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
pointguardslim
February 16th, 2012
5:49 pm
ess physical attributes and or skills than Joe and still able to score their average. Ex.
Pierce – shorter with longer arms (Vince, Leuer, Damien,Carmelo,Josh’s, David Lee same length), make him seem more explosive. More reach, better dunker and touch around rim.
Ray- smaller quicker
Reggie Miller – smaller quicker
Redd – smaller naturally quicker guard
——–
@draftexpress
Durant: 6′10″, 7′4.75″ length
Chris Webber: 6′10″, 7′3.5″ length
Brandan Wright: 6′10″, 7′3.5″ length
Marvin Williams: 6′8″, 7′3.5″ length
easy to see why we thought Marvin could play PF. Length. Just no height to balance his strength length and center of gravity.
Joe Johnson: 6′8″, 6′9″ length
I’m willing to overlook Leuer’s deficiencies because he’s on a long list of players with a certain range wingspan that have been very very good.
Jon Leuer: 6′11″, 7′0″ length
David Lee: 6′9″, 7′0″ length
Josh Smith: 6′8.25″, 7′0″ length
Paul Pierce: 6′7″, 7′0″ length
Caron Butler: 6′6.75″, 7′0″ length
Vince Carter: 6′6.5″, 7′0″ length
Chris Kaman: 7′0.5″, 6′11.75″ length
Kevin Love: 6′9.5″, 6′11.5″ length
Marvin is terrible. Just had to show someon how slow he is on small forwards hurts us. He is so slow hes scared to take a single step off of Lebron. Bosh comes for a screen and Marvin is so far up Bron’s jock he doesnt let Josh Smith through on a screen and Smith has to go over both Lebron and Bosh. Bosh gets way too much room and it ends with Bosh putting Horford and Josh on a poster. Detrimental Duck. Pay Attention to the Details of Team Basketball.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7qQAawLk78
Then I had to show the guy Leuer vs Bosh video with Bosh chucking from outside and forced out of post by Leuer & he shut up.
pointguardslim
February 16th, 2012
5:56 pm
“But I am almost at the point that Vlad Rad is probably about as good as Marvin at SF.”
Really, I reached that conclusion weeks ago.
pointguardslim
February 16th, 2012
5:58 pm
That top post’s line Should Read:
“Less physical attributes and or skills than Joe and still able to score their average.”
Joe has a bigger frame but thats not what gets it done. Think Jordan and Kobe, he had elite arm length and speed.
Pierce has length similar to Josh and Melo and Lebron. Joe will never be Pierce. Still love him tho.
pointguardslim
February 16th, 2012
6:00 pm
“What I see from Jeremy and what I hear in his interviews is he appreciates everything. He pursues his dream. His attitude is so peaceful, but there is strength to him. It is not a violent strength like fire or something aggressive. It is like the ocean, very peaceful, very quiet when you look at it. But you can never underestimate the power that is in there.”
-Yaostradamus
steven a smith
February 16th, 2012
6:17 pm
Paul Pierce would be the perfect fit at SF for the Hawks…Draft Dee Bost to replace Hinrich. Also, Draft Gonzaga C Sacre to help in the middle.
steven a smith
February 16th, 2012
6:19 pm
Amnesty Al Horford next season..or Joe Johnson…
TMACfan
February 16th, 2012
6:29 pm
Can we please resign Josh Smith. If you think he is a problem, then what is the coach?
prison mike
February 16th, 2012
6:42 pm
If Duck could have maintained his 15 and 8 he had for a brief moment KH and Duck for Melo would have been plausible. Alas Duck won’t elevate his game for this franchise.
Hate to say it but Josh is gone after 2013. He’ll get his money and be on a better ran organization. Finally on a team that has a true point guard and competent coaching staff. Irving and Josh would be scary for Cleveland….
Najeh Davenpoop
February 16th, 2012
6:42 pm
JR Smith is close to a deal with the Knicks.
Ra'mon
February 16th, 2012
6:48 pm
Najeh, that helps the Hawks. JR is just a more athletic Crawford who will shoot a team out of a game when given the chance. And he’s not a great defender either.
O'Brien
February 16th, 2012
6:57 pm
Najeh,
Jr smith close to signinv with the knicks. How many scorers does that team need? Unless they are thinking that they cant play defense, so might as well get more offense.
Melvin,
Since jj unable to score his average against good teams, it will be interesting to see how many rebs and assists he averages against them.
Buth with him only averaging 4 rebs and 4 assists for the season, i will assume his numbers are not much better in those games.
Doc,
more names for him. ‘Average joe’ and ‘ordinary joe’.
Walt Frazier
February 16th, 2012
7:10 pm
The Hawks should sign Allen Iverson before the February 26 deadline for signing. What’s wrong with that. You get an All-Star shooting guard who can play the point. Just aquiring a strong name like Iverson-will get the fans to come out to the Phillips-if only for the curisity part. He can mentor Teague and add excitement to the dead crowd/team. You can get rid of some dead wieght on the team and pay him a little som-som-in. He’ll take it, because he wants badly to return to the NBA. Ok? What are your thoughts? By the way, why is it that I read about these things on other sports pages online, and Atlanta’s own sports writers on AJC are slow to blog articles such as who the Hawks may want to sign?
Walt Frazier
February 16th, 2012
7:12 pm
Oh wait, I forgot-we still got L.D. Dayum, dayum, dayum!
darrell starks
February 16th, 2012
7:27 pm
SteveW i like that starting line up, but will Coach make a change, LD have been watching Marvin for 7years i wonder what he thinking every night trotting Marvin out there every night.
GO HAWKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
pointguardslim
February 16th, 2012
7:28 pm
Um No, That is not good for the Hawks. Unlike Crawford, JR Smith is about 30 lbs heavier more athletic and actually can play defense.
There are #s that show that JR Smith has had years where he’s better than Carmelo Anthony.
They just became the Denver Nuggets East. The WCF Denver Nuggets.
6′4 PG with scoring ability check
6′6.75″ dynamo JR Smith check
6′8″ dynamo HoF Carmelo check
K-mart (defense)
Nene (size and paint scoring)
They swapped Stoudemire + Chandler in for those tweeners Nene and K Mart which is an upgrade. This team is chock full of scoring they’re about to wreak havoc on the league.
Of course I would counter
6′1.5″ athletic Teague
6′8″ HoF big guard Joe Johnson
6′8″ HoF athletic dynamo Josh Smith
7′0″ inside out white guy Jon Leuer
6′11″ tough white guy Pachulia
or hopefully Orlando sucks and bites on this {Horford+Hinrich’s expiring for Dwight+Ryan Anderson}!!
6′1.5″ athletic Teague
6′8″ HoF big guard Joe Johnson
6′8″ HoF athletic dynamo Josh Smith
6′10″ inside out white guy Ryan Anderson
6′10″ HoF center Dwight Howard
That last lineup makes me want to drool! I would take Pierce’s expiring in a heart beat to clear for Dwight. The pussified Ry Anderson is an expiring and complements Josh, Lebron, Dwight types as well.
““Always. Always,” Howard told the Boston Herald when asked if he’d answer a call from Celtics president Danny Ainge. “I’d always listen to a team like that.
“My thing is I want to win. It’s not something like I’m doing this for money. I win. I want to do it my way.”
Howard has told the Orlando Magic that he’s willing to sign a long-term deal with three teams—the Los Angeles Lakers, Dallas Mavericks and New Jersey Nets. He denied a report that he added the Clippers to his list.
But, Howard added, per The Herald, “You look at a team like Boston and look at a team like LA who’s won … especially Boston. Man, those guys came together and they didn’t care who scored all the points. They had done all the individual stuff.”
“You know, for me, I’ve done a lot of things individually, but I want a championship. All those accolades that I’ve got over the years, they mean a lot, but it’s just different watching teams hold up that trophy and knowing how hard you have to work to get it.
“They have the championship mentality,” he said of the Celts. “It means a lot. Like I said, I like the team. They play hard and they go after it, and that’s what I like.”
darrell starks
February 16th, 2012
7:29 pm
STARTERS TEAGUE, JOE, JOSH, IVAN OR VLAD, ZAZA
This is a solid starting team for the Hawks.
GO HAWKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Andrew Lipham
February 16th, 2012
7:30 pm
I got a ton of trade packages. Pick the one you like best.
1. Hawks get: Dwight Howard, Jason Richardson, Hedo Turkoglu
Magic get: Joe Johnson, Al Horford, Zaza Pachulia, picks
2. Hawks get: Dwight Howard, Hedo Turkoglu
Magic get: Al Horford, Marvin Williams, Kirk Hinrich, Zaza Pachulia, picks
3. Hawks get: Deron Williams
Nets get: Jeff Teague, Al Horford, picks
4. Hawks get: Paul Pierce
Celtics get: Al Horford
5. Hawks get: Metta World Peace, 1st rd pick
Lakers get: Kirk Hinrich
darrell starks
February 16th, 2012
7:31 pm
I would say starte Green but then your starting back court would be to small, along with a smallish front court.
GO HAWKS!!!!!!!!!!!!
pointguardslim
February 16th, 2012
7:31 pm
edit: or hopefully Orlando “starts sucking again” and bites on this {Horford+Hinrich’s expiring for Dwight+Ryan Anderson}!! Man that lineup… Dwight thinks this organization is a bunch of losers though. Would trading for Pierce show him that we mean business? Even so would he sign for less money (no sign and trade assets after Horford is gone)
I rather hit another bad patch while we stay afloat the Magic tank and take Horford+ Hinrich. for Anderson+Dwight. That would be an automatic title!
pointguardslim
February 16th, 2012
7:33 pm
6. Hawks get: Dwight Howard, Ryan Anderson
Magic get: Al Horford, Kirk Hinrich, picks
Andrew Lipham
February 16th, 2012
7:36 pm
@pointguardslim
I would LOVE that deal, but why in the world would the Magic ever do that?
pointguardslim
February 16th, 2012
7:52 pm
edit: They (ORL) hit another bad patch while we stay afloat the Magic tank and take Horford+ Hinrich. for Anderson+Dwight. That would be an automatic title!
My goodness. It wouldnt even be a question. The question is how many picks would we have to give up. 10? lol. Whats the most you can give up?
Then if Dwight leaves after we win the title he’ll be viewed as a quitter. We all want to win here and having Dwight join forces…
http://blogs.ajc.com/hawks/2011/12/28/atlanta-hawks-dangling-for-dwight-howard/
The problem is they (85yo owner) wants to remain competitive not rebuild. So it seems like pie in the sky.
atlchris77
February 16th, 2012
7:55 pm
I truely believe the spirit is committed to winning. They just dont know how to do it.they felt compelled to sgn joe rather than lose him.the national media would have said how we screwd up rather than point out how smart we weould have been to let him move on.
Road Rage
February 16th, 2012
7:55 pm
Where are all my bitchazz Josh haters tonight? Make some noise Bitchesss…
Hinrich is much better than Teague. Its if the hawks expect to elevate their level of play it time to put Hinrich back with the starters.
Make some noise Smoove haters.
Road Rage
February 16th, 2012
7:59 pm
Crickets…..Crickets…..Crickets…..
MattP
February 16th, 2012
8:00 pm
Road Rage,
Please tell us how Hinrich is so much better than Teague?
Al Horford
February 16th, 2012
8:01 pm
If you guys are going to keep trying to trade my Im going to stay on the injured reserve lists til Howard is traded some where else.
Sautee
February 16th, 2012
8:02 pm
Hey T-s,
Are you sticking to your story that MC posted a story about a locker room fight between Al and Josh?
Give us a link, so we can relive it!
Sautee
February 16th, 2012
8:05 pm
MattP,
Here’s that “fact” you were asking for. From this blog post by MC:
“Tracy McGrady said it was his decision to sit: “Just resting”
Your accusation was indeed unfounded.
Road Rage
February 16th, 2012
8:06 pm
“Please tell us how Hinrich is so much better than Teague?”
Why does that look like a statement disguised as a question?
MattP who is us? you are the only one asking the obvious question. Every body knows teague is a bone head who is to clueless to know how to run an offense.. Who the puck is Us? The rally against Phoenix was because clueless was on the bench and Hinrich was running point.
Teague is a ball hog and thats about all. Hinrich is a true point guard who can run an offense, Teague isnt and cant.
who the puck is Us?
MattP
February 16th, 2012
8:11 pm
Sautee,
Ya I read. But you can’t say I was the only one saying it was Drew’s fault. I do not understand why TMac wants more minutes but doesn’t want to play on back to back’s even if it’s just for a few minutes. I guess TMac is the one playing games.
Road Rage
February 16th, 2012
8:16 pm
Sautee, I see how you twist my statements. I said that MC published that there was drama in the hawk locker room I did not say there was a fight as in someone through and punch and some one countered with a punch. MC put it out there that there was internal strife in the locker room and it supported the rumor floating that Josh JJ and Marv got in Al’s face about his running mouth thingy with wanting to play Josh’s position.. Teague was behind Al but it unclear if he was on Al’s side or he was going to Jump Al from behind.
Nobody knows.
If you doubt that MC put forth a story about the internal locker room drama, why dont you write MC and ask him. This is his site, his page. Im not going to go back months ago to help you get caught up. Michael Cunningham is an email away. Check it for yourself. Its not my fault you backed trouble maker Al.
Road Rage
February 16th, 2012
8:17 pm
*someone throw a punch and some one countered with a punch
MattP
February 16th, 2012
8:21 pm
Road Rage,
The rally against Phoenix was because Smith and Green were hot, not because Hinrich. Yes, Teague does make some bone head plays but you also have to look at the fact that this is is first season playing heavy minutes. How many seasons has Hinrich played 30+ minutes? Hinrich does nothing better out there, I still see him doing stupid things at times. He does not drive to the basket, and he does not get fouls. Hinrich did looked better out defensive at the end but were is he defensive during the other games? I see other PG running right by him.
And there are others here that say Teague is better than Hinrich, that is why I said us.
Road Rage
February 16th, 2012
8:26 pm
http://www.nba.com/games/20120215/ATLPHX/gameinfo.html
ATL PHX
p Smith 30 Nash 22
rb Smith 17 Frye 11
a Smith 7 Nash 16
s Smith 4 Gortat 3
b Smith 3 2 players 2
Road Rage
February 16th, 2012
8:30 pm
There are others out here that see how stupid teague is after all this time in the league. Hes had more than enough pampering and babying and still hes just a ball hog. He doesnt have the mind of a true point guard. He puts me in the mind of a Rumeal Robinson or a Spudd Webb but Spudd was better than teague. I just shake my head at all these games with teague having 2 or 3 assist and most of those come in garbage time when the game is already lost. Teague doesnt have a clue. Hinrich is much better.
Big Ray
February 16th, 2012
8:31 pm
“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.”
This has been a recurring problem for years now. I will never understand why Woody and now LD think it’s a good idea to go into the prevent offense, aka iso-Joe, at the end of games. Draining the clock is not worth getting a terrible shot. If you run your regular offense and take 5 less seconds off the clock, so what? At least you get a decent chance at extending the lead.
Yep. Here we go with this ish again.
Road Rage
February 16th, 2012
8:32 pm
Look at that nash assist stat… Thats what you want out of your point guard. Get the guys going and the offense clicking. Dont just be a ball hog teague.
Big Ray
February 16th, 2012
8:34 pm
There are others out here that see how stupid teague is after all this time in the league. Hes had more than enough pampering and babying and still hes just a ball hog.
After “all this time in the league”? All of WHAT time? Dude spent his first two seasons playing roughly 10-12 erratic minutes per game off the bench, and by that I mean two or three minutes at a time.
Then suddenly, when given the chance, dude explodes against the League MVP in the playoffs, and now he gets to start. It’s his first year starting. Your comparisons to Rumeal Robinson and Spudd Webb are….unreal…
Big Ray
February 16th, 2012
8:36 pm
Oh wait…the troll changed names…that’s why the argument was so inane.
Nevermind….
Road Rage
February 16th, 2012
8:39 pm
You are right, Let me apologize to Spudd.
My bad Spudd, hes more like Spudd lite with out the basketball wisdom.
Thanks ray
Ray, is your mother still a troll? under the bridge getting humped?
Big Ray
February 16th, 2012
8:40 pm
COL (cry out loud) at the idea of Joe Johnson having to tell LD to keep Josh Smith in the game. Absolutely pathetic.
Well, as some of us said long before Buddy Grizzard came along – LD was the pick of the players as HC, and Gearon ran right over Sund, who actually had an original thought for once….and the rest is history.
Until ownership is changed (or lobotomized), there is not much to hope for.
Amnesty Joe….his contract doesn’t allow us to do anything, and we’re stuck with the mental limits of the super talented Josh Smith, who is carrying this team more often than Joe, this season. There’s a first time for everything, eh….?
Road Rage
February 16th, 2012
8:41 pm
One more thing Big Gay Ray, why do you wear your boxers with the hole to the rear?
No Homo
February 16th, 2012
8:41 pm
Nevermind….
Big Ray
February 16th, 2012
8:42 pm
LOL….I’ll bet you do have road rage, don’t you? Mad at the world and impotent to do anything about it, besides spew a little spittle on a blog…..
Big Ray
February 16th, 2012
8:44 pm
LOL….and the gay references are old. When are you going to come up with new material? Come on, man…this ish is weak. But then, that’s probably why your girl left you…..oops!
Later, y’all…now that I’ve stirred up the troll…..
No Homo
February 16th, 2012
8:47 pm
Dick Breath Ray, the only reason teague had a good game in the playoffs was a) Chicago reasoned let teague beat us we just have to guard JJ and Josh. Thats why teague had a good series no body took him serious then nor take him serious now.
another thing ass face ray, Teague is brainless. Hes not the weapon your breath is.
Sammy Davis
February 16th, 2012
8:49 pm
Big Gay Ray, now the story’s been told!
Rusty
February 16th, 2012
9:04 pm
Road Rage is a clown & a idiot.
Rusty
February 16th, 2012
9:11 pm
Better off not talking to an idiot.