Atlanta Hawks: Hawks 101, Suns 99
Phoenix–I’ll let Willie Green sum it up: “First half we allowed them to dictate the tempo of the game. They pretty much got anything they wanted. They just controlled the game. The second half we threw that zone at them, threw them off rhythm a little bit, got our hands up on their shots, got some fastbreak points. We got right back in the game.”
- The Suns shredded the Hawks through three quarters. The Hawks hung around because Willie Green, Jeff Teague and Josh Smith made 3s, Smith controlled the boards and they collected 11 steals.
- The Hawks started to pull away to win in the fourth quarter because the zone slowed Phoenix’s screen-roll game and the Suns couldn’t make enough shots or pry away misses from Smith. “I thought the turning point was we couldn’t seem to get anything going against their zone,” Alvin Gentry said.
- In the fourth quarter Smith scored 10 points and rebounded six of Phoenix’s eight misses. Green and Vladimir Radmanovic each made a timely 3. It also helped that Steve Nash (!) and Ronnie Price picked up some ill-timed technical fouls.
- It wasn’t always pretty for the Hawks. They had some bumbling plays, like Vlad Rad and Kirk Hinrich fumbling away a simple handoff exchange and Josh stepping out of the bounds while setting up for a 3. Josh couldn’t quite kick his jumper habit.
- But the Hawks won and now get two days without a game for the first time all season. “I thought it was a typo on my schedule,” Larry Drew said. “We need it in the worst way. I told the guys I don’t even want to see them tomorrow, just get away.”
- “I don’t want to see him either,” Josh said. “I want to see the bed, the pillow, the cover.”
- Smith deserves some sleep. He played the entire fourth quarter and alternated between scoring on Js and by attacking the basket. He was a beast on the boards, had two steals and was a menace patrolling the middle of the zone in the small lineup.
- “I just wanted to be aggressive,” Josh said. “I knew they were keying in on Joe [Johnson] and we needed some offense somewhere else. Me and Willie definitely picked up the slack. We played like we were supposed to be playing throughout the game.”
- Josh almost didn’t get his chance to carry the Hawks late. “I was going to pull Josh out early in fourth, but Joe said, ‘Leave him out there. He’s young.’ I’m glad he did because he just played a phenomenal game inside and out and defensively he was all over the place.”
- Joe: “When you’ve got a guy rolling like that. . . . He can handle it. He’s only 24, 25 (actually 26). He’s got some mileage left. Ride him until the wheels fall off. We’ve got two days off. He can rest tomorrow. I definitely wasn’t going to let coach take him out of the game, whether I had to sit down or not.”
- Josh’s final line in 45 minutes: 30 points on 23 shots, 17 rebounds, seven assists, four steals, three blocked shots, four turnovers.
- After Josh got off on a steady diet of post-ups during a stretch of the fourth quarter, Drew put the ball in Joe’s hands. It didn’t go well. His deliberate style slowed what had been a crisp offensive rhythm. That’s not a big problem when he’s creating and making good shots but he wasn’t doing that at winning time. “Credit guys like Willie and Vlad for coming off the bench and being ready,” Joe said.
- Most of Drew’s other moves worked out. The zone could have backfired if the Suns made shots and the Hawks couldn’t rebound but, really, it was the only hope of preventing Nash from carving them up.
- “We was having trouble guarding those guys man-to-man,” Green said. “Steve Nash is so good with the ball, if you don’t pick him up and get your hands in his vision he is hitting guys diving down at the basket for pinpoint shots. Second half we were keeping them under control, kept them on the perimeter and making them shoot over us.”
- I also can’t really fault Drew for closing with Green, Hinrich and Vlad Rad over Jeff Teague, Marvin Williams and Zaza Pachulia. And that’s not just with the benefit of hindsight.
- Teague was having a good offensive game but, when the Hawks did play man on a couple possessions, Hinrich was much better than Teague with crowding Nash and fighting over screens. Marvin was rebounding but Green was making shots (and six free throws). Zaza was having a strong game but the small lineup worked with Vlad Rad as a threat to make 3s.
- “In this kind of game you try to find the right combination of guys out there that can get you in some kind of rhythm,” Drew said. “Josh at five, Vlad at the four, it seemed to work out. We had the defense spread pretty good and we had shooters all over the place.”
- After a rough night checking Andrew Bynum, which happens, Zaza (two blocks, two steals) again more than held his own against an opponent with more accolades and a bigger paycheck. He’s never going to be nimble enough to defend a screen-roll attack this good. But he fills a valuable role on a team where driving to the basket and earning free throws and defense at the rim are scarce commodities.
- Tracy McGrady said it was his decision to sit: “Just resting”
- The Hawks still had to sweat it out at the end. After Channing Frye’s putback, Josh took the ball out from under the Suns’ basket. He sailed a long pass into the backcourt, which was a good idea because Green was breaking free. However, the pass was way too long and bounced away a few feet in front of Green.
- If Green didn’t at least touch it, it’s Phoenix ball under its basket with 2.1 seconds left. “Whatever it took, I was going to dive at it,” Green said. “I knew I just had to touch it.”
- Josh: “He’s athletic enough to run it down. He said he was definitely going to get a hand on it. I’m glad that he did. I’m really happy that he did.”
Michael Cunningham, Hawks beat
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422 comments Add your comment
vava74
February 16th, 2012
2:15 am
northcyde
February 16th, 2012
2:09 am
Vava, everybody in front of Lin had to get hurt in order for D’antoni to play him. He’d still be playing Toney Douglas.
Actually northcyde, I think that Woody would have played Bibby. I don’t think he has been hurt.
Just sucking bad, as he did during his last 2 years with us.
ag
February 16th, 2012
2:15 am
JT 7-12 16 pts 5 ast 24 minutes. KH 2-8 5pts 3 ast 25 minutes… WTF? JJ 2-10 6 pts in 36 minutes…. Common man!
ag
February 16th, 2012
2:17 am
I think we should incorporate the pick and roll – imagine Josh and JT. I have not seen it once this season.
Slimjr
February 16th, 2012
2:18 am
LD is on Kirk’s jock strap for sure!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
High-sider
February 16th, 2012
2:19 am
@vava74, slimjr, and northcyde
Willie Green scores 20 points off the bench tonight and y’all [you all] go crazy over his [Green's] performance. Jamal Crawford during his tenure with Atlanta scored 20+ points off the bench in 49-50 regular season and 30+ points in four regular season games. Furthermore, Jamal Crawford scored 20+ points off the bench in [10] playoff games for the Hawks. You do the math. You all are just some unappreciative, ungrateful, hate-filled scubs, busters, clowns and crumbs.
Lastly, I’m waiting to see Willie Green accept his [future] Sixth-Man of the Year Award.
Slimjr
February 16th, 2012
2:20 am
Josh has to roll to the basket after he gives it up.. He stands there and ask for it back..He does not trust his guards..He is point guard Josh!
Slimjr
February 16th, 2012
2:22 am
Willie Green is a keeper.. JC1 ah not so much….
vava74
February 16th, 2012
2:22 am
Slimjr,
I don’t want to compare Lin’s apparent ability to play a more traditional PG style of play (passing, setting the tempo, …) but Teague entered the league with loads of confidence and did really well in the pre-season.
Woody and LD almost killed his confidence with those DNP-CD after every decent game he had and by pulling him every single time he made a mistake.
I don’t think he is fully healed or hardened yet from that treatment.
Slimjr
February 16th, 2012
2:23 am
Watch LD yank JT at the 6 min mark in the 1st quarter Saturday night! Sheesh!!!!!!!!!!!!
Slimjr
February 16th, 2012
2:25 am
vava74, agreed. I wish Larry would let Teague play and only sub him with Pargo for a little breather..
Slimjr
February 16th, 2012
2:29 am
Woody would have Lin sitting on the bench for sure.. Bibby would be starting still….Hahahah…
Go Hawks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! G-Night Gentlemen!
Triangle Offense
February 16th, 2012
2:31 am
A trap Crawford is
High-sider
February 16th, 2012
2:39 am
“Jamal Crawford scored his 12,000th point on that clutch 3 [point field goal] tonight. That’s classic! What a storied [field goal] make!” – High-sider
“In addition, that made clutch three pointer [in the Blazers win against the Warriors] was his [Jamal Crawford's] 12th point of the night [game].” – High-sider
“It was his 12th shot too. He was 4 – 11 fg for 9 points before that shot.” – northcyde
And they say “deuces are wild”? What do they say about 12’s? Are dozens ever wild?
12,000 points in 2012; what a great omen! Look at all these “duodenary” [twelfth] references. It’s gotta be a [good] sign as in 12 signs of the zodiac.
High-sider
February 16th, 2012
2:52 am
“You all are just some unappreciative, ungrateful, hate-filled scubs[sic], busters, clowns and crumbs.” – High-sider
The word “scubs” should have been “scrubs.”
hittman jamillion
February 16th, 2012
3:00 am
THIS STATEMENT BY JJ TELLS IT ALL. “I TOLD COACH LEAVE ME OUT KEEP JOSH IN”. IT TELLS WHAT I’VE BEEN SAYING LD SUBSTITUTIONS COME BASED ON CONTRACT AND NOT WHAT IS HAPPENING IN THE GAME,THRU A PLAYERS PERFORMANCE.FINALLY SOMEONE TOLD THIS JOKE HOW TO COACH .AND IT ALSO SHOWS THE TIME TO TRADE JJ IS ASAP. HE DOESN’T HAVE IT. IF I CAN’T SNAG DH FOR HIM AND AL. GIVE ME MONTE ELLIS, A DRAFT PICK AND BEINDRIS. THE PICK IS THE ICING ON THE CAKE.
soullrenaissance
February 16th, 2012
3:02 am
LD is an idiot who made a good adjustment in switching to zone d – learn from Lin and D’Antoni let Teague play through his flaws. Stop worrying about what he can’t do and magnify what he can do! LD LD LD…great game by Smoove and Willie Green.
hittman jamillion
February 16th, 2012
3:05 am
PS THIS ALSO CONFIRMS WHAT I BEEN SAYING AS FAR AS TEAGIES CONCERNED. DUDE HAD LIKE ELEVEN POINTS IN THE FIRST FIVE MINUTES AND YOU TAKE HIM OUT TO SATISFACTION OF KIRKS PT.WTH. YOU ALWAYS RIDE THE HOTMAN AND DITCH THE COLD ONE,SO EASY A CAVE MAN CAN DO IT.LD NEEDS COACHING FOR DUMMIES
Mac-Town (#maconchevyrider)
February 16th, 2012
3:06 am
Willie Green is averaging 6 shot attempts a game. he’s shooting 44% from 2 and 42% from 3.
He averages 15 and a half mins a game.
Jamal Crawford is averaging 13 shot attempts a game. he’s shooting 38% from 2 and 32% from 3.
He averages 26 and a half mins a game.
The numbers tell me that if Willie Green played as many minutes and took as many shots as Jamal, He’d average more
plus he plays better defense. I’ll take Green’s production this year over Jamal’s.
hittman jamillion
February 16th, 2012
3:11 am
Andrew your like up looks good today but next year we’d be road kill with a old folk home pierce and a sorry ass jj,so no.now jj for pp ill do in my sleep
Mac-Town (#maconchevyrider)
February 16th, 2012
3:13 am
We got buddy in for 34 mins tonight and he dropped 20. The last time we got him in for more than 20 mins he dropped 17. Give Green his props, money was better spent on him than overpaying for Crawford.
High-sider
February 16th, 2012
3:16 am
I believe this is [also] Jamal Crawford’s 12th year in the [NBA] league.
tyger
February 16th, 2012
3:17 am
Can we just pay JJ $237,000 a night just to stay home?
hittman jamillion
February 16th, 2012
3:17 am
Andrew’s trade for dh is cool. We get back our position of need player for scrap,orlando wouldnt touch that trade but sub marv for al and they would,but keep the pick,then i would do it. But they wanna make it so much bout jj,they don’t want to cut there losses on a mistake.
E43
February 16th, 2012
3:20 am
Vava74- To be honest, Teague would have been traded instead of Jordan Crawford if Teague happened to be the rookie. The only reason Teague wasn’t traded last year was because of his label of point guard of the future. Loosing Teague and Bibby would have split the locker room in half. Otherwise, Jordan Crawford was doing everything LD expected Teague to do but didn’t have the time to develop him because of Teague, Jamal and Bibby.
Mac-Town (#maconchevyrider)
February 16th, 2012
3:28 am
What’s the deal with Teague having these huge 1st quarters then only scoring about 4 or 5 more points the rest of the game???
High-sider
February 16th, 2012
3:42 am
@Mac-Town(#maconchevyrider)
“Willie Green is averaging 6 shot attempts a game. he’s shooting 44% from 2 and 42% from 3.
He averages 15 and a half mins a game.
Jamal Crawford is averaging 13 shot attempts a game. he’s shooting 38% from 2 and 32% from 3.
He averages 26 and a half mins a game.
The numbers tell me that if Willie Green played as many minutes and took as many shots as Jamal, He’d average more
plus he plays better defense. I’ll take Green’s production this year over Jamal’s.” – Mac-Town(#maconchevyrider)
“Per 36 Minutes” Statistics as provided by basketball-reference.com:
2011-2012 PPG average per 36 minutes [through 29 games]:
Jamal Crawford – 19.5ppg
Willie Green – 15.2ppg [through 30 games Green's ppg average is 15.3]
Remember, if Willie Green plays extra minutes and shoots extra shots does not necessarily mean he [Green] will make extra shots. Have you ever heard of “the law of diminishing returns”?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diminishing_returns
Buddy Grizzard
February 16th, 2012
5:01 am
“Vava, everybody in front of Lin had to get hurt in order for D’antoni to play him. He’d still be playing Toney Douglas.” – northcyde
Yep… he was hours away from getting cut by the Knicks before his contract became guaranteed for the rest of the season. Najeh posted a nice video of Lin in garbage time earlier in the season looking terrible… it’s no wonder they didn’t think he could play. D’Antoni threw him out there against NJ because he basically had nothing to lose… his firing was practically a foregone conclusion at that point. Now D’Antoni has made himself indispensable. His pick and roll offense is what allows Lin to function with all the limitations of his game. No way they don’t extend D’Antoni after this season. He gets paid, MSG stock value has gone up a quarter of a billion dollars in 10 days and Lin is making $800k… love this story.
vava74
February 16th, 2012
5:04 am
Buddy,
Personally, I still think Lin will come back to Earth… and real hard once the league takes him a bit more seriously.
I see him become a Barea type of player at best.
Actually, on our side, Teague has been struggling a bit also on account of scouting catching up as well, just like they caught up on Horford in last year’s playoffs.
Buddy Grizzard
February 16th, 2012
5:25 am
There will definitely be regression to the mean… Lin is not an elite shooter, passer or ball handler. The Hawks will need to use some of the same tactics they used against PHX, which still runs D’Antoni’s offense. If you can keep Lin from getting to the basket, that’s 90% of his game.
However, Lin doesn’t need to average 20 points and 7 assists for the rest of his career to have a lasting impact on the Knicks. Landry Fields was a forgotten man while Melo was taking the air out of the ball with isolations. Who ever heard of Steve Novak? By showing that the Knicks can win by playing team ball and getting everybody involved, he’s completely changed the character of this team. Melo has to come back and blend in… he doesn’t want to go back to being reviled the way he was while the Knicks’ season was tanking, and he knows that’s what will happen if he comes back and the Knicks start losing. Lin can average 10 PPG for the rest of the season and his impact will not cease to be felt.
vava74
February 16th, 2012
5:49 am
I have a new theory/plan – PLEASE BEAR WITH ME:
Let’s clearly make the Hawks, Josh’s team.
Give him chief cog status and ALL the shots he wants. And I mean ALL.
Basically, I think Josh misses most of jumpers when he DOUBTS himself.
I think that contrary to popular belief and to what he speaks out, Josh does listen to criticism and takes it to his heart, BUT he reacts in a contradictory way:
1. He decides and wants to go against his critics and prove them wrong;
BUT
2. When he is on court, and many times when he receives the rock, he doubts himself.
He is completely unlike Jamal, who launches shot after shot without a shadow of doubt in his brain and his confidence remaining intact even after missing 10 shots.
Josh, on the contrary, feels every miss and desires profoundly that the next shot will go in and over-thinks throughout the shooting motion.
My new offense would imply the following:
Josh as the chief cog, with freedom to shoot at will from wherever he wants to (obviously, I would privilege giving him touches in the weak side block so he could play his left hand).
Basically Josh would ALWAYS have on or around 22 shots per game.
JJ would be instructed to be the Robin to Josh – play off the rock for kick out passes from Josh AND ORDERED to hit the glass on ALL of Josh’s jumpers.
With his size, he could be an efficient rebounder if he put his mind to it.
I also think that JJ would not look at this plan negatively:
He is miscast as a chief cog – he is an overachiever trying to do something for which he does not have all the tools.
But as the second cog he could thrive again and become a solid stat stuffer 18-5-5-1.5.
With the current roster, I would have JJ and Zaza hitting the glass and Teague and Marvina getting back for transition D (I can’t trust Marvina to hit the glass).
Marvin is a reasonably disciplined defender who usually manages to stay in front of guys.
Since Marvin is basically expendable as a starter, he would be ordered to foul whenever there was a transition situation in which our defensive positioning would not be good.
Also, this could work with JJ at the SF slot and Green at the SG and would be also good with T-Mac on the floor (SG slot) acting as a facilitator-pick n roll guy with Josh if his body held up.
Dampier and Ivan as garbage collectors would also see minutes and would be ordered to pursue like hound dogs Josh’s misses.
(one of the worst things about Josh’s misses from distance is that there is NO ONE REBOUNDING.
The bottom line is:
Josh is hindered by criticism because he does not react well to it.
He lives under the believe that he should be the #1 guy in the Hawks, the hometown hero, the new Nique.
Sometimes we need to give a guy with this DESIRE AND PASSION a chance at making or breaking.
If the plan failed, maybe he would “get it” and be the one realizing that he can’t do it.
And if he failed and did not “get it”, I am sure that everyone would feel a lot better about a potential trade involving him.
The “idle chatter” would stop RIGHT THERE: “he got the chance and failed, he can’t fulfill the potential”.
OR:
He could make it and this type of games 25-12-5-3-3 could become a norm.
People get caught up on Josh’s turnovers EVEN in games when he is the major factor keeping or putting us back in the game.
IMO, with Chief Cog status, Josh could POTENTIALLY become more responsible and make better decisions.
Lin is averaging SIX turnovers per game as a starter BUT the NYK won all games.
Sometimes passion, fire, desire overcome cold blooded stats.
Jerry West
February 16th, 2012
6:43 am
Vava,
I can’t see giving Josh free reign to shoot that many times. Too scared of how many would be jumpers. Get him more shots, but get em to him at the rim. Take the ball out of his hands out on the perimeter and run more post plays for him. I would like to find a way to bring his passion to the fore on a more consistent basis though. Even though he can coast at times, he’s the 1 guy in the core that actually seems to have some fire in his belly.
On the subject of Josh, it amazes me that no one (or Josh himself) has realized that averaging a double-double would probably get him to the All Star game. That 10+ rebs/ game would get coaches attention IMO. 15-16/10/2 bpg is hard to ignore.
Oh yeah, Free Jeff Teague!
vava74
February 16th, 2012
7:28 am
The issue is that Josh will not respond to reasoning so we might just simply give him the car keys.
If he crashes the car, so be it, at least he cannot think/feel/say that he was not given the opportunity.
Nique, back in the day, TOOK A TON of bad shots but we were competitive because he was always going all out every single night.
If Josh got all the shots he wanted I think that after 20/25 games there is chance that he would settle down a bit.
Sometimes people only grow up and become responsible when they are put in a position where they have no option but.
It’s 7 years now and he has never been happy: It’s a MAKE OR BREAK strategy.
Also, I really think his shooting woes are also mental and that ONE POSSIBILITY of making him get loose and shoot in rhythm is to set him free and give him the chief cog status.
How many times have you seen him hesitate 2 or 3 times before shooting an air-ball???
IMO, this strategy/plan only has about 20/25% chance of working but we are stranded as we are so we might as well go for it.
If ballclubs sometimes decide to simply go rebuild mode, why not go into rebuild mode from within by forcefully alter the balance of power???
Tell me a good reason for not gambling like this when the other option is to eventually trade Josh or lose him to free agency without TRYING all available possibilities???
NUNNA!!
February 16th, 2012
7:46 am
Cotton Fitz..
February 16th, 2012
1:43 am
You HOMO…dont get it!! They do listen oi Drew,,,that’s why they’re doin this well!!!!
————————————————————————-
Thats why you call yourself cotton? Yea,you are soft..
And yes i know thats the name of the former hawk coach.
This team wins are in spite of LD,Mrs. Drew
Section 303
February 16th, 2012
7:48 am
I will gladly eat crow for giving up on the Hawks last night. I could not believe what I was seeing in the late 3rd/4th quarter. Did not think they had a comeback in them. Josh went from awful to great.
I hate the iso-Joe play. In fact, I hate iso-anyone. The play does not work. I would bet, if we could get stats on that play, that it works less than 15% of the time. Having everyone stand around, watching someone dribble forever only to force up a bad shot is not a good idea.
Not only do the Hawks need a rest, but I think I need a rest from them. They were driving me nuts last night. Plus, I had just stayed up until 1 AM watching them give the Lakers a win. Will be nice to not have to watch them for a couple of nights.
Dawg
February 16th, 2012
7:52 am
What’s up with JJ? He was not even an average sg last night. He was bad. Why did he play 36 minutes?
I wonder if Sund even has a plan.
NUNNA!!
February 16th, 2012
7:52 am
And i like how Nique played politics during the beginning of the telecast on why we didn’t see Ivan at all in the game against the Lakers,citing the size of the lakers front line.
I guess nique didn’t pat attention to all of the other times Ivan played taller forwards and even centers but did very well against them huh? Like Bosh in the triple overtime game?
I think he reads this section faithfully..
Hi Nique!!!
O'Brien
February 16th, 2012
8:03 am
I thought the Hawks would win last night. But props to Najeh, who predicted they would win by 4 (that last Suns bucket cost him).
Happy for the team win. And despite the many faults/shortcomings of our players, I think we would be so much better if we had a better coach.
O'Brien
February 16th, 2012
8:04 am
AJ,
Last 8 games, JJ is 10-38 from 3 (26%), including 2-13 the last 2 games. Is he saving his stroke for the 3-pt competition?
Game Ball goes to Josh. A few more performances like this will hopefully get him into the all-star game as a reserve (if somebody pulls out).
However, if he has too many of these games between this season and next, he will price himself out of the ASG’s range.
O'Brien
February 16th, 2012
8:05 am
northcyde,
Do you still want Marvin to play more minutes? We are basically paying $7.5 mil for a guy to rebound, and make open 3’s.
E43
February 16th, 2012
8:14 am
NUNNA!!- Gasol and Bynum are both 7ft tall and Ivan is 6ft 8. You still have to put points on the board. Ivan’s ability to get into the paint has waned with him having to face bigger guys.
E43
February 16th, 2012
8:25 am
“What’s up with JJ? He was not even an average sg last night. He was bad. Why did he play 36 minutes?
I wonder if Sund even has a plan.”
Teams have learned to put length on him. He can make two or three but he would begin to wear down faster. Good way to counter this is to insert Ivan at PF and move Josh Smith to small forward. This way you can force the issue in the paint instead of having Marvin settle for a mid-long range jump shot.
northcyde
February 16th, 2012
8:55 am
@ vava
Let’s not get carried away now. Josh did this against the Phoenix Suns, not the Bulls, Heat, Celtics, Magic, or Sixers. I will agree that if you want to run more offense through Josh, with him finding open shooters, that’s cool. But those teams in the East would’ve made us pay dearly last night. And it was Josh’s defense that kept us in that game last night. Then he took over offensively
@ O’Brien
It was just 3 games ago in which Marvin was playing good defense, rebounding, and knocking down threes vs Orlando. My opinion on Marvin is the same as Teague. When those guys are making a contribution, you reward them with extended minutes. Just don’t automatically take minutes from them because you feel you have to play other people. Especially if those other people aren’t producing either.
Hollywould
February 16th, 2012
9:05 am
How can our all star play 66 minutes in the last 2 games and not get ONE rebound? Incredible/ let him sit and let the team pass the ball.
ag
February 16th, 2012
9:05 am
vava74, you have some great points. People have always questioned Josh BB IQ – I always thought he is just to competitive. He does have the most heart on the team. We all know that JJ is Robin. By focusing on Josh will make JJ game a lot easier because he no longer has all the double teams. I will admit we are the WORST pick and roll team in the league – on offense and on defense. The person I see set the most picks is JT for JJ. But it is not a roll and it usually is an ISO Joe against a smaller guard.
On defense – you cannot go through a pick. Lopez and Nash were killing JT. The coach finally made the adjustment, but JT has to either go over or under the screen. I also would have trapped Nash (they did it a couple of times with success) at the top of the key.
northcyde
February 16th, 2012
9:06 am
And lets not get carried away about JJ either. Teams are starting to double him on a lot of possessions now. My issue with him is that he’s letting teams take him out of the game and forcing him into bad shots. But all the attention he receives does allow others to have open looks or work one on one. Dude just have to either start catching and shooting, or use his dribble to directly go toward the rim.
ag
February 16th, 2012
9:14 am
Funny, Josh has 12 DD – the Hawks are 10-2 in those games. The Hawks are 10-0 win Josh scorers 19 points or more – but have only two quality wins (Chicago and Orlando). Joe llikewise is 12-1 when he scorers at least 20 but only three quality wins (Indy, Port and Miami).
northcyde
February 16th, 2012
9:17 am
And stop being so soft and draw some contact to get to the line
tom
February 16th, 2012
9:28 am
can they just play zone for the rest of the season?
Walt Frazier
February 16th, 2012
9:31 am
Even Joe Johnson can outcoach LD. He told LD not to pull Josh out out the game, “cause he’s young”. Now-what does that say? Joe know’s he’s up in age-and he seems to have more of an accurate guage on what’s going with his teammates than LD. LD was just trying everything he could think of (which wasn’t much), and then decided to listen to the “money” player-this time- it worked.
Astro Joe
February 16th, 2012
9:33 am
OB, again, the home run contest usually screws up hitters and I think the 3-point contest can mess with some shooters. Obviously, a guy like Ray Allen wouldn’t be bothered by the contest (heck, they should re-name it the ray Allen 3-Poiont Contest), but Joe is (usually) a good and not great 3-point shooter. My guess is that it is on his mind and it is affecting his game. I saw very little attempts to shoot floaters int he paint last night, and that is his go-to shot.
Good to see the hawks win in an unorthodox fashion. The better teams find all kind of different ways to win games with different combinations of players on the floor. If a team can only win in 2-3 wyas, then they are more easy to defeat.
The difference last night was defense. botht he use of the zone and the general teacity brought to the defensive side of the floor. Suns were solar-hot in the first half with 67% shooting and then dealt with an eclipse and 40% shooting int he second half. LD has more players capable of playing both sides of the floor than we have seen over the past 5+ years. Being able to win an ugly road game with the bench backcourt playing the 4th quarter is nothing but really, really nice.
New heroes can emerge for the next game.