Atlanta Hawks: Clippers 96, Hawks 82
Los Angeles--At the end of a long road trip and with a roster depleted by injuries, the Hawks gave a pretty-good-if-sloppy effort against the Clippers but couldn’t make plays at winning times and finished the trip 2-4.
- “We clearly just ran out of steam,” Larry Drew said.
- Whether you see that as an excuse or a legitimate explanation probably depends on your mood. My guess is it’s not charitable because of the sting of close Ls at Miami, Detroit and, especially, Denver.
- “We can’t hang our heads, but you have got to be a little disappointed,” Josh Smith said. “We had an opportunity to win in Miami. We definitely had an opportunity to win in Detroit. And the game last night was definitely our game and we gave it away. This is our last long away trip. We’ve got to take care of the home games and worry about these Eastern Conference teams and try to climb up.”
- “We have just got to fine tune these last 20-something odd games,” Joe Johnson said. “The trip is definitely not as successful as we wanted. Nowhere near. We have just go to get back home and try to string some wins together and move up the ladder board.”
- The Hawks already were down Al Horford and Ivan Johnson in the frontcourt and another option, Marvin Williams, was out too. Then Vladimir Radmanovic (back) was a late scratch and Josh was in early foul trouble.
- “I’ve got to take my hat off to my guys,” Drew said. “We knew coming in this would be a physical game and, big-man wise, we were limited. Then we got word right before the game Vladimir couldn’t go because of his back. That left us with one big guy coming off the bench, [Erick] Dampier. So basically we were left with figuring out how to stay in the game and manage the game.”
- It turned out the Clips guards Mo Williams and Eric Bledsoe hurt the Hawks more than their bigs. But a good deal of that could be contributed to Atlanta playing zone and the guards sagging to help with Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan. Also, Reggie Evans bulled his way 10 rebounds, four of them on offense.
- “We paid so much attention to their inside presence and Chris Paul running the pick-and-roll that [Mo Williams] basically went out there shooting darts,” Joe said.
- “It looked like they were moving a lot faster than we were,” Drew said of Mo Williams and Bledsoe.
- You can see the Hawks’ offense slowly start to evolve to the point where it needs Josh on the court to function effectively. As soon as he entered the game in the second quarter after sitting with two fouls, he scored four straight baskets. As soon as he left after picking up his third, scoring became a struggle again.
- “We didn’t have anybody to go to in the post to go to to pressure their guys,” Joe said. “We basically shot a lot of jump shots and we kind of lost rhythm.”
- The Hawks managed to stay in striking position. Josh scored five points on one trip when he made two free throws after a clear path foul and then sank a 3-pointer. But that’s when it looked like the Hawks lost their legs at the same time Mo and Bledsoe were hitting everything.
- Here’s how their next eight possessions went: Josh missed on a drive, Jerry Stackhouse had his layup blocked on the break, Jannero Pargo turned it over, Tracy McGrady turned it over, McGrady made a 3, McGrady turned it over again, Kirk Hinrich shot an airball, and Joe turned it over.
- Joe: “No excuses. Everyone’s schedule has been pretty tough. We wanted to give ourselves a chance to win but we just kept turning the ball over and couldn’t really close the gap.”
- Ivan Johnson is expected to return to play Friday against the Wizards. Marvin, Vladimir and Willie Green are up in the air. The Hawks just can’t ever seem to get their full complement of players dressed.
- Drew: “It feels a little bit like ’snakebit.’ But it is something we are going to have to work through and push through and face. We can’t make any excuses because a lot of teams go through injuries. We will lick our wounds on this trip and we will go home and be OK.”
- Joe: “We keep mixing and matching lineups. You don’t know who is going to play or not play. It’s a little tough and mind-boggling but, at the same time, the way the schedule is, we have just got to deal with it.”
- Josh: “We are not worried about it. We have just got to stay positive and not worry about anybody catching up to us and just put a strong of games together and not worry about the pressure of dropping a seed.”
The Hawks have to get it together because Boston is creeping up from behind in the East.
Michael Cunningham, Hawks beat
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271 comments Add your comment
Ray
March 15th, 2012
12:24 pm
If we secure the draft pick we’d own the #14 and #21 as of right now which means according a few draft mocks we’d just miss out of Terrance Jones at #21 and Perry Jones at #14
Truth though I’m more interested on Fab Melo at #21 if he enters that is, and I know it’d be a reach, but he’d be insurance in case Kaman and Okafor both depart and then we’d at least have Two capable C’s on our team something that’s never really happened lol.
Astro Joe
March 15th, 2012
12:37 pm
doc, Linsanity had faded BEFORE WOody took over last night but no one will remeber that in 2 weeks.
No way was Orlando turning over GM.head coach ontrol to D12 (as reported last week), when dude can’t even make decisions about his own future, more or less than demands of running an NBA franchise.
OB, hard for me to get excited about anyone’s play when it delivers .500 ball.
doc, no doubt this is super-fun for long-time believers in Josh. Enjoy.
Astro Joe
March 15th, 2012
12:40 pm
Kind of strange how Gerald “Crash” Wallace keeps bouncing around the league. I think it speaks to the notion that SFs are not particularly valuable in today’s NBA. If you’re not LeBron or Durant (and maybe 2-3 others), then you are essentially a dime a dozen (including Wallace).
drmaryb.[*_*].
March 15th, 2012
12:45 pm
Flip it Over!
“Latest rumor is that Dwight has flip-flopped AGAIN and is considering firing agent Dan Fegan and will waive his ETO in the morning.” -BuddyG-
_________
One thing we know, now matter how flat a pancake is – it still has two sides. So keep flipping Dwight, it’s still a pancake. However, I prefer the side that looks less burnt.
_______
Buddy G, are you any relation to that famous local AJC writer, Louis Grizzard? I think that’s his first name? Anyway, I really enjoyed his articles here in Atlanta back in the late ’80’s early ’90’s. I believe he passed away about 10 years ago or so. Just wondering, if the talent for writing runs in your family. You are an awesome communicator with some very fine perspectives.
Didn’t see the game last night, I fell asleep during the pre-game show. Looks like my Hawks did as well. If I was too tired to watch, I can only surmise they were too tired to play, even with 120M reasons to do so – Joseph?
Astro Joe
March 15th, 2012
12:46 pm
I still expect Hawks to try and free up a little salary to get under luxury tax line. Maybe Hinrich + TMac (since LD clearly doesn’t want him on the team) for Beasley + Tolliver. We get scoring punch and another big body while T’Wolves get a replacement for Rubio and another facilitator in TMac. All have expiring deals so they become rentals to help each team with injury concerns. And Hawks shed around $500k in the process.
Astro Joe
March 15th, 2012
12:50 pm
Give Orlando credit, they essentially stared down Howard and have him locked up for another year. Now, the smart move would be to trade him in the summer so they don’t have to deal with the nonsense anymore (after offering him an extension).
hawkville
March 15th, 2012
12:59 pm
Kaman 9-20 for 21 points. Are u serious man. He needs a million damn shots to b effective. I’m good with ZaZa and Al. Kaman damn near 40 and u talking about giving up a 25 year old who still improving. Can’t wait for the trade deadline to pass. Mercy
O'Brien
March 15th, 2012
1:06 pm
Pacers get Barbosa, Sixers get Nick Young. Two teams that are currently ahead of us in the standings.
I dont know if Rick or LD knows this, but Horford is not walking through that door.
And I’m with AJ. Hawks will do whatever it takes to avoid the luxury tax. If they dont make any moves, then there must be some loop hole that we dont know about.
MC,
Do you have your Cards winning it all? Or did you keep it real?
phil
March 15th, 2012
1:06 pm
Excuses indeed. It’s always something with this bunch. I admit Idiot Josh has played much better than I ever expected, but he’s still dumber than a brick. Maybe we’ll at least make the playoffs….
phil
March 15th, 2012
1:07 pm
Fire everyone!!
vava74
March 15th, 2012
1:09 pm
Astro Joe
March 15th, 2012
12:50 pm
That’s why I said that they should accept ANY demand from Howard relating to coaches, GMs, etc
By keeping him happy they would gain a substantially higher margin of maneuver to deal him without this mid-season pressure.
O'Brien
March 15th, 2012
1:12 pm
As for the Magic, they don’t have many attractive assets, so I don’t think they will be able to make any moves to convince Dwight to say. It will be interesting to see what the domino effect is. Does Houston finally make a deal? Do the Nets trade D-Will (I dont think they will)?
joeygt1
March 15th, 2012
1:13 pm
obrien..sixes got sam young not nick young from the wizards
Wabe
March 15th, 2012
1:13 pm
i’m tired of this f’n organization…
what do people have to do to demonstrate how tired and dissatisfied fans are at this f’n ownership group?
there’s a couple hours left.
i’m not hearing any rumored moves.
hinrich’s got an expiring contract – but not hearing anything about moving him.
vava74
March 15th, 2012
1:21 pm
Wabe,
Keep cool. Complain after the deadline has passed. The only thing good about Sund is that we never know his moves until they are finished.
No rumors coming out of his office. That’s good IMO. You may not like it as a fan, but its good.
Wabe
March 15th, 2012
1:22 pm
Anybody not named Josh Smith should be under consideration to be moved…
Teague – Joe – Hinrich – Al Horford
Any one of these dudes should be actively shopped.
Wabe
March 15th, 2012
1:23 pm
I hear ya vava…
I try, but it’s hard to keep hope alive with these bumarse owners.
Wabe
March 15th, 2012
1:26 pm
Is there anyway they could put together a package for D.Williams? Financially possible?
I mean I’d throw whatever NJ’s way…
Teague – Al – Marvin (lol) for D.Williams.
I’m no cap guru, nor do I mess around with ESPN’s trade machine, so I’m not even sure if these trade scenarios would be plausible, but, I’m sure you could entice them with some of the peices we have.
Pair D.Williams with J.Smith or if at all possible, D.Williams with J.Smith + Joe.
vava74
March 15th, 2012
1:30 pm
Wabe,
Trades do not mean improvement. Excitement and renewed interest for fans, certainly, but the fact is that the majority of the trades DO NOT PAN OUT.
This does not mean that I do not advocate a move for the Hawks and I even advocate a bold one (move Horford), but we have to accept that what we want may not be what the other ballclubs want.
vava74
March 15th, 2012
1:31 pm
Trades do not NECESSARILY mean improvement
Big Lou
March 15th, 2012
1:33 pm
“Trades do not NECESSARILY mean improvement”
It does if you’ve had the same core for five years and haven’t done sh!t with it.
drmaryb.[*_*].
March 15th, 2012
1:35 pm
What a Team Needs!
“Kaman damn near 40 and u talking about giving up a 25 year old who still improving. Can’t wait for the trade deadline to pass. Mercy.” -hawksville-
______________
I believe the the deal was Kirk + filler for Kaman. The latest word is the Hornets will take a 2nd round pick now. I believe Kaman’s base salary this year is 14M, however that will be pro-rated down to less than 8M with the season half over.
That’s the key for Sund because, moving Kirk’s pro-rated 8M should be a little less that 4M and the rest could be absorbed as a TPE and, get under the slightly above cap to avoid any luxury tax taboo. Or, just send Kirk straight up with filler from the bench to ride out the season.
Or, finally, just sen a 2nd round pick and gain the full TPE of about 7M (half Kaman’s salary). Or, just do nothing and get healthy! Which is dumber than dumb because we have not been healthy all year and are loaded with old, worn down vets.
WWSD? At this point, who cares?
Ray
March 15th, 2012
1:35 pm
And will someone for the love of God tell these people Deron Willaims isn’t coming to ATL and even if he does it’s a rental he’s bolting for Dallas come offseason time.
vava74
March 15th, 2012
1:36 pm
maybe we could have convinced Prokhorov to accept this:
http://games.espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=7ormka4
Nets would get:
JJ (mega salary dump move)
Hinrich (cap space)
Hawks would get:
Petro (salary dump for NJ)
Humphries (RFA at the end of the year)
M. Brooks (the blue chip for us)
Okur (RFA – salary dump for us)
Big Lou
March 15th, 2012
1:38 pm
“WWSD? At this point, who cares?”
You know he isn’t going to nothing. Absolutely nothing. Injuries are his excuse and his scape goat for this year. LD will be the coach next year because of that, too.
vava74
March 15th, 2012
1:39 pm
Big Lou,
People advocate trades left and right FOR PLAYERS WHO ARE PLAYING FOR LOSING BALL CLUBS.
These clubs most of the time are losing games because their players are not that good.
ntrigue
March 15th, 2012
1:39 pm
Sund will not make a move sorry yall he’s too dumb to realize he needs to shop Kirk, and Marvin an at least see what you can get in return! Guarenteed he’s sitting at hm doing nothing!
drmaryb.[*_*].
March 15th, 2012
1:40 pm
Also, hawksville, one more thing. Kaman would not be a #1 scoring options on this team. He is probably asked to take 21 shots as the only BIG on a gutted team.
In Atlanta, Josh takes those shots inside and outside. His job would be to rebound, defend and score inside where he is efficient. I would keep perspective, when using a one game sample as statistical trend.
vava74
March 15th, 2012
1:40 pm
Sessions to the Lakers… for a 1st round pick
drmaryb.[*_*].
March 15th, 2012
1:47 pm
Breaking News @ 145PM:
Sessions to Lakers for future draft pick. Which round is that pick?
vava74
March 15th, 2012
1:49 pm
It’s Walton and a 1st for Eyenga and Sessions
TMACfan
March 15th, 2012
1:51 pm
It is a protected LOTTERY draft pick
JaeEvolution
March 15th, 2012
1:52 pm
That should’ve been the deal we made with the Lakers involving Hinrich.
Ray
March 15th, 2012
1:53 pm
Well this is it the home run strecrth to see if any deals come out this next hour I’m almost certain there will be a deal from the hawks just not one everyone wants.
Sund if you want my respect get us Kaman, Ariza, and Okafor in here plus that 1st round pick as well.
Dump off Horford and Marvin plus Kirk he might like playing in Atl, but the reality we have too many G’s right now not enough Big guys.
Ray
March 15th, 2012
1:54 pm
Home run stretch* sorry about that type.
Ray
March 15th, 2012
1:54 pm
Dang it I hate typo’s
Dept. Of Unintended Irony
March 15th, 2012
1:55 pm
“Kaman 9-20 for 21 points. Are u serious man. He needs a million damn shots to b effective. I’m good with ZaZa and Al. Kaman damn near 40 and u talking about giving up a 25 year old who still improving. Can’t wait for the trade deadline to pass. Mercy”
Yes, being 29 is definitely very close to approaching 40.
drmaryb.[*_*].
March 15th, 2012
1:56 pm
Romney Cakes!
I posted last week that Dwight was staying put. That guy craves attention and has ruined all 29 foolish teams not on his wish list by thwarting any trade moves.
Any teams waiting to improve their rosters by, watching the ball stop on offense and not moving their feet on defense, are getting beat on that play. Both the offensive play and defensive play will net zero points and, that rebound is a 50-50 toss up depending on who blocks out for the board.
That my cohorts is ugly basketball. The Nets will suffer the most of all teams. They stopped their presses while waiting for the new “Big Baby”.
Meanwhile, back at The Ponderosa – we get a can of beans with no camp fire to keep them warm. What a bunch of losers The ASKG are.
joeygt1
March 15th, 2012
2:02 pm
are the hawks going to do anything???
TMACfan
March 15th, 2012
2:03 pm
Dept. Of Unintended Irony strikes AGAIN!!!
Ray
March 15th, 2012
2:03 pm
@ drmaryb
Loving that assessment you just put up.
TMACfan
March 15th, 2012
2:04 pm
WHY HAVEN’T WE MADE ANY MOVES YET?!?!?!?
O'Brien
March 15th, 2012
2:04 pm
Lakers get Sessions.
The Los Angeles Lakers have acquired point guard Ramon Sessions from the Cleveland Cavaliers as part of a multi-player deal that will bring the Cavs the Lakers’ 2012 first-round pick, according to league sources.
The Cavs also will send young wing player Christian Eyenga to the Lakers and veteran forward Luke Walton will be going to the Cavs. The Lakers’ will keep their draft pick this year if they miss the playoffs. As part of the deal, the Lakers also will have the right to swap first-round draft position in 2013 with the Miami Heat’s first round pick, which the Cavs own..
O'Brien
March 15th, 2012
2:07 pm
I should have said “as first reported by vava”, Lakers get Sessions.
AJ,
I think it speaks to the notion that SFs are not particularly valuable in today’s NBA..
Too bad Rick did not know that when he gave Marvin 5 years, $38 mil.
STRETCH
March 15th, 2012
2:10 pm
TMACfan,
Didnt you hear that Sund said we dont need no help, just cough syrup so the can get “healthy!”
Ray
March 15th, 2012
2:11 pm
As I’m typing two deals in the works
Warriors trying to give Capt. Jackson to San Antonio Spurs
Raptors dealing Barbaosa and Anthony Carter to Pacers for a 2nd round draft pick.
STRETCH
March 15th, 2012
2:13 pm
And as im typing im hearing Sund working a deal…..
TMACfan
March 15th, 2012
2:14 pm
@STRETCH
I seriously thought Sund had the brains to dump Marvin in the Cleveland speculation.
FIRE SUND!!
hawkfan
March 15th, 2012
2:15 pm
I have a feeling part of Dwight’s decision to stay till next season has something to do with josh’s contract ending next season. Since they could be plotting something and seeing how the hawks wouldn’t trade josh at this year’s deadline, Dwight could be putting their plan on hold to next year, just a guess
Just Joe
March 15th, 2012
2:17 pm
Isn’t that Walton contract pretty ugly (got another year or two on it)? If so, Cleveland got robbed.