Atlanta Hawks game thread: Tolliver will start for Smith vs. OKC
Vivlamore reporting from Oklahoma City following the Hawks’ shoot-around prior to tonight’s game against the Thunder.
* As we reported yesterday, Josh Smith is not on the trip with a sprained right ankle. Coach Larry Drew said he noticed Smith limping during Friday’s season-opener against the Rockets. The forward did play all 12 minutes of the fourth quarter.
“It was a little sore (Saturday),” Drew said. “I know he got it treated. We made the decision to leave him back and get it treated. Our focus was to get him ready for Wednesday’s game.”
Drew said he is “hoping” Smith will be ready for the game against the Pacers but his status will depend on how he feels and the doctor’s report.
* Anthony Tolliver will start in Smith’s place. The rest of the starting lineup will be Jeff Teague, Kyle Korver, DeShawn Stevenson and Al Horford. Stevenson will draw the early assignment of Thunder star Kevin Durant, although Tolliver will match up against him as well.
“Like we’ve always done when we played him, we’ll give him different looks,” Drew said of the matchup against Durant. “We don’t just lock into him with one guy. Chances are we’ll give him some different looks. Tolliver can be matched on him some. DeShawn (Stevenson) can be matched on him some. Kyle (Korver) can be matched on him some. We’ll just have to see what is working good for us but we have to give him some different looks.”
* Tolliver said he is up for the challenge, a position he will find himself in from time to time with his ability to play both forward positions.
Tolliver said the Hawks learned a valuable lesson following their season-opening loss to the Rockets, a game in which they were outrebounded 58-36.
“I think we proved to ourselves that when we really focus in we can be really good. And when we don’t focus in we can be really bad. As much bad went down in that game, we still were right there and had chances to win. Take away a few of the bonehead plays and we have a chance to win that game if not win it.”
* Al Horford said the Hawks watched a lot of film from the loss to the Rockets.
“Being the first game, and a new team, we really weren’t on the same page,” Horford said. “It’s going to take us a few games to get going but I hope today we do a much better job of that.”
As the 0-3 Lakers can attest, it can take time for teams to gel after an offseason of multiple moves. Horford said the difference will come on the defensive end.
* After doing film work of Friday’s loss, Drew said the rebounding issue was not a scheme issue.
“It was just not a good job of rebounding,” Drew said. “That shot went up and we did not seek bodies to box out. The perimeters did not do a good job of chasing down the long rebounds. We went through that whole thing to see where the rebounds were coming from. It had nothing to do with rotations. It had nothing to do with our defensive schemes. We did not do a good job of boxing out and pursuing the ball.”
* Anthony Morrow and Ivan Johnson, along with rookies John Jenkins and Mike Scott, did not play in the season opener. Drew said it was due to a combination of matchups and rotation.
“First of all we can’t play everybody,” Drew said. “That particular game, being the first game, I wanted to look at some specific matchups. We’ll see how it goes. I can’t play 11 or 12 guys. I just can’t do it. I’ve got to really look and play the guys who are going to be in the rotation. The other guys, as I’ve told them, are going to have to stay ready.”
- Chris Vivlamore
Tell us what you think about the site
Customer Care »
Vacation stops, manage subscriptions and more
AJC Services
Sections
Other Editions
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement
© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
529 comments Add your comment
Blodus
November 4th, 2012
3:55 pm
This season obviously is garbage. That is why LD is still the HC and hasn’t been given extension. He suks and that is why he’s being let coach this team so they can lose as much as possible. He’ll be gone by/before next season. It’s gonna be a new start starting next season and he’s gone. Just have to deal with him for one more season. All part of the plan.
Buddy Grizzard
November 4th, 2012
3:57 pm
Peter Vecsey: Should Mike Brown not make it through the season it’s safe to assume Danny Ferry will hire him 2 coach Hawks (Drew lame duck) next season. Twitter @PeterVecsey1
SuckerFree
November 4th, 2012
3:59 pm
LD makes basketball rotations and personnell seem like rocket science.
Common sense tells you that Asik is too big for Al Horford…we learned that when we played Chicago. So guess what….we have 7 ft. 275 pound contact seeker Zaza just itching to bang and when he came in guess what we got rebounds.
It’s not hard. Anthony Morrow not playing is inexcusable. He’s 6′5 (James Harden’s height) so maybe it would have bothered him just a tad. Maybe throw the rookie in and see what he could do since you chose him over Perry Jones.
Slimjr
November 4th, 2012
4:01 pm
Buddy G, why not keep tradition alive:
Woody>WoodyLite>WoodyLite Jr
Stop Ignoring Reality
November 4th, 2012
4:04 pm
“If you cant out muscle your opponent, then you must employ finesse weaponry…..”
True, but LD can’t even seem to get that right. He Has Jenkis and Morrow just rotting on the bench while playing Stevenson and Tolliver extended minutes. If we’re gonna gun, it’s best to use snipers.
Like I Said:
“This season has to be more about us than our opponet. We’re going to have to outrun and outGun most teams while playing solid positional defense.”
Slimjr
November 4th, 2012
4:07 pm
“If we’re gonna gun, it’s best to use snipers.”
True, so true…
ag
November 4th, 2012
4:11 pm
Tolliver has started 33 of 182 games he has played in. This is just terrible. Stevenson is PURE GARBAGE!!!!! I AM HATING LD ALL OVER AGAIN!!!!!
Salic
November 4th, 2012
4:15 pm
Not playing Ivan is not gonna make him want to come back next year.
ag
November 4th, 2012
4:20 pm
How does a guy go 0-8 in the preseason and start the year going 0-3 and get the start? LD praised Ivan in previous articles but is treating him like a rookie. Korver goes 0-3 and earns a start over Hariis… JUST PLAIN DUMB!!!!
After tonigh when Durnat scores 45 will he wish James and Benson were on the team. How does a player who played less than 30 minutes in 7 preseason games hurt his back? CUT PETRO!!!
northcyde
November 4th, 2012
4:22 pm
“First of all we can’t play everybody,” Drew said. “That particular game, being the first game, I wanted to look at some specific matchups. We’ll see how it goes. I can’t play 11 or 12 guys. I just can’t do it. I’ve got to really look and play the guys who are going to be in the rotation. The other guys, as I’ve told them, are going to have to stay ready.”
******
Haha @ Drew.
This coming from a guy who routinely threw out 11 man rotations all last season, playing guys like Vlad Radmanovic over Marvin AND Ivan.
I forget which one of you said it on here, but Tolliver is definitely the new Radmanovic, in the eyes of Drew. He loves his “stretch 4″ abilities, but can’t see the overall big picture.
WHO . . IN . . THE . . HELL . . IS . . GOING . . TO . . REBOUND . . ON . . THAT . . FRONTLINE?
Rod from College Park
November 4th, 2012
4:23 pm
Jamal Crawford is averaging 25.7 ppg, 53%FG, and 47%3pt for the year. Yet some of the idiots on this blog want to talk about what a bad player he is, and how much defense he does not play. LOL. The guy is a hired assassin, and now he is on team where he will not be forced to play point guard. Look out. Would much rather have him making 5 mil per year than anyone else on this team for that price. Incompetence and the lack of understanding talent has and will continue to curse this franchise until they get people that really understand the game. Hopefully Ferry will change things.
Sautee
November 4th, 2012
4:25 pm
“It was just not a good job of rebounding,” Drew said. “That shot went up and we did not seek bodies to box out. The perimeters did not do a good job of chasing down the long rebounds. We went through that whole thing to see where the rebounds were coming from. It had nothing to do with rotations. It had nothing to do with our defensive schemes. We did not do a good job of boxing out and pursuing the ball.” – LD
Al Horford, this means YOU.
Grandad
November 4th, 2012
4:27 pm
Let me get this straight;
Toliver:
*minimum salary guy
*added to roster last
*made roster on last cut [probably should not have] ** (James)
*co-best player gets hurt / replaced by above [sad] player
*[said] player has been cut by everyone in League;
- including the Iowa Energy & the Austin Toros -
*he`s missed practice time with a scratched cornea
*not known for rebounding or defense, or offense or …….
***** Yet *****
LD is gonna Start `im vs the defending West Champeen ?
***** Yep *****
sounds about right.
gainesville#1
November 4th, 2012
4:27 pm
Eddy Curry just got released again. I say go sign him for the rest of the season
northcyde
November 4th, 2012
4:33 pm
What Drew means to say, is that the team is so out of balance, that I can’t play everybody. He has 5 SGs and 5 PFs on the team, so he can’t play everybody.
The obvious lineup to throw at the Thunder, would be this one
PG – Teague
G – Harris
F – Stevenson
PF – Horford
C – Zaza
At least with that group, you’d keep enough sped on the floor at the guard positions, while enabling the team to at least get on the boards. See if Teague and Devin can run the squad, while doing their best to slow down Westbrook.
Zaza would get to battle with Perkins, while Horford goes up against Ibaka.
Nope. Drew wants his “stretch 4″ in the game, leaving Horford all alone in the paint . . and no one else to battle for rebounds.
Let’s just hope that Josh Powell . . err . . Anthony Tolliver knocks down a few shots right off the bat.
MattP
November 4th, 2012
4:37 pm
I knew it! lol
cp
November 4th, 2012
4:39 pm
Its going to be a long season fellas. LD has no clue
ag
November 4th, 2012
4:39 pm
I think we should sign Curry as well. He certainly will get minutes on our team and make us big.
ag
November 4th, 2012
4:40 pm
I agree. This is the game Al has to step up. We need 25 -15 tonight. I also need Jeff 18-10.
Stop Ignoring Reality
November 4th, 2012
4:47 pm
Josh Howard and Quenten Richardson are available Smh….
Joe D
November 4th, 2012
4:50 pm
Why is so difficult for Drew to start Zaza at Center and move Josh to SF. Zaza at center balances the lineup. Again why pay Al $12 mil per season to play out of position. There’s no offensive rebounding opportunities with 3 SGs and forwards on the floor.
Zaza’s strenghts are toughness and offensive rebounding. The same is true for Ivan plus energy. Also, Petro may be useless, but he’s still 7 feet and 270 lbs. He can at least take up space and bang. Drew is wasting the little size that the team has. Shallow your pride and coach in the best interest of the team.
Start:
Zaza / Petro
Al / Ivan
Josh / Stevenson/Krover
Lou / Morrow
Teague / Harris
Go Hawks
Random Disclosures
November 4th, 2012
4:51 pm
Yea, Are you Al fans saying you have no confidence that and All NBA player and A budding super Guard cant get the job done?
I guess if you have no confidence what are the players thinking…?
Evidently Woody Lite has a lot of confidence in the because he is putting them out there to get the job done. So stop the whining and let see what type of players we have in Al and Jeff.
Sit back and have another sip of hateraid care of Josh Smoove Smith.
sameba
November 4th, 2012
4:54 pm
All right, I found that link:
http://hoopshype.com/rumors/tag/anthony_tolliver?page=2
Here is the story:
“Free-agent Anthony Tolliver said he’s intrigued by Atlanta, a team that has great interest in him. “I don’t think they have a guy on their roster with that skill set with shooting and versatility,’’ Tolliver said about being a big man who can step out on the floor. When Tolliver was with Cleveland several years ago, Hawks GM Danny Ferry was the GM there. Tolliver also said he has a “really good relationship’’ with Wes Wilcox, then with Cleveland and now Hawks assistant GM. Sulia”
So may be Tolliver is not just LD’s boy?
Blue Steel
November 4th, 2012
4:54 pm
Joe D that’s an easy one. Josh is a much better Power Forward than Al ever will be so We put our best team forward (pun) with Josh at the power forward. If Al cant handle the center then he needs to sit down.
Why is that so hard to understand?
anonymous
November 4th, 2012
5:03 pm
We are not paying Zaza 12,000,000.000, that’s what we pay Al. Cant he just win 1 freakin game?
anonymous
November 4th, 2012
5:08 pm
WHO . . IN . . THE . . HELL . . IS . . GOING . . TO . . REBOUND . . ON . . THAT . . FRONTLINE?
What? don’t we have An All NBA, 2X All star and team captian in charge? Is Al sick or dead or something?
Go ALGo AL Go AL….
beone
November 4th, 2012
5:10 pm
I for one think this is great. LD is going to get himself fired for sure. That is not a bad thing. And the Hawks get a lottery pick. That is not a bad thing. I’d rather they tank this year myself.
beone
November 4th, 2012
5:12 pm
Korver, Korver NOT Krover.
sameba
November 4th, 2012
5:15 pm
One should not ask Horford to do things that he is not capable of. There is only one guy on the roster who can consistently rebound, And you know his name – Zaza.
northcyde
November 4th, 2012
5:22 pm
Rod . . . I’m on record ( not on here, but on Hawksquawk ) by saying that Jamal will have a MONSTER November, but will tail off dramatically as the season progresses.
Having said that, he looks real good right now. He said for the first time EVER, he has worked on his shooting ( by doing actual shooting type drills, instead of just playing a lot of pick-up games ). Why he is just now doing that, after 12 years in the league, and being known as one of the most erratic shooters in the NBA, is beyond me.
The guy obviously has offensive talent, he just had piss poor shot selection over the years. The fact that he has more FT attempts ( 26 ) than he has 3 point attempts ( 19 ) . . for the first time since the 2005 – 06 season . . maybe this is the “new smarter Jamal” that we’re seeing in Clipperland.
We’ll see though.
Slimjr
November 4th, 2012
5:24 pm
No Josh, no Iso,
It appears to be your TEAM ALLSTAR AL!!!!
They will be quite a few eyes watching you perform tonight under a microscope!
Hope your ready????
Slimjr
November 4th, 2012
5:24 pm
Sautee, with the step back 3! Bang!
Jason S
November 4th, 2012
5:25 pm
I hope Danny Ferry has an active line of communication with Denver open.
Denver is one of the few teams in the league that can afford to trade off both a rotational quality center and a starting quality SF.
Slimjr
November 4th, 2012
5:26 pm
[There]^^^^^
northcyde
November 4th, 2012
5:35 pm
Al could grab 13 boards today, and we may still get killed, because we’ll get no rebounding from the PF and SF spots.
Ivan and Zaza have a knack for grabbing offensive rebounds. If we’re going to be a run and gun team, we need more guys on the floor who can gobble up misses.
I just don’t know what Drew has against Ivan. Outside of Horford and Smith, he’s obviously the most well rounded frontline player on the team ( and that includes him being over Zaza )
But Tolliver must be the new “teacher’s pet” this year. And judging by that post from Sameba at 4:54 pm, he may be the “principal’s pet” ( Ferry’s pet ) too.
That’s why I keep pointing out that a lot of the lack of balance on this team right now, has a LOT to do with Ferry and his offseason moves AFTER the JJ trade.
sameba
November 4th, 2012
5:36 pm
I don’t understand why not start Zaza. If he gets tired or in foul trouble there is Ivan out there, or move Horford to the C, like in the present starting lineup…
hawksordie
November 4th, 2012
5:43 pm
Bottom.line …we will win by 8….blahhhh
cp
November 4th, 2012
5:54 pm
@ Jason S, I was just saying that during the last game. Denver would be the perfect trading partner. They need a shooter and we have plenty of them. They have a lot of sf’s and we need one. Makes sense to me to call them up and get something done..
And great point northcyde. I hope Ivan gets a lot of pt tonight but with LD you never know. I dont understand whats so hard about just starting Zaza and Al together. Tolliver isn’t a good defender nor is he a good rebounder. The guards are going to have to help on the glass tonight. I could see Ibaka with a Asik type performance on the glass tonight.
Najeh Davenpoop
November 4th, 2012
6:11 pm
I don’t have time to post a very long message because I am watching three football games at the same time, but I just wanted to check in here real quick to say LD IS A F-CKING IDIOT FIRE THIS MORON
Najeh Davenpoop
November 4th, 2012
6:12 pm
Tolliver = this year’s version of Josh Powell
hawksordie
November 4th, 2012
6:13 pm
Larry drew up there in okc tricking off lol he trippin
Melvin
November 4th, 2012
6:18 pm
I would’ve rather have Andrey Blatche taking Josh Smith place than Anthony Tolliver….
James
November 4th, 2012
6:19 pm
Im very confused…. all preseason we heard LD say he wanted to focus on defense right? what does he do when picking the last roster spot, picks a 6-8 PF who likes to shoot over a 6-8 small forward who like to hustle, defend, and rebound.
then
after we got owned on the boards in game 1 LD says we have to rebound better. What does he do, starts the same 6-8 PF who sat behind the arc all game shooting 3’s???
am i missing something? Stuff like this is seriously frustrating because we ALL know its a recipe for failure tonight. We have so many pieces to use that are probably more talented than Tolliver yet he “cant” play everybody.
Bad move Drew, Tolliver is not the answer please dont put us through this all year.
Give me IVAN, give me SCOTT. Those 2 earned their spots on this team by actually producing on the floor and not just in shooting drills smh
Ra'mon
November 4th, 2012
6:24 pm
By the way guys, lets see who has a bigger game tonight. Jenkins or PJIII, lol.
cp
November 4th, 2012
6:27 pm
No need to be confused James. As Ive learned with LD, whatever he says then it usually means the opposite.
lewis
November 4th, 2012
6:28 pm
second I got wind of Tolliver joining the HAwks training camp roster I predicted this would happen. Tolliver is incapable of starting. Ivan was a friggin d league star
PD
November 4th, 2012
6:31 pm
Terrible Lineup. They’re gonna get killed on the interior.
BIG DOG
November 4th, 2012
6:36 pm
Somebody please tell me what’s Danny Ferry dream for Hawks shure hope it’s not LD ?
BIG DOG IN THE HOUSE
BIG DOG
November 4th, 2012
6:37 pm
Worst player on the team, not only that he is the starting PF tonight, JUST DAM
BIG DOG IN THE HOUSE
Grandmaster JeJe (GM)
November 4th, 2012
6:39 pm
Sign Josh Howard. We need wings