Where's Hilton Armstrong and Jason Collins against Nene?

[hawks21]

Ty Lawson and Raymond Felton had a big impact on the game, and Coach Drew had taken Teague out of the game for most of the second half, and it seemed the tempos slowed down considerably.

Zaza had a nice game, but where was Hilton Armstrong and Jason Collins? This is a coaching error by Drew to let Nene control the game in the second half.

[macdaddy]

Ty Lawson and Raymond Felton had a big impact on the game, and Coach Drew had taken Teague out of the game for most of the second half, and it seemed the tempos slowed down considerably.

Zaza had a nice game, but where was Hilton Armstrong and Jason Collins? This is a coaching error by Drew to let Nene control the game in the second half.

I've been an LD supporter but he was beyond clueless in this game.

[Bawse]

This coach needs to be fired.

[Superiorblogman]

Drew is the worse coach in the league and that is exactly what they are paying him to be

[atlbraves93]

Ty Lawson and Raymond Felton had a big impact on the game, and Coach Drew had taken Teague out of the game for most of the second half, and it seemed the tempos slowed down considerably.

Zaza had a nice game, but where was Hilton Armstrong and Jason Collins? This is a coaching error by Drew to let Nene control the game in the second half.

Hilton Armstrong and Jason Collins were on the bench where they belong. They are two of the least serviceable big men in the league. Zaza played a great game. Horford should have done a better job of handling Nene, but I'm much happier that LD let Horf and Zaza play instead of those two scrubs.

[DJlaysitup]

...Zaza had a nice game, but where was Hilton Armstrong and Jason Collins?...

As two of the worst bigs in the NBA today, Hilton and Jason were where they should have been....on the pine until garbage time.

[atlbraves93]

I agree that the Hawks have problems, but this thread doesn't pose any solutions. Everybody likes to pin the blame on LD, but take a look at the roster before you criticize the coach. The Hawks' bench is one of the worst (and oldest) in the league. They have 3 big men who are basically useless (Armstrong, Collins, Powell). Zaza is average, aging and extremely foul prone. I like Damien Wilkins, but he is 31 and isn't skilled enough to be playing major minutes. Then you have Marvin, who is average at best and overpaid. Jamal Crawford is streaky, makes a lot of money, and is getting old.

You don't see teams with benches like these going deep in the playoffs. IMO, the Hawks should let Crawford, Armstrong, Powell, Collins, and Etan Thomas walk at the end of the year when their contracts expire, and bring back Damien as a role player in defensive situations. Then they need to go out and get some players to bolster the bench. With the cap space they gain when Jamal leaves, they will be able to look at some quality players.

And if you are criticizing LD for not playing Teague enough, did you see how he played in the last 2 games? He is raw and needs to develop. He can grow into a very good player but in some situations he is a liability out there and should be on the bench.

[hawks21]

I agree that the Hawks have problems, but this thread doesn't pose any solutions. Everybody likes to pin the blame on LD, but take a look at the roster before you criticize the coach. The Hawks' bench is one of the worst (and oldest) in the league. They have 3 big men who are basically useless (Armstrong, Collins, Powell). Zaza is average, aging and extremely foul prone. I like Damien Wilkins, but he is 31 and isn't skilled enough to be playing major minutes. Then you have Marvin, who is average at best and overpaid. Jamal Crawford is streaky, makes a lot of money, and is getting old.

You don't see teams with benches like these going deep in the playoffs. IMO, the Hawks should let Crawford, Armstrong, Powell, Collins, and Etan Thomas walk at the end of the year when their contracts expire, and bring back Damien as a role player in defensive situations. Then they need to go out and get some players to bolster the bench. With the cap space they gain when Jamal leaves, they will be able to look at some quality players.

And if you are criticizing LD for not playing Teague enough, did you see how he played in the last 2 games? He is raw and needs to develop. He can grow into a very good player but in some situations he is a liability out there and should be on the bench.

Larry Drew does deserve some criticism. Everybody is getting older, but you can't be afraid to use your bench to shake things up. Offseason decisions need to be made, but ignoring the bench totally isn't the answer. Etan, Jason and Hilton could have played a few minutes apiece.

Josh Smith has been more of a liability with his shot selection than Teague in the past few games. Last week in Chicago, Josh opened the door for Derrick Rose and the Bulls to score a bunch of points, and once again Josh couldn't resist against the Nuggets in shooting a bunch of bad shots...

Edited March 17, 2011 by hawks21

[DJlaysitup]

...Etan, Jason and Hilton could have played a few minutes apiece....

I agree that it wouldn't have hurt for LD to plug in one of for a few minutes (Collins I suppose, since he has actual experience playing with our real players). We have to remember though, that this wasn't a blowout until very late and the Nuggets didn't really pull away until their shooters got it going late. So I can't really blame LD for not playing any of those guys, None would have been an upgrade over Zaza and none of them were going to guard the perimeter anyway.

If LD HAD played them we would be reading posts now about "why did LD sit Zaza when he was having one of his best games!?!" (he did lead the team in scoring).