest] did good. It feels all right. I still feel [pain] a little bit but I am pretty sure I won’t feel it tonight.” Josh said he would probably wear a padded sleeve tonight.
- L.D. said he didn’t expect Josh’s injury to limit him much: “When he’s not scoring he has the ability to impact the game. The one thing I’ve talked to him in this series is zeroing in on Turkoglu and not allow him to get into a rhythm. I really believe with the elbow hurt he can still impact the game.”
- Drew on adjustments for Game 2: “We are going to start the game as we did the last game. I am not going to panic with adjustments until we start getting hurt with things. Sometimes I think the tendency is to start making adjustments when there is no need to. I am not going to do anything out of the ordinary. If you have to make adjustments, do it but not if you don’t have to.”
- Drew on how the Hawks will react of the Magic run them off jump shots: “If the drive allows us to get to the basket, we will get to the basket. If it allows us to play a mid range game, we will play with that. We are going to allow our instincts to take over. We are not going to predetermine what we are going to do offensively. The one thing we can’t do is shy away from getting to the basket, irregardless of who is down there. We recognize Dwight being a defensive presence in the low block and near the basket but I don’t think that should shy away from getting to the basket.”
- J.J. on Orlando’s plan to disrupt him more in Game 2: “I’m going to just pick my spots like I did in Game 1. Not be too aggressive, but at the same time be aggressive enough to where I am making plays. We will see. I am sure they are going to come a lot quicker, especially with the double teams. We will see how everything works out.”
- Josh on expecting the Magic to play with more intensity: “We have to control the tempo of the game because with them having the fans on their side it is going to be pretty hard to win the game. So we have to stay even-keeled when they make a run, don’t get discouraged and fight back and make a run of our own.”
- Joe on the team’s mindset: “Like I said before Game 1, I think we are all ready and prepared in here. We are all confident and we believe in one another.”
- AJC wise guy Jeff Schultz weighs in on Van Gundy and Dwight’s takes on Twin’s tactics.
Michael Cunningham, Hawks beat
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694 comments Add your comment
Najeh Davenpoop
April 19th, 2011
10:43 pm
As good as Smoove was on D and as under control as he played on O, I thought he could have crashed the boards better particularly in the first half. 6 boards in 34 minutes is not enough for him. Collins doesn’t grab boards but he does box out. Someone has to swoop in and grab those boards and keep them away from the Magic, like Al did in the second half. Brandon Bass and Ryan Anderson each had 4 offensive boards, and while a lot of them came against the Hawks’ bench scrubs, several of them came at times when Smoove could have prevented it.
Booo!
April 19th, 2011
10:44 pm
Al, waSn’t Making his FT’s but the big thing was WE WERe ONLY DOWN TWO POINTS WITH A CHANCE TO TIE AND THE ONLY PERSON BETWEEN YOU AND THE BASKET IS BRANDON BASS SO YOU TAKE A FALLAWAY JUMPER AND BRICK it?
SUPER SOFT PLAY RIGHT THERE! SOFTER THAN CHARMIN ULTRA-SOFT TISSUE PAPER!
“STONEWALL “BOSS’ HOrFORD” JUST HAD THE BEST EXAMPLE OF A BRAIN-FART IVE’VE EVER SEEN IN MY LIFE!
SMH!
mykhalc
April 19th, 2011
10:46 pm
man i REALLY hate the Hawks offensive sets…HATE ‘EM!!! really makes me appreciate CHI and the way EVERYBODY on the floor goes to the rim!!! i mean everybody and ALL the time!!! i just don’t understand what makes it sooooooooooooooo f’n difficult for the Hawks to understand it. this team could win the championship this year and i’d STILL want ‘em blown up…from ownership on down!!! this group is really not enjoyable to watch…PERIOD!!!
Booo!
April 19th, 2011
10:46 pm
And the refs! my goodness the refs! What were their names! I double dare them to step one foot on GA soil! I got people at Hartsfield Dammit. They wont make it to the Arena!
Najeh Davenpoop
April 19th, 2011
10:46 pm
I believe the Hawks out-rebounded the Magic in the second half, with Al playing the entire time. He didn’t have his offensive game going, passing up shots he should have taken and bricking shots he usually makes, but he made a huge difference on the boards.
Section 303
April 19th, 2011
10:47 pm
Najeh, I apologize. That’s going to have to be good enough. I can only draw stick figures, so the calligraphy is out of the question.
Booo!
April 19th, 2011
10:48 pm
This type of venting is better off on the ESPN boards were they are fully awara of the Evil that is David Stern lol.
Section 303
April 19th, 2011
10:49 pm
I am anxious to hear from Larry Drew these next two days. He has to make comments on the officiating. You just can’t sit there and take that. No point in playing the rest of these games if Dwight Howard has a free pass to throw elbows and set screens like an O-lineman.
I have to give Zaza a lot of credit tonight. He seems to get under Howard’s skin even more than Twin does.
Rusty
April 19th, 2011
10:49 pm
Ld you are an idiot, so many dumb moves this game is on you,idiot
Booo!
April 19th, 2011
10:50 pm
Great game by Jamal and Joe though. I relly hope they can stay hot throught this series.
Jae Evolution
April 19th, 2011
10:58 pm
Why are we worried, we played great in game 1 they came to play game 2. We already stole one on the road, now we go back home all we have to do is take care of business we have a 3-1 lead going back to Orlando, I have faith we can do this.
where are the true fans
April 19th, 2011
10:58 pm
I agree with you Section 303 LD needs to say something, show the team he has there backs. Yeah it did look like ZaZa was getting under his skin tonight, could have got more rebounds tonight if he wasn’t being thrown to the floor all the time.
Slimjr
April 19th, 2011
10:59 pm
Thanks to Mr. Stern and his THUGS for giving ALLSTAR AL TO Fouls within the first 5 mins of the freaking game!!!!!
We all know you want Superman to advance for ratings sake and the way our lousy BIGS played you’ll have your way…..
HAWKS= one trick pony, JUMPSHOTS OR ______________! Nothing else…………
Slimjr
April 19th, 2011
11:02 pm
Man ALLSTAR AL is brutal to watch on the offensive end..He looks like a 60 year old retired former college basketball player………………………..YAWN…………………
northcyde
April 19th, 2011
11:05 pm
Rusty . you didn’t say anything after Game 1 because you couldn’t. You’d look like a complete idiot if you did.
One thing about it though Crusty . . if JJ doesn’t play well in this series, we don’t beat the Magic. So I hope you’re not secretly rooting against the dude, just so you can rag on him. I’m not the biggest Jamal Crawford fan in the world, but I will give him props when he plays well.
Too many of you guys just come off as haters. Whether it be toward JJ, or Smith, or Al, or whomever. If those guys play bad, it’s fine to rip them. But if they play well, I would expect that you would be cheering those guys on, not be silent and run and hide.
Act like a fan of the team, not of players. At the end of the day, the only thing that matters is that we win the damn game, regardless of who pulls us though. It’ll just be easier if our main scorer gets his 20 ppg + 5 assists every night.
Mike W
April 19th, 2011
11:06 pm
Can us hawks fans please show up for games 3 and 4,give this team support.they really showed that they deserved it the way they played this 1st two games,i have faith hawks can win these two games at home.i was hoping they won this game but i can see hawks are still confident after this one loss.Lets go Hawks!!
O'Brien
April 19th, 2011
11:07 pm
If LD makes any comments about the officiating, he will probably get fined. And considering he is already the lowest paid coach in the league…he might not want to make that payment.
But I do think the refs were horrible. Its almost like they wanted to make sure Dwight won this game so that the series is tied 1-1.
And I think LD should say something. but its not his style. How many Techs has he received all year?
northcyde
April 19th, 2011
11:10 pm
And we lost this game because the Magic killed us on the offensive boards. And because our leading rebounder sat the bench for 22 minutes in the 1st half, you have to place a chunk of the blame on the coach tonight, sad to say.
He just can’t do that. Al is a 4th year player and played 4 years in college. He knows how to play through foul trouble. At some point, Drew has to trust his captain to play smart basketball, plus play hard.
And seeing that Al also is one of our main offensive weapons, that benching was a catastrophic move on his part. Regardless if we were winning the game or not, you have to put him back in to see if we can stretch that lead out.
Slimjr
April 19th, 2011
11:10 pm
Then NBA office said refs(we) missed a call in the game one of the Denver/OKC game at crunch time by not calling an obvious offensive interference on OKC and the basket should not have counted..I dont have proof but lets just say my gut is telling me they did not make a mistake by not making the call with 3 sets of refs eyes on the ball at the rim?????
Come on Son!!!!! Thats BULL____!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
O'Brien
April 19th, 2011
11:11 pm
northcyde,
One thing I was surprised about. As good as Jamal looked on O (8-17 from the field for 25 pts), he was still -10 for the game (the worst rating off all Hawks players).
Another question I have for LD, is if JJ is struggling with his shot, why not play Jamal at SG and let Teague play PG (especially in the 3rd when the Hawks scored 12 pts)?
JJ played 43 minutes tonight. 43. He did have 5 rebs and 7 assists, but he went 6-15 from the field, and had 5 turnovers.
Nique's Revenge
April 19th, 2011
11:11 pm
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=david%20stern.
been sayin’ get rid of him for almost 20 years now…
can the Hawks beat the Magic playing 5 on 8?
Buddy Grizzard
April 19th, 2011
11:11 pm
“Im still sitting here waiting for one of you coach bashers to say,”GOOD GAME DREW”.” – Game has Changed
GOOD GAME DREW!!
GOOD GAME DREW!!
GOOD GAME DREW!!
GOOD GAME DREW!!
GOOD GAME DREW!!
GOOD GAME DREW!!
GOOD GAME DREW!!
GOOD GAME DREW!!
O'Brien
April 19th, 2011
11:14 pm
From Jeff Schultz’ blog;
The bigger issue was losing Al Horford. He drew two fouls in the first two minutes and Drew made the curious decision — as he has all season — to sit Horford out for the remainder of the half.
When Horford got back into game in the second half, he looked out of rhythm and didn’t hit his first bucket until the fourth. The Hawks were outrebounded 52-39. Orlando had 20 offensive boards — most of those when Horford was on the bench.
“I got taken out of the game quick in the first half — I feel like that affected us,” Horford said. “They had 16 offensive rebounds in the first half. That’s something I have to be more conscious about. I was out of rhythm. It took me a while to get going. The team played well but we just missed some shots.”.
You would think LD would have learned to trust Horford by now. How mnay games has al fouled out of all year (or for his career)?
Slimjr
April 19th, 2011
11:15 pm
LD=2012 LOTTERY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
FREE TEAGUE BUSTER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Section 303
April 19th, 2011
11:16 pm
I’m out for the night. Stayed up with the hopes of hearing some of Drew’s presser, but I guess I missed it. I’m just hoping he says something about the terrible officiating.
Huge missed opportunity tonight. Hawks should be up 2-0.
Slimjr
April 19th, 2011
11:18 pm
Al is so slow, he would have picked up two more fouls before the 2nd quarter………………His head was not in it…But the 1st two were ticky tack calls…
Mr. Stern and his THUGS were at it again………………………..
Nique's Revenge
April 19th, 2011
11:19 pm
Hawks victory – terrible coaching – fixed refs = Magic win
game summary
J.J.M.
April 19th, 2011
11:23 pm
lol now howard wants to speak to themedia
Dwight Howard
April 19th, 2011
11:25 pm
Hi, I’m Dwight Howard.
And in section J paragraph 15 of the NBA rule book, it states “Moving screens are illegal and result in a foul on the player setting the moving screen (unless you are Dwight Howard).”
Also, let me direct your attention to section B paragraph 6 of said book, “dribbling, taking a hop step, then three more steps, shall be called traveling, and result in the offending player relinquishing the ball to the other team (unless you are Dwight Howard).”
Signed by Stern. Don’t hate
Slimjr
April 19th, 2011
11:28 pm
DAVID STERN= GANGSTA
Slimjr
April 19th, 2011
11:29 pm
MR STERN IT IS SO OBVIOUS NOW!!!!!!!! I HAVE SEEN THE LIGHT NO…YOU ARE A GANGSTER!
Slimjr
April 19th, 2011
11:31 pm
THE REFS+LD= MAGIC WIN
Get Real
April 19th, 2011
11:38 pm
Is it within the real of anyone’s comprehension that LD was hired on the promise of having a better offensive scheme and “getting guys shots moving toward the basket”?
Does anybody remember this VOW by LD? Fans? Management? Anyone? Why is LD not being reamed a knew A@@ho)! for this display of jump-shooting? Why” Why? Why?
If a person misrepresents themselves — you cut them loose! You don’t wait. They lied to you. Lieing is not acceptable and cannot be tolerated because of some imagined “continuity issue.”
If your ole man or ole lady cheats you — you kick their ass out NOW? You don’t go to counciling, wait to “pass go” or “collect $200.” You kick’em the hell out RIGHT NOW! As soon a you find out.
This jacking-up jump-shots bullS-*#) — is supposed to be LD’s effort to improve our PLAYOFF PERFORMANCE ?
I’ve never seen such an humiliating display of patheticism (jumpers) and cowardness by an entire NBA team in my 42 years of watching the NBA! This game was actually winnable.
One Final thought —- Orlando isn’t worth a damn, either. Whichever of these teams advances will be lucky to not get swept by Chicago.
Rusty
April 19th, 2011
11:39 pm
It’s going to be real hard to win this series with ld at the helm.
Slimjr
April 19th, 2011
11:40 pm
Chicago will sweep Orlando or Atlanta at this pt……
mykhalc
April 19th, 2011
11:43 pm
the Pacers play better ball than either ORL or the Hawks. i wonder if LD thinks he’s smart, so that makes him smart…in his mind??? game 1 did not change my mind on him as a HC…that’s for sho!!!
northcyde
April 19th, 2011
11:45 pm
From what I can see, Horford has only fouled out of a regular season game 2 times in his career. Once last year, and once in his rookie year. This year, he finished the game with 5 fouls only 7 times.
Rusty
April 19th, 2011
11:53 pm
I’m watching Boston & NY, it’s making me sick watching rondo & Douglas getting easy layups with there speed & penetrating for easy baskets for their team mates while jt sits on the bench.
Grandad
April 19th, 2011
11:53 pm
Every time I start to think;
“maybe LD is starting to figure things out”
he does somethin’ goofy, again !
Fouling Al out in the 1st half ?
[not the officials / Al's own head coach fouled him out]
*(the officials…..now they were flat out crooked)
Dwight could get 5 fouls in the 1st and I betcha he don’t foul out.
Another thing / knowing this / Dwight’s a bully.
*[realizing he cannot /will not foul out.
Plus he whines and cries more than Josh.
Speakin’ of Josh;
there comes a point when you prove to the whole world:
that you’re a lame-brain.
That technical foul = ref gave him plenty of leeway.
*(there comes a point when even the most obtuse realize):
” maybe I ought to shut up “.
more later.
Grandad
April 19th, 2011
11:58 pm
* ] oops, I left off a bracket.
there comes a point when
even the most obtuse bloggers realize
that they used,
there comes a point,
too many times,
in one paragraph.
And, we have come to that point.
Slimjr
April 19th, 2011
11:59 pm
“(the officials…..now they were flat out crooked)”
@Grandad, they have been crooked for years now…
Mr Stern= GANGSTA and his band of THUGS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Slimjr
April 20th, 2011
12:00 am
Shop Josh and TIN MAN MARVIN in the Summer……………..
Slimjr
April 20th, 2011
12:03 am
Thugs=Refs, sorry…………..
ClassicHawks
April 20th, 2011
5:25 pm
•J.J. on Orlando’s plan to disrupt him more in Game 2: “I’m going to just pick my spots like I did in Game 1. Not be too aggressive, but at the same time be aggressive enough to where I am making plays. We will see. I am sure they are going to come a lot quicker, especially with the double teams. We will see how everything works out.”
JOE JOHNSON IS GAY!!