Updated: Atlanta Hawks at Sixers: Game thread
Vivlamore reporting from Philadelphia.
In what has become a recurring theme, the Hawks will be short-handed against the Sixers.
Tracy McGrady (illness) and Jerry Stackhouse (personal) did not make the trip to Philly. Vladimir Radmanovic (back) will also not play. Jannero Pargo (appendectomy) remains out.
To the game: The Sixers lead the NBA in both scoring defense (allowing 87.7 points per game) and field goal defense (allowing opponents just 42 percent shooting).
“We have to be solid on both ends of the floor,” Hawks coach Larry Drew said. “They lead the league in field goal defense because they do such a good job of rotating. When you play against a team that does that well, you have to be committed to moving the basketball and making the extra pass. You can’t get stagnant and play a lot of one-on-one because you play right into what they want to do. We are going to have to be totally, totally committed to moving the ball tonight, more so than we have the whole season. If you allow them to load up on one side of the floor you are playing right into their hands.”
I asked Drew how satisfying last night’s win over the Knicks (and former Hawks coach Mike Woodson) was. He took the high road.
“I got the most satisfaction because we had lost two games in a row,” Drew said. “I told the guys before the game, our focus has to be, as we wind the regular season down, we want to finish strong. We want to be playing well toward the end and carry momentum.
“A lot was made about Woodson coming back to Atlanta and that whole thing. But our focus has to be the Atlanta Hawks and what we need to do. We haven’t played consistent in long stretches enough to get caught up in that. Our focus has to be us.”
The Sixers feature three local products in Louis Williams (South Gwinnett High), Thaddeus Young (Georgia Tech) and Jodie Meeks (Norcross High). Drew is particularly concerned with Williams and Young coming off the bench. Williams leads the Sixers in total points despite not having started a game this season.
“They are both guys when they come into the game, they change the game,” Drew said. “Louis is one of the best scorers in our league and Thaddeus has another motor. You have to combat that. You can’t allow both guys to come in and get going.”
Finally after tonight’s game – the Hawks’ seventh in nine days – they have three days off before playing their next game. Drew said he will give the team at least one day off, maybe two.
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372 comments Add your comment
jeppz23
March 31st, 2012
9:54 pm
I think the hawks would still beat this team in a series w/ everyone healthy
Najeh Davenpoop
March 31st, 2012
9:55 pm
Still think the remaining schedule favors the Hawks over the Sixers too much for the Hawks to get bumped to the 7 seed, but they don’t have much breathing room. This team always makes it harder on themselves.
High-sider
March 31st, 2012
9:55 pm
We need a white coach
March 31st, 2012
9:45 pm
We’ve tried Woodson, we’ve tried Drew. Just not capable. Time for a white coach.
________________________
I knew it was only a matter of time. SMH & LOL
Big Lou
March 31st, 2012
9:56 pm
30/30 on Tupac–ESPN.
BIG DOG
March 31st, 2012
9:57 pm
Zaza didn’t play in the fourth and Sixers score 33points, JUST DAM.
BIG DOG IN THE HOUSE
Spyro
March 31st, 2012
9:57 pm
@High-sider:
I know, right? I don’t care what color our coach is; I just want a good one.
High-sider
March 31st, 2012
9:58 pm
We need a white coach
March 31st, 2012
9:45 pm
We’ve tried Woodson, we’ve tried Drew. Just not capable. Time for a white coach.
_________________________________
Is that you, phil, under that hood? LMAO & SMH
Big Lou
March 31st, 2012
9:58 pm
No Hawks for 3 days.
What are you going to do with yourself, Najeh? Lol
Fire LD!!!!
Najeh Davenpoop
March 31st, 2012
9:58 pm
Vivlamore covers the game, the Hawks lose. Again.
jeppz23
March 31st, 2012
10:00 pm
The schedule next week is really soft…gotta finally pass the pacers
Big Lou
March 31st, 2012
10:00 pm
“I know, right? I don’t care what color our coach is; I just want a good one.”
Boston has the best luck in that department.
Sautee
March 31st, 2012
10:02 pm
“I think we can Package Al horford and Hinrick for a center and a 1st round pick. Then move green up to Hinrinch’s role.”
Sorry, T-s, but Hinrich’s contract is over. We can’t trade him, unless we re-sign him first. But keep trying the Horford trades, maybe one of ‘em will stick.
Hawkfan
March 31st, 2012
10:02 pm
How bout a yellow coach? Packed house home and away
James
March 31st, 2012
10:02 pm
Tough loss, but the schedule is starting to look very friendly. The Hawks could very well go 3-0 next week. Still, at some point, you have to be able to beat good teams consistently if you want to go anywhere in the post-season. Beating up on bad teams may make your record look good and it will improve your seeding, but the real test is whether or not you can defeat the league’s best when it’s all on the line.
Harpie
March 31st, 2012
10:03 pm
Larry Drew makes me sick! Worst coach in the world…
Najeh Davenpoop
March 31st, 2012
10:03 pm
You could just do what the New York Giants did and get a coach who changes colors.
BIG DOG
March 31st, 2012
10:03 pm
Najeh Davenpoop – This Hawks teams is not good against quality teams, they only win against teams under 500, Hawks are 10 wins 17loss against teams with winning records, JUST DAM.
BIG DOG IN THE HOUSE
Najeh Davenpoop
March 31st, 2012
10:04 pm
Haha Big Lou I will find something to do don’t worry.
jeppz23
March 31st, 2012
10:04 pm
Why didn’t we use the Dwight strategy on elton brand tonight? It looked like the 2010 playoffs all over again!
Hawkfan
March 31st, 2012
10:05 pm
We have diversity. We have a drunk coach
Sautee
March 31st, 2012
10:07 pm
Road losses suck.
ntrigue
March 31st, 2012
10:07 pm
LD comes to the gms drunk off colt 45 that explains everything!!!!
BIG DOG
March 31st, 2012
10:07 pm
I wish Arthur own the Hawks he would be sitting right next LD on the bench asking questions, JUST DAM.
BIG DOG IN THE HOUSE
Harpie
March 31st, 2012
10:08 pm
Cut the race crap, a- holes; race has nothing to do with coaching ability. Larry Drew’s stinkiness as a coach has nothing to do with his race.
Hawkfan
March 31st, 2012
10:09 pm
At least he’s not white. He sure inspires me. Bout to go get a cold beer
James
March 31st, 2012
10:11 pm
“Why didn’t we use the Dwight strategy on elton brand tonight? It looked like the 2010 playoffs all over again!”
Dwight and Brand are very different. Brand does not just rely on his physical ability to overpower or dunk over his opponents. Brand’s game has quite a bit of skill and finesse in it, even though he is a wide body with a lot of strength as well. He’s got the midrange shot, he’s got the post game, and if you put someone like Collins on him, he can blow by them. Brand is not a star player anymore, but he’s still a very effective scorer, and he worked the Hawks over tonight. No one could even come close to defending him. That’s one of the issues that the Hawks have, is they seem to struggle defending against scoring PF/Cs in the post. There aren’t many of those at the C position, so that’s not much of a problem, but at the PF position, physical guys who can score with their backs to the basket and facing up seem to give us trouble. Not having Horford accentuates that even more, since he is one of the few guys who has both the strength and quickness to defend players like that. At any rate, the Hawks need to do a better job of playing good help defense to counter those types of situations.
High-sider
March 31st, 2012
10:12 pm
Hawkfan
March 31st, 2012
10:05 pm
We have diversity. We have a drunk coach
____________________________________
I thought Larry Drew was in that other affirmative action “protected” group/class because of his [learning/mental] disability. Isn’t LD “mentally-challenged”?
BIG DOG
March 31st, 2012
10:13 pm
Some body this team is good with out Horford, what logic thought process was that, SMH.
Teague, Hinrich, Joe, Josh, Zaza
IS A BETTER TEAM THAN
Teague, Joe, Josh, Horford, Zaza
UNBELIEVABLE
BIG DOG IN THE HOUSE
The Monger
March 31st, 2012
10:13 pm
LD is finally starting to coach!!!! He stopped playing Jason Collins!! Keep it up. Collins by the way, has a +/- of -32 in 199 minutes. He is averaging 0.7 pts a game, and that seems high to me. He has 15 pts. in 21 games, and i would say at least 6 of those came in garbage time. I thought it would be closer to 0.2-0.3 pts a game for Jason Collins. Has anybody in the NBA officially scored 0.1 pts a game in a season? I think Jason Collins can get to that, the way he is playing lately, if Jason gets to 0.1 points a game by season end, will the Atlanta Hawks have an official league record, finally? We can think Larry Drew for putting us in the record books. Please for the love of god, i hope ASG stops snorting blow long enough to send this guy packing to a library somewhere. Or I hope he recognizes exactly how bad he is on both ends. +/- of -32, 28 fouls and 15 points in 199 minutes. He provides nothing on offense at 0.7 pts. and shooting .300 FG and .375 FT. And it gets even worse on defense, as he is beaten consistently, as the -32 is mostly all on Jason, and in 199 minutes he has 3 blocks and 1 steal, and he is 7 feet tall. What has to happen for this insanity to end, a guy averaging 0.7 pts, a game, and shooting .300/.375 gets minutes in an NBA game?
Hawkfan
March 31st, 2012
10:14 pm
Agreed Harpie. Tongue firmly in cheek over here. I just want a coach that knows what to do. Kirk playing 40 minutes is bad coaching. ZaZa on the bench while Brand going off is bad coaching
We need an Asian coach
March 31st, 2012
10:17 pm
Get Marbury over here to spell Teague. Get Yao Ming to play 10 minutes a game. Plus, an Asian coach can get us a good deal on video equipment. We can use the leftover dollars to sign a big in the offseason.
High-sider
March 31st, 2012
10:18 pm
@James
You are too much of a “voice of reason”; you make too much sense for this blog. You are “too much like right.” Just kidding. Keep up the good comments/posts.
Hawkfan
March 31st, 2012
10:21 pm
How bout a stripper coach? Removes an article of clothing after every Collins basket. Wait that won’t work.
BIG DOG
March 31st, 2012
10:23 pm
The Monger all that typing for nothing, Collins didn’t play and they still lost to and struggling Sixers team.
FIRE LD HE IS CLUELESS.
BIG DOG IN THE HOUSE
tyler
March 31st, 2012
10:23 pm
High sider- thanks. So- barring a total collapse, we will end up playing either Boston or Orlando….hmmm, not really intimidating by either honestly.
tyler
March 31st, 2012
10:24 pm
intimidated that is
BILLY KNIGHT
March 31st, 2012
10:25 pm
Every time i come here you guys are bitching and moaning about something.
NUNNA!!
March 31st, 2012
10:25 pm
We need an Asian coach
March 31st, 2012
10:17 pm
Get Marbury over here to spell Teague. Get Yao Ming to play 10 minutes a game. Plus, an Asian coach can get us a good deal on video equipment. We can use the leftover dollars to sign a big in the offseason.
———————————————————————-
Uncalled for and Racist……
But Funny LMAO
The Monger
March 31st, 2012
10:25 pm
In case you thought I was kidding about HOW bad Jason Collins actually is….. he is JUST better than Stephen Hawking. Seriously, the guy in the wheelchair, just barely. Here are Jason Collins stats for the last 8 games….TOTAL…. 2 pts., 0 steals, 0 blocks, .000 FT% (0-4 FT), 2 turnovers, 14 Personal Fouls, 6 rebounds, 1 assist in 63 minutes!!! Actually, Stephen Hawking at least would not hurt his team… Collins has 2 pts. in 63 minutes, but also has 2 turnovers and 14 personal fouls, which by far offsets the 2 points. How does this happen in the NBA? Is there bribery by Collins?
Grandmaster JeJe (GM)
March 31st, 2012
10:26 pm
To ATLPaul, Northcyde, and Najeh:
Sorry boys,
You ain’t making the Playoffs this year. LOL.
kevkat
March 31st, 2012
10:27 pm
The sixers are to the hawks what the hawks are currently to the magic
High-sider
March 31st, 2012
10:29 pm
@tyler
You’re welcome.
drmaryb.[*_*].
March 31st, 2012
10:29 pm
Hawks team very inconsistent, but hey! It is what is. You can roll out a dozen reasons why – however, that doesn’t change a thing.
I’m luke warm to this team, because they find ways to lose games repeatedly and identically.
“A leopard can not change it’s spots – but, you can get different leopards.” -drmarybi
drmaryb.[*_*].
March 31st, 2012
10:30 pm
Hawks team very inconsistent, but hey! It is what is. You can roll out a dozen reasons why – however, that doesn’t change a thing.
I’m luke warm to this team, because they find ways to lose games repeatedly and identically.
“A leopard can not change it’s spots – but, you can get different leopards.” -drmaryb-
Grandmaster JeJe (GM)
March 31st, 2012
10:30 pm
How does Monta Ellis only have 6 points so far tonight?
MIL scored 121 last night and he had THIRTEEN points
bbfan
March 31st, 2012
10:31 pm
At the begining of the season, I thought the Hawks had a chance for 45 wins. Now, I don’t think they’ll make 40. Has Al injury caused 4 or 5 wins ?
Teague looks so uncomfortable if someone passes him the ball with only 5 or 6 seconds to shoot.
Is this coaching or is it Teague??
soullrenaissance
March 31st, 2012
10:32 pm
The inconsistency of this team is unnerving. Ultimately it falls on the coach; injuries, scheduling, notwithstanding. Atlanta wants winners, we don’t need no losers.
BILLY KNIGHT
March 31st, 2012
10:33 pm
The Monger – do you have and obsesions over Collins, he didn’t play in the game tonight, JUST DAM.
BIG DOG IN THE HOUSE
Grandmaster JeJe (GM)
March 31st, 2012
10:33 pm
I said we’d lose 88-82 and we lost 95-90.
#NotBad
drmaryb.[*_*].
March 31st, 2012
10:35 pm
No Clue Drew!
Print that on a T-Shirt and smoke it.