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
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148 comments Add your comment
Scrooge McDuck
January 25th, 2012
11:55 pm
“you have to tip your hat to the Spurs…”
Uh oh, he’s channeling Fredi Gonzalez!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
LOL
Donte
January 25th, 2012
11:55 pm
“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. ”
I know why, because he’s weak mentally and needed some way to finally let out his temper tantrum. No sweat though. I’m sure he’ll “stuff the stat sheet” against the Piston and-or Hornets and Hawks Nation will some how conclude that it means he can do it, consistently, against top tier playoff teams
Najeh Davenpoop
January 25th, 2012
11:57 pm
At least they close out the trip against three scrub teams. Not surprised they lost, but it didn’t have to be a blowout if LD managed his rotations properly and the Hawks had better big man depth.
Trade Kirk for a big man.
Scrooge McDuck
January 25th, 2012
11:58 pm
“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.”
Kind of sums up his NBA career, doesn’t it?
Donte
January 26th, 2012
12:00 am
It’s only a matter of time when even the most blindly optimistic, tomorrow will be a better day, turn the other cheek fans admit the truth about this team.
Najeh Davenpoop
January 26th, 2012
12:01 am
All y’all who keep saying Josh needs to drive are starting to realize his handles are worse than his jump shot. He needs to be receiving the ball with his back to the basket. When he faces up and smart opponents take away his left hand, he’s better off shooting than trying to dribble.
Donte
January 26th, 2012
12:04 am
“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”
You mean similar to whats going to happen when he spins into Hibbert, Asik, Hawes, Vucevic, etc. in the post season???
Apple
January 26th, 2012
12:04 am
“He needs to be receiving the ball with his back to the basket.”
That would require Josh to actually to get on the low block, though. Something we all know he does not want to do. But it’s OK since, you know, he hit a 3 against the Bucks.
bird
January 26th, 2012
12:06 am
Pargo has been knocking down shots, and seemed to be in a nice rhythm with the 2nd unit. I hate to see him lose his minutes, now that Kirks back. I hope this doesn’t disrupt the bench moving forward.
Slimjr
January 26th, 2012
12:06 am
Shop Kirk, and Marvina, for a Big..
Believing All NBA 9.4pts/7.8 reb. avg in the playoffs are going to get you to the promised land is just plan foolishness…
Crack is wack!
Rufus1
January 26th, 2012
12:08 am
Donte,
I just think that a lot of Hawks fans forgot what losing was like. Having hope going into season is what every fan wants and I am willing to trade away key players, just because we haven’t won a title.
losing to good teams on the road happens…AsK the Bulls, we beat them by 20pts.
I remember winning 13 games and don’t ever want to go back to that.
Donte
January 26th, 2012
12:08 am
All NBA, All Star, 2x NCAA Champ (….still a 2nd round exit tops) you mean Slimjr
Donte
January 26th, 2012
12:12 am
Rufus1 – That’s Correct, but with the “Core” now I dont think we necessarily have to “rebuild” we could make moves and “rearrange” and if things dont work out the way we want at worst we could still be a playoff team. I’d rather try something different and come up short and at least can say we tried rather than keep banging out head on the same ceiling with same group of core guys. It’s like the twilight firggin zone.
Apple
January 26th, 2012
12:13 am
Oh yeah, which poster was it that was making excuses for Marvin? Whoever it was, please don’t have any kids.
Rufus1
January 26th, 2012
12:18 am
THE SKY IS FALLING!!!!!!! We lost to the Spurs on the ROAD!
Why do you ppl think we can’t get to the ECF. We won’t have to play the Spurs to get there. We have beaten Miami, Chicago, and The Bucks. We lost to the Sixers, Pacers, Bulls and Heat. I don’t see why we can’t compete. Some teams are bad match-up, that is the NBA.
PS. The Bucks beat the Heat on the Road…Should they trade Wade?
Balance….We are a good team and we can win.
Hmmmm
January 26th, 2012
12:19 am
STILL CAN’T BEAT OLD MAN TIMMY HUH? DAMN SHAME. WON’T EVEN GET OUT OF THE FIRST ROUND GET OUTREBOUNDED LIKE THIS. YOU BETTER PRAY AL COMES BACK PLAYING MUCH BETTER THAN BEFORE, BECAUSE UHHH I DON’T TRUST SUND TO MAKE A SHREWD TRADE AT THE DEADLINE LOL.
HOW BOUT THEM KNICKS THO? LMAO
Slimjr
January 26th, 2012
12:21 am
PS OKC will sweep this squad for the 5th consecutive year…
These Western Conference team sure now how to dismantle these Hawks for years…..Yawn…
Slimjr
January 26th, 2012
12:22 am
know^^^
Rufus1
January 26th, 2012
12:25 am
Donte,
I think a “shake up” is needed, but I am not trading…
Marvin for cap space
Josh for Pierce
Al for Javale Mcgee
We have already beat the “2 best teams” in the east this year…. I am going to tell you a secret…The Heat and Bulls aren’t that much better.
beone
January 26th, 2012
12:29 am
MC, Appreciate your honest reporting. Also like your bullet point style of presenting the facts in a succinct manner. Now if certain Hawks players could be as professional!
Grandmaster JeJe
January 26th, 2012
12:31 am
Grandmaster JeJe
January 25th, 2012
11:45 pm
Why even play at LAL OKC OR TX? We cannot win in any of tgoseplaces. That includes all 3 Texas teams.
Let Mart Freaking Bonner beat us
LinkReport this comment
Buddy Grizzard
January 26th, 2012
12:31 am
The Hawks are 5th in the NBA in total future salary committed at over $244 million, close to the total value of the franchise:
http://www.shamsports.com/content/pages/data/salaries/index.jsp
And yet, with this massive investment in player personnel, they have made the minimum conceivable investment in the coaching staff. Where’s the logic in that?
Greg Popovic showed tonight what superior coaching can do with inferior talent. Just imagine if the Hawks had had a top 10 coach on the bench for the last 3-5 seasons. Think about what could have been.
Grandmaster JeJe
January 26th, 2012
12:31 am
Popovich>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>LD
Rufus1
January 26th, 2012
12:33 am
Ms. Jones,
I watched the Bulls series last year and we lost to their bench…In 6 games. Our coach and GM saw that and signed a bench this year….I think we are close, but the injury to Al has set us back. If Al come back healthy, I think we get to the TITLE GAME. …..We owned the Bulls with a Healthy Al.
Ryan
January 26th, 2012
12:34 am
I only trade kirk for a clearly better big man. Kirk should be getting the back up PG minutes and they can even start Kirk. Going JT, KH, JJ, JS, ZP against some smaller teams.
Rufus1
January 26th, 2012
12:35 am
Popovich>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>LD LD is a 2nd year coach…not fair.
Donte
January 26th, 2012
12:37 am
Rufus1 – That’s all true, but what’s on the other side of that picture? A collapse to the Bulls. Losing to the Heat WITHOUT Wade and Lebron, and horrific performances against most of the other + .500 teams we’ve faced (Rockets, Sixers, Pacers) two of which we could and probably will meet up with in the post season. Now given our past history with this core, which Hawks’ team seems more likely to be the one that shows up on a consistent basis in the playoffs? The one that A) beat the Heat and Bulls, or the one that B) collapsed against the Bulls, gave up against the Sixers??? You know the answer to that…
Donte
January 26th, 2012
12:40 am
What have you seen the Hawks do more of? Collapsing in the 3rd and 4th Quarter of games OR beating top tier teams??? Again, you know the answer to that. So, why should I start thinking the ladder is all of a sudden about to start happening, consistently, with the same core???
GaSouthernSmooth
January 26th, 2012
1:38 am
No surprise here but i agree what no need for an ugly blowout, that will hurt our hollinger ranking haha. Still, 4-1 on this road trip will be a success and better than i would have thought (3-2). Lets not dwell on this one Hawks and take care of business against a DET team that just gave the Heat a run for its money. Lastly… You know you need a big when Splitter is going off on your A#$.
-Do something Sund Do anything
Ed
January 26th, 2012
1:44 am
“Vlad Rad now appears to be in some kind of funk.” You can blame that on Drew for being so inconsistent in his substitution patterns. How could he not even play for Vlad for an entire game?
darrell starks
January 26th, 2012
1:50 am
If the Hawks wants to have a chance in the playoffs make this trade.
MARVIN, KIRK FOR MARCIN GORTAT, CHILL.
This trade will balance the team from inside out, and when Horford comeback with him playing PF and Josh SF, this team on defense will be tough and have chance at NBA CHAMPIONSHIP.
GO HAWKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!
darrell starks
January 26th, 2012
1:52 am
http://games.espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=7wjwg46
GO HAWKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!
darrell starks
January 26th, 2012
1:56 am
http://youtu.be/AERY0Gkl5DY
darrell starks
January 26th, 2012
2:07 am
STARTER TEAGUE, JOE, TMAC, JOSH, GORTAT
BENCH PARGO, GREEN, VLAD, IVAN, ZAZA
RESERVE STACK, COLLINS, CHILL
GO HAWKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
darrell starks
January 26th, 2012
2:10 am
When Horford return.
STARTER TEAGUE, JOE, JOSH, HORFORD, GORTAT.
BENCH PARGO, GREEN, TMAC, IVAN, ZAZA
RESERVE STACK, COLLINS, VLAD,
STREET CLOTHES CHILL
GO HAWKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Grandad
January 26th, 2012
2:12 am
Najeh;
very observant regarding Josh handling the ball in traffic.
Josh is also a two one jumper; [leaper]
which makes it difficult to power through all that length
after post moves or on offensive rebounds.
Two foot jumpers are more power type players inside,
able to muscle through contact.
I’m also thinking Josh has average size hands.
He rarely controls the ball inside for one hand dunks.
*(not talking about finishing on fast breaks)
Ivan has Huge hands !
As he, many times, holds the ball one handed.
_____________________________________________
None of this has been a criticism of Josh.
-only observations-
The only criticism would be that any player has to play to their strength.
To which, MC & Najeh both alluded to that fact.
_____________________________________________
We sure do need a Big & real soon.
_____________________________________________
One other thought:
T-Mac is our best Post Player offensively – hands down.
I would play him at the [5] on offense !
*(we play a whole lot of double post offense anyway)
*for those who are gonna say where’s so & so gonna play or this & that.
Grandad
January 26th, 2012
2:16 am
* Josh is also a two foot jumper; or a leaper]
*** NOT ***
* Josh is also a {{two *one}} jumper; [leaper]
That was dumb / a typo / but still dumb !
JaeEvolution
January 26th, 2012
2:28 am
No need to make a big trade like that darrell, make smart moves. We can see 3 guys who when they got minutes after not getting any they produced at a very good level and look to be solid bigs in Mullens, White and Speights.
Trade a 2nd round pick to Cleveland for a 7 footer in Erden who is active and can be just as good as Gortat given his MPG, it’s all about giving them playtime to show their skills.
tyger
January 26th, 2012
2:35 am
Same ole Hawks…
Cant beat over .500 teams…
Going gets tough, Hawks quit…
Josh 6-17????
Joe Johnson 10pts.????
All-stars my a$$$!!!
kevkat
January 26th, 2012
2:48 am
I know Josh has issues at times but I can’t fault him if he was arguing the call when he got the “T”. Apparently you don’t have to be stationary when taking a charge anymore..the refs played a part too in this game somewhat.
Buddy Grizzard
January 26th, 2012
3:09 am
LOL…
John Hollinger: Regression to the mean night in the NBA: Sixers, Jazz, Rockets all lose at home to bad teams and Hawks pounded by 22. about 36 minutes ago
Read more: http://hoopshype.com/twitter/media.html#ixzz1kY9RdQTO
Hawks Blog Legend Worldwide Clyde
January 26th, 2012
3:15 am
Gimme that ole time Religion
*yawn*
FIRE SUND
Ole Hawks's Fan
January 26th, 2012
3:28 am
Why was 3 point Bonner not being guarded? He only shoots 3’s……………even the fans on this BLOG know this. We don’t have anyone on this Squad who can lock down a player like Bonner and make him put the ball on the floor. The Hawks trying to help out on D and left Bonner open for the 3’s. What happen to the Princeton Motion Offense? I thought Woody was back on the bench as Head Coach the way we run the ISO all this season with JJ dribbling the ball until there are seconds left on the shot clock and he does his Trademark faded away Jumper that has no chance of going in. These CORE PLAYERS need to be broken up and shipped out of here. Marvin gives you nothing on a nightly basic but Woody Light continue to start him every game like he is a productive player. Josh wanna be a PG and Three Point Champion who reminds me of Kevin Willis who would take a jumper far from the basket and if he made it, that was where he would be shooting from for the rest of the game. Get rid of Woddie Lite and bring in a No None sense Coach who would sit these so call stars on their behind for not running the offense that has been inplemented. They just stand around on offense and watch JJ trickey dribble while the shot clock is expiring. This is Woody offense that didn’t work against above 500 teams and it still isn’t working under Woddy Lite. Sund get your LAZY ARSE up and make some changes on this Team. This team needs a BIG but you aren’t doing anything to address it. Damn, I thought Bobby Lite was coach the Hawks, when I read you have to “Tip Your Cap”………………….Damn Woddy Lite……………..Show us you have some BALLS. Holds these CORE GUYS ACCOUNTABLE for Games like this in SA and games like Philly!
Willie Jones
January 26th, 2012
4:35 am
HAWKS SUCK
prison mike
January 26th, 2012
5:34 am
This was to be expected. A first ballot hall of famer against Zaza… Hinrich played way too much. Drew should have let Teague play the role of Iverson (40+ mins.) because he was getting whatever he wanted.
Marvin with the clumsy botch on the break made me turn off the tv. It was effectively over by then.
Marcus
January 26th, 2012
6:04 am
Question: Have the recent losses vs. 76ers and Spurs and the manner in which we lost underlined our limitations without Horfords presence?
For the rest of the season & whatever playoff aspirations we have for 2012, is Heinrich better served as a steady backup PG or as trade bait to get some (temporary) talent in the middle?
Mac-Town #maconchevyrider
January 26th, 2012
6:35 am
Marcus…they underline limitations we still had even with Horford, it’s not like he was some physically dominating presence on the glass or a real rim protector. We need glass crashers, and I think Kirk is trade bait.
Big Daddy
January 26th, 2012
7:01 am
We definitely showed our vulnerable places in this game. Most of these guys have been playing together for a long time, they have won championships and besides having a first ballot HOF all-star like Tim Duncan, they also have a first ballot HOF coach in Popovich. When his team was not functioning well he subbed out effectively so the offense ran the way he wanted. It also helped that he had the players to sub out effectively.
We need a good serviceable big man who won’t want to get on the perimeter but can also do something with the ball when he gets it. I understand that is a tall order, but they are out there and the GM has to find them and make the deal. Time after time we seem to get frustrated and start just shooting jump shots. When we do that, we play right into the hands of the opposing team, especially when we are not hitting our shots.
This is a top tier team that had one of its stars out, just like we did. The game should have been closer and more competitive. We have won on the road, played competitive, even in a loss on the road. It is the blowouts that we have to stop. We should not get blown out by anyone at this point. The bench has been playing well and I hope this is just one of those bad games that teams have from time to time. I just would have thought this type of game would happen at the tail end of a long road trip instead of the beginning.
Bertie
January 26th, 2012
7:29 am
I like JaeEvolution’s proposal of Erden for a 2nd rd pick mentioned earlier. I was thinking the same thing after watching the Cleveland game last week. Preferrably for the Hawks 2012 2nd rd pick and not Phoenix’s 2012 2nd rd pick which the Hawks own, but I leave that to Sund to find what would take for the Cavs to pull the trigger. The guy is long and I was impressed when he played against the Hawks last year when he was with the Celtics. My recollection from last year was that Erden and Asik were playing at a similar level but since then Erden got hurt and Asik has gotten better. Later the C’s surprisinly traded him, along with Harangody, to Cleveland for a 2nd rd pick. The Hawks can waive Stackhouse and add Erden without going into luxury tax territory.
Bertie
January 26th, 2012
7:37 am
Two teams that have 2 starting centers and probably will not make the playoffs this year are the Suns and Hornets. The Suns will have to eventually pay starting money to Lopez but they already have Gortat. After March 1 this trade will work: Lopez and Shannon Brown for Marvin and Willie Green or Pargo, add a 2nd rd pick if needed. The Hornets have to decide between resigning Kaman or keeping Okafor, it doesn’t make sense to keep both. The Hawks should offer Hinrich and Zaza for Okafor, and a 2nd rd pick if needed.
truth
January 26th, 2012
7:41 am
lol it was 57-54 Spurs then i turn the channel for less than 2 minutes.. All of a sudden its 65-54..
vava74
January 26th, 2012
7:55 am
http://popcornmachine.net/cgi-bin/gameflow.cgi?date=20120125&game=ATLSAS
“Severely out-coached” summarizes what happened.
Even without watching the game one can see through that link that we made a push to start the 3rd and Pop made major adjustments pulling immediately a bunch of starters, leading to a major surge by SAS that broke the game open.
(When did LD ever pulled his starters ONE MINUTE into the third like Pop did???)
Pop went “inside-out” by swapping Blair for Bonner and Bonner stitched us from 3 point land.
There was no counter move by Drew when he saw Pop introduce a big who plays from outside and that lost us the game.
It’s not rocket science.
vava74
January 26th, 2012
8:01 am
Also, this is EXACTLY AS WE LOST IN SAN ANTONIO LAST YEAR.
EXACTLY: Pop went for the outside artillery and broke the game open last year just like this.
See last year’s game:
http://popcornmachine.net/cgi-bin/gameflow.cgi?date=20101210&game=ATLSAS
Pop takes Duncan out and puts in Bonner who although only scored one 3 pointer, was there to spread the defense allowing George Hill and Richard Jefferson to go 4/5 from 3 point land in the 4th quarter.
LD did not learn from his past mistakes.
Mike is Back
January 26th, 2012
8:08 am
What’s up MC, not much to say…you covered it all…gotta take this one with a grain of salt and move on. I was kind of surprise we didn’t go after Jefferson early and try to get him in foul trouble.
Doc, I know it wasn’t a Texas Two Step this time…But can a brotha get some dancing lesson.lol
WE STILL 500 on the road trip…KEEP GOING HAWKS…LET’S GO….LET’S GO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ray
January 26th, 2012
8:09 am
Okay this game had some of the worse officiating ever that I’ve seen in my lifetime. Still even though that may be it doesn’t excuse the fact that people weren’t trying to attack to rim our mindset is weak we should have been going inside-out just like the spurs bait them into the foul calls you know.
Josh I know you hate being that guy that gets picked on more than any other person if you read this give us a reason not to do so. You and Jeff Teague are my favorite players on the team.
That said though I know one thing Joe Johnson needs to get called out the $120 million dollar man barely gets called on playing horrible, but when everything is okay he’s the best player on the floor which I beg to differ on.
Trojan
January 26th, 2012
8:15 am
Teague is the best player right now. JJ is off somehow. We need a real center. That position is killing us. Kirk should only backup Teague and should get some minutes at SG, slidding JJ to sf.
Sund needs to get a center on the roster.
Gerald
January 26th, 2012
8:19 am
This game pretty much went as I expected. The Spurs always seem to have our number, especially in San Antonio. The last time I remember the Hawks defeating the Spurs was in that overtime game where Horford dunked on Duncan. It’s been a long time since the Hawks have defeated the Spurs. They play very smart team basketball and Pop is by far the best coach in the league when it comes to getting the most out of his players and getting them to play to their strengths. Everyone on the floor for the Spurs seemed to do something positive.
I expected for the Spurs length inside to give us problems, and I expected for their frontcourt to win the game for them. I didn’t think we’d get blown out or that Matt Bonner would hit so many threes, but I expected this game to be a loss, anyway. This is the type of game where not having Horford really hurts. We are short on quality big men, and it was clear that the Hawks had nothing inside on either the offensive or defensive end against most of the Spurs bigs, other than maybe Blair. Horford and Smith have the mobility to not only chase around the stretch 4’s like Bonner, and Horford has the ability to defend guys like Duncan and Splitter. If we would have had a healthy roster, this probably would have been a closer game, but our lack of bigs was really exploited tonight. Ivan just didn’t have the length to contend with Duncan and Splitter, and Zaza is just too immobile to handle guys like Blair and Bonner. Not to mention, none of our bigs could really score inside against the Spurs front line.
If we continue to keep the team as is, while Horford is out, I think we are going to struggle against all teams that have decent size and mobile big men. Josh is the only healthy guy left on the roster to both defend inside and outside against mobile big men, and he often struggles to defend the more physical big men inside since they overpower him or shoot over him if they have enough length. Zaza can defend the slower big guys who like to bang inside, and Collins excels at defending power players in the post, but we don’t really have any versatile big men when it comes to defense on the roster other than Horford and Smith, and with Horford out, that leaves us with only Smith.
I really think we need to get another reliable big man, even after Horford returns, we could really use another quality rotation player that can play the 5. I worry about the Hawks against elite teams, especially now when we are even more shorthanded inside without Big Al. We have really only beated one winning team since Horford went down (portland), and that team that we beat had a losing record on the road. Look at whom we’ve beaten since Horford went down. We defeated Charlotte who now has the worst record in the eastern conference. We defeated (barely) Minnesota, who is a perennial lottery team. We beat Toronto, another losing team, which didn’t even have it’s best player at the time. We beat Cleveland, a team that the NBA TV analysts were calling “chicken soup”. We beat Milwaukee, a gritty team who has been playing better lately, but still, another losing team. Portland is the only team we have beaten without Horford that you could argue is a quality opponent, and they haven’t even been a good road team at all this season. Against the 2 winning teams we’ve played on the road (Philadelphia and San Antonio), we’ve been blown out. Luckily, there are a lot of subpar teams that we can feast on in order to make the players with a 6-8 seed, but how effective will we really be once we have to face a winning team in the playoffs?
This isn’t even all about the team being less effective without Horford, I feel like even with Horford, we may struggle to beat winning teams when it counts. We’d certainly have a better chance of doing that with Horford, but regardless, we need to make some adjustments to our personnel and upgrade the roster, and maybe even the coaching staff if there are any quality candidates out there.
Trojan
January 26th, 2012
8:22 am
Can you imagine how bad JJ’s contract will seem in a couple of years if he continues to age. His game is slipping.
Gerald
January 26th, 2012
8:24 am
Corrections on my last post: “beated” (lol) was supposed to be “beaten”
Also, I meant to say “there are a lot of subpar teams that we can feast on in order to make the *playoffs*…”
HoosierHawk
January 26th, 2012
8:33 am
Yikes…… look at the bench’s +/- in the game. Atrocious.
Sideline Dude
January 26th, 2012
9:13 am
Why won’t the NBA just go away. A bunch of overpaid thugs.
rollow lawson
January 26th, 2012
9:16 am
Sign Rasheed Wallace!! Sign somebody!!!
O'Brien
January 26th, 2012
9:21 am
Losing is one thing, but the way we lost is just terrible.
Bonner shot 60% from 3 last year, and the Spurs have attempted a lot of 3’s this year. But yet we didn’t do a good job of staying on them. Poor execution/effort on defense by our players, and there is no excuse. And our offense still gets off track at key moments. Not enough ball movement, too many jumpers etc.
I hope Rick is paying attention, because this team needs another decent big on the bench. I like the effort from ZaZa and Ivan, but they are just not good enough at times. Some suggest waiting until the trade deadline (March?), but March might be too late.
Our February schedule is brutal. 13 games in 29 days. Memphis, Philly, Phoenix, Pacers, @ Orlando, Miami, @ LAL, @ Phoenix, @ Portland, @ Chicago, @ Knicks, Orlando, GS.
Hawks could easily go 6-7 in those games. And what happens if there is not a good deal to be found at the deadline. Then what? We hope Kenyon Martin signs w/ us? That’s not enough.
O'Brien
January 26th, 2012
9:23 am
LD didn’t coach a good game either (imo). He rides the starters sometimes when he doesn’t have to (imo), and last night when he needed to ride the starters (especially Jeff), he decides to ride the bench despite the terrible results. On nights when we’re playing back to back, I understand, but today is an off day.
Or how about playing Teague, Kirk and JJ on the court at the same time? Try something different LD.
I’ve said this before. When a team is playing bad, a good coach knows how to adjust, or press the right buttons. But on this team, when the players are not executing, more often than not LD looks powerless (which is exactly how Woody used to be). I think LD has improved compared to last year, but he still has a looooong way to go (imo).
O'Brien
January 26th, 2012
9:26 am
I am not giving up on the Hawks, because they are a better team over last year. And last night, Nets beat the Sixers, and Detroit had a chance to tie Miami at the buzzer. So these things happen.
But last night was another opportunity to show some mental toughness, and they didn’t. LD had a chance to show how good a coach he can be, and he didn’t. Very disappointing all the way around.
cdog
January 26th, 2012
9:26 am
KIRK HINRICH IS DISRUPTING THE HAWKS CHEMISTRY.HE’S A LOSER. JANERO PARGO WAS PLAYING GOOD BUT FOR SOME REASON LARRY DREW HAS PUT HINRICH INTO THE LINEUP INSTEAD OF HIM.HINRICH IS A WASHINGTON WIZARD WHO HAS GOTTEN USE TO LOSING.IN THE FOURTH QUARTER WITH THE HAWKS GETTING BLOWN OUT, YOU WOULD HAVE THOUGHT THE HAWKS WERE WINNING WAS ON THE BENCH GRINNING AND HAVING A GOOD TIME.HE’S A LOSER AND A RICK SUND CLONE.FINALLY, SOMEONE PLEASE TELL JOSH SMITH NOT TO SHOOT THE BALL WHEN THE TEAM NEEDS BASKETS.HE’S TOO STUPID TO REALIZE HE’S NOT A SHOOTER.SITTING HIM DOWN WOULD CURE THIS.
PMC
January 26th, 2012
9:32 am
These kind of losses have happened to virtually every team this year. Not that big a deal, just a bad night. I just wish they could win out there sometime soon. 15 in a row now.
Astro Joe
January 26th, 2012
9:46 am
northcyde, please check your email messages BEFORE making another Fantasy League transaction.
The Truth
January 26th, 2012
10:06 am
“The Hawks aren’t enamored with the available free-agent centers and their trade options are limited. Look for them to make a run at Kenyon Martin when FIBA releases him from his Chinese contract once the Xinjiang Flying Tigers wrap up their season late next month.” – MC
Instead of pursuing Martin, I would rather see the Hawks pursue Jordan Hill from Houston since they didn’t pickup his option. He should be easily available in a trade. He’s longer (6′10″ vs 6′9″), younger (24 vs. 34), less injury prone, and overall, and a better “glue guy”.
Since Houston is trying to dump salary for a max player, we could offer an expiring Hinrich for Hill and Thabeet. After this season, the Hawks would then have the option to dump Thabeet if he doesn’t pan out. We throw in a 2nd rd pick for incentive, works on trade machine.
Pursue this option only if the Hawks can’t find a better upgrade than Kenyon Martin.
vava74
January 26th, 2012
10:07 am
O’Brien
January 26th, 2012
9:23 am
co-sign
vava74
January 26th, 2012
10:10 am
I also like Jordan Hill. He is the type of guy who will work his butt off doing dirty work down low and PROBABLY can be obtained for an acceptable cost.
Also, he is still a bit under the radar since his playing time has not been significant.
Note: don’t expect him to come in and be brilliant – there is a reason why HOU were below .500 with him and are above with Dalembert (who I don’t particularly like, but who is a vet).
Hill is still very green, but his upside is high and could be a good complementary big for us.
Jase
January 26th, 2012
10:25 am
I’m tired of everybody making excuses for this team. Mediocrity shouldn’t be excepted!!!!!! Everybody need to step there game up the Owners,GM,Players and everybody that works for the team and people that cover the team. We need a championship atmosphere!!!!!! GO HAWKS!!!!!!! It’s time to show and prove baby!!!!!
doc
January 26th, 2012
10:27 am
o’b they could go as low as 3-10 in the month of february. i hope for 6-7. if we are close to .500 in february we are a good team, above that and maybe a legit contender as those are many teams that are playoff quality, equal road and away games and every ither night schedule which makes for similar look to post season. oy difference is break for all star game. if we break above .500 for the month folks better sit up and support these guys, start buying some tickets and join me at the phiilps.
FreshmakerGT
January 26th, 2012
10:30 am
Jase, you think a 13 – 6 record and only half a game out of first place is mediocrity?
doc
January 26th, 2012
10:33 am
people get real! do you live in a vacuum? are you stupid? do you look at other teams that are good and see what is happening to them? maguc lose by over twety in boston? lakers lise three in a row?
didnt you see it coming after this delay of start by stern to ruin it for the fans? there are so many non- competitve games this year that one really cant judge any team until the post season arrives and teams play it for real in a cogent manber. this is nba fantasy stern ball this year. new nirmal is next year where the ramifications of the cba can be analyzed. thie year is a joke plain and simple.
Astro Joe
January 26th, 2012
10:41 am
I agree with doc’s gibberish. And thatis why I reject the notion of making a big trade because this is NOT a normal evaluation period for players (especially older guys) or teams. It wouldn’t surprise me if some older guys get a bad grade that may either result in a minimum vet salary next year or even no contract at all, based in part because they struggled with 4 games in 5 days several times a month. Panic moves based on injuries or poor performance could backfire.
Jase
January 26th, 2012
10:44 am
No that’s a great start but the problem is that everybody is wrap up in the regular season I want this team to be build for the post season im tired of my team losing in the second round every year that’s mediocrity!!!!!! Everybody knows that Championship team need two thing a great point guard which we have and just ignore the fact we need a big it’s a joke. Atlanta fans deserve better then that and the city deserve better and I’m going to stay hard on this team until they show me that we can get over the Hump. Go Hawks!!!!!!!
Hawks Fan Down Under
January 26th, 2012
10:46 am
Thought Hinrich played well. But he cant just back up Teague. He’ll need to play SG at some point.
Teague was head and shoulders above anyone else for the Hawks tonight. And to think he was riding the bench just last season…unbelievable. He might win ‘Most Improved Player’ this year but it’d be wrong to give it to him as he hasn’t improved as much as his dumb coach was forced to play him more. Maybe ‘Biggest Increase in Minutes Played Showing How Stupid Your Coach is Award’ maybe.
Will Josh ever learn about jump shots? No. Wait for him to go on a hot streak where everyone praises him and says he’s an All-Star then trade him for a gun center and 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. Or get a new coach who will actually bench Josh when he does something selfish!!!! Its not hard.
Rev in Tampa
January 26th, 2012
11:00 am
This morning has been very intense with counseling but during my break I scanned the blog. Two things made me laugh:
“KIRK HINRICH IS DISRUPTING THE HAWKS CHEMISTRY… HINRICH IS A WASHINGTON WIZARD WHO HAS GOTTEN USE TO LOSING… HE’S A LOSER AND A RICK SUND CLONE.”
and:
“I agree with doc’s gibberish.”
Rufus1
January 26th, 2012
11:02 am
Suicide Hotline…
Read this blog after a Hawks loss, is like a suicide chat room.
Astro Joe
January 26th, 2012
11:05 am
Rufus & Rev., nothing kills a blog like winning and nothing feeds the blood-thirst like a loss.
SteveW
January 26th, 2012
11:05 am
Astro Joe – Yes, LD gave up draft picks. He kept referring to himself as the one making the trades along with Sund. He was boneheaded enough not to bench Bibby and play Teague.
So yes, LD cost us 2 1st picks – Jordan Crawford and Chris Singleton, and Mo’ Evans, in order to obtain Hinrich.
Sund being the caretaker GM that ASG wants him to be, works with his Coach, not against him.
And LD, since he was fighting with ZaZa, almost cost us him in that Brad Miller trade, which fortunately fell through for us.
And BTW, whats the deal about Brad Miller not playing meaningful minutes in 1.5 years? He played 60 games for Houston last season as a back up Big?
SteveW
January 26th, 2012
11:08 am
Great paragraph by Hawks Fan Down Under about Jeff Teague and how stupid LD was last season.
It reads, “Teague was head and shoulders above anyone else for the Hawks tonight. And to think he was riding the bench just last season…unbelievable. He might win ‘Most Improved Player’ this year but it’d be wrong to give it to him as he hasn’t improved as much as his dumb coach was forced to play him more. Maybe ‘Biggest Increase in Minutes Played Showing How Stupid Your Coach is Award’ maybe.”
Bravo, Bravo, here here my good man!
SteveW
January 26th, 2012
11:11 am
Notorious Josh hater Steve Holman was hilarious to listen to in the 3rd quarter last nite as I was driving. I wish I had a transcript, but some words and phrases used were, “Well Josh just singlehandidly took us out of this game. He’s in total meltdown mode right now. We need to bring somebody in to guard Bonner, because Josh has decided it’s not going to be him”.
It was hilarious radio really.
Rufus1
January 26th, 2012
11:12 am
“Misery loves company, but a happy man sits/blogs alone”
vava74
January 26th, 2012
11:13 am
“Maybe ‘Biggest Increase in Minutes Played Showing How Stupid Your Coach is Award’ ”
SteveW
January 26th, 2012
11:14 am
I think what frustrates us as Hawks fans is we see that we probably have the talent to beat the Spurs, but they get by really on BB IQ, knowing there roles and that’s about it.
It’s really frustrating to lose to teams like that. I know. I’ve lost to a few.
SteveW
January 26th, 2012
11:17 am
Last nite wasn’t just all about Josh, Bonner and the likes – it was were was JJ? We really needed him last nite – and the 7 assists were nice, but I was looking for him to take over that game. JJ doesn’t have a scorer’s mentality. If he misses a few, he gets tenative. Some of these assassins have no conscience, and that’s what makes them a scorer in a scorers League.
Slimjr
January 26th, 2012
11:20 am
This Coach yank Teague 7 freaking minutes into the game for Kirk?
Are you kidding? He was your most effective player on the floor last night..
Unlike your other starters Teague was not intimidated by the opposition!!!
This guy will flourish once he moves on and away from this lousy organization called the Hawks..
Josh, Marvin, and Joe were byoech slapped around last night…..No shot as usual..
Larry just threw up his hands….Gosh darn it!
All NBA would have made little difference with his limited offensive skill set and non existence help defense…..
Rufus1
January 26th, 2012
11:22 am
SteveW,
The Spurs maybe the smartest team in the league and they have the best coach. Losing to them is doesn’t mean we suck. When we lose to by 30 to the Wiz or the Nets, I will with everyone bashing this team….but not atfer a spurs lose on the road.
Astro Joe
January 26th, 2012
11:26 am
Steve, I stand corrected, Miller hasn’t played much in 12 months, not 18.
http://espn.go.com/nba/player/gamelog/_/id/556/brad-miller
GEN MANAGER
January 26th, 2012
11:28 am
I BLAMED LD FOR THIS BLOWOUT,INABILITY TO MAKE THE RIGHT SUBS AT THE RIGHT TIME,ESPECIALLY JS & MW BIENG AROUND THESE PLAYERS FOR SO LONG,HE BASICALLY SHOULD NO WHEN BASED ON THIER PERFORMANCE EARLY IN THE GAME TO PULL THEM OFF THE COURT.
Slimjr
January 26th, 2012
11:32 am
1997 since you beat this team on the road? PATHETIC!!!!!!!!!!!!!! GARBAGE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
You don’t deserve an ECF visit and this game last light proved that you don’t have the talent or the coaching ability to get there anyway, even with ALL NBA!
That’s why I like to see these Hawks play the Western Conference teams to see they do not measure up and are usually dismantled…It’s like a reality check! You are who you are..Not elite by a long shot..
You cant beat the Clippers, OKC, SPURS, LAKERS, HOUSTON, DENVER, and DALLAS….
Play Miami or Chicago in the playoffs and lets watch reality set in again…….
All NBA aint your savior…Nice try…..
OKC by 25-35 on the road…..
Astro Joe
January 26th, 2012
11:35 am
Slim, so are you saying that all of the other ECF teams in recent history were undefeated against the Western Conference? I was not aware of that prerequisite to be a final 2 team in our conference.
O'Brien
January 26th, 2012
11:37 am
To be clear, I’m not saying the Hawks should make a big trade. All I’m saying is we need another big. Rick just needs to be creative to make it happen (instead of just waiting and hoping that Kenyon Martin signs with us).
But I’m sure they are looking around for a move that might improve the roster blah blah blah.
Doc,
With this crazy schedule, I think seeding may not be as important as prior years either, especially for the older teams (Boston, LAL, Dallas comes to mind). They just want to get to the playoffs somewhat healthy.
SteveW
January 26th, 2012
11:49 am
Rufus – Your right – I ain’t givin’ up on this team either. We have some serious chemistry in a positive direction going on right now, and a lot of talent – I’m just with the one more Big crowd – If we had 1 more halfway serviceable big man, I’d say let’er ride, let’s do this thing.
We’ve got more depth than I can remember – we really need Vlad Rad to step up. The guy looks like a Pro one game, and a scrub for 3. He’s got the talent, that’s evident, I guess the rest is just mental.
Slimjr
January 26th, 2012
11:50 am
Kenyon Martin is an aged Josh 2.0 with less defense…..Huh? Wow!
SteveW
January 26th, 2012
12:00 pm
Astro Joe – Hmm, Brad averaged 10.5 mpg, 6.5 rpg, 3.8 apg, 51.6% shooting in 23 mpg LAST APRIL.
So can you say 8 months and 13 days since his last meaningful contribution? Not 1.5 years (18 months which is over twice as long as the truth), and not 12 months – still missed the truth by over 3.5 months.
Sounds good AJ to make a point, just ain’t the truth.
Now he’s still not back, and I wouldn’t want him unless healthy, but LD evidently thinks enough of him to try and trade ZaZa for him, and I think he could still give 15-20 quality minutes per game if we knew he was healthy.
Rufus1
January 26th, 2012
12:04 pm
I think everyone(All Hawks fans around the World) on this blog agrees the Hawks need another Big.
I will say that I a have faith in Sund, but not ASG, to get us the player we need.
After all those years of wanting a PG, we get one and our center gets hurt….That is the kind of thing, that can break a fans spirit ;(
SteveW
January 26th, 2012
12:05 pm
I still take Kenyon Martin on this team all day long. He may not be exactly what this team needs, but who is, Dwight?
I’ll take his toughness and playoff experience and desire to win all day on the Hawks. He could be close to that missing piece we need.
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.