Atlanta Hawks at Hornets: Game thread
Jeff Teague will start at point guard for the Hawks tonight against the Hornets. Teague said he felt “fine” despite the sprained ankle that limited him during Friday’s win against Pistons.
“Jeff is a go,” coach Larry Drew said before the game. “He was moving around on it pretty good yesterday. He hasn’t mentioned that it is bothering him to the point that we have to limit him. We’ll keep an eye on him. Right now, he is a full go.”
Drew said he would split reserve minutes between Kirk Hinrich and Jannero Pargo.
“He has been playing really well for us,” Drew said of Pargo. “That’s why we got him.”
Hinrich, who played 31 minutes against the Pistons after Teague left late in the third quarter, said he is working to regain form as quickly as possible.
“I want to get my game back,” Hinrich said. “I feel rusty and I just want to help any way I can right now and get my rhythm back.”
* Austin Barker, a 17-year-old high school student from Mississippi scheduled for a bone marrow transplant this week, was the guest of Hawks trainer Wally Blase Sunday.
Barker, who is at Tulane Children’s Hospital, attended the game with his father and two friends. He received a hat signed by the Hawks.
The non-profit organization Sunshine Kids brought Baker’s situation to Blase’s attention. Blase worked with the Hornets to organize the outing.
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1,578 comments Add your comment
Ken Strickland
January 29th, 2012
10:37 pm
I mentioned a while back that our team would get better as soon as Green and Pargo familiarized themselvse with our OFF and DEF systems and their teammates. Unlike in yrs past, we can now survive without getting solid gms from our key players. We have become a good team in Horford’s absence, but we will be a very good team upon his return.
Marvin had his 2nd very solid all around gm tonight. If he had disappeared, certain individuals would be on here bashing him in every way. But now that he’s starting to do what they said he couldn’t do, all we hear from them about Marvin is a deafening silence. The Hawks play a type of DEF tonight that was unheard of in the past. This team has improved tremendously over previous yrs, and they’ve managed to do it by investing in low to minimum contract players for the bench, rather than spending big dollars on one trick ponys(Jamal & Bibby).
drmaryb.[*_*].
January 29th, 2012
10:39 pm
Jamal and Melo are volume scorers who always need the ball in their hands.
Willie is a more efficient scorer who does not need to dominate the ball, that’s the difference I see.
Section 212
January 29th, 2012
10:39 pm
You all are nit picking Smoove…Be glad that he is a complete enough player to positively impact the game in other areas. If the missed shots count as turnovers, then the blocked shots and assists should count as points? Smoove is a tramendously talented player. Only imagine how much better he would be if the hometown fans put full support behind him instead of bitchin and moaning over every missed shot.
Kontract
January 29th, 2012
10:41 pm
All I have to say is that w/o Al we’re lookin like a #3 at worst!
Section 212
January 29th, 2012
10:42 pm
Given the results thus far: Josh and Joe >>>> Amare and Melo
BIG DOG
January 29th, 2012
10:42 pm
There is rumor about Magic want Horford more than any one out there.
This is why Magic have not traded Dwight to Lakers yet, they are seeing if the Hawks are going to make and offer.
BIG DOG IN THE HOUSE
RA
January 29th, 2012
10:43 pm
Okay, you can talk a lot about strength of schedule, but the bottomline is that the Hawks are .5 games behind the heat and 2 games off pace for the best record in the East, and as far as the Eastern conference is concerned, there are five teams playing good basketball, and that includes Atlanta, all the other Eastern conference teams fit into the “teams we should beat” category. Now, I’m no genius when it comes to basketball analysis, but whenever you go on the road and post a 3-1 record with a chance to go 4-1, that’s not shabby, and for all those talking about strength of schedule, I’m sorry you didn’t get to gripe about them losing to weaker teams…
Najeh Davenpoop
January 29th, 2012
10:43 pm
On the rumor truthiness scale, I wonder where Big Dog ranks in relation to Tyrone’s cousin BooBoo.
Grandmaster JeJe (GM)
January 29th, 2012
10:44 pm
Northcyde loses again in fantasy bball is week.
Dude has Marvin Williams on his FANTASY team and he’s worrying about and researching my team. ROTL.
Play ya position homie
Cosign used to be phoenix falcon.
I just think if we had Al the last 3 weeks we would have the exact same record.
Kontract
January 29th, 2012
10:44 pm
Section 212..ditto!
Section 212
January 29th, 2012
10:44 pm
And you have folks on here who are wishing for Melo or Amare on Hawks. Thus far the Knicks are way down given their talent and payroll.
Najeh Davenpoop
January 29th, 2012
10:45 pm
From Peachtree Hoops’ Facebook page:
Stat of the Night: Per Synergy, Joe Johnson Iso Rate is 21% this season. In ‘09-’10, it was 37.1% and 29% in ‘10-’11.
Maybe LD hasn’t quite installed a motion offense, but he has gotten the team away from the iso-Joe offense.
Kontract
January 29th, 2012
10:46 pm
Amare is done! Melo is no good for the TEAM!
Najeh Davenpoop
January 29th, 2012
10:47 pm
I think the Hawks would have beaten either the Pacers or Sixers, possibly both, with Al. The Sixers game in particular was lost primarily on the boards, where he would have helped big time. But either way they are 8-2 without him, so can’t really complain yet.
Section 212
January 29th, 2012
10:47 pm
Ditto RA
BIG DOG
January 29th, 2012
10:47 pm
Josh need to call superman and tell Dwight the missing piece is he, Hawks have something special going on here, make that call Josh.
BIG DOG IN THE HOUSE
Kontract
January 29th, 2012
10:48 pm
Najeh: to great effect!
doc
January 29th, 2012
10:48 pm
slimj it does get interesting going forward.
houston’s surge has made that a legit loss when we all thought they were a trash team. not too many ill deserved l’s thus far.
bench continues to impress. zaza the last two games has looked very solid in the starter role. just wish we had one more big to come off the bench instead of collins. ivan growing as a pro. hinrich coming back this quickly is huge and his motor still runs hard, maybe even harder off the bench. between pargo, green and hinrich that looks to be a strength. marvin stroking and staying upright to the point his name isnt maligned like it usually is. what more could one ask for with al out indefinitely?
teague, jj and josh rounding it out, playing star roles.
got to give ld some love for substitution patterns that are usually well thought out and good x&o’s after time outs. good ball movement on o and very tenacious team oriented d on the other end. got to give him some cred too, for now.
like em but said that this time last year and they faded when it got tough. we will see if they have learned anything along the way and why the four games at home to start february are so important. 20 – 6 heading on the road after the home stand too much too ask for?
doc
January 29th, 2012
10:53 pm
man, josh and jj a combined 7 for 25 and we still win by over twenty.
BIG DOG
January 29th, 2012
10:53 pm
Horford Marvin Hinrich for Dwight Turk
BIG DOG IN THE HOUSE
northcyde
January 29th, 2012
10:54 pm
Give-us us free [Amistad]
January 29th, 2012
10:26 pm
northcyde,
When you use ‘per 36 minute statistics’, you are trying to pro-rate or extrapolate a player’s production which can lead to a fallacy or falsehood. The ‘per 36 minute statistics’ do not take into account that a player’s efficiency and productivity may decline on the back end if he [or she] was to play a full 36 minutes in a game. Willie Green currently averages 15.7mpg [minutes per game]. If Willie Green were to play an additional 20.3mpg, who’s to say that his efficiency and productivity would not decline and vice-versa? If Willie Green is better than Jamal Crawford, why is Willie [Green] averaging 15.7mpg with the Hawks and Jamal [Crawford] used to average approximately 30+mpg with the Hawks?
***********************
Because Larry Drew and Mike Woodson for that matter, used to give the majority of the backup PG minutes to Jamal, while keeping Teague on the bench. Also remember that Mike Bibby was our starting PG for 1.5 years while Jamal was here.
Bibby would play the point, Jamal the 2, and JJ the 3.
The question is, would Jamal still be getting all of those minutes if we had T-Mac and Vlad on last year’s squad, along with an improved Marvin, and Teague as the starting PG?
Jamal pretty much had to play last year, because Drew didn’t trust Teague as the backup PG, and Marvin played like garbage.
Jamal is the ultimate hot and cold player. When he’s hot, he looks like an All-Star. When he’s cold, he looks worse than Salim Stoudamire.
Green is at least an under control player who can consistently make shots, and stop shooting from deep when he’s not on. People complain about Josh Smith’s shot selection, but Jamal Crawford’s was much worse.
The great season he had for us in 09 – 10 is turning out to be a fluke season.
Najeh Davenpoop
January 29th, 2012
10:54 pm
“not too many ill deserved l’s thus far.”
None, in fact. The Pacers are the worst team the Hawks have lost to if you go by Hollinger’s rankings. They are 12th on his list. The other five teams are ranked 1, 2, 3, 9, and 11.
The only red flag to me is that 4 of those losses — all on the road — were by double digits.
Najeh Davenpoop
January 29th, 2012
10:56 pm
Oh yeah, and they have beaten 1, 3, 6, and 14 on his list, so not all the wins have been against scrubs either.
Big Ray
January 29th, 2012
10:59 pm
Well, it was nice to see Jeff Teague save the game and Willie Green silence those who wanted his butt outta here some time ago…
Give-us us free [Amistad]
January 29th, 2012
11:00 pm
Dr. Mary B, Ken Strickland and northcyde,
You all will see how valuable Jamal Crawford was to the Hawks when the playoffs begin. When the opposition’s defense takes it up a notch and the pressure hits, you will see which Hawks’ players are going to be able to make clutch buckets or score in cruch time. The only Hawks’ player I see right now making clutch buckets in the playoffs is Joe Johnson and, once opposing teams double him [Joe Johnson] up, someone else will have to step up and make shots. Jamal Crawford made his fair share of clutch shots for the Hawks in the playoffs especially in the first round of both the 2010 and 2011 playoffs.
Bob Weiss
January 29th, 2012
11:01 pm
Nice Mary. A little under hand slow pitch across the plate and you went yard with the bases drunk…. nice.
drmaryb.[*_*].
January 29th, 2012
7:09 pm
Bob Weiss!
“sweet Mary whats the deal with playing on pain killers? Do you recommend rest or play? Is this in Teague’s best interest? Should he just play through? Cant it get worse?”
____________
Excellent question Bob! What causes pain is inflammation in joints, what hold the joint capsules in place is ligaments. The ligaments are like plastic and they do not snap back like rubber bands. Because ligaments are avascular, (no blood supply) they are called “white meat” as is cartilage and tendons.
A joint capsule has fluid inside called synovial fluid, which makes the intra-capsules “squishy” and gives it ranges of motion.
The cortic-steroid does not kill pain in and of itself, so you don’t feel woozy … but, the steroids eliminates/reduce swelling. Swelling causes pain. Ice is the best thing for swelling in lieu of or, along with steroids. So, as long as there is no swelling there is no pain. However, it will be tender and sore because the ligament was stretched beyond it’s limit, (para-physiological space). That stretching in weight bearing joints is what causes joints to slide front to back, in this case left to right.
A good tape job will help, not to tight though because that will cut off blood and oxygen supply, causing swelling again. So the key here is to eliminate swelling more than anything. Jeff is a light weight and when he rolled that ankle he snapped it back quickly by falling down instead.
The brain is a powerful thing when falling, it protects and minimizes the severity of injury by falling down and away from contact, which in this case was the floor itself.
_________
Sorry Bob, I went into my zone and probably gave way TMI.
Excellent question, to answer it directly:
If Jeff can tolerate the pain threshold, he should play all out and, forget about the ankle itself or, just sit down.
BIG DOG
January 29th, 2012
11:01 pm
Teague Joe Vlad Josh Dwight
Pargo Green Tmac Turk Zaza
Ivan Stack Collins
This team would bring home the title
BIG DOG IN THE HOUSE
Big Ray
January 29th, 2012
11:02 pm
Green is at least an under control player who can consistently make shots, and stop shooting from deep when he’s not on. People complain about Josh Smith’s shot selection, but Jamal Crawford’s was much worse.
Oh, this is SO true. The other major difference is Jamal was hard-pressed to contribute meaningfully to the game in other ways when his shot was off. Josh can take bad shots, but he would also pick up assists, block shots, get steals, grab rebounds, etc.
Tonight he didn’t do so great a job of making up for his cold shooting in ways the stat column could show…but then again…those 9 boards, the countless fight for more of them, and those 4 blocks cannot be ignored – they made a difference. And for that, I won’t complain, even if I wanted it to be 12+ boards or something along those lines. Foul trouble kept him at bay tonight.
Slimjr
January 29th, 2012
11:05 pm
Yes Doc, excellent diagnosis describing these Atlanta Hawks..Big difference between this year and last year is our deep bench and our guard play is much stronger..Especially defensively at the point of attack.. Teague is just been amazing!
If our front line was as talented as the back court, this team could possibly be dare I say a contender?
Slimjr
January 29th, 2012
11:07 pm
BIG DOG
January 29th, 2012
11:01 pm
“Teague Joe Vlad Josh Dwight
Pargo Green Tmac Turk Zaza
Ivan Stack Collins
This team would bring home the title
BIG DOG IN THE HOUSE”
Dream Team 2.0! Hahaha…..
Slimjr
January 29th, 2012
11:13 pm
Let Pargo sub for Jeff..
Let Hinrich sub for Iso…
Bob Weiss
January 29th, 2012
11:14 pm
It must have been hard for the hawks to get up for the Hornets, but the did and put this team away really in the first quarter. Hawks too strong and playing too well to lose to scrubs right now. If we only had a center….
But of course weve been saying that for years now. Fact if you give us A Jordan or a bynum or 1 step back from that level wed win a championship with this squad.
Bloggers Let the hate rest. Every player on earth has good days and bad. At the end of the year look at the body of work and judge that. All these micro- analysis for every possession is idiotic. Thats why so many of you put your foot in your mouths because you never shut up long enough to see whats really going on. You are so quick to pick out a perceived flaw in your most hated player that your cant see your favorite play has the same issue.
So the hawks took the easy rode sat back and took this game almost effortlessly. Hornets just rolled over. No fight.
Who’s got next?
Big Ray
January 29th, 2012
11:15 pm
You all will see how valuable Jamal Crawford was to the Hawks when the playoffs begin. When the opposition’s defense takes it up a notch and the pressure hits, you will see which Hawks’ players are going to be able to make clutch buckets or score in cruch time. The only Hawks’ player I see right now making clutch buckets in the playoffs is Joe Johnson and, once opposing teams double him [Joe Johnson] up, someone else will have to step up and make shots. Jamal Crawford made his fair share of clutch shots for the Hawks in the playoffs especially in the first round of both the 2010 and 2011 playoffs.
And where was he in the 2nd round?
Give-us us free [Amistad]
January 29th, 2012
11:18 pm
northcyde,
The “fluke” is Josh Smith making these deep perimeter jumpers during this regular season so far. When the playoffs start, his [Josh Smith's] carriage will soon turn into a pumpkin or shall I say a sweet potato [candid yam] and he will be brickin’ more j’s than you can stand and probably enough to rebuild all of the projects [subsidized housing] in New York City, NY and Atlanta, GA combined.
Slimjr
January 29th, 2012
11:29 pm
2-12 in the 2nd rd with JC1…enough said…..
Grandmaster JeJe (GM)
January 29th, 2012
11:29 pm
Amare is done?
Um no.
SMH
Slimjr
January 29th, 2012
11:30 pm
Can we ever beat The Spurs or OKC?
Slimjr
January 29th, 2012
11:32 pm
“The Philadelphia 76ers have reached out to the New York Knicks to ask about their willingness to trade power forward Amare Stoudemire, CSN Philadelphia reports (via Pro Basketball Talk).
The Sixers’ inquiries are being characterized as “due diligence,” a league source tells CSN Philly, and no trade is imminent.”
Read more: http://aol.sportingnews.com/nba/story/2012-01-29/amare-stoudemire-philadelphia-76ers-sixers-new-york-knicks-nba-trades#ixzz1kug3pSrM
FYI..
doc
January 29th, 2012
11:34 pm
najeh, some might complain, quibble and question the losses to the heat and bulls where we were in the drivers seat only to lose, but we had some comebacks and stole two from the twolves and pistons that evened it out, in my mind. personally, i expected the pacers and sixers to roll us and are better than us. i want to see what happens when we get them on our own floor and maybe change my mind. if not those double digit losses are something to point to in match ups in the playoffs.
not really ready to say this is a top three team but with the magic going into a fade we are top five unless the celts come back from the grave in a big way. no excuses to not be in top five at this point, just dont know if they are worthy of a first round home series which is what we have to be playing for and keep in out sights.
Give-us us free [Amistad]
January 29th, 2012
11:35 pm
Big Ray,
Jamal Crawford in the 2nd round playoffs:
2011 Second Round Playoffs vs. Chicago; Game 1, Jamal Crawford scored 22 points and helped secure a Hawks’ victory. After Game 1, Coach Thibs made an adjustment and decided to run two players at Jamal and Jamal quickly tried to move/pass the ball [around] to get it back. LD didn’t make the necessary adjustments and counter-moves to free up Jamal.
2010 Second Round Playoffs vs, Orlando; Game 2, Jamal Crawford scored 23 points, Game 3, Jamal scored 18 points, and Game 4, Jamal Crawford scored 22 points. Jamal was the only one ballin’ for the Hawks in that woeful sweep to Orlando that year.
Give-us us free [Amistad]
January 29th, 2012
11:45 pm
Slimjr,
Without Jamal [Crawford], the Hawks DO NOT make it to the 2nd round of the playoffs in 2010 and 2011. In the second round of the 2011 playoffs, Jamal scored 22 points in a Game 1 victory @ Chicago and hit a dagger 3 pointer in a Game 4 victory vs. Chicago in Atlanta.
Melvin
January 29th, 2012
11:47 pm
I wouldn’t have thought this before the season but I think Kyrie Irving is a better PG prospect John Wall.
northcyde
January 29th, 2012
11:54 pm
And in the 2 biggest games in Atlanta history since the Boston vs Atlanta series in 1988, Jamal promptly shot 3 – 19 FG in Game 5 and Game 6 of the Chicago series.
Like I said . . ultimate hot and cold player.
Give me a guy who I can count on to consistently score around 15 points a game every night . . than a guy who scores 23 one night, and 7 the next night, to score those same 15 points a game.
Those are the types of guys that will get you beat.
Nobody in ATL is crying over the loss of Jamal anymore, now that we see that we actually have a 5 man bench, instead of a 1 or 2 man bench.
northcyde
January 29th, 2012
11:55 pm
Melvin, did you see that move that Kyrie made? John Wall couldn’t convert a shot like that in that situation.
Slimjr
January 29th, 2012
11:56 pm
Kyrie Irving is a scorer. John Wall is not….
Scoring the ball is a gift you either got or ya dont…Kyrie got it….
Give-us us free [Amistad]
January 29th, 2012
11:58 pm
Slimjr,
In Game 4 of the 2nd round of the 2011 playoffs, Atlanta [Hawks] beat Chicago [Bulls] 100-88 and Jamal Crawford scored 12 points. The point differential in the Hawks victory was 12 points and Jamal Crawford scored 12 points. I guess that’s why Jamal Crawford is sometimes called [nicknamed] “The Difference.” You betta recognize.
northcyde
January 30th, 2012
12:01 am
People are appreciative of what Jamal did here. Even I appreciate it. But I don’t miss that dude one bit. The inconsistency was just too great.
WHEN ARE THEY MOVING ?????
January 30th, 2012
12:02 am
WHO CARES ? WHO IN THEIR RIGHT MIND WOULD WASTE A DIME ON THIS CRAP TEAM ?
SEATTLE LOOKING LIKE THE BEST BET FOR THIS TERRIBLE FRANCHISE, WHO NEEDS THUG BASKETBALL IN ATLANTA ANYHOW ???
Slimjr
January 30th, 2012
12:07 am
Recognize? Hahaha..
JC1 game does entertain the fans…..
I want guards who can D up Sir…I can find guards who can shoot the rock…
northcyde
January 30th, 2012
12:08 am
LOL . . Josh Smith had the game of his life in Game 4 of the Chicago series. He was “the difference”. Jamal gets props for hitting a timely 3 to put the game away ( to put us up 11 points ). Hell, and thank God he made that shot, seeing that he had missed the previous 4 threes he took up until that point.
But it was Smith and his 11 points, 5 rebounds, and 2 assists in that quarter that was “the difference”.