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
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319 comments Add your comment
doc
February 19th, 2012
11:35 pm
no nc, prob because you still have jc2 on your team.
doc
February 19th, 2012
11:40 pm
no just checked, the kid had a good week for nc.
oden cant have surgery because of blood clots in his lower leg. man that guy is done.
northcyde
February 19th, 2012
11:53 pm
Doc, actually JC1 had a very good week. In fact, I forgot to put him on the squad Friday night, and he goes for 21 pts – 6 rebs – and went 6 – 6 FTs. Those 6 fts kept me from winning the ft% category.
Jordan had a better week than Jamal and Kirk, that’s for sure
Najeh Davenpoop
February 19th, 2012
11:56 pm
Pekovic is having more than just a great month. In 11 starts this year, he’s averaging 16 points, 10 boards, and 1.2 blocks on 61% shooting. JeJe beat me to picking him up by about two hours.
northcyde
February 20th, 2012
12:01 am
I meant JC2
doc
February 20th, 2012
12:33 am
yeah, after checking on jc2 and finding he had rallied form a disastrous week last week to give new life to nc i checked on the big guy. it was intriguing to watch him against the hawks when they were in town because i had never seen or heard of him before. guess it was with good reason as he had played less that 4 minutes all season before we drew that load of a player that collins and ivan had to cover along with love. since that time pekovic has been on a tear and it started right here at the phillips
Rick
February 20th, 2012
12:34 am
The Hawks need to watch Lin when he comes to town and try to imitate some of that hustle and heart when they play.
Grandad
February 20th, 2012
12:54 am
About Pekovic:
True story – at least from a credible journalist;
I read where all Minnesota players are scared of him.
He’s so darned strong & imposing.
SteveW
February 20th, 2012
12:57 am
This playing time gig is really not all that hard. The biggest problems you have as a Coach are:
- Almost every BB Player wants to start and play starters minutes. Only a few guys really have a lesser role figured out.
- Matchups – Sometimes certain players are getting killed or benefiting from certain matchups, and that determines PT.
That being said, you can go into a game with a certain template, and adjust it as needed. With this condensed season, and guys needing more rest than normal, I would use a template that maybe looks like this, and adjust it as needed:
PG – Teague 28mpg, Hinrich 14, and Pargo 6
SG – JJ 30, Willie 18
SF – Marvin 26, TMac 22,
PF – Josh 32, Vlad Rad 16
C – ZaZa 28, Ivan 14, Dampier 6
Now of course you adjust that as needed. Maybe about every 5th game, you give Stack TMac’s minutes, to keep TMac healthy for the playoffs when you need him.
Playing everybody keeps everybody focused and engaged on a nightly basis. No Pro wants to be embarassed on the court, so they’ll play hard if called upon.
But the key is communication – Everybody has to understand their role. What’s expected of them.
A guy like Pargo, when you tell him – Look, your going to play meaningful minutes every nite. We need you at your best. It will probably be a 6 minute or so stint in the 2nd quarter, so play hard, and give our guys a rest. If your hot, we bring may bring you back in in the 2nd half for some crunch time. Tell me what you see while on the court. Thanks. – That type stuff goes along way in keeping a locker room happy, at least in my small college experience.
The other option is in the NBA – Your buried on the end of the bench – your paid 1.352 mill this season. Enjoy it. Be ready at any time. Have a nice life.
I can only speak from small College experience, but I do know every starter/elite reserve wants a 7 man rotation, but that’s not always best for the team.
And again, the above is a off the top of the head deal. You can get intricate with JJ playing some 3, going small, going big, depending on matchups and whose hot. Play Ivan at some 4, and get some of Vlad’s minutes there. Drop Vlad to the 3 some a get some of Marv’s minutes. But there’s plenty of minutes to go around, and keep everybody fresh and happy. Well, at least pretty happy.
The above may not work with pros – but Coach TT seemed to have it working somewhat close to that way in Chitown last season. And before the Al injury, and Kirk came back, it seemed we had it cooking that way here also -
Teague/Pargo
JJ/Green
Marvin/TMac
Josh/Vlad/Ivan (a little)
Al/ZaZa/Collins (a little)
And it seemed we had some chemistry with it most of the time. That Rockets game was the only one where it seemed that rotation schedule didn’t work out for us.
SteveW
February 20th, 2012
1:03 am
And I’m for this re-signing of Dampier. If no trade is made, keep the guy for the entire season – go into luxury tax – you only live once ASG!
Damp looks better to me than Etan, Powell, even Jason Collins – looks better than RandMo on the court also. If he’s focused and interested, I think he can continue to help this team.
And Portland’s length is crazy – even the old guys Camby and Thomas are long athletes.
SteveW
February 20th, 2012
1:09 am
That above diatribe aside – I’m all for 2 legit NBA PG’s on the Hawks. That seems the way most of the NBA is going. A Teague/Hinrich combination is good for the Hawks.
That Teague/Marvin comparison breaks down with this: I can’t remember a Coach putting Marvin at the end of the bench for his 1st two seasons, when he was clearly better, and made the team better, by every statistical analysis I’ve seen, than the guy playing in front of him, especially in his second season.
soullrenaissance
February 20th, 2012
3:00 am
Free TMac! I love it man – fight for your liberation! What do you have to lose? Free Teague and Ivan while you are at it! FIRE DREW – I’ve seen enough to know he has some screws loose.
Get free TMac or get traded trying! You and us bloggers know what’s going on. Props to Najeh, Buddy Grizzard, northcyde and all others speaking the real about the lamest coach in the league today.
soullrenaissance
February 20th, 2012
3:01 am
‘you and WE bloggers…’
Blazers 97, Hawks 77 – Atlanta Journal Constitution (blog) | ShiftPDX
February 20th, 2012
3:22 am
[...] Blazers 97, Hawks 77Atlanta Journal Constitution (blog)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 … [...]
EmirS.
February 20th, 2012
6:52 am
“Jeje beat me on fantasy this week because of Nikola. Dude had the week of his life, like he was Dwight Howard or somebody.” -northcyde
Don’t EVER say that again. I bite half of my nails off on draft day to get Howard, only to sit here and see some no name playing as well as Howard. And what’s worse is that Howard had a terrible week for me. Otherwise, I would have lit up my opponent last week.
Btw who is Najeh and doc on the Fantasy league?
Also…Jordan did not have a better week then Jamal. Jamal’s was slightly better.
- – - – - – - – - – - –
I enjoy reading the comments on the Hawks blogs. Very opinionated bunch of people and very factual and not just random comments that don’t add to the conversation in anyway. I’d like to thank all of you(most of you) for a very enjoyable reading experience.
My 2 cents,
I’m happy to see T-Mac make a statement out in the open. Him and Pargo are probably the only two who are not afraid to.
I read everyone’s comments and in my mind I keep asking myself…just how are the Hawks not making any moves. I would love to refrain from calling Drew, Sund, and the ASG names…but at the same time I don’t understand how can one go by, without making any significant changes in roster rotations or acquiring players, via trade or free agents, to help push our playoff run. It’s a shame because we DO have a VERY talented roster. One of the tops in the NBA. And there is no one on here who can argue that (opinion). Why are we not performing at a top level? Could it really be true that the only reason Drew is passing by is just because of the sheer talent of this roster?
I don’t mind Kirk getting more minutes ahead of Teague…but that’s only if Teague is not performing at an efficient level. And if neither Teague nor Kirk is performing well why not sub in Pargo and be creative? Why not try different combinations of players when things don’t seem to be going well for us?
Why is it that I can tell who the first sub is going to be? Why is it never based on production off the floor? If Smith is just not clicking…why not put in Ivan for a few minutes with the starters to see if we get a spark? Should not matter who it is, if they’re not performing well sub someone for them.
Also, I predict we make the 3rd seed . New York 4th, Philly 5th, Orlando 6th, Indiana 7th, and Boston 8th. Without Bogut, I don’t think the Bucks have a chance. Don’t be surprised of the Pistons make a run for the 8th spot though.
Just Joe
February 20th, 2012
7:18 am
A second 10-day contract for Dampier covers us until most of our veteran free agents can be traded on March 1st. I think you’ll see a handful of moves by teams on that day. Remember, the only guys eligible to be traded by the Hawks before that day are Teague, Hinrich, Joe, Marvin, Josh, Al & Pachulia. With a full 15-man roster, one or more of this group will likely be included in any deal: Pargo, Green, Stackhouse, McGrady, Radmanovic, Ivan, Collins, and/or Dampier.
Just Joe
February 20th, 2012
7:32 am
Atlanta, Philly, and Indiana are each 4 & 6 over their last 10 games. Will New York & Orlando move up and take the 3rd & 4th spots? Outside of Miami & Chicago, these 5 plus Boston are all pretty equal at this point. Stay tuned for the GM’s that actually make moves to get better. New York already has. Indiana has plenty of cap space to take on talent. I don’t see Philly & Atlanta doing much. Orlando & Boston could blow things up and still make the playoffs. Those bottom 7 in the east are pretty bad teams (Milwaukee could make a run I guess).
The ASG actually has the luxury this year of breaking up the core & still making the playoffs (that extra revenue always helps). Best of both worlds in my book.
soullrenaissance
February 20th, 2012
8:11 am
All of Drew’s campaign promises before the start of last season have been unfulfilled. Holding ALL players accountable for their play on the court, pulling Smoove from the perimeter to the paint, running imaginative an robust offensive systems, to freeing Teague and truly giving him the reigns ( to free someone does not mean to not hold he/she accountable for poor play) like EMIR said, play Pargo for a spell if he or Kirk are not top of things just to shake up the monotony.
Atlanta fans still have a pre jim crow, slavery era attitude toward black athletes. cannot speak your mind, let a lone ‘truth to power’ – ie: David Justice.
TMac could be lobbying to be traded or for a more prominent role on this squad, at this point, I can’t blame him.
Grandmaster JeJe (GM)
February 20th, 2012
8:17 am
–He thinks there is a shot Al comes back by the Playoffs. Said it is tough to judge team, since whole group has not been together
KevinM
****
LOL. Like having full roster would matter. We lost at home and CHI WITH Al when we choked badly. Same core for 5 years. You also don’t go far when you have a completely different bench every hear
Damnit asg
Grandmaster JeJe (GM)
February 20th, 2012
8:20 am
Northcyde,
Pekovic has been owning it for a few weeks and no one is noticing. Also, Amare finally returned.
I also signed Brook Lopez who will return very soon. Doesn’t look like you’re making the Playoffs. Sorry fam
Grandmaster JeJe (GM)
February 20th, 2012
8:24 am
Grandad,
In person, Nikola is maybe an inch taller than Love but is much bigger. Signing him has been a great move for me. One of my best ever. Since he began starting, just wow….
And Minny, with a clearly undertalented roster, is .500. We will be .500 or close to it in 2 weeks. Adelman would do wonders with this team.
All we have is the cheapest coach in the league and a bunch of losers who quit when the tough ets going
rollow lawson
February 20th, 2012
8:41 am
It is time to trade Kirk Hinrich, Marvin, and possibly Zaza (to sweeten the deal) for a legitimate big man. I have seen enough of this team.
Dawg
February 20th, 2012
10:00 am
Are there any rumors for a Gasol from LA deal?
doc
February 20th, 2012
10:27 am
gm jeje, go back and see in the annals of this blog aj and i cried to get adelman before he went to houston or while there. he or karl among others would make this team better. problem is they would have held basg accountable for doing the right thing. neither woody nor LD has cred to do that which is exactly why we didnt get as legit coach like carlye because they want to play games among themselves instead of improving the product.
we hit the top about three months into the 53 win season and are tripping back to lottery land if ant eastern cellar dweller finally puts it together. thankfully, we are in the division with toronto, nj, wizzards, etc. maybe not thankful because we still see ourselves better than we are. remember the story was we want to be elite? now it is remember we one of the few to get to the second round with our core and we are entertaining.
there is no reason to turn this over to ld if they really wanted to be elite. it was only to save money and control of the team was why ld was chosen. he hasnt been all bad but we havent gotten better either.
darrell starks
February 20th, 2012
10:51 am
My condolences goe’s out to the Marvin family.
GO HAWKS!!!!!!!!!!
darrell starks
February 20th, 2012
10:53 am
As much as i bash Marvin it’s all go out the the window when death in the family is involve.
GO HAWKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
darrell starks
February 20th, 2012
10:56 am
STARTERS TEAGUE, JOE, TMAC, JOSH, ZAZA
BENCH PARGO, GREEN, VLAD, IVAN, DAMPIER
RESERVE HINRICH, STACK.
GO HAWKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
O'Brien
February 20th, 2012
11:01 am
Big Ray,
I’ll say this about the whole Kirk Hinrich situation –
Fact is, he doesn’t have himself together yet. It’s not an excuse, it’s a reality. He’s not the same guy he was last year. You know, the guy who helped us beat Orlando in the first round by not letting Jameer Nelson run us ragged the way he has before (Jameer shot 38%, and worse from the arc in the playoffs against us) and by shooting 50% from the field and 42% from 3 point land.
Perhaps you haven’t heard, but the only reason we beat Orlando in the playoffs last year was because of Jamal Crawford. Isn’t that right Rod
O'Brien
February 20th, 2012
11:10 am
AJ,
For his career, Kirk has been a better player than Pargo, but Kirk does not look like the same player since his return. Maybe he doesn’t have his legs back as yet, but I don’t think LD is helping the situation any. He threw Kirk into the fire immediately instead of slowly working him back into the rotation.
In the 13 games since his return, Kirk has played over 20 minutes 5 times. But he has been struggling mightily.
In the last 9 games, Kirk is averaging 19 mpg, 34% from the field, 22% from 3 (including 0-12 from 3 in his last 5 games), 2 assists, and 5 ppg (and his ppg is skewed by one 17 pt performance against Indianna). I know the competition is tough, and maybe he doesn’t have his legs back, but LD continues to give him 19 minutes every game?
My impression is that no matter how bad he looks, LD will continue to give him 19+ mpg. And I don’t think that should be the case. Do you?
BTW, in his last 9 games, Pargo has 4 DNPCD, and 3 games where he played less than 6 minutes.
darrell starks
February 20th, 2012
11:22 am
http://games.espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=7jv2yez
GO HAWKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
darrell starks
February 20th, 2012
11:25 am
LAKER GET MARVIN, HINRICH, ZAZA, AND 2013 1ST FOR GASOL.
PERFECT TRADE FOR THE HAWKS AND LAKERS.
GO HAWKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Grandmaster JeJe (GM)
February 20th, 2012
11:26 am
LOL @ Joe’s comments.
Someone on Hawksquawk summed it up perfectly.
Joe said “hopefully at Chicago we look great.”
We’re paying this guy $120 million to say ish like that.
SMH
Grandmaster JeJe (GM)
February 20th, 2012
11:27 am
doc,
Exactly. Adelman would never want to coach under this loser ownership that doesn’t care about winning
darrell starks
February 20th, 2012
11:27 am
Hawks must make a trade after getting dominated on the boards, Gasol coming to ATL will make the Hawks a contender.
GO HAWKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Grandmaster JeJe (GM)
February 20th, 2012
11:28 am
I’d rather have an average team that plays hard under a very good coach (Minnesota) than have a team with awful ownership, an awful GM, a mediocre head coach (cheapest in NBA) and a bunch of underachieving players who quit at will
darrell starks
February 20th, 2012
11:32 am
STARTER TEAGUE, JOE, TMAC. JOSH, GASOL
BENCH PARGO, GREEN, VLAD, IVAN, DAMPIER
RESERVE STACK, HORFORD, COLLINS
GO HAWKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Astro Joe
February 20th, 2012
11:54 am
OB, Teague is shooting slightly better than Hinrich in Feb, at 39%. So now what? Play Pargo for 30 minutes/game? Seems to me a head coach has to ride through slumps with their players.
The Truth
February 20th, 2012
12:11 pm
Marvin Williams (personal) will not play in Monday’s game against the Bulls. Williams is attending the funeral services of a family member in Seattle
Read more: http://www.fantasysp.com/player/nba/Marvin_Williams/2081795/marvin-williams-personal-will-not-play-in-mondays-game-against#ixzz1mwW56iw2
Condolences to Marvin and his family
The Truth
February 20th, 2012
12:32 pm
With Marvin out in the Chicago game means T-mac should get his PT as he requested (via media).
Hope he makes the most of it.
Jase
February 20th, 2012
12:45 pm
Enter your comments here
Astro Joe
February 20th, 2012
1:16 pm
Sad to hear about Marvin’s loss. Glad to hear that Horford won the Sports Person of the Year from the Atlanta Sports Council. Bad/good off-court news today.
TMac, Willie and Vlad should all get a few extra minutes today in Marvin’s absence… let’s see what they do with the opportunity.
O'Brien
February 20th, 2012
1:19 pm
AJ,
OB, Teague is shooting slightly better than Hinrich in Feb, at 39%. So now what? Play Pargo for 30 minutes/game?.
With Teague struggling, and Hinrich struggling, I think Pargo should get a few minutes to see if he can provide a spark. Definitely not 30 minutes, but put him in for a 5 minute stretch to see if he has it or not. If he has it, play him a few more minutes. If he doesn’t, then go back to one of the other guys.
But during the 9 Feb games with Teague and Hinrich not shooting well, Pargo has 4 DNPCD. His minutes are 13, 0, 6, 0, 5, 13, 0, 0, 3. I dont think LD has a good feel for his personnel and substitutions.
Astro Joe
February 20th, 2012
1:54 pm
OB, I think if you cut guys minutes after an 8-10 game slump, that you may prolong the slump. I think you have to trust what you know about a player before making a reaction to a production slump.
Interesting, if Marvin is attending a funeral today, that likely means that the family member died prior to the Saturday night game.
MattP
February 20th, 2012
1:55 pm
RT @HawksPRGuy: It will be Willie Green in the starting lineup this afternoon for Marvin Williams. #Hawks
Glad to see Green finally gets a chance to start.
northcyde
February 20th, 2012
2:02 pm
My thing is, everybody can’t play. I personally wish that Drew stop worrying about playing everybody, and give the main guys that will help you win games the most time. Most coaches aren’t trying to do 11 and 12 man rotations so the Hawks shouldn’t either.
Willie ( scorer ) – T-Mac ( versatility ) – and Ivan ( rebounding ) should be the 3 main guys off the bench. Give T-Mac time at 3 positions. Tell Ivan to bang the boards and push people around. And instruct Willie to take every open shot.
T-Mac played the point at times in Detroit. So to me, you can give him some minutes there in a big lineup:
T-Mac
JJ
Marvin
Smith
Zaza
Play zone with that group and see if you can exploit mismatches with T-Mac or JJ posting up the PG. When they double to help the PG, you’d probably have Smith open at the FT line or Zaza open along the baseline.
As long as both attacked the rim when they caught the ball, and not always settled for the open shot, that would be good scoring opportunities on the interior that could also result in more trips to the FT line. And you’d still have enough shooting and rebounding in the game to not be hurt for a 4 or 5 minute stretch.
T-Mac
Green
JJ
Smith
Ivan
3 subs in the game, but you keep the balance with shooters and rebounders.
Teague
Green
T-Mac
Smith
Ivan
Fast lineup that still keeps the balance.
Teague
T-Mac
Marvin
Smith
Zaza
Use if JJ is struggling or needs a breather.
T-Mac is too versatile to not be trying to get the most out of him. A 9 point – 4 rebs – 5 assist game out of T-Mac in 25 minutes would be gold for this team. None of our backup PGs are even coming close to those numbers, so let’s see if we can get it from someone else.
kwooden
February 20th, 2012
2:07 pm
3’s have to drop today or it will be a tough afternoon.
My prayers go out to Marvin and his family.
GO HAWKS!!
northcyde
February 20th, 2012
2:23 pm
So once again, Drew goes with an offensive minded substitution. I got no problem with starting Willie, but this is Chicago were playing. A tough and physical team that prides itself on defense and rebounding. Gotta match their intensity today, because they’re going to play hard regardless if they have Rose or not.
Melvin
February 20th, 2012
2:27 pm
northcyde,
I thought Willie was known for his defense. Personally, I’m surprise how good he’s been on offense this year…
Najeh Davenpoop
February 20th, 2012
2:31 pm
“Btw who is Najeh and doc on the Fantasy league?”
I’m the guy who drafted Brook Lopez in the 3rd round, one day before they announced he was having foot surgery.
Najeh Davenpoop
February 20th, 2012
2:35 pm
“He threw Kirk into the fire immediately instead of slowly working him back into the rotation.”
Exactly.
Even if Kirk eventually gets his legs back and starts playing like 2008 Kirk (who I really liked as a player BTW), it’s foolish on LD’s part to just hand him 20 minutes, many of which have come at the expense of Teague and T-Mac. If he was going to be handed anything, he should have been handed the exact same role Pargo previously had, with everyone else’s minutes remaining intact.