Atlanta Hawks: Bulls 76, Hawks 74
Chicago–The Hawks so thoroughly dominated the Bulls for 33 minutes the United Center turned on the home team. Then Derrick Rose got off, the fans got live and the Hawks wilted under the pressure. They blew a chance to become the talk of the East for a few days.
- “The most important thing for us this early in the season is that we learn from it,” Larry Drew said. “We are going to be in these type positions a lot more times and it’s important to learn from it. When you are on the road, 19 points is nothing. It can be chipped away very easily. We made some mistakes with that 19-point lead that gave them hope. You can’t do that with a good team. Chicago is a very explosive team and with Rose on the floor anything can happen.”
- At the same time Rose got hot, Atlanta’s reserves got stagnant. Jannero Pargo’s 3 was more of an isolation heave than any kind of set play. Vladimir Radmanovic missed a rushed shot and Rose answered with a 3-pointer. Zaza Pachulia got stripped of the ball by Luol Deng, who went in for a layup on the break to cut it to 59-54.
- There wasn’t any one thing that lost the game for the Hawks but clearly that sequence made it a tight game after they were in control. This was a night when the bench didn’t have it, Rose was staring to take over and the Hawks have a rest day tomorrow.
- Still, the starters should have had their legs back after that break but they had miscues down the stretch, too. When Drew called a timeout to get the starters back in, Jeff Teague promptly forced a driving shot that Omer Asik blocked.
- The Hawks never had a consistent offensive flow in the final quarter. They did get a couple lob dunks but those were canceled out by lots of standing around, too much one-on-one by Joe Johnson, a couple Josh Smith jumpers (he did make a big one) and missed free throws. “We definitely got stagnant,” Drew said. “We were put in a lot of situations where there was low time on the clock. We didn’t get organized like we should. We will learn from it.”
- “I thought we passed up a lot of shots, honestly,” Johnson said. “I thought guys were passing up shots and trying to get another shot and it was leading to bad shots and turnovers.”
- The Hawks missed 11 of 25 free-throw attempts, including 6 of 10 in the fourth quarter. Three of those misses came in the final 17.5 seconds, with two from Teague and one from Horford.
- “I don’t know how I missed those free throws,” Teague said. “It happens. It will probably get at me for the rest of the night but I will be all right. It happens in basketball. Guys miss shots all the time. When I get home I will probably watch the game and try to move on from there.”
- Probably fatigue played a factor in the missed free throws. “No question about it,” Horford said. “We weren’t good from the line tonight. Normally we are a good free-throw shooting team. I myself missed a couple. We weren’t knocking them down like we should. Other than that I felt like we played a great game. We were right there with them. We dominated them for most of the game. Just Derrick Rose happened.”
- When Rose is pulling up and making 3s it’s a tough task to slow him down. “When he came out hitting those 3s in the second half, it’s hard to guard,” Teague said. “He has the green light to pull at any time and his team knows that. When he gets to hitting them, his confidence is up and now you are worried about him shooting threes. They were playing loose. They were down and they were just fighting to get back. No shot was a bad shot.”
- I thought Smith was good with the help defense on Rose but Rose got a couple calls. “I think we did a good job on defense,” Josh said. “We understood that with the lead they were going to be able to get to the free-throw line pretty much on anything. We expected it coming in and it’s just disappointing to see the lead decreased like that.”
- Deng slipped behind the defense thanks to a pick by Rose and confusion by the Hawks. “I was kind of covering the ball with Joakim [Noah],” Horford said. “We all assumed the ball was going to come back to Rose and we were going to trap. That was a great play by them, by their coach, to take the pressure from Rose and hit Deng on the backdoor. We didn’t expect that at all so that’s a great play by them. I think we just fell asleep on the back line.”
- “We had multiple options,” Tom Thibodeau said. “Obviously we were trying to get the ball to Derrick. They did a good job of taking away the first two options. Derrick set a great screen and Joakim made a great pass and Luol made a great cut.”
- On the final play the inbound pass went to Horford far away from the basket and Johnson got off an awkward 3-point try at the buzzer that missed. Johnson was 3 for 17, including 1 for 5 in the fourth quarter. I wonder if back-to-backs make his thumb flare-ups worse. It probably also didn’t help that he checked Rose at times (and was fairly effective at it for stretches).
- Teague was chasing Rose off screens a lot and wasn’t able to affect him in isolation, either. He was better than Pargo, though.
- Smith was all over the boards and made Chicago work for everything in the paint. But there was one fast break in which Teague passed out to Johnson in the corner instead of hitting Smith in the lane (does any team do that more then the Hawks?). Smith got frustrated and gave up on the play. If he’d stayed with it, he would have had a putback of Johnson’s miss.
- Marvin Williams (14 points on 10 shots, eight rebounds) had another solid game but he threw the ball away when the Hawks had a 71-70 lead. At some point Drew probably is going to have to figure out a way to keep Marvin in the game along with Tracy McGrady. Maybe someone else comes out instead.
- Vladimir Radmanovic made his first shot, a 3-pointer, and then missed his next three. By now it’s clear Willie Green is going to shoot when he gets in so the Hawks have to hope there are more 2-for-4s than 0-for-6s. Zaza Pachulia kept getting the ball late in the shot clock in bad position and at one point appeared to tell Green that’s not cool.
- McGrady said he banged his left knee during the Miami game and has a bone bruise: “We will see how it feels over the next couple days. It felt like [crap] today.” He drove to the basket against the Bulls but kept looking for calls that weren’t coming. McGrady had three turnovers against two assists but did get six rebounds in his 15 minutes. In addition to his length, McGrady has a feel for how the ball is going to come off the rim.
- The Hawks earned a split at Miami and Chicago and get another shot at both teams during the back-to-back-to-back.
- “I was planning to win both of them,” Johnson said. “Unfortunately we came up short tonight in a game we felt like we should have won. For whatever reason it got away from us. We didn’t come up with the big plays down the stretch.”
- “We can feel disappointed that we let this one get away from us we have nothing to hang our heads over,” Drew said. “I thought we played hard and played well for three quarters and we seemed to run out of a little bit of staem in that fourth quarter. We didn’t defend the way we did the first three quarters.”
- “We know we can play with the best of the best,” Smith said. “Obviously this was a disappointing loss but we can’t hang our heads. We have to know we can play anybody. These are the top two teams in the Eastern Conference last year.”
- “Obviously we can play with anybody,” Teague said. “We had them down 19. They made some plays. They made shots. Our defense was playing great; they just made some shots. They came back and stole one from us.”
Michael Cunningham, Hawks beat
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423 comments Add your comment
Jay Dubu
January 4th, 2012
9:18 am
Radmanovic, Green, Prago, & Zaza have to provide some scoring when they’re on the floor.
Other than the season opener against the New Jersey Nets (who may go winless the rest of the season) Radmanovic has played very poorly.
doc
January 4th, 2012
9:18 am
o’b what did blank say? i would think he would let them off the hook.
Prison Mike
January 4th, 2012
9:24 am
Why do we go to Joe time and time again when he has proven not to be clutch at end of games. I’m willing to bet Jamal has won this franchise more games in one month than Joe’s 6 years here on buzzer beating shots.
“I know sometimes I take shots I shouldn’t. But I’m not the only one in here who takes bad shots. I just get talked about more than anybody else.”
Why won’t this guy put his head down and go the line being 6-8 240 and all. Why won’t the media ask him such questions.
Ray
January 4th, 2012
9:26 am
You know our record is 4-2 honestly it could have been 2-4 with the way things were beginning to look at the preseason.
What I take from this game right now is that the hawks will be rugged on defense they are getting better it seems yes I realize Joe was 3-17 tonight, but I’m not hitting the panic button yet because I see DEFENSE which creates OFFENSE or at least gives you the chance.
The difference that lost us this game Free Throws it also didn;t help with the refs looked at that replay on Horford depending on how that last play goes could have been the game.
Still to go 1-1 against the two best teams in the east and almost actually be 2-0 plus you hold the bulls to 76 points that’s got to feel good.
Not only that but Mr. D. Rose the MVP 8-22 with a +/- of +2 where Teague at +10 yesterday.
Me and my pops already talked about this yesterday the bulls go how D.Rose leads them reason we had that huge lead Rose was slumping very badly, and he couldn’t get his teammates involved, but we also realized they(hawks) don’t need to have Luol Deng get involved and that’s what hurt them a tad bit in fact that’s basically what cost them the game.
Ken Strickland
January 4th, 2012
9:35 am
We lost this gm because we didn’t continue doing the things that got us the 19pt lead on the 1st place. When they started making their run, we panicked and went to ISO Joe, and that meant clearouts and NO BALL MOVEMENT. And just like in the past, Joe ended up forcing shots because everyone had cleared out and he had no one to pass it to, so he ended up going 1 on 5, which made it much easier on their DEF.
Going down the stretch is the time a team like ours, who’s without a true one on one go to player, should rely on their halfcourt OFF, especially against a solid DEF team like the Bulls. Hopefully, we’ll learn from this mistake. This team is going to be special before the season is over. We’ve gone on the road in back to backs and whipped one of the 2 top teams in the East, and scared the hell out of the other by matching their strength, which is DEF, and taking them to the wire.
It seems to me that Drew has fallen in love with TMac, much like he and Woodson fell in love with Bibby and Jamal. As productive as TMac has been lately, Marvin is still a better OFF option at this point. My issue with Drew is, since both players are capable of playing multiple positions, why is he so dead set against playing them together? Marvin is a very good shooter, has the ability to take it to the hole and draw fouls, and moves well without the ball. To me, considering TMac’s passing and penetrating ability, that would make them an excellent combination.
A gm like this really magnifies the importance of having Hinrich. We wouldn’t have lost this gm if he had been available. He’s more consistent and much steadier than Pargo or Green. I think Green willl improve once he settles down, learns everything, and establishes his role. I mentioned earlier about not being surprised about the Hawks coming in and playing this way. Let’s face it, most of you didn’t think the Hawks had much of a chance to even come close to winning this gm, let alone take it to the wire.
We have the makings of a very solid team, and as soon as all of the pieces come together, and we get Captain Kirk back, we’re going to be a team to beat.
Slimjr
January 4th, 2012
9:40 am
The Hawks played some of the best defense in a very long time..
Slimjr
January 4th, 2012
9:43 am
Hey LD next time go big…
Joe at the 1 T-Mac at the 2, and Zone up.Hawks Win!
Rufus1
January 4th, 2012
9:48 am
Low self esteem Hawks fans…..
GET A GRIP! We have just established ourselves as a TOP 3 team in the EAST.
What won’t be in the PLAYOFFS:
Their won’t be 6 GAMES in 8 DAYS in the PLAYOFFS.
Their won’t be BACK-TO-BACK games in the PLAYOFFS.
One team won’t get more rest than the other.
————————————————————————————————————
What will be in the PLAYOFFS:
The HAWKS
That DEFENSE that held the BULLLS to 76PTS.
Our TALENT, that matches up with any TEAM in the EAST.
Our NEW BENCH dept.
The NEW MATURITY that this team is showing.
THE TOP 5 DEFENSE we have now become.
Marvin’s NEW BACK.
A REAL PG for this team.
KIRK as the back-up PG.
———————————————————————
The PLANE is begining its descent and the HAWKS are about to ARRIVE!!!…..Get to the GATE SUCKERS!!!
tron
January 4th, 2012
9:49 am
The game really upset me and more than the players made me question if the coach we have can get the job done. All I can say is we have a second chance to show the bulls who we are. We let them off the hook! I looking for a blowout for hawks next game to send a message that we have their number this year.
Prison Mike
January 4th, 2012
9:51 am
Teague was leading the break with Josh to his left being trailed by Kyle Korver and Joe to his far right in the corner.
Obviously Joe is in Teagues ear more than everyone else.
Mike
January 4th, 2012
9:52 am
@Rufus1
Getting to the playoff is one thing but getting to the ECF is another. We still missing something, no matter how the bench is or how are starters, if they dont get to the ECF, then this season is a failure. I think its time to gamble alittle bit, to see if we can find that last piece in a trade somewhere.
Al Nowitski
January 4th, 2012
9:53 am
I’m sorry I only had 6 rebounds, missed clutch free throws, and played really really GAY…I sorry..
Rufus1
January 4th, 2012
9:57 am
Bench depth^^^
Teezo
January 4th, 2012
9:57 am
Bad defense by J. Johnson…Bad shot selection by J. Johnson…Missed free throws by the team lost that game…All that D. Rose did, ATL still had that game…
drmaryb.[*_*].
January 4th, 2012
10:01 am
Record Setting Performance!
So, in the history of the shot clock era – no team has ever been held to 42 points through three quarters and, no team like that has went on to win.
To records set in on game. This game was the Hawks to lose, and so they did. Kind of oxymoronic to me because, we set the defensive record but, likewise set the record of being that losing team. How special is that? (she smirks)
Mike
January 4th, 2012
10:03 am
Yep, you can lay the blame on this lose to JJ last night, even know that he did a decent job on Rose but there is no excuse for 3-17. Johnson need to realize that the Amnesty Clause is hang over his head and he can be traded as well, he needs to play better.
Teague is still learning and he is going to be better. Smith NEEDS TO STOP SHOOTING LONG JUMP SHOTS. Al needs to more assestive on the boards.
Rufus1
January 4th, 2012
10:07 am
@MIKE
We aren’t missing anything. The difference in EMOTION if we win that GAME by 1pts would be HUGE. That doesn’t change the facts of the GAME, the HAWKS held the BULLS to 76pts coming off a TOUGH game against the BEST team in the EAST…..THAT THEY WON.
What we were missing:
A PG
DEFENSE
MATURITY
We have never LOST a game because of TALENT. We have lost because of the 3 things mentioned and now we have them.
New Core JJ,Marv, Josh, Howard
January 4th, 2012
10:08 am
Al Nowitski, its been real, and its been nice, but it aint been real nice! Get on back home where you think it will be “interesting”.
See yah. whey too many 12pts 6rbs 0blks from Dirk Horford. Why are you on the perimeter anyway? what is it about defense that disgusts you so much that you refuse to play it? What is it always about you?
OK, so you think it will be interesting to go back to Florida, so do I. lets see what this team can do with you not trying to be Nowitski or forcing every one else out of position. Lets see what its like to have a real center and every one else accepting and owning their roles.
Right now the team is like a deer in the headlights waiting for you to go home to Florida, so we can get set with the new core and focus on winning. Please stop sabotaging games to try and block the imminent trade. Its going to happen. The details are just being worked out. You wont be here by valentines day.
Play your position.(stay in your lane)
Mike
January 4th, 2012
10:12 am
@Rufus1
So you are saying that the Hawks can actually get to the ECF this year with those three things you are saying?
Prison Mike
January 4th, 2012
10:15 am
“At some point Drew probably is going to have to figure out a way to keep Marvin in the game along with Tracy McGrady. Maybe someone else comes out instead.”
Come on now MC, I know you can’t ruffle any feathers but the guy that shot 17% with the albatross salary. Thibodeau had enough fortitude to sit down noah and boozer combined salary of 25 million because of horrid play for an entire half so why can’t Drew make a statement with Mr. Albatross.
drmaryb.[*_*].
January 4th, 2012
10:15 am
The Details!
In light of this loss, I do see strides from last year’s team. We had a chance to win it at the end, but we didn’t make the crucial free throws. Not enough plays on offense, also Deng should have never been allowed to penetrate the base line on a back door cut. See the coach for that lapse.
If we learn from this loss, it will not be all for naught. The most pleasant thing I have seen so far is better defense this year. That gives me hope. Oh! And let Teague play, hasn’t he earned the starter’s job yet? Stop hanging Kirk over his head. Define the roles for these guys and give them their minutes up front, so they will be ready to come in and out on point. Impose your will on whoever the opponent happens to be. Become a machine on offense and defense.
Coach ‘Em Up! We need a Real Coach people.
Rufus1
January 4th, 2012
10:21 am
I have come to a FULL APPRECIATION of Josh’s DEFENSIVE effect….
The Bulls were RUSHING their shots at the RIM, because of his presence. When he LEFT the game, the BULLS started ATTACKING the RIM.
I will take the GOOD with the BAD!
Rufus1
January 4th, 2012
10:21 am
@MIKE
YES!
Astro Joe
January 4th, 2012
10:22 am
Head coaches (not just LD) may have to start playing the 11th and 12th man on the roster with this crazy schedule.
I once heard a baseball announcer say that it isn’t the number of pitches a pitcher throws, it is the amount of pitches he throws in a stressful situation that needs to be considered. That Heat game probably took more out of the Hawks than had they won the first night against the Bucks. My guess is that they were emotionally spent after about 7 quarters of outstanding basketball. They simply lost their legs downthe stretch last night and couldn’t finish the drill. I think, given the schedule, that we may see this again during the season. It just makes the front-end of back-to-back (to-back) that much more important to win. And that much more important for our bench to contribute.
KZ
January 4th, 2012
10:23 am
“KIRK as the back-up PG.”
LD will not start Teague once Kirk returns.
The Mike Woodson Young PG Syndrome
KCG
January 4th, 2012
10:23 am
I have to disagree with Ken S. Unfortunately Marvin has to be the odd man out for T-Mac. He can not play multiple positions. He can not dribble good enough to play any of the guard positions and lacks the strength and defensive presence to play power forward. I am proud of how he has stepped up his game so far this year but he does not give us what a healthy T-Mac does. Even with a pretty strong game yesterday Marvin disappeared in the 4th quarter. That was his chance to prove he could contribute in the 4th quarter with the game in the balance and he didn’t step up. Just one mans opinion.
Mike
January 4th, 2012
10:23 am
I am seriously think that this team needs a trade or another piece to keep it going besides its a very long season and I dont think they can keep this up.
BTW for those who didnt listen to Arthur Blank interview today, in his way, he advised Gereon to stick to basketball. he said it in a very constructive way and always spoke with high integrity.
O'Brien
January 4th, 2012
10:24 am
Ken S,
My issue with Drew is since both players are capable of playing multiple positions, why is he so dead set against playing them together?.
What’s amazing to me is how MC has said it, AJ has said it, you’ve said it, and so have other bloggers on here. So why is LD the last one to see it?
Try Marvin and T-Mac together LD!
Rufus1
January 4th, 2012
10:25 am
@MIKE
I forgot the BENCH….The answer is still YES!
KZ
January 4th, 2012
10:28 am
Blank said Gearon needs to focus on his team.
O'Brien
January 4th, 2012
10:28 am
Doc,
As Mike pointed out, Blank basically said as a business man/team owner, Gearon needs to focus on his own team, and his own fans. Don’t worry about other teams, and don’t worry about the media. Just focus on the challenges in front of you.
One the 790 guys did mention that the Hawks are spending money, but maybe not spending wisely. And Arthur responded by saying he (Blank) prides himself on spending wisely, and hiring the right GM, the right coach, and the right personnel guys.
drmaryb.[*_*].
January 4th, 2012
10:29 am
Blow the Whistle!
Hello Mr. Drew, just a few queries here:
How long will Ivan be in the dog house for that technical foul called?
If your starters don’t score on three straight possessions and, are blowing a 19 point lead? Do you blow the whistle and make an offensive or/and defensive substitution – asap?
Or, do you wait till the opponent is back in the game by 5 points down?
I’m just asking? There is NO EXCUSES for losing that game and plenty of blame to go around. But, if this is what we have to go through to become elite, then I guess these are good problems to have versus those of talent gutted non contending teams.
doc
January 4th, 2012
10:30 am
i just want these guys to be better at the end of the year than the start. we have done it the other way around before. hopefully, they get to practice what they didnt do in this game during the season and we dont see the trap they fall into every fourth quarter repeatedly as in years gone by.
my main beef as is many others and their brothers knew we were weak at two positions before the season and we have done little to balance it out. we were only three deep at guard and bigs. we still have done nothing to correct it by adding late comers pargo and green and tweeners in t mac and vlad, with no bigs. collins still doesnt count and we might not see him until our first magic sighting in february if dwight is still around. that is misplaced money once again. it is shameful and will bite us. the bulls bench, along with rose, hurt us again, just as they did in the playoffs as it wasnt boozer or noah when they made their run.
sund, you still have work to do or really need to pray hinrich is fully recovered.
BobinBuford
January 4th, 2012
10:34 am
For those of you hoping that the “crowd” will be in it Satuday for the Bulls, remember one thing:
Philips turns into United Center South when the Bulls come to town. So yes, the crowd will be into it – for the Bulls. Just remember back to the 1st playoff game against the Bulls at Philips last season. The “MVP” chants for Rose were almost as loud at Philips as they were at the UC. Almost reminds me of the days at the Omni when MJ would come to town in the ’90’s.
Frog
January 4th, 2012
10:37 am
What happened was the Hawks were not able to overcome Josh Smith like they did in Miami.
drmaryb.[*_*].
January 4th, 2012
10:39 am
Attack Mode!
Listening to Matt Ryan on 790 The Zone. When he was queried, “What do the Falcons need to do to stop Ely’s Giants and win the game?” (paraphrased) – The Host -
“We don’t worry about what other teams try to do. We look at their defense and figure out ways to attack it. You always win by attacking the defense.” -Matt Ryan-
Peter
January 4th, 2012
10:39 am
Defense was fantastic, Iso Joe, and bombing Smooth took over, with bad ball movement in the 4th quarter.
sad loss !
I MUS WRITE
January 4th, 2012
10:44 am
Really disgusting loss. JJ goes M.I.A – when we needed him most. That D Rose is awsome -fast dont lie that man can single handedly take over a game -wish we had one of those types. Seriously if Jamal signed a 2 yr 10 mill deal why didnt we resign the guy-Yeah hes an azz sandwich on D but his scoring ability would have helped alot . We could have dropped wille green and kept jamal since all Wille does is jack up shots when he’s in…jus sayn
Heinrich-JC1-Mcgrady-Vlad-Zaza
With Tmac and Kirk on the floor combined with limited minutes Jamal would have been the perfect weapon off the pine. The problem came when he would play 30 plus minutes (bad shot selection and no D) 15 minutes a night would hv worked . maybe that guy overpriced himself -who knows but the loss last nite pissed me off…………..
O'Brien
January 4th, 2012
10:45 am
Northcyde,
Were you comparing JJ’s struggles to Wade’s struggle’s the night before?
1) Wade was being guarded by JJ, who is a good defensive guard. Who was guarding JJ last night?
2) Wade went to the FT line 6 times, JJ only went twice
3) Wade had 10 assists, compared to JJ’s 4, so Wade still had a bigger effect on the game.
Anyways, my issue with JJ, is at some point, he had to realize his shot was off. But dude just kept shooting. And some of them weren’t even easy shots. Get to the line JJ!
His teamates take some of the blame too, because they would stand around and watch JJ, instead of giving him more pass options (although sometimes JJ held on to the ball too long).
Overall, I just dont know if this team knows how to play “together” consistently.
Mike
January 4th, 2012
10:47 am
@Rufus1
I understand that you have all of this faith, but I dont have that faith that we can beat Heat, Bulls or C’s 4 out of 7 times. I think we should get involved in the D12 running deeply, I believe that its now or never for this.
joe
January 4th, 2012
10:51 am
Looked like last years team. Play well for 3 quarters by running the fast break moving the ball around and getting good looks. Then in 4th quarter give it to JJ and have the other 4 players stand around watching JJ shoot over double or triple teams. JJ was 3 for 17 shooting and once again showed he chokes going down the stretch.
doc
January 4th, 2012
10:52 am
yeah arthur is very much top down as were the braves once they brought in first cox then shuerholz as gm’s. they spend on the folks that coach, evaluate the players and administrate. we have for the hawks spotty scouting and selection and poor coaches and gm’s that are either arrogant or cheap and very inaccessible because they have very little to say (or maybe in ld dont know when to stop, still shaking my head on the hinrich comment but he has time to change what he said about ten times before hinrich is ready to play
) and have missed so many opportunities.
btw did all see the shot of shels posting himself in the face on a dunk? right in the nose, like a punch from ali no less. it brought chills to me. it is an example of owners being too cheap to get what was needed. we all thought it was a reach for shels to buffer a continuing weakness, btw only relieved in a small way, by a lucky lottery ball, as the only big out there in spite of no skill when we drafted. sorry gearon, fiscal restraint or ineptitude at the beginning of your reign is the only thing you can point to for some of those lousy teams and the slow ascent that others ran right by us. that is how you earned cheap. even portland with their bad luck with injuries were and still remain relevant because of player development and coaching. because we drafted so poorly we are still a makeshift team now and still unbalanced.
boy i did it to myself. just the mention of shels and blank’s classy response instead of the weak whine and excuses of gearon brought out all the feelings against the hubris of this hawks organization. i apologize.
Rev in Tampa
January 4th, 2012
10:57 am
FTPB
•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.”
I assumed coming into this season that the starter’s job was Teague’s to lose. And , frankly, I have only seen him solidify his role since the season started.
I don’t know what to make of Drew’s comments. I lost respect for Drew last season because of the Teague issue when Bibby was starting, but was beginning to soften my heart toward him as I observed the Hawks swarming defense this season. However this equivocation puts me right back to why I became so disenchanted with Drew.
Drew will do more to harm this Hawks team this year than help them.
I MUS WRITE
January 4th, 2012
10:58 am
Al Horford is the new John Koncack…..for the love of god get in the post. This guy is soft- every time I saw him last night he was taking jumpers or floating around the perimeter. he has no post game so all he does is shoot jumpers and look for garbage points. the man was an all star by default….SAD
Never ever refer to this man as Boss or Beast. Horford/1st for Demarcus Cousins/2nd
Cousins is a little immature but you immediately get size skill and post moves.Horford is a rusty robot in the post -one handed jump hook from 15ft over a 7 footer. never thought i would say this but marvin looks better so far.
Props to Drew he has this team playing well. JJ has a brain fart that helped lose the game but the free throw situation is horrible -teague and jumpshot left 3 points at the line that would have clinched the game………. Good day folks
Peter
January 4th, 2012
11:02 am
Can anyone tell me what J Smooth did off season to improve his game ?
Obviously he is not a reader, cause his BB IQ is horrible.
honest_abe
January 4th, 2012
11:03 am
doc: it’s all about the principle. but at least you get to check out the “king” although it might be more appropriate to call him the “queen” tomo night!
i predict within the next two weeks there will be a game with less than 125 total points. yak.
i have no idea what game some of you guys were watching but the hawks looked miserable last night. i’ll give it to them they were tired. back to back on the road, after a late big time win. having said that they played so damn sloppy! it’s not like the hawks raced out to a lead. the bulls just kept missing point blank shots while the hawks just kept turning it over every chance they got. add to the fact that the arena was dead and that might have been one of the most pathetic games i’ve seen in some time.
words of warning – be careful when you buy tickets this year you might just end up having to sit through some garbage.
KZ
January 4th, 2012
11:04 am
Hickson might be worth getting.
KZ
January 4th, 2012
11:07 am
“Can anyone tell me what J Smooth did off season to improve his game ?
Obviously he is not a reader, cause his BB IQ is horrible.”
Can anyone tell me what anyone on this team did in the offseason to improve his game? Marvin didn’t improve – his back did/
Smith.Leuer.Bogut aka Other Options?
January 4th, 2012
11:08 am
We need to grow from this. Coaches and players. I would have preferred a Rose contested jumper or drive and dish than what happened.
Smith and Joe could have switched.
LOL at Josh not playing the 3 but you leave him on Rose at the end of the game.
Josh is our center and we put Marvin on Boozer, In those situations Marvin cannot provide help defense.
Bottomline. Hawks need to grow from this. MIAMI is next, then Bulls again.
Sad we got so many positive calls. Coulda switched, coulda put some size on Boozer. Bogut/Leuer woulda made those blocks and freethrows
JK, rebounds aside Horford came up big on lobs. And team chemistry seems big early on. I guess we will have to see this team pan out.
But Drew needs to condense and reassess the playbooks. For example one play I want to see more of is the JJ and Josh Smith Stacking on top of each other and then it turns into a mini-PnR.
Smith always gets fouled there. Also you can do it with Teague. and Station Smith on baseline. Iso killed us at the end. And even with his assists I just dont like the idea of Smith on the perimeter down the stretch, the clock will wind down and people will give him that shot.
And geez, Smith, take 1 dribble in and shoot a 16 footer. Even if it’s contested its better set up for your drive.
SMITH TAKE 1 DRIBBLE IN!
Rick D.
January 4th, 2012
11:11 am
Hawks dominated the Bulls for most of the game. For all the talk about D. Rose (and he was awsome) The Hawks handed the game to the bulls because of the most important factor down the stretch… If they make their free throws down the stretch at the end of the game they would have walked away with the win despite the Bulls strong run at the end. It’s that simple… Make your freekin free throws.