Drew can't manage a bench

[HawksBalla]

Even Woodson would always play eight players, I honestly can't remember one box score where he played less than his typical eight-man rotation. Now we have Drew who find any minutes for Teague, which is nothing new but after his Portland game its just embarrassing for Drew to give him DNP's, plus Wilkins is definitely good enough for at least 5-10 minutes. You're telling me his defensive bump, even if overrated from what it really is, isn't worth spelling JJ for a couple minutes, or getting Crawford's terrible D off the court?

I'm not saying that Drew should have played 10 or more guys...it's just dumb that we have five players listed at Center on this team (though you could play Powell or Armstrong at PF), and most of the other guys are just pure garbage. But there is NO excuse to not go AT LEAST 8 deep on this team, and probably 9.

The scary part is...what are the odds the bench doesn't get worse next year when Crawford leaves, especially when you consider we traded Jordan Crawford away and our #1 pick.

Edited March 24, 2011 by HawksBalla

[AHawks89]

How many players came off the bench tonight to play in the game? The answer: 2. Unbelievable.

[CBAreject]

Didn't see the game, but checking the box, I was flabbergasted to see only 7 players entered the game. In fact, I thought it was a mistake. Then I realized that maybe Drew was desperate, and cognizant of the fact that we have the worst 7-12 in the entire league, he felt he was giving his team the best chance to win. Notably, we got pasted in the 4th when players wore down, so the strategy seemed to backfire. Damien Wilkins and Teague should've at least gotten in the game before we considered playing Joe 44 minutes on an off night.

I think we have to take a step back and realize just how bad our bench is. I mean Crawford is a great 6th man, but he's a volume scorer with below average defensive capabilities and no real distribution skills, so he can't play the 1 effectively. We have 4 different back-up bigs, all of whom should scarcely be on an NBA roster. Zaza is the only fringe player in the bunch, and I've seen him personally cost us a couple of games with his abysmal play (Mavs, for example). Collins, Powell, and Armstrong will have a hard time finding a job after their current contracts are up. Wilkins is a fringe player with little to no offense. Teague can't be counted on to play adequate ball every night, though I'm not sure this is his fault (I think if he'd been given more minutes when our schedule was softer, he'd be more capable now). This bench just stinks, and it's not because of free agency; it's a direct result of poor drafting. We have exactly 3 reliable players left on our roster for the last 7 years worth of picks, including cases of multiple first and second rounders. No second rounder has panned out for us, despite drafting at the top of the round for many of those years. Teams like the Spurs find value at the bottom of the first and even the middle of the second. They don't all have to be stars, but it sure helps when you can get a Craig Smith or Dejuan Blair or Beno Udrih once in a while to play solid minutes. Ironically, Shelden Williams could be much more effective than any of our backup bigs. His only mistake was getting drafted too high for his obviously mediocre skill set.

[hawks21]

Philadelphia currently leads the league in BENCH POINTS with 40 points a game... Doug Collins really gets the most out of his bench and then some.

[CBAreject]

Philadelphia currently leads the league in BENCH POINTS with 40 points a game... Doug Collins really gets the most out of his bench and then some.

Standings aside, those Philadelphia 76'ers are the 5th best team in the EC. I don't just mean they're playing 5th best; I mean they have been the 5th best team considering the whole course of the season. We posted a point differential of a little better than 1.0 against a very soft schedule early on. Now that we're getting trounced, it will evaporate, already down to 0.5. I wonder if we'd be the first 5th seed in history to be outscored by its opposition :scratchhead: Philly has posted around a plus 2 mark for the year, and with their good play, they might eclipse 2.0 by the end of the year. The 2.5 game difference in the standings is luck and timing, but when you consider the overall play, Philly is the better team.

[EazyRoc]

What bench ?

[macdaddy]

Even Woodson would always play eight players, I honestly can't remember one box score where he played less than his typical eight-man rotation. Now we have Drew who find any minutes for Teague, which is nothing new but after his Portland game its just embarrassing for Drew to give him DNP's, plus Wilkins is definitely good enough for at least 5-10 minutes. You're telling me his defensive bump, even if overrated from what it really is, isn't worth spelling JJ for a couple minutes, or getting Crawford's terrible D off the court?

I'm not saying that Drew should have played 10 or more guys...it's just dumb that we have five players listed at Center on this team (though you could play Powell or Armstrong at PF), and most of the other guys are just pure garbage. But there is NO excuse to not go AT LEAST 8 deep on this team, and probably 9.

The scary part is...what are the odds the bench doesn't get worse next year when Crawford leaves, especially when you consider we traded Jordan Crawford away and our #1 pick.

I was totally with you until the last sentence. Crawford leaving can only make our bench better. His production for his $10 million he's making this season is a joke. I'd rather have Flip back at this point.

[Packfill]

I think what is truly repugnant about Drew's use of the bench is that he played JJ 32 minutes against Chicago - a game in which the Hawks were down by 30 at the half!!!!

How does he not get JJ some rest in a game like that? He has been an assistant coach with the team in prior years and should be fully aware that JJ wore down badly last season.

Then against Philly, after playing a game the prior evening, how does he not anticipate the team running out of energy in the 4th quarter?

Drew is doing exactly what Woodson did last year - he is coaching to maximize the teams record in the regular season and thereby undermining the teams ability to compete in the playoffs (not that the current roster gives them a chance anyway).

[JackB1]

Why oh Why would Drew choose to play only 2 guys off the bench and give his starters such heavy mimutes on the 2nd game of a back to back?

And what the hell happened to Teague????? The kid has a great game and all this talk about how Drew "always believed in him" and blah blah blah and

Teague goes back to not playing. WTF!???

It's almost like Drew doesn't know what he's doing anymore and is grasping at straws.

[HawksBalla]

1. Is Flip even in the league anymore? Come on. Crawford is definitely better than him, and I don't see anybody on this team that can replace his ppg and especially his occasional big night. Plus with our money problems there is no way we sign someone worth half a damn.

2. The AJC reminded me that we were on the second night of a back-to-back. That makes playing only seven players even worse. Look, I definitely agree that our bench sucks, but at the same time you're telling me wouldn't get away with Teague or Wilkens playing 5-10 minutes each, or sending any of our centers out there for at least the last minute of the 1st and 3rd quarter?????

[DJlaysitup]

Even Woodson would always play eight players, I honestly can't remember one box score where he played less than his typical eight-man rotation. Now we have Drew who find any minutes for Teague, which is nothing new but after his Portland game its just embarrassing for Drew to give him DNP's, plus Wilkins is definitely good enough for at least 5-10 minutes. You're telling me his defensive bump, even if overrated from what it really is, isn't worth spelling JJ for a couple minutes, or getting Crawford's terrible D off the court?...

Agree 100% HBalla...I think the main problem in the 4th quarter against Philly was that our guys were pooped...they tried..but were pooped out. Lost their legs and the shots stopped falling.

I even had this bizarre thought while it was happening (as I tend to have)...that maybe LD was making a point to some starters who complained about the other guys and was kinda sticking it to them just to make a point. Watch them wear down late so he could prove his point that this is a "Team game" and everybody's contributions matter. (using the game as a teaching point - ala Bobby Knight)

Then I quickly snapped out of it and realized LD doesn't have that kind of strategic thinking in him and he has been DNP-CDing Teague lately anyways so it didn't make sense.

So I went back to thinking LD is an idiot. :kickcan:

P.S. - I don't really think Jeff Teague would have likely been the major spark who would have won the game for us - but his defensive energy and a likely fast break basket would have cut an 18-2 run down to a 14-4 run or so....and we would have been right there at the end - maybe a close win for us...maybe O.T.

Edited March 25, 2011 by DJlaysitup

[sasuke]

LD is doing his Jim'O Brien impersonation.

[Crank]

I was totally with you until the last sentence. Crawford leaving can only make our bench better. His production for his $10 million he's making this season is a joke. I'd rather have Flip back at this point.

We are not asking him to produce anymore weve asked him to submit and he has .

Last year we asked him to be instant offense and to come in the game ultra aggressive and now weve asked him to come in and to setup Josh Powell for shots or Marvin and to overall give up shots to weaker offensive players . As I said hes down to 7 shots per game from last years 14 shots per game now over the past month so of course his production is gonna be down .

Last year Woody used jamal to perfection in terms of that he made sure he got jamal going when the starters were off the floor even if it meant Mo or Zaza got one or two fewer touches because he knew that jamal as good for nice 10+ point run in the second and end of 3rd quarters .

One example I can recall recently is the Nuggets game . In the 2nd quarter Jamal scored 7 straight points and we opened up a 12 point lead with the starters on the bench . He then didnt touch the ball for the next 4 possessions and they cut the lead back down to 5 and Drew called a timeout and called a set play for jamal out of the time out but he missed . The Nuggets would continue that run taking the lead a couple of minutes later AND WE NEVER REGAINED THE LEAD .

Now against the Bucks Joe got hot in the second and we milked Joe the entire quarter and it wasnt just isolations we moved the ball and got him shots from all over the court .

Thats what we did last year thats missing which is what Joe hinted at which is recognize where the ball should be going and then working as a unit to get it there consistently