Atlanta Hawks at Pistons: Game thread
Auburn Hills, Mich.–Hawks will use same lineup as last game with Zaza Pachulia at center. “It’s not set in stone,” Larry Drew said. “We will stay with it for right now.”
- Drew said Kirk Hinrich had no issues after his first game back from shoulder surgery. “We are going to ease him back into it,” Drew said. “He still has to get into that playing shape where he can play on a nightly basis. I don’t want to pile too many minutes on him.”
- Drew said “for right now we will keep [Hinrich] at the one. He could play off the ball some. There are a couple of things I possibly want to experiment with as we move forward: him at some two, Joe [Johnson] at some three, that type of thing.”
- ESPN.com’s Marc Stein runs down a list of teams who will compete with the Hawks for Kenyon Martin’s services and says K-Mart is looking for a major role on a contender.
- Drew on the Pistons: “They play a very physical style. That has always been a problem or us in the past. They really bang the boards. I told the guys by no means can we come in here and think these guys are going to lay down. They’ve had some close ballgames that they could have won. Looking back at their last game against Miami they were in perfect position to win.”
- Damien Wilkins is starting for the Pistons tonight. “Our effort has been a lot better, our fight has been a lot better,” he said. “To me, that’s what we had been lacking the most. We had kind of a glass jaw. Now we have a lot more effort, a lot more fight.”
- Wilkins on not getting an offer from the Hawks: “It was disappointing. They basically told me they weren’t bringing in anymore perimeter guy and I’d have to fight [for a spot] with Pape Sy and [Jerry] Stackhouse. And then I look up and here they are with Willie Green and two other wings, and I’m like, ‘Wow.’ It was fun. I appreciate the opportunity they gave me initially. But I miss the guys.”
- The rec center in northwest Detroit Willie Green came up is now called the Willie Green Center for Physical Fitness. Green attended a ceremony yesterday. “My uncle [Gary Green] was coaching a team up there,” Green said. “He used to open up the gym for us, so we were going up there every day. That’s where I first started playing basketball. It was awesome when I walked in the place. I couldn’t believe the gym was so little. I came from humble beginnings like a lot of us.”
Michael Cunningham, Hawks beat
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662 comments Add your comment
Big Ray
January 27th, 2012
9:53 pm
Good Lord…..Joe earning his cash tonight. Wow. There was literally NO PLAY. It was ALL JOE.
DubC
January 27th, 2012
9:53 pm
Hella shot, JJ!
Bob Weiss
January 27th, 2012
9:53 pm
Told ya I could do it.
keepinitreal
January 27th, 2012
9:53 pm
We haven’t been able to say this much, but Joe has earned his paycheck tonight.
bigdave
January 27th, 2012
9:53 pm
appreciate what you have folks.
Dont Brick It
January 27th, 2012
9:53 pm
Funny game lol..
northcyde
January 27th, 2012
9:53 pm
BlTCH !!!
doc
January 27th, 2012
9:53 pm
sweeeet!
Najeh Davenpoop
January 27th, 2012
9:53 pm
Bob is right. An impossible shot, and Joe hit it.
I am not dissing Joe’s talent. I am just saying, why run plays that get him impossible shots throughout the game instead of running plays that get him good shots?
Grandmaster JeJe
January 27th, 2012
9:53 pm
JOE JOHNSON YESSIR
DAMN I THOUGHT HIS FOOT WAS ON LINE
Section 212
January 27th, 2012
9:53 pm
Let’s see if Drew learned anything from the Heat game….
Big Ray
January 27th, 2012
9:53 pm
Thing is, it all started with Joe’s defense….
yodaddybrother
January 27th, 2012
9:53 pm
wow Joe Johnson….can push this thing to overtime and steal this one
northcyde
January 27th, 2012
9:54 pm
There’s your ISO Najeh.
When the man is ice cold, you’re right.
When the man is red hot, you simply give him the ball and let him work.
Grandmaster JeJe
January 27th, 2012
9:54 pm
MARVIN I AM NOT A BIG FAN OF YOURS, BUT YOU ARE PLAYING DECENT
STILL HAVE GOTTEN STRIPPED WAY TOO DAMN MUCH AT THE RIM NO HOMO
Buddy Grizzard
January 27th, 2012
9:54 pm
Hawks win if Joe gets hot… Hawks lose if Joe wasn’t hot enough… having a real coach factor into a Hawks victory not an option.
Vino
January 27th, 2012
9:54 pm
what the hell just happen?!!!!!!!!!!!! crazy joe 120
bigdave
January 27th, 2012
9:54 pm
“Those contested 18-23 foot shots Joe occasionally makes are fools’ gold.”
he doesnt take many of those..
Section 212
January 27th, 2012
9:54 pm
Joe trying to earn a paycheck tonight
Bob Weiss
January 27th, 2012
9:54 pm
watch the refs
Big Ray
January 27th, 2012
9:55 pm
Najeh,
Simple answer. Hawks just don’t play right all the time, particularly when they are tired, and nobody is listening to that boob on the sidelines…
Vino
January 27th, 2012
9:55 pm
overtime and a 5 second vioaltion on nique nephew
HAwks
Grandmaster JeJe
January 27th, 2012
9:55 pm
LOLOL
MARVIN JUMPING UP AND DOWN TO CONTEST THE PASS IN. HE WAS LANDING SIDEWAYS
northcyde
January 27th, 2012
9:55 pm
OK Hawks . . . you took the Pistons best shot. Now let’s win this game in OT and get the hell out of here.
yodaddybrother
January 27th, 2012
9:55 pm
Joe got 30…gave the Hawks life….now we gotta put our foot to the floor and get outta here with a win
drebaby
January 27th, 2012
9:55 pm
Where all the Joe haters at.
Luke Cage
January 27th, 2012
9:55 pm
for 1 game get off Joe’s A$$ people!!
bigdave
January 27th, 2012
9:55 pm
“It’s not Joe getting shots I have a problem with, it’s the idea that he should do all the work to get those shots. The Hawks have other players who are good and can draw defensive attention to make it a lot easier for him.”
agreed.
coaching.
doc
January 27th, 2012
9:55 pm
came in the 4th. where did jeff go?
Spyro
January 27th, 2012
9:56 pm
@bigdave: Joe takes five shots a game from 16-23 range, per Hoopdata.
Buddy Grizzard
January 27th, 2012
9:56 pm
Najeh talking so much ish about Zaza… my man wasn’t in the game when the Pistons went on an 8-0 run… that was Collins… aka MR CRUNCH TIME!!!!
Slimjr
January 27th, 2012
9:56 pm
C’mon men step it up!!!!!!
Najeh Davenpoop
January 27th, 2012
9:56 pm
“When the man is ice cold, you’re right.
When the man is red hot, you simply give him the ball and let him work.”
When the man is ice cold in the second quarter, the Hawks simply gave him the ball and let him throw up bricks in the name of “getting him going”. Without that sequence they win this game in regulation.
Joe is a really talented player. NONE of what I said is meant to take away from how good of a player he is. I am just pointing out that the perimeter isolations don’t get him good shots. All the anti-iso-Joe posts from me are a criticism of coaching, not Joe. It’s been that way since Woody was here.
doc
January 27th, 2012
9:56 pm
jj prob fouled on the shot.
Grandmaster JeJe
January 27th, 2012
9:57 pm
HACK MAXIELL AND MAKE HIM BEAT US * HACK MAXIELL AND MAKE HIM BEAT US * HACK MAXIELL AND MAKE HIM BEAT US * HACK MAXIELL AND MAKE HIM BEAT US * HACK MAXIELL AND MAKE HIM BEAT US * HACK MAXIELL AND MAKE HIM BEAT US * HACK MAXIELL AND MAKE HIM BEAT US * HACK MAXIELL AND MAKE HIM BEAT US * HACK MAXIELL AND MAKE HIM BEAT US * HACK MAXIELL AND MAKE HIM BEAT US * HACK MAXIELL AND MAKE HIM BEAT US * HACK MAXIELL AND MAKE HIM BEAT US * HACK MAXIELL AND MAKE HIM BEAT US * HACK MAXIELL AND MAKE HIM BEAT US * HACK MAXIELL AND MAKE HIM BEAT US * HACK MAXIELL AND MAKE HIM BEAT US * HACK MAXIELL AND MAKE HIM BEAT US * HACK MAXIELL AND MAKE HIM BEAT US * HACK MAXIELL AND MAKE HIM BEAT US * HACK MAXIELL AND MAKE HIM BEAT US *
doc
January 27th, 2012
9:57 pm
steal one guys.
Big Ray
January 27th, 2012
9:57 pm
Excellent effort by Josh, then a great pass.
Pachulia does what Collins can’t – score while wide open.
Slimjr
January 27th, 2012
9:57 pm
W/o ISO, Larry would be on the street…..Kiss his ring!
Najeh Davenpoop
January 27th, 2012
9:58 pm
” my man wasn’t in the game when the Pistons went on an 8-0 run… that was Collins… aka MR CRUNCH TIME!!!!”
Well if your point is that Zaza is better than Collins, I agree.
bigdave
January 27th, 2012
9:58 pm
lets not forget the steal he made on the defensive end.
shut up Nique
Dezz Nuttz
January 27th, 2012
9:58 pm
Its amazing how quickly you idiots flip the switch.
Hawks win hoes.
doc
January 27th, 2012
9:58 pm
keep screening josh.
yodaddybrother
January 27th, 2012
9:58 pm
Joe Johnson….worth every single penny
bigdave
January 27th, 2012
9:58 pm
Joe coming off multiple screens there..
puts it up.. drawls!!!!
Runner-
January 27th, 2012
9:58 pm
oh yea joe
Big Ray
January 27th, 2012
9:59 pm
for 1 game get off Joe’s A$$ people!!
better than being on his nutz
doc
January 27th, 2012
9:59 pm
or should i say osh, the man without a j, tonight anyway.
Mark
January 27th, 2012
9:59 pm
If we win, this sort of MAKES UP FOR THAT MIAMI DEBACLE!
Dezz Nuttz
January 27th, 2012
9:59 pm
Sorry azz teague got 2 pts and 3 turnovers. What a B itch.
Najeh Davenpoop
January 27th, 2012
9:59 pm
Don’t look now, but the dumbest player in the league is really close to a triple double.