Atlanta Hawks: Hawks 107, Pistons 101 (OT)
11:49 pm January 27, 2012, by Michael Cunningham
Auburn Hills, Mich. –This was similar to the Milwaukee game: Awful start, great finish. “I wish it could be a little earlier,” Josh Smith said. “I would rather have the lead than try to claw back into it and do it the way we did it. But a win is a win. I’ll take it.”
The Hawks did it behind Joe Johnson’s 28 points after halftime. There are times when Johnson doesn’t have it and focuses on drawing doubles and swinging the ball. This time, he just kept doing his thing until he found his rhythm.
“The second half I just wanted to be aggressive,” he said. “It was do or die. We had to put up or shut up. Guys came out and made big plays and gave ourselves a chance in overtime. I just wanted to validate that and be aggressive and make plays not only for myself but my teammates.”
For the second time in three games Larry Drew didn’t take Joe out after halftime (Josh didn’t get a break, either). “You have got to understand where he’s coming from when you’ve got a guy who is getting into a rhythm, rolling, getting other guys involved, knocking down shots,” Joe said. “You do want to ride him, regardless of who it is. Tonight I was that guy. I told the guys to be ready.”
Joe’s steal and tying 3-pointer were just two of several big plays for the Hawks down the stretch. Marvin Williams, Kirk Hinrich, and Josh Smith all made important 3-pointers as Detroit stumbled.
Marvin’s 3 late in regulation came after a sweet sequence in which Joe attracted a double and swung the ball to Hinrich (who was frantically waving his hands) who then whipped it to Marvin in the corner. Even thought he had it rolling, Joe became a playmaker when the Hawks needed it.
“It was kind of a carbon copy of the Milwaukee game,” Drew said. “He struggled the first half but I elected to ride him in the second half to see if he could play his way out of it. He had some bounce in his step.”
It hardly mattered that Josh was missing Js since he also earned eight free throws (making six) and had 11 rebounds, eight assists (against one turnover) and three blocked shots. Like everyone else save for Tracy McGrady, he was much better after halftime than before.
It’s been a while since Jeff Teague was this passive. He didn’t seem interested in attacking the basket and, like at Milwaukee, sometimes dribbled wildly into traffic. Teague didn’t provide much defensive energy, either.
Drew didn’t have an update on Teague’s sprained left ankle and I didn’t see Teague in the locker room. “I thought he was going to be able to go back in,” Drew said.
Hinrich replaced Teague with 3:48 left in the third and didn’t come back out. “I was just gassed,” he said. “I just didn’t have any legs. Offensively, I think I’ve got a little ways to go obviously.”
Hinrich couldn’t find his shot but he had nine assists, including five over the final quarter and OT. Five of his assists resulted in scores within six feet of the basket and two others led to 3s.
Hinrich also took some pressure off Joe defensively. “He played with a lot of intensity, a lot of energy,” Drew said. “He got on the floor for some loose balls. He gave us a big lift.”
Not a strong game for Drew as far as feeling out who needs minutes when (riding Joe notwithstanding). T-Mac was one of the few guys to have going early but Drew sat him for Marvin (he’s still not playing them together). McGrady appeared to be laboring late but Drew waited a while before putting Marvin back in. And Drew was back to using Jason Collins in a major role (16 minutes).
It seems like Drew is getting quicker with pulling out Ivan Johnson when he misses jump shots.
Marvin came off the bench and made the big 3-pointer but Drew sent him in for defense. “I wanted to get more active defensively and they were scoring with posting [Greg] Monroe,” Drew said. “We were going to double team him and getting into rotations, and I wanted someone a little more mobile out there.”
Marvin played 35 minutes and delivered with his best game in a while: season-high 22 points on nine shots and eight rebounds.
Zaza Pachulia was jumper happy early (just two free-throw attempts) but started cutting to the basket late. Defensively he’s rarely out of position. He’s not athletic enough to get to all those shots he challenges but he’s by far Atlanta’s best healthy center.
More evidence of Atlanta’s lack of depth in the front court: Monroe, Jason Maxiell and even Austin Daye gave the Hawks problems in the paint. There were times the Hawks cross-matched Josh on Monroe and Twin on Maxiell. That’s just not a good situation.
Michael Cunningham, Hawks beat
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161 comments Add your comment
Will
January 28th, 2012
2:12 pm
Hey, I have a great idea. Why not just trade the whole team for a team of everyone’s vote. Would that make everybody happy? How about the Hawks say for the Heat? Lakers? Timberwolves?
Why don’t you suggest the team you would be satisfied with?
KevinM
January 28th, 2012
2:57 pm
G-Dad, I agree that Joe is starting to have a very good year. We haven’t seen numbers like this since before JC1.
He is the leader, and we go as far as he takes us.
Why he doesn’t shoulder this load when Al is playing???? No clue.
He has to be the assassin he is paid to be.
And G-Dad, what do you see in Beidrins that isn’t showing up in the boxscore? He has paltry numbers and I’m trying to remember him being a presence in the paint at any point in his career. He has fallen off big time since not getting 30mpg back in ‘08-09. And 2 more years at 9M? I wouldn’t want any part of that. He isn’t earning his money as it is today.
Truthfully, I see this team ‘almost’ as good as when we have Al. But against better teams, it might show up more that Al isn’t here.
I still think a big man move is critical to get a guy in here who helps Josh inside and can give us 25-30 mpg. No way Zaza, COllins and Ivan make up for the loss of Al, no matter what Sund says.
Right now, IMO, if Sund can’t get a deal done, he is once again not earning his salary. You can’t be passive losing a big piece of your lineup for the season. Yes, they expect Al to come right in and pick up where he left off, but you aren’t guaranteed to have a playoff appearance when Al gets back.
As frustrating as it is to see Sund actually do nothing, it has to be frustrating for the team as well if they have been asking for help for what 2 offseasons, and Sund has done what? Will Sund wait until the wheels start falling off before making a serious call?
Jcard120
January 28th, 2012
3:08 pm
I know I am going to take heat for saying this, but I am going to say it anyway. I have enjoyed seeing Zaza being given more minutes in the absence of Al. Clearly he is not as talented as the majority of centers in the NBA, but he has a “no quit” attitude which seems to be contagious for the rest of the team. In addition, you can tell the rest of his teammates appreciate his intensity, team work, and desire to win.
phil
January 28th, 2012
3:23 pm
Fire someone!
Astro Joe
January 28th, 2012
4:00 pm
It is all about FGAs. If you want anyone to score more, than you need to identify the player that you want to shoot less. So if Joe or Marvin or Teague or Zaza or anyone else is going to score 4 or more points per game, then more than likely, another player’s average is going down. In this case, where Al was averaging around 10 shots in the past, those attempts now are going to other players.
Astro Joe
January 28th, 2012
4:03 pm
Jeff Teague was able to practice on Saturday but coach Larry Drew is still calling him day-to-day due to a sprained left ankle.”He was moving around on it pretty good,” Drew said. The Hawks are at New Orleans on Sunday and based on how things went on Saturday, we’re guessing he might try to play tomorrow. If Teague is out, Kirk Hinrich could get the start. Jan 28 – 3:17 PMSource: Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Scoop
January 28th, 2012
4:18 pm
I agree with most everything northcyde said about Smoove.
As far as the amount of hate towards him, I’ll say that he has too much talent and athleticism to be settling for jumpers. Sure he has improved, but it’s all relative. Like you said F shooter to C-…..Still mediocre for the amount of jumpers he takes.
What gets at me the most is teams are baiting him to take them now and it literally is affecting our offense. Watch the tape of the Bucks, Spurs, and Pistons games. ALL OF THEM MOVED SMOOVE”S DEFENDER TO THE OTHER SIDE OF THE FLOOR AND CLOGGED THE PAINT!!!!!!
This results in the ball being forced to Smoove who settles for the jumper.
What bother’s me even more is LD can’t see this!!!!!!!!!!! Either he’s ignoring it or wants Smoove to take those shots. Send Smoove baseline for an alley hoop and teams will stop that $#!!. That or sub Vlad Rad to keep teams honest.
Couple his poor shot selection with his high turnover rate and poor demeanor when things go poorly, and you can imagine why he gets a lot of criticism.
It’s been 7 years and he still hasnt developed an offensive low post game and has improved his jumpshot marginally. BUT HE’S A PF!!! We need him to bang down low, not be top 10 in jumpers taken!!!!!!!!!
Slimjr
January 28th, 2012
6:01 pm
I cosign with Grandad!
Joe Johnson game is a thing of beauty when its clicking!
Kinda unique, to be so graceful and his tricky dribble is one of the best I have ever seen from a big man…. C’mon Joe!
Ken Strickland
January 28th, 2012
8:20 pm
Many on these blogs want Marvin, JJ, Teague, and Horford to be more aggressive and start demanding the ball and scoring more. If all, or even most of these players took that approach, we’d end up like the Knicks.Their superstars have taken that approach and keep aggressively demanding and dominating the ball while everyone else clears out and watches. It has turned what should be a high scoring OFF, and better team, into something considerably less.
It would be foolish to expect Teague to completely take over the team and know exactly when to be aggressive and when not to be, after 2+yrs of being ignored and unfairly chained to the bench by Woodson, and by Drew until last yrs semifinal playoff series against the Bulls.
W. R. Terrell
January 28th, 2012
10:33 pm
An O.T. victory against a team with one of their best players missing and not a real good shooting team, but, the HAWKS got the victory. N.O. monday and again Josh should give the ball up to the guard, he should play inside where his strength is and last but not least stop trying to be an outside shooter. If that continues the team will go into a tailspin and will not recover. This cancer is growing and growing fast.
Clay
January 29th, 2012
4:11 am
The hawks should go after JR Smith a person who can drive to the basket and provided outside shooting. Maybe then Josh Smith will get to sit more on the beach rather than sit outside the 3 point line taking jumpers.