Hawks - Suns

[lethalweapon3]

Hard to recognize a team like this with the name “Suns” on the jersey. I haven’t seen one so inefficient offensively since the days when Starbury roamed the valley. Coach Gentry has slowed the pace down considerably since the Mike D’Antoni days. But poor shooting, combined with trademark shaky defense, has not improved their fortunes. Gentry also limits minutes and keeps players rotating off the bench, which might work well if he had the Sixers’ roster to work with.

With apologies to Los Angeles, Phoenix might be the real Lob City (67% Opponent FG% at the rim; 61.5% assisted at-the-rim baskets leads the league). It’s here where Steve Nash-to-Marcin Gortat (or Hakim Warrick, to a lesser extent) may be a problem.

Atlanta’s guards have to help Teague put pressure on Nash to generate turnovers, and they need to be capable of converting on breaks when the inevitable turnovers and missed shots come in transition. The rest of the team has to help Zaza fight for boards against Gortat, at the moment one of 11 players averaging a double-double.

Nash and Gortat aren’t getting a ton of steady help from the rest of the roster. After Nash, no one other than Ronnie Price (2.3) has more than two assists per game. Other than Jared Dudley (1.1) who might not play tonight (correction... Suns announced he'll suit up tonight) and Ronnie Price (1.0), no one on the team averages one or more steal per game. Channing Frye (5.4) and Markieff Morris (5.0) are the only remotely significant rebounders aside from Gortat.

There’s no real point in wasting any fouls on Phoenix’s outside shooters, as they are not exactly shooting well (7 regulars are shooting less than 41%), and don’t get to the line often, but are fairly effective when they do (Suns overall are 8^th in free throw percentage).

Breakout performances on this team have been rare. Michael Redd had a breakout of sorts two nights ago against the Bobcats (don’t we all) with 17 points, and will be looking to build on that. Ridden with bench splinters, our old friend Josh Childress has also been getting some burn as of late. Chillz has shot over 70 percent while averaging over 17 minutes over the last four games. The player to lure Smoove into a three-point shooting slugfest might be the 6-foot-10 rookie Morris. He’s managed to lead the Suns in three-point shooting (45.8%).

There’s no Tony Allen or Andre Iguodala out there to hound Joe all game long, so he needs to pretty much go off tonight. Marvin, Vlad, and T-Mac should prove capable of matching whatever Hill, Morris, and Frye bring to the table tonight.

Go Hawks!

~lw3

Edited February 6, 2012 by lethalweapon3

[Colin]

Zaza needs to stay out of foul trouble, because Gortat will most likely demolish Ivan inside. Gortat has really come into his own this year and began using his size more, he may not have much weight on him, but he can actually muscle bigger guys. Zaza needs to play tough and not let Gortat get inside and the Suns will be in trouble.

[Guest]

Will this be another blow-out loss? I hope not.

Will Joe have a bounce back game?

Where will Josh take his first shot from? 12-15 feet?

Will LD play Marv only 20 minutes?

Will Teague play agressive from the start?

Who starts - Zaza or IVAN

Will IVAN have another double double?

[Guest]

Absolutely no one in the arena right now. Very pathetic.

[Gray Mule]

You know, I know I'm getting old but I can remember when Atlanta

had an NBA team. They were called the Hawks.

Who are these pretenders we are seeing now? They look like

the old team but these guys sure can't shoot straight.

Please. Some one go out and find the real Hawk players.

[Sothron]

This is absolutely pathetic. We are getting blown out AT HOME yet again. This team showed more heart when we were the baby Hawks that struggled to win 15 games or whatever it was in the truly dark ages of the rebuilding. There is no fight in these guys. It just galls me to know the A$G still won't make a trade and will use Horford's injury as an excuse not to break up the core.

[TheTruth]

So is this how we are gonna play at home now unless our opponent barely has a pulse? We got our doors blown off by a 9-14 team at home. This team is a sad mix of bad coaching, no heart, no size, and no toughness.

And yet, I so thought this team was different after it shot out of the gate to start the season. Should have known better...

[DJlaysitup]

Well, well, well...it appears that the Hawks basketball team is fairly wildly inconsistent. When they are good they look like world beaters and when they are bad they would go into overtime against UGA.

How can this happen when other teams with talent seems to be realitively consistent? Could it be the water in Atlanta? Could it be magnetic fields from within the earth? Could it be the ghost of Nique?

...Or could it be the simple lack of quality coaching? (along with a few drafting mistakes).

Personally...it is my opinion...that our offense s_cks because Woody (even admitted) that he didn't coach a real offense...and now we have his protege'. I think our offense s_cks because we don't have a coach smart enough to coach offense.

We have good enough players.

Quality coaches don't say "we need to move the ball more"...they design plays to get guys open - and if that play doesn't work they have a back-cut option - and if that doesn't work they have an option for a three pointer...and if none of those work they have secondary plays since that only took ten seconds.

We fiddle around with the ball like 8th graders.

Edited February 7, 2012 by DJlaysitup

[benhillboy]

Didn't see the game, but the stats tell the story I guess. Gave up 52% shooting and 46% from three won't get it done unless you're the Warriors or Nuggets playing a worse defensive team. Outrebounded by 10. It seems as if the game wasn't as close as the score suggests. Luckily only 11,823 people wasted their time to see it, unless youre a Suns fan, and they probably outnumbered Hawks fans. It's particularly troubling because this is a clear indicator that Teague has a long way to go. Athletic young point guards routinely have career games against Steve Nash because he can't guard a grille and never has been able to. Not just the Roses, Williams, and Pauls who have lit him up for triple-doubles or close. Darren Collisons, Jared Jacks, and Jose Bareras can have their way with him. 6 points, no free throw attempts, 1 assist, and 1 rebound should've been 20 points, 6 rebounds, 10 assists, and 4 free throw attempts. On to the next one...

Edited February 7, 2012 by benhillboy