Atlanta Hawks at Bulls Game 2: What about Al?
Chicago–So let’s say J.J. doesn’t shoot 10 of 13 from beyond 15 feet again, Jamal doesn’t shoot 3 for 3 at the rim and 4 for 4 from the line and Teague can’t stick the floater.
Then what for Atlanta’s offense? Maybe they should try to run more of what probably was their most underutilized play in the regular season and still is during the playoffs: Al on pick-and-rolls.
According to Synergy Sports Technology, Al had 226 of those plays during the regular season (2.94 per game) and scored 1.1 points per possession (eighth-best in the league). In the postseason he’s been involved in 21 screen-rolls (3 per game) and scored 1.14 points per possession.
On those 21 plays, Al made 12 of 20 shots and had one turnover. Seven of the screen-roll passes came from Hinrich, seven from Jamal, and two each from Teague, J.J. and Josh. He went to the basket six times and popped out for jump shots for the other 14, with six makes (one of the misses was the rushed 3-pointer in Game 2 at Orlando).
So Al is shooting 6 of 14 on pick-and-pops in the playoffs. But he’s shooting only 39 percent overall (16 for 41) on attempts from 16 to 23 feet after shooting 53 percent from that distance during the season. That was the best mark in the league among guys who had at least 70 attempts.
Looking at the video of the postseason screen-roll plays with Al, he’s not getting the same time and space to shoot as he did during the regular season. Three times he’s responded to hard challenges by faking the J and driving.
“I think it’s really different because teams really tune in on coverages and make an effort to challenge and contest, like we are doing to them,” Al said. “I think the shot is still there. I just think different areas of our offense are still working so we are sticking with that. Joe is scoring the ball; Jamal is doing his thing. I don’t think its called for me to run high pick-and-roll.”
Maybe not yet, but it’s a strong option if what worked in Game 1 isn’t working tonight. Smoove in the post works, too, but it’s tough to count on that after he took five shots from beyond 15 in Game 1 and missed them all.
Al’s defense and rebounding were key to Game 1 and it figures to be the same in Game 2. The Hawks might also need his scoring.
“I got in foul trouble and was kind of taken out [of Game 1],” Al said. “At this point of the year I am doing whatever it takes for my team. I didn’t have to worry about scoring much last game. Tonight I just have to stay ready.”
Notes
- Same starters tonight as for Game 1. Same inactives: Rolle and Etan.
- L.D. on the expectation that D-Rose will get to the line more: “[Game 1] was officiated very fairly. I thought there were some times we should have got to the line but we didn’t. It was both ways. That is a big point for us to try to keep them off the line as much as we can. We have to anticipate that he is going to get to the free-throw line and we have got to play through it irregardless of what the situation is.”
- Jeff Fogle at Hoopdata.com notes that maybe it’s not such a good assumption that D-Rose will get more free throws since he really hasn’t done it since hurting his ankle.
- L.D. on the goal vs. D-Rose: “Making sure we don’t give him the seams, the gaps to dribble penetrate. We try to make a conscious effort to take that away. You can’t stop him but overall if we can be consistent at that it gives us a chance.”
- L.D. on Rose in Game 1: “He probably didn’t have the game he’s accustomed to but I would like to credit the way we defended him with that.”
- L.D. on if he thinks guys are content with winning one in Chicago: “I would not allow that to happen. I thought that was the case against Orlando. We did not come out with a sense of urgency for Game 2. We had a lot of slippage. I take full responsibility for that. Here we have another opportunity staring us right in the eye. It’s up to me to get my team ready. Its’ up to me to make sure we come out with a whole different focus. We are going to see their best shot. It’s important that whatever happens, we are able to weather it and move on.”
- Al on what he expects from the Bulls tonight: “All-out effort. They are here at home, in front of their fans. I thought that came out hard in Game 1 but I am sure they will be all-out tonight.”
- L.D.: “That team will come out and play hard and play with energy and effort. We have to match that. We have to be smart. We cannot lose our composure under any circumstance. We have to play through any situation and stick with what our gameplan is. That’s a very talented Chicago ballclub, It’s no fluke that they won 62 games. So to come out here and not expect them to give us our best effort is totally ridiculous.”
- K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune’s says the Bulls are trying to “master the learning curve of being the favorites.”
- J.J. on Atlanta’s balance causing problems for Chicago’s D: “We got a few guys who can really put up big numbers. We do tend to keep a team off balance. I am sure they will come up with different schemes and tactics to slow us down. We have just got to stay poised and we will be all right.”
- Josh on the knee: “It feels all right. Each and every day it gets better, it gets a little stronger. I have just got to stay on top of it. What’s helping me out is I am not thinking about it. I am just playing basketball. It’s something I just have to worry about after the season.”
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
926 comments Add your comment
Wabe
May 4th, 2011
11:55 pm
And Najeh, nothing controversial about your 11:40 post. I completely co-sign that. Makes absolute sense.
Give Teague the nod at PG, Hinrich at the 2-gaurd, and JJ at the 3.
Rusty
May 4th, 2011
11:57 pm
Ah,js & mw have really regressed under your coaching . Don’t you have the balls to make Josh stop shooting 3’s ,can’t you make him play under the basket. I really don’t know what the hell has happened to ah& mw’ game under your coaching
Najeh Davenpoop
May 5th, 2011
12:01 am
Charles Barkley giving Teague props and wondering why he hasn’t played more. I LOVE IT
In 85 minutes in this series, Teague has ONE TURNOVER. If only the rest of the team was that “inconsistent”.
Najeh Davenpoop
May 5th, 2011
12:02 am
Scouts thought Teague was a one-dimensional combo guard in the mold of Jason Terry coming out of college. They couldn’t have been more wrong.
Jae Evolution
May 5th, 2011
12:03 am
Is anyone else vastly surprised at the fact Teague is taking while looking confident and making a lot of mid range jumpers. This was the main thing we said he needed to improve on but it doesn’t look like a problem at all now.
Rusty
May 5th, 2011
12:06 am
As for JJ nortcyde you can stick him up your butt. JJ is not a winner,he is a choker & ball hog.no offense will ever run right with him out there.crunch time comes what does he do but play ball hog disrupting the offense taking bad shots, dribbling to much & making bad passes. We will never win with that style of play. He also played lazy defense tonight.
superiorblogman
May 5th, 2011
12:07 am
Thanks Charles and Kenny for clowning LD and the organization. Kenny laughed at the reason Teague was supposedly glued to the bench. He turns the ball over too much. The guy has 8 asst to 1 TO, which is way better than the deserving MVP. He even averages better than 2 to 1 TO in the regular season. Fire LD and where can I have the postgame interviews?
Najeh Davenpoop
May 5th, 2011
12:07 am
I actually had no problem with Joe tonight for the most part. He scored when he had the opportunity and passed when he saw the double team. No pounding the ball and very few bad shots from him. And I don’t agree that his defense was bad. He had 5 steals and played very good on the ball D.
Unfortunately only he and Teague played good all around games.
The Real Mandingo
May 5th, 2011
12:12 am
I realize Teague had a good Game 2 while J. Crawford had a bad Game 2 but I wonder if there is any animosity between the two. Teague and Crawford, at different times, don’t play well together and seem to lack chemistry. If there is any beef between Crawford and Teague and LD detects it, LD should tell them to season it, grill eat and eat it. Teague, as point guard, should run a few more plays to enable Crawford to get quality mid-range looks/shots instead of letting Jamal settle for contested, low-percentage 3pt. FGA’s.
Grandad
May 5th, 2011
12:14 am
Josh is a product of his environment.
Meaning:
AAU, Oak Hill, Woody, LD.
(so it’s not entirely his fault)
However, others have come from this environment and flourished.
Josh is wonderfully passionate, appears to be fiercely loyal,
generous, unselfish, a good person & a good teammate.
— Yet —
He baffles me like no other, he’s uncoachable, a loose cannon,
marches to his own drummer that no one else can hear,
Josh does not learn from experience, Josh is stubborn,
Josh is what Woodson must have been like as a player, -and-
Josh is to Albert Einstein,
as a ball of string is to a string theorist in twin paradox relativity.
The Real Mandingo
May 5th, 2011
12:14 am
^^^that’s “…grill it…
Rusty
May 5th, 2011
12:17 am
Ld I sure hope I don’t have to see another year of your stupidity
superiorblogman
May 5th, 2011
12:17 am
If you look at draftexpress.com and nbadraft.net.
Draftexpress.com
Teague
Best Case: Better shooting Monta Ellis= Love Teague but don’t know if this will happen. If it does and we can get a legit C, we will win atleast 2 championships in the next 7 years.
Worse Case: Lou Williams/Aaron Brooks= I can see both of these easily but I think Teague has a better defensive makeup than both of these guys.
NBAdraft.net
Compared him to Kevin Johnson who used to play for Phoenix
I will take all of those, noone thought Teague could not play or would be a bust but Woody and LD, that’s why teams have been trying to get him.
superiorblogman
May 5th, 2011
12:21 am
The Real Mandingo
May 5th, 2011
12:12 am
I realize Teague had a good Game 2 while J. Crawford had a bad Game 2 but I wonder if there is any animosity between the two. Teague and Crawford, at different times, don’t play well together and seem to lack chemistry. If there is any beef between Crawford and Teague and LD detects it, LD should tell them to season it, grill eat and eat it. Teague, as point guard, should run a few more plays to enable Crawford to get quality mid-range looks/shots instead of letting Jamal settle for contested, low-percentage 3pt. FGA’s.
You don’t be talking or typing bout nothing. Crawford gets his own shots or that’s what everyone gives him so much credit for. Teague has finally learned to be aggressive with Jamal on the floor now you want to point the finger at him for Jamal the great shot creator not getting good shots tonite?
ag
May 5th, 2011
12:25 am
We have said it all year. START JEFF TEAGUE
Rusty
May 5th, 2011
12:41 am
If anyone in the world who would be to stupid to start him next year it would be ld.
Hawks Fan In New Orleans
May 5th, 2011
12:44 am
I am finally hopping aboard the J Smoove is killing us bandwagon. Just bad on offense due to dumb decisions. Zaza played poorly in limited minutes. LD should never sub Crawford for Teague. Horford played very tentative on offense, Jamal had a off-night, Joe dribbled too much and we STILL had a chance to win in the end! I like our chances in Atlanta.
The Real Mandingo
May 5th, 2011
1:11 am
Superiorblogman,
A quality point guard, unless he has tremendous scoring ability like a Kevin Johnson or an Isiah Thomas, should be a facilitator first and foremost. JT at this point does not have that type of scoring ability. In actuality, his jump shot (perimeter game) is inconsistent and very suspect. Even though he hit a three point shot tonite, he also shot an airball at the top of the key in first half. As I stated in a previous blog, so goes Jamal, Joe and Al (from an offensive standpoint), so goes the Hawks. Just like Game 1 on Monday in Chicago, Joe and Jamal had it going offensively. The two combined, I believe, for 56 points. In Game 1 @ Orlando, Joe and Jamal combined for 48 points. In those two games, the Hawks won. I can go on and on. I am not taking anything away from Teague. I thought Teague should have played more in the regular season all along. I’m just providing my perspective of the two, Teague and Crawford, while they are on the court together. Jamal has put his (offensive) imprint on a lot of regular season and several playoff games in which the Hawks have won. Teague played well in Game 2 tonite but the Hawks still lost. Bottom line, Jamal has won quite a few meaningful games for the Hawks while Teague, in his limited opportunity, has not. It’s very simple. If Joe and Jamal with the help of Al have it going offensively, this usually spells success and a victory for the Hawks. You already know this.
Sam
May 5th, 2011
1:52 am
I am happy that the bulls win and now it tie 1 to 1 and rose was great and now they play on friday (few tickets still left http://bit.ly/bullstks) hope they win.
South ga boy in the atl
May 5th, 2011
1:57 am
I read a post earlier that criticized Marvin equally with Josh. He said LD is just afraid to tell Josh to get under the basket and stop shooting jump shots. Lol. I guess LD should also responsible to tell Josh to breathe in thru his nose and eat with his mouth. Marvin is just pitiful but he’s doing the best he can, he just stinks. Josh, however, could be an elite player but his judgement is impaired. It’s not just telling him to stop shooting jumper no. 5 after u have missed the first four, it’s not recognizing Noah plays for the other team and must be boxed out, it’s not arguing with the ref while his man streaks down the court, throwing the ball away or dribbling out of bounds because he CAN’T HANDLE THE BALL anywhere near as well as he thinks he can and on and on. LD CAN’T LIVE IN HIS HEAD. I’m not an LD apologist, his mis-handling of JT is outrageous along with other matters, but I can’t blame him for Smoove’s incompetence. I don’t care if we win a championship, in the off season SMOOVE’S GOTTA GO FOR A TRUE 5.
South ga boy in the atl
May 5th, 2011
2:05 am
Well said Granddad. I too believe Josh is a good person. I like what he did for the family of the young man who died last yr, but he’s gotta go. 7 yrs in now and he just doesn’t get it. He refuses to play his role (hellacious defense, run the floor, rebound, play in the post). He wants to be JC OR JJ AND HE’S NOT NOR CAN HE EVER BE, AND HE WON’T STOP TRYING. JOSH HAS GOTTA GO THIS OFFSEASON
Ole Hawks Fan
May 5th, 2011
2:56 am
Under these Two Coaches Jeff has had here in Atlanta, There was no playing time for him. The only reason he is playing now is the injury to Kirk. The supporters of Jeff on here, were calling for Playing time for this Young Fella. But the Non-Teague Fans were saying he needs a better perimeter game, he turns the ball over too much, he can’t run this team. JC1 is not a PG and should never be playing that position on this team. His position is SG. If he isn’t scoring, his defense will hurt the hawks by not making an attemp to PLAY D. It is ashame Woody and now LD have never explained to these players their roles in the make-up of this TEAM. With JJ & JC1 playing last year and hogging the ball, Orlando ran this TEAM quickly off the court and to their favorite fishing HOLE. The YOUNG Fella is THE PG and SHOULD be the PG going forward on this team, No Question ASKED!
JeJe
May 5th, 2011
4:44 am
We shot SIX more free throws than the home team…..SMDH
DinasaurFenton
May 5th, 2011
10:13 am
Teague is making a case for starting or at least SPLITTING time with Captain Kirk. I know the Hawks panicked and made the trade for Hinrich, but is seems that Teague IS THE MOST SURE-HANDED PLAYER OF ALL THE HAWKS. THE HAWKS WERE TRAILING AT HALF-TIME AND LOST THE GAME BECAUSE THEY HAD WAY TOO MANY TURNOVERS. I watched the Hawks and noticed that they had at least 10 turnovers by half-time. EVERY TIME PACHULIA TOUCHED THE BASKET OR MADE HIS MOVE IN THE PAINT, HE TURNED IT OVER AND GAVE IT BACK TO THE OTHER TEAM. Great job Zsa Zsa for helping to lose the game. Joe turned it over continuously; Al Horford kept stepping on the end line. Jamal turned it over. Smoove is a walking turnover. Marvin kept turning the ball over. It was contagious last night. During one stretch in the first half, the Hawks had 8 turnovers in a row which allowed the Bulss to go up by 11 at half-time. The only guy who NEVER turns the ball over is the guy who should be getting 40 minutes a game. JEFF TEAGUE HAD ONLY ONE TURNOVER IN HIS LAST TWO GAMES. –AMAZING– Jeff Teague should be the starting guard for the Atlanta Hawks. Period.
calling 'em out
May 5th, 2011
4:43 pm
if the hawk lose tomorrow, watch how y’all “truest fans” start turning into pumpkins at midnight!!!
right now there is love and praise, for all things hawks from DRMARY B, SLIM JR, JEJE, GRANDDAD, BRIG JERRY.
Joe
May 5th, 2011
5:01 pm
Joe
May 5th, 2011
5:00 pm
I can’t stand Joe Johnson but I love the Hawks. Here’s my JJ hate page, enjoy, lol..
http://www.facebook.com/pages/I-hate-Joe-Johnson-ATL/181197331929997