Atlanta Hawks: Nuggets 118, Hawks 117 (OT)
Denver–There were series of gaffes, miscalculations and questionable strategy by the Hawks and an incredible 3-pointer from Danilo Gallinari, and yet the Hawks still had a chance to win with a play that was executed perfectly . . . right up until the point where Zaza Pachulia’s layup attempt bounced harmlessly off the rim.
- “Just missed it,” Zaza said. “It was a great opportunity for me.”
- He can get in line with Joe Johnson’s turnovers and forced iso Js, Jannero Pargo’s fumble, Kirk Hinrich’s missed free throws and shot-clock violation, Vladimir Radmanovic’s 0-for-4 on 3s. . . . and don’t forget those 11 dunks and layups the Hawks allowed in the first half.
- Larry Drew said the final play was designed to free Zaza near the basket: “The execution was perfect. We executed. That was probably the best play we executed all night. ‘Z’ just missed a point-blank layup. But I told the guys it didn’t come down to that. That game was lost in the first half when we didn’t make a stand defensively and they basically had their way with us.”
- Joe took the heat off Zaza and Kirk and put it on himself: “We don’t put this game on Zaza missing a layup or Kirk not making a free throw. I look at the stat sheet and I had five turnovers and probably three of those were at crucial times.”
- Kirk: “It’s tough. I had a chance to win it. I made the hard one, the first one, and I missed the second. I’m very disappointed.”
- Zaza: “We had so many opportunities, you know. I don’t think we were lucky today. Of course it’s not an excuse. I have to finish that. But if you think about it, the turnover we had over there off Pargo’s leg, Gallinari’s three, Kirk’s free throw and my layup. That’s four big things. We just weren’t lucky today. Again, that’s not an excuse and personally, me, I have to finish when I have that kind of opportunity. I take that blame on my shoulders.”
- On the 3, Gallinari wasn’t even squared up when he received the pass. Joe and Josh Smith were all over him when he let it go. “I don’t know how he made it,” Joe said. “It was definitely a tough shot. He caught it kind of fading. But before that we couldn’t get big stops. They were either scoring or we were fouling.”
- Drew: “He hit a tough shot. You couldn’t have defended it any better than that.”
- Kirk: From my vantage point, I was boxing out under the basket. When he let it go, I thought, ‘There’s no way he will make that.’ And then the ball fell through the net into my hands.”
- Another beastly line for Josh: 33 points on 23 shots, 13 rebounds, seven assists, two blocks and just one turnover. His tendency to try to set ballhandlers up for blocks when they drove contributed to some of those 11 dunks and layups but the perimeter D was atrocious.
- Josh put the Hawks ahead with a sweet spin move after Drew went away from Iso-Joe. The Hawks missed him once he fouled out 2:46 into OT because he was setting up Joe and Kirk for open Js.
- Joe put the Hawks ahead 117-1112 with a crafty move, keeping his dribble alive to thwart a double team and making a fadeaway J. But he missed on a forced iso J that led to two free throws for Nene and got bailed out on a forced drive when, after a long review, the refs decided the replay was inconclusive and the Hawks kept the ball.
- Drew: “When we lost Josh, and then I couldn’t bring Marvin [Williams] back because he took the bang on the hip, I was going to ride Joe. I just tried to put him in a position where he could operate and we just surrounded him with shooters.”
- The last play wasn’t Iso-Joe, though. “Going down the stretch we had opportunities that we just kind of let slip away,” Drew said.
- Both Joe (34 points on 26 shots, 6/10 3FG) and Kirk (22 points on eight shots, 3/4 3FG, 5/6 FT) had great games that were marred by bad moments.
- Marvin once again was aggressive early coming off the bench. It’s a role that seems to suit him.
- Marvin came back in the game briefly late in the fourth quarter after he suffered the hip injury. It was his pass that Pargo bobbled off his knee. “He couldn’t move,” Drew said of Marvin. “I only used him at the end there just to be a passer on the out of bounds. I wanted to put him back in down the stretch and overtime but he couldn’t go. I had to use what I had.”
- The Hawks said both Marvin and Willie Green (back, hamstring) will miss the game tomorrow at the Clippers. Tracy McGrady is expected to play after being held out on the first night of a back-to-back, to the Hawks will have 10 healthy bodies available.
Michael Cunningham, Hawks beat
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362 comments Add your comment
STRETCH
March 14th, 2012
9:49 am
Mr Cunnigham,
Just wondering if youve ever had the chance to sit down and talk with some of the other writers in Atlanta like Mr Schultz, Bradley, Chip Towers and Mr Ledbetter about why all our sports teams continue to be mediocre?
Im pretty sure the common denominators would be the issues that continues to plague them, and that is incompetent upper management overwhelmed coaches (which includes not being able to discipline or control players), and lack of players interest.
Great and future NFL players would rather be at Alabama, LSU or Florida. NBA players know they have a better shot with Miami, Chicago, LA or even OKC cause the dont tolerate things like ASG. Baseball guys dont care about the Braves “Great clubhouse atmosphere” they want to make it past the Divsion Series.
Even Mr Blank has put together a really good Falcons team, but they are just what the Hawks, Braves, Jackets and Bulldogs are. Mediocre teams, just good enough to compete, but they are either not talented enough or plain out coached at crucial times, (see Mike Smith’s 4th and goal attempts and playing NOT to lose attitude), (see the Hawks 9 straight 1 point losses on the road), (see Mark Richt’s record against the big boys in the SEC), (see the Braves continued choking ways since 1996), (see Paul Johnson running the option 4 years in a row with the same results every year).
Qoutes by idiots like Richt, Mike Smith, Sund, and Wren are just plain unbelievable to me. Guys like them dont last long in the LSU’s, Alabama’s, Florida’s, Texas’ or the Boston’s, LA’s, NY’s and Chicago’s in sports.
Geographically if you break the United States up into 4 corners, Atlanta should have a more incluential appeal in sports in the southern parts but instead, they hardly get any air time from major sports media because the state of Georgia is just as i said mediocre and thats in ALL apsects of sports from top to bottom.
Until owners start givin a crap, then people will give a crap! I love my Georgia teams and will still support them, weather its making a drive from Virginia Beach, Va to see them, or cable TV or Playstaion, i will be there. But im also a fan of sports and i like winners, so every year when the time comes, i will find a team thats making noise and root, becuase thats what we do as sports fans, we root for a good product.
Loserville is the appropriate name.
Slimjr
March 14th, 2012
10:00 am
“Geographically if you break the United States up into 4 corners, Atlanta should have a more incluential appeal in sports in the southern parts but instead, they hardly get any air time from major sports media because the state of Georgia is just as i said mediocre and thats in ALL apsects of sports from top to bottom. ” -Stretch-
Georgia is Loserville when it comes to sports and why? This has been going on for at least 4 decades now…
I see a book being written about the ongoing failures these past 40 years…This book will become a NewYork Times Bestseller…Theres a ton of material to write about too…
You’ll have to dig deep cause of Georgia’s ugly past? Maybe it is Karma?
kwooden
March 14th, 2012
10:02 am
Slimjr, your over-reacting to last night. Zaza has no vertical and Marvin can only jump off two feet. They are both athletic and coordinated enough, but clearly not really athletic. For his size, I think Zaza is very coordinated, I’ve seen him soccer style dribbling a basketball in warm-ups before a game. I think we’ve all been told Marvin’s an athlete like Faried, but clearly that’s a lie. Zaza, by nature is finesse player (he was called soft his first few years in the league), so he’s never really learned how to use his body to score in the post, like David West. We shouldn’t be surprise when Marvin gets his shot blocked at the basket or if Zaza misses any contested layups. They are who they are!
STRETCH
March 14th, 2012
10:02 am
And in other news:
Carmelo Anthony’s discontent with the Knicks organization became so severe after Monday night’s loss to the Bulls, he told a confidant he preferred to be traded before Thursday’s trade deadline, The Post has learned. New York Post
Slimjr
March 14th, 2012
10:03 am
Stretch just did a great job scratching the surface about material for this new book..
” The Failures of Georgia” A sports History seen through the eyes of a local sports fan or sports writer? Hehe
Slimjr
March 14th, 2012
10:06 am
Who ever writes this book will get a lot of air time and debate on ESPN!
Slimjr
March 14th, 2012
10:10 am
BTW Stretch, Arthur Blank does give a crap but has not won a playoff game in almost 8 years now and 3 regime changes later..
It goes much deeper than that. Cant quite put a finger on it but got a gut feeling about Georgia Sport Franchise Failures…
drmaryb.[*_*].
March 14th, 2012
10:19 am
STRETCH it OUT!
Plastic man is on FIYAH right here. Excellent and non-emotional presentation of the facts. Just a brilliant commentary and indictment of what’s really going on here.
____________
“Carmelo Anthony’s discontent with the Knicks organization became so severe after Monday night’s loss to the Bulls, he told a confidant he preferred to be traded before Thursday’s trade deadline, The Post has learned. New York Post”
__________
A cautionary tale of being careful what you wish for. Carmelo wished and brooded to play in NYC – his home town.
However, does Melo have a Ney York state of mind? The scrutiny is brutal in The Big Apple. Those fans don’t have time for no BS happening on MSG. You know it’s bad when you got The New York Post riding your sack. It’s gettin’ hot in there and, these cays can’t handle it.
I hope Josh realizes how easy the “we don’t really care” about The Hawks fans really are. This ain’t New York baby. Having said this, IDK if I would take the ball hogger Melo over Mr. Johnson. Joseph does plays perimeter defense and shares the ball, he just doesn’t care to rebound.
STRETCH
March 14th, 2012
10:20 am
Slimjr
Like the idea! Maybe we can get a 30 at 30 episode on ESPN…LOL! Yeah, i really feel for Mr Blank though, cause he is actually trying.
Big Lou
March 14th, 2012
10:21 am
“It goes much deeper than that. Cant quite put a finger on it but got a gut feeling about Georgia Sport Franchise Failures…” Slimjr
Well, I think it’s because GA will be the epicenter of the NWO when the collapse comes. That’s why they have the guidestones and millions of coffin containers. Winning sports brings new people to the city when they decide to move from another state, like a fresh start. I felt the plan was in action after the Olympic city bombing set up. They don’t want people to come here for some reason. Maybe this state will be spared on the upcoming doom.
Big Lou
March 14th, 2012
10:25 am
“Like the idea! Maybe we can get a 30 at 30 episode on ESPN…LOL! Yeah, i really feel for Mr Blank though, cause he is actually trying.” -STRETCH
I like his effort, too. He’s just had bad luck. Maybe with the new OCs, FAs, and draft picks it will be better this year. At least he changes it up, unlike the Hawks and their assistant head coaches, horrible management, and same core from 5 years ago.
Nothing easy! Right Zaza? Lol
TMACfan
March 14th, 2012
10:26 am
Looks like Woodson is going to take over the Knicks
Big Lou
March 14th, 2012
10:27 am
Carmelo Anthony does average 6 rebounds a game. So, that’s an upgrade over JJ. Lol
Melvin
March 14th, 2012
10:28 am
Melvin
March 13th, 2012
9:38 pm
” I think getting an opportunity to play has really helped him. ” Coach Larry Drew.
Astro,
Can we now put the debate to rest that Teague improve play has come from playing time and not practice?
kuhndog
March 14th, 2012
10:32 am
It is inexcusable that zaza missed a bunny at the end though he did have somebody coming at him.He should of went up strong instead of a layup drill.I was upset with NENE hard play in the 3rd and no calls.we were getting aggressive at the rim and he took marvin down, and then josh both with no calls,marvin will miss a month with this injury.I am for bots for refs and let one human be on court for human interaction,these guys make too much and games are too important for human emotion to come into it from the refs. and it does .Nene should have fouled out before josh did.The bot refs will look like baseballs flying around and see all, even Lebron pulling down dampier in our last meeting with Miami, when they called damp for the foul no more home court ref calling,and with the bots you just set the sensativity of fouls being called
Slimjr
March 14th, 2012
10:36 am
Big Lou your F_________king Brilliant dude! Now it makes sense..Your sense of connecting dots is uncanny!
You start winning in this town and people will come..Some permanently….The Guide Stones are very strange..They remind me of a miniature Stonehenge
Big Lou
March 14th, 2012
10:37 am
Marvin’s injury didn’t look like a month long one… not that we’ll miss him with Tmac’s increased minutes.
Big Lou
March 14th, 2012
10:41 am
Slimjr
You should look at the mass collection of plastic ‘disease pevention’ coffins in south GA on YouTube. They have millions of them just stacked down there.
Micheal
March 14th, 2012
10:42 am
I dont know, how you can really guess the reason why Georgia Professional teams sucks, they have their chances but I think this a good subject to bring up because its a problem to a point that this city lose two Hockey teams, cant get good attendents from the Hawks or Braves games, then you have to added that this area is dominated by college football.
But back to the Hawks, I know that ASG is WLOC mode but they know that if they keep losing like this, there is a high possibilty that they will have to face against the Heat or Bulls. So a move needs to be made.
vava74
March 14th, 2012
10:42 am
High-sider,
No, you are the fool.
You look a single tree, not at the forest.
Zaza missed a lay up and we lost the game. Fine, no one is contesting that.
But Zaza has been playing really well and he has been a factor in many wins since Al went down (including 2 wins against ORL and 1 against OKC where he beasted).
To overlook that and focus on a botched lay up is LAME.
The important thing to extract was = good play, better than ISO, so better luck next time.
You can identify a missed lay up as a crucial mistake but are not able to identify the hundreds (maybe thousands) of missed defensive assignments which Jamal has per season.
You are a fool indeed.
Big Lou
March 14th, 2012
10:43 am
Makes me think that there will be a Walking Dead… Lol awesome. I would love a zombie apocalypse.
Slimjr
March 14th, 2012
10:46 am
Big Lou, gonna check it out…WTF?
Stretch, ESPN will eat that book up… “A Losers Mentality” Four Decades of Georgia Franchise Failures.. foreword: quotes from local sports bloggers…Hehe
Slimjr
March 14th, 2012
10:48 am
Big Lou, TV programing and movies are putting out messages anyway? Hmmmmmmm
Hawks Fan
March 14th, 2012
10:51 am
Call me crazy…But I really like this squad and feel they can compete to come out the East. But several things must happen:
1. Must get healthy: Hopefully Al comes back at full strength in April. This will allow us to move ZaZa to the bench (Thanks God!) and become much more athletic at the 5. On a smaller scale, we need guys like Willie Green and TMAC to get healthy for the playoffs.
2. Marvin must contine to play aggresive as a 6th man. I like him in this role. Seems to be comfortable.
3. Need to get a 3 or 4 seed in the playoffs. Definitely possible. After the Clips game, our schedule become very favorable.
Thoughts?
Big Lou
March 14th, 2012
10:56 am
Hawks Fan
You sound like the ownership. Lol
Al is not going to be back for the playoffs.
Sautee
March 14th, 2012
10:57 am
High-sider, if you think Grant Hill was mediocre, you must be too young to know. If Grant had not been injured he would have been a top 10 player for his career. Look back at his first 6 years in the league before his first major injury.
In his first 6 years, Grant Hill averaged 21.7 points, 7.7 reb. and 6.2 assists. As a small forward.
That’s Pippen / LeBron like numbers. Mediocre, my ass. Somebody wasn’t paying attention.
I contend that he’s the best pro to come out of Duke.
O'Brien
March 14th, 2012
11:01 am
Melvin,
I think LD and Woody set the Hawks back by not playing Teague the last 2 years, because it led to us trading away 2 first round picks to get Hinrich, and Teague would have been further along in his development (imo).
However, LD is not going to come out and say “I didnt play Teague last year because he wasn’t good enough”. Coaches (even Woody) would say the right things in the media in a situation like this.
Ra’mon,
With the improved play of Zaza at center, I would explore the trade market for Al, but with him being healthy, I wonder what his trade value is.
Big Lou
March 14th, 2012
11:08 am
I know Tebow isn’t that good, but it stinks he’s getting shafted by the Peyton fiasco.
ag
March 14th, 2012
11:09 am
I thought we played well last night. Remember, we cannot win them all.
O'Brien
March 14th, 2012
11:19 am
*with him being hurt…
drmaryb.[*_*].
March 14th, 2012
11:19 am
ag, you are correct. that game was a fantastic nail biter, one for the ages. I’m more upset about the owners and management attitudes and snarky comments, than anything else. I have no beef with the players from last noght whatsoever. Moreso than Kirk’s forgivable FT miss, I just wish zaza would have dunked that thing.
Even if the rim blocked his dunk, at least he tried. But a lay up man? That was soft in and of itself.
STRETCH
March 14th, 2012
11:20 am
Slimjr,
And on the show they should do interview with people like, Lonnie Smith, Otis Nixon and Dale Murphy or Mark Wohlers and Andruw Jones.
And for the Falcons, Jeff Van Note, Steve Bartkowski, Alfred Jenkins, William Andrews, Prime Time, Andre Rison (but not in the same room..LOL)
For the Hawks, John Drew, Dan Roundfield with Tree Rollins, Nique and Doc Rivers with cameo from Jon “Contract” Koncak and Spudd Webb.
For the Bulldogs, Herschel, David Green, Eric Zeir and a slew of running backs!
Great show!
Newbie
March 14th, 2012
11:21 am
I posted a trade on the blog last night that sent JJ and Rad to the Nicks for Melo and then sending Hinrich, Williams, and Horford to the Magic for Redrick and Howard. This trade works on the ESPN Trade Machine. Comments?
O'Brien
March 14th, 2012
11:22 am
Big Lou,
Bledsoe gets hurt, and loses his job to Brady. Bulger gets hurt, and loses his job to Warner. That kind of stuff happens all the time. Ownership has no loyalty to players. All they want to do is win.
But how is Tebow getting shafted?
High-sider
March 14th, 2012
11:24 am
Sautee,
“High-sider, if you think Grant Hill was mediocre, you must be too young to know. If Grant had not been injured he would have been a top 10 player for his career. Look back at his first 6 years in the league before his first major injury.” – Sautee
FYI, I remember Grant Hill while he was at Duke when Duke went to the NCAA Tournament Finals in 3 out of his [Grant Hill's] 4 years there. My point is that Grant Hill was predicted to be a truly great player and HOFer but never lived up to his hype. Truly great players have long careers and avoid the tragedy of catastrophic, debilitating injuries or at least come back from those injuries. If truly great players have major injuries, they make great comebacks to play at their previous high levels or even better levels and do not decline/degenerate over time immediately after that injury occurred. [Examples : Michael Jordan with the broken foot in second year in the NBA, James Worthy with the broken leg in his first or second year in the NBA, Kobe Bryant with his multiple and numbers injuries, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar with the detached retina [I think?], Joe Montana with his broken back and spinal surgery, Tom Brady with the ACL tear, Jerry Rice with his serious knee injury, etc.]
High-sider
March 14th, 2012
11:29 am
^Correction: “Kobe Bryant with his multiple and [numerous*] injuries,”
aytunstoppable
March 14th, 2012
11:31 am
games like this makes u say atlanta don’t trade for anybody and wait til the off season. That was a joy to watch last night. a real joy.
Big Lou
March 14th, 2012
11:31 am
O’brien
Well, Tebow did win a playoff game and lead the team to the dance. I think he deserves a good offseason of getting coached up and an actual season starting. Instead of the Broncos landing Peyton to start over him. Kinda sucks. He’s a tough kid.
High-sider
March 14th, 2012
11:43 am
Sautee,
“I contend that he’s [Grant Hill] the best pro to come out of Duke.” – Sautee
That doesn’t say very much to me since Duke has been such a storied collegiate basketball program under Coach K’s tenure/regime. How many NBA HOFers or projected NBA HOFers have come through the Duke Men’s Basketball program under Coach K? How many Duke players [coached by Coach K] have been major or significant contributors on NBA Championship teams or NBA teams that have made deep playoff runs? Hyped Duke Men’s Basketball players = NBA busts.
drmaryb.[*_*].
March 14th, 2012
11:47 am
Sautee dear, ignore that silliness. A dislocated ankle is like a decapitated head from your neck. Deadly injury to a basketball player. Grant Hill should have never seen the court again, but here he is still balling.
Grant Hill’s come back in and of itself is unbelievable! It is not human to come back from a weight bearing pivotal joint injury at all in the NBA. Most would have walked away.
Melvin
March 14th, 2012
11:49 am
O’Brien,
So did Teague became good enough to play after Hinrich was hurt? You can’t have it both ways.
drmaryb.[*_*].
March 14th, 2012
11:51 am
* injury like that one, repaired with pins, screws and plates.
High-sider
March 14th, 2012
11:57 am
vava74,
“Zaza missed a lay up and we lost the game.” – vava74
My point going back to my post @9:09am is/was there is a “big difference” between missing a layup and a long-distance jump shot and that difference is the probability or the percentage of making/converting those two types of shots. A [wide open] layup should be made with the accuracy [being] in the high 90’s percentile while a long distance jump shot should be made [depending on distance, the shooter, time and situation] with the accuracy in the 35-42 percentile if that distance is from 20′ to 24′. In conclusion, Zaza should have made the damn layup especially since he [Zaza] is 6′11″. No excuses.
Ray
March 14th, 2012
12:01 pm
Got to admit about Tebow he’s got an X-factor that most players just don’t have that’s heart, pride, and faith on him.
We already got Matt Ryan, but if Tebow was here to start I wouldn’t mind it at all. That’s not to knock Matt like most people do just that there is a lot to be said about Tebow he’d put butts in those seats.
Back to the Hawks though telling ya’ll right now is the best time to get rid of two players that were in reality over-hyped that’s Joe and Al
hawksfancents95
March 14th, 2012
12:14 pm
someone comment on this
carmelo disfunction in new york has really heated up. i would be more than happy to trade joe johnson for carmelo straight up, they both make 18.4mil a year and reports are melo is basically tearing NYC apart and he wants out. it would make sense for both teams and if we had melo and josh we could get to the eastern conference finals.
ATL- teague hinrich anthony smith pachulia
NYC- Lin Fields Johnson Stoudemire Chandler
drmaryb.[*_*].
March 14th, 2012
12:22 pm
Fab Melo has academic issues … Hmmmmmm. Just blow the whistle boy and enter the draft. You can always go back for that all elusive degree.
I bet he goes high in the lottery draft though. No luck Hawks.
Major de`Coverly
March 14th, 2012
12:22 pm
i heasrd connie hawkins was ina carweck an had his knee decapidaded.
and when the doc put his knee cap back in he was ok an able to go rifht along with his career.
connie hawkins was good backin the old days. they coudnt operate with modern operations
the way they do now. but i think his knee was fine after that. im sorry that im not a good typer.
drmaryb.[*_*].
March 14th, 2012
12:25 pm
If, I were Indy? I would take RG3 @ #1. Don’t know if I would bank on Luck, just a woman’s intuition from the gut.
Slimjr
March 14th, 2012
12:26 pm
Nice try Ray in a coy way you are knocking Matt Ryan….LMAO!!!!
Like more to come…Give him another year of failure in the playoffs..PLAYOFFS? Yep…
He will officially be declared a 72 million dollar BUST!
The Truth
March 14th, 2012
12:28 pm
LD: “But I told the guys it didn’t come down to that. That game was lost in the first half when we didn’t make a stand defensively and they basically had their way with us.”
So if you had knowledge of this during the first half, as a coach, why did you let this happen? Why didn’t you at least share this observation with your players and make some adjustment? At least let them know (in real time) that corrections need to be made.
As a fan, I witness the same thing: The Hawks were scoring but they had not answer for Denver attacking offense especially in the paint. The Nuggets had a block party and invited all their guests. Even perimeter jump-shooter Gallinari, who is not known for scoring by driving to the paint, decided to join the party with much success. If it wasn’t “paint scoring”, it was “downtown 3s” brought to you by Ty Lawson (Teague couldn’t fight through a pick, if his life depended on it and perhaps explain why he was benched late in the 4th). Their offense was made to order against the Hawks weak interior defense. Clear path lanes to the basket were buffet style (Thanks Zaza).
I observed this and so did LD. But LD is no fan, he’s the coach. His comments suggest he sat there and just let that happen in the 1st half.
Let’s just call him a reactive coach instead of a proactive coach. Enough said.
In fairness though, I can’t completely blame this loss on LD. These millionaire players must be accountable for their actions. Not just with sound-bite media apologies but with a commitment to excellence.
We Shall See (how they respond)