Our Next Opponent

[sillent]

Watching the Lakers play (lose) tonight scares me because I know they won't have a repeat of the same performance. It also intrigues me because I know the Lakers will bring their A game to not be defeated on their home court 2 times in a row. This will give us a preview of where we stand with our first real test against a hungry World Championship team. Of course not hungry in a sense of absolutely needing a win but hungry in the sense of not showing weaknesses. Despite the loss the Lakers are the team to beat and will be looking to show that against an up and coming Hawks team that kind of embarrassed them their last game they played against each other. The Lakers will definitely be looking to prove something and so will we so hopefully it will be a good overall showing(at least for us) .

[HawkFoLife]

I agree, that loss irked me a bit in LA last night cause you just have to know that they won't have anything close to a repeat performance like that Sunday. We have to really bring a steel mental in that game from beginning to end and you know the Hawks are about as predictable as a Butterfly on a windy day on the road.

[DjGrizz]

Pau is a HUGE key to the Lakers success, he was out with a hamstring. If anything, that is why they struggled against the Mavs. So no, just cause they lost tonight does not mean they'll avoid a repeat performance against us Sunday. Pau is expected to be out for Sundays game as well, which leaves the Lakers with the same problem. Hawks match up against them MUCH better with the absence of Gasol and I think we have more than a fighting chance in that game.

[Peoriabird]

Pau is a HUGE key to the Lakers success, he was out with a hamstring. If anything, that is why they struggled against the Mavs. So no, just cause they lost tonight does not mean they'll avoid a repeat performance against us Sunday. Pau is expected to be out for Sundays game as well, which leaves the Lakers with the same problem. Hawks match up against them MUCH better with the absence of Gasol and I think we have more than a fighting chance in that game.

You guys need to stop fooling yourselves! If we play like we did on offense like we did against the Pacers and defense like we played against the Wizards, then we have a chance. If we play the opposite i.e. stagnant offense like we displayed against the Wizards and losing our man on the perimeter defense like we did against Indy, we will get blown out!

[MaceCase]

Good news, Joe won't have to guard a PG. Bad news, he has to guard Kobe and Artest.

[Atlantaholic]

I'm definitely not looking forward to Iso-Joe vs. Artest.

[TheNorthCydeRises]

Good thing that JJ isn't as scary as the fan base. That dude willingly guards the best SG or SF on a nightly basis, so having to go up against Crazy Ron or Kobe isn't going to phaze him one bit. If anything, it'll motivate him.

On the road and in back-to-backs, Crawford becomes the X-factor. If he plays aggressively, but under control, he can do some serous damage against that Laker 2nd unit.

Hawks must contain Bynum. If we let him go for 16+ points and 8+ rebounds, Hawks probably lose.

The more telling game for the Hawks will come on Monday night vs Portland. Having to play the night after we play the Lakers, will show just how much we can depend on the bench.

[Blunt91]

Good thing that JJ isn't as scary as the fan base. That dude willingly guards the best SG or SF on a nightly basis, so having to go up against Crazy Ron or Kobe isn't going to phaze him one bit. If anything, it'll motivate him.

On the road and in back-to-backs, Crawford becomes the X-factor. If he plays aggressively, but under control, he can do some serous damage against that Laker 2nd unit.

Hawks must contain Bynum. If we let him go for 16+ points and 8+ rebounds, Hawks probably lose.

The more telling game for the Hawks will come on Monday night vs Portland. Having to play the night after we play the Lakers, will show just how much we can depend on the bench.

I'm more worried about Odom than I am Bynum. Odom had a "field day" on the boards against us last season. We need to make sure we box out well against this team.

[tremor]

I'm not worried about our frontcourt - without Gasol we're overall better than Lakers .

But if Joe continues to struggle I'm seriously hoping Woodson will limit his minutes, Bibby will take more threes and we'll see more Crawford.

[jy23]

With pau out al can patrol the paint a lil more n if he n Josh keep up their play then we should b Ok. Odom gives us the most problems on that team, Josh n Marvin have got to play good d n BOXOUT!!!!!! If we keep them off the offensive glass I like our chances

[benhillboy]

Damn, I was watching the game on and off last night, and didn't even realize Pau didn't play, who would've made a big difference but wouldn't have changed the outcome. Everybody, including me, slept on the Mavs and we should apologize because they look very solid under the consumate pro Carlisle and the Matrix is back after a hibernation in Miami. With that said, I'm not afraid of the Lakers at all. A huge part of Kobe's dominance in the past, the ability to rise much higher and quicker than his opponent, is all but shot after the Olympics, but leave it to him to consult "The Dream" and develop a comfortable post repitoire. Gasol, Bynum, Artest (who replaced a much better fit in Ariza) Fisher, Odom, none of these guys strike fear in me, as evidenced by their folding up last night and poor losses in the playoffs last year. Brown and Mbenga are the only players, other than Kobe of course, who I am confident can play with intensity while staying in their role. If Pau doesn't play, I can see Josh and Al embarrassing their front line, and everything else shoould fall into place if we are focused from the outset. I'm still hurting over the Flip departure, but I'll get over it if Al and Josh dominate the boards regularly and the latter overflows the stat sheet like he has in the first two and keep embarrassing jumpers to an extreme minimum. Don't want to see Crawford matched against Kobe on either end, but make Fish run after Teague, and we finally get a respectable position on ESPN highlights. It seems Cleveland losing is more important than us winning. We have to make the league respect us all over again, along with putting some butts in the damn Phil. Lets go Hawks.

[exodus]

We've split with the Lakers the last two years.

[ATLNY7]

I just hope the hawks go out there and play hard.

[DjGrizz]

You guys need to stop fooling yourselves! If we play like we did on offense like we did against the Pacers and defense like we played against the Wizards, then we have a chance. If we play the opposite i.e. stagnant offense like we displayed against the Wizards and losing our man on the perimeter defense like we did against Indy, we will get blown out!

I don't even understand this.

[Wurider05]

DOn't be suprised if Kobe wants JJ to himself. That means Artest on Smoove (they wouldn't waste him on Marvin who is the 4th option). The matchup to try to exploit will be Marvin vs. Odom and Bynum vs. Horford. . Our two best offensive players will be guarded by two of the better defenders in the league. I think we match up well against the Lakers. Win or lose the game should be close!!!

PS--The keys to the game will be Bibby and Crawford

Edited November 1, 2009 by Wurider05

[Wurider05]

I just hope the hawks go out there and play hard.

That going out and playing hard is for teams like Oklahoma and Sacremento. We need to out and win against teams like this. No one is going to remember if we played hard. They are going to remember that we won.

Please don't act like you don't understand the point I am trying to make!!!!

[EazyRoc]

I do know this. If we manage to beat them at Home, we have a good chance at taking the season series.

[bonethugz]

We've split with the Lakers the last two years.

but i believe we didn't to too well in la last year and/or the year before.......

actually i was hoping to face a 0-2 lakers. that way we can really see how we are as a team. we don't need a good record at all. we need to know if we are good enough. if we are not, sund need to look for help either via trade or something else.

[DrReality]

I'm definitely not looking forward to Iso-Joe vs. Artest.

Good point. But hopefully it will get someone else open.

[MaceCase]

I'm definitely not looking forward to Iso-Joe vs. Artest.

I'm looking forward to the IsoRon aka Artest trying to play the superstar and replace Pau's production by shooting the Lakers out of the game.