Atlanta Hawks vs. Bulls: Game thread
Vivlamore reporting from Philips Arena.
The Bulls will be without Derrick Rose tonight against the Hawks, the eighth straight game he has missed with a groin injury.
For the Hawks, Vladimir Radmanovic is a game-time decision with a back injury. The forward has missed five of the past six games with “tightness” in his back. UPDATE: Radmanovic will not play.
Without Rose, Hawks coach Larry Drew said his team will not change the way they approach playing the Eastern Conference leader. Rebounding and controlling the paint will be the key.
“Still a very, very capable ball club of winning without Rose,” Drew said. “We will attack them the way we have in the past. We have to control the boards. We have to control the paint. They really play an aggressive style in the paint area. We are going to have to bring a playoff intensity against this team because they are not going to hand it to us. They are not going to roll over because Rose is not in the lineup.”
Turnovers will be another issue facing the Hawks. They committed 22 turnovers in Tuesday loss at the Bucks, tying their third most this season. Ten of those turnovers came in the first quarter when the Hawks fell into a deficit they spent much of the game trying to erase.
“That is totally against the way we want to play, particularly on the road,” Drew said. “We talk about controlling the tempo, limiting our turnovers and how important it is to win the board game. At the end of the first quarter we had 10 turnovers. We were at a pace that wasn’t very good for us. Here we are 15 games until the end of the regular season and we are still talking about the same things we were talking about the first week of the season. It is something we will continue to harp on. As a coach, you hope at this point of the season, we are past that point where we are turning the ball over that many times. It’s the way we are turning the ball over. A lot of those errors are unforced, where we are trying to force the issue. Hopefully, we’ll just get better at.”
Jeff Teague had seven of the turnovers, but Drew’s message to his young point guard was simple.
“The only thing he needs to learn is how to bounce back,” Drew said. “… At this stage the last thing I want Jeff to do is play cautious.”
Finally, Drew expects to go deeper into his bench tonight against the Bulls, the fifth game in six nights. He had wanted to play more reserves against the Bucks but didn’t want to stop the momentum the starters had in erasing a 17-point deficit. Tracy McGrady played just 6:50, Willie Green played just 6:23 and Jerry Stackhouse did not play.
“I thought we had exerted a lot of energy to tie it and take the lead and I really wanted to ride the warm guys,” Drew said. “I was hoping I could rest both Josh [Smith] and Joe [Johnson] momentarily, which they did the start of the fourth, but I thought it was important to hang on to the momentum that we did have.
“Tonight, may be a little different story. I might have to go deeper into my bench.”
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413 comments Add your comment
High-sider
March 28th, 2012
10:49 pm
The good news is the Nets tangle the Pacers, 100-84. At least the Hawks don’t lose any ground to the Pacers in the Eastern Conference Standings tonight.
Rod from College Park
March 28th, 2012
10:53 pm
“Josh’s fitted says it all..”
What did it say?
I love haters.
soullrenaissance
March 28th, 2012
11:08 pm
I hate Josh’s Jumpers.
soullrenaissance
March 28th, 2012
11:09 pm
I hate that LD does not have good sub patterns.
soullrenaissance
March 28th, 2012
11:10 pm
I hate that Sund loves to sign vet minimum players and that loves to blame injuries for our woes.
soullrenaissance
March 28th, 2012
11:11 pm
I would LOVE if Josh would humble himself and stop it with the long range shots.
soullrenaissance
March 28th, 2012
11:11 pm
I would love if LD is shown the door and Aldeman is hired for next year.
soullrenaissance
March 28th, 2012
11:13 pm
Just resign already – LD and Sund and the team with no funds (ASG aint the money team) needs to sell to anyone.
drmaryb.[*_*].
March 28th, 2012
11:17 pm
Trayvon Martin case is heating up!
Video of Zimmerman, handcuffed, arriving @ Police Station. His head is shaved and no appearance of any fight, blood, or scuffle, his gray T-Shirt has no blood stains on chest from any broken, bloody nose. He was treated by medics @ scene, but there is no band aids anywhere to cover cuts or scrapes.
If you are fighting for your life, the t-shirt should be disheveled and not firmly tucked and pristine clean. He shot that kid w/o appearant provocation.
Zimmerman’s father is a retired Judge. Hmmm … Who would you call with that “one phone call”? Dad? Mmm Hmmm … You betcha! Zimmerman’s house was originally purchased in his Dad’s name and later transferred solely to George Z.
Oh! George’s clothing WAS collected and entered into evidence for further forensic study – that was significant! We’d been told he went home with his clothes on his back, but that was false. The clothes will tell a lot about what really happened. Basically, this man looks untouched,
unscathed and, doesn’t appear to have been in a physical scuffle, as he claimed to warrant murder on a child armed with Skittles and Arizona Ice Tea.
The police report had his name, height, weight … Apparently Trayvon had I.D. On him, but was toe tagged as : John Doe for three days, while he was drug tested and examined. His parents were NOT called for three days, while thay had his cell phone in their possession!
Can you say, cover up? Also, why did the STATE ATTORNEY show up @ 1030PM All Star Sunday Night to work the crime scene and determine/decide NO ARREST of the killer. Trayvon Martin was a NOBODY @ that point.
Problem is: George Zimmerman was a SOMEBODY! The Chief Gangsta had to clean it up!
Hah!!! It back fired! They NEVER thought the whole world would care and Al Sharpton would come to town to ASK questions. Now Curious George is in hiding ans scared for HIS life! Why did he place NO value on Trayvon Martin’s LIFE?
George Zimmerman! YOU are the “Fkg – Coon” not Trayvon! He was an A / B student headed to college next year!!!
Shame on You! May God have mercy on your soul, sir!
drmaryb.[*_*].
March 28th, 2012
11:24 pm
Soullrenaissance!
Preach! Tabernacle! Pulpit! Call ‘em out! Ship ‘em out!
drmaryb.[*_*].
March 28th, 2012
11:28 pm
Breaking News!
That Jet Blue pilot has been criminally charged tonight for his outburst! He said he was depressed. A passenger on board was an off duty pilot and had to take over and land that plane. The co-pilot was a rookie with ONLY 250 flight hours logged! WOW! Fly Delta people! Stay off these boot-legged airlines! Pay extra for that ticket! SMH
drmaryb.[*_*].
March 28th, 2012
11:40 pm
Breaking News!
Delivered to you by: drmaryb – the entertainment reporter -
Now back to the Hawks … We Lost. Take it easy on the players, they have not been duly supported by management and, have hit the wall for now. They will bounce back once they get their legs underneath them.
Hopefully, we get swept in round 2 so that Sund and Drew are relieved of their duties and ownership will be exposed with their drawers down for the ISH they have done.
The ASKG have NO ONE to blame but the man in the mirror. If, Mr. Woodson won 53 games in the regular season from 13 wins when he arrived? Then, the play off performance has to be the measurement stick!
Drew will earn or lose his JOB in the post season, and as he would say “irregardless” of his injury excuses he will have to leave based on the rotations he used and HOW they played the game! Things like:
Reigning in Josh from the perimeter, Jeff Teague’s utilization, Ivan Johnson’s usage rate, bench utilization , rotations, offensive schemes, defensive efficiency and, such. Let’s Go Hawks!
W.R. Terrell
March 29th, 2012
5:46 pm
Tired? Lets get real. THEY ARE GETTING PAID! When the players signed those contracts they signed understanding the expectations of the owners and fans. They will give it all night after night even if a limb is lost during the game, they expect you back by the next quarter. That sounds crazy but I can’t give them that excuse and no other NBA team either.
Good teams beat the HAWKS by common sense, they run the plays correctly. they take advantage of lazy defense and they play to the weaknesses of the other team. Every team knows to keep Josh on the outside, give him the shot, it is known he will miss more then he makes, that alone gives teams the advantage on the boards.
Watch other teams and see how they set him up to take the outside shot, that’s a defensive play in itself. It allows them to double JJ or hit the glass. Watch when we get a lead above 11 points, Josh is gonna do his thing and the lead evaporates. When Josh plays inside other teams have a problem and JJ does what he does best and that’s “catch and shoot”…Remember, the HAWKS won in 3 OT’s without Josh. I use to be a big fan of Josh, actually up to his 5th year.
I learned then a very a hard lesson, when I realized it was all about him. He gives you enough to think he’s a team player but he’s not. When the draft comes up the HAWKS need to make a move and I don’t mean resign. Cohesiveness makes a good team great. We can blame LD because we surely did blame Woodie and they had something in common. One couldn’t harness Josh amd the other thinks he’s great. Stop blaming the coach, the owners and put the blame where it belongs and that’s on the players and I mean the ones who are paid to PLAY.
The NBA is bigtime ball, excuses are a joke and realization is a must. Know why Marvin is playing a lil bit better coming off the bench? He does not have to be the 3rd or 4th option, his game has really suffered taking the back seat to JJ and Josh. Marvin leaves the team and you will indeed be blaming everything on LD and I don’t think he is much of a coach but the problem lies somewhere else.