Atlanta Hawks: Rockets 109, Hawks 102 (updated)
Vivlamore reporting from Philips Arena.
Welcome to the Hawks’ new style of basketball.
Oh yes, this is going to be interesting.
The Hawks couldn’t contain James Harden. They were killed on the boards. They trailed by as many as 16 points.
Yet, they barely lost.
Harden finished with a game-high 45 points, including seven straight when the Rockets erased a two-point Hawks’ fourth-quarter lead, en route to a 109-102 victory Friday night at Philips Arena. There is still much work to do for the Hawks and a revamped roster.
“We have some things that we really have to focus in and work on,” coach Larry Drew said. “There were area in this game where we weren’t very good, very polished, particularly on the boards. We didn’t do a good job on the boards.” And it wasn’t just our big guys. It was our perimeters not being in position to chase down long rebounds.”
After losing the late lead thanks to Harden, who finished with 18 fourth-quarter points, the Hawks had a chance to tie the game late. Trailing by three points, 97-94, DeShawn Stevenson and Jeff Teague passed on potential game-tying 3-pointers. Teague instead passed to Josh Smith, who missed from long range. Chandler Parsons hit a 3-pointer off the miss as the Rockets went up by six and sealed the win from the free-throw line.
“I saw Harden running at me and it was just a basketball play to make an extra pass,” Teague said. “I’ve got all the confidence in the world in Josh. I see him work every day on shooting drills after practice. I’ve got all the faith in him. If I didn’t have faith in him, what kind of teammate would I be? I saw him wide open and thought he could knock it down. He happened to miss it but it’s part of the game.”
Since being acquired by the Rockets earlier this week, days ahead of their season opener, Harden’s has scored 82 points in two victories. Jeremy Lin added 21 points and Marcus Morris added 17 in the win Friday.
The Rockets (2-0) held a 58-36 rebounding advantage. They pulled down 23 offensive rebounds and many led to points in the paint. Center Omer Asik had 19, including seven in the first six minutes of the game.
“Giving up 17 offensive rebounds in the first half and 23 for the game, you are not going to give yourself a good chance to win. You have to be able to get in there and gang rebound. … We have to find a body, box them out and limit them to one opportunity.”
Lou Williams led the Hawks (0-1) with 22 points. Smith added 18 points and 10 rebounds. The Hawks also got double-digit scoring from Al Horford (14), Teague (14), Zaza Pachulia (13) and Stevenson (12).
The Hawks made their late run by going to a bigger lineup with Pachulia at center, Horford at power forward and Smith a small forward. Drew also elected to go with the hot hand as Williams played all of the fourth quarter when he had 13 points.
“We have to play how we played at the end of the third and into the fourth quarter,” Williams said. “We have to play like that for four quarters. We have to put four quarters of good basketball together in order for us to be successful.”
The Hawks had trouble with their offensive and defensive assignments. They often conferred with Drew during the course of the game to clear up where they were supposed to be on specific sets.
“It’s still a process,” Smith said. “We are still getting acclimated to the new guys coming in with our defensive principles and getting a feel for where they have to be. It’s still a work in progress.”
The Rockets led by as many as 16 points in the third quarter, 68-52, but the Hawks worked to close the gap. They entered the final quarter trailing by seven points, 81-74. With 7:10 remaining the lead was gone. Smith converted in close for an 88-87 lead capping a 14-6 quarter-opening run. Williams and Smith each had six points in the stretch.
The Rockets took a 53-44 halftime lead. Their lead was 14 points, 49-35, with 1:50 remaining in the second quarter when Harden drained a 3-pointer and was fouled by Stevenson. The Hawks closed the gap to nine points by ending the half on a 9-4 run, punctuated by Stevenson’s 3-pointer at the buzzer.
The Rockets held a decisive rebounding advantage – 20-8 after the first quarter and 34-20 at the half.
“We made a run and they handled it,” Horford said. “They took it and got their composure back so you have to give them credit. I don’t think we played well enough to win the game tonight.”
The Hawks travel to Oklahoma City to take on the defending Western Conference champion Thunder Sunday.
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310 comments Add your comment
paian
November 2nd, 2012
10:03 pm
ill help pack ld bags just for him to go
Slimjr
November 2nd, 2012
10:04 pm
Yea killed on the boards and in the paint!
Walt Frazier 2.0!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
FEAR THE BEARD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
cp
November 2nd, 2012
10:05 pm
Couldn’t rebound, couldn’t defend, terrible shot selection, terrible rotations. Yea this is going to be a long year. Good thing we got rid of our hustling, rebounding, defensive sf because its not like we could have used any of that rebounding or defense tonight. I see LD forgot that Devin and Ivan were on the bench too.
Slimjr
November 2nd, 2012
10:05 pm
Guess James Harden was not overrated by some? Hmmmmm
Slimjr
November 2nd, 2012
10:06 pm
Greyhound leaves on the hour LARRY DREW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ra'mon
November 2nd, 2012
10:06 pm
The quickest post game blog I’ve ever seen! Lol. Wow. Good job.
Astro Joe
November 2nd, 2012
10:07 pm
Again, what I find disconcerting about this one game sample is that the Rockets are also a team that is still learning how to play as a unit. This was NOT the Spurs or some other team that features a core that has been together for 3+ years. And EVERY team can reasonably expect to play better as the season moves forward… so if we’re starting off at a level where we lose the home opener to a Rockets team… well, again, disconcerting.
Najeh Davenpoop
November 2nd, 2012
10:08 pm
Perimeter D and LD’s substitution patterns are going to be problems all year (until Ferry mercifully cuts or trades Tolliver). Rebounding will improve, because Al won’t be this bad all year. The offense actually turned out fine, and will probably earn more FT attempts going forward (they were screwed out of a few calls in this game). Pretty much what most of us expected, I think.
Rob
November 2nd, 2012
10:08 pm
Tried to tell a couple of you clowns like Najeh Davenpoop. Harden is the truth and Westbrook is just a chucker. Great defense the other night vs Tony Parker, Russ! LMFAO
waltbellamy
November 2nd, 2012
10:08 pm
There were a couple of bright spots. Stevenson provided way more than I expected and Harris looked good in his cameo appearance. Zaza was scrappy as always. On the other hand rebounding and defense were atrocious. Very poor decision making by some folks who need to be the leaders of the team. That includes LD. Sunday is going to be ugly.
NIce work Chris. I have really enjoyed the blog this year.
Slimjr
November 2nd, 2012
10:09 pm
James cannot be guarded! WOW!!!
This dude could avg 30 plus a night with his skill set…So far his avg is 41! Day- yum!
kwooden1
November 2nd, 2012
10:12 pm
It was obvious to everyone that we would have problems on the boards and perimeter defensive. I’m very upset that LD and the rest of the staff can’t understand that you take a defensive lineup over and offensive lineup every time! I’m glad we came back in the game, but clearly Al is going to have to stop thinking and go after every missed shot. He didn’t come to play and we paid the price. It looks to me that we should start Lou, Jeff, Josh, Al and Zaza. That group will defend and rebound the best and then we can come with Stevenson and Harris off the bench. LD not bring in Ivan is just STUPID, I actually think it’s so bad he should fired!!
GO HAWKS!
Tremaine
November 2nd, 2012
10:13 pm
Put me on record, #2 is going to have a nice season for Utah.
Slimjr
November 2nd, 2012
10:14 pm
Meanwhile the #2 pick’s team[Utah] is fixing to go up 2-0…
cp
November 2nd, 2012
10:15 pm
Who do we play Sunday?
MattP
November 2nd, 2012
10:16 pm
Well look at the good thing, Boston, and Pacers lost. Miami looks like they are about to lose also.
One question I have is why did LD not play Ivan at all?
Najeh Davenpoop
November 2nd, 2012
10:18 pm
Unless this box score is wrong, Marvelous is 2/8 with 5 points and 3 boards tonight. Seems like typical Marvin to me. Y’all gotta be careful when you read those Jazz box scores, because they start two players named M. Williams.
Slimjr
November 2nd, 2012
10:18 pm
Woody is crushin Miami by 16 with under 5 mins left in the 4th..Melo with 28!
Astro Joe
November 2nd, 2012
10:18 pm
cp, a really poor home team… OKC Thunder.
Najeh Davenpoop
November 2nd, 2012
10:19 pm
Someone just asked LD about the 3 that Josh launched. LD pretty much said Josh is authorized to take that shot since the clock was running down.
phil
November 2nd, 2012
10:20 pm
Boooooooooooo!
Fire LD!!
Slimjr
November 2nd, 2012
10:21 pm
Hawks have 5 road games in the next 7!
This could get ugly very quickly! Hmmmmm
Melvin
November 2nd, 2012
10:21 pm
Boston and Lakers are 0-2. Bobcats beat the Pacers. The season has just started so there’s time to right the ship but the Hawks need to figure out how to be effective playing small ball. Starting Teague, Devin and Krover will not work. Tolliver adds no value to the team. James would have been a better fit b/c he could have defend the SF spot and help rebound. Hawks need a true SF on this roster. Devin, Krover, and Morrw for Rudy Gay.
Rob
November 2nd, 2012
10:22 pm
So y’all don’t wanna talk about those Harden/Westbrook debates from a while back? Can’t admit you were wrong? Looking stupid? Yup.
Slimjr
November 2nd, 2012
10:22 pm
Has anybody authorized that bus for LARRY DREW YET?
cp
November 2nd, 2012
10:22 pm
Preciate that Astro. Well that has the makings of a very ugly game Sunday. We really need a quality sf in here. If Korver and Tolliver arent hitting shots then they dont give you much else in the defensive and rebounding aspect. We need a sf
phil
November 2nd, 2012
10:22 pm
LD has the sense of a rotten fence post….
Astro Joe
November 2nd, 2012
10:22 pm
Slim, it won’t get ugly. They all hate to lose and they get along really well. They won’t want to be at the same club or movie being miserable together. So they will trun this around fairly quickly.
grimey
November 2nd, 2012
10:25 pm
Since when did the NBA give harden Kobe status. Hes overrated
Tremaine
November 2nd, 2012
10:25 pm
2-8 from 3pt line
Slimjr
November 2nd, 2012
10:26 pm
Knicks up 19!
Woody for Vice-President!!!
WOODY> LARRY all day…
LOL at AJ!
Najeh Davenpoop
November 2nd, 2012
10:26 pm
Nothing looks more stupid than forming conclusions after 2 games of an 82 game season. If you don’t think Westbrook could score tons of points and go 2-0 as the #1 option on his team against Detroit and Atlanta you are smoking some good stuff. Harden has looked phenomenal so far but I am looking forward to seeing what he does against teams that play perimeter defense.
2 FOR JOHN DREW
November 2nd, 2012
10:26 pm
Fearless Lou Williams ….. I’m lovin’ this guy …… Did y’all see him all up in Josh’s face. Entertaining game ….. Josh still doin’ some of that same ol’ stuff ….. frustrating …. But he played hard. WOW… no Ivan !!!!!!!!!
Rob
November 2nd, 2012
10:27 pm
“Since when did the NBA give harden Kobe status. Hes overrated”
LMAO…. Almost gave you FIDDY on Opening Night like it was nothing. Yeah, overrated. LOL
phil
November 2nd, 2012
10:27 pm
No, this won’t get turned around.
This bunch is putrid. I couldn’t believe how bad we looked.
Oh well….wait til next year!
Rod from College Park
November 2nd, 2012
10:28 pm
LD is just not a good coach. Devin Harris never gets back in the game? Kyle Korver starts? Al and Josh continue to be standing on the perimeter, and bringing the ball up the floor. No Ivan? It’s obvious Deshawn Stevenson should start. Never saw Morrow, but Korver gets major minutes, and did not score at all. Just makes no sense.
Tremaine
November 2nd, 2012
10:29 pm
lol, I still think Marvin is going to ball this year.
Najeh Davenpoop
November 2nd, 2012
10:30 pm
“2-8 from 3pt line”
That’s Mo, not Marvin.
Slimjr
November 2nd, 2012
10:30 pm
Well, theres always next year?
Larry is way over his head…
Tremaine
November 2nd, 2012
10:32 pm
I guess NO saw that he 21 the other night and decided to focus their defense on him tonight lol.
Rod from College Park
November 2nd, 2012
10:32 pm
“Someone just asked LD about the 3 that Josh launched. LD pretty much said Josh is authorized to take that shot since the clock was running down.”
He actually said other guys passed up the shot, so he was ok with Josh taking the shot because the clock was running down, and the ball moved from one side of the floor to the other.
TT
November 2nd, 2012
10:33 pm
The Hawks looked like a bunch of street ballers tonight….making plays off of hustle and sloppy play by Houston. No real discipline. Houston made so many uncontested layups it was a joke. Josh really needs to be somewhere else next year. Let’s use his contract to find a true Center for next year. We really should consider trading Horford as well. We were killed in the paint tonight. Lou Williams looks like a keeper. He and Josh were already at odds tonight during the last timeouts? Teague is improving and will be a force this year. Really, don’t expect much this year but if we can finally get a high draft pick next year and pick up a few big men, this team could be a force.
Rob
November 2nd, 2012
10:33 pm
“Nothing looks more stupid than forming conclusions after 2 games of an 82 game season. If you don’t think Westbrook could score tons of points and go 2-0 as the #1 option on his team against Detroit and Atlanta you are smoking some good stuff. Harden has looked phenomenal so far but I am looking forward to seeing what he does against teams that play perimeter defense.”
Harden cooked three West powerhouses with the pick and roll en route to the Finals, and you’re “still waiting”? LMFAO… Go off, clown.
Dale
November 2nd, 2012
10:34 pm
Al Holford is horrible, Josh is the same player as he was 8 years ago
Slimjr
November 2nd, 2012
10:34 pm
Asik destroyed Al on the boards. Who’s the darn ALLSTAR?
You get out rebounded by 20 plus rebounds a night you should lose over 83 percent of your games…
Rod from College Park
November 2nd, 2012
10:34 pm
“lol, I still think Marvin is going to ball this year.”
Iv’e been hearing that for the last 6 years. He put the invisible cloak back on tonight. lol
ctrim
November 2nd, 2012
10:35 pm
Thought the bench played well tonight- Zaza, Stevenson, Lou were sparks. Curious as to why Ivan didn’t play when it was obvious we needed his energy and rebound ability. Harris started off on fire with 9 points in the first and vanished completely. Looks like we might get to use Houston’s first round pick after all- Harden was very impressive and Houston will be in the playoffs. Dissapointed in play of Teague, Josh and Al. Weird flow and vibe to the game overall. Not the end of the world and its a long season. In Danny we trust.
MattP
November 2nd, 2012
10:35 pm
Don’t really care much for this year, since most of the roster is going to be gone this summer. Just hope Ferry does something about the coaching before the off season.
maaavelous marv
November 2nd, 2012
10:35 pm
Kyle Korver? HAAAAAAA. Soft, baby.
Slimjr
November 2nd, 2012
10:37 pm
KNICKS WIN BY 20 against the Champs!
Melo goes for 30 and 10!
Woody 2x> Larry Leisure
cp
November 2nd, 2012
10:37 pm
I hope Ferry has a plan to get a starting caliber sf in here
Tremaine
November 2nd, 2012
10:38 pm
@Rod from College Park- Marvin didn’t draft himself at number 2 when we needed a pt guard. The guy was a bench player in college and will be nothing more than a role player.
Slimjr
November 2nd, 2012
10:39 pm
The Hawks bench kept it from becoming a massacre..
Rob
November 2nd, 2012
10:39 pm
Gonna be fun watching Josh launch threes all game once it sets in that the Hawks aren’t a playoff team this year. Then he’ll start crying about all star votes and trade demands like every year.
Najeh Davenpoop
November 2nd, 2012
10:40 pm
The minutes distribution for the game doesn’t really look as bad as LD’s substitution patterns looked during the game. If he takes the 16 minutes Tolliver played and gives them to Ivan, he’s pretty close to nailing it. Neither Korver nor Stevenson are going to play every game like they did today — Korver will have some good games, Stevenson will have some bad games, and neither will be all that consistent. Morrow should eat into their minutes to at least some extent when they are not playing well.
Slimjr
November 2nd, 2012
10:40 pm
Who’s the backup Head Coach?
Astro Joe
November 2nd, 2012
10:41 pm
Well, if Teague doesn’t want to shoot in late tight games and Josh shouldn’t shoot beyond 15 feet in late tight games, the head coach may want to consider playing pick and pop with them. Because once the defense takes away the drive, you’re left with little more than a heave from one of those guys.
cp
November 2nd, 2012
10:44 pm
LD still sticks with guys who aren’t producing and leaving guys who are on the bench way too long. I wonder if he makes it through the whole season
Hawks Fan
November 2nd, 2012
10:45 pm
No Ivan or Devin Harris? Please fire LD and take Korver with you.
Wink
November 2nd, 2012
10:45 pm
1 of 82….0 & 1
Season…to be continued
LD, redundant
9 new players…same result
Josh@year end…out of here!
Slimjr
November 2nd, 2012
10:45 pm
Tolliver should be glued to the bench with his HC..
Just a real dirty low down shame that IVAN got a DNP- Genius decision..
Slimjr
November 2nd, 2012
10:48 pm
Grandad predicts 30 games for Larry.
I say less if they start out 2-9 or 1-8..Blah, Blah,Blah
Slimjr
November 2nd, 2012
10:50 pm
AJ, Teague does not trust his jumper and rightfully so. It’s not so good..
GoHawks
November 2nd, 2012
10:52 pm
No problem Hawks, It is a long season
Slimjr
November 2nd, 2012
10:54 pm
66, 17, and 9! Houston’s back court! Whew…….
LD had no answers!
Blue Steel
November 2nd, 2012
10:55 pm
All NBA had 5 rebounds. His counter part? 20rbs
cp
November 2nd, 2012
10:55 pm
If all these shooters we have are not going to play then we need to put a package together and get a sf in here ASAP
Slimjr
November 2nd, 2012
10:56 pm
Danny had no answers…
Blue Steel
November 2nd, 2012
10:56 pm
Teague is not intelligent enough to run the back court and Al Hurts us in the front court… translation?
same as the last 4 years. early exit from the playoffs.
Slimjr
November 2nd, 2012
10:57 pm
I would consider shopping Al…Josh too…
Slimjr
November 2nd, 2012
11:00 pm
It’s very disappointing that AllStar Al would not bang with Asik in the 1st quarter at least!!!!!!!!!!!!! Asik set the table by dominating the offensive glass…
Slimjr
November 2nd, 2012
11:02 pm
OKC could be up by 20 midway thru the 2nd quarter on Sunday..
Rod from College Park
November 2nd, 2012
11:04 pm
“It’s very disappointing that AllStar Al would not bang with Asik in the 1st quarter at least!!!!!!!!!!!!! Asik set the table by dominating the offensive glass…”
Remember he does not want to bang with centers because they are to big. He wants to play power foward. LOL
Fats G
November 2nd, 2012
11:12 pm
Still 80 games left youse guys……………Wish the commish would cut em to 40 and call it a season. The attention span ain’t there anymore …………………..Wish em well but I cant see watching no stinkin 80 games of this.
cp
November 2nd, 2012
11:13 pm
I thought LD went out of the country to pick up some tips from that coach?
Archibald Leach
November 2nd, 2012
11:14 pm
Wow the Rockets had 23 offensive rebounds. btw, where was Devin Harris the 2nd half?
zeyfromtheay
November 2nd, 2012
11:14 pm
AL HORFORD WAS SO LAZY!!! He didn’t help on defense AT ALL!! OR go for rebounds. I blame a majority of paint points on him. And apparently he has no post moves. He’s scored off of dunks.
ROTATION ROTATION ROTATION.
WHAT in the world was up with the rotation?!?
Where was Ivan? We needed hustling! We needed rebounding!! Korver starts? SHEESH!!
We got out coached and out hustled. This is a unique team that should be able to do almost as well as the Hawks in the last 4 years. Being a unique team though, without the right coaching, IT WON’T WORK.
There were some bright spots, and plenty of experimenting to do still. Larry Drew is NOT the man for the job, and if Danny Ferry FIRES LD, I will suck his big toe and the little one too so it doesn’t feel left out.
GO HAWKS!! Feels good to be mad at my Hawks again. What a loooong summer!! Woohoo!!!!
JimboWeiss
November 2nd, 2012
11:17 pm
Can anyone tell me the name of the song the Hawks used for their intro tonite? It was the electronic part at the beginning that I’m specifically curious about. It sounded familiar, but I can’t place it. Thank you to anyone who can answer this for me.
Stop Ignoring Reality
November 2nd, 2012
11:17 pm
Guess Joe wasn’t the problem huh….
Honestly, I missed him tonight. Games always felt “safe” for the most part with Joe out there.
tjhook
November 2nd, 2012
11:18 pm
If real recognizes real, frauds know other frauds. Larry Drew the ‘coach’ meets Anthony Tolliver the ‘impact player’. Loser Dude is putting in work to lead this team to a miserable season. Get rid of an affordable rebounder/defender so we can lose because there was not enough defense and rebounding. Please Danny Ferry – I am compelled to ask you to bring Damien James back to the squad.
sam'l
November 2nd, 2012
11:21 pm
didn’t see the game but I read everyone’s comments……..
despite all the horrible things I read, the Hawks were actually up by 2 in the fourth quarter.
So, things might have been okay after all.
Even though Hardin has been playing like crazy, I remember last year’s playoffs where he couldn’t do anything when it really counted.. So, I dunno about this guy.
As I said before, the Hawks are going to have to play as hard as they can and be as smart as they can and Smith, Teague and Horford are gonna have to over-achieve and do what needs to be done……….otherwise this will be a very unhappy season.
……….
Rusty
November 2nd, 2012
11:21 pm
After last year I came to the conclusion that the biggest weakness on this team was Larry Drew after one game this season I am convinced that the biggest weakness on this team is still Larry Drew. This man is just ignorant.
Slimjr
November 2nd, 2012
11:21 pm
Meanwhile in Hollywierd, the Lakers are losing to the Clippers.. Guess they are playing for 0-13..
Is that BUS big enough for coach Larry Drew and coach Mike Brown?
Stop Ignoring Reality
November 2nd, 2012
11:22 pm
Wonder if we can trade Stevenson & Toliver to OKC for Jememy Lamb and a 2nd Rd pick. He’s just gonna collect splinters with Kevin Martin and Sefelosha ahead of him in their depth chart.
Slimjr
November 2nd, 2012
11:23 pm
[weird]
Grandmaster JeJe (GM)
November 2nd, 2012
11:23 pm
Where the heck was Anthony Morrow?
This team has no wings at all (besides DeShawn Stevenson, who can’t guard anything anymore) and it will burn this team every single game.
Not one wing on this team. Anthony Tolliver looked pathetic out there.
Horford had what? 5 rebounds?
Josh – STOP TAKING JUMPSHOTS. ANOTHER YEAR, SAME CRAP
cp
November 2nd, 2012
11:26 pm
I doubt OKC would take that trade. They do need shooters though. Denver is another team that could use some shooters. We have shooters who probably wont see much pt and Denver has a lot of sf’s and a couple of big men. OKC has some young talent that probably wont play much this year either. If im Ferry those are the two teams I might call up and offer our shooters too.
Grandmaster JeJe (GM)
November 2nd, 2012
11:26 pm
LD acts like defense is the #1 priority and that’s what he cares about, but I see no proof of that.
This team’s lack of wings will make this a VERY long season.
Like, what was the point of the Marvin trade? He sucks, but at least he plays average defense.
We have DeShawn who can’t move at all, giving up multiple 4 point plays and playing no defense at all, despite his big shots
Slimjr
November 2nd, 2012
11:27 pm
Our ALLSTAR Center had 5 rebounds while the stiff had 20? Who’s the AllStar?
Harpie
November 2nd, 2012
11:28 pm
Why would anyone expect anything from this team as long as Larry Drew is “coaching” them? The guy doesn’t know what he’s doing; he only knows how to act like he knows what he’s doing. He’s an IDIOT!
tjhook
November 2nd, 2012
11:29 pm
Damien James= cost effective solution for Hawks’ rotation
cp
November 2nd, 2012
11:30 pm
JeJe I have learned that whatever LD says then he means the opposite
Slimjr
November 2nd, 2012
11:31 pm
Hey Sautee: Oh the Humanity…..
Where’s Buddy G tonight? Writing his novel about the origins of the game?
tjhook
November 2nd, 2012
11:32 pm
And as I mentioned on a blog yesterday, Drew is a highly paid AAU coach
Rod from College Park
November 2nd, 2012
11:35 pm
DeShawn is a 2 guard. He is only 6′4 or 6′5. He should not be depended on to guard big 2’s or 3’s.
pointguardslim
November 2nd, 2012
11:38 pm
Teague must not be afraid to take charge. He must stay aggressive for 48 mins.. He must show leadership capabilities or else he will lose his starting role and be relegated to the bench once again.
Grandmaster JeJe (GM)
November 2nd, 2012
11:38 pm
THIS TEAM NEEDS WINGS. MARVIN MAY SUCK BUT HE WAS A WING. WE HAVE NO WINGS. ANTHONY TOLLIVER SHOULD NOT BE ON THIS ROSTER.
********************WE HAVE NO WINGS ON THIS ROSTER****************************************
Slimjr
November 2nd, 2012
11:41 pm
Larry cut the wrong guy last week..
Wait till Sunday on the road! Oh the Humanity…
DS
November 2nd, 2012
11:41 pm
Just came back from the game. A few things: I want to punch Larry Drew right on his face, he needs to go. There’s no reason Tolliver should get anything more than garbage minutes, let alone as a SF. Big Al needs to hit the gym and get in shape. Smoove and Teague were great. Stevenson can be that guy from Dallas again, he should start for his defense alone and if his 3s keep falling, that’s a no brainer. We really need a starting player at sf though I bet ferry is already regretting letting Damion go, but maybe we could try Ivan. Going back to Tolliver why the hell is he getting minutes that should be Ivan’s?? I hate Larry Drew…
Slimjr
November 2nd, 2012
11:43 pm
This [Princeton] offensive aint working in Atlanta and it certainly aint working in LaLa Land? Hmmmm
Rusty
November 2nd, 2012
11:45 pm
LD found only 27 minutes for JT, is this how you give confidence to a young player who you need to be a valuable player to the team, he left him on the bench till the 3 minute mark in the fourth quarter.
Grandmaster JeJe (GM)
November 2nd, 2012
11:46 pm
Jury is out on DeShawn’s defense. He looked incredibly slow out there.
If you have Z Al and Josh at the 5 4 3 then Josh is more prone to take jumpshots. You cannot have him on the perimeter.
Ferry, fix this roster. We need a SF ASAP. Get rid of Tolliver. Where is Morrow?
Rusty
November 2nd, 2012
11:48 pm
I think that the only person I hate in this world is LARRY DREW & I don’t even know the man.
Grandmaster JeJe (GM)
November 2nd, 2012
11:51 pm
We need to trade Devin Harris ASAP for a small forward. I don’t see why we need so many small guards. Lou Williams can play – we all know that. Devin Harris is expendable; he isn’t going to teach Teague anything. Teague will always be timid under LD.
Trade Devin Harris ['s expiring contract] immediately for a Small Forward.
Immediately.
I’m done for the night…Love
waltbellamy
November 2nd, 2012
11:57 pm
“Smoove and Teague were great.”
———–
Neither performance equates to my understanding of great. Particularly at crunch time. My take – same old same old.
Did Drew forget who was on his bench?
November 2nd, 2012
11:59 pm
I thought our rotations were HORRIBLE tonight. Stevenson and Tolliver saw the court for FAR too long. I know Stevenson has a rep for defense, but everyone let’s be real…the only way the Hawks are winning this year is by outscoring everyone. So bring in the speed merchants, Teague and Harris. What was the point of getting Anthony Morrow’s 3-point shooting if we’re just gonna leave it on the bench? It’s also obvious we can’t play Korver 30 minutes a game.
Ultimately, this team is too unbalanced and tonight it was obvious. If the ROCKETS are killing us on the boards, then this season could be ug-ly. Our best lineup was two small point guards (Teague and Williams, who is a massive ball hog), and three power forwards in Smoove, Horford, and Zaza (ESPN is listing him as a pf now, and he basically is anyways, he can’t get off the ground).
Smoove’s debut as our go-to man was poor. He obviously doesn’t care about the jumpers. And did you hear the crowd get loud when he was jacking him up? Some things never change. You guys still want to max this guy? Trade him for something or lose him for nothing, or overpay him and regret it when he hits 30 and his athleticism declines.
Shoulda traded for Harden. Speaking of the max, he’s proving all the doubters that he is worth the max.
Grandmaster JeJe (GM)
November 3rd, 2012
12:10 am
Enter your comments here
Yeti
November 3rd, 2012
12:11 am
Please do us a favor and do not act like we should give darn until after all football is done. Including the draft.
Grandmaster JeJe (GM)
November 3rd, 2012
12:13 am
One last thing: we better go HARD after CP3 and Dwight this offseason. I don’t know if Teague is a franchise PG. Horford is soft.
Why CP3 would go to an ATL after so man yrs in a similar New Orleans, IDK, but we need to pursue both and lock up Smoove…. What a mess. We gave up our star SG and traded our only SF for an expiring PG we don’t need.
Ferry needs to get this right.
Hawks Blog Legend Worldwide Clyde
November 3rd, 2012
12:15 am
I just thought about it and I might need to chill with the FIRE LD stuff this year. I don’t know if we would want Bob Weiss to take over midway into the season.
LD still hasn’t learned his lesson about not playing Big Ivan.
mc404
November 3rd, 2012
12:15 am
LD frustrated the crap outta me tonight. like always. time for an upgrade at the coach spot. PLEASE!
but cant hate on harden he deserves it.
mc404
November 3rd, 2012
12:17 am
i hear you RUSTY!
Melvin
November 3rd, 2012
12:17 am
Career highs for Harden and Marcus Morris tonight. I think this undersized Hawks team is going to struggle on defense this season. Hopefully Ferry can make a in season trade to get more size in here…
Hawks Blog Legend Worldwide Clyde
November 3rd, 2012
12:17 am
Asik had 19 rebounds but Horford only had 5.
Woodson
November 3rd, 2012
12:18 am
Enter your comments here
Hawks Blog Legend Worldwide Clyde
November 3rd, 2012
12:20 am
Big Ivan proved himself time and time again last season but in the season opener he does not see the court. All this favoritism needs to stop.
Ken Strickland
November 3rd, 2012
12:20 am
If the Hawks can only go as far as Josh takes them, then we won’t go very far. He’s still stuck of stupid when it comes to shot selection and launching those long 2pt shots. Drew also did a piss poor job of coaching. We’re getting killed on the boards, especially the OFF boards, and this fool gives Ivan Johnson a DNP CD.
If he won’t play Ivan when we desperately needed his rebounding ability, I can see why he cut DJames, because he definitely wasn’t going to play him. His post gm comments about not giving ourselves a chance to win by giving up so many rebounds, especially OFF rebounds, is a damned joke.
Instead of playing our best rebounders off the bench(Scott/Ivan) not named Zaza, he over burdened Josh and Al by playing rebounding challenged players like Stevenson, Tolliver and Korver. Korver did nothing to help the team on either end of the court, and would have played more than 14mins if not for foul trouble.
Drew is obsessed with OFF and jumpshooters. I loved the way Teague became aggressive and took over on the OFF end. That wouldn’t have happened if JJ was still on the team.
brigadierjerry
November 3rd, 2012
12:21 am
i couldnt watch the game but ld is a maddening coach. he is the type of coach that will follow a script but cannot adapt. how did that move cutting james ld and keeping tolliver?
i get the impression ld has never seen petro and tolliver play before. ld talks about defnse but plays offense. never a fan of his.
say what u want about woody and woody had problems not playing rookies and iso game and can get a team to a certain point but he at least demaded defense and rebounding. he woud’ve kept james and benson.
i think one thing that goes unnoticed i think the hawks need and i think the reason woodsn went this route for the knicks this season getting felton and kidd
the hawks really need a floor general to define roles and positions especially for horford and smith. teaque i like but he doesnt command respect from smith and horford. he doesnt. a cp3, rondo,billups, even a kyrie irving type of point guard would do wonders for this team and a new coach and a defensive small forward.
Hawks Blog Legend Worldwide Clyde
November 3rd, 2012
12:22 am
Hopefully Ferry can make a in season trade to get more size in here…
We had a chance to get more size through the draft but we chose a small guard and a small forward.
Hawks Blog Legend Worldwide Clyde
November 3rd, 2012
12:28 am
Its time to give up on Horford. We need a hard nosed center not a pretty boy Dominican.
Little Fawkers
November 3rd, 2012
12:31 am
The place was empty tonight. It is official… no one in Atlanta cares about the Hawks.
sameba
November 3rd, 2012
12:32 am
Hawks looked disorganized most of the time. Which means very little was done by coaching staff in the offseason. Team chemistry is almost nonexistent. The late comeback was achieved due to a very hard individual effort of certain players. It will be difficult to play that way all season long. Hawks URGENTLY need the REAL COACH!!
waltbellamy
November 3rd, 2012
12:34 am
Hawks Blog Legend Worldwide Clyde
November 3rd, 2012
12:15 am
I just thought about it and I might need to chill with the FIRE LD stuff this year. I don’t know if we would want Bob Weiss to take over midway into the season.
*******************
That explains the frigid shiver up my spine. Be careful what you wish for. I assume DF Is smarter than that.
Hawks Blog Legend Worldwide Clyde
November 3rd, 2012
12:35 am
Looking at the highlights and Harden was driving to the basket with no one to meet him at the rim. Same ole Horford. Same ole Zaza.
Rusty
November 3rd, 2012
12:37 am
We are going nowhere with LARRY as our coach.
waltbellamy
November 3rd, 2012
12:37 am
sameba
November 3rd, 2012
12:32 am
Hawks looked disorganized most of the time. Which means very little was done by coaching staff in the offseason. Team chemistry is almost nonexistent.
******************
But the squad loves going to the movies / club together.
sameba
November 3rd, 2012
12:43 am
Unfortunately, Horford continues to play the same way he played for his national team… I do not know, may be I am wrong, but at the end of game I saw him smiling, like everything was going on as expected…
HawkEye
November 3rd, 2012
12:46 am
There is nothing that could possibly justify Anthony Tolliver getting all of those mins (esp. at PF) when Ivan Johnson, a player who could have given you rebs and possibly twice as many points, gets none. But let LD tell it was all about matchups.
This roster may not be great, but LD makes it ten times worst.
northcyde
November 3rd, 2012
12:54 am
Hey . . . but this was an EXCITING game though . . right?
In a “transition” year, that’s all that counts. That we be “exciting”.
Maybe they won’t play like this all the time, but they definitely looked like “Golden State East” tonight. I was watching most of this game on my phone, and it was just painful to watch the defense and the lack of rebounding.
I’m shocked that we lost this game. I really am.
Harden goes for 45 and Lin was 3 assists away from a triple-double? If they can do that, WTF is Lebron and Wade going to do to this team?
And Larry Drew . . . boy I tell ya. He’s like the Anti-Woody. And that’s not nearly as good of a thing as people thought it would be.
If this defense and rebounding doesn’t get any better than this, we could legitimately be looking at an 0 – 6 start.
But at least we scored over 100 tonight
(( rolling eyes ))
Dwayne C
November 3rd, 2012
1:11 am
The Atlanta Hawks are going to lose 50 games this season, count on it, New GM Danny Ferry has his work cut out for him.
soullrenaissance
November 3rd, 2012
1:15 am
FIRE TOLLIVER and LD. Stevenson is scrub and should not see the court. Korver should not start. Mid-Range Shawty is at it again.
Damion James
November 3rd, 2012
1:21 am
Hey Atlanta did you miss me?
Nate ArchiBALL
November 3rd, 2012
1:22 am
“Be careful what you wish for. I assume DF Is smarter than that.”
Just in case you forgot….DF the GM, put this team together……………
The Truth
November 3rd, 2012
1:40 am
LD worst fears have been manifested. Picking the wrong guy (Tolliver), giving him max minutes just to prove he made the right choice, but to the contrary, demonstrating how much he sucks.
Sad to say, LD has made his bed, now he must lay in it. If this mess he has created its fix after 20 games, he will lose the respect of the players especially temperamental Josh. No amount of his politics like creating a scapegoat player will replace his bad judgment. I thought his Pape Sy selection was a fluke but his pattern for badly sizing-up talent is in his DNA.
The cry for his firing will become a self fulfilling prophecy.
FreshFromATL
November 3rd, 2012
1:49 am
CAN SOMEONE PLEASE FIND OUT WHY IVAN DIDN’T PLAY TONIGHT? DAMMIT, FIRE LARRY DREW NOW!!!!!!!!
Grandad
November 3rd, 2012
1:54 am
Notes:
* when our Hawks make entry passes into the post,
they quit moving – just stand.
This allows the defense to essentially become a zone.
* Bad habits from yrs past have carried over.
* LD is only a care-taker, he cannot impose his will.
* A lot of guys seem to be “shooting” for their next contract.
“DHarris” in particular looked as if he was playing for himself.
* Harden is better than Joe ever was.
* Korver is not as bad a defender as advertised;
he plays defense with his brain due to being quickness impaired.
* If Josh had Harden`s B-ball IQ; then Josh would be the player he thinks he is.
* LD spaces the floor with Josh … fools gold !
* I`m certain people will try and lay this on Al !
* Zaza needs to start !
* Lou is our pg
* Time to trade Teaguer while trade value is High.
* We should go get Aldrich from Houston – they are not going to re-sign.
____________________________________________
29 and counting !
Grandad
November 3rd, 2012
2:01 am
Starting line-up:
Lou, JJenkins, Josh, Al, Zaza
rotation:
Teaguer, Harris, DeSteve, KKorv, Ivan + [Morrow]
trade:
Teaguer or Harris for another Big ! … One who can REBOUND !!!!!
Why not ?
the hawks is the word
November 3rd, 2012
2:22 am
Can somebody tell me WHAT THE HELL WAS WRONG WITH IVAN, since LD didn’t play him at all in this game when clearly we were getting out-hustled on rebounds
the hawks is the word
November 3rd, 2012
2:26 am
oh and somebody tell tolliver that it’s bad enough that josh like to shoot the 3, when we need a frickin garnett or hibbert equivalent to fight in the paint and not another finesse player
Kareem ah-Wheat
November 3rd, 2012
2:31 am
Good. Now they can settle back down 3000 people a night.
vava74
November 3rd, 2012
3:42 am
Called it and nailed it:
Asik with >18 rebounds – Hawks lose.
Harden was obviously good but that would have been irrelevant if we had rebounded.
No Ivan? Hah! LD at his very best.
Lottery here we go.
vava74
November 3rd, 2012
3:47 am
LD’s starting line up is a freaking joke and it was really not necessary to wait for a single game to know it.
Add to it LD’s rotations and we are looking at the worst start in several years.
Just for the distracted: JJ – very good perimeter defender – always had trouble with Harden.
What did you expect it would happen with a bunch of tiny defenceless guys on the floor?
At least Marvin was back to his usual self, giving us some comfort.
Grandad
November 3rd, 2012
4:01 am
vava
For all the rhetoric from LD about defense;
now the catch phrase is:
“were getting acclimated to our defensive principles”.
Defensive Principles 101:
# 1. Stay between your guy and the basket !
Rebounding Principle:
# 1. Box Out !
“Defense is 90% effort and the other half is [want] to”
The above quote is from G-dad or Yogi // I forget ?
vava74
November 3rd, 2012
4:35 am
Oh, and stop fooling yourselves.
Horford’s interview was indeed JUICY.
He played just like he interviewed.
When someone comes public with that type of cr@p he will end up playing like that as well.
And that is exactly what you got tonight:
Al facing a 7 footer who had already punked him during the ATL-CHI series = Al mailing it from an effort point of view.
The only question that remains is:
Al is a conniving b!tch who is sabotaging LD on purpose to force him to play Zaza and move him to PF;
or
Al is not doing it on purpose and his disappearing act is simply because he is SOFT.
There are no other options.
That interview MATTERED.
tony
November 3rd, 2012
6:10 am
I hope Danny Ferry is thinking Bill Laimbeer, Cody Zeller(2013 draft) and Andrew Wiggins(2013 draft). This will be the best investment ever for this franchise. Just keep losing baby!
tony
November 3rd, 2012
6:14 am
Andrew Wiggins(2014 draft)
vava74
November 3rd, 2012
6:20 am
4th quarter yesterday
Al Horford
Stint 4 8:47 -4
FG 0-1
PF 1
Reb 2
TO 1
Josh Smith
Stint 4 12:00 0
FG 4-6 3FG 0-1
PF 1
Reb 3
ag
November 3rd, 2012
6:45 am
test
ag
November 3rd, 2012
6:55 am
First, this game was lost in the preseason. Anthony Tolliver ended the preseason going 0-8 in Detroit, but he makes the team at the expense of James. James was clearly the Hawks best option at SF, as he was second on the team in rebounding in limited minutes. Tolliver rewards his new team by going 0-3 at 2 rebounds in 16 minutes. At the rate Harden has playing, I think James would have played much better defense.
The Hawks got absolutely abused on the boards. The Rocket 7’0” was grabbing every rebound in site. I am not sure, but was Petro in a suit? If not, it would not have been a bad thing if he would have been. The 7’0” I would have liked to see is somewhere watching the his NBA pass. He only scored 10 points in one exhibition game. I guess Keith Benson really looked bad in practice.
Then our great coach gives Kyle Korver his first opening day start since 2005-06. He rewards LD with 0 points, 5 fouls in 15 minutes. Over the last 7 seasons, he has only started 10 games. WTF?
Lastly, the guy you flew to California to see was also the guy who came to camp in the best condition. The guy who you said will play a big role. Despite getting abused on the boards. Ivan Johnson gets a DNP.
We all said the team will be good – but it really depends on our coach. I have always commended LD for making changes. I sire hope he makes these adjustments quickly.
Just Joe
November 3rd, 2012
6:57 am
Teague is still learning and I have no problem with his game right now. He had too many turnovers early, but that’s going to happen at times. He’s still playing like the 4th or 5th option (trying to play under control, passing up open jumpers (yes, I know his jumper still needs work), not being verbal enough, etc…).
He deserves the whole season as the primary ball handler. Defensive effort needs to be more consistent. Keep working on the jumper. And work on finishing at the rim. I still believe that he can get to the rim whenever he wants. Teague took 10 shots last night. 8 at the rim, and 2 jumpers. He needs to be getting off 15+ shots each night.
This season is about evaluation and trade value. I see a 18 & 8 year for Jeff Teague. 14 & 7 in game 1 (only 27 minutes).
ag
November 3rd, 2012
6:59 am
I forgot to mention Stevenson. We watched the 6th man of the year go for 45 – mostly against Stevenson. Yes, he was a defensive stopper a couple of years ago for the Mavericks, but a couple of years ago, TMac led the league in scoring. This guy is no longer a defensive stopper. He did not get any significant burn with the Nets, why does LD think he should get minutes here?
Marvin scored 5 points for Utah.
The Lakers are 0-3. Kobe still goes for 40 in a loss.
ag
November 3rd, 2012
7:15 am
Teague was in a bit of foul trouble early – especailly after the dunk they called an offensive foul. Korver nerver needs to start. Call James back, cut Tolliver, bring Benson back, cut Petro.
Ray
November 3rd, 2012
7:18 am
LOL at anyone judging this team after 1 game.
Hell LOL for anyone judging Boston and the Lakers even if their 0-3 or 0-2 this isn’t a 10 game season nor is 66 like last year it’s 82.
Honestly Early weak link for me right now is Tolliver he looked lost out there.
Jeff Teague and Devin Harris plus Lou Williams will work nicely. Josh and Al both probably need more time with the rest of the team to start building up that chemistry.
Right now I pick this team to be between 40-44 wins at a minimum and 46-48 at a max. I knew we would be taking a step back, but this pain is one I can endure because I know we have a brighter future.
Ray
November 3rd, 2012
7:23 am
Also to add yeah after about 20 games we”ll see who really needs to go. Only reason Korver starts is because Al is at Center and our C position is basically nothing.
No disrespect to Zaza, but if we started him we have no C behind him lol.
Wouldn’t mind have Cole Adrich.
Just Joe
November 3rd, 2012
7:26 am
Very disappointed in Al based on observation and one stat to back it up (1 personal foul in 37 minutes of play). He refused to be physical tonight. Watching ZaZa play center is definitely not a thing of beauty, but watch the hands, shoulders and elbows on every single play on both sides of the court. Aldrich and Asik did a good job of giving it back, but those guys felt the difference when ZaZa was in the game. We need more of that, and Ivan would have definitely helped.
ntrigue
November 3rd, 2012
7:34 am
Before leaving the game o told Nique that Drews rotations sucked and he agreed. Coach Conner kept trying to tell drew to change up tne rotation at one point and they got into it! Drew is stubborn he does not listen to his coaches. The whole time I was telling van exel that drew sucks and screaming put Ivan in no way Tolliver should’ve logged that many mins playing like that! He took Teague when he was finally in rhythm. Kept telling to stop messing w Teagues gm let him be free! Drew has to go !
darrell starks
November 3rd, 2012
7:39 am
Like i said the Hawks will win no more than 35 games this year with Josh and Horford your starting Frontcourt, you have no more 6′7 Joe and 6′9 Marvin protecting the perimeter, this allow guys to be able go to the rim leaving undersize Josh and Horford hopeless on the board, with a lack of size in your backcourt and at SF who are not AVG. defenders look for the Hawks to finish almost dead last in rebounds this year and giving up 100points a game or more.
GO HAWKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
darrell starks
November 3rd, 2012
7:43 am
HAWKS 36 REBOUNDS
ROCKETS 58 REBOUNDS
This will be like this every game until Danny find a back up center behind Zaza.
Zaza must starte point blank period or look for and lottery pick in 2013.
GO HAWKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
GoRockets
November 3rd, 2012
7:50 am
Go Rockets!
ntrigue
November 3rd, 2012
7:54 am
No way Teague should’ve only played 20 something mins same for Morrow he saw no action i would’ve played him over korver
tidog
November 3rd, 2012
8:12 am
Korver was useless.
ag
November 3rd, 2012
8:24 am
Again, Jeff got in foul trouble, so I see why his time was limited. CV needs to ask the tough question, “Why didn’t Ivan play – enten though the Rockets established early they were dominating the boards?” Then, he could not have given you the BS answer “Matchups.”
I even said before the season starts, we need size starting at SF. I would not mind giving Ivan a shot. He deserves it. Starting ZaZa would hurt our rotation off the bench.
Who is going to guard Durant? The Hawks need to get on the phone and get James to OKC.
darrell starks
November 3rd, 2012
8:27 am
LD must make some changes in his starting lineup and bench rotation.
Some body need to explain why Morrrow and Ivan is not playing, and why coach LD playing Tolliver over Ivan and Stevenson over Morrow ?
GO HAWKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Just Joe
November 3rd, 2012
8:29 am
Yes, go Rockets! All the way to the 8th seed out West, and we’ll gladly take the 15th and 45th picks in the draft. Thank you very much.
darrell starks
November 3rd, 2012
8:30 am
Who is this Tolliver guy ? dam he worst than Marvin, SMH
LD is a clueless coach.
GO HAWKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
NORRIS CHUCK
November 3rd, 2012
8:34 am
Im not going to blow a gasket but i will say that Larry Drew has NO clue as a head coach. It completely dumbfounds me as to how some coaches in sports get these jobs and holds on to them.
Also, as long as Josh Smith is in the ATL, they will never progress.
darrell starks
November 3rd, 2012
8:36 am
STARTERS TEAGUE, LOU, JOSH, HORFORD, ZAZA
BENCH DEVIN, JENKINS, MORROW, IVAN, ?
RESERVE KORVER, STEVENSON, SCOTT
Danny go find a defensive center behind Zaza, hack i would bring Dampier back as backup.
PLEASE CUT PETRO AND TOLLIVER ASAP.
GO HAWKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Wabe
November 3rd, 2012
8:36 am
I’m laughing at the type of love folks are giving Woody here…
And, I’m not sure why the anger when what we saw was to be expected. I don’t see this team being a particularly good defensive or rebounding team. They might make some strides in those areas this season, but I don’t expect guys like Harden or any of the other elite scorers being slowed down when they play us. Despite JJ’s critics [and I'm one of them], dude could play defense. Now, you’re only real defensive option on the perimeter to check the likes of Harden/KD/LBJ/Pierce etc. is DeShawn Stevenson. Harris is really a PG playing the 2-gaurd, and Lou Williams shouldn’t really be counted on to lock up the likes of of these players. So, you’re left with who?
We’ll see how it goes moving forward, but I went into this season expecting a rebuilding year. Yeah, the squad ain’t all that terrible, but they don’t really have ‘greatness’ written all over them. The roster was flawed coming into the season, and it’ll show up through the year. I think the Hawks only chance this season is simply outscoring opponents in high-scoring affairs. I don’t think this is a team that can consistently hold teams under 90-100 pts.
But, we’ll see. I may be wrong.
ntrigue
November 3rd, 2012
8:49 am
The coaches know drew is dumb but they all just sit and say nothing for the most part they are all yes man!
Slimjr
November 3rd, 2012
8:59 am
Just Joe, I too was terribly disappointed with Al Horford’s play.. He looked like the invisible one in the 1st 12 mins and allowed Asik to set the table for a dominating performance on the Glass! He is supposed to be the Allstar and played more like a stiff..
Larry looks lost…
Our guards were destroyed………..Embarrassed!
You are supposed to lose at home when the opposing back court torches you for 66pts, 17 rbs, and 9 assist!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Slimjr
November 3rd, 2012
9:03 am
One foul? C’mon man? Your the last line of defense? Huh?
Slimjr
November 3rd, 2012
9:04 am
LD and Josh have one thing in common, they both don’t get it…
Slimjr
November 3rd, 2012
9:05 am
Agree Grandad, Lou is our point guard..Shop Teague and Al….
Slimjr
November 3rd, 2012
9:07 am
We’ll see what this team is made of. Next 5 of 7 on the road…. Ouch…
Slimjr
November 3rd, 2012
9:13 am
Hawks Blog Legend Worldwide Clyde
November 3rd, 2012
12:28 am
“Its time to give up on Horford. We need a hard nosed center not a pretty boy Dominican.”
Apparently Horford has evolved and become more of a finesse type of player..Looks like the old Horford is gone for good?
What kind of value can he generate on the market at this time?
Grandmaster JeJe (GM)
November 3rd, 2012
9:15 am
No wings
No cebter depth
Timid center
Timid PG
No SF
No perimeter defense
One of the worst HC in the NBA
Mediocre home crowd (tons of empty seats and no noise until we came back)
keith
November 3rd, 2012
9:22 am
This was just the 1st game,. Having sais that, it seemed that the starting line-up needs to change moving forward.
Just Joe
November 3rd, 2012
9:23 am
I think Horford sticks no matter what. He’s the sign and trade bait should anything go wrong (right for the Hawks) with Bynum or Howard.
KevinM
November 3rd, 2012
9:25 am
I like the insight ntrigue and if that’s what is happening, the season will be a long one.
First game, and Josh doesn’t shoot ONE FT! He is not a SF and we keep trying to make him one. He and Zaza are a better combo than inside than Al/Zaza….Al’s game looks painful.
Lou is for real and will have the green light. Stevenson was as good as I expected as I consider him a professional. He will be a good addition if other guys can score around him.
Lin is far from overrated…throw Asik in there also…both outplayed their counterpart.
Slim, you are in midseason form. Al won’t make it through the year as a Hawk at this rate.
keith
November 3rd, 2012
9:29 am
Also, with the exception of Lou Williams and Devin(early in the game), our guards did not play with any confidence. Give A. Morrow and Jenkins a look at the sg and sf on Sunday.
Starters: Harris-Jenkins-Josh-Al-ZsaZsa or Harris-Morrow-Josh-Al-Zsa Zsa
I would bring Jeff Teague off the bench until he plays with confidence!
Tom Thurston
November 3rd, 2012
9:31 am
Gonna be a long season. Looking forward to draft lottery though.
keith
November 3rd, 2012
9:34 am
Not impressed at all with Josh Smith or Al Horford. Neither one of them “seized” the moment. There was an obvious lack of LEADERSHIP from Coach Drew, Al Horford, and Josh Smith. 4th Qtr, Poor substitutions, poor shot selections, and poor play by our “Center.”
High-sider
November 3rd, 2012
9:35 am
In his first two [regular season] games as a Clippers player, Jamal Crawford has scored a total of 50 points in a reserve role/capacity; that means he’s averaging 25ppg off the bench.
What do you [Hawks fans] expect after last night’s loss? First, this [Hawks] franchise gets rid of a “pure” scorer in Jamal Crawford and then follows that up by getting rid of another [very good] scorer in Joe Johnson. You go from two big scoring guards [J. Crawford standing at 6'5"/6'6" and J. Johnson standing at 6'7"/6'8"] to three [scoring] guards standing at or about 6′1″/6′2″ [Jeff Teague, Lou Williams and Devin Harris] and, of the three [Je. Teague, Lo. Williams and De. Harris], L. Williams is really the only “true” scorer. “Ol’ Danny Boy” [aka GM Danny Ferry] still hasn’t addressed the big man issues on this team [e.g., lack of interior size at the PF and C positions]. Let’s keep it real. Al is an undersized center and Josh Smith is an undersized power forward. If the Clippers [franchise] can get Ryan Hollins and R. Turiaf to back up DeAndre Jordan at the Center position, then why couldn’t the Hawks have at least picked up a decent big [man] like Ian Mahinmi or Marcus Camby?
Bad Decisions/Management [include, but are not limited to the following] :
1. Letting Jamal Crawford “walk” for nothing [in return]
2. Overpaying Joe Johnson and then trading him for [so-called] “scrubs”
3. Overpaying Marvin Williams and then trading him for [essentially] a driving/slashing [point] guard. Hint: The Hawks already have/had Jeff Teague. [Can you say Dept. of Redundancy Dept. or is it the Redundancy Dept. of Redundancy? Take your pick.]
4. Refusing to address the lack of interior size or acquire quality [legitimate] big men.
Hey, Lame Duck [aka LD] try [out] the following lineup for a duration in the next [regular season] game:
PG – Jeff Teague
SG – Lou Williams
SF – Josh Smith
PF – Ivan Johnson
C – Al Horford/Zaza Pachulia
keith
November 3rd, 2012
9:42 am
“Poor Substitutions, Poor shot selections, and Poor play by our starting Center” sums up the reasons why we lost this Basketball game. I expect more from our frontline. I would have benched the entire frontline early on just to make point. They were all absolutely “atrocious.” They made Omar Asik look like Bill Walton and James Hardin looked more like Michael Jordan!
High-sider
November 3rd, 2012
9:50 am
“The Ghetto Terminator/Cyborg” aka Ivan Johnson deserves minutes/playing time.
FREE GHETTO TERMINATOR
keith
November 3rd, 2012
9:51 am
Horford statline 14pts. “5″ rebounds, and “0″ (Zero)Blocked shots. He also had Zero offensive rebounds. Suffice it to say, he is clearly playing out of position!
keith
November 3rd, 2012
9:56 am
After watching Omar Asik dominate the boards last night, I hope we never see the same starting 5 again. Also, this Tolliver guy, he looked Horrible, offense and defense. JOHAN PETRO could not have played any worse than our frontline did last night. James Hardin was finishing at the rim like “Kobe jelly bean Bryant!”
High-sider
November 3rd, 2012
9:57 am
^Correction: #FREE GHETTO TERMINATOR
Slimjr
November 3rd, 2012
9:59 am
Our front line does not invoke fear to opposing players, more like an escort service…. Sheesh!
Slimjr
November 3rd, 2012
10:02 am
So Woody dismantles the Heat by 20 pts. last night without his Allstar power-forward and some still believe Larry is an upgrade?
Hahahahahahahahahah
High-sider
November 3rd, 2012
10:04 am
@keith
keith
November 3rd, 2012
9:51 am
Horford statline 14pts. “5″ rebounds, and “0″ (Zero)Blocked shots. He also had Zero offensive rebounds. Suffice it to say, he is clearly playing out of position!
—————————————————————————-
You’re right but this [Hawks] team already has enough [shooting] guards on its roster.
Slimjr
November 3rd, 2012
10:06 am
Lakers are 0-11 so guess things could be worse..
Are you glad our Hawks do not live in the Western Conference?… Whew
Slimjr
November 3rd, 2012
10:10 am
Speaking of Western Conference, the Hawks will see a few of those teams in their 1st 8? Oh Boy..
Houston just gave them an introduction..
ag
November 3rd, 2012
10:14 am
Funny how you guys are saying Teague did not play with confidence. He went down the middle, jumped over a player and dunked on him – I think that takes a lot of confidence!
ag
November 3rd, 2012
10:15 am
Josh did bang quite a bit in the paint and a couple of occasions he should have gotten a call or and one.
keith
November 3rd, 2012
10:16 am
We must shake up our starting line-up. I might even start Ivan Johnson-Zsa-Zsa–Josh Smith frontline.
keith
November 3rd, 2012
10:21 am
ag
November 3rd, 2012
10:14 am
Funny how you guys are saying Teague did not play with confidence. He went down the middle, jumped over a player and dunked on him – I think that takes a lot of confidence!
Jeff Teague passed up a “Wide Open 3″ to tie the game late. He defferred to, guess who? Josh freakin Smith, Do you want Josh Smith taking a wide open 3 or say anyone else???
keith
November 3rd, 2012
10:23 am
IMO Josh Smith and Al Horford should not be on the floor at the same time for long stretches because neither are reliable “shooters.”
keith
November 3rd, 2012
10:29 am
http://www.hoopshype.com article “magic Johnson suggests Lakers trade for Josh Smith because the Lakers need more athletes. HECK YES…I would trade Josh Smith for Pau Gasol in a heartbeat.
Magic Johnson suggests that Pau Gasol be the Lakers trade chip.
hittman
November 3rd, 2012
10:33 am
First off I’M GLAD TO SEE THE NBA season is in full effect.
I put the blame on substitution patterns,like where was Ivan?
LD is a horrible coach point blank period,plus the James Harden superstar factor has already acclumulated ,the phantom fouls were ridicolous we will be blatantly disrespected without any superstar or allstar on this roster.
This wasn’t Lebron,Kobe,D-Wade,KD,or even Carmelo for that matter. This was James Harden and Houston has the super star rules all wrote out for him.
And where was JJ2 the guy is a baller Woody Lite is in my Barkley voice just plan old terribull.
On a positive note I wouldn’t mind if Ferry picked up Eddie Curry.
Peace
Slimjr
November 3rd, 2012
10:33 am
“New York scored 57 points from the deep-ball, making 19-of-36 from beyond the arc with Novak (5), Anthony (4), Jason Kidd (3), Raymond Felton (3) and J.R. Smith (2) each hitting at least two. Rasheed Wallace scored his first NBA points since the 2010 Finals with a 3 late in the fourth.”
Hey Larry, looks like your Buddy up in New York has some shooters too? hehehehe
julius
November 3rd, 2012
10:38 am
fire the coach OMG fire the coach. get a center and josh please stop taking shots, teage man up, horford come on man
cdog
November 3rd, 2012
10:39 am
it pathetic how stupid the hawks played vs the rockets and especially, at home.you”re not going to win in theNBA shooting 90% jumpshots. jeff teague is probably the most stupid hawks player on the roster.he”s barely 6 feet and was coming down 1 on 4 on many trips down the floor and trying to shoot over 6″11 peolpe. he”s still terrible and hasn”t learn anything from previous seasons. larry drew has no clue or control.he”s trying make his players happy just like freddie gonzalez of the braves.. unless they star getting the to the rim and shoot layups morer than jump shots, its going to be a long season.the on ball defense was awful. i thought defnse was suppose to be the strength of the team? it was horrible. harden should not have beaten people off the dribble as he did but the hawks made him look like jerry west and majic johnson which should not have happen. the bottom line is the hawks need a head coach who gets up in people face and demand they get the job done.the players does not respect him because hes too soft. woodson would have josh smith playing like the star players he has the potential to be now plus he would have sent jeff teague packing.overall, the players need to cut on being stupid and jell together as a team.i like what danny ferry did but now he need a championship coach who push them past their limits, drew is not the answer period
hittman
November 3rd, 2012
10:47 am
Keith why would you trade josh for pau
If the Lakers dont want him ,and we both would agree the Lakers are a intelligent franchise
Why the hell would you trtade a 26 year old for a 34 year old?
Things like this is why i know we will never be a good franchise,we have the most idiotic fans
If anything Al has to go he just doesn’t have it
We need an alpha dog Houston just went and got one damn why couldnt we made that trade
keith
November 3rd, 2012
10:48 am
I am with you guys, FIRE LARRY DREW movement has begun. LD is “Clearly” over his head when it comes to coaching. STEVIE WONDER can see that Drew should not be coaching, Horford should not be playing center, and Josh should NEVER take Jumpers!
keith
November 3rd, 2012
10:52 am
hittman
November 3rd, 2012
10:47 am
I would like to see Josh Smith in another uniform, PERIOD! Time for Josh Smith to leave Atlanta and grow-up! I would rather have the guy with the higher BB IQ. Pau Gasol for 3-4 years or Josh Smith for 4-5 years? Hmmmm? I’ll take any GASOL over Josh “not making the allstar team” Smith!
keith
November 3rd, 2012
10:55 am
I’d take “ANY GASOL” over Josh Smith and his horrible decision making. Josh clearly has surperior talent, howver, he does not have the basketball “wisdom” to go along with it.
keith
November 3rd, 2012
10:59 am
I would trade Al and Josh for Pau and Metta World War in a heartbeat. Pau and Ron Artest are much better Basketball players than our frontliners, even at their advanced ages.
Ghost Of Woody
November 3rd, 2012
11:01 am
I don’t understand how Horford getting outrebounded by a PG means we need to start Zaza and have our best rebounder and shot blocker(Josh Smith) out on the perimeter. A Zaza-Horford frontcourt is a layup line for the opposing team. Neither of them can block shots.
Stop Ignoring Reality
November 3rd, 2012
11:02 am
Teague started ballin’ when he saw his teammates were playing soft and needed a spark. Go Jeff GO!
Ken Strickland
November 3rd, 2012
11:09 am
Can anyone tell me if they saw the Hawks run anything that even remotely resembled a MOTION OFF last night, because I certainly didn’t? Too me it looked like they just threw it into the post, cleared out, and stood around while Josh launched jumpshots and threw up wild shots near the lane.
Since when did playing one dimensional and almost totally unproductive veteran players, over younger less experienced players that have shown more potential and talent, become the right thing to do? Is there anyone out there that thinks Morrow, Jenkins, Scott, or Johnson, couldn’t have pulled a Korver or Tolliver by during virtually nothing on OFF, DEF, or the glass?
Did anyone see Stevenson even slow Lin, Harden, or anyone else down, even though he’s revered by many on these blogs for his DEF against Lebron in the playoffs 2yrs ago? I don’t blame the players, I blame Drew. Korver had no business starting period, and that stupidity was on Drew. Morrow, Ivan and Scott had no business getting DNP CD when Korver was a total nonfactor in every facet of the gm, and we were getting dominated on the boards with Korver, Stevenson and Tolliver playing SF.
We need a HC that has the guts to get JSmith’s attention, because he has far to much talent to continue being stuck on stupid. And all of you who keep complaining about not protecting the rim need to realize we need to start doing a better job of protecting the PERIMETER.
Most of those pts in the paint were the result of penetrating and dishing and backdoor cuts. You must stop thinking that protecting the rim is the responsibility of Josh, Al and Zaza. The best way to protect the rim is to keep the opposition away from it, and that starts with solid perimeter DEF.
Grandmaster JeJe (GM)
November 3rd, 2012
11:13 am
I’m still waiting to hear what Danny Ferry’s plan is.
CP3 and Dwight are not coming here. Why would CP3 come here after he played in a similar city in New Orleans for so long?
This team is a mess. We traded a top 5 team in the East for a team with absolutely no wing players and miserable defense.
As much as Marvin sucked, he was an average defender
keith
November 3rd, 2012
11:15 am
HOG POOP!!! Our centers were horrible last night!
keith
November 3rd, 2012
9:51 am
Horford statline 14pts. “5″ rebounds, and “0″ (Zero)Blocked shots. He also had Zero offensive rebounds. Suffice it to say, he is clearly playing out of position!
keith
November 3rd, 2012
11:20 am
JOHAN PETRO—could not have played any worse on the boards than our frontline did last night. OMAR ASIK looked like the ROUND MOUND OF REBOUNDS(CHARLES BARKLEY). For a moment, i thought that Dwight Howard had a “Omar Asik” uniform on.
vava74
November 3rd, 2012
11:21 am
Ken,
Before you harp on Smoove, look again at what Horford produced.
Not excusing Smoove but look at the fourth quarter stats from both.
Just look.
http://www.popcornmachine.net
Sautee
November 3rd, 2012
11:23 am
“The only question that remains is:
Al is a conniving b!tch who is sabotaging LD on purpose to force him to play Zaza and move him to PF;
or
Al is not doing it on purpose and his disappearing act is simply because he is SOFT.
There are no other options.” – vava74
——————————————————————————————————–
Haha, sure there are other options: Don’t you know that Dominicans are genetically oriented to be complacent? I have a Dominican friend, AND I’ve enjoyed reading a Dominican author, so I can say these things.
MaxxHawk
November 3rd, 2012
11:28 am
We have 9 guards and no small forwards…and where the hell was Ivan Johnson??
RaJaH
November 3rd, 2012
11:30 am
How’s the draft looking this year?
Hawks still refuse to play smart basketball for long stretches and LD has no control of the team. Josh gets into it with a ref right in front of him …and he just quietly stands there and it’s a blessing the ref didn’t call a T.
BIG DOG
November 3rd, 2012
11:30 am
If the Hawks had addded Andray Blatche instead of Tolliver, Hawks would have won this game.
How the world you get out rebounded by 22, I BE DAM
BIG DOGIN THE HOUSE
hfc95
November 3rd, 2012
11:31 am
here are a few thoughts about last night
*LD still has NO clue on how to sub players, letting tolliver come in instead of ivan and jack four 3s and missing all. and then subbing tolliver in the second half again, terrible. i like tolliver and think he will be a good role player but last night he was off and LD kept putting him in.
*Devin Harris should have been in with Lou more. Teague seems the same as last year making plays then taking plays off.I dont remember seeing devin in the 4th.
*HOU was GIVING ATL the ball with sloppy passes all night and we capitalized but we had no offensive flow unless it was a fastbreak. we have no offense as of now.
*Anthony Morrow will not see the court and we drafted John Jenkins who is the same player, we need to trade Morrow and get another true SF to start some nights over Korver when we play Bron,Durant and other scoring SF’s
Im impressed with the options we have and its just the first game but our major problems, by my diagnosis is this: LD needs to be gone after this season, he has no idea how to sub players and it kills our flow. Also I think Teague and ZaZa need to be let go or traded, ZaZa has never looked so unathletic before and Teage seems to have hit his ceiling as a 12 and 5 PG who is athletic but not intelligent.
Slimjr
November 3rd, 2012
11:33 am
Al was the invisible one in the 1st and 4th quarters.WOW! Those are the critical quarters. I sure hope the coaches show him those STATS!!
Good link vava74. I got that one bookmarked!
BIG DOG
November 3rd, 2012
11:36 am
I hope you guys are right about this soon to be famous Danny Ferry.
What plans do this so call genius have for the Hawks ?
BIG DOG IN HOUSE
Slimjr
November 3rd, 2012
11:36 am
29
Slimjr
November 3rd, 2012
11:40 am
Woody>Larry
J.J.M.
November 3rd, 2012
11:45 am
I was watching the rudy gay highlights. Why can’t josh cut to the basket for easy dunks like him?
Grandmaster JeJe (GM)
November 3rd, 2012
11:47 am
FIRE LAME DUCK LARRY
Grandmaster JeJe (GM)
November 3rd, 2012
11:49 am
We have a ton of 6″3 and 6″8 players and very few bigs.
Same ish every year. We are short on bigs.
Might as well go sign Dampier now
J.J.M.
November 3rd, 2012
11:51 am
Guys help out, Im trying to take the attention off of another subpar performance from Al. Change the subject.
Slimjr
November 3rd, 2012
11:55 am
Because Rudy Gay handles are 5x> Josh..
Rudy Gay has 2 guard skills. Josh, in his dreams……
heat check
November 3rd, 2012
11:56 am
Can someone please point out the ‘vibrate’ option on Nique’s phone for him??
It was one game. I’m not making any grand judgements about any of the players after this one game. They Hawks were in disarray on O and D and still nearly pulled it off.
Of course LD disgraced himself as a head coach. That’s what he does. DF is too smart to overlook that LD is in over his head. LD will be replaced by the all star game.
hot.trod.87
November 3rd, 2012
12:01 pm
Overall issue: scouting. You have to know your starting lineup the night you see Harden (& the Rockets) play against the Detroit Pistons. To know that in your last preseason game you got pounded on the boards by the Pistons 48-30. To know that it’s pretty awkward to see Josh Smith leading in NBA in rebounds at 13.8 when Horford is the center. You know you want less isolation D & more team D. To rotate the defense on Harden. Larry started Korver, but realized he needed defense and instead started Desean and benched Korver. Larry gave Tolliver more minutes that Ivan with 0 assists and 0 rebounds over Ivan Johnson who has a good midrange game. He also plays bigger than his size ( something Horford has went away from). Tolliver was chosen over Anderson & James whom many see as younger and more defensive oriented. Injured Petro was chosen over Keith Benson. We doubled Harden about 2 or 3 times in the 4th quarter and it worked BUT we got away from it. Our half court offense has to improve. Those shots with noone standing under the basket ( Al & Josh) is terrible. I’m not seeing many 2nd chance opportunities because of defensive rebounding. Houston had 35 defensive rebounds against us and Detroit in the preseason has 35 defensive rebounds… Defensive rebounding (of the other team) w/o transition defense (from us) MUST be addressed.
hot.trod.87
November 3rd, 2012
12:02 pm
Al Horford has had the blessings of being overlooked due to Joe Johnson’s contract, Marvin’s pick over CP3 & Deron, & Josh Smith’s shooting; but he very much deserves some criticism. What guys says they needs help from other players to assume their role or point the finger at others for them not getting the job done… Horford says “When I’m facing a much bigger guy than me, obviously I would prefer Zaza come in and take some weight off of me, at least for a while.” .. “We know that I am a smaller center, more of a power forward being realistic.” It’s the old quote: Height and size are physical attributes, not talents. Hasheem Thabeet has height and size. Al Horford has talent. Use your talent, not your excuses, Al.
Slimjr
November 3rd, 2012
12:02 pm
Maybe they have a shot if:
1-Josh stops shooting 22 footers and becomes mid-range Shawty
2-Al discontinues the 8-10 sec jab step to no where into a pass
3-Teague visits the Wizard to receive a jumpshot he can trust
4-Tolliver glued to the bench
5-Jenkins getting some burn
6-starting Lou and Devin
7-Starting ZaZa
8-Blah blah,blah,blah,blah,blah
9-Put Larry Drew on a Greyhound Bus asap!
10-Fill in the blanks______________________________________________!
hot.trod.87
November 3rd, 2012
12:04 pm
Johan Petro being confused about his role. You’re 7′0. What do abnormally tall guys do? If you don’t know, you should watch Asik last night. Asik’s did ABSOLUTELY nothing but grab rebounds as everything else was 0’s & 19 rebounds. They read Horford’s AJC piece about being small. Larry gave Tolliver more minutes than Ivan with 0 assists & 0 points over Ivan Johnson … who never left the bench.Mike Scott deserves playing time as he’s a low post player who’s efficient on scoring w/ a grown man’s body. He’s not a baby. If there’s ever a season to get a technical, now is the time Drew. They don’t fine you for technicals, but you show fire for your players. Love having Lou Williams on this team…Best leadership in awhile. The fire of hating to lose & playing til the clock dies is in him.
Artman
November 3rd, 2012
12:06 pm
I have trouble getting too upset after one game. I still have my doubts about Larry Drew as the coach but he will have to prove himself this year. I read on Hoopsworld where they rated the NBA coaches and Drew was pretty far towards the bottom in the rankings. The comment was that his teams were undisciplined. That is the problem as I see it.
However this season plays out, I have faith in Danny Ferry. He unloaded the 2 worse contracts on the team and it will take some time before he can truly reload this team. It is not about this year, we may very well have taken a step back but we will have tons of money next year forward to build a better team.
So guys, relax. Rome wasn’t built in a day and the Hawks won’t be built in a day either. But Ferry brings the culture and expertise of the best management in the NBA, the San Antonio Spurs. The future is bright even if the present looks questionable.
tyger
November 3rd, 2012
12:12 pm
O’ where, O’ where have our Hawks gone?…
Danny Ferry gutted this team like Bain Capital…
They’re going through the motion…of planned losing…
Promised future profits in the next business cycle…
But who will be around to see it???
Hawks as sour as Hurricane Sandy…
Might as well hang an effigy of Larry Drew…
Who said “fall guy”?
Kyle Korver??? Are you kidding me? Please…
Granted, its 1 game, but rotations horrid…
No way, Ivan and Morrow not hit the floor…
Why must we pretend with Teague?
If he’s tradeable trade him, if not, sit him…
Lou Will, Devin Harris are the PGs…period…
Morrow, Stevenson, Jenkins are the SGs…
Smoove, Horford, ZaZa, Ivan are the frontcourt…
That gives us a fighting chance…
Buddy Grizzard
November 3rd, 2012
12:15 pm
I’d like somebody to tell me all about what a great defensive player Jeff Teague is after he let Jeremy Lin almost hang a triple double on him. Didn’t see the game but from the highlights… Teague guarding Harden on the most important defensive possession of the game? OH THE HUMANITY SLIMJR.
Slimjr
November 3rd, 2012
12:19 pm
Buddy, why do the Hawks seem to miss on guys like Asik?
cp
November 3rd, 2012
12:19 pm
Lou is not a pg. Did you guys even watch the game? Lou is a scorer. He wasn’t even looking to pass the ball last night. Dude gets buckets. Funny thing is people are calling for Teague to be benched or traded yet he played better than Harris did last night. Teague kept them in the game in the 3rd quarter then LD took forever to put him back in. The only problem I had with him last night is passing on that 3 pointer but other than that dude was fine.
tyger please explain to us how Devin is the pg when he was outplayed by Teague. Dont worry I’ll wait.
Slimjr
November 3rd, 2012
12:20 pm
They way Al played in that 4th quarter, he should have been benched for Ivan.
cp
November 3rd, 2012
12:21 pm
It aint hard to grab rebounds when the Hawks bigs were just standing around watching.
Slimjr
November 3rd, 2012
12:22 pm
Lin>Teague
Grandmaster JeJe (GM)
November 3rd, 2012
12:22 pm
Teague was on Harden because DeShawn had 5 fouls and we don’t have any other shooting guards or SFs on this roster.
All our guards are 6″3 and don’t play defense.
nice job Danny Ferry
After you traded away our top 5 team in the East, you did nothing else to improve us.
This is going to be one depressing year.
LeBron could drop 60 on us…In one half…On November 9th.
DeShawn Stevenson is the only 2 or 3 on this team and that dude couldn’t even move on defense last night
cp
November 3rd, 2012
12:23 pm
Gotta love the logic by Hawks fans on here. The guy who was outplayed and beat consistently on defense should start while the guy who outplayed him should be benched or traded.
cp
November 3rd, 2012
12:25 pm
True because clearly Lin was the superior player and the reason they won. I guess it had nothing to do with the terrible rebounding,Harden going off, or bad rotations. Yea that sounds about right
I MUS WRITE
November 3rd, 2012
12:25 pm
Dont wanna sound like the voice of doomand gloom but the next 5 games are against OKC-IND-MIA-LAC-POR we could easily be 0-6 after the Portland game. Its only one game but we just didnt look good imo.
Thoughts:
Teague is our best option as a starting PG
Ivan should have gotten sum burn
Korver is as soft as toilet tissue -He really looks like he hates it here, if so kick rocks
Seriously tho dont come to the game with 5 minutes left in the 3rd qtr and start asking people to move there was almost an uprising in the row behind me ….
ag
November 3rd, 2012
12:33 pm
I am amazed. The dunk that JT0 threw down and the third quarter steals, etc., JT0 had a decent game. I did like Harris also. Again, Korver has started 10 games over the last seven seasons. HE IS NOT A STARTER IN THE NBA.
If you continue to start Harris and Teague, you have to have a big SF. You have to keep starting JT0. Harris has a $8 million dollar expiring deal. You get the same production from JT0.
Save face, bring Benson back and dress him. If you do, you could start ZaZa. I did like what he did last night. He bodied the guys up, really tough.
Very disappointed in Horford.
I MUS WRITE
November 3rd, 2012
12:40 pm
O yeah our defense last nt was bad we will have all kinds of trouble against hi powered offenses -OKC etc……
Lin/Harden back court ….bad things man them dudes are for real
More of the same-Josh shooting bricks and air balls -turning the rock over SMH…Horford is useless besides the occasional lob dunk and short jumper -Id rather see Ivan the Terrible
We need Mike singletary to coach this team…..Coach how do u feel about Horford?
” We cant win with soft azz players” cant win with’em …cant coach ‘em no room on this team for candy azzez-U see what we did for Marvin and Joe cool.” Al better get right or he’ll be in Milwaukee sumwhere.
Coach how do u feel about LD’s suits? “Sears must be going outta bussiness”
Slimjr
November 3rd, 2012
12:41 pm
“next 5 games are against OKC-IND-MIA-LAC-POR we could easily be 0-6 after the Portland game.”
Oh the Humanity!
Slimjr
November 3rd, 2012
12:43 pm
Hibbert might pull down 25 rebounds!..Whew
Grandmaster JeJe (GM)
November 3rd, 2012
12:53 pm
LD preaches defense, yet players are going up to him during the game (after one month of being together) because they have no idea about their defensive assignments.
ag
November 3rd, 2012
12:57 pm
I just don’t see who is going to check Durant. Last year, Marvin held him to about 35. Durant will abuse the Hawks like he is playing in the Summer League’s. PLEASE DON’T PUT STEVENSON ON HIM!!!!
Grandmaster JeJe (GM)
November 3rd, 2012
12:59 pm
At the game, there was a video of Ferry and Lame Duck talking to the fans.
It looked really awkward because Danny Ferry is 6″10 and LD is 6″1
Grandmaster JeJe (GM)
November 3rd, 2012
1:02 pm
Durant could score 50 in a half on us.
it will be a layup line just like it was for Harden (WHO IS A FREAKING LEFT AND WENT LEFT MOST TIMES BECAUSE NO ONE STOPPED HIM).
LD will probably start Korver on Durant and end up putting Devin Harris on him before too long
This is going to be a very long season. What a disappointment
cp
November 3rd, 2012
1:06 pm
I see Durant going for about 38 and 12. Ibaka grabs at least 13 boards and 5 blocks. Westbrook will have a big game too. I think the Thunder win easily by double digits.
Grandmaster JeJe (GM)
November 3rd, 2012
1:14 pm
Harden 45 pts on 19 shots and only 14 FG.
Wow
NO DEFENSE
November 3rd, 2012
1:23 pm
NO DFENSE, IT IS PLAIN AND SIMPLE.Don’t know who will step up and play defense and rebound.
I MUS WRITE
November 3rd, 2012
1:30 pm
I swear LD has to go….Those guys looked lost in the sauce last nght …Sunday i predict 65+ points for the combo of westbrook and durant…….DAM
hfc95
November 3rd, 2012
1:35 pm
Why is everyone so upset?? Dont we want the hawks to be terrible and get a lottery pick? I mean we can either go .500 and make the playoffs and have two mid first round picks or we can lose more games and drop down to the bottom 13 and get a top 5 talent and potential franchise changer.
Im happy watching the Hawks either way but of course I want to see wins but I know winning this year is all for not as we will not advance past round 1 anyway.
Truly id like to see us be in the lottery for a change(never would imagine myself saying that in the early 2000s) but we need it. I say Lottery>.500 ball and 1st rd exit. I do want to see the hawks play with passion nightly though, and I want to see Ivan Johnson PLAY! He is a true force and plays the game how it should be played.
FreshFromATL
November 3rd, 2012
1:45 pm
Teague pissed me off last night when he passed up that open 3 and gave it to Josh with only a few seconds remaining on the shot clock. People blame Josh for taking that shot but it was solely on Teague being scared to shoot.
mike
November 3rd, 2012
1:48 pm
We needed Ivan to bang around with Asik down there. I realize he is a lot smaller but the dude is tough and would have at least pushed some folks around.
Tolliver looked bad, would like to see what Morrow could offer.
Old School
November 3rd, 2012
1:49 pm
Was at the game and saw the same old Josh Smith jacking up jumpers, arguing with officials and trying to be the point guard – no wonder he’ll never be an all star. Since they were getting out rebouded so badly, I wonder if Ivan was injured or in Drew’s dog house; maybe he could have provided some help defensively.
FreshFromATL
November 3rd, 2012
1:49 pm
Oh, and FIRE Larry Drew!
Rusty
November 3rd, 2012
1:52 pm
You can always depend on LD to make bad decisions . I guess he still hasnt forgiven Ivan or JT who has made him look very bad with the Bibby & Heinrich bad decisions. His so called Princeton offense is a fiasco.
Trevor
November 3rd, 2012
1:52 pm
wow fans are so uneasy after 1of 82 games wat dissapointed that we r not goin undefeated relax ppl its a new team with new roles be patient a lot of encouraging signs though once they all gey acclamated
Ray
November 3rd, 2012
2:35 pm
@ Trevor
I’m with you on this one in fact I’m wondering if anyone looks themselves in the mirror’s to b!tch slap themselves after saying we need to trade away people after one game.
In all seriousness relax okay we still have 81 games left in this season.
Also if you weren’t informed this team was already going to take a step backwards that’s one reason you won’t see me complain this season much.
Although I will say I agree about players like Tolliver and Petro need to go both don’t have anything to offer Keith Benson and Damion James did.
Now I will say Larry Drew if around the 40 games mark we’re well under .500 you need to start packing your bags dude and GTFO. In fact do it now before it gets worse because YOU CANNOT COACH! Just saying.
Astro Joe
November 3rd, 2012
2:40 pm
I’m not saying that Joe held every start SG below their average, but I don’t recall watching Wade or Roy or Iverson or any other great SG in the past 8 years walk into our arena and blister the Hawks like Harden did last night. Not only did Joe relish the chance to defend guys like that but he also forced them to play defense on the opposite end.
When was the last time the Hawks lost a home opener? Seems like it has been a while.
Astro Joe
November 3rd, 2012
2:44 pm
Teague slept walked through the first half. He, Devin and Lou were too busy trying to get out on the break to worry about things like blocking out Lin from grabbing easy rebounds. Just a lack of focus and attention to detail.. as if they are rookies in the league. Shameful.
Grandmaster JeJe (GM)
November 3rd, 2012
2:45 pm
No Josh tomorrow. Durant could go off for 80. Korver and Tolliver will split minutes on him. SMH
Co-sign AJ
Ken Strickland
November 3rd, 2012
2:45 pm
Don’t mention my name when it comes to bashing our players or pitting one against the other. I was pissed at Smoove for continuing to do the same stupid BS he’s done in the past on OFF. The truth is, no one player is to blame for our shortcomings last night, and only a fool would believe otherwise.
What pisses me off more than anything is LDs insistence on taking this team down the drain by insisting on playing veterans, especially OFF only vets, over younger players no matter how horrible and unproductive those vets play. You can’t convince me that Morrow couldn’t have done better than Korver, on either end of the court, or that Ivan and Scott couldn’t have done better than Tolliver or Stevenson, particularly on the boards.
HC LDrew is totally locked in on winning or losing using OFF only, and vets only, no matter what. How can he be committed to DEF, as he’s been claiming, when he cuts, or refuses to play, his best rebounders and/or DEF players off the bench. As soon as he saw we were getting pounded on the boards, he should have replaced Korver with Ivan at SF.
Grandmaster JeJe (GM)
November 3rd, 2012
2:51 pm
We let 3 guys have career nights in 1 game last night. Probably closest Lin has been to a triple double
carl
November 3rd, 2012
2:51 pm
even though the hawks lost there were still a lot of positives, they had 12 steals and only committed 13 turnovers to the rockets 21, they outscored the rockets in the paint 56-50 thanks to a 33 to 18 edge on fastbreak points, they held the rockets to 42% shooting and limited them to just 5 field goals on second chance points despite giving up 23 offensive rebounds. The hawks lost the game at the free throw line and on the glass, they only needed to foul a little bit less, get to the line a little bit more and rebound a little bit more to win. In order to be successful the hawks need to keep their rebounding deficit to 10 or lower, be more aggressive attacking the basket ( Teague and Horford must take at least 15 shots per game and Smith must get in the post more) , and Ivan needs to play
Lottery
November 3rd, 2012
3:02 pm
come on home hawks
terrell
November 3rd, 2012
3:14 pm
Best chance to win:
Lou/Devin/Morrow/Josh/Al
Teague/Jenkins/Korver/Ivan/Zaza
Stevenson/Scott/Uglliver/Puketro
Atl Fan
November 3rd, 2012
3:17 pm
Josh Smith isn’t playing tomorrow
terrell
November 3rd, 2012
3:18 pm
We need defense. How bout we cut the one guy that played it. lol. What a joke that LD fella is.
terrell
November 3rd, 2012
3:21 pm
Josh hurt?
Just Joe
November 3rd, 2012
3:25 pm
Josh supposedly has an ankle sprain, but I smell LD all over this one. Josh was upset last night. Pure speculation, but I wonder if this isn’t something else. I don’t remember Josh favoring that ankle at all.
terrell
November 3rd, 2012
3:27 pm
Correction:
Best chance to win:
Lou/Devin/Morrow/Josh/Zaza
Teague/Jenkins/Korver/Ivan/Al
Scott/Deshawn/Uglliver/Puketro
Atl Fan
November 3rd, 2012
3:29 pm
They said he has an ankle sprain and won’t travel to OKC
terrell
November 3rd, 2012
3:32 pm
Ken Strickland, what else do you expect from LD? He was trained by Woody. They dont believe in young legs. Remember Bibby?
terrell
November 3rd, 2012
3:34 pm
Josh is saving himself from the embarrassment. lol.
Najeh Davenpoop
November 3rd, 2012
3:41 pm
“This team is a mess. We traded a top 5 team in the East for a team with absolutely no wing players and miserable defense.”
Come on now. You were complaining about the old team every bit as much as anyone else here. Don’t come up in here reminiscing fondly about the annual playoff embarrassment that the previous team was.
This is a transition team. If they play well this year, it is a bonus. The real season starts for the Hawks on July 1, 2013.
Najeh Davenpoop
November 3rd, 2012
3:51 pm
Well, with Josh out, Al gets a chance to play PF (against Ibaka). I’d be shocked if LD kept him at C as opposed to starting Zaza. And hopefully Ivan will get some minutes.
Grandmaster JeJe (GM)
November 3rd, 2012
3:54 pm
“This is a transition team. If they play well this year, it is a bonus. The real season starts for the Hawks on July 1, 2013.”
Really? What free agents do you have in mind? Dwight and CP3 who don’t want to be here?
Najeh Davenpoop
November 3rd, 2012
3:55 pm
The level of overreaction on this blog rivals Philly fans on their worst day.
a) Nobody expected this team to win a championship. Few of us even expected them to be a #2 seed like ESPN predicted. Many of us picked them to miss the playoffs. Why are we surprised that they got off to a less than stellar start?
b) Pretty much everyone, even those of us who were the most optimistic about them, realized that perimeter D would be a problem. Why it is a surprise that Harden went off?
c) It is ONE GAME, people. If they are in last place a month from now, it is time to panic. Right now, no. Even a week and a half from now, after they finish their brutal opening stretch, no.
Al isn’t going to suck that badly every game this year. Korver isn’t going to throw up bricks all season, and if he does, Morrow will replace him and likely won’t throw up bricks all season. And as bad as they played, it’s not like they got blown out. It may not be great but it isn’t going to continue being this bad.
Grandmaster JeJe (GM)
November 3rd, 2012
3:58 pm
Our two best players consist of Al Boss, who is softer than toilet tissue, and Josh, who after 473625284726 seasons STILL THINKS HE IS A JUMPSHOOTER
Grandmaster JeJe (GM)
November 3rd, 2012
4:00 pm
Its our 4th time in a row losing to that averageazz Houston team
Najeh Davenpoop
November 3rd, 2012
4:01 pm
“Really? What free agents do you have in mind? Dwight and CP3 who don’t want to be here?”
I have no idea whether or not they want to be here. Even if they don’t, so what? The worst possible case is that they strike out in free agency, sign and trade Josh, go into next season with Horford and a bunch of scrubs on the roster, and get a top 5 lottery pick to start rebuilding. That is still preferable to continuing indefinitely with a capped out team that had no chance of being anything other than dead meat in the first round.
I trust a guy who found a way to move the seemingly immovable Joe and Marvin within a three hour span. I know it feels weird to trust Hawks management but Ferry has earned it, at least until he proves otherwise.
terrell
November 3rd, 2012
4:02 pm
Um, I was talking about cutting Damien James. Wtf? lol
cp
November 3rd, 2012
4:10 pm
Clearly I missed this great game Devin had last night.
Grandmaster JeJe (GM)
November 3rd, 2012
4:13 pm
Well are we predicating whether we rebuild or compete based on getting Cp or Dh? Because those are two drastically different plans. Id trade Harris for a wing player but what would I know
Grandmaster JeJe (GM)
November 3rd, 2012
4:14 pm
Devin had 9 early pts then tried to take over. Didn’t play much after.
Grandmaster JeJe (GM)
November 3rd, 2012
4:17 pm
Incredible LD preaches defense, yet guys are going up to him during game bc they dont know what they’re doing
Heard Zaza on radio two days ago, Thurs, say that the team had mot yet discussed gameplan for Houston game. Not making this up
Grandmaster JeJe (GM)
November 3rd, 2012
4:19 pm
b) Pretty much everyone, even those of us who were the most optimistic about them, realized that perimeter D would be a problem. Why it is a surprise that Harden went off?
***
The guy hasnt signed one small forward. We have 3 tiny guards and a bunch of scrub SGs
And Korver and Tolliver. Not one SF. Durant could drop 40 tomorrow and still have an offnight
And does Viv reply to anyone at all on twitter?
terrell
November 3rd, 2012
4:24 pm
Josh is probably going to the Falcons game. lol
terrell
November 3rd, 2012
4:27 pm
Aaron Murray is pretty awful. Im sorry. Luckily he has a prety good team around him. Otherwise……..
Hawks Blog Legend Worldwide Clyde
November 3rd, 2012
4:28 pm
Grandmaster Jeje is back!!!!!!!
Its time for people to realize that Horford and Zaza don’t want to play defense. No matter how hard LD preaches defense, the players have to make a decision that they want to play defense. With Al and Zaza actions speak louder than words.
terrell
November 3rd, 2012
4:29 pm
Update, you got a link?
Ken Strickland
November 3rd, 2012
4:29 pm
I just can’t grasp the logic behind Drew addressing the pounding we were receiving on the boards last night by using 3 jumpshooting, rebounding challenged players(Korver/Stevenson/Tolliver) at SF instead of 2 bigger, stronger, and taller players who are known for their rebounding ability(IJohnson/MScott). STUPID IS AS STUPID DOES. We’re experiencing a repeat of MWoodson’s BS.
Hawks Blog Legend Worldwide Clyde
November 3rd, 2012
4:31 pm
If the team isn’t dedicated to win a championship then they should not charge people for a ticket to watch them play.
Hawks Blog Legend Worldwide Clyde
November 3rd, 2012
4:34 pm
Bulwinkle
November 3rd, 2012
4:30 pm
The Hawks couldn’t contain James Harden. They were killed on the boards
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Who is willing to take blame for getting killed on the boards? Where is the accountability? Lame Duck is quick call Teague out in the media but won’t call Pretty Boy Horford out.
Ken Strickland
November 3rd, 2012
4:34 pm
CLYDE-Preaching DEF and teaching DEF are 2 entirely different things, especially when you insist on using OFF, and OFF players, as a substitute for DEF. You’re buying the sizzle instead of the steak.
terrell
November 3rd, 2012
4:35 pm
Being dedicated and being realistic go hand in hand Clyde.
Hawks Blog Legend Worldwide Clyde
November 3rd, 2012
4:40 pm
Ken Strickland
November 3rd, 2012
4:34 pm
CLYDE-Preaching DEF and teaching DEF are 2 entirely different things, especially when you insist on using OFF, and OFF players, as a substitute for DEF. You’re buying the sizzle instead of the steak.
————————————————————————————————————————————————-
I ain’t buying nothing. I knew good and well LD was selling folks a dream when he kept talking about defense. That’s why I refuse to go a game unless someone sneaks me in.
Bulwinkle
November 3rd, 2012
4:49 pm
Hawks Blog Legend Worldwide Clyde Your point is well taken and true, I find no argument there
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Ken, you are a joke. Woodson was and is a good coach. We are not experiencing a repeat of Woodson because Woody would have switched defensively to help Al. 1 rebound in a half and 4 total is what we are experiencing along with your bull s hit.
terrell
November 3rd, 2012
4:51 pm
LD said “its adrenalin that makes you keep shooting jumpshots.” lol. Wtf?
Grandmaster JeJe (GM)
November 3rd, 2012
4:53 pm
I dont mind a transition year unless we are mailing it in. When half your roster consists of scrubs it’s disconcerting
Not one wing player on this team and awful coaching.
Bob Bender? SMMFHFFSROTFLMAOLOL
Hawks Blog Legend Worldwide Clyde
November 3rd, 2012
5:03 pm
FIRE LD T-SHIRTS ON DECK
Rusty
November 3rd, 2012
5:29 pm
Woody was better than this idiot even tho he wasn’t that bright.