Atlanta Hawks: Video: Bulls dominate Hawks
I talked about the Hawks’ 98-77 loss to the Bulls at Philips Arena last night.
Michael Cunningham, Hawks beat
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123 comments Add your comment
drmaryb.[*_*].
March 30th, 2012
8:50 am
Missing Parts!
vava, but, the Hawks are not true contenders, they never were. The have a huge missing part: a bonafide scoring big man with an inside – outside offensive game plan every trip down the floor. We are all jump shooters and, the worst kind at that: 16′ to 22′ dependent (the worse kind there is).
How many more times does that need to be said? 45?
Ra'mon
March 30th, 2012
9:08 am
I am still scratching my head wondering, why Al wasn’t dealt for Nene! There’s no way in the world, Karl wouldn’t rather have Al than McGee. And there’s no way in the world, Nene, Josh, and Joe wouldn’t be the best front court in the EAST! With Teague – Kirk – Joe – Josh – Nene, the Hawks beat the Bulls in a 7 game series, hands down. That trade should have been made in the off season.
drmaryb.[*_*].
March 30th, 2012
9:21 am
Ra’mon
No GM is going to trade for Horford right now. He has sustained a severe injury that is rarely seen in basketball. Besides Kwame, I don’t know of ANY precedent of a player coming back 100% from this and, elevating their play. Like Amare’, Horford may not even be able to get an insurance policy after he returns and, prepare to sign his next contract.
Please remain realistic when it comes to Horford. Sure, he has been a coach’s selection for two All Star squads, but that’s because besides Dwight there is no other center in the east. (see Hibbert?) Do you really think he is a bonafide AS? Of course not, he ran an uncontested race for that back up slot.
Kaman was there though, and, for a second round pick, which we sold.
doc
March 30th, 2012
9:40 am
dmb there is finally another center in the east and he could well be the difference tonight along with mr noah who rejected a fews hots and made zaza irrelevant the other night. let me introduce you to a mr chandler who leads the league in field goal percentage and absolutlely loves to play defense and block shots. btw, if mr collins finds the floor tonight against such a presence then it is my best guess we are destined to lose and i would be questioning mr l drew’s sanity one more time. we may have no answer for their center and he could well be the difference. as an aside, as good as he is his nimbers dont reflect it at 11 and 10.
vava74
March 30th, 2012
9:52 am
drmaryb,
I do not necessarily agree. I think coaching plays a HUGE factor in the NBA and we desperately need an upgrade on the bench.
I agree that LD is not the worst coach in the league, but he his average to the point of not being by far good enough to make what I believe to be a decent roster achieve its potential.
It befuddles me that an ownership group is willing to dole out a 120 million contract and than hires a 1 million per coach to put on the floor the strategy which is supposed to make those 120 million generate a return.
I was dead wrong when I said that LD could be a good solution, mostly due to being bored to death with watching Woody’s ISO-Joe and the switching D but also because I am a romantic by nature: always on the side of the underdog, the “against all odds” thing.
Back to the court:
Josh has been pretty effective when he takes his game inside and properly coached he would not venture that frequently beyond the elbow to launch jumpers.
When he shoots in rhythm from that distance, he is not that bad. Not bad at all.
There is a substantial number of jumpers that Josh takes as last seconds bail out shots and I credit that to poor coaching.
Still on Josh:
People are harping about him taking too many shots, however, they forget the most important fact.
Yes, some of those shots could be “avoidable” but by receiving #1 status, Josh is playing more focused and more motivated than ever on both ends of the court.
When he gets more touches he is also more consistent on the boards, playing consistent D beyond blocks, prowling the passing lanes for steals, kicking out for good assists and in general I have the impression that his dumb TOs have also dropped.
I think there is the distinct possibility that with the #1 status on our offense, Josh would become less and less inclined to take those bad shots.
He definitively wants more touches and in the past when he was not getting the number of touches he wanted, he took bad shots – IMO – because he felt that if he did not take those, he would not have more chances to score.
I say: give him the touches he wants and hopefully he will start to exercise better criteria in taking them.
We cannot expect him to suddenly develop perfect judgment on how and when to curb his point making “yearnings” and to understand how to play against a guy like Garnett.
He has only been getting a good number of touches for a few weeks now and for about 25 games.
That is not enough to terminate the Josh is #1 experiment and in particular given the very very very promising results we have been witnessing.
STRETCH
March 30th, 2012
9:59 am
Truth, Your post at 5:01PM
Yep, that pretty much said it all. And that really coincides with what JJ was saying when he talked about players knowing their roles.
Championship caliber teams sustain other teams runs or when they start games down they fight back. Knowing your role as a player contributes to that, and JJ didnt know his role the other night either when he scored like what 11 points?
The Hawks are a jumpshooting team and some guys still refuse to listen to Drew who sometimes doesnt have a clue. The Hawks are no where near challenging for a title with this current group.
O'Brien
March 30th, 2012
10:04 am
Northcyde,
When JJ says that people don’t know their role, it means that Josh is taking way too many shots..
I don’t think Josh is taking too many shots. I think he is taking too many jumpers. But I think the recipe for beating the Hawks in the playoffs will be simple. Take away JJ (some teams can do it with one guy) and play off Josh and entice him into taking jumpers.
If Josh is hitting jumpers, we have a chance. But if he is clanking, we could be in trouble (unless one of our bench mob gets hot).
O'Brien
March 30th, 2012
10:06 am
Ra’mon,
I am still scratching my head wondering, why Al wasn’t dealt for Nene!.
Hawks would not have made that trade last year because Nene was about to be a free agent. Denver would not have made that trade this year, because 1) Al is hurt and 2) Al’s contract and Nene’s contract are similar.
One of the reasons Denver traded Nene is because of the emergence of Faried, they felt him and McGee combined could offset some of Nene’s numbers, and would save them a lot of money in the process. Asset management. Something the Hawks know nothing about.
That being said, once Horford comes back and proves to be healthy, Hawks should explore trade options for him (I think he could bring back at least 2 solid assets in return and save us some money in the process, which will be needed to resign Josh and Zaza).
drmaryb.[*_*].
March 30th, 2012
11:19 am
Re-Tooling!
“One of the reasons Denver traded Nene is because of the emergence of Faried, they felt him and McGee combined could offset some of Nene’s numbers, and would save them a lot of money in the process. Asset management. Something the Hawks know nothing about. ” -OB-
Yes Sir … OB, Denver is re-tooling with youth for the future. All they need is one or two pieces now.
drmaryb.[*_*].
March 30th, 2012
11:38 am
Nitty – Picky!
I can’t really nit-pick Josh’s game because he has the heart of a champion. Is he perfect? No, but who is? I will live with his mistakes, because , Josh is the best player on his team. Then, zaza, then, Ivan. We should build around these guys because they play hard game in and, game out. These guys want to win and, you can NEVER have too many of those players.
Josh will modify his game when more qualifeied help arrives. Until Teague takes over, Josh has to initiate some of the offense. Joe is a specialist much like Ray Allen, he should just focus on getting open and making his shots when it is there or, pass to the open man.
Stick with Teague, he WILL get better over time. Horford will help down the road but, he may be the most tradeable asset we have when, he returns and get’s past his injury. Marvin is not tradeable and we should relegat him to a 6th man role and let him walk when his terms are up. Or, sign him to a cost effective contract. Just don’t feed Marvin in the post – he has awful hands and offense in traffic.
Zaza should remain a Hawk for the forseeable future. anyone not mentioned is just an extra, except maybe Pargo.
BIG DOG
March 30th, 2012
11:52 am
Hinrich should be coming off the bench to back up Teague.
BIG DOG IN THE HOUSE
BIG DOG
March 30th, 2012
11:55 am
Teague, Joe, Josh, Ivan, Zaza
Hinrich, Green, Tmac or Vlad, Marvin, Dampier
Collins is done with one arm.
This rotation make more sense.
BIG DOG IN THE HOUSE
BIG DOG
March 30th, 2012
12:02 pm
The rotation with a bigger line up by moving Josh 2 SF and Joe to SG make this team better on defense.
Team are destroying the Hawks with there smallish back court.
BIG DOG IN THE HOUSE
Rev in Tampa
March 30th, 2012
12:41 pm
MC is tweeting that Linsanity and Stoudemire are out. This means that Bibby will get lots of playing time at point. Hawks better take full advantage of this. TEAGUE TIME!
Rev in Tampa
March 30th, 2012
1:02 pm
Is there any national tv coverage for the game? I’ve got a meeting at church until after 10pm and would like to record it to watch later.
drmaryb.[*_*].
March 30th, 2012
1:19 pm
hawks win! jOSH takeover!
The Truth
March 30th, 2012
1:24 pm
“Is there any national tv coverage for the game?” Rev
Sorry Rev, no nat’l coverage, just local TV – SSO-ATL However, if you have an android smartphone, you can try downloading the free app Tunein; browse for the station “680″ The Fan. If you find it, they are also covering the game.
Rev in Tampa
March 30th, 2012
1:35 pm
Truth, I appreciate the information. Might not work since I’m leading the meeting.
Its just as well that there is no national tv. No chance of the Hawks embarrassing themselves again on a national stage.
drmaryb.[*_*].
March 30th, 2012
1:43 pm
Rev< you right about that! no national tv = a win!
drmaryb.[*_*].
March 30th, 2012
1:52 pm
Leadership – Pass it On!
vava, you are so right about the coaching here. Phil Jackson could maybe, get this years roster to the ECF. Maybe, without the injuries … he definitely would’ve got Josh to the AS Game at the very least.
Phil coulda’ made “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” sound like Beethoven.
drmaryb.[*_*].
March 30th, 2012
1:54 pm
The Salesman!
A real coach could sell Josh on thriving in the paint.
drmaryb.[*_*].
March 30th, 2012
1:56 pm
I’m in love with – vava! (she winks)
Michael Cunningham
March 30th, 2012
2:17 pm
new blog posted. shutting down this thread.