Atlanta Hawks game thread: Rebounds matter vs. Pacers
Vivlamore reporting from Philips Arena.
Watch the Hawks’ rebounding totals tonight against the Pacers. It might well be a good indicator of which Hawks team we will see.
As we have documented, the Hawks were killed on the boards in the season-opening loss to the Rockets. They bounced back (pun intended) to out-rebound the Thunder in a win Sunday.
Now, here come the Pacers. Even without All-Star Danny Granger, who may miss three months with knee problems, the Pacers lead the NBA in average rebounds (53.3) and defensive rebounds (38.0) per game. The Hawks, by stark contrast, are 27th in rebounds (37.3) and 26th in defensive rebounds (27.5). The Pacers will be playing their fifth game while the Hawks will be playing only their third.
Rebounding will be a point of emphasis for the Hawks, according to coach Larry Drew.
“Their size has always been a problem for us,” Drew said. “(Roy) Hibbert is a big body in the middle, does a great job posting up, does a great job sealing in the paint. He always poses a problem for us. We are going to have to do a good job, collectively, in trying to defend him in the post.
“That being said, they do good job on the boards. With their size, they’ve got some guys who can rebound the basketball – Hibbert, (David) West and when (Tyler) Hansbrough comes into the game he’s known for his aggressive play and his ability to rebound the ball. We are going to have our hands full tonight. As I told our big guys we have to bring a physical mentality to the game tonight because it’s going to be physical. Our games with them have always been physical.”
The Pacers have three players in the top 40 in the NBA in rebounding. Guard Paul George is seventh (10.5), West is tied for 15th (9.3) and Hibbert is tied for 36th (7.8). The Hawks have only Al Horford in that group, tied for 25th (8.5).
Josh Smith returns after missing the last game with a sprained right ankle. The forward said now, more than ever, the team must adhere to its team rebounding approach.
“They have Roy Hibbert, Tyler Hansbrough coming off the bench, David West,” Smith said. “Their guards come in and rebound too. They definitely crash the boards and we are going to need everybody healthy and everybody in attendance tonight so we can gang rebound. It has to be a team effort.”
The Pacers (2-2) also lead the NBA in holding opponents to just a .389 field goal percentage.
- Chris Vivlamore
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447 comments Add your comment
MattP
November 7th, 2012
10:50 pm
great defense at end.
Melvin
November 7th, 2012
10:50 pm
Good come back win by the Hawks…. Should build some confidence going forward….
Melvin
November 7th, 2012
10:50 pm
Good come back win by the Hawks…. Should build some confidence going forward….
Blast
November 7th, 2012
10:50 pm
Wow! What a win. Ugly, but I’ll take it!
DawgNole
November 7th, 2012
10:50 pm
Risky business on that block at the end. Good no-call by the refs. Fine comeback.
HawkFan
November 7th, 2012
10:50 pm
Overcame a bad cold spell to get a W. way to finish Teague
Rev in Tampa
November 7th, 2012
10:51 pm
Najeh, I think it was the Pacer’s ineptitude more than LD brilliance. Somebody on Pacers did not do their job.
Najeh Davenpoop
November 7th, 2012
10:51 pm
This was the kind of win they would have pulled out the last couple of years, keyed by defense rather than offense. Nice to know they are still capable of doing that.
The Pacers are going to have some serious problems contending this year with only four or five good players on the roster. That bench is terrible.
Hejan Poopnevad
November 7th, 2012
10:52 pm
Key to win was going from zone d to man stopping wide open shots on perimeter. I called it.
Najeh Davenpoop
November 7th, 2012
10:52 pm
“I think it was the Pacer’s ineptitude more than LD brilliance. Somebody on Pacers did not do their job.”
Lou’s man went over the screen to try to contest the inbounds pass to Korver. But that is going to happen a lot in that situation throughout the season, because of Korver’s ability to make shots and free throws. This decoy play has a chance to work more often than not.
Runner-
November 7th, 2012
10:52 pm
Overall I think this is how an NBA game should be officiated, too many wuss calls in the game nowadays, at least based on how they called the Hawks tonight, Pacers got some iffy calls in there
tank
November 7th, 2012
10:53 pm
Good win, Hawks are fun to watch this year more than last
Hejan Poopnevad
November 7th, 2012
10:53 pm
Pacers will be fine when Granger returns. Would have smoked Hawks tonight if he played.
HawkFan
November 7th, 2012
10:53 pm
Rev, please never use LD and brilliance in same sentence. Have to give props for sticking with Korver though
tank
November 7th, 2012
10:54 pm
Miami on friday. anybody going to the game?
Tracy McStackhouse
November 7th, 2012
10:54 pm
Call me LD.
Najeh Davenpoop
November 7th, 2012
10:55 pm
The Hawks’ next opponent, the Heat, just waxed Brooklyn by 30. Joe Johnson started at SF and finished with 9 points on 4/14 shooting.
Slimjr
November 7th, 2012
10:56 pm
Larry gets the game BALL!!
Slimjr
November 7th, 2012
10:56 pm
Miami by 27
O'Brien
November 7th, 2012
10:56 pm
7 assists for Josh. Teague finally played well. 14 rebs for Zaza. Korver finally got hot. Team win. LD had a nice play out of a timeout, but I still dont like his coaching style.
Is Andre Aldridge related to David Aldridge?
Rod from College Park
November 7th, 2012
10:57 pm
“Joe Johnson started at SF and finished with 9 points on 4/14 shooting.”
Sounds familiar.
Melvin
November 7th, 2012
10:58 pm
The Hawks backcourt (Teague & Krover) step up their play in the 4th qtr….
bigdave
November 7th, 2012
10:58 pm
Throws the inbound pass away, grabs offensive rebound assists to go ahead 3..
Take the good with the bad with Mr Smith
I liked Jeffs willingness to take shots tonight make or miss. We’ll need that going forward..
Slimjr
November 7th, 2012
10:58 pm
Bosh goes for 15 and 12 on Friday
Astro Joe
November 7th, 2012
10:59 pm
Lance Stephenson did a GREAT job of stopping David West tonight, just like Westbrook pretty much shut down Durant the other night.
Runner-
November 7th, 2012
10:59 pm
“Joe Johnson started at SF and finished with 9 points on 4/14 shooting.”
I LOL’d hard when I read that, suckers…
Slimjr
November 7th, 2012
10:59 pm
Mid-range Shawty has got to step up on Friday…
Melvin
November 7th, 2012
11:00 pm
Hawks held the Pacers to 9pts in the 4th qtr…Ouch…
Melvin
November 7th, 2012
11:00 pm
Heat beat the Nets by 30pts…. This what 100mil buys….Ouch
Sautee
November 7th, 2012
11:00 pm
“Bosh goes for 15 and 12 on Friday”
Unless Ivan breaks him in half.
bigdave
November 7th, 2012
11:01 pm
2 playoff teams
2-0
Let’s see the effort this group puts up vs the world champs Friday
Runner-
November 7th, 2012
11:01 pm
I think this should become our regular starting lineup from now on, Zaza hustling on both ends of the floor, plays some good D and good on the glass, while Josh at the 3 is a HUGE advantage almost every time.
Blast
November 7th, 2012
11:02 pm
That’s why you should play Jeff. He won the game tonite.
Just Joe
November 7th, 2012
11:03 pm
Teague has been very consistent so far this year. 15 pts. 6 assists. 2.5 steals. per game. 50%+ shooting.
Hawks need him to take that next step. 18 & 8 per game is not that far away.
Runner-
November 7th, 2012
11:04 pm
Regardless of all the money they spent, the Nets really don’t have that superstar that can TAKE OVER at crunch time. Maybe they thought Joe was gonna be that guy, LMAO
Runner-
November 7th, 2012
11:06 pm
I remember in years prior Jeff was nowhere to be seen in crunchtime, mainly because LD refused to play him then. But not tonight, hopefully this isn’t the last time either
Just Joe
November 7th, 2012
11:07 pm
James Harden must be getting tired. Only 11 points tonight with 5 minutes to go.
HueyFreeman
November 7th, 2012
11:09 pm
I think we’ve found our starting lineup.
Ken Strickland
November 7th, 2012
11:09 pm
What do all of you who kept whining about how we would be unable to play DEF without JJ or Marvin, and/or because of our lack of size? We are 2-1, and could very easily be 3-0, against 3 teams that were decidedly bigger and taller. Also, where are all of those who insisted that DHarris was a much better PG than JTeague?
Hats off to KKorver for finally coming through. Like I’ve been saying, this team is quicker, faster, deeper, more athletic, better at scoring inside and outside, and better overall than any of our previous teams in the recent past, and we will only get better as the season progresses. This is also the most exciting and entertaining team we’ve had in over a decade.
Smokey
November 7th, 2012
11:12 pm
i dont care what korver did today he is no starter bring him off the bench
keith
November 7th, 2012
11:15 pm
Anthony Tolliver should be moved down in the rotation, time to give Mike Scott an opportunity. Also, Ivan should be playing 25-30 minutes.
Runner-
November 7th, 2012
11:15 pm
“This is also the most exciting and entertaining team we’ve had in over a decade.”
I think you’re forgetting about the 07 team with Mario West and Salim Stoudamire
Ignition
November 7th, 2012
11:18 pm
Good game good battle back.
Za Za 14 rebounds
Al 9 rebounds
Excellent …
keith
November 7th, 2012
11:19 pm
Our goal is to build a championship team. That’s our goal. Not just to be entertaining. That being said, we need a definitive starting line-up, regardless of who we are playing. The big line-up is really our best line-up.
keith
November 7th, 2012
11:21 pm
Tonight was the first time I really believe Coach Drew had a clue. About time. Maybe his finest hour.
Ken Strickland
November 7th, 2012
11:26 pm
After Horford’s subpar performance in the 1st gm, there was no shortage of negative comments from HORFORD HATERS. Now that he’s followed that gm up with 2 very solid and productive all around gms, not one of these HORFORD HATERS has had a single complimentary thing to say about it. I guess when it comes to recognizing him for doing something good, the SAMPLE SIZE is too small.
Horford helps Hawks top Pacers – W*USA 9 | Basketball.sportsreports.tk
November 8th, 2012
12:03 am
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