Atlanta Weather

| Traffic

Search
Atlanta Hawks

Atlanta Hawks: About last night

12:36 pm January 8, 2012, by Michael Cunningham

  • A look at the plus-minus shows the Hawks dominated even more than the score suggested. Only a couple turnover-plagued, scoring-challenged stints by Atlanta’s subs prevented this from being a total beat down instead of a blowout (understandable since Chicago’s second unit is better defensively than the starters).
  • The Hawks showed they meant business on the very first play of the game. Joakim Noah won the tip, but Al Horford stepped in front of a sleepy Derrick Rose to corral the ball. Horford powered over Rose before help could arrive to start Atlanta’s 12-1 run.
  • “It seemed like that was a momentum booster,” Joe Johnson said. “I thought that was a game-changing moment in itself.”
  • Chicago really only had one competitive stretch after that. Atlanta’s subs tried to pressure the Bulls early in the second quarter and it backfired. The Bulls scored six points off three turnovers as Taj Gibson, Omer Asik and Kyle Korver got them back in the game.
  • The Hawks buried the Bulls in the last four minutes of the first half with an electric display of defensive energy and shot-making. Vladimir Radmanovic, playing in place of injured Marvin Williams, made two of his five 3-pointers (on five attempts) during that 18-2 burst.
  • Atlanta didn’t let up after halftime. Joe scored on Js and drives, Jeff Teague set up Horford for an open jumper, Josh Smith scored at the rim on a sharp pass from Joe, Vlad Rad made another 3 and Smith scored on an oop from Teague. The Bulls, meanwhile, couldn’t score at the rim (Al had key blocks against Noah and Luol Deng) and couldn’t hold onto the ball against Atlanta’s swarming D.
  • Zaza Pachulia finally got an extended stint and delivered with five rebounds, 3 for 5 shooting (including a couple nice finishes at the rim!) and a steal. Zaza works well together with Tracy McGrady, who is always calling for Zaza for pick-and-rolls. You can see that McGrady has learned that he can’t put as much mustard on his passes to Zaza.
  • The Hawks never let Rose (3 for 10 shooting, five turnovers) find his rhythm. Teague rediscovered his defensive mojo. Atlanta blitzed Rose to make him give up the ball and surrounded him with their long bodies to cut off his space.
  • “Get up on the pick and roll,” Teague said of the plan vs. Rose. “We sat back the first game and he picked us apart and made threes. So we brung it up and tried to get up on him more and let him see bodies.”
  • “It’s not an individual effort with that guy,” Smith said. “You have to build walls in transition. We did a good team job on him defensively: crowding him, trapping him and giving him different looks.”
  • When the Hawks move the ball like they did in this game, even an elite defensive team like Chicago looks a step slow. Those 32 assists on 47 field goals don’t even fully capture how crisp the Hawks looked.
  • Once the Hawks started making shots, they started hawking the ball, getting steals, running the floor and everything came together.
  • “That’s what it’s all about, playing together as a team,” Josh said. “Whenever we are that unselfish on the offensive end, guys are more willing to make that extra push on the defensive end.”
  • “We were on a string,” Teague said. “We really got out in transition. That’s something we haven’t been doing lately. We’ve been halfcourt team the last couple games.”
  • “On defense, we were right there,” Al said. “I think that’s what triggers our team, when we help each other.”
  • Vlad Rad is officially out of his slump and eventually should approach his career norms. “Guys like him that get on a roll, they can just make shots in bunches,” Larry Drew said. “Every shot he takes, it looks like it was going in. He hit a couple early and you could see he was kind of feeling it.”
  • Zaza took the credit: “He had Georgian food for first time today.” Vlad Rad: “Now I will eat at Zaza’s place for every pregame meal.”
  • Even with the hot shooting night, Vlad passed up a couple open 3s. He’s such a clever player that sometimes it looks as if he over-thinks things instead of just letting it fly. And there are times when that cleverness leads to his teammates not being ready for his passes.
  • This was the first game in which both Joe and Vlad Rad were making shots. It made a big difference.
  • A night after attacking the rim with abandon, Josh was back to taking (and making) jump shots. But I’m wondering if fatigue didn’t play a factor in that. He used plenty of his juice for defense and finished with six blocked shots and four steals.
  • In addition to his good work on D, Teague (6 of 8 shooting, 8 assists, no turnovers) finished strong at the basket while finding the perfect balance between attacking to score and looking to set guys up. “When Teague is aggressive like that, we are a different club,” Drew said. “When he is in attack mode, he gives us another weapon. He can turn the corner and finish on big guys. More importantly, it breaks their defense down.”
  • About the only negatives for the Hawks were the six free-throw attempts (which hardly mattered with the way they were shooting 3s) and the 43-31 rebounding deficit (which mostly was due to their troubles dealing with Asik’s size ).
  • By the way, the Hawks made all six of those free-throw attempts. Go figure.
  • Marvin suffered that the team said is a Grade 1 ankle sprain in the first half and didn’t return. “It will probably be a situation where we are playing Vladi more at the three until we see Marvin’s status,” Drew said.
  • The Hawks had the toughest schedule in the league to start the season. They came out of it with a 6-3 record and splits with Chicago and Miami.
  • “Decent,” Joe said. “It wasn’t what we wanted it to be. Realistically we could have been 8-1. We let a couple get away. We have just got to try to validate this by stringing some more wins together.”
  • “I think we did good,” Josh said. “It was still a little disappointing because we let a couple games get away from us. All in all I think we did a good job. We showed resilience and we played together.”
  • “I think we did pretty good,” Al said. “There’s definitely a ceiling to do better. But 6-3, I will take it. It’s nine games in a short stretch of time, I will definitely take that.”
  • “I think we did pretty good,” Teague said. “We let two slide. We wish we could get back. But it’s a long season. That many games in that short span, your body gets tired. I think we did a great job playing three in a row.”
  • Atlanta’s schedule eases over the next week in terms of quality of opponent but the Hawks have to avoid slip-ups. “It’s not over with,” Josh said. “We have got to keep playing together. We’ve got to keep doing whatever it takes to win. We’ve got to stay focused and stay together.”

Michael Cunningham, Hawks beat

  • Print

273 comments Add your comment

hawksfaninthewest

January 8th, 2012
5:19 pm

great win by Hawks. great win vs team with best record in east last yr. a team that knocked them out of playoffs. who gave them a chance coming in 3rd game of back-to-back-to-back with the first two being OTs? especially after blowing huge lead in chicago and at home vs heat w/o james & wade. best win of season. to come to this game and gut out a big win. expected them to just have fumes but they made the bulls look like the tired team. as mc said the plus/minus shows they totally dominated. i give the credit to LD. woody would have never had this team ready.

Hawks Blog Legend Worldwide Clyde

January 8th, 2012
5:19 pm

I would like to welcome all Falcons fans to the Hawks Blog. Come follow the best team in Atlanta.

HawkEye

January 8th, 2012
5:23 pm

Hawks have problems, but no where near as many problems as the Fal-cons. Defense was just atrocious.

richbrave

January 8th, 2012
5:24 pm

clyde:

You still ‘HAWKING’ those ‘T’s’ down at PHILLIPS?

richbrave

January 8th, 2012
5:26 pm

WIZZIES wet themselves once against the powerhouse WOLVES. Another high lottery pick on the horizon in D.C. Not that EG can figure who to select.

richbrave

January 8th, 2012
5:26 pm

FALCONS are not HAWKS that’s for sure.

Astro Joe

January 8th, 2012
5:28 pm

HawkEye, the team scores 2 points and you’re talking about the defense? WTF?

MattP

January 8th, 2012
5:31 pm

HawkEye,

The only points the Falcons had were because of the defense. lol

HawkEye

January 8th, 2012
5:36 pm

MattP

“The only points the Falcons had were because of the defense. lol”

True. But I think that’s the saddest part. When their defense plays better than their offense. lol.

Slimjr

January 8th, 2012
5:47 pm

CONGRATULATIONS FALCONS FOR DRAFTING A BUST QB……….

TIME TO CLEAN HOUSE MR BLANK!

START WITH RICH MCKAY!

Slimjr

January 8th, 2012
5:48 pm

BY FAR THE WORST QB PLAY IN FALCONS PLAYOFF HISTORY..

A FAILURE OF EPIC PROPORTIONS FOR ALL TO SEE! CHIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

Slimjr

January 8th, 2012
5:49 pm

AND THESE FALCON RETARDS GAVE MV7 SUCH A HARD TIME WHEN HE LOST A GAME?

YOU NUTS DESERVE MELT RYAN!

Slimjr

January 8th, 2012
5:53 pm

MR BLANK I WOULD SUGGEST YOU TRADE MELT RYAN AND DRAFT RG THE THIRD…I HEAR HES A MOBLIE ROCKET LAUNCHER! A PLAYMAKER..SOMETHING YOU’VE BEEN MISSING FOR A WHILE NOW…YA THINKS? SHEESH………………@#$%^&*……

HawkEye

January 8th, 2012
5:55 pm

Astro Joe

Yes. The defense scored the only 2 points for the Falcons. But tell me what’s worst. Scoring 2 points or giving up long drives and 24 points? I admit the offense was non existent and was in no way better than their defense today, but all the same, the defense still looked terrible. Missed tackles seem to plague this team. After that missed tackle on Hakeem Nicks, in which he marched downfield into the endzone, I turned the channel.

However, I stand corrected. Defense >>>>> Offense today.

Slimjr

January 8th, 2012
6:00 pm

here come the RYAN excuse’s^^^^^^^

Slimjr

January 8th, 2012
6:04 pm

mv7 is 5x> melt

Chris Chandler> melt

Jeff George> melt

Joey Harrington > melt

Et Al…> melt

mykhalc

January 8th, 2012
6:07 pm

bottom line is it’s on the players…PERIOD!!! BUT Smith neither inspires nor prepares his teams well AT ALL for the playoffs…PERIOD!!!

David Stern

January 8th, 2012
6:10 pm

Maybe it’s me ut I don’t think anyone can brag aout any of the local teams.

Every one of them got embarrassed in the last big moments/playoffs:

Braves – Choked vs Phillies, STL walks through the door.

Falcons – Giants clobber them. Never show up in big games.

Hawks – Bulls fans completely took over Philips and beat you by 20+. (Should we count last Thursday’s game since that was the next time you were in natl tv? Remember that?)

UGA football – Richt is a joke. Walsh LOL. Murray LOL. Without Grantham, it’s a .500 team at best.

UGA bball – Yeah, they’re a joke too. No bigs who can score.

Tech football- Blew a two TD lead to…. Utah?

Tech bball – Does anyone even care anymoe? They don’t even have a home, let alone a point guard lol.

Thrashers – Whoops nevermind.

Najeh Davenpoop

January 8th, 2012
6:13 pm

Scoring 2 points against ANYONE is far worse than giving up 24 points against ANYONE, let alone a potent passing offense like what the Giants have. Keep in mind even those 2 points are scored by the defense, so basically the offense might as well have taken a knee every play and it wouldn’t have been any different.

David Stern

January 8th, 2012
6:19 pm

Atlanta is strange. A city where people are touting a team that hasn’t shown any fight in the second round of the postseason and just got beat by Miami 2nd stringers. A QB that basically quit on your city and went to jail after never having won anything really, he’s “the best we’ve ever had”? Is this what you people brag about?

None of these team, NOT ONE, will win a championship in the forseeable future. You know it, and so do I. That’s not hate, just an objective opinion. So all of that is just a waste of time lol.

Astro Joe

January 8th, 2012
6:22 pm

HawkEye, it isn’t even a debate. An offense the produces 0 points is FAR worse than a defense that allows 3 TDs in the playoffs. My guess is that most defenses this weekend will allow at least 3 TDs. How many offenses will be shut out?

Slimjr

January 8th, 2012
6:24 pm

and a QB that quit TODAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I night add…………….

Grandad

January 8th, 2012
6:24 pm

Have I somehow blundered onto the Falcons blog ?

Slimjr

January 8th, 2012
6:24 pm

might^^^

Grandad

January 8th, 2012
6:26 pm

Trade Josh Smith for Andrea Bargnani … straight up.

Slimjr

January 8th, 2012
6:26 pm

THIS WAS AN HISTORIC LOSS….!

Slimjr

January 8th, 2012
6:27 pm

TRADE MISS UNIVERSE FOR D12

David Stern

January 8th, 2012
6:29 pm

Uhhh D12 has already said he doesn;t want to play for this sorry organization in this sorry city with these sorry fans.

LOL you people are waiting on a miracle but it isn’t going to happen. So like I said, waste of time bragging about one team or another, or trashing one player or another.

All of the coaches are soft, in over their heads, or stuck in the past when it comes to running their teams. The rest of the sports world is moving forward, but you guys are still talking about people that have moved on. Nique, Vick (his choice), Justice, Herschel, Cremins, etc etc. Let it go! Those days are over lol.

Slimjr

January 8th, 2012
6:29 pm

OUCH!!!! ^^^^^^^^

Ken Strickland

January 8th, 2012
6:30 pm

I see that some of you are concerned about the Hawks lack of overall consistency so far this season. Well, what do you expect under the circumstances. Before the Miami loss, the Hawks had already played 3 consecutive back to backs in only 8days(27-28, 30-31, 2-3), with one back to back against Miami and Chicago. Then they got one days rest before embarking on a stretch of 3gms in 3nights, culminating in 9gms in 12 days. Added to that is the fact they had to play the Bulls and Heat 2 times each during that stretch. No other team will come close to playing anything close to a stretch like that, let alone at the start the season, and we still came out 6-3.

We are only a couple of missed FTs in 2 gm from being 8-1. We’ve managed to do all of this with a new starting PG, and a totally new bench, except for Zaza and Twin, who seldom gets off the bench. I’ll take that type of schizophrenia anytime of the week. I remember last wk when Noah said their bench was the NBAs best. Well, after what our bench did to them last night, I wonder if he still feels that way. We’re now seeing Green, Radmanovic, TMac, Johnson and Pargo improve their contributions as they become more familiar with their teammates, our OFF/DEF systems, and their respective roles.

It takes time to intergrate new players who are unfamiliar with the team and its OFF/DEF systems, and a limited training camp and preseason makes it that much harder, especially for players like Green and Pargo, who came to us after training camp. The total absence of practice time so far during the season only makes it that much harder. Instead of looking for excuses, we need to start looking for explanations.

David Stern

January 8th, 2012
6:37 pm

Hawks 2nd round exit after blouw at home? Bring in old washed up T-Mac.

Braves collapse at home, miss playoffs? Fire the HITTING COACH. LOL

Georgia loses to every good team they play? Richt contract exntension (WTF)

Tech continually gets beat when opponents have more than a week to prepare? *crickets* But the fanbase is too soft to force changes.

Falcons blown out by Packers? No changes. Blownout by Giants? We’ll see.

Grandmaster JeJe

January 8th, 2012
6:42 pm

Section 303 on Rubio
“He is a top 5 PG already. Has a great sense of the game.”

LOL! The guy has a pretty ugly shot.

FIRE MULARKEY
FIRE SMITTY
FIRE LD
FIRE SUND
AMNESTY GEARON

GEARON YOU MAY BE LAUGHING AT THE FALCONS BUT THEY WERE THE 1 SEED LAST YEAR AND HAD A 1ST ROUND BYE. THAT IS PRETTY MUCH A PLAYOFF WIN SO STFU AND SELL THE TEAM. NO ONE WANTS YOU AROUND HERE

HawkEye

January 8th, 2012
6:43 pm

Astro Joe,

“HawkEye, it isn’t even a debate. An offense the produces 0 points is FAR worse than a defense that allows 3 TDs in the playoffs. My guess is that most defenses this weekend will allow at least 3 TDs. How many offenses will be shut out?”

I see your point. I almost flipped when I saw Roddy White bucking with one of the Giants players after a play. Like what have you done today?

Call me a stickler, but when I see a defense that a) cannot put enough adequate pressure on the opposing QB or b) gives up long drives and cannot seem to tackle well, It infuriates me. But at least they showed up today.

At the risk of sounding redundant, defense >>>>> offense today.

HawkEye

January 8th, 2012
6:45 pm

But enough about the Falcons. This isn’t a football blog. Back to what matters.

I think the Hawks will be a much better team come playoff time if they can effectively and consistently play defense.

Buddy Grizzard

January 8th, 2012
6:49 pm

“We should be 8-1.” – Grandmaster JeJe

True story.

MistaGamer

January 8th, 2012
6:53 pm

Well at least the Hawks have won “something” in the playoffs recently lol…

David Stern

January 8th, 2012
7:02 pm

What did I say that wasn’t true? Wake up and smell the fried chicken lol. Charles Barkley trashed your team for 3 hours on Thursday and all I saw on here was whining. WAAAAAAAAAAAAH Barkley is so mean WAAAAAAAAAAH

Buncha girls on here. Go drink some Coke and sweep those Waffle House floors.

HawkEye

January 8th, 2012
7:03 pm

If Teague and Josh can acquire the type of chemistry josh had with Bibby, look out.

What’s funny is I can remember when Josh was in the Dunk Contest about 7 years ago and people were wondering if all he could do was dunk. Hopefully his recent play will inspire him to continue to improve his game and hopefully inspire other teammates as well.

David Stern

January 8th, 2012
7:08 pm

You won’t be champions because you don’t support and demand more from what you have, and keep looking in the rearview. Overrating all of these players and coaches who pass through this awful sports town.

Vick is trash and always will be. Accomplished nothing in Philly or Atlanta. Yet these dumb Black fans won’t ever support Ryan and the stupid White fans and racists make excuses for Ryan. Guess what? Both sides are idiots and your teams will never win anything.

tidog

January 8th, 2012
7:16 pm

Ever wonder why Joe doesn’t attack the basket ? When Joe Johnson came to the league with Boston he was highlight reel. To his credit his game grew when he was traded the Phoenix playing with Steve Nash. Joe was still a highlight reel with the Suns until a horrible spill to the floor fractured his orbital bone. That fall changed his approach and aggressivness to his game and this is why Joe doesn’t attack the basket like the Kobe’s and Wade’s etc etc etc. A fall like he took is hard to forget.

Grandmaster JeJe

January 8th, 2012
7:16 pm

David Stern,

I loved Charles Barkley’s criticism.

The people on The Rude Awakening were trashing TNT for Barkley’s commentary.

SMH. He was 100% Accurate. Watch the video Smith.Leuer.Bogut posted earlier. Our offense is iso BS, no easy baskets, a bunch of nice guys, no leadership

David Stern

January 8th, 2012
7:21 pm

tidog,

Joe doesn’t attack the basket because he can’t beat anyone off the dribble. This isn’t rocket science. He’s a catch and shoot guy at this age, yet your idiot head coach gives him ISOs to win games? Who is he going to get past? LOL again, THAT is why your teams won’t win.

Strick

January 8th, 2012
7:27 pm

Someone shut David stern up

tidog

January 8th, 2012
7:35 pm

David Stern, I’m too busy having the cattle counted on my cattle farm in Costa Rica. Can’t eat right now.

Buddy Grizzard

January 8th, 2012
7:36 pm

“(2) there have been open lockerroom issues.” – G-Dad

The locker room issues have been well documented. Smith has built up resentment because he feels like he shoulders disproportionate blame while others are not held equally accountable. Think about when Drew yanked Zaza last year and criticized his shot selection… can you imagine being singled out for poor shot selection on a team with Joe, Josh and JC1? Think about the absurdity of that.

This year Drew refused to validate Teague’s strong start by declaring him the full-time starter. Teague responded by mentally checking out of a few games. But with their backs against the wall, staring at a 5-4 start and being completely out of the conversation regarding Eastern Conference contenders, Josh and Jeff showed up. And here we are discussing the Hawks and there’s no question they are a top-3 team in the east. The only question is, are they better than the Bulls after they nearly blew them out twice? Are they better than the Heat after they beat them with LeBron and D-Wade on the court and made a charitable contribution to the Heat with LeBron and Wade sitting?

Strick

January 8th, 2012
7:37 pm

Never would have thought this team would be the best in the city. Some has to do with the other teams taking steps back but a lot has to do with the hawks improving as well

Strick

January 8th, 2012
7:40 pm

MVP so far has been Josh. Hoping he stays focused and hungry

Buddy Grizzard

January 8th, 2012
7:41 pm

“Before the Miami loss, the Hawks had already played 3 consecutive back to backs in only 8days.” – Ken S.

Please stop making excuses for Larry Drew. All he had to do was instruct his team to foul on the inbounds with 5 seconds to play in regulation and Bosh never has the opportunity to hit that 3. We’d be talking about how the Hawks are 7-2, in control of the Southeast Division and obviously better than Chicago.

Strick

January 8th, 2012
7:42 pm

Buddy,

If players make free throws Drew isn’t even in that position.

Just Joe

January 8th, 2012
7:47 pm

I still give the Falcons the nod over the Hawks and Braves due to ownership alone. I think Blank will insist both coordinators be fired and give Smith one more year to get something done. Braves just fire the hitting coach and cut a couple has beens from the roster. Hawks hire the worst GM in the league and promote the assistant coach to head coach. Could you imagine if Blank fired Smith and hired Mularky? Wouldn’t the fans just love that move. But that’s the reality of being a Hawks fan.

« Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 Next » Show All