Tonight vs Minny

[RedDawg#8]

This is going to be a tougher game than it looks for a couple of reasons. They are a very energetic and scrappy team that hasn't backed down from better opponents. We still play down to teams with less talent (if we aren't motivated). Rubio vs. Teague and Smith vs Love will be the keys to this one. Smith can't get into a jumpshooting contest with Love, and he has to at least TRY to keep him off the glass, which is tough for anyone to do. Rubio has been dazzling with his passing game and if we aren't disciplined on D he can make whoevers on the floor look sillly. We just can't allow ourselves to be lazy and get out hustled because this is exactly the kind of team that will punish you for sleeping on them. We should win, but it might turn out to be a very ugly game.

[HawksFan87]

Who said josh was guarding love in the first place? Smoove is shooting over 50 % from the field while y'all sitting around conplainimg about him shooting jumpers in every post. I have no problem with it as long as he starts on the inside first, and takes them in rhythm.

[Diesel]

This is going to be a tougher game than it looks for a couple of reasons. They are a very energetic and scrappy team that hasn't backed down from better opponents. We still play down to teams with less talent (if we aren't motivated). Rubio vs. Teague and Smith vs Love will be the keys to this one. Smith can't get into a jumpshooting contest with Love, and he has to at least TRY to keep him off the glass, which is tough for anyone to do. Rubio has been dazzling with his passing game and if we aren't disciplined on D he can make whoevers on the floor look sillly. We just can't allow ourselves to be lazy and get out hustled because this is exactly the kind of team that will punish you for sleeping on them. We should win, but it might turn out to be a very ugly game.

Well, I've been keeping up with this team. Here's what I say..

Regardless of where he is on offense, K-Love is their offense. He scores almost 40% of their points and he is their rebounder and one of the best in the game at it.

Tonight just for grins, I would play a little K-Love Zone defense... I would put Joe on K-Love on the perimeter and I would play twin and let twin Body K-Love out of rebounding position in the post. Everybody else we have on the floor is in scramble mode. Our defense tonight should be to make life hard for K-Love.

I know they have Rubio passing. I know they have other guys who can score. But the main question is what happens when your main man is hampered by tough defense?

[RedDawg#8]

Who said josh was guarding love in the first place? Smoove is shooting over 50 % from the field while y'all sitting around conplainimg about him shooting jumpers in every post. I have no problem with it as long as he starts on the inside first, and takes them in rhythm.

Well considering that they both play PF I would assume they would be matched up at some point throughout the game. And yes, Smooves outside shooting has been great as of late especially, but history (7years) has shown that he cannot keep it up, therefore like yourself I do hope he starts on the inside, my worry is that once Love starts to knockdown a couple of three's, the competitor in Smoove will want to respond by shooting them as well. I have no doubt that he can carry us in Horfords absence much like he did a few years ago when Joe was out for the year, tonight is just a tough matchup against a player whom many consider the best all around PF in the NBA. Loves style of play is exactly what has been our achilles heel, tough, scrappy and smart basketball. Can Smoove get those 13 rebounds like he has the past few games against a guy who gets 20 boards a game regularly? It will be a team effort but we all know that the way Smoove plays determines how this team will performs, it always has.

[Guest]

Play IVAN to keep Love off boards, his perimter defense is also good. I'm afraid the refs will foul IVAN out in 3minutes though.

Edited January 14, 2012 by JayBirdHawk

[HawksFan87]

The past is the past for a reason... Also Love can't guard smoove. Josh should continue to play his game the right way and not worry about what anyone outside of the hawks thinks he should be doing.

[MaceCase]

Play IVAN to keep Love off boards, his perimter defense is also good. I'm afraid the refs will foul IVAN out in 3minutes though.

Lol, I think people need to just face it, no one is keeping Love off the boards but the scariest part is that he's now getting superstar calls so I'll trump your 3 minutes by saying Ivan fouls out in a 1:43.

[99PROBL3MS]

The past is the past for a reason... Also Love can't guard smoove. Josh should continue to play his game the right way and not worry about what anyone outside of the hawks thinks he should be doing.

I don't think that was, the point. Lebron James is the only player with more attempts at the rim and a higher %age than Smoove. He has attempted 66 shots there and 67 shots from 16ft and out. There is something very wrong with that picture. Smoove is one of the NBA's best finishers but is hell bent on playing more outside.

Edited January 14, 2012 by 99PROBL3MS

[Sothron]

What an incredible comeback led by the Johnson Boys. Joe had 25 and Ivan got his first career double double in the NBA. Amazing.

[uga2006]

It really is time to get rid of Smoove. That 3 PT shot he took at the end of the game was just typical. If not for Ivan cleaning up Smooves mess we go to OT. Smoove wants to be a star and he is not and will never learn to play inside his limits. It is just so frustrating to watch him and he never gets better he just stays the same year in and year out.

[MoBetta]

Josh does need to realize he's just a sidekick player and will never be anything more. But I have to blame joe for passing to him. That was dumb.

[lethalweapon3]

Grantland: "Where Has Ivan Johnson Been All Our Lives?"

http://www.grantland.com/blog/the-triangle/post/_/id/13431/where-has-ivan-johnson-been-all-our-lives

~lw3

[sillent]

It really is time to get rid of Smoove. That 3 PT shot he took at the end of the game was just typical. If not for Ivan cleaning up Smooves mess we go to OT. Smoove wants to be a star and he is not and will never learn to play inside his limits. It is just so frustrating to watch him and he never gets better he just stays the same year in and year out.

You can easily do that. Trade yourself to another team. Every team has their frustrations. Lebron, Wade, Kobe everyone gets ridiculed for something. You have to learn to take the good with the bad or find out the hard way that the grass is not always greener on the other side. He decided to quit this game after the 1st for whatever reason but he still did a good job containing Love. Love still got his shots and rebounds but was not able to control the game. Smoove is/was the highest ranked player on our team this season when it comes to winning games. Trade him for who? Another headache in a different way? Why not just make it simple and trade yourself. This isn't to you personally but everybody that thinks this way about our most exciting and best(when he wants to be) player.

[atlbraves93]

It really is time to get rid of Smoove. That 3 PT shot he took at the end of the game was just typical. If not for Ivan cleaning up Smooves mess we go to OT. Smoove wants to be a star and he is not and will never learn to play inside his limits. It is just so frustrating to watch him and he never gets better he just stays the same year in and year out.

When will this nonsense end? He is having a career year and is one game removed from a 30 and 16 effort, and that 3 he took was his only one of the game. I don't know what else he needs to do to impress people. Same deal with the team itself. IDK what they need to do to impress some of y'all, because beating the Heat AND Bulls AND being 9-4 wasn't enough to stop the "blow it up" talk. The bottom line is, with our current roster situation, there is nobody that we could realistically acquire that I would rather have than Josh. Also, stop complaining because this is a great team.

Edited January 15, 2012 by atlbraves93

[sillent]

Josh does need to realize he's just a sidekick player and will never be anything more. But I have to blame joe for passing to him. That was dumb.

It's nothing about sidekick it's more about Josh not having respect for that team. Him and Kevin Love played/practiced with the USA team so it may be something more to that. I remember Josh either dunking on Love or blocking Love's dunk and Love down playing it by saying Josh does that to everybody. It's so many factors that come into play from game to game we won't ever no where people's heads and hearts are at when their on the court. Maybe Josh bet Love our bench could beat them or that the Hawks could beat them without him doing nothing. Pride and ego play a lot into sports and that looked like an ego move by Josh. I'm surprise Drew didn't bench him early in the 2nd quarter as Josh just slid to the side and tried to avoid almost every play.

[High5]

There was a lot to not like about that game, but the team faced a lot of adversity and came back strong in the clutch moments so that's something to be happy about. Especially since it was the bench who did a lot of the work. Ivan beat Love's *ss on the boards and then he drained clutch FTs like he's Kobe. Beautiful.

[lethalweapon3]

Substitutions well done by LD in that second half. Teague together with the subs helped turn that back into a ballgame.

~lw3

[Gray Mule]

Bottom line is, we win!!!

[JackB1]

It really is time to get rid of Smoove. That 3 PT shot he took at the end of the game was just typical. If not for Ivan cleaning up Smooves mess we go to OT. Smoove wants to be a star and he is not and will never learn to play inside his limits. It is just so frustrating to watch him and he never gets better he just stays the same year in and year out.

This is why Josh can never be trusted to make the smart play when it really counts. Something is off with the wiring in his brain for him to think he can make that shot. He is still hanging out at the arc when he should be playing inside. It almost cost us the game tonite and if Ivan wasn't there to bail him out, we would probably have lost in OT.

[DJlaysitup]

Substitutions well done by LD in that second half. Teague together with the subs helped turn that back into a ballgame.

~lw3

Gotta love our current bench. We are getting more than just Jamal Crawford and a prayer...so far Jamal's stats (Portland) are:

Craw: 12 games, 24 mins per, 12.7 ppg on 35.6% shooting. 30% on threes, 3 assists per game, 1.7 turnovers per game. He has scored 20 or more in 3 of 12 games.

I think we are getting FAR more out of our bench by spending the Craw money on quality VetMin players. I'll admit I loved watching when Craw was hot....but I'm glad we finally seem to have a relatively balanced bench. If T-Mac can stay healthy for awhile I'll love it even more.

Tonight was fun...flat at first - then Ivan brought the energy - then Vlad and Willie hit shots and Collins even did a little.. I'll take that bench over Craw and a bunch of stander-arounders.