lethalweapon3

Susan Lucci'd AGAIN! lol He'll still have a shot as a next-guy-in injury replacement like Joe had when he first went in. We might have the pleasure of seeing "Angry Bird" Josh in the next couple weeks... hell hath no fury like an All-Star scorned! :) Congrats to Joe once again! No coasting after the break, though, ya hear me? ;) Go Hawks! ~lw3

For the Josh Smith Defense Fund... he leads all Eastern Conference forwards in defensive rebounds (3rd overall behind Dwight and Varejao) and is the only forward in the East averaging 2 blocks per contest (3rd overall, behind JaVale and Dwight). ~lw3

Larry Costello Walter Davis Vern Mikkelson In case he makes it, the answers to the inevitable "Is there a worse six-time All-Star than Joe Johnson?" question from the punditry. ~lw3

I couldn't get 'em all one one poll, so try to keep your total predictions to 7. (EDIT: modified to merge Center(s) with Forwards) ~lw3

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Waited the whole game for the gutpunch... and it never really came. Way to shut down Paul George! A couple lapses here or there, and some downright ridiculous ref calls, but the Hawks made up for all that and held firm with superb rebounding from all the starters, some great defensive stops, hustling for loose balls, and continuing to attack the Pacers from all angles on offense. Way to go, LD and the coaching staff! That one-two punch from Kirk and Tracy off the bench was a sight for sore eyes. And how 'bout that pass from Zaza to Swan for the dunk? Plus Joe and Josh made their last good case for their All-Star selections a good one. ~lw3

I got nothing! No smarty-pants stats or keys today. Just that sneaking suspicion we'll see more of the same tonight. Go Hawks! ~lw3

Hard to recognize a team like this with the name “Suns” on the jersey. I haven’t seen one so inefficient offensively since the days when Starbury roamed the valley. Coach Gentry has slowed the pace down considerably since the Mike D’Antoni days. But poor shooting, combined with trademark shaky defense, has not improved their fortunes. Gentry also limits minutes and keeps players rotating off the bench, which might work well if he had the Sixers’ roster to work with. With apologies to Los Angeles, Phoenix might be the real Lob City (67% Opponent FG% at the rim; 61.5% assisted at-the-rim baskets leads the league). It’s here where Steve Nash-to-Marcin Gortat (or Hakim Warrick, to a lesser extent) may be a problem. Atlanta’s guards have to help Teague put pressure on Nash to generate turnovers, and they need to be capable of converting on breaks when the inevitable turnovers and missed shots come in transition. The rest of the team has to help Zaza fight for boards against Gortat, at the moment one of 11 players averaging a double-double. Nash and Gortat aren’t getting a ton of steady help from the rest of the roster. After Nash, no one other than Ronnie Price (2.3) has more than two assists per game. Other than Jared Dudley (1.1) who might not play tonight (correction... Suns announced he'll suit up tonight) and Ronnie Price (1.0), no one on the team averages one or more steal per game. Channing Frye (5.4) and Markieff Morris (5.0) are the only remotely significant rebounders aside from Gortat. There’s no real point in wasting any fouls on Phoenix’s outside shooters, as they are not exactly shooting well (7 regulars are shooting less than 41%), and don’t get to the line often, but are fairly effective when they do (Suns overall are 8th in free throw percentage). Breakout performances on this team have been rare. Michael Redd had a breakout of sorts two nights ago against the Bobcats (don’t we all) with 17 points, and will be looking to build on that. Ridden with bench splinters, our old friend Josh Childress has also been getting some burn as of late. Chillz has shot over 70 percent while averaging over 17 minutes over the last four games. The player to lure Smoove into a three-point shooting slugfest might be the 6-foot-10 rookie Morris. He’s managed to lead the Suns in three-point shooting (45.8%). There’s no Tony Allen or Andre Iguodala out there to hound Joe all game long, so he needs to pretty much go off tonight. Marvin, Vlad, and T-Mac should prove capable of matching whatever Hill, Morris, and Frye bring to the table tonight. Go Hawks! ~lw3

MC @ajc raised good points recently about his question marks (knee, conditioning), but a 7-foot-1 guy with no questions mark would probably be on a roster already anyway. Get a halfway decent rebounder and they're fine. ~lw3

Off that list, I still like Earl Barron if he comes through waivers. I think the Sixers just signed Francisco Elson and will probably keep him. Kyrylo Fesenko is running around somewhere. Any sightings out there of Marcus Cousin or Tiny Gallon? Haven't heard about the latter since he left Turkey with an alleged hip injury in September. ~lw3

"One call, that's all... oh wow, that rhymes!" (scribbles) ~lw3

~lw3

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVDIVTXd1tI On the good side, once that JV kid's ankles heal up, he definitely has a future in pro wrestling. Great dive! ~lw3

It'll be much harder for Joe to turn into Joe-be again tonight, with the clingy Tony Allen following him around and denying him coveted spots near the rim. That means whoever gets Rudy Gay as their assignment must attack, attack, attack and make the man work. As for another favorable matchup on offense, whoever gets Marreese Speights should be able to call for the ball and declare aloud, "You, sir, are the Weakest Link. Goodbye!" Making Memphis rely on Q-Pon, Josh Davis, and Dante Cunningham if their frontline gets in early foul trouble is a win. Expect a lot more turnovers than usual since Memphis is #1 in Steals and in Opponents' Turnover Rate. Atlanta will have to be sure their guards and wings get back in transition and stem the fastbreaks when the ball gets stripped. They would also do well to avoid driving into Marc Gasol, who ranks 3rd in the NBA in charges drawn, 4th in blocks, and 6th (among Centers) in steals. Gasol has been responding to Coach Hollins' recent request to be less of a facilitator (3 assists in his last 3 games, but 47 assists in his the 12 games before that) and more of a presence in the paint (14 offensive boards in his last 4 games, compared to 14 total O-Rebs in the 9 games prior to those). It will be interesting to see the different matchups the Hawks employ on him. Don't be surprised to see O.J. Mayo playing a little more backup point guard for defensive purposes, especially if Hinrich is brought into the game to play the point. Hollins was pleased with the results the other night when he went with Mayo to cool off Andre Miller, going for a more veteran look instead of rookie Josh Selby. Not a lot of mystery to the Grizzlies' offense, as they are last in the league in 3-point takes and 3-point makes (less than one per quarter). They've struggled most of the time away from the FedEx Forum. A measly 85.8 PPG in 11 road games ranks them ahead of only the Wizards, Bobcats, Raptors, and Pistons, compared to 102.1 PPG in Memphis, ranking sixth overall for home scoring. A little 3-point magic from the likes of The Impaler, T-Mac, Joe, Blink, and Black Swan could give the Hawks the edge they'll need tonight. The Hawks are now second in the league in 3-point shooting percentage (ahead of the Magic and just behind Ray Allen's Celtics) even with you-know-who lofting up a prayer every now and then. ~lw3

Marvin replaces Al to defend our Shooting Stars title. ~lw3

"I am Mars Blackmon, and I approve this message." ~lw3

Oh and let's go ahead and add... FIRST PLACE HAWKS in the Dirty South Division! (Thank you Bucks!) Might it be Larry Drew picking the reserves??? ~lw3

Hawks now within 1 game of first in the East (thank you, Philly). ~lw3

I've got Josh and Deng as the last guys in. In his pocket, Josh presently leads all Eastern forwards in defensive rebounds, is 2nd in blocks, 5th in steals, and 6th in assists. Where it gets sticky is if the coaches decide they can't have an All-Star Game without a Celtic on board, in which case Pierce will probably get the lifetime achievement honor by replacing one of these two. Josh will have to get his shooting efficiency up and remain high in the aforementioned rankings to ensure he's not the one who gets snubbed. Head-scratcher: Why are the All-Star rosters stuck at 12, when the NBA minimum team rosters have been at 13 for awhile now? ~lw3

Was hoping we wouldn't have Leandro Barbosa (ankle) to kick us around again, but it looks like he'll play. Also hoping Linas Kleiza continues his good-game, bad-game pattern. Both guys have been instrumental as Toronto has also won 3 of their past 4 road games. The Raps hack an awful lot (most PFs/game; second-highest Opponent Free Throw Rate). The Hawks will want to keep Amir Johnson and Aaron Gray (3rd and 2nd in PFs/game in the league) in foul trouble, and make Toronto pay at the free throw line. Healthy servings of Teague (shooting 80% in his last 20 FTs) and Joe (shooting 88% in his last 50 FTs) driving into the paint will help. Ivan is top 10 in And-1 percentage, and shoots 85%, so his bull-in-china-shop approach on offense will be welcome. The Raps are also poor offensive rebounders (3rd worst in the NBA), yet they out-rebounded us on both ends last time in Atlanta. Assuming the Hawks start Zaza instead of Twin this time, we should expect better overall play on the boards, forcing Toronto to one-and-done offense. Toronto is quite effective in passing for short jumpers (1st in percentage of 3-9 foot baskets that are assisted). Incidentally, it's the area on the floor where the Hawks' opponents convert shots off of passes at the highest percentage in the league. Atlanta will need Marvin, Josh, and Ivan to force DeMar DeRozan and James Johnson into shots further out, and the wing players need to be ready to cut off passes in the paint when Jerryd Bayless and Jose Calderon direct the ball inside. ~lw3

I'll have some of what they're drinking. ~lw3

Great to have a good change-up to go to whenever the fastball isn't top-notch. ~lw3

http://espn.go.com/n...g-kenyon-martin Clips and Knicks have the inside track, but Sund has been on the phone, allegedly. ~lw3

http://www.insidehoops.com/blog/?p=9155 ~lw3