Atlanta Hawks: Hawks 109, Raptors 87
Toronto–The Hawks are in the playoffs for the fifth consecutive season. If my blog people don’t do anything else, I hope you at least pause for a moment to enjoy this fact and think back to when it was not a given. Also remember how you felt when you heard Al Horford was out and the long series of injuries that followed.
- The Hawks put away Toronto once their help defense got in sync, they turned turnovers into scores or free throws and attacked the basket when all those Js they made early stopped falling. “I’m glad we were able to turn right back around and play this team where we could go ahead and get that sour taste out of our mouth,” Joe Johnson said. “We understand we are a better team that what we showed last night.”
- Not to burst that bubble, but add one more ailment to the mix: Zaza Pachulia’s foot injury is worse than initially thought and could keep him out at least for the balance of the regular season. “We will wait and see how it goes,” Zaza wrote in a text message. “I’m still hoping to be back this season.”
- The Hawks said Zaza had a CT scan to “rule out any fractures that may have been missed by the X-ray in Orlando.” The team said the CT can was also negative for a fracture but that Zaza has a sprained ligament in the foot. Larry Drew: “At the beginning I was under the impression he would be out just the two games but it’s more of a day-to-day thing. We are not going to try to rush him.”
- Obviously losing Zaza for the any amount of time in the playoffs would be a tough blow for the Hawks, who would be left with Jason Collins, Erick Dampier and (possibly) a gimpy Al Horford at center.
- It’s also bad news for the Pick-and-Pape Sy’s, who are in the championship game this week. They’ve benefited from Zaza’s strong play since he was picked up on the waiver wire to replace Andrew Bogut, a move that allows a team that drafted Lamar Odom in the fourth round to somehow have a chance to win the title.
- On the bright side, Ivan Johnson is proving his worth as a legit frontcourt rotation player. He scored and grabbed rebounds over bigger players, played good defense both straight up and in help situations and generally made a case he’s as good as any of Toronto’s big men and certainly no worse than the third-best healthy big on the Hawks.
- Ivan was, as usual, fantastically succinct in explaining his play: “Same thing every game. Play good defense and bring the energy.” Even better Ivan made what was, to my knowledge, his first joke ever. Asked to explain last nights’ ugly W, Ivan said: “It happens. It’s the NBA, where amazing happens.” And I swear to you, blog people, Ivan Johnson laughed.
- Joe Johnson on Ivan: “He’s a hard worker. As you can see he’s not scared of anything. He does everything that the coaches ask. That’s all you can ask for. He’s a hard worker and a guy who’s fearless going into the paint.”
- Drew on Ivan: “The thing with him, he is a guy who comes in every night I know what he’s going to bring from an energy standpoint. He may make some turnovers, he may take some bad shots, he may botch some defensive assignments. But I do know every time I put him in between those lines he’s going to give me 110 percent from an energy standpoint. He did it last night and came back and did it again tonight.”
- That sounds like a guy who could start instead of Collins unless the opposition has Dwight Howard or (maybe?) Roy Hibbert at center. And that’s true even considering that Collins was actually solid tonight with five rebounds, two blocks and reasonably effective help defense in 11 minutes.
- Ivan is the kind of guy who naturally plays with an edge. Not so for Jeff Teague who, after two sleepy games, was awakened by a talk from Drew and dominated Ben Uzoh and Co. in the way his talent suggests he should. “Coach got in me a little bit told me to be more aggressive on both defense and offense,” Teague said. “It starts with me on defense and offense. I’m the point guard. I’m always going to be the ball and I’m always going to be the head of the defense.”
- Josh Smith had what’s become a ho-hum line for him: 15 points, nine rebounds, four assists, two blocks, two steals, two turnovers. After appearing frustrated that he had to help so much against penetrating guards so much early on, he seemed to relish the task later.
- It was a bounce-back game for Joe, who demanded the ball often and got it. His defense was problematic early but he seemed to be rejuvenated during that third quarter when the Hawks defended well as a unit.
- Tracy McGrady got a lot of his production in garbage time but, no matter, he needs those 21 minutes. McGrady is not much for running plays, preferring instead to get the ball in his spots and either getting to the rim to score/draw a foul or delivering the ball to someone else in good position. It’s an approach that works better when he’s actually getting calls.
- T-Mac certainly seemed to enjoy sticking it to the usual hecklers that greet him in Toronto.
- Kirk Hinrich had more help this team against DeMar DeRozan, who still got 22 points on 14 shots. Hinrich made 3 of 6 shots and didn’t have a turnover.
- The Hawks are in a three-way tie with Boston and Orlando. The Celtics own the tiebreaker edge over the Hawks, who have the advantage over the Magic.
Michael Cunningham, Hawks beat
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108 comments Add your comment
AG
April 17th, 2012
12:43 am
Slimjr… again with a healthy team we were much worse. I think as with any new position it does take a little learning. I think LD is starting to understand his team.
Josh is almost butter with his shot (as long as he is wide open and nobody is checking him), so who do we give the credit to? Also, we play a team game – you cannot walk into the arena and know who the leading scorer is going to be. Most of the playoff teams are not built that way. That shows us we are beating double team defense incorporated against Joe.
Rod from College Park
April 17th, 2012
12:57 am
“Marvin has one 20 point game this year.
So does Ivan.
Look at their contracts”
LOL
Rusty
April 17th, 2012
12:57 am
Grandad there isn’t anything I like about LD as a man or a coach.
Grandad
April 17th, 2012
12:59 am
“Coach got in me a little bit
told me to be more aggressive on both defense and offense,”
Teague said.
“It starts with me on defense and offense.
I’m the point guard. I’m always going to be the ball
and I’m always going to be the head of the defense.”
____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____
Teaguer:
36 min; 19 pts; 10 assts; 6 rebs; 2 stls; 2 blks; (+21) (+/-)
________________________________________________
The following is a quote by … * Rusty * ::::
” I think that JT would be a lot better
if LD would give him a vote of confidence ”
________________________________________________
High-sider
April 17th, 2012
12:59 am
Buddy Grizzard,
Even though we have our disagreements on this blog, I really like your write-ups on “Hoopinion.” Trust me, I’m not trying to “kiss your ass[ets]” or anything like that. I’ll be ready to disagree or debate with you on this blog in the [near] future about Jamal Crawford, Zaza Pachulia or some other player. I guess we can keep it professional kinda [sic] like the cartoon that features “Sam Sheepdog” and “Ralph Wolf.” I’m “Sam Sheepdog” and you’re “Ralph Wolf.” LOL
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZKvuSYIykY&feature=related
Grandad
April 17th, 2012
1:00 am
Rusty, do you see a disconnect ?
Grandad
April 17th, 2012
1:25 am
Would an egomaniacal maniac be redundant and repetitive
or;
simply a double entendre.
What would you call an egomaniacal maniac who made a double entendre.
Better yet what if Jeff Teague, was an egomaniacal maniac,
who made a double entendre,
seeing as how he also had a double double tonight
that would be redundant, repetitive, reiterative, recurring;
not to mention ambiguous yet all the while ubiquitious.
HawkEye
April 17th, 2012
1:46 am
Hope Zaza is at least 70% healthy or Al is back come playoff time. Can’t rely on Collins (lol) and Damp over an extended period of time in the playoffs, especially against the Celtics. Also, because I have little faith in LD doing the right thing (starting Ivan at the 5) unless Collins goes down, JJ, Teague, Josh, and Kirk better get used to playing 4 on 5 on offense.
Grandad
April 17th, 2012
1:48 am
Rusty
Just so that you know.
I do not particularly care for his coaching either.
I think his handling of the players is inconsistent.
I think he babies Joe, Josh and others.
I think he allows half ass performance.
I think his mental accuity as it relates to the Xs & Os of the game
are adequate to above avg.
I think his Offense is elite – * with a qualifier.
* the Xs & Os of his offense / & his teaching thereof.
** his adherence to mthe fundamentals are abysmal.
I think his hiring of Lester Conner was inspired.
I think he probably was told to keep the rest of the lot.
His articulation to the media is nothing but bull manure.
And Lastly – I`m not certain about his:
Integrity, Standards, Principles, Ethics, and certainly
he`s not a leader of men.
Can we agree in principle.
Grandad
April 17th, 2012
1:52 am
*mthe … sounds like I had a chaw of tobacco in my mouth.
* the
I gave up chewing tobacco nigh on to 40 yrs ago.
That stuff`ll kill you.
Rusty
April 17th, 2012
1:53 am
Grandad I about agreed with almost every thing you said there.
Rusty
April 17th, 2012
1:56 am
I would just like for the hawks to have a better coach than LD.
Buddy Grizzard
April 17th, 2012
1:57 am
High Sider I was posting here before I started posting on Hoopinion, and I’m still here now. I like the Hawks blog cause people keep it real up in here. MC may launch into a sarcastic diatribe every time I question his reporting, but hey, I’m still here. After all I’m “just a fan.” Where else are Hawks fans supposed to post?
Najeh Davenpoop
April 17th, 2012
2:16 am
5 games left, all at home. The 3 seed is practically out of reach — the Pacers will go at least 3-2 in their remaining games and are 3 games ahead of the Hawks — but Boston has a tougher remaining schedule than the Hawks, so home court in the first round is still a distinct possibility.
Najeh Davenpoop
April 17th, 2012
2:17 am
Just out of curiosity, if the Hawks had signed an equivalent to Ivan in, say, 2008, do you think there’s any chance Woody plays him at all?
Najeh Davenpoop
April 17th, 2012
2:22 am
Regarding the Ivan suspension and MC’s coverage of it, in defense of MC, he does an excellent job covering what happens on the floor for 48 minutes during games. I have also said in the past that I’d like to hear more of the locker room/front office type of stuff (particularly when the Kirk trade went down and I heard about it from every national media outlet 24 hours before I heard about it here) but you can’t fault MC too much when he breaks down the actual games as well as he does. Ideally you’d like to have exclusive coverage of who got smacked by Ivan in the locker room as well as detailed analysis of the Hawks’ on-court production and tendencies, but if I have to pick one, give me the 2nd one over the 1st one.
doc
April 17th, 2012
2:57 am
it could be a little chaotic if players took over at time outs as renigades on their own when a coach is wanting to get his own words in their. if the timing of ivan’s rant no matter the intent was during a time out or when the coach is doing his thing, it was insubordination and time to be called on it. i think ld got his point across and ivan is the better for it as his performance shows the last two games. ld certainly hasnt shown any grudge or shown him the dog house.
afterwards.
if you girls want to continue to fan the flames on this go ahead. it seems the guy with the most riding on it handles it like a man. if ld didnt handle it, every time out would turn into 15 guys acting out in a pick up game yelling and screaming at each other. ivan continues to get cudos. tmac not.
vava74
April 17th, 2012
3:53 am
a beat writer is not supposed to break out stuff which is “private”.
if MC did that, he would lose the trust of the group.
he can drop a hint here and there but he can’t be a mole just to satisfy our curiosity.
he is supposed to say and write about the normal daily events and as Najeh said, to talk about the games.
vava74
April 17th, 2012
6:50 am
doc
April 17th, 2012
2:57 am
You would be right if LD had any thing remotely interesting to say during time outs during close games.
The fact is when games are on the line against good competition, LD does nothing productive with his time outs.
At least Ivan was trying to get guys angry and amped up.
Greg
April 17th, 2012
7:01 am
So Teague decided to show up last night. If they’d lost two games in two nights to the Raptors, they should have forfeited their playoff series.
Joe Johnson is what he is – if not the most overpaid, at least one of the 5 most overpaid athletes in professional sports. At least the Hawks finally resigned themselves to the fact that Marvin Williams is not starting material. Too bad they did that after re-signing and grossly overpaying him.
I agree to some degree with the first few comments of the blog about the season the Hawks have had despite the injuries, particularly to Horford…but the Hawks have accumulated their record beating up on the weak sisters of the league. Their winning percentage is about 30% against teams with winning records. The Hawks always have been and always will be frauds with this core group of players.
FalconUGAFan
April 17th, 2012
7:33 am
Longtime lurker fan here…Congrats to the Hawks for reaching the playoffs..You guys are spoiling us by all the playoff appearances, but that is a good thing…Good luck the rest of the way!
Sideline Dude
April 17th, 2012
7:40 am
Is the NBA season still going? Even with the strike, it seems like it’s been going forever. Let’s get it & MLB over so we can move on to football.
Grandad
April 17th, 2012
7:48 am
FalconUGAFan
Hey fellow Lurker;
I do my share of lurking as well.
Dawgs, Braves, Falcons, recruitin`, Bradley, Schultz …
most anything home state related.
Oh yeah;
and ‘`whoever`s playin` Tech – gotta pull for them too`’.
-just kiddin` doc-
Old lewis Grizzard line.
Admiral Snackbar
April 17th, 2012
7:56 am
if they hadn’t suspended Ivan then Zaza might not have been hurt playing extra minutes.
some of the article is unintelligible.
Dawg
April 17th, 2012
8:03 am
MC: What is the latest from Hortford? Do you expect him to be able to even play a small role off the bench? Hopefully Vlad and especially T-Mac can get healthy and ready for the playoffs. With Pargo, Green, T-Mac, Vlad and Ivan, the Hawks could potentially be a tough team to face in the playoffs.
truly1
April 17th, 2012
8:16 am
yes what is the status of horford
Mee 2
April 17th, 2012
8:25 am
Nobody was expecting this at the beginning of the season.LD has done an excellent job. If Zaza, and Al are OK, the Hawks will make it further, than before. This could make the team more attractive to other players, thus paving the way to move up again… Let’s keep our fingers crossed!
doc
April 17th, 2012
8:26 am
vava what you said was true for woody ball and it was laughable how poorly they did under him. no coach is perfect out if time outs but for ld you really cant say that they dont work as it fails because of execution. his in game management was a huge improvement over woody. ld has put some new wrinkles in at time outs but with brick zaza around for just one edample they have not been rewarded or paid off.
anyway ill stand strongly behind the comment, it would look like a y league if every player took that approach. it would only deteriorate from there. i said it didnt matter what ivan’s intention was it was still insubrdination and would soon turn into something much worse and wouldnt be constructve. those men moved on and have buried the hatchets if there ever were any. anything more under the circumstances from either would diminish the positive. we are like little old ladies trying to dig up gossip beyond what we got. let the men be men.
vava74
April 17th, 2012
8:27 am
Forget about Horford. IF he comes back on time in condition to contribute with anything, that would be great but…
If Zaza does not return 100% we will be swept on the first round.
doc
April 17th, 2012
8:36 am
nice try gdad. you sound like buck belue.
since h walker i have not been so striong in my opinions and actually pull for the home teams now a days. if you want a headache go to the blogs of either school and read how those guys go over and try to agitate each other and towers and ken s try to moderate it.
as a real coach i bet you loved it to have players were interupting you during short time outs when something from you was more important, en?
??
April 17th, 2012
8:38 am
Please somebody tell me that the Hawks signed Ivan for next year too. Lock him in! I need another year of Ivan interviews.
Edgewood Adam
April 17th, 2012
9:21 am
Any doctors on the blog?? How serious is this ZaZa injury. No Zaza = No second round.
Cwebb
April 17th, 2012
9:28 am
Grandmaster JeJe (GM)
“Again, a lineup of TMac Joe Josh Ivan and Z down stretch in Playoffs would be damn intriguing IMHO”
And who would defend the point guard position ?
Buddy Grizzard
April 17th, 2012
9:33 am
“Please somebody tell me that the Hawks signed Ivan for next year too. Lock him in! I need another year of Ivan interviews.”
Ivan is a restricted free agent. Other teams can only offer him the midlevel and the Hawks can match.
Cwebb
April 17th, 2012
9:36 am
Slimjr,
Your knicks are 12/20 against above 50% teams…
??
April 17th, 2012
9:37 am
Thanks for the info Buddy. Now I feel better!
Cwebb
April 17th, 2012
9:39 am
The Hawks are 11/20
Cwebb
April 17th, 2012
9:40 am
i MEANT 11 wins for 20 losses
Cwebb
April 17th, 2012
9:59 am
About Ivan Johnson,
He played more than 20 minutes in 19 games. In those games, his averages are: 11.3 points; 6.1; 1 steal; 0.53 block. 4,4/ 7,9 (56%)
Cwebb
April 17th, 2012
9:59 am
6.1 rebounds
DawgNole
April 17th, 2012
11:19 am
Sushi
April 16th, 2012
10:35 pm
DawgNole,
You’re the one full of B.S. – I blogged yesterday saying they would blow out Toronto tonight – where were you?
Sushi
April 16th, 2012
10:41 pm
My comments from yesterday – for you non-believers.:
Sushi
April 16th, 2012
2:15 pm
Only one game – watch – the Hawks are gonna kick Toronto in the butt tonight. It’s obvious they totally underestimated Toronto’s D-League loaded lineup and expected them to roll over.
________________________
Good pickin’. Wish I’d seen it; wouldn’t have labeled your later post as BS. I do stand by my statement, however, that it’s not “only one game”; it’s 45 years of such games.
Now, would you be kind enough to pick us over Detroit and Boston this week?
Let's get the 6th Seed
April 17th, 2012
11:25 am
TANK THE REMAINING FAMES. LETS GET INDIANA
Let's get the 6th Seed
April 17th, 2012
11:26 am
TANK THE REMAINING GAMES. lets draw indiana. lets draw them pacers. we at least have a shot at beating them. celtics = 5 games maximum.
drmaryb.(*_*).
April 17th, 2012
11:38 am
The Ivan Effect!
You can credit Ivan for Jason’s 5ive boards, Jason has had a chance to watch and learn from Ivan “the baller” working in the paint.
Ivan will soon be the starter by attrition, all the bigs around him are dropping like flies. Or, you can call it The Sund Effect: he ain’t signed nobody else. (Pfffttt)
doc, I located that salesman’s business card today, I’ll shoot you that info for the office inversion table for disc decompression therapy.
DawgNole
April 17th, 2012
11:59 am
Najeh Davenpoop
April 17th, 2012
2:22 am
Regarding the Ivan suspension and MC’s coverage of it, in defense of MC, he does an excellent job covering what happens on the floor for 48 minutes during games. I have also said in the past that I’d like to hear more of the locker room/front office type of stuff (particularly when the Kirk trade went down and I heard about it from every national media outlet 24 hours before I heard about it here) but you can’t fault MC too much when he breaks down the actual games as well as he does. Ideally you’d like to have exclusive coverage of who got smacked by Ivan in the locker room as well as detailed analysis of the Hawks’ on-court production and tendencies, but if I have to pick one, give me the 2nd one over the 1st one.
vava74
April 17th, 2012
3:53 am
a beat writer is not supposed to break out stuff which is “private”.
if MC did that, he would lose the trust of the group.
he can drop a hint here and there but he can’t be a mole just to satisfy our curiosity.
he is supposed to say and write about the normal daily events and as Najeh said, to talk about the games.
________________________
I don’t disagree that MC does a fine job with his game coverage. But if you’re going to publish something (Ivan’s suspension in this case), provide enough info about it to answer the obvious questions; i.e., Why was he suspended? Who was involved? It’s not like the info wasn’t out there; other media outlets reported it, after all. I just believe the hometown paper should be the one to break such news–rather than outside sources. I also don’t dispute vava’s point about the beat writer’s role, but we didn’t hear from the AJC columnists on it either when so many here were asking who/what/why?
drmaryb.(*_*).
April 17th, 2012
12:13 pm
Put Ivan In!
“About Ivan Johnson,
He played more than 20 minutes in 19 games. In those games, his averages are: 11.3 points; 6.1; 1 steal; 0.53 block. 4,4/ 7,9 (56%).” -CWebb-
___________
WOW CWebb! Nice work there, imagine if Ivan got 40 minutes per night? Could he almost double that? Ther’s your big man, playing big right there.
Ivan’s heart size is – gargantuan.
Slimjr
April 17th, 2012
1:55 pm
FIRE THAT WEASEL LARRY DREW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
NOW THE TRUTH HAS COME THIS IDIOT SUSPENDED DEEBO FOR HIM TELLING THE TEAM THE EFFORT IS NOT THERE IN THE BOSTON GAME?
ARE YOU KIDDING ME?
14-26 IS HORRIFIC COACH WEASEL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
News Flash: Hey CWebb, ah the Knicks made a coaching change duh…….
They’re in the Army now….lol
ZaZa will be missed especially in the playoffs..
Slimjr
April 17th, 2012
1:57 pm
“Ivan’s heart size is – gargantuan.”
What’s the size of Larry’s, The TITANIC? lol
Slimjr
April 17th, 2012
2:02 pm
Do you really believe Indiana is going to roll over on these Hawks, your sadly mistaken…
Slimjr
April 17th, 2012
2:03 pm
45