Atlanta Hawks: Hawks 105, Nets 98
- The Hawks didn’t play very well. The Nets made a lot of shots. Jeff Teague kept the Hawks above water and then they made more good plays than bad to get the W and improve to 3-0.
- That about sums it up. “It was hard, but a win is a win,” Zaza Pachulia said. “It fees good. We expected them to come out and be aggressive but obviously we didn’t have as much energy as last game.”
- The Hawks struggled to beat the Nets after waylaying them in New Jersey.
- “One of the toughest things to do, and I’ve been associated it for a while as a coach and a player, when you have a game like you had against them the first time you have a tendency to let your guard down,” Larry Drew said. “That’s kind of a human characteristic. I talked to the guys and told them the team we saw in New Jersey was going to be a totally different team tonight. We didn’t respond as well as I was hoping but I give my guys credit, too, because they hung in there and kept fighting.”
- Teague (22 points, 9/11 FG, six assists, two steals, two turnovers) provided most of Atlanta’s zip. He’s still not looking to pass on those drives but as long as he finishes like he did tonight it’s not a problem.
- “I think when I’m playing aggressive, I’m at my best,” Teague said. “Sometimes I miss guys on a couple passes and they talk to me but I think that’s just the way I have to play. When I am sitting out there being casual I think that’s when I’m not ay my best and I think that hurts the team. ‘Quick’ [Nick Van Exel] always tells me in my ear to be aggressive, so that’s what I do.”
- Teague also handled Deron Williams about as well as can be expected when Williams has it going like that.
- Teague’s drives to the basket and Zaza’s pick-and-pop Js and free throws were the only reliable offensive options for long stretches. Zaza (11 points on six shots, eight rebounds in 23 minutes) probably has been the most consistent bench player so far for the Hawks.
- The Hawks earned 38 free-throw attempts. They only made 27 but 14 of those were in the fourth quarter. Kudos to Joe Johnson for earning four attempts in the final period (not including the technical free throw and two after New Jersey fouled intentionally). His shot wasn’t falling so he started going to the basket, including that nifty move around MarShon Brooks for the basket that essentially sealed it.
- Speaking of Brooks, he looks really smooth for a brand new rookie. Johnson was all over him when he turned a broken play into a turnaround J late in the game. “He looks like he’s been in the league for quite some time,” Josh Smith said. “I guess that’s the Atlanta in him. That’s how we do. He knew he was at home and he definitely wanted to give his folks a good showing and he did it.”
- Josh didn’t get a call (he wasn’t fouled) while trying to take on three Nets defenders early in the game and then seemed to go in a funk. He later earned a technical foul for shoving Kris Humphries out of bounds on a loose ball.
- Still, Josh again combined with Al Horford to make it tough for New Jersey to score at the basket. The Hawks have the potential to be a significantly improved defense with those two now playing behind guards that are solid defensively as a group (and that’s before Kirk Hinrich, a good defender at the 2, returns).
- The Nets were hastily assembled before their opener. They looked much more cohesiveness this time. Al said they had a better plan: “We guarded them very well [in the first meeting]. They’ve seen so much stuff we have shown as far as doubling Deron. Tonight they stayed away from that and spaced the floor a little more, which made it harder for us to do what we wanted.”
- Brooks, Anthony Morrow, Sundiata Gaines and even Shelden Williams were making shots. “They shot the mess out of the ball, bottom line,” Josh said.
- New Jersey scored just 10 of its 35 third-quarter points in the paint but the Hawks were scrambling and slow to react to shooters. “We did not make a defensive stand whatsoever in the third quarter,” Drew said. “I thought we were back to old habits, looking for officials for help and not taking the onus on ourselves to be a gutty team, a blue-collar team.”
- T-Mac (6 points, two rebounds in 23 minutes) wasn’t as active offensively but he was part of the bench group that held the lead in the first half. Vladmir Radmanovic had a few weird plays that got me to thinking about how Phil Jackson used to say he’s a bit flaky.
- Jannero Pargo still can’t find his shot and had a quicker trigger tonight, though he was in good position most times on D. Willie Green also was quick to shoot at times.
- Marvin Williams was solid but it seemed he was getting subbed game each time it looked like he was heating up. Drew sat Williams for most of the fourth quarter before sending him in with 2:52 to go. Williams helped force Deron Williams to miss on a reverse layup and collected the rebound, then pressured Brooks before the rookie called the timeout the Nets didn’t have.
- The Hawks got out of town with the W and now face tough tests at Houston, Miami and Chicago. “I think it’s a good measuring stick for us,” Josh said. “Even though the schedule is not the way want it to be, playing those teams back-to-back and then come home and play Miami. I think it’s good for this team to see how we play when we hit adversity.”
Michael Cunningham, Hawks beat
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193 comments Add your comment
Astro Joe
December 31st, 2011
12:13 pm
Ray, I’m for trading to improve the team, just not sold on Dwight. I’d rather make a run at Deron than Dwight. As you know, tis team needs a true leader, so if I’m trading two of our three captains, I want someone who can rally his teammates AND help close games in the postseason. If we trade for Dwight, the remaining roster needs to be at least as good as the Magic team that made the Finals a few years back. That team (as I recall) included a very productive group including Vince Carter, Rashard Lewis, Hedo and Jameer. Once those guys got less productive, the overall team went backwards. If we want a superstar to sell more tickets, increase fan interest and then hope/pray that the ASG will exceed the luxury tax, then Dwight can do that will little certainty that the team will actually improve. If the intent is to improve the team’s playoff performance, I personally don’t see how trading 2 captains for Dwight achieves that result.
Ken Strickland
December 31st, 2011
12:16 pm
ASTRO JOE-While none of the Bigs you mentioned are big offfensive threats in the post, they certainly are big, tall, and/or athletic enough to be threats at the rim, and that’s where our interior DEF has improved the most. It’s not that Josh and Horford have suddenly become more athletic, although Josh has, but it’s because they are now firmly established inside at the rim, rather than switching off and guarding backcourt players on the perimeter.
Solid perimeter DEF also forces teams to
1-utilize more of the 24sec clock to set up their OFF,
2-get into the lane,
3-start their OFF farther out.
When you play solidTEAM DEF, especially solid perimeter DEF, you don’t need as much scoring punch as an offensively oriented team like the Knicks. They rely primarily on one player, rather than playing good team DEF. Just look at the Heat and Bulls to see how far good team DEF can take a team.
Big Ray
December 31st, 2011
12:21 pm
Astro Joe ,
Your elaboration on the original point was very enlightening. Well put.
Ray
December 31st, 2011
12:22 pm
Why make a run at Deron when we have Teague. Plus with the whole rent a Dwight I’m just scared that we lose Josh and Horford for nothing so in the end we go straight into rebuilding mode BIG TIME.
Astro Joe
December 31st, 2011
12:22 pm
Strickland, I understand the theory, I’m just saying that we haven’t yet observed the theory being tested yet. I think tonight will serve as a better test, with Lowry/Martin/Lee on the perimeter (and Lowry looking to penetrate constantly) and Scola doing his best Pau Gasol-light imitation.
school over basketball....what a concept!
December 31st, 2011
12:22 pm
Basketball season over yet? zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Sherewshevsky
December 31st, 2011
12:24 pm
Hawks now are about to finish their preseason in Houston. Will they ever stop making excuses? It’s either lack of energy or incompetence. Do the real good teams lack energy as much as the Hawks seemingly do year after year?
Big Ray
December 31st, 2011
12:25 pm
I posted on the last blog that the key to adding Dwight for the long term was all about what ownership could convince him of, and not who was on the roster that he might like to play with. After all, ownership controls who is on the roster.
Thing is, this isn’t about Dwight. It’s about ANY key player, any “big” acquisition that the Hawks could make via free agency/trade. Gearon and Co have to convince anybody who could make a big difference for us, any big name player – that they would like to come here, stay here, and be successful here.
I’d not frown on taking a shot at Deron, either, and I know that will make some unhappy in light of Teague’s apparent advancement. But to do that, you have to convince a guy that he’s better off here. Jersey has to convince Deron that they can and will make the moves necessary to build a contender. If not, you’ll probably be seeing him in Dallas. Common denominator between the two teams? An owner who isn’t afraid of the luxury tax, has the money, and wants to win it all.
Do we have that here?
bird
December 31st, 2011
12:30 pm
I can’t understand all the hating on Willie Green. Dude is a baller, its just 3 games in and people are talking about percentages? Come on man, at least get through 20 games before we start evaluating stats and percentages. Atl 3-0 is the only stat that matters right now.
Ray
December 31st, 2011
12:33 pm
@ Big Ray
Well if that’s the case #1 thing that ownership has is Josh Smith you know like we’ve said the best friend blah blah blah cause it’s been said over and over.
# 2 behind a few people we got a great SG
#3 we got Teague who is going to be better than any PG that Orlando has
After all that I’d rather ASKG convience Dwight to walk out of Orlando to pick him up so we could have Teague, Joe, Josh, Al, Dwight, Marvin, Hinrich, Zaza, and the rest fill in the blank. Cause at least after this year a part of Joe’s payment comes off the books so now you’re down to four years remaining.
Big Ray
December 31st, 2011
12:36 pm
Ray,
Joe’s price per year increases every year.
Gearon isn’t going to pay Dwight to come here, then keep everybody we have. Aint’ gonna happen.
Smith.Leuer.Bogut
December 31st, 2011
12:55 pm
marv is still garbage. When Smith was defending the perimeter yesterday. That left Marvin and Horford on the baseline.
Layup lines. Big for nothing on defense.
Astro Joe
December 31st, 2011
1:05 pm
Ray, my guess is that Dwight will cost more than Deron. He’s the top center in a league with maybe 4 decent centers AND we’re talking about a trade within the division. So I think there would be more pieces left behind if we traded for Deron. But personally, I wouldn’t trade for either without getting their signature on the dotted line for a long-term contract. Any owner who ignores what has happened in cities like Cleveland, Toronto or New Orleans needs to have his sanity checked.
Is it possible to improve this team without getting an All-NBA type player? I think so. I get all of the fan interest around the brand names, but aren’t there some lesser known (to casual fans) names that could be considered that would improve the team (even if there isn’t an immediate spike in ticket sales)?
Rev in Tampa
December 31st, 2011
1:08 pm
A great and uplifting article about Jalen Rose:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203413304577088270404438882.html?mod=WSJ_Opinion_LEADTop
Ray
December 31st, 2011
1:22 pm
Didn’t think about that my bad, but as you can see I’d rather have Dwight here without the risk of losing two great players
If anything I’d just give up Al because it’d work for the both of us we get Dwight for ATL they get Horford cause he’s a UF product so he’d be loved and respected by Orlando
northcyde
December 31st, 2011
1:39 pm
Astro Joe
December 31st, 2011
1:05 pm
Is it possible to improve this team without getting an All-NBA type player? I think so. I get all of the fan interest around the brand names, but aren’t there some lesser known (to casual fans) names that could be considered that would improve the team (even if there isn’t an immediate spike in ticket sales)?
*************
When you say “improve”, what is an improvement?
Reaching Game 7 of the EC Semis but losing?
Reaching the EC Finals?
Losing in Game 6 or 7 of the EC Finals?
Reaching the NBA Finals?
What is an “improvement”?
I mean, yeah . . if we keep this team intact, and add a good starting quality player for say . . Hinrich’s expiring contract, we could improve without adding an All-NBA player.
But if you’re talking about winning a championship, here are your NBA Finals MVPs since Jordan first retired from the Bulls in 1998
Nowitzki
Bryant ( 2 )
Pierce
Parker
Wade
Duncan ( 3 )
Billups
Shaq ( 3 )
In the years each of these guys won an NBA Finals MVP, Tony Parker and Chauncey Billups were the only ones toNOT be named to at least an All-NBA 2nd team. And both of those guys played with big men who made the All-NBA team.
I mean . . would you rather trade Marvin for Gerald Wallace . . than to trade Smith + Horford for Dwight?
I guess that’s what it comes down to.
Grandmaster JeJe
December 31st, 2011
1:40 pm
Does anyone here have Dish Network? What package do you have in order to get SportSouth? My current package doesn’t have it and maybe I just want the one channel rather than a whole package
Smith.Leuer.Bogut
December 31st, 2011
1:49 pm
RE: would you rather trade Marvin for Gerald Wallace.
Can we do that?
Ray
December 31st, 2011
1:58 pm
It’s nice to talk about trades, but with only 3 games in the season I’d rather get more games logged in to see what happens at least give it till the trade deadline or near then to start that type of stuff.
vava74
December 31st, 2011
2:06 pm
A win is a win. 3-0 is better than 2-1.
This season will be riddled with “upsets”. MIA only beat MIN because they played with 8 guys on the floor all the time.
Charging foul by Lebron = FG+1…
The bottom line is that good teams also lose against bad and we avoided on of those losses.
Just by looking at the boxscore it’s easy to conclude that our coaching tonight was not good: the bench guys were getting the job and some of them should have had an extended rotation (or at least a few more minutes). In particular Zaza who was getting it done on the boards and T-Mac making plays for others (pleasantly surprised so far).
But LD went to the starters regardless.
Adelman, for instance, went with several of the subs all the way with great results last night.
Bad coaching/Good coaching in stark contrast.
Double Zero Eight
December 31st, 2011
2:08 pm
Any win is a good win. The Hawks have been
impressive thus far. Let’s hope they can
stay focused when they play Miami and Chicago.
We all said last year, even before he got the
chance, that Teague was ready to start.
He has proven us right.
northcyde
December 31st, 2011
2:10 pm
Vava . . that was one of the worst calls ever. That’s either a no call, or a foul on Lebron. Instead, they gave him continuation, the basket, and the foul. Just a horrible call.
northcyde
December 31st, 2011
2:16 pm
This is the Game Flow from last night, in case people want to see at what time in the game Drew played each player.
http://popcornmachine.net/cgi-bin/gameflow.cgi?date=20111230&game=NJNATL
Huh?
December 31st, 2011
2:18 pm
Don’t B Hatin’ on Willie Son! Brah gets mad bucketz namean?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-SXeCfluEfU
Astro Joe
December 31st, 2011
2:38 pm
northcyde, how many of the guys you listed were first and foremost defensive superstars? How many of the bigs who won the MVP did not have an elite wing player alongside of him? Did you know that the one year that D12 made The Finals, that he averaged less than 16/game? That he was the third scoring option in the series? He is NOT a superstar that can lead his team into The Finals. Let’s not confuse any superstar with the kind of superstar who can actually deliver the goods. And if it is true that the only way to acquire Howard is to keep the clearly redundant Josh Smith, that makes it all the more reason to look to acquire a different elite player. One that will address what is missing from this team and not simply upgrade existing strengths.
KG would not have won without Pierce and Ray Allen. Howard is not likely to win it with Josh Smith and Jeff Teague.
Astro Joe
December 31st, 2011
2:44 pm
northcyde, and Howard averaged 11+ FTAs during The Finals against the Lakers. I wonder why they opted to foul him so much? Here’s what we know from our playoff series victory against the Magic last year. If D12 has marginal talent around him (including few players capable to making their own shot) and he is allowed to run rampant while his teammates are shut down, that such a roster is very likely to lose in the first round to a middling team.
Astro Joe
December 31st, 2011
2:51 pm
One more rant. The reason why CP3 has a much better chance at postseason (and continued) success with the Clips than the Hornets is because he can be the facilitator and have Blake Griffin be the man for a good 3.5 quarters. Steve Nash was at his best when he had guys like Amare, Marion and Joe at his side. KG got it done with Ray and Pierce. IMO, PGs and bigs MUST have elite scoring partners in order to get it done because they have other important responsibilities to their teammates outside of scoring.
doc
December 31st, 2011
3:00 pm
not sure if anyone will agree but the reason orlando went as far ss they did was because for two month turk played at a superstar level not because howard carried them.
if i remember correctly it should also be remembered as a year when the east was down, we were good enough and the basg refused to spend, thinking you dont spend until you reach the ecf. it was ours for the taking that year instead of watching a beat down.
a legit point or a legit big to add to the mix.
Maybe
December 31st, 2011
3:03 pm
On a nets blog, they seem to think JJ was holding back. They figured he would have abused their young SG’s morrow and Brooks. It’s true JJ said so after the game. He was just trying to catch and shoot and provide spacing. I think he’ll be ready for this next stretch of games. With that being said, JJ doesn’t have that “un-conscious” scoring mentality. Without Jamal joe’s going to have to channel some of that this season.
—————————————-
Also, Marvins efficiency for the amount of minutes he is playing is off the charts. I’ve been comparing his numbers after three games to some guys who I thought would be an upgrade at that spot (Rudy Gay, Danny Granger, Caron Butler) and his numbers are better overall. Gay and Granger are averaging a few more PPG but they’re playing 10+ more minutes than marvin. Marvin’s also got they crazy look in his eye. that look that say’s I’m desperate, angry, healthy and ready to kick butt and take names. You can tell he’ ready to prove himself with his new-found health. Like ‘nique would say, feed em’ and fan em’!
Sautee
December 31st, 2011
3:04 pm
doc,
Your bees are hanging in there.
Happy New year, bud.
Maybe
December 31st, 2011
3:08 pm
Nah, Orlando went that far because of Rafer Alston AND Turk those two together make that team incredibly difficult to contain. They are both different types of passers but together they were very lethal.
Astro Joe
December 31st, 2011
3:11 pm
Maybe, Joe doesn’t need to score each and every game. The Hawks are scoring well as a team and so far, Joe has resisted the need to put up shots just for the sake of putting up shots. Of course, it is impossible to be a 25 PPG scorer with an attitude like that.
doc, most teams who win it all almost always have a player (or two) who far out-produce their contract. Kind of like in baseballl, there are always a few guys who have “career years” when they win the World Series. Anyway, Turkaglu clearly had a career year that season with Orlando (and I think Rashard did as well).
drmaryb.[*_*].
December 31st, 2011
3:15 pm
And …
To jump in here with asteroid Astro Joe, CP3 is the QB, (the guy who has the keys to drive the Maybach). Dwight is more of a big WR or a TE.
So yeah, logistically CP3 controls the game outcome moreso if, only by the nature of that position. Conversely, on offense Dwight is merely a weapon of choice, an option to the QB.
Good stuff Astro Joe.
Grandmaster JeJe
December 31st, 2011
3:21 pm
Northcyde,
I doubt Portland trades Wallace. I think they love him out there.
And I still HAVE NOT HEARD a player or coach say “we want to win a championship” this year. All I hear is “we want to keep building on what we’ve done.” Blah blah blah
Grandmaster JeJe
December 31st, 2011
3:24 pm
It’s pathetic it took Marvin 6 years to realize he should be rebounding more (Joe Johnson too. how the hell are you 6″7 and the strongest SG in the league but can’t rebound? Go look at Steve Francis or Cuttino Mobley’s rebounding numbers from their Houston days). It’s good we finally now have 5 starters. For the past 3 or so years, we’ve played with 3 or 3.5 starters (Marvin and Bibby were the Achilles Heels)
Grandmaster JeJe
December 31st, 2011
3:28 pm
If these are the same ol’ Hawks, we will probably go 2-6 in the next 6 games.
@HOU L
@MIA W
@CHI L
MIA L
CHA W
CHI L
Tonight @ Houston is one of those games where we are just down 11-2 early and lose 97-84. MAKE IT DIFFERENT THIS YEAR. WE ARE BETTER THAN HOUSTON. I’M TIRED OF GETTING OWNED BY THE TEXAS TEAMS (AND OKC).
If we are a new team (now that Teague is FINALLY starting [9-12 last night!!!]), we should go at least 3-3 and win all the home games. Miami is going to be scary. Those d-bags should have 2 losses now. Should have lost to Charlotte (Tyrus didn’t play and Maggs was like 1-10) and apparently Minny got screwed over by the refs last night
Grandmaster JeJe
December 31st, 2011
3:28 pm
*2-4
Grandmaster JeJe
December 31st, 2011
3:29 pm
We won 1 in Miami last year and lost the 3 other games. If we lose Monday I HIGHLY doubt we win Thursday at home. I predict we steal 1 in Miami if at all.
it’s not really a home-court advantage when the fans suck as much as they do in Atlanta. No one cheers outside of 100 people until there’s 5 minutes left and it’s a close game
DHunt
December 31st, 2011
3:32 pm
Dwight, Al, Josh, Joe, Jeff; I guess we can dream. Cause that damn sure isn’t happening. Do we need to trade to get better. Can we? I think we can win it all as presently constructed. That is predicated on all five guys being the defensive standouts they have the ability to be. It will also require Jeff Teague to continue to improve at his present pace; in my estimation he has the ability to be mentioned with the elites at his position, he just has to grow into it.
But more importantly, it requires that LD coach them up better on offense. We’ve got five legitimate scoring threats. But they have to be put in the right positions to be legitimate scoring threats. Joe can dominate given the right sets, Josh and JT can push the ball with the best of them, Al and Marvin need to be put in the right positions to score, but can also create their offense with hustle.
Now we could possibly use some help on the bench, but if TMac can stay healthy (I see him clutching at that bad back already), and if Pargo can get back in game shape, I actually like this bench more than any since the Hawks started winning. When Kirk gets back it will only improve. There’s a lot of backetball IQ on the bench (although Pargo trying to work his way back into shape isn’t showing much). Rather than having just one guy we can count on to do his own thing, we’ve got four that can play as a unit. They’ve been great thus far, and none of them played together before this year with no training camp. They should improve as the chemistry gets better with time.
If there is a glaring deficiency it’s coaching, and I hate to say that because I was one of the first on the LD bandwagon. I give him credit for getting these guys to step up the defensive game, and getting rid of that switching nonsense. But the motion offense is on again, off again. The offense bogs down entirely too much. They still rely too much on long jump shots. The substitution patterns are often mind-boggling. And on the court attitudes still need some adjusting (Josh, Joe). Maybe LD still has a bit of a learning curve and will also continue to improve.
The talk about personnel changes seems premature, especially with Marvin stepping up his game so far. Consistency is the key to championships in the NBA. You have to be able to do your thing every night, with very few letdowns. The more guys you have on the team who can be consistent, the better your chances. Superstars are superstars because they are consistently great, but a team full of consistently very good players can be very successful, even absent a superstar player. After all, there are at most 10 “superstars” in the league, and Miami has two of them.
drmaryb.[*_*].
December 31st, 2011
3:34 pm
HNY!
Blu-Ray
(Picture Perfect)
Just brilliant comments today and all week long. Have fun and be safe for the family and friends.
Mmmmmmmmwah!
The Truth
December 31st, 2011
3:50 pm
AJ: On point regarding the D12 trade
As I previously stated from a previous post:
“Believe it or not, it is possible to have a “bad” trade for Dwight”.
However, having said that though, there can actually be a “good” trade for D12 as well. But I have “zero” confidence in ownership’s ability to make such a trade. This franchise has no history of making successful blockbuster trades (of this magnitude).
The safe bet for this group is to walk away as they would surely find a way to botch it up. Find another “low risk” alternative to accomplish the upgrade goal.
Vino
December 31st, 2011
3:51 pm
Unlike some other point guards Teague has players on his team that can get there own shot therefore his turnover rate is going to be low….
Sometimes it’s hard to trust the hawks organization cause if you look at it Teague is our starter by accident???
Still Remain a faithful hawk fan!
Who Me?
December 31st, 2011
3:59 pm
Who are we kidding with this 3 and 0? The season starts Monday night, we all know that. Let’s see if we’re 4 and 0 Tuesday morning. you want the fans in this town to rally, show them you got some fight. we’re tired of losing here. Knock down a couple of wins this week against your real competition and you’ll find a lot more rah rah in the seats. Nobody’s drinking the koolaid right now Icecold, come see us next week and lets see how we stack up.
Peace
Sautee
December 31st, 2011
4:11 pm
“Let’s see if we’re 4 and 0 Tuesday morning.”
I can tell you right now that there’s NO WAY we will be 4 and 0 on Tuesday morning.
We will either be 5-0, or 4-1, or 3-2, but we will NOT be 4-0, having played 5 games.
northcyde
December 31st, 2011
4:23 pm
Astro . . the one thing you seem to be overlooking, is that Joe Johnson may benefit greatly, if Dwight was our center. It would mean that teams just couldn’t double JJ anytime they wanted. And if they doubled Dwight, he can kick it out to JJ for open shots.
I could definitely see a scenario in which JJ still leads this team in scoring at 19 – 23 ppg, simply because he’d get doubled less out on the perimeter. And with Teague’s ability to get into the paint, teams will start to focus on him more as well,. This will also make life for JJ easier.
In the year the Magic made the NBA Finals ( 2009 ), Dwight averaged 20 points – 15 rebounds – almost 3 blks and shot 60% FG. The big frontline of the Lakers did diminish what Dwight could do, no doubt about that. He still averaged 15.4 ppg – 15.2 rebs – 4 blks that series. But it took the big Laker frontline to stop him. NO one else in the league stopped him.
And he’s become a better offensive player since that 2009 Finals run.
In comparison, we got a little over 26 ppg – 18 rebounds – 3 blks – and 41% FG shooting from Smith and Horford combined in the playoffs last year. And a big frontline ALWAYS bother these guys.
Shoot, forget JJ, the addition of a Dwight Howard could turn Teague into a much better PG.
I just think you have to factor in how a guy like Dwight could help our backcourt, when you consider a deal like that.
Grandmaster JeJe
December 31st, 2011
4:32 pm
Northcyde,
What is your proposed trade offer for Dwight? Is there any way we could package Horford WITHOUT trading Joe, Josh, or Teague? We are very thin at the SF and if we trade Smoove I bet Howard leaves after the year
Rusty
December 31st, 2011
4:32 pm
Some one on the hawks seen the great potential of jt when he was drafted, to bad it wasn’t woody or Larry leisure. Con grad to dr Mary for seeing the light &actually apologizing to jt
brigadierjerry
December 31st, 2011
4:33 pm
Good game going on between LA and Denver in LA now.
I have made my points about Dwight being a go to guy. I would want him on my team but you would need other players on the team to make plays. He can be the setup person but I would take my chances being down a point or two expecting him to make a big shot. Therefore you would nee a Joe Johnson type of player or someone that can spread the floor and make shots. If the Dhoward trade happened I think Joe Johnson would have to stay. One thing I would do if possible would be to get Paul Gasol for a 2-3 year run.
I also think Teague’s ceiling is a that of a poor man’s derrick rose. He will be a guy that can score a lot of points and average about 7-8 assists a game.
Grandmaster JeJe
December 31st, 2011
4:34 pm
Everyone needs to look at how OKC built its team – through the draft + Perkins pretty much.
We are pretty similar but we don’t have a KD.
FIRE SUND
Rev in Tampa
December 31st, 2011
4:38 pm
Sautee,
Actually you might be wrong. The game is South Beach could be snowed out on Monday night.
Marvin and Zaza are the team MVP’s this season and Drew has started every game, so if hell can freeze over then it can certainly snow in Miami. It will be January on Monday.