Atlanta Hawks at Rockets: Game thread
- The Hawks are using their normal starting lineup. All players except Kirk Hinrich (shoulder) are available.
- There could be a Twin sighting tonight. “The first three games we didn’t play Jason Collins, who was a big part of what we did last season,” Larry Drew said. “I want to preserve him but at the same time I want to make sure I keep him in basketball shape. I take it game by game. It’s pretty much given who will be the first 10 players.”
- The Rockets will see the Hawks’ fourth game in five nights and raise them the last leg of a back-to-back-to-back. The Rockets also had their flight diverted from Hobby airport to Bush International because of dense fog that was still lingering when my flight landed at Bush this morning. The Hawks’ charter was the last flight to make it into Hobby last night.
- Both teams figure to be tired but Houston should be downright exhausted. Drew said the Hawks plan to attack: “That’s our whole objective. When you play against a team that has played a back-to-back and has done a lot of traveling, we definitely want to go into this game with an attack mentality. At the same time, on the road, we have to control the tempo. We attack when we can attack. Sometimes a relentless attack is not always the answer.”
- Josh Smith on Atlanta’s perimeter D: “It definitely helps when you are able to have perimeter defenders who take pride in sitting down on their man and not letting him get past them easy. It definitely takes a lot of pressure off me and Al [Horford] from having to contest a lot of shots and it keeps us out of foul trouble.”
Michael Cunningham, Hawks beat
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655 comments Add your comment
Hmmmm
December 31st, 2011
9:27 pm
TRADE JOSH FOR RONNIE BREWER?
Slimjr
December 31st, 2011
9:28 pm
what happen LARRY?
Slimjr
December 31st, 2011
9:28 pm
Larry looks clueless post interview! Dayum……
Slimjr
December 31st, 2011
9:29 pm
Get Hayes in here!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hmmmm
December 31st, 2011
9:29 pm
TRADE JOSH FOR BRIAN SCALBRINE?
Hmmmm
December 31st, 2011
9:31 pm
JOSH FOR KWAME BROWN STRAIGHT UP?
Big Ray
December 31st, 2011
9:31 pm
staying in the paint is not the same as doing something while you are in it.
Tonight – Josh 1 block, Al 1 block.
For the season – Josh 4 blocks, Al 6 blocks.
Am I missing something here?
northcyde
December 31st, 2011
9:31 pm
Josh was 4 – 7 FG on shots 10 feet and in . . plus drew fouls on shots going to the rim that got him to the FT line and saw him shoot 8 FTs
On shots outside of 10 feet, he was 0 – 5 . . . making him 4 – 21 on the year on jumpshots
That’s why people get mad at Josh. The dude can’t shoot, but swears up and down he can. But when he drives the basketball or tries to score in the paint, something good happens about 70% of the time.
Big Ray
December 31st, 2011
9:32 pm
Not that this was the issue, really.
Gambling defense and failing to close out on Rockets outside shots doomed us on defense.
Jerome
December 31st, 2011
9:32 pm
L.D. needs to learn how to manage player minutes and his rotation. This loss was as much his fault as it was the fault of the players.
Big Ray
December 31st, 2011
9:33 pm
That’s why people get mad at Josh. The dude can’t shoot, but swears up and down he can. But when he drives the basketball or tries to score in the paint, something good happens about 70% of the time.
Thankyou. It’s the ONLY reason I get mad at him….well…except when he ignores our fleet-footed PG and runs the break himself…and ends up with a 5 foot, fall away airball.
Trade Watch
December 31st, 2011
9:34 pm
AL WAS EXPECTED TO GET 20-25 PTS AND 20-22 REBOUNDS.
Not even the ONLY person who posted that straw man argument was expecting that sort of performance.
Slimjr
December 31st, 2011
8:24 pm
Al should get 25 and 20..
BIG RAY IF YOU DOUBT THE COPY AN PASTE TOO BAD DO YOUR OWN LEG WORK. YOUR CREDIBILITY WITH ME IS LIKE HORFORDS OVER AND UNDER FOR THE NIGHT, WHICH, BY THE WAY, WAS THE WORST ON THE TEAM TONIGHT!
Runner-
December 31st, 2011
9:34 pm
“When’s the last time a professional or college team in a major sport won a title in Georgia? The 80s?”
Braves in ‘93
Big Ray
December 31st, 2011
9:34 pm
Drew looks more and more like a sideshow attraction joke every day. It’s almost like he’s not there. Except when you see somebody on the bench who should be playing, and THEN you feel the Drew effect.
Slimjr
December 31st, 2011
9:34 pm
Al and Josh get exposed out West all the time..Not an accident after 6 years? Duh…………..
C’mon Gearon make it happen!
Hmmmm
December 31st, 2011
9:34 pm
HORFORD – ALL STAR
SMITH – AAU STAR
Oop.
kevkat
December 31st, 2011
9:34 pm
I agree 100% Jerome.
BIG DOG
December 31st, 2011
9:35 pm
5th Ward Texas Don’t mess with the BIG DOGS “SUN”
ROOF ROOF
BIG DOG DOG IN THE HOUSE
Slimjr
December 31st, 2011
9:35 pm
Thunder by 29!!!!!!
Hmmmm
December 31st, 2011
9:36 pm
HORFORD – BACK TO BACK NATIONAL CHAMP
SMITH – SLAM DUNK CHAMP
Oh.
Trade Watch
December 31st, 2011
9:36 pm
“Not that this was the issue, really.
Gambling defense and failing to close out on Rockets outside shots doomed us on defense.”
EVEN A BROKE CLOCK IS RIGHT TWICE A DAY.
HAVE A GOOD NIGHT AL HORFORD TRADE BAIT FAN CLUB AND THE HONORABLE GRAND POO BOBB BIG RAY!
Sautee
December 31st, 2011
9:37 pm
“Tonight – Josh 1 block, Al 1 block.”
“For the season – Josh 4 blocks, Al 6 blocks.”
“Am I missing something here?”
Yes Big Ray, you are missing the requisite hate and mindless negativity needed to see Horford with true eyes.
Runner-
December 31st, 2011
9:37 pm
“except when he ignores our fleet-footed PG and runs the break himself…and ends up with a 5 foot, fall away airball.”
lol, so true. Josh seems to be a clueless player that doesn’t learn from his mistakes… because he thinks he isn’t making any. It’s the coaches job to discipline the player when they do something like that, but LD is too soft on Smith. At least Woody got in his face on some of these issues, even if it was “in front” of everyone like Smoove said. It’s incredible how someone so talented can waste their talent by not being able to learn
Mike is Back
December 31st, 2011
9:37 pm
Josh and JJ stank it up all night…Al had it going and neither Josh or JJ seem to care…they gotta get their shots…heck, they are captains…they got a green light to the shoot ball.
Besides, Josh and JJ listless play…it was the decision by LD to go back with his starting lineup too soon…VLAD was playing good defense on Scola…why change the lineup…we were clearly back in the game. We go back to the starters…next thing you know…we down by twelve.
Again, it will comes down to whether LD will hold his starters accountable for their performance in the game….TOO MANY…isolation plays for Josh and JJ…the ball stop moving.
JJ was being guarded by Kevin Martin…geeeeeez when did KMartin become a defensive dynamo.
Let’s see if LD is just serving us lip service, or will we see LD bench his starters when they are being ineffective.
Why TF didn’t we keep feeding the ball to AL…Clearly he had it going tonight.
The only way Marvin can disappear…is if LD let him disappear…he obviously doesn’t have a problem letting Josh and JJ hoist up ill-advised shots…he pulls Marvin…when he needs to be pulling Josh or JJ…go figure.
Hmmmm
December 31st, 2011
9:38 pm
and before you call me a troll, my name is sautee, I dont mind telling you, yes, Im a member of the Al Hoford fan club and you have now enter the BOSSES DEN !
Hmmmm
December 31st, 2011
9:39 pm
HORFORD – Left open for a jumper, the crowd goes SHOOT IT!
SMITH – Left open for a umper, the crowd goes NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
northcyde
December 31st, 2011
9:39 pm
Looks like I found where the Hawks will be partying tonight . . if they stay in town.
Terrance Williams ( a scrub on the Rockets bench ) is hosting a party at a spot called Venue in downtown Houston. I haven’t been to Houston in over 6 years, but I do know that the women in Houston rival the women in Atlanta . . in the looks department.
So the Hawks have plenty of time to shower and mull over this loss, then party with the Rockets team themselves at Venue, with about 700 of the finest women in Texas.
It’s either that, or they’re going to Club Onyx. Yes . . Houston has an Onyx too. Same type of establishment.
Joe
December 31st, 2011
9:39 pm
I can’t believe we didn’t see Zaza and Al on the court at the same time tonight more. That could have really helped out in terms of rebounding, especially during the jumpshooting parade (or should I say Brick-laying extravaganza?) that ensued for most of the night due to the Hawks offense.
You know what is odd to me about the jumpshots? The guy who lead the team in shooting percentage on mid-range shots last season (Al) seems to be taking the fewest jumpshots and seems to be the most reluctant to take those sorts of shots. It might be due to the fact that Teague is terrible at running the pick-and-pop, but maybe Al is just trying to play inside more. I like the fact that he is posting up and driving the ball more, but it wouldn’t hurt to take a few of those mid-range jumpers too if he’s open. You have to play to your strengths, and it’s nice to mix your game up and keep the defense guessing.
Sautee
December 31st, 2011
9:39 pm
Runner,
Braves Series win was ‘95.
Slimjr
December 31st, 2011
9:40 pm
lmao^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
BIG DOG
December 31st, 2011
9:40 pm
Share your trade
http://games.espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=7u9t7as
Make it happen Sund
BIG DOG IN THE HOUSE
SWAT Native
December 31st, 2011
9:40 pm
@ 5th Ward Texas – Didn’t Houston learn when TI shut Lil Flip down a long time ago?
Joe
December 31st, 2011
9:41 pm
Corretion: The guy who *led* the team…
Trade Watch
December 31st, 2011
9:41 pm
blog filled with sickly old men and guys with slutty wives
Mike got Backks
December 31st, 2011
9:41 pm
We will feed Al when he gets of the bus at Disneyland. Al fcked up the whole team tonight. Most of the players are standing around waiting for him to be traded.
Hmmmm
December 31st, 2011
9:42 pm
SLIM JR MAD HAHHAHAHAHAH
Mike got Backks
December 31st, 2011
9:42 pm
Trade Watch
December 31st, 2011
9:41 pm
Hey sautee, we know thats you trolling as Trade Watch.
Sautee
December 31st, 2011
9:43 pm
“and before you call me a troll, my name is sautee, I dont mind telling you, yes, Im a member of the Al Hoford fan club and you have now enter the BOSSES DEN !”
Obviously not me since I know how to spell Horford.
Happy New Year, blog family.
Mike got Backks
December 31st, 2011
9:44 pm
Damn Sautee now you are Hmmmm you are all over the fcking place, Sit your troll azz down.
Neki
December 31st, 2011
9:44 pm
@5th Ward Texas – I got two words for you Long Horns: the movie
But back to the game, Tonight you didn’t see no pride out there at all by the Hawks. One of the reason why they are so looked down because they don’t put 110% of anything. Josh, you are not a jump shooter period. Al, you need to go stronger into the post, and I am seriously think that those rumors is getting to them. JT0, use your abilities to dish off to other players.
I think that a trade is needed if this continues and if Josh keep on doing stuff like this, he needs to pack his bags as well and disappear
kevkat
December 31st, 2011
9:45 pm
All three major atl sports coaches are “cap tippers”..Freddie, Mike and Larry..may as well be MO, Larry and Curly..they all lack fire…but one thing I must admit they do have is the ability to stand before reporters full of excuses…Will we ever get someone who isn’t afraid to throw a chair every now and then to get someone’s attention..
ak
December 31st, 2011
9:45 pm
At what point are we gonna admit signing jj to that bloated contract was a terrible mistake?. Honestly i think Tmac is a better player even with his mileage and past injuries then him.
Joe
December 31st, 2011
9:45 pm
I’ve got to agree with Mike is Back on a lot of things in his 9:37 post. L.D. did a poor job coaching tonight, and for whatever reason JJ and Josh seem to be immune to criticism and punishment/discipline when they are not playing well. Yes, Marvin should have played more tonight, and yes, Al should have gotten more touches when he had it going.
The players had their share of faults, especially on the defensive end, but the coaching in this game only made the situation worse.
KevinM
December 31st, 2011
9:46 pm
The guys must have had their mind on that party a bit too early.
They just didnt stop anyone tonight.
I liked T-Mac tonight, but Marvin sure is taking the hit for it.
So its not Jamal gatting Marvin’s shots…its anyone but Marvin.
Joe
December 31st, 2011
9:48 pm
“Drew looks more and more like a sideshow attraction joke every day. It’s almost like he’s not there. Except when you see somebody on the bench who should be playing, and THEN you feel the Drew effect.”
Post of the night. LOL.
Slimjr
December 31st, 2011
9:48 pm
The Core The Core the Core
ak
December 31st, 2011
9:49 pm
Marvin had a pathetic 3rd quarter and as a result he was dragged. Tmac pretty much kept us in it.
Smith.Leuer.Bogut
December 31st, 2011
9:50 pm
Atlanta center Josh Smith on Atlanta’s perimeter D: “It definitely helps when you are able to have perimeter defenders who take pride in sitting down on their man and not letting him get past them easy. It definitely takes a lot of pressure off me and Al [Horford] from having to contest a lot of shots and it keeps us out of foul trouble.”
womp womp womp
Same old Hawks.
KevinM
December 31st, 2011
9:51 pm
LD said his guys looked very slow tonight.
Hill and Scola dominated Al and Josh…we looked so short out there.
James
December 31st, 2011
9:52 pm
Herman Cain, Neki, Trade Watch, Mike got Backks… The list of forum names for T.S. just gets longer and longer. He was getting creative with Herman Cain, I’ll give him that, but now it’s just more of the same. I don’t know what the point of posting under all of the different names is. It’s obvious that all of the posts are from the same guy. Oh well…