Atlanta Hawks Game Thread: Rockets vs. Hawks
Vivlamore reporting following the Hawks’ morning shootaround. Here is an early start on your game thread.
The Hawks will be challenged defensively on the perimeter right off the bat. For here comes the Rockets and newly acquired guard James Harden for tonight’s season opener.
Harden lit up the Pistons for a game-high 37 points, on 14 of 25 shooting, in the Rockets’ 105-96 season-opening victory Wednesday at Detroit. He also had 12 assists making him the first-ever NBA player to score 37 or more points and have double-digit assists in his team debut. The 6-foot-5 Harden could present problems for 6-3 Devin Harris and 6-5 DeShawn Stevenson, two who figure to draw much of the defensive assignment.
“I did,” Harris said with a slight smile when asked if he watched the Rockets-Pistons game. “He’s a good player. He’s a max (contract) player for a reason. He’s tough. We’ll throw a lot of different guys at him. The main thing is to try to keep him off the free-throw line and keep him out of the paint.”
Harden was acquired by the Rockets from the Thunder earlier this week. He also signed a contract worth a reported five years and $80 million. Stevenson said Harden will be brimming with confidence after signing such a deal.
Hawks coach Larry Drew said the challenge will be stopping the Rockets’ predominately pick-and-roll offense with Jeremy Lin and Harden.
“The best we can,” Drew said when I asked how he will defend Harden. “He is really good. We have to do a good job collectively. As I told the guys today, he won’t be just one man’s responsibility. We have to make sure that we zero in and just be solid. We’ve worked on a lot of different things over the preseason, particularly playing against guys like him. We have to stick with our concepts and stick with our principles.
“It will give us a good chance, as a measuring stick, to see where we stand, particularly defensively. You won’t play against as many guys as good and as aggressive as James Harden. It will be a good test for us.”
The Hawks will be without back-up center Johan Petro, who is out with a sore back. Drew said Petro is “getting better and better” but held him out for precautionary reasons.
That leaves the task of stopping the Rockets’ 7-foot center Omer Asik to Al Horford and Zaza Pachulia.
“With Asik, he’s a load,” Drew said. “He takes up a lot of space in the middle. We are just going to have to do a good job on him. When he was in Chicago, he did really well for them and he seems to have found on home with (the Rockets). We may not be able to match size right off the bat, but we have to be able to match physicality. We really focus on what we need to do and if we do that, we should be OK.”
Drew, once again, declined to announce his starting lineup saying it was a “game-time decision.”
Check back before the game for updates.
- Chris Vivlamore
LATEST NEWS
* Smith on verge of statistical milestone
* Smith, Horford are interim captains
* Five things we learned from the preseason
* Teague, Pachulia return to full-contact practice, ready for opener
* Failure not an option for Tolliver
* Hawks ownership ‘extremely’ fortunate to keep stake in team
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702 comments Add your comment
High-sider
November 2nd, 2012
8:38 pm
Hawks should have picked up Delfino for the SF position.
falCans
November 2nd, 2012
8:38 pm
Wow is it that bad?
Jay Dubu
November 2nd, 2012
8:38 pm
The Hawks do not need Josh to take the long jumpers this year, they have enough long range shooters.
Astro Joe
November 2nd, 2012
8:38 pm
A T M.
Melvin
November 2nd, 2012
8:38 pm
Big 3 by Stevenson to end the 1st half…
Mr.E
November 2nd, 2012
8:38 pm
I approve of Dehsawn
DawgNole
November 2nd, 2012
8:39 pm
Need a few more of those!
Luke Cage
November 2nd, 2012
8:39 pm
Nice # 92
TBhawkfan
November 2nd, 2012
8:39 pm
And now they are hitting the threes.
cp
November 2nd, 2012
8:39 pm
Good thing we went with Tolliver over James smh
Josh still leading the break, still taking jumpers.
No defense, cant rebound, and terrible rotations
bigdave
November 2nd, 2012
8:39 pm
Lou gonna have to be more aggressive, but credit him for not chucking when his shot isn’t falling…
Big Ray
November 2nd, 2012
8:40 pm
Nice….Stevenson gives us a little something.
Certainly more than Tolliver’s epic 3 point misses.
Very long season.
Slimjr
November 2nd, 2012
8:40 pm
Big 3! But the rebounding drubbing will be their undoing!
High-sider
November 2nd, 2012
8:40 pm
All-Star Al only has one rebound – one freakin’ rebound in the first half!!!!
phil
November 2nd, 2012
8:40 pm
Let’s keep in mind that this is still the Hawks….
You know, the bunch that has NEVER accomplished anything of meaning.
Fire someone!
Melvin
November 2nd, 2012
8:41 pm
Why didn’t Ivan play in the 1st half? I swear LD doesn’t know what he’s doing….
BIG DOG
November 2nd, 2012
8:41 pm
Who in the H is Tolliver ?
Dam him sorry.
BIG DOG IN THE HOUSE
Slimjr
November 2nd, 2012
8:41 pm
Man our guards are being destroyed!
cp
November 2nd, 2012
8:41 pm
I know its only one half but it looks like I will be watching a lot of college b ball this season. We should have a high pick next year
Najeh Davenpoop
November 2nd, 2012
8:42 pm
Ivan >>>>>>>>>> Morrow >>> Tolliver
Some really nice flashes of what could be in that half, mixed in with long stretches of what currently is.
The offense needs to flow through Josh and Al on the inside; too often so far, it is flowing through the guards on the outside.
Slimjr
November 2nd, 2012
8:42 pm
Houston guards are going where they want to and then there’s the Lefty!
terrell
November 2nd, 2012
8:43 pm
Im sorry, but with the talent we have, we shouldnt look this bad. It looks like we havent even practiced together. wtf?? And Ivan mustve cussed LD out again. Only reason I can think of. No way Tolliver should play b4 Ivan. Hell, Tollivewr arely made the team.
Just Joe
November 2nd, 2012
8:43 pm
Tolliver 0 for 3 and 0 rebounds in 12 inutes while Ivan Johnson sits.
Peter
November 2nd, 2012
8:43 pm
Wow college teams are bigger than the Hawks….. I guess in the 60s and 70s a team of this size could compete ?
Is there a hawk that can play with his back to the basket and post up ?
This is seriously silly ! well this is a rebuilding year i guess…..and someone needs to sit down with smooth and tell him to go to the glass and stop all the long range bombs….
Gosh Please sell the team to a guy who knows something ….. PLEASE !
Najeh Davenpoop
November 2nd, 2012
8:44 pm
And even if they get their problems on D and on the boards fixed, it is going to get ugly on Sunday when they play against Durant.
Stop Ignoring Reality
November 2nd, 2012
8:44 pm
What the Heck Is Larry Drew Doing!!!!
Why in the World is he giving Stevenson (SG) and Tolliver (SF/PF) anything other than situational minutes!!!
You loose a 6x allstar and you’re not going to make that up using those two. Of they had anything in the Tank it would’ve been discovered by the teams that traded/let them go!
Ivan got NO BURN in that 1st half!!! In favor of Tolliver???! Baffling, and he can’t hit threes unless he’s WIDE open and does’t run the offense well. Just parks in the corner like marvin Smh!!!! We gave up like 14 offensive rebounds in that half!!
I’m Gonna go through this one more time
Teague——>Lou
Devin———->Jenkins
Korver——–>Morrow
Josh————Ivan
Horford——–Zaza
Slimjr
November 2nd, 2012
8:44 pm
Al Horford is just getting warmed up.. Give him about 10 games..
Astro Joe
November 2nd, 2012
8:44 pm
Time continues to tick on Young Mr. Teague.
BIG DOG
November 2nd, 2012
8:45 pm
Now i see all of the fus about this Tolliver over James, JUST DAM
I have never seen the guy play, and coach LD play him the hole 2nd quarter, WHAT A FREAKING COACH.
BIG DOG IN THE HOUSE
Chris Crawford
November 2nd, 2012
8:46 pm
AHHHHHHHHHHH!!!
Stop Ignoring Reality
November 2nd, 2012
8:46 pm
LEAVE THE SCRUBS AT THE END OF THE BENCH!!!!
terrell
November 2nd, 2012
8:47 pm
Oh I get it. I know why Ivan hasnt played. “It all about matchups”. lol
Slimjr
November 2nd, 2012
8:47 pm
Teague’s jumper has disappeared. Nothing new there…Plus he looks lost out there..
Tolliver has been brutal..
BIG DOG
November 2nd, 2012
8:47 pm
How in the world do this dam Tolliver guy play before BIG DOG ?
Can somebody help me or should i call customer service.
BOG DOG IN THE HOUSE
Grandad
November 2nd, 2012
8:47 pm
What is LD`s love affair with Toliver ?
Where is Ivan ?
____________________________________________
We need Rebounders; start back with Zaza !
____________________________________________
LD = 29.5 and counting down.
Blast
November 2nd, 2012
8:48 pm
Big Ray,
I thought about recording the game too, then I was like, this are the Hawks, man. You never know what you will get. Let me see how they play first, before I record games. Still have a bunch of games from last season I haven’t watched yet. Did watch a few couple of days before the season started.
Yeah, Hawk not playing inside at all. Remember the training camp talk about Hawks focusing too much on the perimeter? That’s what you are seeing now.
Tell you right now, this is when LD makes his mark. Rockets are good, but not this good. Hawks are dysfuctional. And they got to play the Thunder next? Sh##t! They better win tonight.
Luke Cage
November 2nd, 2012
8:49 pm
Jenkins getting that “Rook” treatment from LD, which means his 1st season will basically be a wash.
nobody
November 2nd, 2012
8:49 pm
Tolliver has 12 points. 3 missed shots. 0 points. 0 assists. 0 rebounds. 0 steals. If anyone wasnt paying attention, this is what we are talking about.
Tremaine
November 2nd, 2012
8:49 pm
#2 for the Utah Jazz is going to be nice this season.
Najeh Davenpoop
November 2nd, 2012
8:49 pm
Houston got 8 more shot attempts than Atlanta in that half. They were 4/8 on those attempts, and they lead by 9. They were +10 on the offensive boards and +14 overall. As bad as the Hawks played for the most part, if they can get control of the boards they can win this game.
nobody
November 2nd, 2012
8:49 pm
12 minutes***
Peter
November 2nd, 2012
8:50 pm
Someday the Hawks will have a scoring center of size.and he will guard the hoop……. For me that is the DREAM !
Slimjr
November 2nd, 2012
8:50 pm
34-20 on the Glass Houston!
atlfalconsfan0125
November 2nd, 2012
8:51 pm
Can we get 8th seed?
Big Ray
November 2nd, 2012
8:51 pm
Mixed results from “mid-range shawty”….some hits, some misses. Nothing new there.
Al Horford – got some buckets but I guess we’re going to see the Al we saw a couple years ago….hardly any rebounds in the first half, maybe he’ll remember to get to the glass in the 2nd half. Saw that a lot in ‘10-’11…
Stevenson – worth something.
Tolliver – I’m still annoyed by this…what’s he do? Besides miss shots? Oh wait, he does it “energetically” and with versatility. Funny, all I saw him doing was missing 3s…
Teague with some turnovers, but also some aggressive play. Lou is NOT a better defender than Teague, but he is getting the rebounds and assists. Shot ain’t falling…hence the assists.
Harris – arguably our best or 2nd best scoring option right now.
Pachulia – stats aren’t telling the story. He’s been some help.
Morrow and Ivan haven’t sniffed the floor…don’t know why.
LD is an idiot. That is all.
Slimjr
November 2nd, 2012
8:51 pm
ifififififififififififififififiiffiififififfififiiffifififififififififi
if
J.J.M.
November 2nd, 2012
8:52 pm
Where is mario west? Lol
Slimjr
November 2nd, 2012
8:53 pm
ZaZa has all 3 offensive rebound for the Hawks! sheesh!
Peter
November 2nd, 2012
8:53 pm
Can we get 8th seed? No we are a lottery team possibly the worst in the east ! Who can we beat with this size ?
Ok a few nights we score big time from the arch…a jump shooting team lives and dies that way………but rebounding….. what is that ?
Stop Ignoring Reality
November 2nd, 2012
8:54 pm
Tolliver looked good in preseason, But that was at the SF slot. NEVER did LD play him at PF like he just did this past half Smh….and he shouldn’t be gettin burn over Ivan/Morrow two proven players.
Hewere go the IDIOTS with the Teague bashing again, Smh!!! We HAd a lead until he went to the bench…..AND he drew fouls/got to the line. STOP THE HATE That’s all i’m gonna say.