Hawks @ Denver

[Admin]

I find it funny that some said the Hawks shouldn't run and gun. Haven't people screaming that the Hawks be a running team for a while now?

Now that we have a couple of PG that can do it, you don't want them to?

To me I think that we should run when we get turnovers or favorable opportunities but we shouldn't just run for the sake of running because right now we're prone to TO's so we need to be careful with the ball.

[Atlantaholic]

Part of me feels the last two games are just too good to be true, and we'll eventually see the old Hawks again... But I'm hopeful that the change in mindset is here to stay, and if that is indeed the case than there is no reason that the defense should take a night off. If we do what we did the last two games we should win tonight.

[hawkshomer]

I'm hoping Al can be a big part of tonight since he didn't get that many minutes last night. Also something to think about is this. Half the nuggets players aren't used to the altitude as they just got there a couple days ago.

[frosgrim]

I find it funny that some said the Hawks shouldn't run and gun. Haven't people screaming that the Hawks be a running team for a while now?

Now that we have a couple of PG that can do it, you don't want them to?

You shouldn't run on the second night of a back-to-back while in Denver. In other cities, on other nights, absolutely the Hawks should run. Denver is just a special place due to altitude. Guys can get gassd early and not recover in time for the 4th quarter. If this was a game at sea level, then yeah, run the legs off the other team.

[spotatl]

Gotta say I'm pretty shocked that the Nuggets are 6 point favorites in this one.

[Admin]

Gotta say I'm pretty shocked that the Nuggets are 6 point favorites in this one.

I know in the NFL you get 3 points for being the home team but what about in basketball, how many points does the home team get? :read:

According to that teamrankings.com site that High5 posted we have a 30% chance of winning tonight.

[Bawse]

Welp, here's hoping for Hinrich's first start.

[spotatl]

Usually the home court advantage is considered to be around 2.5-3 points in the NBA. maybe in Denver on a back to back that would be 4 points.

I've had a very profitable season betting on the NBA this season. (15-3-1) This was just an unexpected line to me. I haven't decided whether I am going to put money on this but I'm awfully tempted.

[Admin]

Usually the home court advantage is considered to be around 2.5-3 points in the NBA. maybe in Denver on a back to back that would be 4 points.

I've had a very profitable season betting on the NBA this season. (15-3-1) This was just an unexpected line to me. I haven't decided whether I am going to put money on this but I'm awfully tempted.

I'm not a betting man but even if I were I'd be afraid to bet on this game since we're playing so much differently than we have for the majority of the season and a good portion of Denver's rotation has been turned over so who knows what we should expect. I guess for me if you think that we're going to lose I'd expect that we'll lose by at least 6.

[ATLHawks6]

Frequent visitor to the board, but seldom poster....

Growing up in Denver, and being a big Nuggets fan, this is the game I look forward to more than any other in the regular season (I know, I'm one of those guys who has two teams he likes. I usually hate on people who do that, but I love the game so much, I need another team.) Honestly, this game could be a little difficult for ATL. The Nuggets usually take care of games like this, when the the opposition comes into the Pepsi Center and that altitude after playing a late game the night before. One thing I've noticed about the Nuggets since "The Trade", is that the ball movement is spectacular. No more is there the black hole of Carmelo Anthony where he holds on to the rock for 10 seconds then either takes that jumper or drives to the bucket looking to draw a whistle. This team will make the Hawks work tonight, this is the type of team George Karl loves to coach.

This game tonight is filled with intruiging match-ups. I would suspect that the Hawks will try to match Teague's quickness with Lawson's, while using Hinrich for Felton's more physical game. I also love that Horford vs. Nene matchup in the low block. Nene needs to take a much larger scoring role now that 'Melo and Chauncey is gone, he now needs to have a solid (not spectacular) game to give Denver a chance to win on any given night. I really do find these teams to be somewhat of mirror images to each other in the past few years, with the similarities being:

- Both teams improved from the doldrums at about the same time a few years ago, and now both have seemed to hit a wall as they look to take the next step in being a championship-caliber team.

- At PG, both drafted ACC guards in the '09 draft who are very similar. Teague and Lawson are very fast, (but Lawson might just be the fastest player with the ball in his hand going from end-to-end in the league) and are expected to be the point guards of the future. Also, both teams made trades at the deadline that landed them veteran point guards who had a different dimension of physicality and more toughness.

- Both teams are trying to hit that "next level" in the unconventional way of not having a true superstar, but rather a few guys that can be "the guy" on any given night. While you can make the argument Joe is a superstar, he is just one notch below being "that guy" when you compare him to the stars of stars in this league, and knowing that he will get you 25-30 points each game.

- When I see Josh Smith, I can't help but think of a younger Kenyon Martin....

- Jamal Crawford and J.R. Smith are both instant offense and volume scorers off of the bench.

And each team has white guys (Zaza and Birdman) who are all hustle, and are "fan favorites" but at the same time have the tendency to alienate their fans with poor performances in some games.

I feel that with the short rest, (I'd imagine the Hawks probably didn't check into their hotel until about 6:00 AM Denver time) and the Alititude, that the Nuggets will pull away in the 4th quarter for a 94-79 win. Anyway, as you can tell I'm extremely excited for this. Go Hawks!.... and Nuggets.!

[tremor]

This might be decided by bench. It's B2B away vs one of the deepest teams in the league, even deeper after the trade. We have advantage in guards department, if our bigs hold their own vs theirs, we have a chance.

[terrell]

Tonight's tipoff is less than 24 hours after the end of last nights game. Thats extremely tough. Especially on the road. Altitude or no altitude. With Bibby, we wouldnt stand a chance. With Teague and Kirk we at least have a shot.

Edited February 28, 2011 by terrell

[Admin]

Frequent visitor to the board, but seldom poster....

Growing up in Denver, and being a big Nuggets fan, this is the game I look forward to more than any other in the regular season (I know, I'm one of those guys who has two teams he likes. I usually hate on people who do that, but I love the game so much, I need another team.) Honestly, this game could be a little difficult for ATL. The Nuggets usually take care of games like this, when the the opposition comes into the Pepsi Center and that altitude after playing a late game the night before. One thing I've noticed about the Nuggets since "The Trade", is that the ball movement is spectacular. No more is there the black hole of Carmelo Anthony where he holds on to the rock for 10 seconds then either takes that jumper or drives to the bucket looking to draw a whistle. This team will make the Hawks work tonight, this is the type of team George Karl loves to coach.

This game tonight is filled with intruiging match-ups. I would suspect that the Hawks will try to match Teague's quickness with Lawson's, while using Hinrich for Felton's more physical game. I also love that Horford vs. Nene matchup in the low block. Nene needs to take a much larger scoring role now that 'Melo and Chauncey is gone, he now needs to have a solid (not spectacular) game to give Denver a chance to win on any given night. I really do find these teams to be somewhat of mirror images to each other in the past few years, with the similarities being:

- Both teams improved from the doldrums at about the same time a few years ago, and now both have seemed to hit a wall as they look to take the next step in being a championship-caliber team.

- At PG, both drafted ACC guards in the '09 draft who are very similar. Teague and Lawson are very fast, (but Lawson might just be the fastest player with the ball in his hand going from end-to-end in the league) and are expected to be the point guards of the future. Also, both teams made trades at the deadline that landed them veteran point guards who had a different dimension of physicality and more toughness.

- Both teams are trying to hit that "next level" in the unconventional way of not having a true superstar, but rather a few guys that can be "the guy" on any given night. While you can make the argument Joe is a superstar, he is just one notch below being "that guy" when you compare him to the stars of stars in this league, and knowing that he will get you 25-30 points each game.

- When I see Josh Smith, I can't help but think of a younger Kenyon Martin....

- Jamal Crawford and J.R. Smith are both instant offense and volume scorers off of the bench.

And each team has white guys (Zaza and Birdman) who are all hustle, and are "fan favorites" but at the same time have the tendency to alienate their fans with poor performances in some games.

I feel that with the short rest, (I'd imagine the Hawks probably didn't check into their hotel until about 6:00 AM Denver time) and the Alititude, that the Nuggets will pull away in the 4th quarter for a 94-79 win. Anyway, as you can tell I'm extremely excited for this. Go Hawks!.... and Nuggets.!

Very good post and hard to disagree with anything you said there ... although I'm certainly hoping for a different outcome!!

[APE]

When I saw JR Smith's name all I could imagine is that game last season where he had like 100 threes against us.

[ATLHawks6]

Per MC's twitter: Hinrich is a game-time decision with a calf injury so the starters will be Teague, Joe, Marvin, Josh and Al.

And for the Nuggets, Gallinari has been ruled out with a toe injury, and Denver's beat writer Chris Dempsey says Wilson Chandler will start in his place. So I'm assuming K-Mart will play and start. So I'm guessing their starters are Lawson, Afflalo, Chandler, Kenyon and Nene.

[Frenzy]

Wow @ Hinrich being a game time decision

[Superiorblogman]

http://twitter.com/ajchawks

We are sitting this one out and falling further behind because of cashflow

Wow @ Hinrich being a game time decision

Already :Nail Biting:

[BusBoyIsBack]

I want to see what kind of performance we give defensively tonight. They say once in an accident, twice is a coincidence. We start putting together 3+ games of this lockdown D, and you have to start to think that this team is for real as soon as right now

[DJlaysitup]

You shouldn't run on the second night of a back-to-back while in Denver. In other cities, on other nights, absolutely the Hawks should run. Denver is just a special place due to altitude. Guys can get gassd early and not recover in time for the 4th quarter. If this was a game at sea level, then yeah, run the legs off the other team.

Yeah Fros...as someone who moved from Sea level (Chas'n S.C.) to Denver I can say it was a plus-minus for me. The plus was how far my golf shots suddenly went :biggrin: ...the minus was how fast I got gassed doing any physical work/exercise :bad: .

Of course I wasn't a pro basketball player, and most of our guys have gone through this before....still I have to agree 100% that we could be sucking air bigtime if we try to run this team out of the gym early.

I would guess this will be a tough game with our perimeter shooters likely hitting the back of the rim alot at first, then leaving them short as their legs go away.

I'll pick Hawks in a close one - but I sure wouldn't bet any money.

[WraithSentinel]

With Kirk out. This game just became a long shot to win. Denver has two PGs that will tear us apart.