Atlanta Hawks: Timberwolves 108, Hawks 103 (updated)
Vivlamore reporting.
MINNEAPOLIS — The Hawks picked up right where they left off – and that’s not a good thing.
After a dreadful second half of a loss to the Celtics Saturday prompted a team meeting, the Hawks started slow in a 108-103 defeat to the Timberwolves Tuesday at the Target Center. In their first game after the meeting, the Hawks never led.
Hawks coach Larry Drew labeled his team’s start “soft.”
“We waited way too late to start playing,” Drew said. “The first half we were soft. Soft. We did not guard very well. I thought physically they did just about anything that they wanted to. We played with no urgency in that first half. I told the guys at halftime, it’s not a sometimes thing. You can’t come out and play sometimes. You’ve got to come out and start the game highly energized. We can’t play normal. We can’t be a team that just sits back and allows other teams to do what they want to do. We have to be the aggressor.”
Drew added that he would hold his players accountable.
“There are some guys in there that are going to be held accountable,” Drew said. “As we move forward, if this thing doesn’t change there are going to have to be some changes. That’s plain and simple. I’m not going to watch our guys come out and start every game and not be energized to play. That’s totally unacceptable.”
When asked who specifically needs to be held accountable for the poor starts, Drew responded: “Everybody. Everybody. I played quite a few people in that first half. Everybody has to be held accountable.”
The Hawks (20-13) have lost a season-long three straight and four of five. They are losing their grip on third place in the Eastern Conference. They are now tied with the Pacers and just a half-game ahead of the Bulls.
The Hawks nearly erased a 17-point deficit. They pulled within one point in the fourth quarter, 104-103, with 36.6 remaining. However, Dante Cunningham scored with 15.9 seconds left and the Hawks then committed a turnover to halt the comeback.
The Timberwolves (16-5) snapped an 11-game losing streak to the Hawks despite playing without Kevin Love.
“It’s probably fair to say,” Hawks center Al Horford said of Drew’s “soft” comment. “I don’t think that we are a soft team but it’s fair to say. I think we came out uninterested. Us, the guys who are playing, I’ll take blame for that. We have a game tomorrow so we have to show we are better tomorrow.”
“I don’t roll with that,” was Josh Smith’s response.
Smith led the Hawks with 21 points. He also finished with 13 rebounds to move into seventh place on the Hawks’ all-time rebound list with 5,027. He surpassed Cliff Hagan (5,019). Lou Williams added 21 points and Horford had 19 points and 11 rebounds. The Hawks lost for the first time this season with both Smith and Horford had a double-double.
Nikola Pekovic led the Timberwolves with 25 points and 18 rebounds.
The Timberwolves led by as many as 17 points in the first half and took a 58-42 lead into halftime.
The Hawks made only one of their first six shots and never led. They finished with just six first-half assists. Williams paced the Hawks with 12 points in the opening 24 minutes.
“I don’t think we came out with the energy,” Williams said. “We decided to wait until the second half to start playing and it bit us in the butt. I think the first half is when we should have responded when they were playing very well. I thought that would have been a perfect opportunity for us to get ourselves going and get geared up and meet the challenge. We waited too late to do that.”
The Hawks started the third quarter with an 18-8 run to cut their deficit to six points, 66-60. However, the Timberwolves answered with a 13-3 run that was punctuated by Alexey Shved steal and an and-one dunk.
Jeff Teague was called for the foul, one of five on the night to go with just five points.
“They called it,” Teague said of his foul troubles. “That’s the way the whistle blew tonight. It was tough out there tonight.”
The Hawks play again Wednesday at the Cavaliers as the attempt to halt a season-long losing streak.
“(Drew) challenged us at halftime and we responded,” Horford said. “It starts with me. I have to do better, whatever that means, if I have to play harder, whatever it takes. We are going through a little rut right now but we have to stick together.”
- Chris Vivlamore
LATEST NEWS
* Morrow out vs. T’Wolves with back stiffness
* Stevenson weighs in on back-to-backs situation
* Stevenson needs medical clearance to play back-t0-back
* Hawks wary of Pistons’ bench
* Williams to remain in starting lineup
* Behind the scenes photo gallery
* Drew named Eastern Conference Coach of the Month
* Drew looking for more minutes for Jenkins
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259 comments Add your comment
darrell starks
January 9th, 2013
8:24 am
Section 303, since LD like Tolliver so much maybe he should be backup SF coming off the bench.
GO HAWKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Just Joe
January 9th, 2013
8:34 am
LD calls team soft.
Al says, “It’s probably fair to say.”
Josh says, “I don’t roll with that.”
Teague sucked his thumb in the corner.
George Bush
January 9th, 2013
8:38 am
It is clear, that the players do not want to play for LD anymore. Change, change, chane !!!
darrell starks
January 9th, 2013
8:44 am
Teague has to be more of a leader and play aggressive and attack, stop shooting so many jumpshots and drive the ball towards rim.
Lou has come off the bench, our bench scoring have depleted since he became a starter.
GO HAWKS!!!!!!!!!
darrell starks
January 9th, 2013
8:48 am
STARTER TEAGUE, KORVER, JOSH, HORFORD, ZAZA
BENCH LOU, DEVIN, MORROW, TOLLIVER, IVAN
RESERVE JENKINS, STEVENSON, PETRO
GO HAWKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ejh
January 9th, 2013
8:54 am
Once again the bloggers here are being impractical about this team. Until the injury to devin harris this team was rolling because they had a veteran point guard who could control tempo of the game and score from outside and dribble penitration. He was a true pg with leadership skills. Once he is back at full strength this team will take off again. But LD really needs to start Teague,Jenkins, Josh, Al, ZsaZsa. With Lou, Devin, Korver, Ivan, Tolliver Stephenson off the bench. The problem is there is no reliable backup for pachulla, and that is why this rotation is messed up. the big lineup is the hawks best and most competitive lineup.
doc
January 9th, 2013
8:54 am
kg pushed the right button because melo became a one man wrecking crew ofhis own team down the stretch imploding while he trued to take ove the game. honey nut cherio eh? reminds me of three stooges routine on “niagra falls. did you say it? slowly i turned, step by step and then i grabbed him.. .”
listened to nba tv last night and davis said back in my day if it was that bad and crossed the line you do it right there on the court not later. melo is soft. he didnt want any part of kg in a street fight. should have laughed it off made sure his team won then tolg kg he was finished and time to hang em up. next time they hug before the game. not your fathers nba.
meanwhile teague has gone south as has his team.
meanwhile j lin went off and even bent world peace’s knees and broke an ankle on a crossover on the way to a, and one.
say no to melo slimj. dont worship no false god is what my preacher taught nme.
KevinM
January 9th, 2013
8:57 am
When LD threatens changes, JT is the reason.
Josh nor Al will ever feel the brunt of LD. He simply isn’t going to ruffle their feathers. You have a Zaza/Ivan combo setup perfectly for Petrovic, and you ignore it the entire game.
What is our record with Lou in the starting lineup? Is it me, is does our starting backcourt only matchup with Detroit and Mil?
I still like Stevenson over Korver, despite his limitations. Korver needs to be sent to Duke where all they do is jack up 3s.
If Zaza doesn’t deserve to start for this team, then DF Is definitely not providing any input. Of all teams to go up against……huge LD gaffe. 28/18…..what a joke LD!
We are getting ready to see an ‘average’ Indy, a better Brooklyn, and a so-so Chicago team pass us if we don’t get things going.
Since we have no leaders, why aren’t we headed to the lottery? I am even okay if we let Josh go for free if we start showing we are serious about contending.
I say we ‘dump’ our best players on Houston…..that way, we get their pick this year and we can shoot for someone with 1st round talent, unlike Mike Scott. That guy needs minutes, but not in place of Ivan.
Grandmaster JeJe (GM)
January 9th, 2013
9:21 am
Only reason we win tonight is because Varejao is out. Utah frontline will massacre us Friday night
START ZAZA. GIVE IVAN MINUTES
FIRE LD
Grandmaster JeJe (GM)
January 9th, 2013
9:25 am
Stevenson has not scored a point in 2013 and he cant defend anymore
This team is really missing Devin Harris. When he returns (which seems like never) Jeff Teague needs to be benched. Idk what this guy’s deal is. Quit playing like Marvin and grow a pair
ag
January 9th, 2013
9:33 am
I have started growing tired of certain aspects of Al and Josh. I have mentioned that our players are not consistent. Also, I don’t see the advantage of:
Our bigs grabbing rebounds and try to start the break. It works sometimes, but often times it leads to turnovers.
We have to many shooters on our team for Josh to be taking jumpers. If he lived in our around the paint, he would easily average 22-13.
Horford does not play with energy for 4 quarters. Often, he gives us one or maybe two solid quarters of hustle.
Horford not trying to help defend with a player coming down the lane.
glw
January 9th, 2013
9:50 am
At first, I thought Teague biggest problem was having Devin and Lou around who would hog the ball, but while Teague does have other issues, one of the main problems is Josh’s continue decision to always bring the ball up. If he would put the ball in Teague hands bringing it up court, maybe that would allow Teague to get some of that alpha back. He isnt allowed to attack the defense when Josh grabs it and does his Magic Johnson imitation. And in half court, Teague is worse. Teague and Drew or somebody has to help him get that Alpha male attitude that the CP3, DRose type point guards have. They take control of their team. Until that happens, the Hawks will continue to struggle and be a middle of the road team at best.
Najeh Davenpoop
January 9th, 2013
9:54 am
“Only reason we win tonight is because Varejao is out. Utah frontline will massacre us Friday night”
They lost to the Cavs with Irving out, so I wouldn’t put it past them to lose to the Cavs with Varejao out.
Most of these problems are solvable just by starting the big lineup and playing Ivan 20 minutes as the backup center.
rellis
January 9th, 2013
9:58 am
Chill everyboby… don’t ypu know that this is a throw away year for the Hawks.
Grandmaster JeJe (GM)
January 9th, 2013
10:07 am
Agreed Najeh. I figure we will come out on fire tonight unless it seems these guys have quit on LD.
It does seem LD have this love affair with Korver. Start the big lineup. Has cost us many games not starting it
Grandmaster JeJe (GM)
January 9th, 2013
10:10 am
Hawks probably win 98-95 tonight
hfc95
January 9th, 2013
10:10 am
Here are the main problems for our Hawks(imo)..
1. Like ive said in about every post as of late, we cant start our only two PGs and expect them to attack for 48 minutes with no relief off the bench. Our best lineup is jeff lou korver josh al. we just need devin to come back and spell jeff and lou, we need our two small guard system because that produces the most points, its obvious devin harris is an injury magnet so why not get another PG on our roster for just-in-case scenarios? does not make sense to me as PG is THE most important position in basketball.
2. LD needs to hash out whatever problem he has with Ivan. GM DF needs to be there to listen to both sides and make this work for the rest of this season. Ivan is probobly the most underrated player in the league and he brings energy and aggression nightly and he is getting benched in favor of a rookie PF who is just not ready to play.
3. Im glad LD said the magic word “accountability”. This is a major defict that Jeff Teague and Josh Smith do not possesse. Josh will keep floating outside and Teague is taking after marvin williams, playing a great game followed by a mediocre performance. It is quite honestly b.s to witness professional athletes with all the tools at their disposal and still not improve their games.
4. If we play “soft” or with no energy that is our most serious problem that has to be addressed quickly. I find it impossible to believe you can work your whole life to make the NBA and you get paid handsomly for it and you cant find the motivation to not play your hardest for all 48?? i dont care if its a 5 game road trip in 5 nights, we need to bring a constant mentality that i am fortunate to be living my dream and i need to make the most of it every night, i control everything and i will manipulate this game as i see fit. as fans we notice these things, attitudes, body language from our favorite teams/players and I understand why the Hawks are not respected or well watched in atlanta, they play inconsistent and with no real enthusiasim for the game itself. GM DF needs/i believe will get these changes in motion at the trade deadline and after the season.
Grandmaster JeJe (GM)
January 9th, 2013
10:13 am
^^^post of the day
Chris Vivlamore
January 9th, 2013
10:18 am
Northcyde: C-Viv . . . you MUST find out why Ivan Johnson can’t get any meaningful playing time these days. Heck, tell Bradley or Shultz to do that story, since you’re the beat writer and can’t necessarily “rock the boat” like that. It has to be a reason why this guy can’t get into the regular rotation and get 15 – 20 minutes a night.
I will certainly ask about Ivan. It’s on my list. However, PLEASE drop this notion that someone else has to ask such questions because I don’t want to “rock the boat” as the beat writer. I have done my job and asked tough questions when they needed to be asked. I will continue to do so. The focus of last night’s game was the coach saying his team played “soft” in the first half and he was going to hold them accountable. Is repeatedly asking who must be held accountable not tough questions?
I appreciate your postings but please let’s put an end to that idea. Thanks.
Grandmaster JeJe (GM)
January 9th, 2013
10:24 am
Disappointing LD weaseled out and said everyone was accountable. He is a very soft head coach
And to think Ferry dealt with Popovich for all those years…
Just Joe
January 9th, 2013
10:30 am
C-Viv…is Tolliver on a guaranteed contract for the rest of the year? For some reason, I thought he was on a non-guaranteed deal.
Duluth Joe
January 9th, 2013
10:39 am
Any one who thinks Korver is a good defender need to remember Korver’s role on a Chicago team with a great defensive coach. Why was Chicago coach not playing Korver at SF or SG as a starter last couple years?
Korver does one thing well. He shoots extremely well (and works at finding openings for his shot). You match that up against the “B” players of other teams and can then get more production out of Korver. His defensive liabilities won’t come to haunt Hawks as they have in last four games.
Korver is a smart player, but stop this notion of him being a good defensive player. Use your eyes
Duluth Joe
January 9th, 2013
10:46 am
Larry Drew is struggling because he is an offensive coach. And he has lost couple important pieces (Harris and Morrow) who helped him before and that means he is struggling to adjust to their absence.
It is like chess. If you use your rooks as your favorite strategy, it doesn’t matter that your bishops are still alive. You attack with your rooks and if you lose them then the game is over even if your Bishop is alive.
So, Coach Drew doesn’t see how or why to utilize Ivan and Zaza (who are like his Bishops – the defensive tools). He reverts to what he knows best (offense). He uses Scott and Tolliver because they score and that is what Larry Drew gets. He goes with a three guard offense (because offense is what he knows).
As fans we want balance. But Larry Drew’s strategy, is no different than Chicago coach when he uses Kirk Hinrick and Taj Gibson instead of Nate Robinson and Boozer. Chicago coach believes in defense not offense.
This is a continuing theme (strategy) of coach Drew. So at the end, Ferry must make a decision, does he go after offensive talent (like Jenkins) and hope offense wins the day, or does he change coach instead hoping for balance?
Rod from College Park
January 9th, 2013
10:50 am
Rod,
“If the roles were reversed, and it was Al who made the pass to Josh trying to post up Cunningham, but the ball got stolen…I wonder if you would blame Josh like you’re blaming Horford.”
Really being truthful, not trying to be funny or support either guy. Could the pass have been crisper, maybe……But from day one when I started playing basketball I was taught how to post someone up. On every level, JV, high school, college, pro. When you post someone, especially a smaller guy, you should never allow them to come around you. You make them come thru you, which would be a foul. You can call it Al bashing or whatever you want to call it, but that is Basketball 101.
I honestly want to know who LD is speaking of when he says we played soft in the first half. Josh can be blamed for a number of things, thinking he is a pg, taking ill-advised shots, making dumb mistakes, but the guy does not play soft. That leaves Horford, Teague, Korver and Lou. Teague has surely been playing soft the last week or so, Korver and Lou are known as bad defenders. So that leaves our only All Star, Al Horford. Question to all the Al Horford fan club. Has Al Horford been playing soft? He got another double, double since many are impressed with that. I simply ask the Al Horford fan club to notice his production nightly, and then take a look at the production of the guy that he usually guards on the other team. You may be surprised.
“And according to Nique, “the pass wasn’t crisp enough”.”
According to Nique, the game is over every night when the Hawks go up in the 4th quarter, and we know what happens after we hear him say, “The Hawks have put this one away”.
Duluth Joe
January 9th, 2013
10:52 am
Let’s remember, Minnesota even minus Kevin Love, is a solid team. I remember watching them play against NY in NY. And they gave NY all they could handle. In fact, I believe Wolves were winning until the end, when Melo finally stepped up and NY crowd rattled Minnesota.
NBA is not exactly any given Sunday, but it is more “even” now than in years past. Any team can lose to any team on a given night (particularly absent a closer or great player such as Melo or Lebron or Rose).
Grandmaster JeJe (GM)
January 9th, 2013
10:53 am
Scott and Tolliver are rooks, and Ivan and Z are bishops? You realize rooks are much more powerful pieces, right? 5 pts vs 3.
Anyway, point taken
-GM JeJe
Rod from College Park
January 9th, 2013
10:56 am
“Korver is a smart player, but stop this notion of him being a good defensive player. Use your eyes”
Could not agree more. The guy is a deadly 3 point shooter, one of the best I have seen, moves very well without the ball, something we have never seen with this Hawks group, but he is a defensive liability, whether he is guarding 2’s or 3’s. Always has been. He does give maximum effort, but it is what it is. Certain people see what they want to see.
Duluth Joe
January 9th, 2013
10:56 am
Grandmaster JeJe (GM), You are correct sir. I should have switched the roles to player
More appropriate for Ivan and Zaza to be rooks and Tolliver and Scot to be Bishops. I stand corrected
Peter
January 9th, 2013
10:56 am
A 6 ‘ 9 ” center cannot dominate in this league….. put him next to a non intelligent player in Josh, a guy who wants to bring the ball up, shoot Three’s and will not play consistent post up basketball, and you have a small almost non existent front line.
Is Tim Duncan bringing the ball up ? Is he shooting three’s ?
If Josh thinks he can shoot the three ball…. why is he so miserable at the free throw line ?
ATMAN
January 9th, 2013
11:09 am
Somebody answer this……..why do we try to adjust our lineup to matchup with other teams? Do good teams do this normally??? Why not put our best 5 out there and let the opponent match up to us? Best five being…….Lou, KK, Josh, Al, ZaZa……..then give Ivan some serious minutes.
cp
January 9th, 2013
11:11 am
It seems as if Devin Harris missing time with his injury has caused some guys on here to remember him playing a lot better than he actually was. Harris had maybe 4 good games this season but let some guys on here tell it he was lighting it up. I recall quite a few game blogs were people were saying get him out of the game because he wasn’t doing much at all. Devin was not playing well this season but the thing he can do is provide rest for our other two guards who have been playing a lot of minutes..
LD needs to go with the big lineup. Lou should come off the bench. We get no scoring from our bench with him starting. I have no idea why Ivan is getting any pt. Stevenson is looking like the guy I thought he would be when we made that trade. Still wish we would have taken Gerald Green when he was offered. .
Hopefully they get it together. I wont get like some guys on here and scream trade everybody after a L but DF really needs to get a sf in here
cp
January 9th, 2013
11:15 am
I meant to say I dont know why Ivan isnt getting any pt… Devin Harris only has 3 games this season where he has at least 5 assist. Only 6 games where he has scored in double digits. I know Teague has struggled lately but lets not act like Harris was on fire out there.
Grandmaster JeJe (GM)
January 9th, 2013
11:16 am
Stevenson or Morrow for Casspi. Is there ANY way CLE does this trade?
Grandmaster JeJe (GM)
January 9th, 2013
11:20 am
Devin Harris >> Teague. I can promise you that..
cp
January 9th, 2013
11:24 am
Yea if this was 2008 or something. Devin Harris is not as good as some of you make him to be. Dude is not the all star pg he once was.He cant stay healthy and doesn’t get to the line at the high rate he once did.
If Teague is as bad as some of you make him out to be then how bad is Harris since Teague has outplayed him this year. Think about that for a minute
DS
January 9th, 2013
11:26 am
I would only give up someone like Petro for Casspi
MistaGamer
January 9th, 2013
11:27 am
That last play,
Totally on Horford. No way he should have let the defender get around him after he established post position.
A bounce pass could have worked, but that is only after the fact of seeing Horford not maintain is position properly. He was just out-worked on that play. Plain and simple.
cp
January 9th, 2013
11:29 am
Casspi numbers have dipped each year since his rookie campaign . Im with DS,the most I would give up is Petro or somebody like Scott
jlewis
January 9th, 2013
11:30 am
Ok, JJ and Marvin are gone but the same problems persist. Now that the scapegoats are gone, what now? Josh is still Josh, Al still plays no D, and teague is just weak. Devin Harris is not the answer, there are reasons he gets traded for virtually nothing. There are no superstars to sign, Ferry wants the San Antonio model, but that team is built around one of the most selfless guys ever in Tim Duncan, Cleveland went to the finals with Lebron when the east was very weak, before Boston put the big 3 together. The answer is to scrap the team, get in the lotteries, take 3-5 years and try to get lucky, then by year 7 one of those drafties will emerge.
KevinM
January 9th, 2013
11:32 am
ATMAN, Lou off the bench is probably better and he’s better when we pair him with Devin. Whatever combo we have though is not good enough to contend. None will be an all-star going forward, and with how Devin, JT and Josh are performing this year, i would try to move their expiring contracts for teams looking to get playoff help.
Lottery or bust for me……and both are the same.
cp
January 9th, 2013
11:35 am
Its no Lebron like talent coming out in this years draft. The same guys calling for us to gut this team and go for lottery picks will be the same ones complaining if we dont draft any top tier talent and go back to not making the playoffs.
Astro Joe
January 9th, 2013
11:40 am
I predict that LD will bench Teague and start Harris tonight. I personally think it would be a huge mistake, but something tells me that will be his response to the 3-game losing streak (and the poor stats that Najeh posted previously for Teague).
cp
January 9th, 2013
11:40 am
Moves need to be made but I dont think we should just get rid of everybody. I remember what happened last time we blew it up. I like DF as a GM but if he misses on lottery picks then we are right back where we started when Woodson was hired. Some of you are acting way too emotional. This was supposed to be a down year anyway. They have been better than most expected. Moves need to be made but not wholesale changes
cp
January 9th, 2013
11:42 am
@Astro. I was thinking that was going to be the move. Bench Teague and start Harris but LD might not do that because Harris is just coming back. Personally I think he should go with the big lineup and bring Lou off the bench but I can see Teague being benched if he continues to struggle.
harpie
January 9th, 2013
11:47 am
Larry Drew makes me sick!
Swingman912
January 9th, 2013
11:47 am
Teague has issues, but he isnt the only problem. Niether is Al, Josh, Korver, Lou, Devin, or LD, though ALL have had a roleis this small losing streak. Honestly though, this team has over achieved, mainly (IMO)because teams just didnt know what to expect from us. Even Hawks fans didnt know what to expect. We were and unfamiliar team with a favorable schedule. You can go up and down this roster, and there is not 1 player who is consistent on both ends of the floor. Pair that with a coach who adjust his lineups according to what the other team does, and we’re gonna go on losing streaks like this. We’ll go on winning streaks as well tho, becasue despite the many flaws of this team, I have seen a lot of fight in them when they fall behind… I cant wait until the off season, just to see what type of moves are made….
cp
January 9th, 2013
11:55 am
Great post Swingman but you know how folks on here overreact to everything.
vava74
January 9th, 2013
11:58 am
Everything PLAYER related that we can discuss about last night is LANDSCAPE.
LD made an @ss of himself with that line up and those rotations.
Horford being murdered by Pekovic and he brings Zaza only with 3 minutes to go? And at the expense of Horford who had ZERO FOULS?
He only used the big line up in the 4th and we nearly won the game. The big line up had better match ups all across the board (not all 100% favourable, but BETTER globally)
Rod from College Park
January 9th, 2013
12:07 pm
“That last play,
Totally on Horford. No way he should have let the defender get around him after he established post position.
A bounce pass could have worked, but that is only after the fact of seeing Horford not maintain is position properly. He was just out-worked on that play. Plain and simple.”
Glad to know someone else was taught fundamental basketball 101, instead of blaming everything on Josh Smith.
Just Joe
January 9th, 2013
12:14 pm
Who wants to be a starter?
LouWill as a starter: 18.6 pts, 3.9 rebounds, 5.8 assists, .9 steals, 2.7 turnovers, on 47% shooting, 45% from 3 taking 6.6 a game.