Atlanta Hawks at Bulls: Game thread
Chicago–Regular lineup for the Hawks. All Hawks except Kirk Hinrich (shoulder) and Donald Sloan (inactive) are available. Ronnie Brewer is starting in place of Rip Hamilton (groin) for the Bulls.
- Hinrich had his eight-week checkup today. “Good news,” Hinrich said. “They are going to let me start doing all of the non-contact stuff with the team. A couple weeks from now, we will see how it goes from there. It’s one of those deals where I’m excited to do some things. Hopefully I can get my conditioning right and keep strengthening. I have some weakness. I need to get stronger before I get out there.”
- Larry Drew said he hasn’t decided on Hinrich’s role when he returns: “We will see how that goes with Kirk. We are certainly going to bring him along slowly. But as far as who is going to be the starter, I haven’t made a decision.”
- Drew doesn’t think a zone defense can be as effective against the Bulls as it was against Miami: “You are talking about two totally different beasts. With having to defend Wade and LeBron I think it’s totally different from having to defend Rose. With Rose I think he may be more explosive. Both LeBron and D-Wade are very explosive but Rose’s explosion is a little bit different. His ability to get into the paint is more of a havoc than LeBron and Wade. LeBron and Wade are more open court. Rose can get into the basket open court and half court.”
- Jeff Teague is back in the building where he started the best run of his young career. He said he’s not still drawing confidence from those moments against Rose, though: “I’m a confident player, anyway. I don’t really get into the matchup last year. He’s going to come back with something totally different.”
- Vladimir Radmanovic is 0 for 10 from the field in the last two games, including 0 for 4 on 3-pointers. He passed up a couple open attempts at Miami. Drew wants him to keep shooting. “We brought him here to shoot when he’s open,” Drew said. “He hasn’t had his typical type games but I am not going to instruct him to stop shooting. He’s got to keep putting them up.”
- Al Horford had a productive game around the basket against Chris Bosh. Joakim Noah is tougher by multiple degrees. “I think you have to try to match his energy as much as you can,” Horford said. “He is going to bring that every night and I think that’s what makes him such a great player.”
- Josh Smith was 1 for 7 on long 2s against the Heat before settling down. “He got into a jump-shot mode,” Drew said. “When he came out that first time, we spoke to him at that time. Then he just kind got it together and started putting it in the floor and getting to the basket, which is a strength of his because he’s long and he can elevate. He did settle down.”
- The Hawks are playing their sixth game in eight days. “We are doing OK,” Horford said. “At this point everybody has got something that is wrong with them. That’s just a part of it. Tonight is a big game for us so we are going to come out here and focus on tonight and tomorrow hopefully we will get to rest and recover.”
Michael Cunningham, Hawks beat
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1,299 comments Add your comment
Lathargic Drew
January 3rd, 2012
10:55 pm
Coach Drew mentally gambled with keeping the 2nd String Players in during crucial made 3 point shots by Bulls…Pargo made a 3 afterwards, but Drew should’ve called time out and put starters back in game..but trying to showcase his new 2nd string was a gamble Drew took and it cost him..Playing catch up in 4th Qtr when you previously led throughout the game is a Big Mental Disadvantage a new nucleous…Frustraing to say the least…bury my head in sand and wonder about coaching decision
MattP
January 3rd, 2012
10:56 pm
“When Teague play aggressive and attack the Hawks win, when Teague don’t they lose i guess Joe was right after all.
GO HAWKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
Does Joe know he is the one with the max contract? He is the one that is suppose to take charge of the game.
kwooden
January 3rd, 2012
10:57 pm
Chicago’s bench scored less than ours but the +- was much much better. Thibs used his bench better than LD. Hopefully the coaches will get a better feel for that next game. Go HAWKS!!
ntrigue
January 3rd, 2012
10:57 pm
Worst coached gm in Hawks history!!!!
Dont Brick It
January 3rd, 2012
10:57 pm
Good job LD..
The Rose counter attack was inevitable regardless if it was the 2nd or 1st unit. It’s not unheard of to lose a 20 point lead. The problem was LD lacking quick thinking and decent plays. Expecting a miracle from the likes of JS. And those f’ing FT’s. I’m not sure what happened to T-Mac but I would’ve sub the guy for JJ or JS for that final shot. I don’t care if he misses the ball because JJ really looked awful out there.
Wink
January 3rd, 2012
10:58 pm
Enter your comments here
ntrigue
January 3rd, 2012
10:58 pm
Let me be the coach and I guarentee we at least finish 2nd in our division!!! Real Talk!!!
kwooden
January 3rd, 2012
10:58 pm
With all that said we lost because Joe shot like stinky garbage!! GO HAWKS!!
brigadierjerry
January 3rd, 2012
10:59 pm
Off topic I have heard a lot of Bulls games on TV but Neil Funk and Stacey King who was not a good pro are one of the worst announcers I have ever heard. I thought Tommy Heinson from the Celtics was bad.
Mr.E
January 3rd, 2012
11:00 pm
We will smash Miami in Atlanta.
I’m actually going to say I have faith in this team despite tonight’s choke job.
Section 303
January 3rd, 2012
11:02 pm
Last thing and then I’m out of here.
Why not T-Mac down at the end of the game? I’m so f’ing sick of the ball automatically going to Joe Johnson at crucial moments. What has he ever done to earn that right? Just run a f’ing. This idea that one player HAS to touch the ball on any major possession is just stupid.
Since it must be written in the bible that a team can only look to one guy when it needs a hoop, why not a guy that can actually make a clutch shot? I vote T-Mac. I’ve seen every other “core” player wilt in big moments, why not give T-Mac a shot? We know none of the other guys can perform when needed.
Jeff Teague proved he is not worthy of all the love he gets on here. What a total choke job.
yodaddybrother
January 3rd, 2012
11:02 pm
@MattP
Did Josh Smith not hit two clutch jumpers in the 4th? Was he not getting to the free throw line? Was he not making great passes to teammates, rebounding and protecting the rim?
Lay off him. You won’t appreciate what he does until he’s gone. He had 15 rebounds, key blocks, good assists. All you guys do is focus on the negative.
yoursporthouse dot com
January 3rd, 2012
11:03 pm
Deng and Rose had 25 or Bulls 29 points. Hey LD, send Collins in as a goon and knock Rose on his arse!! And go to the nearest outdoor court, I don’t care how cold and practice FREE throws until your hands are fckn numb. THESE DAM ATLANTA TEAMS!!!
superiorblogman
January 3rd, 2012
11:03 pm
LD threw the momentum away and Teague sh..t himself on those FT’s. I love Teague as a basketball player but he did. This stinks bad.
Heat Fan
January 3rd, 2012
11:03 pm
Since I’ve been here the past 5 years watching the Hawks, they remind me of the Heat of the 90’s. Good enough to win 50 games but not good enough to beat the (Ewing) Knicks or the (Jordan) Bulls in a seven game series. Hawks are close but they are a superstar and a good coach away from reaching the ECF or the Ship. JMO
Wink
January 3rd, 2012
11:04 pm
That was a head scratcher. 14 point lead in the 4th quarter just got Rosed. They stop the double team on the pick at the top of the key. In the mist of the run, offensively Josh kept ending up with the ball at the end of the shot clock. During this time Joe was running from the ball, yet Drew want Joe to take the last shot…dude was having a bad shooting game.
Free throws, Free throws, Free throws caused us the game in the end. Miss technicals, bad form from Horford at the end & Teague shot just flat. That 4 free throws missed in the last 30 seconds of game.
This game was in hand, just needed game management entering the fourth…oh well time to finish off the Crown!!
NCBravesFan
January 3rd, 2012
11:06 pm
Should have won tonight, but this year’s team looks better to me than last year’s. Chalk it up to tired legs and a loss of concentration (fatigue).
the truth
January 3rd, 2012
11:06 pm
How Do You Blow A 19 PT Lead. You Deserved What You Got, LOSERS. This Comment Is Not For The Hawks, But For The Chickens, As They Showed Us What They Really Are,against the bulls tonite.
yoursporthouse dot com
January 3rd, 2012
11:06 pm
yodaddybrother,
THANK YOU! Josh shoots a couple of jumpers and EVERYBODY WANTS TO TRADE AND BASH HIM! HE WAS 6 FOR 13 FROM THE FIELD, WHILE JOE WAS 3 FOR 17! HE BLOCKED SHOTS AND CHANGED MANY OTHERS, GET OFF OF JOSH SMITH!!
Hawks Fan Down Under
January 3rd, 2012
11:08 pm
WOW! One of the all time chokes! Horrible free throws, poor offensive execution down the stretch. Just not good enough. They played well but in the end simply let the Bulls run over them….very disappointing!
Najeh Davenpoop
January 3rd, 2012
11:08 pm
I am starting to believe in this team’s defense. The offense still goes hot and cold depending on Teague’s aggressiveness; when he is not aggressive, like in much of the 4th quarter, they revert to Woody mode. The bench still hasn’t sold me that it is of the quality needed to win in the playoffs (Zaza in particular was very disappointing in this game). And no team wins with free throw shooting this poor.
With all that said, they just lost by 2 to the team with the best record in the league last year on the second game of a back to back. It was a completely avoidable, self-inflicted loss, but still not a back breaker considering the opponent.
TeamNoOverreacting
TeamLookAtTheBigPicture
TeamAtLeastWaitUntilTheEndOfThisWeekBeforeMakingAnyDefinitiveJudgments
Najeh Davenpoop
January 3rd, 2012
11:10 pm
By the way, Josh was the MVP of this game.
TeamDon’tListenToTradeAdviceFromDumbassHatersOnThisBlog
Grandad
January 3rd, 2012
11:11 pm
Free Throws are *confidence and *concentration.
“confidence comes from demonstrated ability”
- Bill Parcells -
“concentration and mental toughness are the keys to victory”
- Bill Russell -
“concentration; focusing totally on the business at hand
and commanding your body to do exactly what you want it to do”
- Arnold Palmer -
“concentration is self discipline”
- G-dad -
____________________________________________
No excuses about weary legs.
weary minds … maybe ?
Uncle Tom
January 3rd, 2012
11:12 pm
Angel McCoughtry (Atlanta Dream Forward) = Franchise Superstar and MVP caliber potential/player
Joe Johnson = Grossly overpaid complementary player
yoursporthouse dot com
January 3rd, 2012
11:13 pm
LD,
Have the team outside tonight with the lights on at a basketball court in a park and make them shoot free throws for 2 hours.
yoursporthouse dot com
January 3rd, 2012
11:15 pm
Uncle Tom,
STOP!! I’m choking from laughter!!!
Najeh Davenpoop
January 3rd, 2012
11:15 pm
Joe’s 3/17 from the field and missed potential game winner don’t bother me as much as the 2/2 from the line. If you can’t make shots, at least go inside and draw contact.
One of these days Teague will become assertive enough to go get the ball and make plays rather than watching his teammates jack up shots. The sooner that happens, the sooner the Hawks will have a consistently competent offense to go with their impressive defense.
moboman
January 3rd, 2012
11:16 pm
Cant blame this on Josh, or Marvin, or Al. Front line worked their butts off. We were under coached in the 4th. No movement, no passing, no PG in the offense. If we werent going to let Teague do anything in the 4th, should have put in another shooter and made Rose play some D. We got passive. Teague was hesitant to shoot, Marvin settled for the jumper with the lane wide open. We found ways to lose instead of doing what got us the 19 point lead.
Grandmaster JeJe
January 3rd, 2012
11:17 pm
Players on this team always use the excuse that they were tired when we lose, but I don’t hear anyone praising Houston for beating us on the 3rd of its b2b2b. Apparently we were tired too that night
SMH
FIRE LD
FIRE LD
FIRE LD
FIRE LD
FIRE LD
Wink
January 3rd, 2012
11:17 pm
Josh Smith will on most night have good stats, but the problem is when Josh takes that ill fated jumpshot or get a rebound & tries to run break and make a bad pass or get fouled on a un coordinated move to the basket. Every team in the league wants Josh to shoot jumpers or go to the line in crunch time. Soon they will will come up with a Hack a Josh strategy. With Josh it Timing not his Stats impact.
Same can be said for LeBron in the playoffs last year, he had a triple double game and he was not present in the 4th quarter of NBA Finals games. His stats had no impact on the outcome.
Josh’s game is kinda like, taking a gun to a knife fight, GOOD IDEA, but leaving the bullets at home, BAD JUDGEMENT!!
MattP
January 3rd, 2012
11:17 pm
yodaddybrother,
He was 3-6 on FT, That only getting to the line 3 times the whole game, it was also only 50%. Wow he hit 2 clutch jumpers that means he gets the go ahead to shot more. Yes, he does look good at passing sometimes but you don’t remember some of the crazy passes to no one? And like I said he looks good on defense but his offense kills us.I loved him active on boards
He should be a guy that could easily get 10+ FTA a game. Yes, he calmed down this game on jump shots but we all know that Josh will be back. He should not be acting like a PG at all. And I wasn’t basing it all on this game just the overall Josh. He did look better then others but he also looked bad on Offense.
Joe was the biggest killer here along with LD. LD could have won this but he made many, many mistakes in the 4th. That is something you do not want to do with a good team like this because they feed off of it.
Grandmaster JeJe
January 3rd, 2012
11:19 pm
maybe if MARVIN FREAKING SHOWED UP AND CONTRIBUTED IN PREVIOUS GAMES TMAC WOULDN’T HAVE TO PLAY EXTENDED MINUTES
AMNESTY MARVIN
the truth
January 3rd, 2012
11:19 pm
they are stiil losers
Grandad
January 3rd, 2012
11:20 pm
LD is still learning;
he was late calling a TO when Chi went on their run.
He should have never let them get it under 10
w/o calling 2 least two TO’s.
_____________________________________________
I’ve never heard of a rule where an official makes a call;
then checks the moniter to see who ball touched last.
Then ! as per football it should have to be indisputible to overturn !
I’ve never seen or heard of such !
There should be a protest / if it is a rule it must be changed /
otherwise they should check every out of bounds dispute.
The official clearly made the call.
*WRONG*
-regardless of explanation-
There is no justification for that call ! None !
Wink
January 3rd, 2012
11:20 pm
@MattP
CO-SIGN!
yoursporthouse dot com
January 3rd, 2012
11:21 pm
Why was McGrady not in at the end of the game?
yodaddybrother
January 3rd, 2012
11:21 pm
The Hawks are a good basketball team. They didn’t even play well and were up 20 in the 3rd. The league MVP brought his team back in the 4th quarter and he’s done it twice already this season.
Hawks fans should be encouraged. Back To Back after beating the Heat at home. This was their 6th game in 8 days. They got tired which explains 34 points in the 4th quarter (after only giving up 26 in the first half). It explains the free throw shooting, which the Hawks are actually pretty good at.
The Bench helped extend the lead and the bench also helped give up the lead. Joe Johnson had a serious off night on offense. Yet still they hel d a comfortable lead.
There’s a difference between reasons and excuses.
Grandad
January 3rd, 2012
11:21 pm
*w/o calling [ @ ] least two TO’s.
KevinM
January 3rd, 2012
11:21 pm
This team is made up of parts that need to work better together. We seem to get up and down performances from the captains lately.
If they would all just become a bit more consistent, we would be a very good team. To me, its the mental makeup of this team that is weak.
The talent is there despite being a bit short in the post.
Josh and Marvin were the guys tonight, but I would have expected T-Mac to come in at least on offense in all those possessions that ended up with no points.
FTs should never beat you, but they did tonight.
Najeh Davenpoop
January 3rd, 2012
11:22 pm
Hawks bench: 5/18, 12 points, 10 boards
Omer Asik: 9 boards
Uncle Tom
January 3rd, 2012
11:22 pm
This game is just the reversal of the 83-80 win against the Bulls last season. The Hawks were down big to the Bulls in Atlanta and came back and won. Al Horford had a big game and Marvin had a big block on Rose at the rim. Anybody remember that game. What’s good for the goose is good for the gander. Karma is a MF!
Mr.E
January 3rd, 2012
11:23 pm
Lol @ all the negativity in here.
There were so many positives to take out of this game as well but people will only remember the missed free throws. We showed why we are a better team than the Bulls.
We’re going to be good this season, real good.
Grandad
January 3rd, 2012
11:24 pm
Stern’s league still gives me the willies.
*touch Rose = foul
*knock Teaguer down = let it slide
**Jordan Rules** = subtle
yoursporthouse dot com
January 3rd, 2012
11:25 pm
Uncle Tom,
I was at that game and Horford was a monster. I never saw that Horford ever again since. Have you?
Grandad
January 3rd, 2012
11:26 pm
The Hawks quit running their offense in 4th qtr.
Iso and jump shots = play not to lose.
Eric C.
January 3rd, 2012
11:27 pm
Still a 2nd round team…nothing has changed.
MattP
January 3rd, 2012
11:27 pm
I can’t wait for Hinrich to get back, I just hope LD plays him off the bench and not start him in front of teague. Playing Hinrich off the bench would allow him to come in for either Joe or Teague depending on who is have a bad game.
yoursporthouse dot com
January 3rd, 2012
11:27 pm
Grandad,
Another, make it seem as if the ball went out off Horford with a review on the monitor to help the MVP’s team come back. There was NO DOUBT IN MY MIND they were reversing that call.
Uncle Tom
January 3rd, 2012
11:28 pm
I betcha Jamal Crawford would’ve made his free throws.
Eric C.
January 3rd, 2012
11:28 pm
And Joe Johnson…go ahead and shoot 3-17, but wth was that turnover at the end of the first half. I had a bad feeling that might come back to roost and sure enough.