Atlanta Hawks at Pacers: Game thread
Indianapolis–At shootaround Tracy McGrady said he was feeling good. Not so much tonight: He’s a late scratch with back spasms. It wasn’t announced until after the locker room was closed to media types so don’t have details.
- Danny Granger (ill) and George Hill (back) are active for the Pacers after missing Monday’s 96-86 loss at Philly.
- Yes, Larry Drew showed the players clips of Charles Barkley’s criticisms of the Hawks during the loss to Miami. I’ve never liked reacting to what Barkley says because smack talking is his schtick and I don’t think it makes much of a difference. Plus, while the loss to the Heat was a bad one it wasn’t enough to draw a conclusion about this team. Don’t get me wrong: I love Barkley. He’s fun and entertaining. His act is good for fans and talk radio (and Web hits, apparently) but has no real bearing on basketball so I tend to just laugh it off.
- And, sure enough, word is Hawks players aren’t going around talking or thinking about sticking it to Barkley. Nevertheless, Drew thought it might do some good for players to hear Barkley’s barbs, so he replayed some of them before the Hawks played at Charlotte Friday. “I wanted them to know, wanted them to hear what the perception is. Most guys take it for what it’s worth and say that’s what he gets paid to say. Those that want to change the perception, they will step up.”
- However, L.D. extended the lesson beyond Sir Charles’ smack talk into areas I think are relevant: “With the officials, if you whine a lot then people will start to say you are a soft team. If you don’t play through adversity, then you will get the label of a soft team. I want guys to play through adversity, when things aren’t going good. I’ve always said it’s easy when things are going good.”
Michael Cunningham, Hawks beat
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540 comments Add your comment
Najeh Davenpoop
January 11th, 2012
7:32 pm
Hawks playing the last 1:39 with Vlad at PF and Zaza at C. Better hope the Pacers settle for jumpers.
Evil Chuck Dowdle
January 11th, 2012
7:32 pm
Hope Al’s injury isn’t serious.
Najeh Davenpoop
January 11th, 2012
7:33 pm
Free throws killing the Hawks again.
Big Lou
January 11th, 2012
7:33 pm
I hope nothing is wrong with Al either. Only thing that was hurt was his pride.
bigdave
January 11th, 2012
7:33 pm
ivan.?. nobody hitting the defensive glass..
john doe
January 11th, 2012
7:35 pm
nice to see josh be a leader and keep his composure once al went down. oh wait.
Najeh Davenpoop
January 11th, 2012
7:35 pm
Could have been worse considering Al didn’t play more than half the quarter. Josh might have to go over 40 minutes tonight, though. Can’t play Zaza and a backup PF at the same time for too long without the Pacers taking advantage inside.
MattP
January 11th, 2012
7:36 pm
Wow no Ivan in for Josh….
ANDRE IGLUODALA
January 11th, 2012
7:37 pm
SPENCER HAWES OUT OF TONIGHTS GAME WITH A BACK SPASM BRAND WILL HAVE TO HAVE A BIG NITE , GETTING READY IN A COUPLE MINUTES FOR TIP OFF
bigdave
January 11th, 2012
7:38 pm
work Josh!
Najeh Davenpoop
January 11th, 2012
7:38 pm
Left shoulder strain for Al, out for game. I guess that means X-rays were negative.
JaeEvolution
January 11th, 2012
7:39 pm
Zone…this thing is going to be up to 20 before we even know.
Najeh Davenpoop
January 11th, 2012
7:39 pm
3 missed free throws now for the Hawks.
BoneKollector
January 11th, 2012
7:39 pm
I don’t see us winning this. We’re outmanned (obviously)
Hope we fight back tho
Najeh Davenpoop
January 11th, 2012
7:39 pm
Are those really “Overrated” chants? I didn’t even know we were rated yet.
Runner-
January 11th, 2012
7:40 pm
lol i love the moan Zaza makes everytime he gets fouled, so hilarious
john doe
January 11th, 2012
7:40 pm
gotta wake up jeff. and fire drew.
ANDRE IGLUODALA
January 11th, 2012
7:40 pm
FINALLY ITS TIP OFF TIME SHOULD BE A GREAT GAME
northcyde
January 11th, 2012
7:41 pm
I know people will hate it, but JJ may need to put up a BIG NUMBER tonight, in order to win this game.
BoneKollector
January 11th, 2012
7:41 pm
Josh needs to give the ball up
stop ball hogging
northcyde
January 11th, 2012
7:41 pm
LOL . . . so now Horford is out to
- no T-Mac
- no Marvin
- no Horford
Big time test for the Hawks right there.
Najeh Davenpoop
January 11th, 2012
7:41 pm
Josh trying to put da team on his back doe, which is when he starts making mistakes. Just play your game, man. You can’t make up for Al’s absence by yourself.
BoneKollector
January 11th, 2012
7:42 pm
northcyde and Kirk Hinrich is out too lol
drmaryb.[*_*].
January 11th, 2012
7:42 pm
DX: Left Shoulder Sprain?
You can’t diagnose a ligament sprain from an Xray. Al needs an MRI. That is a differential diagnoses right there.
What the doc is saying is: there is no fracture, therefore is must be a sprain. I’m just saying. Extremity alignment happens to be my specialty.
This is terrible for us.
BoneKollector
January 11th, 2012
7:42 pm
/terrible Rebounding
Najeh Davenpoop
January 11th, 2012
7:42 pm
Foster is like Zaza, except he’s good.
northcyde
January 11th, 2012
7:42 pm
Bone . . Josh may have to put up a big number too. Him forcing his offense may be a necessity tonight. As long as he’s not jacking up jumpers, I have no problem with him driving to the hole.
bigdave
January 11th, 2012
7:43 pm
defensive glass is a problem. Za Za just not interested.
Trent
January 11th, 2012
7:43 pm
So, apparently Al won’t return tonight. Our front line is looking very depleted now. No Horford, No Marvin, No T-Mac. We have almost no backup big men now, unless you want to play Collins and Ivan significant minutes.
ANDRE IGLUODALA
January 11th, 2012
7:43 pm
THIS WILL BE 76ERS 3ED GAME IN 3 NITES THEY WILL BE TIRED , TIPPING OFF NOW
tre
January 11th, 2012
7:44 pm
“Foster is like Zaza, except he’s good.”
So how exactly is he like Foster? Are you taking this one from LD’s playbook of Ivan Johnson and Reggie Evans?
drmaryb.[*_*].
January 11th, 2012
7:44 pm
Larry Bird is one ugly dude … So, why chew gum?
Hawks4Eva
January 11th, 2012
7:44 pm
@ Najeh Davenpoop regarding “overrated” chant…
LOL….but i thought they were chanting that while Joe had a few possessions..
but u had a funny line still
BoneKollector
January 11th, 2012
7:45 pm
Jeff is getting mad
instead of zaza goin up and scoring and giving Jeff an assist he flubs it up smh
northcyde
January 11th, 2012
7:45 pm
WTF is Zaza doing . . . lol
Runner-
January 11th, 2012
7:45 pm
how do we stand a chance tonight if we can’t even make our FT’s?
Najeh Davenpoop
January 11th, 2012
7:45 pm
“So how exactly is he like Foster?”
His main skill is rebounding, he doesn’t protect the rim, and he’s not a reliable scoring option.
Hawks4Eva
January 11th, 2012
7:45 pm
Pacers clearly have a size/rebounding advantage tonight – especially with Horford out and clumsy Zza in.
BoneKollector
January 11th, 2012
7:45 pm
How many Assists would Teague have if his teammates were competent???????
bigdave
January 11th, 2012
7:45 pm
ball out Josh..
john doe
January 11th, 2012
7:45 pm
zaza leads the league in getting-fouled-with-no-intention-of-shooting. lol
Hawks4Eva
January 11th, 2012
7:46 pm
Killing us on the boards.
Runner-
January 11th, 2012
7:46 pm
what a move by Smoove
ANDRE IGLUODALA
January 11th, 2012
7:46 pm
MEEKS THE 3 AS 76ERS UP 5-3
northcyde
January 11th, 2012
7:46 pm
Do your thing Josh.
Najeh Davenpoop
January 11th, 2012
7:46 pm
Wish Josh would go to that spin more often.
bigdave
January 11th, 2012
7:46 pm
hell of a talent that Josh Smith..
BoneKollector
January 11th, 2012
7:47 pm
Teague has 0 assists!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I know he’s pissed at his teammates
john doe
January 11th, 2012
7:47 pm
“Larry Bird is one ugly dude … So, why chew gum?”
lol damn
Najeh Davenpoop
January 11th, 2012
7:47 pm
“zaza leads the league in getting-fouled-with-no-intention-of-shooting. ”
Haha… based on his body of work as a Hawk he might be approaching the NBA career record in that department.