lethalweapon3

The Hawks must be advantageous and convert turnovers into points. OKC gives up the ball more per game than anyone in the league, although that volume may be smaller if Russell Westbrook remains out with the sprained ankle. If Westbrook is not in this contest, it would be nice to get a good taste of that Insani-teague stuff the Hawks have been selling lately. No Reggie Jackson Show or Royal Ivey Show tonight. Also, keep former 3-point shootout champ Daequan Cook from “doing what he do.” Atlanta will be pressed to keep the silly hacks to a minimum, as the Thunder converts more free throws than any other team, at a higher percentage than any other team. Only the Hornets have as high an “and-one” percentage on their field goal attempts. It’ll help the Hawks’ cause, once again, without Westbrook taking trips to the glass and to the line. He and James Harden are among just six NBA guards getting 6 or more FT attempts per night. Josh Smith and Marvin Williams may have to play small defensively to keep Kevin Durant and James Harden from eating them up from the outside. That means more yeoman’s work from Zaza Pachulia and Ivan Johnson to fight for the rebounding edge. Somehow, even while stocked upfront with Serge Ibaka, Nick Collison, Kendrick Perkins, and Nazr Mohammed, OKC gives up more offensive boards per game than anyone other than the Wizards and Warriors. Only the Bobcats’ opponents attack more often within 10 feet of the basket, which helps explain why Ibaka feasts so much on the rejections. But Ibaka is out of position often while going for so many swats, so somebody has to crash the boards when he doesn’t get a hand on the ball. We want tacos! The Thunder are 21-1 when allowing fewer than 100 points (the “1” being a one-point loss, their last loss at Houston over two weeks ago), 8-6 when they don’t. It’ll be a tall order for the Hawks, who have only scored 100 points (exactly 100 points) once in the past month. Go Hawks! ~lw3

Milwaukee may have to lean heavily on Mike Dunleavy and Ersan Ilyasova to provide the offense tonight. Luc Mbah a Moute (shoulder) will be out, and Drew Gooden (neck, back... apologies to Khia) is probable but the Bucks staff will keep close watch on his condition. Kind of like a life story for him, but Stephen Jackson has been day-to-day (hamstring). Jon Leuer, Larry Sanders, Jon Brockman, and Tobias Harris may get a boost in minutes. Dominating the glass will be crucial to the Hawks getting control of the game, so we'll need more of the Inside Stuff from Josh, plus another big-boy performance from Zaza and some Ivan sightings. With the Bucks' bigs staying back on offense, kicking the ball out and running will help keep the Bucks' backcourt on their heels. (hoofs?) The Bucks will put the ball up early and often, and will crash the glass (1st in the NBA in FGAs per game; 4th in offensive boards even in Andrew Bogut's month-long absence) knowing they're likely to miss their first shot (27th in FG%). In Joe's absence, we'll need Teague to lead from the backcourt and win the turnovers and thefts battle when matched up with Brandon Jennings. Marvin, T-Mac and Vlad will need to step up their offense as well and help tighten up the perimeter D. Forwards Ilyasova, Carlos Delfino, and Dunleavy will be bigger threats stepping out and hitting the 3-ball (each of them around 37-38%) than the guards Jennings (32%), Stephen Jackson (28%), Beno Udrih (19%), and Shaun Livingston (3 attempts all season). Milwaukee's threes are rarely assisted (last in the league in percentage of threes assisted) so there should be little mystery what players are doing out there when they have the ball. No need to say anything more about free throws after Wednesday's flop against the Warriors. The Bucks don't get to the line often, but are 2nd in the league in FT%. Go Hawks! ~lw3

Oh well, Death By Free Throw! W's were stifled at the 3-point line, gave us the opportunities at the line and we failed to convert too often. I don't think G-State missed until that last shot, while we left way too many on the table at home. Liked the frontline's efforts on the offensive boards, though, which was great considering how bad we were shooting. Sharpen up that offense and that focus, and Beat the Deer! ~lw3

To Hawks brass, he was The Insider Fan Whose Name Shall Not Be Mentioned, once he began to speak to much truth, if I recall during pre-draft workouts. They did him almost as bad as the Clippers just did Darrell. http://hawksquawk.ne...the-big-screen/ ~lw3

Tight perimeter defense and bang-'em-inside offense should be all it takes to get ahead tonight. This Mark Jackson Edition of the W's tries to stay in the games by slowing down the clock with fouls, instead of letting players blow by them when they're on defense. Nearly 23 fouls per game is second only to the Raptors, while 28 opponent FT attempts per contest leads the NBA. They also chuck up a good number of threes (8.2 per game at a 38.7% clip, each 3rd-ranked in the league), with six players (Steph Curry, Dorrell Wright, Brandon Rush, Klay Thompson, Monta Ellis, KryptoNate) each dropping at least one per night. Rush hits his threes (52.3%) better than his twos (45.3%), while he and two others (Steph, Klay) each have hit more than 44% from outside. Hopefully our perimeter defenders recall who lives by the adage, "Hands Down, Man Down." Expect of lot of Ekpe Udoh and David Lee trying to plug the leak in the dam upfront for the Warriors for most of the game. Starting center Andris Biedrins is churning out 2.3 PPG and 4.5 RPG, in just 17 minutes per contest, including 1.2 PPG in the last 14 games. Steph is not probable to play as he continues to rest a strained tendon in his right foot, although the latest word suggests he'll give it a try. His absence would allow the home crowd to be all that much more in the Hawks favor. Charles Jenkins played poorly last night in Indy, so they may be saving up Nate to start tonight if Curry can't go. Go Hawks! ~lw3

All the offseason scenarios sound plausible, but my curiosity is specific to this season, as this team (With Apologies to Jim Mora) heads into a playoff picture where there may not be a Dwight Howard standing in the midst of an Eastern Conference series. Does JaCo still have a useful role if it becomes likely there is not a D12 to contend with? And if not, should he be an instrumental consideration in any deals we consider before the Ides of March? ~lw3

http://blogs.thescor...-diaw-pictures/ http://www.howtomake...-by-boris-diaw/ ~lw3

We know what great utility we got out of Jason Collins last year. And of course, "stopper" is always a bit overplayed, as 27 points and 15 rebounds per game in the playoffs on 63% shooting is considered "stopping" anybody only in the context in which the Hawks won that 2011 series. But if Dwight heads to a Western Conference opponent, does Jason Collins still have usefulness on this particular roster? Would he still be necessary against an Andrew Bynum or Andris Biedrins (if either were traded to Orlando AND if the Magic hung on to a middle-tier playoff spot)? Would he play a critical role against the Tyson Chandlers and Roy Hibberts of the world? Should the Hawks strive to acquire an upgrade over Collins (production-wise) if Dwight crosses the Mississippi before the deadline? Or is Dampier going to become that upgrade? (Not asking for trade ideas, just whether it's worth the bother at this stage). ~lw3

~lw3

courtesy of Mike Prada of SBNation Does someone have access to the stat source or otherwise understands what Prada is talking about? 33 percent scored-or-fouled sounds bad either way. And if those are "opportunities" where Joe has the ball in transition and has the chance to take the shot, then okay. If those are "transition opportunities" where any of the Hawks have the ball while he is on the floor... ~lw3

We were probably better off without stars under this let-da-people-vote format. Texters could vote up to 100 times if I was reading the rules correctly, and could begin their voting before dunkers finished all their rounds. People aren't going to vote 100 times for Jeremy Evans if there's a Blake/LeBron in the mix. Evans could backflip a dunk from the free throw line and it wouldn't matter. Even if it was all-superstars, it would turn into a popularity contest, regardless of what dunks they pull off. Getting four undistinguished dunkers effectively evened the playing field, although I bet it wasn't really great for TV ratings. ~lw3

http://www.csnne.com/blog/celtics-talk/post/Source-Rasheed-Wallace-to-sign-with-Lake?blockID=657492&feedID=10424 ~lw3

~lw3

Nique: I got no idea what that is, Bob, but it looks like Duhon's going into a deep slimber! ~lw3

Duhon: "TRUST FALL!" D-12: "What the heck is Jameer doing in a Duhon unif... oh, snap, there's a basketball game going on!" ~lw3

Alright fellas, let's try to keep this thing within single digits. No Jameer Nelson (strained knee) tonight, so we need a leaps-and-bounds better performance from Jeff Teague (bruised ego). Jason Richardson (inflamed lung) is expected to start tonight, so hopefully he'll be matched up against an energetic Marvin (focus/heart). A lot of the Magic will have preoccupations, taking care of weekend affairs back home, so let's take advantage of that. Go Hawks! ~lw3

(Rick Sund out cruising for talent at Midnight Basketball Leagues within a 5 mile radius of Buford Highway) ~lw3

((Respectfully withdraws a crack comment about Jeremy's "straw reaching across the room"... no part of that sounds right! )) ~lw3

No, please do correct me, thanks! And I should've known better. I watched TWBB and No Country on back-to-back nights in '07, and hid under the bed for like a week. ~lw3

I suspect my present and future ordeals with the boastful Lin fans of the Asian persuasion is just karma biting me in the butt, after needlessly elbowing guys and gloating, "So... how bout that Tiger, huh?" on Mondays at office coolers for years. Not the same thing, of course, but the impact on social discourse feels awfully similar. The newfound "fans" are just reacting to the perception that another societal barrier is getting the ol' Berlin Wall treatment, and that's cool in my book. Anything that opens up a professional sport to historically underrepresented and neglected groups is great in the long term. I think the long-range prospect of an expanded pool of motivated basketball talent is what is most exciting. Jeremy excelling, particularly in New York, is an absolute boon for the short-term faregates, but as I've learned with Tiger (and Venus 'n Serena, to a lesser extent Michael Chang) the benefit to the sport (in terms of fans, merchandising, and viewership) will only sustain itself if they can motivate younger athletes, in much larger concentrations of their similar demographics, to follow their lead. While Lin is not yet there in terms of superstar achievements, his case is all the more exciting because no one, perhaps other than Lin himself, saw his current success coming. ~lw3

Josh can neutralize the rejuvenated Jeffries on offense, he can help frustrate Chandler with double teams, and he can box out Amar'e on the boards... but he cannot do it all himself. Defensively, we'll need the other Hawk bigs to put on their big-boy pants today and make it easier for Smoove to excel where he can. Just as Humphries tried to do the other night, Zaza and Ivan may be able to get under Chandler's skin enough to check him out early tonight. He's already at 8 technical fouls on the year. There should be a Jeff Teague in front of You Know Who at all times. The Hawks need to capitalize on an offense that is still feeling itself out. And Marvin has to be active defensively, not re-active, against Melo. Keep ballhandlers out of the lane! With the exception of the recently discount-double-checking Novak, if the Knicks are pushed away from the rim and settle for many outside jumpshots, it's a good day. They're third in the league in three-point attempts, but rank 27th in three-point percentage. Record-wise, they're 2-8 when they loft more than 20 two-point jumpers beyond 16 feet, and they're 0-3 when they take more than 30 three-point attempts. That plus solid defensive rebounding (Knicks with the fourth-lowest offensive rebounding rate) should work to our competitive advantage. We should know Woodsonian defense better than anyone in the league. Watch for pressure from Lin bringing the ball up court, don't get lazy with the ball in the halfcourt offense (Knicks are second in the league in steals), and make careful passes until the ridiculous mismatch arrives, then attack. Like blood to the Coen Brothers, There Will Be Turnovers (NYK with the second-most turnovers per game in the league), so we gotta get focused in transition... no broke fast breaks! Go Hawks! ~lw3

I just picked up my dry cleaning this afternoon... Now, over the course of the past couple of years, the gentleman behind the counter ("D.C.," to protect the guilty) NEVER has ANYTHING of substance to say to me, beyond a smile, a nod, a repeat of my order to make sure he got it right, a price, and "Have a Nice Day/Good Evening," the latter ONLY if I prompt him to respond in turn. Ask "how are you doing today?" and D.C. grins as if I had just asked him to distinguish existentialism from nihilism. "Uhhh... how may I help you?" All that is fine, since he does a bang-up job getting my clothes cleaned and pressed. But on this particular day, he suddenly pipes up! Returning my clothes, upon seeing my "swoop" logo'd cap: D.C.: "Sooooooooo your Hawks will lose today, eh?" I looked astonished for several seconds ("Where in blazes is this coming from?... Oh!"), then smiled, and retorted: Moi: "Is that like something you asked a Hornets fan the other day?" D.C.: (grinning) "???" Moi: "Never mind... how much?" ~lw3

I know we fuss about attytood on the court all the time, but if that was Smoove treating a ref like he was picking up the spare, never mind an All-Star selection, Stern probably would've had him jailed instead of suspended. How do the coaches approve an All-Star nod to Josh's Oak Hill buddy, in particular, after that incident? ~lw3

http://www.nba.com/2...ls=iref:nbahpt2 Joe it is! Saturday night is the Joe and Jeremy Show. Randy guessed right, too, it's Lindsey Harding! She struggled with her shot last season but got hot right on time during the playoffs against Indiana. And, perhaps most importantly, she's in town! ~lw3

Crazy that in his rookie season, the 6'6" Drew led the entire NBA in Offensive Rebounds. ~lw3