Atlanta Hawks: What got into Jeff Teague?
Since back in December I believed Teague deserved to play more because of his improved production, the team’s need for his skills, Bibby’s decline and future considerations.
But I’m not going to front and act like I saw this coming.
Teague had some good moments during the season but he’s having his best moments on the biggest stage under challenging circumstances. He’s making the MVP work to get his, which might be expected given his quickness and defensive potential.
But Teague also has been Atlanta’s most consistent offensive player, sometimes showing more poise and better sitational decision-making that his veteran teammates. I mean, he’s got five turnovers in 206 minutes, for crying out loud.
“You saw he has that it in him, you just wondered when that was going to stick around longer,” L.D. said. “What he’s shown in playoffs is that he has arrived. He’s not doing it just against anybody; he’s doing it against maybe the top point guard in this league. I really take my hat off to the fact that he’s doing it like I haven’t seen it done under those circumstances.”
What the heck got into Teague?
To J.J., who said all season that the Hawks just needed to trust in Teague, the difference is simple.
“Just minutes,” he said. “Getting the opportunity.”
To Teague, the difference has not just been playing more; it’s knowing the Hawks need him to play more.
“I would say that’s the difference,” he said. “During the season I didn’t know if I was going to play one game and if I was going to sit the next. Now, knowing that I’m going to get an opportunity to go in every game, I just try to focus and give a good effort.”
That actually makes sense when you look back at the games during the season where Teague knew he was going to play. In those games he was never really bad. Sometimes he was good, other times just OK, but there were few outright dogs among those games.
There was that game at Boston when Joe and Jamal were out, a performance marred only by four turnovers. He was pretty good the next night against Charlotte, too.
The pattern continues: Jamal missed a game at Cleveland and Teague was good in 18 minutes. The Hawks traded Bibby, Teague started four games in a row and was solid in each one–if not always efficient offensively, at least holding his own against some good point guards.
There was, of course, that game against Portland, when L.D. benched Marvin, Teague got the start and changed the game with his burst of steals and scores. Teague started the next two games against Milwaukee and Denver and was pretty good–again, holding his own if not very efficient. Same goes for the final four games of the season, when the starters shut it down and Teague played big minutes.
Mind you, Teague was never as good as he’s been during this series. But clearly he was better when circumstances meant he knew he was going to play. Perhaps that’s not the right mindset for a player with something to prove but apparently that’s the way it is for Teague.
“I think that’s for everybody,” Teague said. “When something is put against you and you know you have to do it, you focus a lot more.”
Thing is, in L.D.’s, view, that was part of the problem.
(Aside: Some of my blog people have been wondering why L.D. hasn’t been “grilled” more about why he didn’t play Teague more during the season. He’s been asked plenty; it’s just that you haven’t liked the answers. Or maybe I’m just taking the wrong approach to this thing. Who wants to roll with me when I put Drew under a bright lamp and we can do good-cop, bad-cop until he breaks down and confesses he just doesn’t like Teague?)
Each time L.D. has been asked why he didn’t play Teague more, he’s said it’s because he didn’t think he was consistent enough. I asked L.D. once again if he had any regrets about not playing Teague more often, especially since Bibby was struggling:
“No. When I took the job I brought him in here and told him I expect him to really come in here and make life tough for Mike Bibby. That’s just being competitive and fighting for a position; that’s not taking nothing away from Mike Bibby, that’s just trying to get a guy you are hoping will be your next point guard and you are hoping will groom himself to do it. That didn’t happen, and the last thing I wanted to do was just to hand it over to him. I wanted him to come in and really show that he has some fire in his belly and not just push Mike—I wanted him to take it. And knowing Mike being the veteran he is, he is going to have his ways to make sure he doesn’t let it go. It was all on Jeff. I could have very easily not said a word to Jeff and see how he responded to it. I wanted him to know to know that I believed in him, I wanted him to know that I expected him to really, really push Mike. I didn’t get the response I was looking for and, again, I wasn’t going to hand it over to him.”
As it turned out, L.D. had no choice but to give Teague the controls in this series. And with the way Teague has responded, there can be no more questions about whether Teague deserves to play point guard for this team.
“He’s been great,” J.J. said. “As long as he continues to work and get better over the summer, sky’s the limit. This will definitely be his team to run.”
Less than three months ago the Hawks made a trade because they weren’t sure about Jeff Teague. It was only two weeks ago that Teague played a bit part against Orlando, though Drew says Teague would have played more against Chicago even if Hinrich hadn’t gone down.
Now Teague has been so good that L.D. said he wasn’t sure what he would do if the Hawks advance and Hinrich is healthy enough to play.
“It gives me options,” he said. “If it’s perceived as now I’ve got a problem [because] I’ve got a young point guard played his tail off and now I’ve got Kirk coming back if we go to the next round, then I would like to have that problem. That’s a very nice problem to have.”
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
275 comments Add your comment
KevinM
May 12th, 2011
7:09 pm
Tonight, its “Joe or go home!”
DMB, not sure whether it was legit or not, but I thought I saw a notation about the hockey team finding a buyer and agreeing to a purchase price. I will keep checking.
Since we know the ASG can’t exactly tell the truth all the time, you take what they tell the fanbase with a grain of salt. Blah, blah, blah goes Gearon and his minions.
vava74
May 12th, 2011
7:19 pm
LD,
Is a bleeping idiot with triple or quadruple standards.
His reasoning to keep Teague in shackles is not applicable to anyone else which means that he gave Teague the exact same rookie-you-gotta-earn-by-suffering-hell treatment that Woody gave him.
He got the bleeping job talking about starting Teague and implementing a motion offense.
Bibby started and after December the motion offense was virtually dead.
He said that he wanted Josh in the post but when he refused to comply he exercised ZERO accountability and ZERO discipline.
Only Teague is supposed to earn anything in this team?
We have been winning IN SPITE of LD and we could have won this series already if LD had anything beyond empty rhetoric between his ears.
IT WAS FRACKKKING OBVIOUS THAT TEAGUE HAS THE “IT” FACTOR BUT NEEDED A TRUE VOTE OF CONFIDENCE AND NOT POISONED OPPORTUNITIES AND A QUICK HOOK EVERY TIME THAT HE MADE A MISTAKE.
vava74
May 12th, 2011
7:21 pm
RT @NBAStatsCube: #Hawks allowing 10.6 fewer points per 100 possessions with Teague on court than off.
truthspitter
May 12th, 2011
7:24 pm
You know guys, I enjoy you guys as bloggers but some of these dudes annoy me running around like some fortune teller. There is some guy on here claiming that we could not have found a guy in the 1st round of draft that would give us more than Damien or Jason and we would pay more. Yeah you would pay more, but that more is like $500,000 more to start with. Secondly, that is the same syndrome that sees teams pick busts all the time. Think aboute this, it is thought to be a weak draft by the same type of people that said Marvin should be #2 regardless of who was picking and they were wrong. Add Kwame, Adam Morrison, Olawakandi and many many more to that list of the scouts dont know nothing. I can name you 5 guys that can give you what Damien can next year and 3 years down the line could look like a steal at that #18 pick that we gave away.
1 Jordan Hamilton
2 Chris Singleton
3 Kenneth Faried (Boy could we use his Reggie Evans game)
4 Tyler Honeycutt
5 Trey Thompkins (We should be moving Josh to SF and Al to PF, great backup for Al)
Bonus: 6″11 prospect Lucas Nogueira (Could let him stay overseas and not even have to pay next year)
I’m sorry and I respect Hinrich’s input, he helped us get out of the 1st round, but I must remind you that we had gotten out of the 1st round 2 years straight and that the Orlando team was simply a shell of the team that wrecked us in the 2nd round last year. I must also remind you that we added salary to our cap for Hinrich that we could use to get a C, and we gave up a guy that could have been a rotation guy next year in Jordan. That was a horrible trade sorry it is just the truth.
drmaryb (*_-)
May 12th, 2011
7:25 pm
KevinM
That article I posted a small section from was posted today @ 330 PM.
So, that is the latest word. The ASG have received no offer to purchase the Thrashers that is acceptable. Nothing man. Nada.
IDK if they are being unreasonable or if the offer is just below market value or there is no offer at all. Sounds like “True North” has an interest, but they want to relocate to Winnipeg. I say good writtens, and sign that deal. The NHL likes that deal because it relieves them from having to purchase the Thrashers as a distressed and bankrupt franchise, like they did in Arizona. If True North buys it and relocate it, The NHL gets a 60M relocation fee as a wind fall, they of course like that a lot.
Oh well. This article is on the front of the AJC Sports page in its entirety.
Brandon
May 12th, 2011
7:31 pm
I was just surveying a few articles in regards to predictions for Game 6 between the Hawks and Bulls, and surprisingly, a lot of these “experts” and “analysts” seem to believe that the Hawks will win Game 6. This is surprising to me, not because I don’t think that the Hawks will win ( I actually think they will win this game too), but it is surprising due to the fact that most of the time, the media just writes the Hawks off and assumes that much of their success is just a fluke. They wrote of the Hawks once the Hawks began facing a bit of adversity against the Magic.
I can’t say that I blame the media for discounting the Hawks based upon their performance during the regular season, but it’s pretty clear at this point, that we are a seeing a much stronger team in the post-season than we saw in the regular season. The Hawks seem a lot more mentally focused right now, and it’s leading to them playing much better team basketball, particularly on the defensive end. The offense is still flawed and stagnant at times, but the effort is there, and the defense, for the most part, has been consistently good. That’s a good sign. I hope that the Hawks win tonight and continue to improve.
truthspitter
May 12th, 2011
7:37 pm
The Hawks are not going to win tonight and they want win this series. The NBA is a rigged mess. Let’s be honest I am so into Teague right now because he is our best shot of getting a sellout crowd everynight next year and earning true star status which includes getting calls. We need those D Rose calls to get to the next level and Teague has the best chance to get there.
KevinM
May 12th, 2011
7:37 pm
DMB, your info may be better than mine…I found my Thrasher trashing on cnnsi.com….The title said the mayor spokesman said team ‘may leave’…not a ringing endorsement.
Blogger posted the True North info as this:
“In May 2011, the Atlanta Thrashers will be sold for $110 million dollars to True North Sports and Entertainment who already made an offer of 170 million which includes a 60 million dollar relocation fee to move the team to Winnipeg.”
That’s the most I have talked about hockey in the A-T-L ever!
Back to getting Joe ready at the Hi-Lite factory!
KevinM
May 12th, 2011
7:39 pm
Teague just said after we win tonight, Game 7 is ours……
Finally, ESPN says can Miami be awaiting Joe Johnson and the Hawks?
CHI is in for a battle tonight.
Sautee
May 12th, 2011
7:41 pm
Brandon,
Just so you’ll know… when I said that Al was rarely electric it was NOT a complaint of any kind. I was just describing his game. I’m not one to love flash and dash, but rather one who appreciates subtlety. The Spurs were my favorite team to watch in the last 10 years, if that tells you something.
If you’ll go back and read my post, you’ll ALSO see that I named his “intangibles” as a positive. And he has a LOT of that.
Al also usually makes excellent decisions with the ball, which is why his two 4th quarter turnovers were so disheartening. I fully expect a good game from him tonight.
Mostly, I want to see him be aggressive on both ends. When he is passive it puts undue pressure on his teammates.
Slimjr
May 12th, 2011
7:42 pm
“Kevin Durant shoots 1000 3 pointers everyday at practice. No wonder his shot is so smooth and effortless.
I wonder how many Hawks players have that same work ethic.”
My guess would be a large fat “ZERO”!……………..
Slimjr
May 12th, 2011
7:48 pm
‘The NBA is a rigged mess.”
Been like that for years and years!! Welcome to the matrix………………….
Dept. of Unintended Irony
May 12th, 2011
7:50 pm
truthspitter
May 12th, 2011
7:24 pm
You know guys, I enjoy you guys as bloggers but some of these dudes annoy me running around like some fortune teller.
truthspitter
May 12th, 2011
7:37 pm
The Hawks are not going to win tonight and they want win this series.
ROFLMAO! I just love unintended irony!
Slimjr
May 12th, 2011
7:50 pm
If Al played PF for over 90% of the time he would not get an invite…Enough said………………
Booo!
May 12th, 2011
7:50 pm
Looks like everything that needs to be said in Teagues defense and bashing LD in the process has been said. No need for me to spew my venom.
Slimjr
May 12th, 2011
7:52 pm
“ROFLMAO! I just love unintended irony!”
Mr. po po is on the prowl!!!! LOL
Slimjr
May 12th, 2011
7:55 pm
Hawks get it done tonight!
Hawks win by 8!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!
Luke Cage
May 12th, 2011
7:59 pm
Lets just rally and cheer for our Hawks to win tonight and take momentum to chitown and win the series and continuing to SHOCK THE WORLD!!!!!!!
kgbsfinst
May 12th, 2011
8:00 pm
you know whats really annoying? The fact that on TNT the last two games they had for the Hawks vs Bulls, Steve Kerr does 3 keys to the game for the BULLS and NOTHING for the Hawks. Stuff like that worries me that the people in charge wont let Atlanta win. Having said that, I think they would like a game 7 so maybe this “collusion” could help us this game.
Luke Cage
May 12th, 2011
8:04 pm
David Stern wants Bulls/Heat, more big names for them to market and capitalize on, how else do you explain Rose getting all these ticky-tacky fouls.
drmaryb (*_-)
May 12th, 2011
8:20 pm
DE FENSE is soft to start the game.
Take care of the ball, you can not win without it.
2 FOR JOHN DREW
May 12th, 2011
10:21 pm
Stick a fork in us ….. WE’RE DONE, Wonder what Hawk meat taste like You what the league & everybody else rather see the BULLS & HEAT anyway …. I don’t want the HAWKS catching a humiliating beat down from the HEAT but believe this the HEAT smell blood !!!!!!!!
tremaine
May 13th, 2011
7:55 am
LD gave every excuse for not given Teague a chance all year, while Teague has said that all he needed was an opportunity.
drew is NOT the GM
May 13th, 2011
1:24 pm
the GM traded away Jordan Croford for Kirt not Drew, if you think Drew had that much power your stupid, all people do on here is point fingers, fake Hawks fans, how about you point out the fact that we just had our deepest run in over 10+ years, how bout you point that now the Hawks have depth at the Point position, or point to the fact that mabey just mabey Josh just found his game in this series after all these years, and going into next sesaon we might have found a team ID but hey this is a Hawks blog so I really don’t think it will happen, as for me I’m proud of the Hawks they earned the respect of the best team this year
jeremiah
May 15th, 2011
11:18 pm
you need to get a good shooter at free agents and trade marvin he the one who lose the game for the team