Hawks - Suns, the Rematch

[lethalweapon3]

If there was a worse shooting team anywhere in the NBA last night than the Hawks, it may have been the Suns. Ronnie Price (2-11), Shannon Brown (2-11), Marcin Gortat (4-13), Bassy Telfair (3-8), Josh Childress (1-6), and Robin Lopez (0-7) all had a hard time keeping pace in the thin Colorado air against a depleted Nuggets team.

Not having Steve Nash and Grant Hill at their disposal may have had a bit to do with it. Alvin Gentry rested both last night, the second of 3 consecutive games, to help them refresh themselves, presumably after the veterans logged heavy minutes of late. Both are expected to be available tonight. Another sleeper last night to keep an eye out for is Channing Frye. Until last night he turned in 14+ points in the prior five games, a string that began last week in Atlanta.

We need one of Marvin or T-Mac (4-14 last night in LA-LA-Land) to step up and give Grant Hill a reason to lay off of Joe, who himself has to find easier shots (1-8 beyond the arc last night). With better defensive positioning, Zaza slowed Bynum down better after that first quarter, which is a good lesson learned going into tonight's matchup with Gortat.

47.5% seems to be the magic number. The Hawks are 1-11 when their effective field goal percentage is at or below that 47.5% value, squeaking past the Wolves at home by 2 points being that one exception. They're 17-0 when the meniscus winds up above that level. Stop blowing layups and taking high degree-of-difficulty shots, and they should be in this game no matter what else goes on.

Go Hawks!

~lw3

[benhillboy]

All I care about is Teague having a do-over against awful-defending Nash. His stat line last game was pathetic for an athletic PG. He can drive past Nash at will and finish against their non-existent shot blocking and defense at the rim. Gortat should not deter him at all from living in the paint. If he has the game he's supposed to (economical 25, 8, 5, 3), we should be good.

Edited February 15, 2012 by benhillboy

[hawkrule152]

All I care about is Teague having a do-over against awful-defending Nash. His stat line last game was pathetic for an athletic PG. He can drive past Nash at will and finish against their non-existent shot blocking and defense at the rim. Gortat should not deter him at all from living in the paint. If he has the game he's supposed to (economical 25, 8, 5, 3), we should be good.

That stat line may be pushing it a bit. Haha. Hope to see it happen tho!!

[cam1218]

The Suns really aren't that good. They do have Steve Nash though. He is a guy who I've always wanted to be a Hawk and probably one of my favorite players, but that is pretty much all they have. I initially expected us to win at home and have them to return the favor on the road. Since they beat us at Philips, I fully expect us to get a win tonight.

[Supporter]

I've really lost interest in Hawks basketball these past couple of weeks (school and Linsanity). I hope that the Hawks get a statement win today and that Joe gets more than 1 free throw attempt this game.

[yungsta]

why do we struggle against the suns??? I remember the last time we beat the suns we got lucky with a buzzer beater.

[DJlaysitup]

47.5% seems to be the magic number. The Hawks are 1-11 when their effective field goal percentage is at or below that 47.5% value, squeaking past the Wolves at home by 2 points being that one exception. They're 17-0 when the meniscus winds up above that level. Stop blowing layups and taking high degree-of-difficulty shots, and they should be in this game no matter what else goes on.

Go Hawks!

~lw3

Interesting that you mentioned the team FG%age LW3...it has always been a stat that I have followed closely. Back when I was a younger fella and a Larry Bird fan (because he was in our college conference - MVC)...I generally had to follow box scores in the newspapers. I never really worried about the Hawks beating the Celtics back then because the Celtics were consistently around 50% on FGs and the Hawks (even with Nique) tended to be around 45%.

Of course the key is being smart and getting higher percentage shots over the long haul.

We have to stay away from the last second "miracle attempts" as a rule and get solid shots for our players in their comfort zones.

Hope we can do that tonight and get a much needed WIN !! Go Hawks !!

[Gray Mule]

Good to win one on the road!

Our all star had one three, one two and one free throw. Thats all folks.

Josh carried us, almost single handedly, late. JT great early.

Bench came thru. Especially Green and Rad Man from three.

[BIgAl]

lol Marvin had a tough game :D

[Sothron]

Josh and Willie Green came out to play last night. Josh's game was one for the ages. I wish I could record that whole game and cut it down to Josh plays just to show people why he is not only an All Star but why we need to keep him playing at that kind of level more consistently.

[benhillboy]

The only other player with Josh's stat line was LeBron in a double overtime game. I swear Josh is the weirdest player to figure out that I've ever seen. One game, he looks like a D-Leaguer. Next game, forget All-Star. He looks like a freakin superhero. I try to give Joe credit when it's due because I've killed him so much, but his staunchest supporter has to scratch his head after that performance. Just sad. I can sit back and laugh at it in a win. Its past time for Drew to sit him down and have a heart-to-heart teaching session on how amateurish he looks taking tons of threes to one free throw trip. This happens way too often. LeBron took notice of Kobe and how he demands to catch the ball below the line when struggling. Wish Joe would do the same, but the desire and effort has to be there(?). You don't have to be an All-World player to recognize that (see Andre Miller). Shout out to Willie for playing like a starting 2. Professional guy. Let's Go.

Edited February 16, 2012 by benhillboy

[Gray Mule]

JJ is hurting - bad. If not physically, then it's mental.

Don't know why not what or how but you don't go from an all star down

to what we've observed recently. It's sad. He's just not there right now.

Yet, he plays some stellar defense while this is going on. Otherwise,

he should be riding the pine.

Whatever disease that causes Josh to go from goat to hero on a nightly

basis has apparently been proven to be contagious for JJ has it now.

Maybe he's just too tired. We have a two day break for the first time

all season. We'll see.

GO HAWKS

[macdaddy]

LOL - I read in ajc where Tmac benched himself because he needed the rest (which always scares me). Then i check the NBA.com box score and it says DNP- Rest where everyone else says DNP - Coach's decision. Never seen that before. I guess it was't the coaches decision?

[arhawkfan]

Huge JJ fan but last night was horrible!!!

[Randy]

I was thinking about Josh's 3 point shooting and his free throw shooting woes. (He did make 2 in 4th quarter I think, so criticism is probably stupid-for the moment.) Is there any rule that says you have to shoot free throws from the line? (I've seen players step to one side of the other, but never stepping back.) So why not have Josh step back to the 3 point line for his free throws. He would hardly do any worse than he's shooting free throws now, and maybe it would either convince him he can't hit them, or he'd get good at them and make them more often.

Joking aside, Josh is a big part of the reason the Hawks should change their motto to "Expect the Unexpected."

[Gray Mule]

Free throws secret:

PRACTICE - PRACTICE - PRACTICE!!

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