Hawks 89, Magic 87 (OT)
Orlando–Before getting to everything the Hawks did wrong while blowing a lead before pulling out the W, let me take a minute to point out something that’s pretty remarkable.
- After a period in which it seemed as if the Hawks would never beat the Magic as long as Dwight Howard was around, it’s now to the point where the Magic can’t want anything to do with the Hawks. “I don’t think anyone in this locker room will ever forget what Orlando did to us in the playoffs a couple of years ago,” Marvin Williams said.
- The Hawks seem to have solved the Magic riddle and it’s really something to see. This time the Hawks beat Orlando without All-Star Al Horford, Magic slayer Jamal Crawford and Dwight stopper Jason Collins. They have two centers who have proven to frustrate Dwight. They give Orlando problems with their size all over the court, which Stan Van Gundy noted pregame is what tends to happen to his team. They outplayed Orlando when it was small vs. small, too.
- And now the Hawks win regularly in Orlando. Maybe it’s the new building. “Early on in my career the margin of defeat here was probably 30 or 25 points,” Josh Smith said. “Being able to get established here and be in every ball game of late, it definitely shows you the growth of this basketball team.”
- I think that’s a perfect segue into all the things the Hawks did wrong after they took the 78-70 lead with 2:26 to play. The Hawks had four more possessions in regulation and each one of them involved lots of dribbling and no clear plan of attack. This came after three straight possessions in which Josh scored two baskets and earned two free throws by aggressively driving to the rim.
- Jeff Teague actually shook free for a decent look that missed but only after a confused possession. On the next trip down, Teague rushed a 10-footer after a similarly scrambled possession. Joe Johnson then missed a challenged Iso jumper. And, finally, Josh missed a 20-footer after a timid attempt by Teague to run a pick-and-roll with him.
- “I thought we had some good looks,” Larry Drew said. “I think maybe one play we just didn’t execute it very well. We probably lost a little bit of our aggression when they made a run, particularly off the dribble on the attack. I thought we kind of settled toward the end of regulation. You have got to keep your aggression.”
- While Atlanta was squandering those possessions, Hedo Turkoglu and Jameer Nelson were easily getting to the basket for scores. And then Drew used some strange strategy on Orlando’s final possession of regulation.
- Drew subbed Willie Green for Zaza Pachulia, who had done an admirable job tangling with Dwight. He also swapped Tracy McGrady for Teague and, anticipating a Nelson-Howard screen-roll, put Johnson on Nelson and Smith on Howard. Not only that, Drew had Smith and Johnson switch on each screen.
- Nelson, not surprisingly, got by Johnson. That forced Smith to help, leaving Howard to dunk home the miss as there was no other Hawks player capable of sliding over to keep Howard away from the basket.
- Drew: “Jameer had gotten away from us a few times and we wanted to try, if be in a switchable situation, we put Josh on Howard and put Joe on the ball so it’s a bigger guy to wrestle Howard into the paint area. I thought we did a good job with it, we just didn’t finish it up. You take some gambles. I thought for the most part our coverages were good.”
- Smith: “We just knew that Dwight was going to come up for screen-and-roll and we didn’t want Teague rolling down on Dwight. That would have been just an impossible matchup to even contest if they threw it down low to Dwight. Jameer did what he had to do. Jameer got it up on the rim and no one came over to push Dwight under the rim and he got the tip dunk.”
- Give the Hawks credit for recovering from that sequence of events to win even after Turkoglu opened the overtime with a 3. Joe’s runner and turnaround J were the daggers. Or at least they could have been if he hadn’t later missed on a bad iso possession, Smith hadn’t turned it over under the basket and Marvin and Zaza had made both free-throw attempts on trips to the line.
- The Hawks won, though, to improve to 5-7 vs. opponents with winning records and 11-5 without Al. “I was a little concerned I thought our guys would come out flat for overtime,” Drew said. “They proved me wrong.”
- Josh had 23 points but needed 22 shots to do it. It was his rebounding that carried the Hawks. He really did a good job sealing off the glass for 19 boards and got his hands on several other misses.
- Every player has weaknesses. It just so often seems as if Smith’s twin bugaboos of suspect shot selection and looseness with the ball come at the worst times. And so it goes that he led the Hawks to victory at the same time he helped them nearly give it away.
- “I was getting some play calls tonight,” he said. “I wanted to be efficient down low on the block. I think I did a good job with that. I took what the defense gave me tonight.”
- Actually, he took what the Magic didn’t want to give him before being enticed into settling for what they wanted him to have. He also let Ryan Anderson get loose. But, in the final analysis, Josh was The Man. “When you see a stat line like that, it speaks for itself,” Marvin said. “Without him, we don’t win this game.”
- Josh was done talking about the All-Star snub. He said earlier today it doesn’t motivate him but I don’t think anyone is buying that. Drew: “This kid has had a remarkable first part of the year. He just impacts the game on both ends of the floor. He should have been there. It’s unfortunate the voting went that way. He’s a guy who if he just keeps playing the way he’s playing, it will happen. They passed him up this year.”
- Zaza was excellent: nine points on six shots, 10 rebounds, no turnovers. Like Collins, he figured out that sometimes the best way to defend Dwight is to back off a bit and let him start his move before poking at the ball.
- Joe didn’t shoot it well. He was good when he made quick decisions and passed out of double teams.
- Marvin played 35 minutes did what he should do: Make the open shots when the ball swings around to him. He also had six rebounds, three assists and no turnovers.
- Teague (13 points on 11 shots) was in scoring mode most of the night. He played spirited defense on the ball most of the way (three steals) but his intensity appeared to wane down the stretch.
- Tonight it was Tracy McGrady, Scorer (9 points on 7 shots). He spent a lot of time frantically waving for his teammates to throw him the ball in the post so he could abuse Chris Duhon and Quentin Richardson.
- Erick Dampier had two rebounds in 1:46. He sealed off Dwight for both of them. That’s a successful debut.
Michael Cunningham, Hawks beat
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216 comments Add your comment
tjhook
February 11th, 2012
8:51 am
Can the Hawks’ bloggers consider a trade for Tony Parker? I like Teague but I want a player who can run the offense late without deferring to veteran influence. Joe would have to learn to play off the ball.
doc
February 11th, 2012
9:10 am
anyone notice how well woody’s defense worked last night with a competent point guard or was it dantoni’s offense?
fun game and kid to watch. love these types of stories. go j lin.
doc
February 11th, 2012
9:21 am
interesting, j lin has tommy amaker imprint as his former coach at harvard from 2007 on.
http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/news;_ylt=Aigj6jkJRkg1JDaqpGdF3OO8vLYF?slug=mh-huguenin_jeremy_lin_harvard_
soullrenaissance
February 11th, 2012
9:27 am
Maybe Erik Dampier will prove Shaq wrong and not be “Erika Dampier” this year.
Thanks for snubbing Josh Smith NBA, he snagged more rebounds than D12 last night. Post play was superb.
Throwback TMac was excellent in the post as well.
JLin ate Fisher’s breakfast lunch and dinner. Carmelo goes down-Knick go on a run.
doc
February 11th, 2012
9:56 am
melo will not be the man nor are lin’s playmates going to allow it. it could be interesting when melo gets back. as far as amare? he is probably chomping at the bit to play with a guy who will pick and roll all night long with him. throw in some energetic twos like douglas and shumpert among others like landry and it could be tough sledding for our guys from atl and tighten up the race if the celts win more of the games they should, now having lost to the cavs and raptors within two weeks.
woody’s head coaching job might have to wait a bit as well.
Hawks Fan Down Under
February 11th, 2012
10:09 am
Josh Smith……so much ability….such bad shot selection……..an All-Star you will not be.
O'Brien
February 11th, 2012
10:29 am
Doc,
Bibby (your boy
)is shooting 29% from the field, 27% from 3.
O'Brien
February 11th, 2012
10:34 am
Josh should have more highlight plays like Blake Griffin and Shawn Kemp. But he doesn’t know how to play to his strengths consistently. WithHorford out, I think Josh could average 18-20 pts, 10-12 rebs. Why doesn’t he? His mentality (and LD to a lesser extent).
That being said, I don’t think that should have kept him out of the all-star game.
O'Brien
February 11th, 2012
10:35 am
Going to Josh was working. But when the game got tight, we go Iso-JJ. JJ is not that kind of player (especially against good teams). If we’re going to go to him, we need to get him the ball in spots where he is more effective.
LD is slightly improved over last year, but I am still not impressed.
O'Brien
February 11th, 2012
10:35 am
NFL coaches do this all the time. Their normal defense is effective the entire game, but when the game is on the line, they go to a prevent defense. Stick to what works!
GEN MANAGER
February 11th, 2012
10:38 am
BIG UPS TO ZA ZA EXCELLENT JOB ON CONTAINING AND FRUSTRATING DWIGHT,MIGHT BE THE MOST OVERLOOKED PART OF THE HAWKS VICTORY LAST NIGHT.
Negarito
February 11th, 2012
10:50 am
Grandad Smokes the most weed on this blog page, Ill say it again, Grandad smokes the most weed on this blog page. – finally-
Can anyone tell me what the status is on FORMER all star Al, Horford? Is he getting is in shape to prepare to be traded, or is he milking the injury in hope he can sneak out another year? Is he studying new ways to help the other teams dunk on him? What the hell is going on with Al. Is there any teams any where in any country that’s interested in this slacker? We need to get something for our millions instead 10ppg 7rbs playoff records, playoff ending injuries coupled with season ending injuries.
Is Al trade ready ?
Negarito
February 11th, 2012
10:58 am
Zaza has been playing…. well Zaza. Most people over look the fact that Zaza was the starter when Slacker Al arrived. Between Z and Al, Z is better, not because of talent but because of heart. Al has no heart.
Al is like the Tin Man of Oz. and Teague is like the Scarecrow with no brain. So why dont we send them to Ozlando?
Dawg
February 11th, 2012
11:05 am
How is Al progressing in his rehab?
Negarito
February 11th, 2012
11:05 am
If Zaza had to face Al if Al was on another team Zaza would fck Al up…LMAO
Negarito
February 11th, 2012
11:06 am
What rehab? Al is humping ms camel toe.
Tin Man & Scarecrow
February 11th, 2012
11:17 am
Quite clearly Josh is the bread and butter of this team and Marvin JJ and Josh + Zaza blend well together. I dont know that Al fits in here any more an would only slow the fluidity of the hawks. Plus all that complaining trick chit Al and his dad like to does takes the focus off the game. So Negarito is on point Time to ship the Tin man and throw in the Scarecrow for Dwight Howard.
terrell
February 11th, 2012
11:17 am
Tell Al to stay at home Sunday. They play better when he’s not on the bench. lol
terrell
February 11th, 2012
11:24 am
Melo ana Allstar THIS YEAR? lol. Knicjs playing better without him. Just like Denver did.
northcyde
February 11th, 2012
11:29 am
@ doc 12:21 am post
Wrong.
Willie and Kirk aren’t guaranteed to play 20 minutes a night. Jordan is. And I know that as a reserve guard, Jordan will put up enough supplemental stats to help our squad.
The 2 – 12 last night was as poor as he played in a while. He’d actually been pretty solid for the past 2 weeks.
With the lack of starter quality players on my squad, I had to find bench guys who will get minutes plus provide the supplemental stats to help the team. Guys like Jordan, Marvin, Jonas Jerebko, Sam Dalembert and Brandon Rush do just that.
As long as my heavy hitters ( Westbrook, Kyrie Irving, David Lee, Andrew Bynum, and Pau Gasol
i_am_soulstar
February 11th, 2012
11:32 am
MC,
Who was Josh waving at at the end of the game? Looked like he was taunting someone, saying “I love you.” Was it Jameer? I know the Hawks nation still hasn’t forgiven him for that stupid and thoughtless comment.
northcyde
February 11th, 2012
11:38 am
Damn Android phone.
As long as those guys continue to produce, with OJ Mayo being my 6th man off the bench, we’ll be fine.
I had to find the right mix. That’s why I made all of those moves. My last move will be to decide what to do with Eric Gordon. He’s the big gun that could help me in the 2nd half of the season. But I can’t wait until mid-march for him to come back either.
Like I said a few weeks ago. If I can get into the playoffs, I’m going to win it. I got the right mix of everything now to win. Just gotta keep people healthy.
doc
February 11th, 2012
11:39 am
o’b, yeah, believe it or not i was checking on him and his “progress”. he still does his little bump well though, hasnt lost all of his game.
i also think bibby is one of the reasons dampier had so little burn time at the end of the season as he couldnt cover for his point guards immobility that was as bad if not worse than his own. this is not a knock but truth. after we got dampier and he looked a h3ll of a lot better than it thought he would, i was thinking why dampier was suddenly sitting after putting up regular and decent numbers for a guy his age? if i were the coach i would have had to do the same thing against teams with quick guards. also udonis got well to help with the quickness but played out of position a lot.
remember, queen said they could cover for bibby, implying jj, al and osh were not as good as them. just for that, i would have beaten their azzes or died trying if in the hawks shoes. i think they also had to out the stiff dampier on the trash pile. yeah read it and then go out and pile on them hawks, your chance on sunday, damp you, too, revenge time.
dept i think i got it and used too appropriately. yeah i know i did. the one that gets me is your vs you’re.
take the test:
http://www.english-zone.com/verbs/your1.html
anyway back to bball.
does anyone know my distaste for the queen as i am really not too caught up in grammar police on a blog, anymore than punctuation police or spelling police, unless there is unintended irony or innuendo associated with it? queen has been a little more humble this year, i might add. his response to bird saying he would rather play with kobe was, “well, i guess that is true. i dont have five rings on my finger. ”
not sure but i think bird said if he were playing with queen he would take fewer more shots. it was a reference to some star just not sure who. heh heh
now if osh would just take a little taste of umble pie.
Grandmaster JeJe (GM)
February 11th, 2012
11:40 am
Lin saved D’Antoni’s job.
I love seeing Knicks win with Melo out. Amazing feeling
i_am_soulstar
February 11th, 2012
11:44 am
My sole complaint for the past few games is that besides the Pacers game, Hinrich has not been playing well. That being said, if Pargo was playing well before Hinrich’s return, why doesn’t Larry Drew keep playing Pargo until Kirk gets his life together?
Tin Man & Scarecrow
February 11th, 2012
11:53 am
Hawks play better with Hinrich than with fatigue.
Trade fatigue With Al for D12
doc
February 11th, 2012
11:53 am
well northcyde, from what i read last week from the grandmaster poopah you are suffering in the league and the commissioners requests to check in on the rules as you make fantasy world making trade after trade, so something aint working. if he is one of your mainstays check amazon for “playing fantasy basketball for dummies”. he is bad on a very bad team with percentages that make me shudder as he throws shots. he would kill the hawks and be a shorter version of vlad who should stay on the bench for now. actually, i was talking about having green and kirk in real time not fantasy rather than a rally killer like jc2. but glad to know you got it figured out.
beware of all your fantasy plans. the last two weeks of the basketball season is like golf silly season when you have your playoffs in the fantasy world is impossible to predict. just a little warning. for all you know, those guys may be on the bench doing nothing because their team had clinched. actually you got a point, that might be when a jc2 shines in fantasy bball because he again is playing on a bad team. remember even shels and salim looked like world beaters then.
o’b jj at the end of games to be more effective as an offense on the whole and jj, he has to get the ball like pierce and certainly allen get the ball in those situations off the pass. that takes the coach trusting the point guard though.
doc
February 11th, 2012
11:57 am
yes grandmaster it was a pleasure watch last night and as i mentioned earlier woody gets to stay an assistant coach on a team that plays offense with ball movement. he also gets to keep his job because he has a point guard that can move and a center that is a real dealer of rejections not because of his switching defense sure to fail. melo has been warned by chandler he will have to adjust to the team not them to melo. even d’antoni mentioned he now has a team with lin running the show.
rk
February 11th, 2012
11:58 am
I now know what people mean by free the Teague. Josh just will not give him the ball after a rebound. I believe Josh when he says he can’t play any better than he is playing now. He played to long with coaches who did not know how to develop him. He actually thinks he is playing at allstar level. He is as good as he ever will be. Drew needs to free the Teague.
doc
February 11th, 2012
11:58 am
ncyde your android is better than my iphone.
northcyde
February 11th, 2012
12:24 pm
As for the game last night, I can’t say enough about the job that Smit did on the boards. And in the 2nd half, he actually played to the advantage he had in that game in the post. With JJ being off most of the game, he did exactly what he needed to do to win that game.
Smh @ Drew for going away from him in those final 2 minutes.
And props to Marvin’s threes. All at the right time. LOL @ Rod in OT saying “why is Marvin in the game?”. Then he almost immediately knocks down a big 3 off of a JJ pass. He then had to give him props for the good shot.
I’m just glad that Drew played him enough for him to affect the game. Marvin did a good job guarding Ryan Anderson too. Drew also recognized that Zaza was holding his own vs Dwight, and played him major minutes. That’s what Drew needs to do from now on. If a guy is playing well and helping the team, play that man.
But last night was about Smith. That was his statement game to the league. But to really change the perception of him, he needs to play well, but under control vs the big name teams on national TV. Make Bosh defend you at the rim, not out by the 3 point line.
doc
February 11th, 2012
12:54 pm
@ northcyde … that’s riiight.
Jcard120
February 11th, 2012
1:10 pm
This team is stacked!
High-Tech Lynching
February 11th, 2012
1:20 pm
Slimjr,
Are you going to start calling Jeremy Lin “The Real Grasshopper” or “The Yellow Mamba”? I have another question for you. Are you “Negarito” and “Tin Man & Scarecrow” because, if you are, you are on your way to having more personalities [or identities] than Sybil.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sybil_(book)
Ken Strickland
February 11th, 2012
1:24 pm
The question that I have is what will the Hawks do with Dampier when Collins returns? Will he or Stackhouse be waved or placed on the inactive list.
J.J.M.
February 11th, 2012
1:35 pm
best article ever
http://www.shattertheglass.com/2012/02/smith-proves-to-be-a-deserving-all-star/
Big Lou
February 11th, 2012
1:44 pm
“The question that I have is what will the Hawks do with Dampier when Collins returns? Will he or Stackhouse be waved or placed on the inactive list.” – Ken
I guess that they will have to see how he performs first.
ryan
February 11th, 2012
1:45 pm
Will Jeremy Lin still be with Knicks when Mello and Staoudamire come back i think every team will take a look at this kid now i hope the Hawks is one of them .
Grandad
February 11th, 2012
2:04 pm
Negarito is my man Hatter !
phil
February 11th, 2012
2:37 pm
Nice win. Nice numbers for Josh, but the shot selection issues ultimately doom us unless corrected.
Track record, however, makes it clear they won’t be corrected.
darrell starks
February 11th, 2012
2:39 pm
Ken Strickland when Collins return i believe Stack should be move to players assistant coach, he is a player who could help with experience and knowledge of game, keeping him around will benefit the Hawks come playoffs.
GO HAWKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
darrell starks
February 11th, 2012
2:44 pm
Josh was awesome last knight playing inside out, but my game ball go Zaza the best game he played all year by being physical with Dwight and keeping him from dominating inside the paint, good game for both JOSH AND ZAZA.
GO HAWKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Grandad
February 11th, 2012
2:45 pm
Now then:
LD; (whom I have been congratulatory for Coach-Growth)
must grow more abundantly in late game situations.
He [LD] reverts back to his mentor;
who [Woody] is way less “accomplished” as an offensive mind.
Therefore;
why does LD continue to run Iso-J, to close out games ?
*[that was a rhetorical question]
____________________________________________
No one asked, but I’m gonna tell you anyway:
Line-up to close:
Kirk & Teaguer + Joe
T-Mac -Plus- (V-Rad / Josh) off. / def.
Reasoning:
3 guards = ballhandling & FTs
V-Rad > Josh on off. ballhandling (less TOs) & space floor.
T-Mac = POST
Double High set / V-Rad -&- T-Mac
Defense possible substitutions:
Zaza or Ivan for T-Mac = situational only.
** Josh for V-Rad as mentioned ^ above ^ ** = not situational
*** Every trip down the court on offense would have one objective:
T-Mac must touch the ball in the post
before anyone else would be allowed to shoot. period.
This would guarantee a good shot with T-Mac the facilitator.
Bam … G-dad the Coach @ work.
____________________________________________
Rather than just lampooning LD;
this is logical, constructive criticism with sound reasoning.
darrell starks
February 11th, 2012
2:45 pm
Dampier also was solid.
GO HAWKS!!!!!!!!!!!
darrell starks
February 11th, 2012
2:49 pm
Tmac should always close games out with Marvin on bench in the 4quarter.
TEAGUE, JOE, TMAC, JOSH, ZAZA.
should close out games.
GO HAWKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Rufus1
February 11th, 2012
2:54 pm
Balance..
9-4 at Home 9-5 on the Road
The Truth
February 11th, 2012
3:00 pm
“And props to Marvin’s threes. All at the right time. LOL @ Rod in OT saying “why is Marvin in the game?”. Then he almost immediately knocks down a big 3 off of a JJ pass. He then had to give him props for the good shot” – northcyde
LOL If Marvin continue this trend, we may have to call him Mr. Big Shot since it seems to be in his DNA and that dates back to his college days at UNC.I just wish he would be more active creating offensive opportunities for myself. But because of LD system and Marvin’s role, his game can’t be measured in stat totals but overall game impact. Glue guys like Marvin can have pedestrian numbers with minimum minutes. But when they hit timly-3 to win games (for example) the stats will not show the importance, just their overall pedestrian numbers.
darrell starks
February 11th, 2012
3:13 pm
The Truth me and you both have watch extensively majority of the Hawks game, wouldn’t Tmac benefit the Hawks better closing out games better than Marvin who have underachieve his entire career, just one man opinion lol!!!!!!!!!!!!! at Rod from CP.
GO HAWKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Michael Gearon, Jr.
February 11th, 2012
3:21 pm
Not seeing enough Dampier love in here.
Rod from College Park
February 11th, 2012
3:25 pm
Marv made a big shot last night, but TMac should have been in the game. He and Josh were unstoppable in the post, and I am almost sure that if TMac was in the game the last five minutes, we would have not gone almost 4 minutes without scoring to close the game Marv would have never needed to hit that shot. TMac knows how to take advantage of mismatches, and even if he does not get a shot, he will make an easier shot for JJ.