Atlanta Hawks at Bulls: Game Thread
Vivlamore reporting from Chicago.
Tracy McGrady met with Hawks coach Larry Drew and general manager Rick Sund about the forward’s publicly expressed displeasure over a lack of playing time.
Both sides say they are ready to move on.
“We talked,” McGrady said before Monday’s game against the Bulls. “Players get frustrated. I was frustrated. We talked and ironed things out. Now, we move on.”
Drew would not disclose the details of the meeting but said “we addressed the problem.”
After playing just 4:39 during a 97-77 loss to the Blazers Saturday, McGrady told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution: “I’m tired of this [bleep]. You can put that in the paper, I don’t give a [bleep].”
Drew has been mindful of McGrady’s minutes this season. The two-time NBA scoring champion has suffered through injuries, which includes a herniated disk in his back. He suffered back spasms on Jan. 11 and sat out three games.
“I’m sure everybody wants to play,” Drew said. “I want guys who want to play. I don’t want guys content to sit on the bench. But the way it was handled, you don’t handle it that way. We will keep looking at the situation of each game. I’m always looking at matchups. I’m always looking at it if it puts us at an advantage, if it puts us at a disadvantage. My job is to coach this team and I’m going to try to put us in the best position as possible. Sometimes it will jeopardize minutes when guys want to play but that is the way it is.”
Entering Monday’s game, McGrady has played in 26 of 32 games this season with average of 18 minutes. Last season with the Pistons McGrady averaged 23 minutes in 72 games.
“If you don’t feel I can help, come tell me that,” McGrady told the AJC. “He ain’t told me nothing. I just want to help these guys win, man, which I know I can. But, damn, four minutes?”
McGrady did not get a start Monday after Marvin Williams left the team Sunday due to the death of a relative. McGrady usually is the substitute for Williams.
* Drew did not know details of the personal situation or when Williams would return to the team. The Hawks end a five-game road trip against the Knicks on Wednesday.
Willie Green got the start in place of Williams.
“Willie has really been playing well for us,” Drew said. “I think the one thing we will miss about Willie is the punch he provides off the bench. In this situation I will juggle the guys coming off the bench but I just felt from a matchup standpoint he gives us a better chance.”
* The Hawks signed center Erick Dampier to a second 10-day contract Sunday with Jason Collins out up to another month with a torn ligament in his left elbow.
The 15-year veteran has appeared in four games for the Hawks after signing his first 10-day contract on Feb. 9. He has not scored but is averaging 2.5 rebounds, 0.3 assists, 0.3 steals and 0.3 blocks in 6.5 minutes.
* Drew said he expects no issues with Joe Johnson’s left knee. The All-Star wore a soft brace to protect his problematic the knee Saturday, saying he is suffering from tendinitis around the patellar tendon.
“We will keep an eye on it,” Drew said.
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812 comments Add your comment
crazy_88
February 20th, 2012
6:40 pm
Notes from this loss:
1. Tracy should be the first man off the bench regardless for whether its for Josh, Joe or Teague. Tracy should be playing the ” point forward ” position and he needs to be playing at least 25 minutes and he should be getting 10 shots.
2. Pargo should supplant Vlad as their ” 3pt specialist ” or they should share minutes at that role.
3. Hinrich’s minutes should be cut to 15
4. Vlad should only be playing If there is serious foul trouble at the 4 position and even then it should be bit minutes.
5. Cut back on Josh’s minutes and let him average around 35 and give Ivan some love.
Astro Joe
February 20th, 2012
6:40 pm
Hawks need to order TMac some pain medicine, because this team has several little shooting guards but not a true PG. TMac, Josh and Joe remain the team’s best facilitators. 4 assists and 23 FGAs from Teague, Kirk and Pargo.
I predict a “move the ball” quote from one of the captains.
aytunstopable
February 20th, 2012
6:40 pm
that + and _ stuiff don’t eman crap i’m still trying to figure out who in the world came up with that stat. that stat means nothing to me so why even bring it up. and Joe would ahve got atleast a couple of floats t-mac couldn’t even get his ass in th lane so come with a better argument than that Kingd92
Rod from College Park
February 20th, 2012
6:40 pm
“now if we could just these numbers from pargo and willie (before tonight) every night and not once in a blue moon. we got to many potential scorers and not enough ” we are going to score’ scorers”
This is the difference between guys like Willie Green, and Jamal Crawford. Jamal has proven that he can score on a nightly basis, and Willie Green has not. Thus the difference is salaries. I like Willie Green, but if you are depending on him and Pargo to score to win games, then you are in real trouble. There is no excuse for Pargo not getting major minutes. None at all.
kingd92
February 20th, 2012
6:40 pm
we should just play mac at point forward, thats what detroit did last year, he started 20 or so games as the point guards.
kingd92
February 20th, 2012
6:42 pm
that will also help our rebounding and lack of size, too bad LD doesnt have that much creativity. the pistons coach kuester was not even good, but at least he figured that much out
W. R. Terrell
February 20th, 2012
6:42 pm
7 for 21 and that says nothing to Josh Smith. Know why, he got 17 points and 12 rebounds so in his mind he is the MAN! The HAWKS are done for this season, they will continue to lose in a fast and furious pace. There will be no playoffs and if by some chance the HAWKS did make it, then we are talking being knocked out the first round.
This season is over and i’m hoping for the rest of it to move quickly. There will be many more games of dumb coming around the bend. This team and coach are pitiful, just pitiful. When a player cannot realize he’s not a superstar the rest of the team is going to suffer. Get ready for one stupid roller coaster ride. This is just the beginning.
Astro Joe
February 20th, 2012
6:42 pm
I wish Woody would do something about these sub-20 point 4th quarters.
aytunstopable
February 20th, 2012
6:43 pm
also not to mention oh um joe can scorer more than t-mac. if you ahven’t noticed we are lacking scorers. whop’d do he can faciltate atlanta could get baskets in the lane and the only person on the team that does it consistently is joe. or did you not see him tearing up Noah.
Astro Joe
February 20th, 2012
6:44 pm
Rod, did Jamal score as many against the Hawks two nights ago as Willie scored tonight?
aytunstopable
February 20th, 2012
6:44 pm
i can agree with play t-mac at pf but t-mac isn’t a starter.
aytunstopable
February 20th, 2012
6:45 pm
he’s just not a starter anymore. thats all there is to it. but is a great bench player.
kingd92
February 20th, 2012
6:45 pm
crazy_88- great points
ayunstopable- +/- is how you win a game, that means your team is outplaying the other team when you are in. It shows youre impact on the game. And also facilitating is how you lead to more points. Check all the high scoring teams in the leagues, the all get a lot of assists. Iso game is not gonna get us 100.
prison mike
February 20th, 2012
6:45 pm
Free throws hurt the Hawks and loose balls resulting in big shots let the Cows get away in the 4th. Green should have been in for Hinpoor.
Mac-Town (#maconchevyrider)
February 20th, 2012
6:46 pm
lmao…did larry drew just say this game was over in the 1st quarter
Melvin
February 20th, 2012
6:46 pm
Although the Hawks lost this game. Seeing Pargo put up 19pts and how much better the Hawks were able to play when he was scoring only highlight my point. This team needs another consistent scorer. If they could get a guy who could consistently score 15-17pts, this team could be dangerous. Marvin/Kirk 16mil salary needs to be on the trade table…
Mac-Town (#maconchevyrider)
February 20th, 2012
6:46 pm
LD admits to throwing in the towel after the 1st quarter
Astro Joe
February 20th, 2012
6:46 pm
+/-? Did someone mention +/- earlier?
kingd92
February 20th, 2012
6:47 pm
plus id have both jj and mac out there in the lineup so i dont know why you are comparing them
northcyde
February 20th, 2012
6:47 pm
Like I said. Kirk and Vlad shouldn’t be part of the regular rotation. That 3 point brick off the top of the backboard that Vlad shot was unbelievable.
Hawks have been needing another rebounded for years. Sund still can’t get us one
The closest is Ivan, but he can’t even get on the floor anymore.
Smith can’t play 40+ minutes every night, so Drew or Sund better address this.
Nice 2nd half by Pargo. Dude was garbage in the first few weeks of the season, but has come on nicely since then. Having said that, he should only play when he is playing well. Hope teague’s confidence isn’t shot now. Gotta get him back in the groove. T-Mac played decent, played a heady game today.
Would be nice to beat the Knicks. But that may be asking too much without possibly JJ and Marvin.
Oh well. At least they didn’t completely roll over and die today.
aytunstopable
February 20th, 2012
6:47 pm
i stand by what i said earlier there should be no way josh has more shots than joe.
Rod from College Park
February 20th, 2012
6:47 pm
Astro Joe,
Stop being an ass. You know what I meant. Look at Jamal’s career numbers and look at Willie Green’s. Then get back to me.
Najeh Davenpoop
February 20th, 2012
6:47 pm
“Tracy should be the first man off the bench regardless for whether its for Josh, Joe or Teague. Tracy should be playing the ” point forward ” position and he needs to be playing at least 25 minutes and he should be getting 10 shots.”
I’ll go a step further and say he should be starting. I don’t think he should be playing more than 25 minutes, mainly because I’d rather see him healthy when the playoffs roll around, but Zaza plays better with him on the floor and starting the game with another pass-first player will get the Hawks off to better starts in my opinion.
Not to mention, considering the putrid lack of big man depth this team has, Marvin off the bench will at least allow the Hawks to bring in a guy who can crash the boards. Rebounding is one thing Marvin has consistently done well this season.
Start Teague-Joe-TMac-Josh-Zaza
Let Marvin be the first guy to come in off the bench, give Willie Green his 15-20 minutes or so, and make sure a real big man is playing at PF and C at all times. That means when Josh and Zaza go out of the game, Ivan or Dampier replace them, not Vlad.
And once they trade Kirk for a big man, let that big man take those backup minutes with Ivan picking up the scraps.
doc
February 20th, 2012
6:47 pm
sure do miss al.
Mac-Town (#maconchevyrider)
February 20th, 2012
6:49 pm
Do whatever it takes to get Kirk Bibby and Marvin out of the A
northcyde
February 20th, 2012
6:49 pm
Lol rod. Willie still did more than Jamal did in the Portland v Atlanta Game. Isaiah was the idiot that paid Jamal like a 2nd tier star. No one else would’ve done that.
aytunstopable
February 20th, 2012
6:50 pm
king didnt i jsut say i don’t even consider +/- a stat much like some other stats that come around. that +/- doesn’t change the fact joe right now is the better player and the better scorer no +/- stat takes that fact away. last i checked as well Joe averages the most assists on the team and t-mac doesn’t average more assist than him so once again what is ur argument cause i’m not seeing it cause you don’t really have one.
kingd92
February 20th, 2012
6:50 pm
Najeh- spot on.
If everyone on this blog can figure this out, how can’t LD.
Astro Joe
February 20th, 2012
6:50 pm
Here’s hoping that Joe misses the Knicks game and the entire All-Star weekend. That would give him a solid 7 day break. And dude ain’t got no business in the 3-point contest anyway. Send Pargo instead
prison mike
February 20th, 2012
6:51 pm
So far for Feb….
Josh 5 assist per game.
Teague 3 assists per game.
Jeff has until the end of next season to improve his pg skills.
aytunstopable
February 20th, 2012
6:52 pm
i’m not comparing him that was you. i got tired of seeing comments of having him start over joe or atleast the hint of it. and it dumb founds me that anyone bother even hinting at that. I have had joe in over hinrich in that final quater though.
OldTimer
February 20th, 2012
6:52 pm
The Bulls played the Hawks today? Who would of knew?
kingd92
February 20th, 2012
6:54 pm
ayunstopable- it doesnt work like that. jj- 3.8 assists per 36min. so .105 assists per min. tmac- 2.2 assists per 17 min. so .129 assists per min.
.129>.105
basically ill do the math for you, if you adjust tmac’s assists for jj’s min he’d avg 5 per compared to jj’s 3.8.
Rod from College Park
February 20th, 2012
6:54 pm
“Lol rod. Willie still did more than Jamal did in the Portland v Atlanta Game. Isaiah was the idiot that paid Jamal like a 2nd tier star. No one else would’ve done that.”
Ok. Willie Green is better than Jamal.
aytunstopable
February 20th, 2012
6:55 pm
and how much i want to say put t-mac in over marvin i just can’t do it because he plays with the most energy of all the starters second to zaza. idk why he doesn’t get rebounds or score more but if anything Marvin plays with energy every game and then LD screws him over by removing when he is playing his best.
kingd92
February 20th, 2012
6:55 pm
Sorry if i was misleading. There is no way he’d start over jj. He’d take marvin’s spot. And btw i agree with you about the hinrich thing, apparently he was hurt tho
kingd92
February 20th, 2012
6:55 pm
im just trying to get our better players on the court at the same time.
soullrenaissance
February 20th, 2012
6:56 pm
yodaddybrother
February 20th, 2012
5:55 pm
can’t believe it’s a single digit game….astonishing
——All without Joe in the game. hmmm. Amnesty Joe.
aytunstopable
February 20th, 2012
6:57 pm
and once again the per minutes nonse doesn’t matter to me either. according to stats like that Vlad Rad is doing a great job in his role when the eye test obviously says he is a defensive liability most of the time and miss open shots.
aytunstopable
February 20th, 2012
6:58 pm
yeah it sucks joe was hurt. i want t-mac in there if no one else is doing good. i feel they would ahve won with Joe, pargo,. mac, josh and zaza in there.
kingd92
February 20th, 2012
6:59 pm
I dont know exactly what youre talking about. Vlad’s stas do even look good when adjusted for min. He’s playing bad and its clearly showing in the box scores.
kingd92
February 20th, 2012
7:00 pm
yea i think that lineup wouldve worked too.
aytunstopable
February 20th, 2012
7:00 pm
the only reason josh gets that many shotss is because they double joe and the guards keep getting in a spot where they are supposed to kick it out.. like they are suppose to but josh always seems tobe at the spot when he should be near the paint not near the three point line.
gail
February 20th, 2012
7:00 pm
I don’t see the hawks making the playoffs this year, I really hope to be wrong, but I just don’t see it.
Blake
February 20th, 2012
7:01 pm
When Is somebody gonna get F#&$*#& Mad?
Astro Joe
February 20th, 2012
7:01 pm
Rod, don’t me mad at me because you said something stupid 48 hours after your boy was a no show. Jamal has been a better scorer over his career, that is obvious, but that doesn’t mean he still has it. What may have happened 2+ years ago isn’t terribly relevant.
Hawks may very well fall to a bottom 5 rebounding team if this recent performance continues. They are already around 22nd in the league. I try not to nick-pik at LD (anymore), but I don’t get how he refuses to try any and every available big to see if they can make an impact on the boards. Ivan with a whopping 7 minutes in consecutive rebounding debacles?
prison mike
February 20th, 2012
7:02 pm
11-21 at the line. Didn’t know it was that bad. We can beat these Cows when Horford comes back.
Hawks Blog Legend Worldwide Clyde
February 20th, 2012
7:02 pm
*YAWN*
Hawks Blog Legend Worldwide Clyde
February 20th, 2012
7:04 pm
Prison Mike we had Horford in game 6 of the playoffs last year and still got blown out on our home court.
kingd92
February 20th, 2012
7:06 pm
Got to make adjustments and get this win against the knicks on wednesday. Im not trying to see the lin highlights vs our team on sportscenter for 24 hours.