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
Astro Joe
December 31st, 2011
9:52 pm
5th Ward wants to give us 3 reasons why he thinks Texas is better, but he can only remember 2 of them.
TS (Transexual)
December 31st, 2011
9:53 pm
Josh Smith’s beard turns me on
Hmmmm
December 31st, 2011
9:53 pm
JOSH JUST STOP SHOOTING JUMPERS AND WE WILL BE GREAT.
NV, THAT AINT HAPPENING SMH.
Sautee
December 31st, 2011
9:54 pm
LOL @ AJ
Astro Joe
December 31st, 2011
9:56 pm
If LD thought that his team was sluggish, then isn’t that when you give Ivan a little love to ignite the fire? Isn’t that one of the primary reasons he is on the roster, to turn up the energy level? Maybe he was inactive (in favor ofJason Collins). I guess activating Ivan on the 2nd of a back-to-back didn’t seem like a bright idea at the time. Oh well.
Happy New Year fellas. Be safe out there… amateur night, tonight.
Sautee
December 31st, 2011
9:56 pm
“It’s obvious that all of the posts are from the same guy. Oh well…’
Gee, ya think?
Rusty
December 31st, 2011
9:56 pm
I guess ld after the nets game told jt that he wanted his pg to set up team mates not score 20 points for them self. Jt played like he had his tail between his legs & seemed to pissed off. Lt is trying to get into his head, the idiot. I do not trust this man.
Black Power
December 31st, 2011
9:57 pm
Can we put an end to the Atlanta vs. Houston beef? It’s really corny, tired, triflin’ and played out. Both cities got it goin’ on.
BIG DOG
December 31st, 2011
9:57 pm
5TH Ward them GA boys don’t play bro, that’s that bull you where expose 2, check out the mix tape bro where you home boy lil third saying them GA BOYS ANT NO JOKE, and in the mix tape lil third admitting TI and his boys put a whooping on lil Flip and his boys, so don’t get it twisted.
DON’T MESS WITH THE BIG DOGS “SUN”
BIG DOG IN THE HOUSE
Melvin
December 31st, 2011
9:59 pm
Well I’m not going to point the finger or put the blame on one or two guys when the whole team didn’t play well. I’m mean no one for the Hawks was lighting it up on offense that was causing the other team to double team him… Put this loss behind like 2011 and get ready for Miami on Monday….
McHale
December 31st, 2011
9:59 pm
Scola was in legitimate foul trouble tonight, meanwhile Al had only 1 foul, yet Scola played more minutes than Al did tonight. Great job, L.D.
The guys who play the smartest team ball (Marvin and Al) get the fewest minutes of the starters, and the guys who are the most selfish and missed the most shots (8 misses each) play the most minutes (Josh and Joe). Great coaching, L.D. You’re a class act.
zachdahater
December 31st, 2011
10:00 pm
Coach LD has NO IDEA what he’s doing as far as rotations go! This is what I would do
2nd UNIT
Green/Pargo
Mcgrady
VLad
Ivan
Zaza
(DEPENDING ON MATCHUPS)
Mixed units
Green/Pargo
Mcgrady
Marvin
Horford
Zaza/Collins
Basically, WE HAVE THE ABILITY TO BE A MIS-MATCH PROBLEM FOR ANY TEAM if we use our players correctly. Let Horford play PF waaay more often, and let’s occasionally use Collins. He’s slow but a smart defender.
Pluses from this game are we stayed in it with DEFENSE, and Marvin still looks good. So does Tracy.
Minuses are we aren’t scoring as easily as we should and JOSH SMITH still wants to play on the perimeter. I remember one play where Joe was posting up and looking DIRECTLY at Josh Smith for the cut, and Josh just stood there and waited for Joe to pass it to him.
This team CAN beat the HEAT, “we have the technology”, will LD use it right. We’ll see Monday
GO HAWKS!!!
Slimjr
December 31st, 2011
10:01 pm
San Antonio By 20..
Slimjr
December 31st, 2011
10:01 pm
Utah by 17
Slimjr
December 31st, 2011
10:03 pm
Miami by 30
Sautee
December 31st, 2011
10:03 pm
McHale,
I’m not saying that Drew coached well, but we ARE traveling to MIA tonight and playing again tomorrow, while Houston is off. I think his bench play over the first 3 made him greedy enough to think we could win with the starters minutes down, thus saving them for tomorrow.
Didn’t work, obviously.
Slimjr
December 31st, 2011
10:05 pm
Our guards are going to have off nights and when they do it spells disaster..
Because our front line are not talented enough to carry the load to a win..
I sense a trade coming.. A blockbuster?
Black Power
December 31st, 2011
10:06 pm
Trade Josh Smith for Hakim Warrick.
Who Me?
December 31st, 2011
10:07 pm
Yeah – this is the same Hawks we all know and love. Never mind this was Houston’s 3rd game in 3 nights, they look like world champs against our tired-a** defense. 9 3 pointers against tonight, what Perimeter D?
C’mon – really? I’m not willing to give the Heat 30 but you can bet your butt it will be another L.
Sounds like the Falcons, don’t it? Beat the teams you’re supposed to beat and lose to the “elite” teams. Season ticket holders – anyone out there??
Slimjr
December 31st, 2011
10:07 pm
Clippers by 14..
Rusty
December 31st, 2011
10:08 pm
I think ld has already fk up this team. Took 4 games, ld is beyond inconpetant.
Slimjr
December 31st, 2011
10:08 pm
Golden St. by 7
Slimjr
December 31st, 2011
10:09 pm
Thunder by 24
BIG DOG
December 31st, 2011
10:11 pm
5TH Ward there you go again don’t no the real story behind this gay boy stuff your talk, just and outsider thats it, them gay dudes your talk are guy’s from other states not from GA, that came to college in atlanta and join the under ground attraction of fraternity ran by other secret society such as the black boule brother, so when you speak on the A do reserch first.
BIG DOG IN THE HOUSE
Who Me?
December 31st, 2011
10:13 pm
ld may not be the sharpest tool in the shed, but they gotta want it. that’s the biggest difference between Larry and Phil, or hell even Doc. They know how to make the guys want to win it every night.
Dept. Of Unintended Irony
December 31st, 2011
10:13 pm
“ld is beyond inconpetant.”
Enough said, LOL.
There’s no irony as delicious as when an intended slur is misspelled. It just says so much.
Slimjr
December 31st, 2011
10:15 pm
Hey I saw All NBA pull out that patented turn around fadeaway set shot for the very first time!
He’s been working on it all summer! Wow….
Dept. Of Unintended Irony
December 31st, 2011
10:17 pm
“True, our core is in tack but that may be part of the problem.’
Yes, if the core is wearing saddles it could certainly slow them down.
Who Me?
December 31st, 2011
10:19 pm
DoUI you’re crackin’ me up… spelling goes right out the window in the blogs….
Hmmmm
December 31st, 2011
10:22 pm
TEXAS THE HOME OF GEORGE W BUSH’S RE-ELECTION.
AW DAMN, THAT F’D UP EVERYBODY, NEVERMIND!
Rev in Tampa
December 31st, 2011
10:24 pm
Sixers looking great against Warriors.
Mike is Back
December 31st, 2011
10:24 pm
HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL ON THE BLOG…even the aforementioned TROLLS.lol
Yeah AJ, I thought this would have been a good game to turn the animal loose…the rotation that got us to within six points was the way to go tonight…VLad size was making Scola work harder to score…LD please ride the train until it runs out gas…WHEN YOUR STARTERS ARE STRUGGLING.
Tmack, was ready to take us home…but LD never gave him the keys…ANYTIME either Josh or JJ go into a funk…please put they azzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz on the pine…just like you do Marvin.
Because, both JJ and Josh take a lot bad shots early in the shot clock…Yeah, Josh was the worst of the two…But when you have a guy in JJ that supposedly the third top SG in the game…let some people tell it…How TF do you let Kevin Martin out play you…go figure.
Slimjr
December 31st, 2011
10:26 pm
Hawks look terrible against the Rockets…
SWAT Native
December 31st, 2011
10:28 pm
@ 5th Ward – Soulja Boy is from Mississippi…
Sautee
December 31st, 2011
10:28 pm
T-S, WHY???????
You’ve been entertaining, but when you cross the line, MC will have to act. Do you really want to be banned again just to try and get a reaction? I hope it’s worth it to you.
Slimjr
December 31st, 2011
10:29 pm
LD’s bench made a comeback in that 4th quarter,momentum was on their side so what does he do? He brings his #4 and #5 around the 6 minute mark and within a couple of minutes the lead more than doubles…Game over…
Rusty
December 31st, 2011
10:31 pm
Trade jj for ld,oh Christ their both on our team. Does jj make 50x more than ld. Nether is worth what they make.
JSS
December 31st, 2011
10:38 pm
And there it is, a “16 point” quarter! You just can not have those things… Jeff Teague has to force the issue on a night like this in terms of aggressiveness… Happy New Year Hawks People!!!
McHale
December 31st, 2011
10:42 pm
Sautee,
I’m not sure where you got that we play tomorrow, but the next game is on Monday in Miami. Yes, the Hawks are going to be traveling, but that’s not an excuse. The core is pretty young and starters minutes (30+) for each of them on any given night, as long as it’s the third night of a back-to-back-to-back is not something that shouldn’t be expected. These guys are professionals. I’m not asking for L.D. to run his starters into the ground, I’m just asking him to learn how to utilize his pieces. Thinking that his bench was going to beat a gritty houston team and their starters would be an insult to the Rockets. These bench players still don’t have much chemistry since they haven’t played with eachother for very long. Also, the main thing I was complaining about was the way L.D. utilized Marvin and Al. Marvin has been playing very effectively so far this season, and there’s no reason that he shouldn’t have been given more of a chance tonight. Josh played 30 minutes when he wasn’t even very effective for many of those minutes. Marvin was actually playing decent when L.D. took him out. He got off to a great start in this game. There’s no excuse for him only playing 19 minutes on the night. Even if T-Mac was playing well, that doesn’t mean you bench Marvin. Marvin is versatile, he could have played alongside T-Mac or with the second unit, or even in place of Josh at the 4 when Josh was being more destructive than helpful.
There’s also no excuse for L.D. failing to recognize advantages and milk them. Al had it going in the post for a while, and instead of continuing to go to him until Houston either switched matchups or doubled, we went away from one of the few things that was working for us on the offensive end.
L.D. is borderline terrible when it comes to his rotation. He even put Jason Collins in against Dalembert and a quick Houston team where it was clear that Collins would not be helpful. Sometimes, it seems like L.D. doesn’t even have a clue what the strengths of his players are. Is Marvin that hated that he couldn’t even get minutes over Jason Collins? Yes, I know Collins was in due to the fact that Zaza had 2 fouls, but that’s yet another poor decision by L.D. Heaven forbid that the backup center gets 2 fouls in the second quarter. What are we going to do? Zaza doesn’t play big minutes anyway, L.D. could have kept him in without virtually no real consequence.
Sometimes, I really want our team to be broken up so that guys who are serious about competing and want to win have a chance to play for an organization that actually cares, and under a coach who is actually competent. I know I’m being negative, but I’m just tired of seeing the same poor coaching year after year. Players are always going to make mistakes, and that’s enough to annoy someone, but when the coach makes even more mistakes on top of that, and shows no signs of learning from those mistakes, it’s almost a lost cause. Al, Josh, and Marvin would probably all be much more effective elsewhere with a coach that knew how to use them. The only guy who has his talent maximized is Joe, and that’s only because L.D. gives him the green light to do what he pleases. Josh gets the green light too, but he doesn’t have anyone to teach him how to make the most of what he’s got. It’s just a bad situation here in Atlanta.
Sautee
December 31st, 2011
10:44 pm
You don’t know who you are?
James
December 31st, 2011
10:45 pm
lol, T.S. found another name. Now “Play Maker” has joined the list.
Sautee
December 31st, 2011
10:46 pm
McHale,
My bad. And I agree with much of your post.
Sautee
December 31st, 2011
10:54 pm
T R U T H S E R U M,
Enjoy your foolishness while it lasts. Hope it’s worth it to you.
Ray
December 31st, 2011
10:54 pm
Well I watched the game, but the officiating was horrible imo I swear I counted at least 4 big missed calls in the game at least 2 in the fourth quarter.
Ray
December 31st, 2011
10:54 pm
Would that have won us the game probably not, but still c’mon man.
Rusty
December 31st, 2011
10:57 pm
Ld is one hell of a lousy coach, woody was a lot better even tho he was poor.
5th!
December 31st, 2011
11:03 pm
When your #4 and #5 cant score the ball in the 3rd and 4th quarter(same as last year) you lose like this!!! Blowouts are coming again…Sheesh!
Ray
December 31st, 2011
11:03 pm
LD still doesn’t get the whole hot hand thing or as I would say when to yank someone.
Pargo these last two games I would have yanked him if he shot 2 3’s both missed then he shoots a 3rd that’s a cause to say sit your a** down.
Same thing for Vlad Rad he did great, but tonight he was off.
Regardless if not for some major blown calls at least I saw this game could have been closer trust ATL will get them back when they come to our house I’m certain.
stizz
December 31st, 2011
11:04 pm
5th ward is the biggest idiot I’ve seen on this blog. Texas has better women then Georgia? Keep on dreaming.
doc
December 31st, 2011
11:09 pm
maybe we can hope that gearon, et al the basg wakes up in the new year and says to itself in all honesty, yup, the start of a new trend, you know our core got smoked against a very bad team. the core sucked tonight no two ways around it from all star jj thru all star al thru most popular and highest al star vote getter josh and into invisible marvin all showing -14 or greater. i wont try to pick a loser out of the bunch just saying they all sucked and they played hawks basketball.