Atlanta Hawks: Blazers 97, Hawks 77
2:17 am February 19, 2012, by Michael Cunningham
Portland–The Blazers were desperate for a W and played like it. The Hawks were just sort of out there once their shots stopped falling. “I thought we were a step slow on pretty much everything tonight,” Larry Drew said.
The Blazers are not a particularly good offensive rebounding team. Nicolas Batum is not an especially good rebounder. Neither of these things were apparent tonight, when Portland collected 15 offensive rebounds and scored 18 second-chance points.
It seemed as if the Blazers corralled every loose ball or got enough of them that they bounced off Hawks players out of bounds. Portland got a pretty good percentage of their offensive boards that way. “The bounces weren’t going our way but that’s when we have to be a little bit more desperate,” Josh Smith said. “They were making shots early on. Then we played some good defense and we have up long rebounds. That’s when we have to gang rebound.”
Josh and Zaza Pachulia each had 10 rebounds. The rest of the Hawks had seven. That’s seven total. “A lot of it is on the guards,” said Joe Johnson, who had three rebounds in 38 minutes after collecting three total in the previous four games. “We have to come down and help the bigs. There was a lot of long rebounds.”
Batum replaced Wesley Matthews in the starting lineup and went off for 22 points on 15 shots with eight boards in 35 minutes. “He’s been playing terrific this year,” Josh said. “This kid you have to respect especially when he’s making that jumper like tonight. He’s a streaky shooter but when he has it going he’s pretty tough matchup, especially with his length. He’s an outstanding defender, as well.”
LaMarcus Aldridge is a tough matchup, too. Josh was challenging Aldridge’s shots early but Aldridge was shooting over him anyway. Aldridge ended up needed 19 shots for his 19 points. “Aldridge got going earlyt, he made some jump shots, which was not very discouraging,” Drew said. “As long as he’s taking jump shots we are content with that.”
Raymond Felton was struggling until tonight. Jeff Teague missed 10 of 11 shots and Kirk Hinrich was 0 for 4.
I’m thinking Josh was referring to Teague when he said this: “This team is a long basketball team. Long and athletic just like us but a little longer. They have Marcus Camby who can still contest shots at a high rate. LaMarcus Aldridge is 6-11. Gerald Wallace, Batum flies around.When you get into that paint you have to be a distributor and drop some of those passes off, that way they will be reluctant to contest the shots and that’s when you have your easy running floaters or your layups. The first game we moved the basketball around and get easy looks for each other. After that first quarter, that was kind of nonexistent.”
It was late in a game the Hawks weren’t going to win but Josh stayed on the court and tried everything he could to get another assist for a triple-double. He didn’t get it when Ivan Johnson made a move before scoring after a feed under the basket from Smith, who was still lobbying for that assist after the game.
Willie Green was part of Atlanta’s only stretch of sustained offense in the first half. Joe managed 19 points on 17 shots despite missing 6 of 9 3-point tries.
Marvin Williams was making shots but only provided two rebounds in 25 minutes on a night when the Hawks badly needed boards.
The Hawks got in trouble when they tried to pass inside or across Portland’s zone. The Blazers got their hands on lots of those passes, leading to run-outs.
More and more Tracy McGrady goes inside looking for calls that aren’t coming. He ends up stuck and turning the ball over. Still, the Hawks needed some offensive flow and rebounding so they might have benefited from more than four minutes of T-Mac especially with Vladmir Radmanovic going 0 for 3 with one rebound in 23 minutes.
Michael Cunningham, Hawks beat
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement
319 comments Add your comment
Rusty
February 19th, 2012
5:18 pm
Sautee. Do you really believe we are playing kH to show case him.? I can’t stop laughing.
northcyde
February 19th, 2012
5:20 pm
Rasheed also shot I believe 8 – 24 fg that game and missed all of his threes.
Rusty
February 19th, 2012
5:21 pm
When does this team make trades. I guess we would not get much for him the way he has been playing?
Harpie
February 19th, 2012
5:26 pm
I hate Larry Drew.
Sautee
February 19th, 2012
5:28 pm
Rusty,
See my 5:08 post.
Buddy Grizzard
February 19th, 2012
5:29 pm
Rusty he’s had a 17 point game recently. Yes we’re showcasing him. Meanwhile Sund is praying he has more games like that 17 point game. If we get nothing back for his contract after Sund gave away two first rounders to get him, that’s not going to reflect well on Sund. You bet your ass we’re showcasing him.
bama52
February 19th, 2012
5:40 pm
T Mac and Green need M Williams and some of Joe playing time. Joe, Marvin and Josh should bring us good play all the time and we are not getting enough from those 3 positions consistently enough. If Joe and Marvin are not productive cut their playing time. Joe dribbles the ball until the clock runs down and we don’t get good shots. Marvin is shooting jump shots and not playing defense.I’m undecided about watching this team much more. It’s as if they don’t watch film and see that they will not live on jump shooting (Josh). What ever happen to playing defense? Play T Mac, Green, Rad and Stackhouse more, we can’t do no worse.What did we get Dampier for, he didn’t play much at all?
Joe D
February 19th, 2012
5:41 pm
It is time for the Hawks to accept that Marvin is a complete bust. The ASG had an opportunity cut its loses with offer by the Clippers of Gomes(4 mil/4 yrs), C. Smith(3.5 mil expiring), and a 2nd round pick. But due to insanity, the Hawks turned the trade! Now, Marvin trade value is virtually nothing.
Maybe Phoenix would accept Marvin’s 2 yr/15 mil for Childress’s 3 yr/18.5. Both teams are not satisfied with these players. The advantages for Phoenix are they rid themselves of Childress and save 3.5 mil over the contract maybe new life in Marvin. The Hawks get RID of Marvin, save 1.5 mil per yr; and hopefully, the old Childress. Either way, the Hawks will have moved on and accepted the reality of the failure of missing on 2nd overall pick!
Unfortunately, Marvin’s presence is holding back this team more than other single fact.
Please Hawks, do something!
bama52
February 19th, 2012
5:44 pm
Oh, I pray Al Hordford comes back soon, the we’ll have some leadership in the line up.
Najeh Davenpoop
February 19th, 2012
5:48 pm
“But I’m beginning to think;
If Kirk were; let’s say ‘`Brazillian`’, [r e; Barbosa]
he may not get the quite the amount of grief he catches on this here blog.”
This is the dumbest thing anyone on this blog has ever said, including T-S’s rants about Al and Teague and Leuer’s mom’s rants about Leuer. I gave you five stat-laden posts above about how Kirk’s presence has hurt this team, and you are making it about race. Figures that someone who thinks trading Josh for that overpaid scrub Biedrins is a good idea would try to bring race into this.
Trade Kirk for Omer Asik.
Najeh Davenpoop
February 19th, 2012
5:52 pm
“Man, Kirk has replaced Bun Laden on the most hated list. Teague stunk up the gym last night, but somehow, Hinrich gets tossed under the bus (again).”
No, LD is still at the top of the most hated list. Kirk is just the latest manifestation of LD’s inability to manage his rotation properly.
Najeh Davenpoop
February 19th, 2012
5:56 pm
“I remember last night you replying to someone saying that Hinrich had a positive +/- number. You sad it was because Kirk just happened to be on the game when Willie was making shots. And that was true.
The opposite goes for Marvin. If the starters struggle in the 3rd quarter, more than likely he’s not getting back in the game, not even for scrub minutes. Drew is not that extreme with Teague, but he does the same thing with him.”
The Marvin stat was aggregate plus/minus for the entire season. The Kirk stat was for a single game. In my opinion season-long plus/minus has more meaning because it’s not as prone to fluctuations like Willie Green suddenly catching on fire for a few minutes.
But no doubt Marvin’s plus/minus, like any other player’s plus/minus, is somewhat dependent on usage and other factors out of his control.
Najeh Davenpoop
February 19th, 2012
6:00 pm
“My mid-season grades for [most of] the Hawks’ players and the Head Coach are as follows:”
Is it really midseason already?
I’d say Josh B+, Joe B-, Teague B, Zaza B+, Al C+ (pre-injury), Marvin C, Pargo C+, Green B-, T-Mac B, Vlad B-, Ivan B+, Collins D+, Kirk D-, Dampier incomplete, LD C. Hopefully I didn’t forget anyone.
No As on this team, but nobody is quite failing either. Fs are reserved for Bibby last year.
Najeh Davenpoop
February 19th, 2012
6:12 pm
“Evaluating Teague’s performance MUST be done in a vacuum and not in the context of his back-up. Much like no one evaluates Joe based on Willie, Josh based on Ivan/Vlad or Marvin based on TMac.”
That’s a step up for you. At least you are willing to evaluate players now, as opposed to blindly assuming that the coach’s evaluations are perfect and he is distributing minutes properly like last year.
Nobody is saying Teague didn’t stink up the joint last night. But between his performance regressing since Kirk’s return and T-Mac (rightfully) complaining about his minutes being jerked around, it’s fair to criticize LD’s overuse of Kirk as a reason for the overall quality of play of the team taking a downward turn. Ultimately the coach’s job is to utilize his players in a way that is going to maximize the team’s ability to win, and LD hasn’t done that since Kirk’s return.
6-7 with Kirk, 13-5 without him. 8 of the 13 games with Kirk have been against .500 or better teams, while 8 of the 18 games without Kirk (9 of 18 if Minnesota wins tonight) were against .500 or better teams. So yes, the schedule plays a part in that, but watching the games and looking at the stats both show that neither the bench nor Teague have been as effective since the minutes were redistributed. You can criticize Teague all you want for letting Kirk’s return and the resulting change in his minutes distribution affect his game, but ultimately it is LD’s job to put his players in the optimal position and he’s not doing so. Teague wouldn’t be the first talented player to be affected by things like that anyway. Coach needs to understand his players and act accordingly.
Najeh Davenpoop
February 19th, 2012
6:15 pm
“Hinrich is clearly a better player than Pargo”
Not this year, he’s not. Not according to the stats, and not according to the results on the floor.
I would have loved to see Earl Watson backing up Teague and challenging him to step his game up. I do not love to see Kirk being handed a role that Pargo was handling just as capably, especially when Kirk hasn’t played well in those minutes at all. Watson, unlike Kirk, has actually played well this season.
hawks fan down under
February 19th, 2012
6:26 pm
there’s only 1 trade this team needs to make and that’s the coach for a bag of chips!
I’m glad Tmac ripped his arse. Ivan and even Dampier could have done the same.
why wouldn’t you play Dampier against such a tall line up?
Why does he only play Ivan at C?
so many questions..
my only hope now is a 10 game losing streak and they are forced to sack LD’s arse.
PS start Willie Green!
TMACfan
February 19th, 2012
6:31 pm
@MC, can we please have a poll on who the better player is? Marvin or TMAC?
kwooden
February 19th, 2012
6:32 pm
Really tough game last night LD tried the zone a few times and tried some line-up changes but overall didn’t find a good line-up or good defense to get any stops. Most importantly 3s weren’t dropping, so our offensive looked terrible. It was a bad game last night by everyone except Smoove. Josh did about as good as he usually does against Aldridge and hit the boards pretty well. Overall just a bad game, probably should just forget about it and get ready for the Bulls tomorrow.
The Truth
February 19th, 2012
6:37 pm
Here is some of the offensive break-down from the resilts of the Portland game:
PLAYER MINS MADE ATTEMPT PTS % OF SHOTS EFF%
Marvin 24:50 4 7 10 9.59% 57.14%
Josh 41:21 7 14 14 19.18% 50.00%
Zaza 28:03 2 5 8 6.85% 40.00%
JJ 37:53 8 17 19 23.29% 47.06%
Teague 29:52 1 10 5 13.70% 10.00%
Kirk 20:15 0 4 0 5.48% 0.00
Green 23:10 7 9 17 12.33% 77.78%
Vladimir 22:26 0 3 1 4.11% 0.00%
Tmac 4:39 0 1 0 1.37% 0.00%
Ivan 4:59 1 3 3 4.11% 33.33%
The haters and lovers may lie but the numbers don’t. I’m sorry to say, but it is what it is:
The biggest offensive drag was Jeff Teague. He played nearly 30 minutes, accounted for nearly 14% of the total shots taken (when rebounds were scarce), scored just 5 points 4 assist with an efficiency of a miserable 10%.(+/- -15). That is a horrible night.
Between JJ and Josh, they both accounted for nearly 50% of the total shots taken. That means 20% of the Hawks players are taking nearly 50% of the total shots. That is an uneven distribution of shots concentrated into 2 players. The Hawks need more scoring balance across their roster. Granted Josh 50% eff suggests he made the most of his attempts and JJ 47% wasn’t that far behind. But as a team in this configuration, the Hawks are very easy to beat. Just concentrate on stopping these 2 players. Defensively, teams can either load up to stop or slow these 2 players or shut-down everyone else and capitalize of TOs.
While Green and Marvin played about the same minutes, Green made the most of his time, scoring 17 points taking 12% of the total shots in 23 min at a impressive 78% eff% rate (highest on the team). Marvin shot the second highest eff% of 57% in 25 min but accounted for just 9% of the total shots taken. From these numbers and watching that game, Marvin should have taken more shots (probably from some of JJ shots)
Kirk and Vladimir had over 20:15 and 22:26 Min respectively, but contributed little. Tmac should have gotten some of their minutes; Bad coaching from LD
TMACfan
February 19th, 2012
6:57 pm
FIRE LD!
northcyde
February 19th, 2012
6:57 pm
Lol Joe d.
Chill for Marvin? Phoenix would do that in a heartbeat. Chill is a non factor in the league now.
People hate Marvin so much, that they’d rather trade for a WORST player. Incredible.
Smoke All the Weed Every Day
February 19th, 2012
7:05 pm
Puff, Puff, Puff, inhale. exhale…Hold, now pass that schit back to Bama52 and Bama when you hit again give it back to Najeh Davenpoop….exhale…
“Oh, Al Hordford comes back soon, the we’ll have some leadership in the line up.”
ejh
February 19th, 2012
7:05 pm
To win the game against Portland last night the hawks were going to have to play at a high level with high energy all night long. Portland had lost 4 in a row at home and was not going to loose there fifth last night, they were desperate for a win plus they had Alridge back.
Also Nicholas Batum started at the two guard position last night as Gerald Wallace was at the three, Batum gave joe problems with his size and energy, joe could not keep up; not Marvin.
Sautee
February 19th, 2012
7:08 pm
Najeh,
about this: “This is the dumbest thing anyone on this blog has ever said, including T-S’s rants about Al and Teague and Leuer’s mom’s rants about Leuer. I gave you five stat-laden posts above about how Kirk’s presence has hurt this team, and you are making it about race.”
I don’t doubt that you are not in the least racist. As are not MOST on this blog. However, I DO remember just after Kirk got hurt, a discussion of his color was raised on this blog. So it’s out there. I don’t think Grandad is “making it about race” as far as whether Hinrich deserves his minutes (which was your point-his not deserving minutes), but rather commenting on the tone of some posts. Big difference, IMO.
Rod from College Park
February 19th, 2012
7:09 pm
“The fact Marvin is 6″9 and cannot finish a single damn play at the rim warrants him a G or an H. Forget a D or F.”
Cosign. He’s terrible.
Poll results
February 19th, 2012
7:09 pm
Josh A – A+
JJ B
ZAZA B
IVAN B
MARV B-
TEAGUE C
HORFORD FCK UP
Just Joe
February 19th, 2012
7:17 pm
Last night’s minutes (best I can figure):
PG – Teague 30, Pargo 3, Hinrich 15
SG – Green 23, Hinrich 5, Johnson 20
SF – Johnson 18, Williams 25, McGrady 5
PF – Radmanovic 22, Smith 26
C – Pachulia 28, Johnson 5, Smith 15
LD getting too cute with the match ups.
Hinrich, Green, McGrady, Vlad, and Damp should play 15-20 minutes a night. Ivan and Pargo should get 5-10. These are averages of course. The hot hand should always be rewarded.
Grandmaster JeJe (GM)
February 19th, 2012
7:28 pm
@#^@#&^@#&$@&#$&#$ this blog monster
Grandmaster JeJe (GM)
February 19th, 2012
7:29 pm
I just wrote a 20 line post and this POS blog monster ate it up. @#^@#^&@@#&@$&#$%*#%*%#&#@$&($@#&@$(&@$(&@
LOL @ Najeh’s post earlier about how we should GET FREAKING JON LEUER. Had me rolling for like 10 minutes
Najeh Davenpoop
February 19th, 2012
7:32 pm
K.C Johnson @KCJHoop Reply Retweet Favorite · Open
All signs point to DRose returning Monday vs. Hawks. Be surprised if he doesn’t play. #Bulls
https://twitter.com/#!/KCJHoop/status/171390032131801089
Najeh Davenpoop
February 19th, 2012
7:33 pm
Here’s how you combat the blog monster.
If you use Chrome:
https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/loljledaigphbcpfhfmgopdkppkifgno
Najeh Davenpoop
February 19th, 2012
7:34 pm
If you use Firefox:
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/lazarus-form-recovery/
phil
February 19th, 2012
7:34 pm
It was late in a game the Hawks weren’t going to win but Josh stayed on the court and tried everything he could to get another assist for a triple-double. He didn’t get it when Ivan Johnson made a move before scoring after a feed under the basket from Smith, who was still lobbying for that assist after the game.
*********
and in a nutshell, this is why we’re so pathetically average. This idiot is concerned with his stats after a 20 point blowout loss. Pitiful.
Rusty
February 19th, 2012
7:35 pm
Rusty heart MattP !
Grandad
February 19th, 2012
7:37 pm
ag
‘`Since I have been on the blog, I really think you have been accurate in most situations. In this one, you are all off. Overall, when KH suites up as a Hawk we lose more than we win. is it his fault? He can only control how well he plays when he hits the court, and so far, he has played really bad.`’
Thanks for the compliment.
I was not being critical of Teague.
He is just a very large trade chip right now.
We have been mentioned as a possible destination for Pau Gasol.
LAL needs a pg. [1 + 1 = 2] that’s all
I like Kirk;
he is not playing well.
There would have to be a contiguous trade if Teague were to be moved.
Some pkg involving Teague for Gasol
-then-
Josh for Rondo
* hmmmmmmmmm !!!
phil
February 19th, 2012
7:38 pm
Blow this team up….please.
Better yet, let’s pray they move away, like the sorry hockey team did!
phil
February 19th, 2012
7:40 pm
Hinrich was done when he left Kansas…..
He is pitiful.
Blackcula
February 19th, 2012
7:41 pm
J. Drew is doing an excellent job for utilizing his limit resources, and as big Ray pointed out, Drew is a player’s coach, which probably explains why the players like him so much.
I an see Drew showing respect to his work horses Josh and JJ. No harm there, thats good basketball. Those two are the most intelligent basketball wise players they have. Yeah, Drew runs his offense through them. Out side of Josh, JJ, Zaza and Ivan. the rest of the hawks are pure garbage.
Period.
KevinM
February 19th, 2012
7:45 pm
GMJeJe, before I post anything of length, I copy it before submitting….that’ll retain your input to rest tempt…..works for me!
Jim Dragon Kelly
February 19th, 2012
7:46 pm
The new hawks team will be built around Josh, who is amongst the youngest, stays in world class condition, is not injury prone, is a team player, very intelligent and has prove he can elevate his game, and….he has not reached his peak. Hes still growing.
Al
Teague
Marv
Hinrich
All trade bait team.
Astro Joe
February 19th, 2012
7:47 pm
TMac has exclusively played SF this season. I don’t understand how Hinrich’s minutes impact TMac. TMac’s minutes are down because Willie is beginning to play next to Joe at SF.
Hinrich’s return came around the same time as the Hawks’ tough stretch of games started. Kind of hard to judge Hinrich’s impact when he missed most of the games against the Nets and Wizards but came back in time for the winning teams. Hinrich is clearly not what he has been in the past offensively, but he is still a more complete player than Pargo (by a lot). And on a team that too often forgets to play with the requisitte energy and focus, he at least brings tenacity to each game. His limitations are not due to a lack of heart, effort nor focus. That can’t be said for many of the other guys on this squad.
The bashing of Hinrich in an effort to prop up Teague reminds me of those who want to denigrate Ryan to boost Vick… as if one has anything to do with the other.
Could y’all imagine Cleveland fans bashing Ramon Sessions if Kyrie Irving slumps?
The real Big Ray.
February 19th, 2012
7:48 pm
if the blog monster ate your schit, it was schit anyway and we are better off not reading 20 pages of schit. keep your schit to yourself
The real Big Ray.
February 19th, 2012
7:50 pm
Who the puck is phil? Phil Shut the puck up.
ejh
February 19th, 2012
7:51 pm
Putting last night game behind, let’s truly assess where this team is starting with the facts.Threre record is 19 – 12; fifth in the east and only1 game out of third and a 1/2 game out of fourth. They are 10 – 7 on the road and 9 – 5 at home. So they are above .500 on the road and at home. They are 6 – 11 against teams with plus .500 records, while 13 – 1 against teams under .500. They lost Al Horford for most of the season if not all of it. Kirk hinrich was gone the first two months of the regular season, and Jason Collins has been out the past two weeks.. So for the Hawks to have the success they have had is pretty remarkable. Remember Hollinger over at ESPN said the hawks would not even make the Playoffs this year, not even as an eighth seed.
This team has been constructed to have a deep playoff run not a great regular season. That is why they signed all the veterans.
The real Big Ray.
February 19th, 2012
7:52 pm
Trading guys on the roster for a better big man is the only freakin answer.
Grand Poobaah
February 19th, 2012
7:54 pm
Losing Al was to the hawks advantage. He brought nothing special. I can see losing Hinirich having a minimum impact But losing Al almost has been un noticed.
Grand Poobaah
February 19th, 2012
7:56 pm
Ray I think he called you Big Gay Ray because of that dick you have in your ear all the time…. Is that a joke or head or what?
Astro Joe
February 19th, 2012
7:59 pm
Ray, if it took time for Willie and Pargo to get their legs under them after not having a formal training camp, then how would you expect Hinrich to “get it together” if not provided comparabe time like Pargo & Green? The Hinrich assault is less about Kirk (IMO) and more about hyper-fandom for Teague.
IMO, Teague’s lackluster play started with the harder schedule and some comments from one of the team captains suggesting that he should set-up his teammates more often.
D Mann
February 19th, 2012
7:59 pm
Ray the troll is under the bridge humping your mom, I poured water on him but he would not stop. You are a cop, go pull him off.
Astro Joe
February 19th, 2012
8:02 pm
Ray, sorry… didn’t see your earlier response. My bad.