Atlanta Hawks: Lakers 86, Hawks 78
Los Angeles–The Hawks held the Lakers to 86 points on 84 shots, had 11 turnovers to L.A’s 13, shot 14 free throws (.16 rate) to the Lakers’ nine (.11 rate) and collected 17 of the Lakers’ 47 misses. They lost because they shot 34.4 percent while missing 12 of 20 shots at the rim and botching at least six transition chances; couldn’t stop Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol in the paint early, and saw the Lakers scored 15 points off those 11 turnovers.
- “I don’t know how many layups we missed,” Larry Drew said. “We missed a ton of point-blank shots. We turned the ball over at crucial times, too. Defensively I thought we were pretty much right there on the money but we just couldn’t buy a shot.”
- The Hawks scored just 10 points in the second quarter but it wasn’t just because they were settling for Js. Yes, they missed all seven 3-point attempts in the period but they also missed seven consecutive layup attempts. “We got to the rim,” Jeff Teague said. “That’s what we wanted to do. But we couldn’t finish.”
- No doubt the Lakers’ length had something to do with Atlanta missing so many at close range. The Hawks had seven shots blocked, including two of the layup attempts, and you could see them peeking for defenders when they drove to the basket. “We just have to have more focus when we are going to the rim,” Drew said. “You can’t be concerned about them blocking the shots or changing them.”
- I said the Hawks should shoot more 3s and of course they go out and miss 20 of 27 attempts, including 13 of 16 tries after the first quarter. Still, that’s an effective field-goal percentage of 38.3 compared to 38 percent on 2s (40 percent at the rim) and 64 percent on free throws. The Hawks couldn’t make anything.
- “It wasn’t a great shooting night,” Joe Johnson said. “But you can make up for that with effort and defense. I think our defense was pretty good tonight but we missed a lot of easy shots.”
- The Hawks trailed just 59-51 entering the fourth. The Lakers got some separation behind Steve Blake, Matt Barnes and Andrew Goudelock. Drew waited until the official timeout at 8:04 to put Johnson and Josh Smith back in with Atlanta down 69-57.
- “I was thinking about the back-to-back,” Drew said. “I wanted to go back with the starters and still make a push but I can’t drive them into the ground when we have a back-to-back. I thought the bench guys gave us some good minutes.”
- Vladimir Radmanovic’s 3 got the Hawks within 69-60 but Smith threw the ball away. After the Lakers scored on a second chance, Joe made a J but Blake shook free from Teague for a 3, Joe carried the ball for a turnover, and Gasol made a J. That was the last gasp for the Hawks.
- After Zaza Pachulia couldn’t keep Bynum from deep post position, Drew went to Erick Dampier. Except Drew said that’s not why he did it. “I was told [Zaza] had two fouls,” Drew said. “But they gave the foul to Joe. They said they changed it.”
- As it turned out, Dampier was pretty effective at making forcing Bynum to catch the ball away from the basket. Considering his lack of conditioning and mobility, he did well to play 16 minutes and get four rebounds. But his teammates should know that they can’t whip passes to those hands. “He did pretty good,” Josh said. “He played pretty good defense on Bynum. He missed a couple of chip tip ins. We was in a drought.”
- Zaza said he knew he only had one foul but it ended up working out for him, too. “I watched what [Dampier] did to [Bynun] and so in the second half I went out and did the same,” he said. Bynum overpowered Zaza a couple times but Zaza effectively pushed, cajoled and harassed him after halftime.
- In 15 second-half minutes, Josh was 1 for 7 with four rebounds and three assists. In the first half, he was 6 for 11 with five rebounds in 17 minutes. The problems were familiar: missed jumpers (3 of 9 outside of the paint) and untimely turnovers. There came a point where it looked as if he was no longer interested in venturing inside against the Lakers’ timber.
- Josh did a pretty good job bothering Gasol’s attempts around the basket. It’s no coincidence that the Lakers’ perimeter players started attacking the paint after he went to the bench in the third quarter.
- Joe never did assert himself as a scorer when the Hawks needed it. This wasn’t Milwaukee or Detroit. He did have five of the team’s 14 assists against two turnovers. “I got to where I wanted to get on the floor,” Joe said. “I missed a lot of easy shots for myself. I feel I could have made a lot more plays getting guys wide open shots.”
- Joe became the seventh player in Hawks franchise history to score at least 10,000 points. “It is what it is,” he said. “Maybe if we could have got a win it would feel a lot better. My main focus right now is for us to try to get the rest of these games on the road.”
- Zaza and Josh (nine rebounds each) got some help on the boards: Marvin Williams, Tracy McGrady and Vlad Rad had six each.
- Vlad Rad, back in his old building, made three 3-pointers for the first time since Jan. 9, which also is the last time he had as many as six attempts. T-Mac was driving to score, missing and looking for calls. Marvin missed a few good looks.
- With Dampier getting minutes at center and Vlad Rad at the four, Ivan Johnson got a DNP-CD.
- Teague’s 6-for-16 shooting included five misses at the rim and also a couple botched runners. He never got out of scoring mode and finished with two assists. The Hawks’ starting point guard wasn’t leading them on a night the offense was often aimless.
- Kobe Bryant scored 10 points on 18 shots with Joe plus help keeping him in check save for a burst in the third quarter.
Michael Cunningham, Hawks beat
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360 comments Add your comment
Slimjr
February 15th, 2012
9:49 am
Hey maybe Lin’s brother could help the HAWKS? Hahahahah…..
Slimjr
February 15th, 2012
9:50 am
1-5,2-4 for the rest of the month? Just flat out GARBAGE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Slimjr
February 15th, 2012
9:51 am
2-11, 3-10= Catastrophic for the month….The real Hawks……………………
Grandaddy Dunker
February 15th, 2012
9:52 am
I told you yesterday that Josh Smith disappears against the good teams. He proved it last night against the Lakers.
prison mike
February 15th, 2012
9:53 am
This team only has three guys that have the dawg in em. Josh, Jeff, and Al. The rest of these cats are just the lard.
It’s time to cut the fat off. This team needs a lot of things but an athletic freak at the 3 could push this team over the top. Somebody like Batum would be ideal. I would send Portland Marv and a future first for G. Wallace.
Any who, Duck, Kirk, and Zaza need to be packaged or shipped individually somewhere sooner than later. I knew Rudy Gay would be a better pro than Duck but that damn Shellhead was looking to good for the Hawks to pass up.
Grandaddy Dunker
February 15th, 2012
9:54 am
I should have also said that Joe Johnson also disappears against the good teams…
Grandaddy Dunker
February 15th, 2012
9:55 am
And Chris Kaman scored 27 points last night for Bobcats. Man, we need that guy at center yesterday…
Grandaddy Dunker
February 15th, 2012
9:56 am
I’d trade Zaza,Hinrich,and draft pick to Bobcats for Kaman today.
tjhook
February 15th, 2012
9:57 am
What year did David Stern change the rules on fouls and defense? Maybe that affected the direction of BK’s draft philosophy. He acquired Speedy Claxton, a veteran known for helping to close games when he played for the champion Spurs in 2003.
Grandaddy Dunker
February 15th, 2012
9:58 am
Joe, maybe you need to score 26+ points every game like LeBron James does since you get paid more money that he does ? I think so.
ntrigue
February 15th, 2012
9:59 am
Turning point of the game is when he took Josh out and left Marvin in and marvin could hit a shot to save his life all the while turning the ball over! He left the reserve out there too long this is a trend with Drew he doesnt understand when to put the starters back in even when the bench has played well you still have to understand not to roll with your bench to long especially when you just closed the gap then the other team is slowly pulling away!
Grandaddy Dunker
February 15th, 2012
10:00 am
Speedy Claxto was average when healthy. Then he was injured forever. Hawks wasted money & time on him. Par for their usual course.
tjhook
February 15th, 2012
10:02 am
Also, the Hawks need to trade Marvin to Milwaukee for Stephen Jackson. The team needs a player who can get his own shot and mentor Josh on the court during games aka force him off the wing shooting those jumpers. Josh would be a killer with offensive rebounds and tip ins.
Grandaddy Dunker
February 15th, 2012
10:02 am
Drew doesn’t have the answers to fix this teeam obviously !
ntrigue
February 15th, 2012
10:06 am
MC can ask Drew why does he continue to sub Hinrich in as PG instead of SG when were playing against quick pgs? And one more question why does he not run ISO plays for Teague spread out floor for him and let him go to work? One more question why does he stick to the same substitution pattern pretty much every game despite how players are playing usually Marvin 1st Jeff Teague 2nd. Games when Teague is having a good game he just takes him out instead of riding hot hand and ices our own players but if Joe is off he lets him continue to play but at the same time ive seen games where JOe was hot and this is where coach would pull Joe earlier than usual. Seem like Drew doesnt like when his players get hot or just doesnt have a good grasp of the flow of the game!
Grandaddy Dunker
February 15th, 2012
10:07 am
Damnn, is it too much to ask NBA players to show up and play hard every night ? Nobody Jeremy Lin is doing it. Why can’t Hawks players ?
Slimjr
February 15th, 2012
10:10 am
Josh limited passing skills and lack of real J are momentum busters…
I’m getting tired of his game or lack of improvement…
15.9 ppg is against the 23rd easiest sched.. (Inflated) “nimbers” for real….
Lets see what this team looks like if they had the Lakers sched through the 1st 29 games?(4th hardest sched) . Try 10-19? Yep…
P-R-E-T-E-N-D-E-R-S!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1
Slimjr
February 15th, 2012
10:13 am
GEARON, THE ONLY WAY YOU GET ME DOWN TO PHILLIPS IS IF YOU PAY ME TO BE PROFESSIONAL OBSERVER!
Slimjr
February 15th, 2012
10:14 am
I got access to free tickets and i aint going…..
Slimjr
February 15th, 2012
10:17 am
New ownership will change this loser mentality..
HAWKS=write off… Those owners/investors lost nothing…
Melvin
February 15th, 2012
10:18 am
“Joe said. “I missed a lot of easy shots for myself. I feel I could have made a lot more plays getting guys wide open shots.”
No Joe, we need you to be the scorer. Not create open jumpshots for Josh, Marvin and ZaZa to brick. I will exclude Teague b/c he’s been shooting it pretty well from 3 and rarely shoot jumpshots. We need 20 -25 pts from Joe every night and especially against the good teams. The Hawks do not have another guy that has the scoring ablilty of Joe. Joe needs to step it up and the Hawks need to acquire another scorer (JR Smith).
Grandaddy Dunker
February 15th, 2012
10:22 am
Has it ever occurred to Joe that he gets paid the most money to be the best player ? The top scorer every game ? I thought that was understood. We need 30 points 8 assists from him and his mind thinks we need 10 points and 20 assists from him. Unbelievable.
Slimjr
February 15th, 2012
10:23 am
There has to be trust to run the pick and roll..Josh and Coach dont trust, that’s why they never run the famous play…
Also you have to have a skilled offensive player( RUDY GAY) type who can stop and pop, use angles(Glass), has great handles…Josh fits none of that..Neither does Marvin…
Grandaddy Dunker
February 15th, 2012
10:24 am
You don’t get paid $24 million a year to be the assists leader on the team. You HAVE to be the top scorer and average 25+ ppg !
O'Brien
February 15th, 2012
10:26 am
AJ,
some folk don’t want to even acknowledge that before the 2005 draft class, there were very, very, very few scoring PGs in the league in the mode of Deron or CP3. They ushered in a new era, one that several GMs weren’t ready to accept. Jason Kidd was the elite PG at that time and no one was thinking those guys had the combination of size, court vision and leadership of Kidd.
Prior to that draft, Steve Nash and Jason Kidd were both putting up 15+ points, 7+ assists for their respective teams. In college, CP3 averaged 15 pts, 6 assists, and Deron was averaging 12 and 6.
BK might not have been ready to accept these new PG,s, but other GM’s were, because 3 PGs were still taken in the top 5 (Deron, CP3 and Felton). Nobody knew CP3 and Deron would develop like they did, but PG was still an important position on the team (unless you had established stars, which the Hawks didn’t have at the time).
O'Brien
February 15th, 2012
10:27 am
Ra’mon,
At the time, Chris Paul was an undersized PG who had character issues (remember the ACC Tourney incident that went viral immediately), and Deron Williams was a player who was said to be lazy and hard to motivate during workouts and practices in college..
Except for that one incident, I don’t recall hearing any other ‘red flags’ about CP3’s character issues. And despite Deron’s college issues (which didn’t stop Utah from trading up for him) dude averaged 12 and 6, and helped lead Illinois to a final 4.
I do agree that if Marvin had developed into the one of a kind player ‘Nique and many scouts and GMs thought he would be, the Hawks would be a much better team, despite our PG issues.
Ra'mon
February 15th, 2012
10:27 am
AJ, that is so true. Because in the way they view D. Rose now, Iverson would’ve retired as a PG and not a SG. If you think about it, Marbury was the closest to Williams, and even a better scorer. But every time Marbury left a team, the PG they brought in afterwards always did better (Terrell Brandon – Minnesota, Jason Kidd- New Jersey, Steve Nash- Phoenix). The fact remains Phil Jackson has won 11 titles without a top notch point guard.
Aside from Marvin, the one lottery pick the Hawks had that I thought would breakthrough was Demarr Johnson. I thought Johnson would be the next Pippen. But after the accident, was never the same.
Slimjr
February 15th, 2012
10:27 am
Matt Barnes OWNS ISO!!!! We knew going in that ISO would be a NON-MOTHER FREAKING FACTOR? Plus he had to guard Kobe? Duh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Why are you people so surprised he got shut down again…..Matt has the key..ISO is on lock down with they meet up..
Slimjr
February 15th, 2012
10:29 am
You cant run pick and rolls with our front line..They are incapable….
heat check
February 15th, 2012
10:31 am
303, that behind-the-back from Teague didn’t touch Barnes. It went straight from Teague’s right hand to his own left foot. That’s why he had that “just made the Not Top Ten” list look on his face.
Is the blog jumping back to the top of the page constantly for everyone else, or is that just me?
Ra'mon
February 15th, 2012
10:33 am
I’ll be honest guys, Joe could get 30 points any night that he wants to. The problem is, the team wouldn’t win if he did it. It would be nothing for Joe to go out and shoot 20-25 shots a game. Even though the coach calls ISO a lot. We rarely see Joe REALLY force the issue like other number one options (’Nique). The fact is that Joe is such a great TEAM basketball player, that he makes the correct pass even when others would force the issue.
O’B, its at http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/Chris-Paul-14/ . Paul’s long list of weaknesses, much longer than Marvin’s at the time.
Slimjr
February 15th, 2012
10:33 am
Hawks should have taken CP3, Andre, Rudy, and Noah as lottery picks!
These picks would have made them a legit contender even with Woody coaching them….
Astro Joe
February 15th, 2012
10:34 am
OB, 15 points would be a down year for guys like Paul, Deron, Rose, Westbrook, Rondo, etc. Those guys would be contemplating retirement if they were putting up 15 a game in the prime of their career.
Ra'mon
February 15th, 2012
10:36 am
The most attempts Joe has taken in a game is 23 this season (three times), compared to Kobe who has taken 29 or more attempts 10 times this season.
vava74
February 15th, 2012
10:38 am
Ra’mon,
“The fact remains Phil Jackson has won 11 titles without a top notch point guard.”
You can credit that to two things:
a) Tex Winter’s triangle offense; and
b) absolutely superior talent (MJ-Pippen / Kobe-Shaq / Kobe-Pau);
Slimjr
February 15th, 2012
10:39 am
” Another come-from-behind victory for Kobe Bryant … sucking face and possibly reconciling with the woman who has now taken all of his homes …. Vanessa Bryant.
Vanessa showed up for the Lakers Valentine’s Day victory over the Atlanta Hawks. The two shared a kiss in the tunnel on the way into the locker room.
TMZ broke the story … Vanessa filed for divorce in December, and they have already sealed the property settlement deal in which Vanessa got all 3 Newport Beach estates.
But sources told us at the time Vanessa filed … don’t be surprised if she goes back to Bryant.
And, although Kobe and Vanessa have submitted all the necessary docs to divorce, it doesn’t become final until mid-June, so there’s plenty of time to withdraw the papers.
What the HELL is going on here?!?! She takes $75 million and 3 houses from you and you’re still entertaining this broad?!?!”
Kobe is a freakin Magician! Hahahaha!
Section 303
February 15th, 2012
10:41 am
heat check, I thought it hit Barnes….regardless, bigger point was that Teague could have attacked the rim, but bailed. I took that as a bad sign. Starting to expect great things from Teague. He did not come through on that play at all.
Listened to Bill Simmons’ podcast with Bob Ryan on the way to work today. Ryan went on a one minute rant about how he hates the Hawks.
Astro Joe
February 15th, 2012
10:42 am
Joe isn’t the kind of player who can score 20-25 points against double teams every night. So while we’d like to just say that should happen because of his contract, it ain’t happening. In order for the TEAM to win, at least 2 other players have to step up as viable half-court scorers. I don’t care what their draft status was, their current salary, which sneaker they wear or the type of car they drive… beating a good team with a single half-court consistent threat is next to impossible. Even the future HOFer Kobe can’t accomplish that game after game.
Astro Joe
February 15th, 2012
10:45 am
heat check, blog is herky-jerky for me too. I figured it was yet another penalty for being a Hawks fan.
Ra'mon
February 15th, 2012
10:45 am
Vava, of course. Besides the Pistons and A’keem’s Rockets, what was the last team to win a title without TWO future or present Hall of Fame members? Boston had 3, Miami had 3 (Shaq-Wade-Payton), San Antonio had two-twice (Duncan – Ginobli, Duncan- Admiral), Houston had two in one of their seasons (Olajuwon – Drexler). The old Lakers and Celtics had 3 or 4 minimum. The Bad Boys had 3 or 4. But out of all those seasons, only Isaiah’s Pistons and Magic’s Lakers, was there a HoF or all star point guard leading the way. (Billups wasn’t an all star until AFTER they won the title, and same for Rondo).
ryan
February 15th, 2012
10:47 am
Fire the hole Hawks franchise this team is garbage if the Hawks had any of the heart that Jeremy Lin has we would at least a little better this crap .
Melvin
February 15th, 2012
10:50 am
OB,
Not drafting Paul or Deron was a big mistake but I think BK biggest mistake was drafting Sheldon at 5. Check the Sekou old blogs, I’m on record asking for the Hawks to draft Rudy Gay that year. There were no Bigs worth drafting in the lottery after Bargnani and Aldridge. Anyone who watched or scouted Sheldon knew he was too slow, short and not atheletic enough to be worthy of a lottery selection. BK cave to the pressure of drafting a big b/c he chose swing men in the previous 3 drafts. He should have went with the best available talent or traded down to draft Sheldon. That number 5 pick turn out to be useless for the Hawks. Then again, his drafting from 2004-2006 was so bad that I can’t really say with year was worst than the other. Josh Smith was the only pick 1st round pick he got right during those years.
ryan
February 15th, 2012
10:50 am
Yep the Chris Paul thing will always come back and hunt the Hawks Atlanta is cursed sports town .
Slimjr
February 15th, 2012
10:50 am
If the Hawks had taken Rudy, then Josh could have been traded for legit Big to back up Noah!
Ra'mon
February 15th, 2012
10:52 am
If anything, the injury to Horford should actually show us how good the Hawks big three really are! They have to be underrated out of any trio in the league. What other trio has been to the 2nd round 3 straight seasons, and get no respect from national media. And the fact that the Hawks have NO ONE on this roster who can step up when one goes down to contribute even for 3-5 game stretches at a high level out side of those three is crazy. Even Jamal would be hot for 2 games, and cold for 2 games. Every successful playoff team, normally have 5-7 good players you can count on night in and night out. The Hawks have THREE! That is management fault, not the players.
Ra'mon
February 15th, 2012
10:55 am
Ryan, long as CP3 doesn’t have a ring (and he won’t get one for the next 5 seasons), that pick won’t necessarily ‘hunt’ the Hawks. Fact remains that Joe/Josh/Al has lead us further than CP3 lead his teams. Look at it this way, could be worse. The Hawks could have drafted Brandon Roy, AND got the number one pick to draft Greg Oden, to see them both out of the league 4 seasons later.
dawgforlife
February 15th, 2012
10:56 am
If I were Drew, I would fine anyone who brought the ball up the court not named Jeff Teague 10,000 for each offense. I would run the offense through him. Smith and Johnson need to be finishing at the basket, not dribbling the ball…and Johnson, don’t get me started. As long as the Hawks offsnse is isolation with Joe and a 20 foot falling down shot with 2 seconds on the shot clock, the Hawks will be no better than they are now. Until the headcoach runs the team and Smith and Johnson get with the program, what you see is what they are…
Melvin
February 15th, 2012
11:09 am
Astro,
Looking at last night box scores and game. Teague scored over his avg, Josh at his avg and even Vlad Rad scored over his avg. Now you tell me who names are missing?
hawksfancents95
February 15th, 2012
11:18 am
our problem (main problem) is we cant put up enough points against these superior teams, the good teams limit joe to about 15 pts and if joe cant put up 20+ we are dead. josh will get 15 and teague might get 15 but we need another scorer. before the season we had a golden oppurtunity to get monta ellis for al horford. if our starting lineup was teague monta joe josh zaza we could put up 100 a game and teams wouldnt be able to focus on joe cuz teague and monta would be gettin to the paint at will. marvin only was good from 3 during that earlh road stretch cuz teams were so focused on joe and marvin got way open looks. if we dont make any trades like moving kirk or marvin, we need to go with teague kirk joe josh zaza, move marvin to the bench and let willie get kirk and kirk get teague and split tmac and marv at 3, no more time for vlad and give ivan PF mins and marv a few PF mins as long as zaza or damp is in at 5.
im starting to wish we were a lottery team than a team stuck in mediocrity. if u asked me in the early 2000s if making the playoffs 5 years in a row would be in our future id be so happy but its really just a mirage because really its by default and we have no chance of doing anything once we get in. we need to shake things up in the offseason and trade AL.
darrell starks
February 15th, 2012
11:22 am
Welcome back MC, please post a blog one day talking about Marvin and how you feel about him.
THANKS.
GO HAWKS!!!!!!!!!!!!