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
Aint thats some Chit ?
January 30th, 2012
7:45 am
“70% of our fans secretly root against Marvin”
Well a new secret poll at 99% says you are an idiot who submits statements as fact that cant be proved. The Poll goes further to most people thinks you are a hater and since you hate you are trying to infect others with your hate disease. More, its willfully ignorant haters like you that keep the Hawks divided. One other significant note, the poll said that most (99.8) wish that youd go root for the other team and get the hell out of the blog site.
Just Joe
January 30th, 2012
7:48 am
Hawks: 3 & 6 against teams with better than .500 record…..12 & 0 against teams under .500.
Have I mentioned that we need a big man?
Vets: C. Kaman, E. Okafor, B. Miller, M. Okur, B. Wallace, A. Biedrins, etc…
Youngsters: R. Lopez, JJ Hickson, J. Hill, J. Thompson, etc…
phil
January 30th, 2012
7:49 am
Rev in Tampa
January 29th, 2012
10:32 pm
“Dwight Howard says he’ll play wherever God wants him to play.”
I didn’t know Dwight was a Calvinist:
http://www.monergism.com/directory/link_category/Reformed-Theology/Sovereignty-of-God/
In case you are wondering; I am a Calvinist in my theology and believe everything contained in the link above.
I wasn’t wondering and could care less.
But thanks for sharing!
phil
January 30th, 2012
7:50 am
Out in round two….
Enjoy it while we can.
Slimjr
January 30th, 2012
8:20 am
” I still get frustrated with Drew’s subs. At the start of the third Josh takes a dumb J and airballs. Shoulda benched him right away. Next play phase Josh gives up a stupid offensive foul. Just bench him already! No wonder Josh has no self discipline, he can do almost anything he wants out there and Drew lets him. He went on to take about 4-5 J’s in the third hitting just 1.
It also feels like he’s subbing based on rep and not the actual game. Late in the third Joe couldn’t hit the side of a barn. Why not just sub Kirk in for Joe? Or Willie? Also he then subs out Marvin for T-Mac. Crazy. Marvin was playing really well and Joe wasnt. Why not play T-mac at the 2? Drew is so inflexible it’s painful!
His dumb subs are gonna cost us in the playoffs, just like last year….no doubt.” Co-sign!
Larry=Cox, without the big 4(Justice,Smotz,Glavin,&Maddux) 1995 Champs!
There is a good reason why we’re 3-6 against the winners and it starts with Larry..His lack of balls to bench the brick layer is costly at times! Josh is important to this team but playoff teams exploit your weakness big time..Know your personnel!
2-12 in the second rd. says it all…Absolutely getting crushed..Sorta like those Fal-cons against the winners? Hmmmmmm…..
vava74
January 30th, 2012
8:34 am
I agree that LD is severely out coached game in and game out.
Both the offense and the defense have improved and he seems to have everyone reasonably motivated and knowing their roles.
But is the in game adjustments and inability to think of other line ups than his plan A that mark LD’s visible inefficiency.
Ray
January 30th, 2012
8:39 am
Okay so it’s the next morning decided to look at the +/- for our players and can tell these things are very inaccurate when you see Willie Green had those 16 points and got a -5 then on the flip side you see Josh Smith with +17 he did good on Rebounding and Blocking I will not discount that, but I’m just saying in short you basically have to take these things with a grain of salt.
Cause it makes certain players look better or worse then what they truly are.
» What’s going on in the basketball world Basketball 101
January 30th, 2012
9:06 am
[...] Jeff Teague will start at point guard for the Hawks tonight against the Hornets. Teague said he felt… “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.” Atlanta Journal-Constitution Atlanta Hawks, Jeff Teague [...]
Spyro
January 30th, 2012
9:16 am
@Ray: +/- for a single game really is worthless. Doesn’t really tell you anything about performance.
Buddy Grizzard
January 30th, 2012
9:20 am
“His dumb subs are gonna cost us in the playoffs, just like last year….no doubt.” – Hawks Fan Down Under
MARK IT DOWN ON YOUR CALENDAR HAWKS FANS.
“His lack of balls to bench the brick layer is costly at times!” – Slimjr
Slimjr you gotta understand the Hawks are in the exact same position Cleveland was in with LeBron’s impending free agency. Unfortunately the Hawks organization is repeating Cleveland’s mistakes by trying to coddle Josh instead of demanding accountability and benching him if he doesn’t play the right way.
This game against Toronto will be really interesting because of the coaching matchup. Casey was almost certainly Sund’s choice, but the ASG overruled Sund and hired LD instead. Why? Because LD had an existing relationship with all the players. Remember, Joe was the only rotation player NOT present at LD’s introductory press conference and he was in contract negotiations at the time.
The hiring of LD has parallels to the hiring of Bob Weiss all those years ago. Dominique was tired of Fratello telling him he had to play defense. He wanted a “players coach” who would let him exert all his efforts padding his individual offensive stats and not call him to account when the team failed.
LD has his job because the ASG is scared sh!tless that Josh is going to sign elsewhere after next season. You simply won’t see Josh getting benched or held accountable by LD any time soon. Won’t it be embarrassing for LD if the Hawks lose in Toronto with Bargnani out though?
Bigman needed
January 30th, 2012
9:44 am
UPDATE: The Times-Picayune reports five teams have contacted general manager Dell Demps regarding Kaman since it was announced Friday that the center is on the block.
According to the newspaper, Houston and San Antonio were two of the five teams.
Kaman has played his last game for New Orleans.
Rufus1
January 30th, 2012
9:47 am
“Hawks: 3 & 6 against teams with better than .500 record…..12 & 0 against teams under .500.”-Just Joe
I bet that describes the top teams in the league…
The Bulls have lost to: the Hawks, Heat, Grizzles and the Pacers…4 of 5 losses to good teams.
Give-us us free [Amistad]
January 30th, 2012
10:04 am
Slimjr,
“Get your facts straight, homie. Jamal played in eight [8] second round playoff games for the Hawks. That was four games vs. Orlando and four games vs. Chicago. The Hawks went 2-8 in the second round of the 2010 and 2011 playoffs [combined] while Jamal Crawford was playing for the Hawks.”
Correction: Jamal Crawford played in ten [10] second round playoff games during his tenure with the Hawks.
Slimjr
January 30th, 2012
10:09 am
@Buddy, interesting analysis Sir! Very interesting indeed…You have a gift at connecting the dots for sure!
KCG
January 30th, 2012
10:18 am
Terrell lets not get carried away. We were looking like a dominant team with Al winning big against the 2 best teams in the East and all of our losses were competitve. We are still looking good without Al but got handled by the two other good teams in the East in Indiana and Philly. We also lost big to San Antonia without Ginobli. Yes, the Hawks have matured and our playing good without Al but are still a better team with him.
Slimjr
January 30th, 2012
10:30 am
@Give us, that was some serious barbershop debating last night! lol
I wish JC1 much success in his Portland Stint!
Slimjr
January 30th, 2012
10:33 am
We need a Quality Big Yesterday!!!
Did SLB take a sabbatical? Or did he turn into JoeMama? lol
Astro Joe
January 30th, 2012
10:35 am
if teague could have played this well last year, then how could he be a MIP candidate if he hasn’t improved year-over-year? It seems like you either have to believe thathe actually got better during the prolonged off-season 9as he himself suggested) or you stay devoted to the theory that the last 14 months of coaching and practice were meaningless toward his development and he would have had the identical stats in November, 2010 that he had in January , 2012. I don’t see how both can be true. Since I am hopeful that he will be better 14 months from now than he is now, I am going with the notion that he is continuing to improve.
KevinM
January 30th, 2012
10:39 am
Rufus, I believe you have to be at or over .500 to show that you have improved against better teams. We should be a top East team.
Are we in discussions with available big men? Are we looking on the min vet pile? Sund’s track record has a lot to be desired.
Still wondering if we are in the Kaman talks…we should be one of the better options for Demps/Stern. That MC interview with Sund about always matching up with someone else, instead of them matching up against us just boggles the mind. Sund must like the underdog state we always seem to have ourselves in.
vava74
January 30th, 2012
10:54 am
KevinM,
NO is reportedly wanting 3 things for Kaman:
1st round pick, an expiring deal and a young talent (with quality).
Our 1st round pick will not be high, the only expiring we have is Hinrich and who do you qualify as young talent with quality in our roster? Marvin? HAH!
There are other teams with better packages out there. WAY BETTER PACKAGES.
vava74
January 30th, 2012
11:07 am
Keith Benson’s first D-League line:
K. Benson C 33:41 FG12-16 3FG0-0 FT0-1 ± -9 Oreb4 Dreb3 Treb7 Ass0 To5 Stl0 Fl5 Bk0 Bag0 Pts24
Mike
January 30th, 2012
11:14 am
vava74,
I swear that Hornets wants alot of things and they suck. They have LAC 1st round, their 1st rounder and try to get another one. I dont think the Hawks needs to give up that much for him. I will go ahead D12 with a package like that.
Melvin
January 30th, 2012
11:38 am
Vava74,
I doubt if the Hornets get that much for Kaman. The whole league knows their backs are against the wall after they told Kaman to stay home whilel he collects checks that will total $14mil this season. Their askings price may be high but I doubt they will get everything they are asking for. Not too many teams that can send them $14 mil worth of expiring contracts, young players and a high draft pick. I think the teams with the most interest are contenders so their 1st rd pick more than likely will be low.
boots75
January 30th, 2012
11:43 am
Still seeing too much ISO JOE. Thought Drew had installed a motion offense. When the ball swings to Joe, and the double teams come, the offense stalls while he makes his move. Leads to a lot of forced shots, and tends to bog down the entire offense until he warms up.
Bigman needed
January 30th, 2012
12:07 pm
I heard hornets are reportedly gonna buy out kaman, then he could sign wherever he wants to for vets minimum?
doc
January 30th, 2012
12:09 pm
stern did the hornets and their fan base a lot of favors or was it only to get paul to the clips to salvage that franchise when he blew up that deal, didnt he? the hornets had a trade that might have kept them competitive, have more trade pieces affordable to many, now they suck as do so many other teams in the tiered system. glad we are mid tier however it does nothing to promote the product long term or even short term to enhance turn style support. what a powerful buffoon, trying to trade a broken down 7 footer that hasnt played a complete season in years nor has he done anything worthy since he was paired with brand is ludicrous.
glad we put them out of their misery. definitely feel for their coach a good one that looks miserable on the sidelines.
Just Joe
January 30th, 2012
12:13 pm
Rufus1….actually the following teams have a break even or better record against teams with a .500 record or better (no surprises on the list):
Chicago 5-4
Miami 7-3
Indiana 4-3
Orlando 4-4
OKC 7-2
Denver 5-5
Clips 7-5
Portland 6-5
Lakers 7-7
Spurs 9-5
Philly, Dallas, Boston, Houston, Utah, and Cleveland are the other current playoff teams with a losing record against winning teams.
Which group do the Hawks belong in? With the Contenders or the Pretenders?
We need another big man.
Rufus1
January 30th, 2012
12:31 pm
Just Joe
If the Spurs, Magic, Portland, Lakers, Clippers and Pacers are in group A, then the Hawks definately belong in GROUP A(Contenders)
W.R. Terrell
January 30th, 2012
12:31 pm
The HAWKS won a game that they should have, even with the 3/10 shooting of Josh. The 4 fouls on Josh saved us because Ivan came in and played defense and played within himself. No wild ass shots. LD has to sit him because Josh has no clue. The HAWKS have a serious schedule starting with Philly and all the teams will bait Josh to shoot and his intelligence will be suckered on in to do so. The guy is a premodonna and his best years are gone. Marvin is beginning to be another option and Smith will get jealous an start launching like he did last night. He needs to be benched, the HAWKS flow much better when Josh is not on the floor.
Ken Strickland
January 30th, 2012
12:32 pm
AMISTAD-You seem to be doing a lot of discounting of your own when it comes to Jamal. You discount his horrible DEF, his need to dominate the ball, demand clearouts, and take a high number of shots to get his pts. In last yrs playoffs, he had an outstanding series against the Magic, and we won in 6gms. Against the Bulls, they tightened up their DEF, especially against him, and even though he averaged over 30MPG, he averaged fewer than 9PPG in our 6gm elimination.
So why worry about what we’ll do without him in this yrs playoffs when teams tighten up their DEF? It certainly won’t be any worse or any different than it was in last yrs playoff series with him? Here’s an example of why we’re better off without him, and with our current bench.
BENCH(JAMAL)
Against Orlando our bench scored:
GM1-27(23)W
GM2-31(25)L
GM3-29(23)W
GM4-29(25)W
GM5-34(8)L
GM6-30(19)W
This shows that we were almost totally dependent upon him scoring enough pts to overcome his serious DEF liabilities. When he wasn’t scoring, he ceased to be a DEF liability and became a TOTAL LIABILITY. TMac and WGreen’s combined stats virtually equal or exceed Jamal’s, and both provide the DEF we never got from Jamal. The also combine for more RPG and APG than Jamal. And as an added bonus, they give us 2 potential clutch shooters instead of 1. TMAC(WGREEN)-PPG 6.8(6.5), RPG 3.4(1.5), APG-2.5(.8).
drmaryb.[*_*].
January 30th, 2012
12:34 pm
Was just looking at last nights box score and what stood out to me was the +/- numbers. They were stout up and down the column. The scoring was spread thin but, evenly up and down the column.
Besides The Black Ninja and Big Willie, it seems like The Replacements all chipped in sans, Vlad. Even Twin with no points had 5 rebounds, a block, a steal and, three dimes.
There was a lot of stat stuffing going on all over the place. Truly a total team effort in every sense of the word.
Nice. Raise your hand if you LIKE hawks basketball.
Rufus1
January 30th, 2012
12:35 pm
Just Joe
How many game on the road have those “contenders” won?..Because the Spurs have only won 2 games on the road…And I don’t consider the Clippers/Lakers games, on the road.
TMACfan
January 30th, 2012
12:37 pm
I think we need to get the white mamba to win a championship. LOL
drmaryb.[*_*].
January 30th, 2012
12:48 pm
Is Kevin Love The White Mamba? If not, I can’t imagine who is? H E L L O … Love ain’t going no where – period! A GM who trades him is certifiable!
Blodus
January 30th, 2012
12:48 pm
Trade Marvin Williams and 2nd round pick for Chris Kaman.
Rufus1
January 30th, 2012
12:52 pm
Loses on the road to good teams..
5 of the 6 losses the Hawks have are on the road to Above .500 teams.. and we have the 3rd best record in the eastern conf…We also the only team to have beaten the Heat and the Bulls this year.
I don’t understand the RULES OF BEING A CONTENDER, so could someone please give me an OUTLINE of the CRITERIA.
morehouse man
January 30th, 2012
12:52 pm
jj almost the hornets back into the game last night
drmaryb.[*_*].
January 30th, 2012
12:55 pm
Does anyone think our Jeff Teague has a personality and demeanor reminiscent of Derrick Rose’s?
If The Black Ninja takes it up a notch, I see MVP written all over him. Their games are identical to me, except Jeff has a better outside shot and a better floater.
I’m just saying.
Rufus1
January 30th, 2012
12:59 pm
drmaryb.[*_*].
Teague won’t get the MVP because we have too many players TRYING to be a STARS….But his game is starting to EXPLODE and it is a thing of beauty.
vava74
January 30th, 2012
1:05 pm
drmaryb,
Rose has a killer instinct and a confidence in his game that Teague (still) lacks.
Also, Rose was drafted to be the leader of the team and he got that status at the onset, whilst Teague was supposed to be #4 or 5 in the pecking order (within the starting 5) coming into this season which makes it difficult for him to play HIS game and, like you say, his game is to dominate the offense.
Right now I have absolutely no doubt that Teague should be already ahead of Al and Josh in shot opportunities and at his discretion.
He will never be a play maker like Rubio, but his offense, if given free reign, will open up everyone else and he will dish voluntarily.
Where Teague gets the nod over Rose, by a mile, is on D (when he isn’t coasting, which is one of his current issues).
vava74
January 30th, 2012
1:09 pm
No comments on Benson’s line on his first start in the D-League??
vava74
January 30th, 2012
1:10 pm
“…his game is to dominate the offense LIKE ROSE.”
Najeh Davenpoop
January 30th, 2012
1:22 pm
“if teague could have played this well last year, then how could he be a MIP candidate if he hasn’t improved year-over-year?”
MIP is a stats-based award. Nearly every year, it is won by someone who produced bigger numbers due to extra playing time. Kevin Love won it last year, for example, primarily because he played 8 more minutes per game.
Yes, Teague would have put up the same numbers if he had played last year. Yes, he would have improved at a faster rate had he been playing instead of buried on the bench. No, burying your young players on the bench is never a good development strategy. Ask Darko.
Najeh Davenpoop
January 30th, 2012
1:26 pm
“No comments on Benson’s line on his first start in the D-League??”
1 free throw attempt, 0 blocks, and 5 turnovers?
The Hawks don’t need scoring from their backup big man. They need solid defense and rebounding, preferably with the ability to protect the rim as well.
morehouse man
January 30th, 2012
1:38 pm
drmarb i am a grad of schofield high. what about you?
Astro Joe
January 30th, 2012
1:48 pm
Ask Darko? Wow. Darko, the Baseline for Under Developed Talent?
doc
January 30th, 2012
1:56 pm
teague is more rondo lite not anything like rose as a leader. wish jj were a little more like rose n that end taking responsibility.
Melvin
January 30th, 2012
2:10 pm
Astro,
Good thing Teague improved in practice during the Orlando series b/c LD would have had to play Jamal at the point in the Bulls series.
Doc,
I agree with you. Teague is more of a Rondo than Rose. Rose plays with much more power and stregthen than Teague. Teague uses his speed and quickness like a scat back (like Darren Sproles) to get to his spots where as Rose does the same while doing it more like a power runner (Adrian Peterson).
Rufus1
January 30th, 2012
2:12 pm
REGRETFUL: Williams said the Hornets dropped the ball by not re-signing free agent shooting guard Willie Green, who played against New Orleans for the first time Sunday night since signing a one-year deal with the Hawks last month.
Green came off the bench and scored 16 points in the Hawks’ 94-72 rout of the Hornets in front of 14, 962 at the New Orleans Arena.
“He was somebody I was in contact with, and we were waiting for the right time,” Williams said. “If I could do it over again, I’d probably would have pressed the issue more.
“Once I realized he was going to Atlanta, we had everything set up to sign him the next day. It was crushing because he can play.”
Before accepting the Hawks’ offer, Green said he was under the impression the Hornets were going in a different direction.
“I don’t know where things fell apart,” Green said. “That’s all I can tell you about that situation. Those are my guys, Monty and Dell, but I know that’s a tough situation losing Chris Paul and David West. It was an eye-opener for everybody to see what happened, but that’s the business of the NBA.”
doc
January 30th, 2012
2:22 pm
stern has royally screwed up that franchise. it wouldnt surprise me if stern didnt have a hand in that one regarding green, too. it was to our benefit as he is a nice player i didnt know too well. hope he gets the stage a bit this year and delivers, it cant hurt his future if he does. seems like a really good guy as well.