Atlanta Hawks: Spurs 105, Hawks 83
- The Hawks are deeper than last season but the bench didn’t look so good against a team like the Spurs. This time Larry Drew decided not to ride ride his starters once it became clear the reserves had little to offer.
- Hawks starters other than Jeff Teague weren’t anything great offensively but at least they played some defense. The Spurs made 31 of their 50 twos and 11 of their 23 threes. It felt like 20 of those twos came off cuts to the basket or roll men.
- Matt Bonner is a good 3-point shooter. The Hawks allowed him to get off seven attempts (only one was challenged that I remember) and he made five.
- “We had some defensive breakdowns to allow them to get some good looks at the 3,” Larry Drew said in a postgame interview with SportSouth’s Jerome Jurenovich. “In most cases we do a pretty good job defending the 3. Time and time again we kept losing people. At the same time, you have to tip your hat to the Spurs for the things they ran and the things they exploited.”
- This was another game that highlighted Atlanta’s lack of length (Ivan Johnson) and athleticism (Zaza Pachulia) in the middle. Atlanta’s centers did their best to tangle with Tim DuncanTiago Splitter and DeJuan Blair but that’s a lot of size and skill.
- Duncan, Spliiter and Blair combined for 39 points and 22 rebounds in 73 minutes, shot 16 of 25 from the field and had 10 of San Antonio’s 15 free-throw attempts. The Atlanta trio of Zaza, Ivan and Josh Smith: 26 points and 13 rebounds in 68 minutes, 11 of 27 from the field and six of Atlanta’s 10 free-throw attempts.
- Zaza actually did a respectable job checking Duncan (after he also was good vs. Andrew Bogut) because he seemed to frustrate Duncan with his grappling. Ivan struggled to defend down low (but did get a couple blocks). Zaza and Josh Smithprovide the only resistance for Atlanta around the basket against opponents with any kind of skilled size.
- Teague was the catalyst during Atlanta’s comeback in the second quarter and not just because he had his floater working. He gave Tony Parker fits defensively with his quick hands, nicely set up Zaza (who got fouled) and Joe (who missed an open 3) and started the break that led to Josh’s and-1. Teague had no assists but it wasn’t for lack of trying to get guys good shots.
- “Jeff has really been playing well for us,” Drew said. “He was able to match speed-for-speed with [Tony] Parker.”
- The times Smith made up his mind to attack the basket he often spun right into Splitter/Duncan/San Antonio’s zone or fumbled the ball away. I’m not sure why he was arguing that charging call that led to a T.
- Joe Johnson missed some shots on clean catches, couldn’t get anything going Iso and then seemed to lay back in the second half. He did make some good passes off drives and out of doubles while earning seven assists.
- Kirk Hinrich made his season debut and looked surprisingly smooth at times (some nice catch-and-shoots) , a bit ragged at others (simply losing the ball for a turnover). “I was very encouraged by Kirk’s performance tonight,” Drew said. “I thought he would come back winded. He played with a nice rhythm and his shot looked good.”
- If tonight is an indication, and you never can tell sometimes with Drew, Hinrich will get most of his minutes at point guard. That would mean Jannero Pargo slides to the end of the rotation while Willie Green stays put.
- It was another “Tracy McGrady, Playmaker” night. You can see that his mind is way ahead of his body.
- Ivan Johnson shows hard off screens, which is good, but he tends to linger too long on the perimeter and fails to get back to his man in time. He’d be a much better pick-and-roll defender if he had more awareness in that situation because he’s certainly quick enough to cover a lot of ground after the show.
- Radmanovic’s minutes in the power rotation provided evidence of why he belongs on the wing. Then again, his defensive awareness and energy on the perimeter leaves him vulnerable to giving up unchallenged 3s (See Bonner, Matt). Vlad Rad now appears to be in some kind of funk.
- Word is the Hawks won’t practice tomorrow in Detroit. Hoping I can still find a way to catch up with them before Friday’s shootaround.
Michael Cunningham, Hawks beat
Tell us what you think about the site
Customer Care »
Vacation stops, manage subscriptions and more
AJC Services
Sections
Other Editions
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement
© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
148 comments Add your comment
SteveW
January 26th, 2012
12:06 pm
Rufus – Great post – hadn’t thought of it like that.
Astro Joe
January 26th, 2012
12:10 pm
Steve, you’re right, he has been a beast in every game he has played recently. He’s the missing piece to a Hawks dynasty.
Dwayne
January 26th, 2012
12:14 pm
The Bulls suck, they have lost 4 games. One to the Memphis Grizzles, who have a losing record. At least all 6 of the games the Hawks lost have been against winning teams.
The above statement was said because of some of the moronic statements made in this blog.
Who would you rather lose too? a sorry team? or a good team?
Have not the Hawks split with Miami and Chicago?
They lost on the road to the Spurs, was that so bad?
Regular Joe
January 26th, 2012
12:16 pm
BLOW IT UP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
prison mike
January 26th, 2012
12:16 pm
Spurs have the best home record, we lose this game with Horford regardless. Sund has until March 15th to get some value for Hinrich.
I can stomach Pargo 10 mins a game for the rest of the season including the playoffs. Some interesting bigs in this year’s draft. Sund doesn’t have the best track record evaluating bigs though.
Dwayne
January 26th, 2012
12:22 pm
geeez, the spurs are the least of thier worries, when the Heat get healthy, they will be the team to beat. Has Battier even played yet? Didn’t Miller just get back? Short season, alot can happen.
vava74
January 26th, 2012
12:24 pm
SteveW:
“we really need Vlad Rad to step up”
V-Rad has done this throughout his whole career. Shows up some days and disappears in others.
He will not change.
The crucial point here is having LD understanding and reading that.
Whenever V-Rad is off, we can simply slide JJ to the SF slot.
We have Green, Hinrich and McGrady to provide depth at the SG slot as well so I cannot see any problem in accepting V-Rad’s up and down production.
It’s all on LD’s hands and maybe, just maybe, in Zaza’s since it seems that V-Rad is fond of Georgian cuisine
The Truth
January 26th, 2012
12:24 pm
“watch as Josh continues to ebb back and forth and the Hawks finally stop being an up and down team as we won’t ride Josh’s mood swings anymore” – Hawks Fan Down Under
I’m no hater but this begs a question that’s been bugging me for awhile; could Josh Smith (at least to some degree) be “Bipolar” based solely on his wild erratic game? After 7 years in the NBA, Josh sporadic patterns of flaws and shortcoming-lows along with his “superstar-like” highs are all consistent. If he has some kind of disorder that is manifesting itself from his mood-swings to his game, there is little LD can do besides managing the problem better which he hasn’t done enough.
LD would rather make blanket public indirect statements after a game (we all know he’s referring to Josh) instead of confronting this problem in “real time”. Maybe the correct prescription is putting him in “time out”
SteveW
January 26th, 2012
12:26 pm
AJ – You said, “Steve, you’re right, he has been a beast in every game he has played recently. He’s the missing piece to a Hawks dynasty.”
Can you please pull the post where I said Brad Miller has been a beast in every game he’s played recently? And where I said he was the missing piece to the Hawks dynasty?
I’m not so much right, as you are wrong again.
But anyway, your a good blogger, with your own opinions, which I respect. We just gotta stay in the truth as best we can. But we are all human…
SteveW
January 26th, 2012
12:30 pm
Yea, I was just looking at Josh’s stats, and if he keeps playing like he did last nite, he’ll play himself right out of the All Star game. Deng is out for awhile, and that was one of the F’s he’s up against.
Josh, if he keeps his head, and plays like he can, can realistically average a double double this season, and be close to a 20-10 guy. He’s already at 16.2 and 9.2.
And weirdly enough, Marvin is 16th among small forwards in the NBA in scoring and 9th in rebounding. He’s a slightly above average NBA SF.
NBA must be kinda weak in the SF department right now.
SteveW
January 26th, 2012
12:32 pm
About Marvin, at least statistically is actually way up the list on Points and Rebounds when you factor in minutes per game. Between he and McGrady, our SF position is pretty solid.
oldboy
January 26th, 2012
12:42 pm
Bring Jerry Sloan
doc
January 26th, 2012
12:42 pm
o’b, for a little more gib. that is what i have said earlier. we are probably not going to be a top three seed and probably not a top four to gain the home court advantage in the first round. it may not matter much this year as to its relevance in outcome for the big boys. we will be top 6 is my guess, unless, we do something to make it happen in the big department to compete with the big boys. if we get a legit big it would allow us to pad our numbers to get a higher seed, not to mention have a more competitive team into the tournament. if we fall lower than 6, either way, there is a huge problem with this team.
for the hawks it is better to have a higher seed in the first round, especially, if it is philly or the pacers. in the second round, as we all know, the phillips is not an advantage when the heat come to town or the bulls as this town has as many hard core fans of those teams than the hawks. however, in the right frame of mind we can beat them even now is my guess no matter the seeding.
as far as the team goes i will wait to pass on my outlook until february is in play. about this time last year i was feeling pretty good about them going higher than what i had predicted. looking back, it was with jj coming back into his own after surgery, jamal coping, in the odd man out next year syndrome as they were both lighting it up at 20 a game. it was also before griffin laid out al and he became softer than charmin tissue paper and we lost to the hornets on our home court by > 40.
right now, this team, unfortunately, to go the extra mile and climb or stay in the top echelon, has to depend on josh and jj to light it up at about twenty a game and josh score 12 bounds a night. these are numbers they have never reached for prolonged periods so i dont count on it though it is sure fun when they do. when they dont we will lose bad, very bad like last night. i dont think they can continue that pace over a long series of time and games strung together at breakneck speed. perhaps the loss of al will finally be revealed as one very detrimental in spite of his detractors. it is hard to lose 13 and 9 and make it up with zaza and ivan or collins on a nightly basis and josh bowed up, especially against top notch competition.
that is my two cents now, jibes to come later.
doc
January 26th, 2012
12:46 pm
dwayne: Has Battier even played yet?
yeah i think i saw him with my own eyes not in a suit like wade and queeb were on the floor at the phillips when we lost to them.
doc
January 26th, 2012
12:55 pm
also dwayne, the analytical mind might get excited to hear the hawks have lost only to teams with winning records. the truly analytical mind then wants to know what percentage of their wins are against teams with winning records? can you make me happy by answering the question or am i supposed to be happy at face value? the reason for this deeply inquiring question is just about every team coming up in the next 13 games has a winning record. after this march in february, heh heh, will we still be “winners” like charlie sheen in his mind or by the record.
drmaryb.[*_*].
January 26th, 2012
1:05 pm
your Nimber!
Some teams just have your nimber. Clearly the SPURS with Duncan and Pops cause match up problems at every position on the floor. Can some one please name what other teams have our number?
O'Brien
January 26th, 2012
1:06 pm
doc,
I think the Hawks are 8-0 against teams under .500, which means 5-6 against teams over .500.
Of those 6 losses to teams over .500, 3 of them came with Al Horford playing (not including the Pacers game).
Slimjr
January 26th, 2012
1:07 pm
February’s brutal schedule will be reality check TV! This will be surreal to watch unfold….Wow…..
You proud mothers are going to be humbled….
Astro Joe
January 26th, 2012
1:11 pm
OB & doc, andmost of those losses against winning teams came on the road, right? Bulls, Pacers, 76ers and Spurs. I think only the “Charles Barkley” Heat game was a home loss.
drmaryb.[*_*].
January 26th, 2012
1:11 pm
WE GOT NEEDS!
Like O’Brien said, we need a big to rebound and defend the paint, perhaps set hard picks and show on some screens. It doesn’t have to be a super star, but some one with at least thos first two fundamental skills.
Aye Sund! Do your job. If Taigo Splitter can hurt us like he did on the boards, surely we can match that.
Slimjr
January 26th, 2012
1:13 pm
The Clippers, OKC, SPURS, LAKERS, HOUSTON, DENVER, and DALLAS….Add Philly now that Doug Collins is coaching them
These 8 franchises OWN the Hawks and their baby moma’s…lol!
The Hawks would still lose a playoff series against Miami or Chicago. They wont have the home court advantage…
Theres more..But this is a start..
doc
January 26th, 2012
1:14 pm
yeah o’b, nice to see what they do against quality competition. i want them to not throw away games they should win and credit them for that. how many wins against quality were with al out of the line up? they have held up well this year and if they are 16 – 6 coming home that would be huge. it is still possible and maybe even probable. pretty good basketball over all. february is rough and again the only saving grace is surprisingly only one back to back i think which helps.
STRETCH
January 26th, 2012
1:15 pm
“Losing Al Horford has only accentuated the problem that is the Atlanta Hawks needing some help down low.
The Hawks may be playing solid enough basketball to have the team atop the Southeast Division with a 13-5 record, but this will be something that’s sure to get constantly abused by opposing teams down the road, especially come postseason time.
Even before the loss of Horford, the Hawks were in dire straits when it came to finding a center.
The Hawks were abused by Dwight Howard in the first round and Derrick Rose’s drives in the second round last year. It’ll take more than Pachulia if they want to get past the semifinals for the first time since 1961.”
Even the Bleacher Report(non-trustworthy press) knows that the Hawks are once again headed for the obvious post-season beat down.
Everybody knows this but Sund and company!
Slimjr
January 26th, 2012
1:19 pm
They wont have to wait till Playoffs for the beatdowns?
February is BEATDOWN Month for your Atlanta Hawks!!!!!!!!!!!!! LMAO!
Astro Joe
January 26th, 2012
1:24 pm
It sounds like Sund has developed some options for adding big man depth. We’ve been told about one (Kenyon Martin) and I would imagine there are several others that won’t be reported. The trade deadline is around 6 weeks away so the better deals may not yet be available and no one wants him to overpay in terms of trade assets.
drmaryb.[*_*].
January 26th, 2012
1:44 pm
Cohorts, I would personally like to see Drew design an offense that is sound, specific plays oriented around the talent he has. Vlad can’t find any type of rythym if he’s always planted on the bench and, doesn’t know his role or, when he will play. I understand the pros must always be ready but, consistency would help.
Drew always says he likes to go with his gut, but come on man. How many plays did Pops have someone other than his PG bring the ball up? Answer: zero. The Hawks did not look organized on offense to me and each individual was free lancing. Play together and, you should at least have a chance to win it in the end. That’s all I got.
Rufus1
January 26th, 2012
1:47 pm
Bogut hurt again….ain’t heard much about him lately.
darrell starks
January 26th, 2012
1:55 pm
When you bring in Ivan who is 6′8 at best behind Zaza to play center then major issue is at bay.
GO HAWKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
darrell starks
January 26th, 2012
1:58 pm
Some one said trade ZAZA AND MARVIN FOR OKAFOR what a joke “SMH”
GO HAWKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ra'mon
January 26th, 2012
2:06 pm
Anyone complaining about Josh’s play last night, is insane. How many 7′0 foot PFs are there in the league with TD’s skill? The only 7′0 footers that come to mind are Duncan, Gasol, and Garnett. I’m sorry but when you’re 6′8/6′9 and posting up a 7′0 footer who weighs more than you, its not much that you can do. And on defense, it wasn’t Josh’s fault that Bonner hit those open 3s, it was Marvin’s. Because when Josh would go down to help Zaza on the block with Duncan, Marvin didn’t rotate over. Defending the perimeter is about rotations, not about man covering man. If you watch Boston when they would play Orlando, you’ll see them doubling Howard, and the help man, would have teammates rotating to his man on the perimeter to take away any open looks.
Josh missed a few shots under the baskets last night, so you can say that’s poor shot selection. And the 3 pt fga was when the team was down by 18 pts.
Last night was more about Marvin not being able to step up. when he has the mismatches. For majority of the night, Marvin had a 3-4 inch height advantage on his man, and couldn’t take advantage of it. By no means will Josh and Joe dominate every night. So they have to have someone else (Teague did his part) who can take advantage when given a mismatch. So I honestly believe, the Hawks need a starting SF just as much as they need a C. Horford is still an all star C. So if there is a way that they could trade Kirk and Marvin for a starting caliber SF (Pierce?- Odom?) the line up would be more balanced, and better suited come playoff time.
If Marvin and Kirk could get you Odom (plus spare parts), you could go with Odom, Josh, Horford in the starting front court. And have the flexibility to switch or run some of the best zone defense in the playoffs. And THEN you can sign Kenyon Martin, and/or Rasheed. We can win the ECF with our front line (plus Kenyon or Sheed) if we are able to replace Marvin with more consistent production.
darrell starks
January 26th, 2012
2:07 pm
Collins has to starte, you must have a big body in the paint to do dirty work, Collins might not be the more athletic person in the world but he do the little things on this team to make them better, Zaza is the perfect backup center on this team, why don’t LD understand that and continue to mess with the chemistry on this team, STARTE COLLINS AND BRING IN ZAZA BEHIND HIM.
GO HAWKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ra'mon
January 26th, 2012
2:10 pm
By the way, Horford routinely shoots under 40% against the Spurs for his career. So please don’t say we lost because he wasn’t playing.
Hawkeye
January 26th, 2012
2:12 pm
Enough is enough !!! Trade Josh,Marvin,Pachulia,and Jeff for Al Jefferson,Devin Harris,Raja Bell,andJermemy Evans(from Utah),Than hire Sloan.This trade works on trade machine.
iceBIRDcold12
January 26th, 2012
2:12 pm
NO ONE in their right mind would even think about a trade for ZaZa the below the rim layup missing 7 foot joke of a basketball player, He and goofball Marvin the clumsiest first round pick ever to earn a check is in the running for MVP………….Most Valuble Player to help the other team.
darrell starks
January 26th, 2012
2:16 pm
Pargo is balling and playing great defense, Hinrich is out of control sometime but will be a good trade baite to bring in a center.
GO HAWKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Najeh Davenpoop
January 26th, 2012
2:34 pm
“Yikes…… look at the bench’s +/- in the game. Atrocious.”
The flip side of that is, look at the starters’ +/- in that game. Not bad at all.
The Hawks lost because they have no quality bench big man and because Kirk isn’t yet ready to defend PGs (I think it is debatable whether he’s a good matchup against Parker even when healthy).
Just Joe
January 26th, 2012
2:36 pm
Hawks shouldn’t leave Detroit without Ben Wallace and Tayshaun Prince. A 2-for-2 trade with Marvin Williams & Jason Collins works.
Pistons take back a SF that’s 5 or 6 years younger, a better rebounder, and on a shorter/cheaper contract (3 yrs $24M, including this year, compared to Prince’s 4 yrs $27M).
Hawks benefit from Prince’s contract being drawn out over an extra year (saves us $1.5M+/- next year), we get a veteran player that can impact a game in multiple ways, and best of all, the Marvin Wiliams experiment is officially over.
Collins & Wallace are both on expiring deals. Wallace’s game is better suited for matching up against the more long, athletic centers in the league.
Najeh Davenpoop
January 26th, 2012
2:38 pm
Hawks release Donald Sloan.
jgsbirds
January 26th, 2012
2:38 pm
how many times did popovich call timeouts and straighten out bad play. i remember at least 4 or five times–and the last two times he did it his teams were up 15 or even 20. this is the no-nonsense type of coaching we need in atlanta and especially with this group. this has to be the hardest group of basketball players to watch in the entire league. they do so many stupid things time after time. why in the heck are we doubling off of a guy like bonner????? stupid! why don’t we ever have ball movement on offense? the spurs offense is constant moving, backdooring, picking and rolling and they have someone or some three crashing the offensive boards on every possession.
our team is lightyears away from an ecf..i hate to say this because some nights we appear unbeatable. but way too often we revert to the crap i watched last night…i’ve seen that game about a million times. and had i been a gambling man i would have cashed in a grand ransom last night.
it’s way past time to bring in a new head coach and some new players or heck why not both!
Najeh Davenpoop
January 26th, 2012
2:40 pm
“Maybe ‘Biggest Increase in Minutes Played Showing How Stupid Your Coach is Award’ maybe.”
This is a great idea. They really should make this happen.
Najeh Davenpoop
January 26th, 2012
2:44 pm
“And weirdly enough, Marvin is 16th among small forwards in the NBA in scoring and 9th in rebounding. He’s a slightly above average NBA SF.”
Do they keep stats for missed layups, missed wide open shots, and double dribbles on fast breaks? Pretty sure Marvin is near the top of those categories too. He’s a good rebounder, I’ll give him that.
O'Brien
January 26th, 2012
2:44 pm
Ra’mon,
Anyone complaining about Josh’s play last night, is insane..
I like Josh, and I have been very happy with his play as of late. However, last night, he was 6-17 (35%) from the field, only 5 rebs, 2 assists, and 3 turnovers in 31 minutes. How can you be happy with his play?
Don’t get me wrong. The loss is not on him (or any one player). But Josh did not have a good game (imo).
As for taking advantage of mismatches, you do realize this is the same Marvin who has been guarded by Luke Ridnor, Kirk Hinrich and other guards in the past, right?
doc
January 26th, 2012
2:59 pm
a little j mcgee talk. doubt he is going anywhere:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wizards-insider/post/wizards-javale-mcgee-discusses-not-getting-extension-deflects-questions-about-flip-saunders/2012/01/26/gIQA9rN7RQ_blog.html?wpisrc=nl_sports
Ra'mon
January 26th, 2012
2:59 pm
O’Brien, I’m not saying Josh didn’t have a bad game. I’m saying if people think these kind of games won’t happen, then they’re crazy. Sometimes, every NBA player is going to run into games with bad match ups.
You and I both know on this blog, people are too extreme. If a player has one bad game (out of 10) then they say its time to trade that player. Two nights ago, Melo scored ONE point, while going 0 for 7.
The “Texas Swing State” has been historically bad for the Hawks as a franchise, and most organizations in the league.
And most nights, the Hawks are going 3 against 5 on offense. It was just a bad match up, against a Hall of Fame coach (possibly the only Hall of Fame Coach left in today’s game).
Rufus1
January 26th, 2012
2:59 pm
Pacers beat the Bulls…Now favorite to win the east…Oh wait, didn’t the Hawks beat the Bulls and the Heat?
?? Has any other “contender” played the Bulls and Heat twice?
O'Brien
January 26th, 2012
3:07 pm
AJ,
Except for the loss to the Heat (with Barkley in the house), all the Hawks losses to teams above .500 have been on the road. Which is why it will be important for the Hawks to have a top 4 seed so that they can have home-court in the first round.
O'Brien
January 26th, 2012
3:14 pm
Ra’mon,
Hawks have lost 14 straight in San Antonio, so for whatever reason, people shouldn’t be surprised that they lose to the Spurs. However, it is still frustrating the way they lose (which according to Vava, is very similar to the way they lost last year).
Michael Cunningham
January 26th, 2012
3:15 pm
new blog posted. shutting down this thread.