Suns at Atlanta Hawks Game Thread
Vivlamore filling in for Cunningham. Here is your report from this morning’s shootaround in preparation for tonight’s game against the Suns.
The key to snapping a two-game losing streak is the Hawks’ defensive energy, according to coach Larry Drew.
As the Hawks host the Suns tonight, Drew emphasized defense to his team during the morning shootaround and with the media following the session.
“We can’t be a team with low energy,” Drew said. “If you are going to be small [with injuries to centers Al Horford and Jason Collins] you have to be a team that plays with a lot of energy. You have to be quick. Because you are a little smaller you have to do some things differently, particularly with us. Not having Al or Twin it limits us in a certain area as far as what our defensive schemes have been. Offensively nothing much changes there. It’s more on the defensive end. We’ll have to make some adjustments.”
Drew did say the Hawks needed to share the ball offensively, but his efforts were concentrated on the defensive side of the ball Monday.
While Josh Smith agrees that defense is a priority he is clearly more concerned with the offensive issues during the past two games.
“Everybody has their opinions,” said Smith when told of Drew’s comments about the defensive energy. “I think that defense is definitely the key to winning basketball games but if we don’t have any continuity on the offensive end it really definitely hurts us. When the ball sticks on one floor we get baited into playing one-on-one basketball. That’s what hurts this basketball team because when we are sharing the basketball, moving it from side to side, everybody is benefitting off goods shots, I think we help each other that much more on the defensive end.”
To clarify his remarks, I asked Smith if he was referring to ‘the notion of one person trying to do it all?’
“Iso … it’s pretty much self explanatory,” Smith answered.
Iso-Joe? Perhaps. The Hawks have had issues the past two games with several players trying to do too much in losses to the Grizzlies and 76ers.
“Definitely,” Joe Johnson said when asked if he agreed with Smith’s assessment. “I think we do get a little selfish at times out there. It’s part of it. You have a lot of guys that come out and try to do it on their own that hurts you even more. We have to get some ball movement, get everybody involved, get back to playing loose and having some fun.”
* Monday was the first day NBA teams were able to sign players to 10-day contracts. However, the Hawks had no immediate plans to do so in light of being without Collins for the next two weeks.
“Not a whole lot of news,” Drew said of the team’s pursuit of a big man. “Right now we are going as we are. We are a little small but we’ll just have to play the hand that’s dealt to us.”
* With the Suns in town, it marks the return of former Hawks draft pick Josh Childress. The former No. 6 overall pick is averaging 3.5 points per game for the Suns in 11 games, all off the bench.
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757 comments Add your comment
THAD YOING & ALL US 76ERS
February 6th, 2012
10:06 pm
76ERS LAST 5 GAMES
1- ORLANDO WIN
2- BULLS WIN
3- MIAMI LOSS
4- AT ATLANTA WIN
5- LAKERS WIN
THATS 5-1 ROUGH STRETCH ALMOST OVER, NEXT SAN ANTIONIO
TRADE JOSH
February 6th, 2012
10:06 pm
PLEASE TRADE JOSH. Nothing but a worthless dunker. Get him out!
phil
February 6th, 2012
10:06 pm
The Hawks have never been worth a toot except in 1988 in Atlanta.
We could hire the Zen master and bring in the 2001 Lakers and I guarantee we lose in the conference finals 4-2….
We just don’t have IT.
But then, neither do most other cities.
Crybaby Hawk Fans
February 6th, 2012
10:06 pm
Sad thing is you guys are so blind to appreciate what you DO have, it wasn’t long ago this team won only 13 games or something like that, but hey, this is HATL, but if Jordan was on this team in his prime you guys would still Whine & Complain
AtlFlavor
February 6th, 2012
10:06 pm
No need for stress. Hawks will make playoffs and get booted in 1st round. Sund will give Drew the ax and Gearon will give Sund the ax. Hawks will use amnesty clause on JJ and trade Josh and Hinnie. Team will lose about 36 mil. Owners will default by mid August NBA will take ownership by training camp.
phil
February 6th, 2012
10:07 pm
Sign Shaq!!
LT
February 6th, 2012
10:07 pm
“Ld is clueless you get out rebound by 10 and say size is not a factor. Lol.”
Exactly!!!!
Fire LD!!!
Add swingman depth
February 6th, 2012
10:07 pm
Good work tonight. We just need to add a oouple guys that can work the wings, 6-6 swingmen on 10 day contract and we’ll right the ship.
Hawks Blog Legend Worldwide Clyde
February 6th, 2012
10:08 pm
Crybaby Hawk Fans you didn’t show up until I called Horford a Crybaby at the end of the last blog. Be original and quit jockin’ my style.
FIRE SUND
Carl
February 6th, 2012
10:08 pm
Harpie, I guess stating facts make me racist? I dont hate anyone.
Al Horford
February 6th, 2012
10:08 pm
Sitkc a fork in ‘em! They’re DONE!
Not my fault though!
phil
February 6th, 2012
10:08 pm
Jordan stunk….bum
LT
February 6th, 2012
10:09 pm
“No need for stress. Hawks will make playoffs and get booted in 1st round. Sund will give Drew the ax and Gearon will give Sund the ax. Hawks will use amnesty clause on JJ and trade Josh and Hinnie. Team will lose about 36 mil. Owners will default by mid August NBA will take ownership by training camp”
Slimjr
February 6th, 2012
10:09 pm
THIS HOMESTAND IS A DISASTER SO FAR..IT WILL CONTINUE ON WED!
THAT WILL BE SURREAL..THE BEATDOWN THATS COMIN……
Carl
February 6th, 2012
10:09 pm
“Ld is clueless you get out rebound by 10 and say size is not a factor. Lol.”
Exactly!!!!
Fire LD!!!
____________________
Low IQ
phil
February 6th, 2012
10:10 pm
LD has a very small brain, like my cat.
Al Horford
February 6th, 2012
10:10 pm
I went to University of Florida, a great school and got my dgree.
Josh went to some joke high school in Georgia, some of the WORST test scores in the country. You surprised he’s too dumb to lead? LOL
BIG DOG
February 6th, 2012
10:11 pm
MARVIN WILLIAM 7YEARS OF FRUSTRATION
BIG DOG IN THE HOUSE
Crybaby Hawk Fans
February 6th, 2012
10:11 pm
Clyde
Reading these blogs it seems to me everyone is jockin each other’s style because 90% of you clowns say the same thing just phrase it differently, look at how many “FIRE” someone post are on here, look at how many bashings of your opening day starting 5. Yeah I’m jockin’, but so is everyone else. I’m just calling it like I see it, you cats Whine & Complain win or lose!!
High-Tech Lynching
February 6th, 2012
10:12 pm
@Carl
“Look at England, look at Haiti
Look at Finland, look at The Congo
Look at the Lakers with Phil, look at them with Brown
Look at the Bulls with less talent and Coach Thibodeau and look at the Hawks with Drew.
Lets face it, they cant lead anything, always fail. Low IQ.
The Hawks need a white coach.”
Man, you need “Kumbaya” moment. Sing it with me,
“Ebony and Ivory,
live together in perfect harmony,
side by side on my piano, keyboard, oh lord why don’t we….”
Slimjr
February 6th, 2012
10:12 pm
GET TWO 6 6 AND ONE 6 5 1/2 FORWARDS AND THEY ARE GOING TO THE DANCE…..YAWN…
DONT FORGET THE 6 3 SMALL FORWARD….
MORE FORWARDS!!!!!
Carl
February 6th, 2012
10:12 pm
I went to University of Florida, a great school and got my dgree.
Josh went to some joke high school in Georgia, some of the WORST test scores in the country. You surprised he’s too dumb to lead? LOL
____________________________________________________________
What’s the demographics of Georgia? Third highest % of those people you say?
Carl
February 6th, 2012
10:13 pm
I guess it’s all coincidence
phil
February 6th, 2012
10:13 pm
Fire someone else!!
Spyro
February 6th, 2012
10:13 pm
No Crybaby, we probably “whine and complain” because we see the potential that our team has, but never see anything come to fruition. In 94, poised to meet with Houston in the Finals, we trade our star in Dominique for Danny Manning. Obviously, we get booted from the playoffs (as the #1 seed) in the 2nd round. We were able to survive for a while, but then mediocrity finally got its grips on the franchise. About 7-8 years ago, in desperate need of a PG and a C, we used all of our high draft picks on forwards. Now, still in desperate need of a C, our front office refuses to get one. We may complain in your perspective, but the team never drafted Dwight and Shaq, instead choosing Marvin, Shelden, and Childress over the likes of SEVERAL all-stars. That’s why we are mad that we have never won a championship. (like Orlando, BTW)
Crybaby Hawk Fans
February 6th, 2012
10:14 pm
If you guys can prove I’m lying about you guys Whining & Complaining then I will leave!!!
morehouse man
February 6th, 2012
10:14 pm
the hawks were in the until marvin was taken out;iso joe is killing the hawks now and since has come back,the hawks has gone south
DawgNole
February 6th, 2012
10:14 pm
There’s old “Add swingman depth” again–still praising the Hawks’ effort tonight.
What a dingbat.
Hollywould
February 6th, 2012
10:15 pm
Atlflavor, I almost spit out my drink. FUNNY one. I am walking back downstairs and I hear one of the announcers say ” We did’nt have a sense of urgencey” Let’s see how many time have I heard that” Wait a minute, HAWKS 360 just came on. Maybe Jurenevich can explain. The Hawks can’t. I am out NO FRIGGIN HEART
The core
February 6th, 2012
10:15 pm
Tonight the season ended. Mark my words, the hawks may not win before all star break looking at sched all winning teams
brian pleus
February 6th, 2012
10:15 pm
RICK SUND go sign Earl Baron right now!!!!!!!!!!!!! He was just waived by the g-state warriors. This guy is by far best available center with upside and cheap. He averaged a double double with the Knicks a couple years ago in seven starts. He is 7ft 250lb get him now!!!!!!
Al Horford
February 6th, 2012
10:15 pm
Carl
*shrugs shoulders* I’m not from here! LOL
John Drew
February 6th, 2012
10:15 pm
Carl you are absolutely correct about your Steve Nash comment. The game of basketball is so easy when you have a point guard with Steve Nash basketball IQ, and that’s what I’ve blogged about all night. People this is not about race, because if the Hawks had Steve Nash on their team, they win this game by twenty.
FACTS
February 6th, 2012
10:16 pm
Crybaby Hawk Fans,
This blog is full of people who type 2 essays worth of font in a post to make 1, sometimes 2, opinionated points, as if it means something.
Grandmaster JeJe (GM)
February 6th, 2012
10:16 pm
Steve Nash, at age 57, still owns us.
STOP STARTING MARVIN
phil
February 6th, 2012
10:16 pm
We aren’t whining and complaining.
Just disgruntled.
Al Horford
February 6th, 2012
10:16 pm
Blow it up! Get Dropout Josh off this team!
DawgNole
February 6th, 2012
10:17 pm
phil: “We could hire the Zen master and bring in the 2001 Lakers and I guarantee we lose in the conference finals 4-2….”
Actually, phil, we don’t even make it to the conference finals–even with Zen and the Lakers. Don’t forget, 40-plus years of NEVER making it past the second round.
David Duke
February 6th, 2012
10:17 pm
Carl,
Thanks for coming by the blog. As promised, keep it up and I’ll be sure you get a new hood.
phil
February 6th, 2012
10:18 pm
Bring back Hubie Brown!!
Carl
February 6th, 2012
10:18 pm
Regarding Josh Smith.
You can take the thug out of South Fulton/Clayton Co. but you cant…..well you know the rest.
LT
February 6th, 2012
10:19 pm
@Crybaby Hawk Fans
Are you on this blog often?? Because we are Hawk fans… we venting to each other about our frustrations. Even when we were on winnining streaks, you would have seen the same post. We have been saying, not saying, SCREAMING we need a BIG!!!!
Spyro
February 6th, 2012
10:19 pm
You know, Crybaby, it’s unfortunate the Magic have never won a title. At least Orlando has its other franchises to fall back on!
Oh wait…
High-Tech Lynching
February 6th, 2012
10:19 pm
Jamal Crawford starting at point guard for the Portland in place of the injured Raymond Felton. Crawford hasn’t started [an NBA] in over two years. OKC vs. Portland on NBA TV.
phil
February 6th, 2012
10:19 pm
I haven’t forgotten, dawgnole…i was trying to give us SOME credit if we had that roster.
phil
February 6th, 2012
10:21 pm
David Duke
February 6th, 2012
10:17 pm
Carl,
Thanks for coming by the blog. As promised, keep it up and I’ll be sure you get a new hood.
********
This is just wrong. But it is funny.
ntrigue
February 6th, 2012
10:21 pm
Coach Drew has to be replaced!….untimely substitutions killing us!
phil
February 6th, 2012
10:22 pm
I can’t stand Josh Smith. He really drives me nuts.
Carl
February 6th, 2012
10:22 pm
Watching Nash out there tonight was like watching a trainer at work before the big show at Seaworld or the Circus.
drebaby
February 6th, 2012
10:22 pm
The Hawks should be ashamed for making Hilary Swanks twin sister look like a stud tonight.The he/she is 38 years old.Not to mention Telfair looking like his cousin Starbury.When hes making long jumpers,u will lose every time.Atlanta teams are cursed,we have the worst luck.I guess our owners should join the Illuminati.