Hawks - Thunder

[lethalweapon3]

The Hawks must be advantageous and convert turnovers into points. OKC gives up the ball more per game than anyone in the league, although that volume may be smaller if Russell Westbrook remains out with the sprained ankle. If Westbrook is not in this contest, it would be nice to get a good taste of that Insani-teague stuff the Hawks have been selling lately. No Reggie Jackson Show or Royal Ivey Show tonight. Also, keep former 3-point shootout champ Daequan Cook from “doing what he do.”

Atlanta will be pressed to keep the silly hacks to a minimum, as the Thunder converts more free throws than any other team, at a higher percentage than any other team. Only the Hornets have as high an “and-one” percentage on their field goal attempts. It’ll help the Hawks’ cause, once again, without Westbrook taking trips to the glass and to the line. He and James Harden are among just six NBA guards getting 6 or more FT attempts per night.

Josh Smith and Marvin Williams may have to play small defensively to keep Kevin Durant and James Harden from eating them up from the outside. That means more yeoman’s work from Zaza Pachulia and Ivan Johnson to fight for the rebounding edge.

Somehow, even while stocked upfront with Serge Ibaka, Nick Collison, Kendrick Perkins, and Nazr Mohammed, OKC gives up more offensive boards per game than anyone other than the Wizards and Warriors. Only the Bobcats’ opponents attack more often within 10 feet of the basket, which helps explain why Ibaka feasts so much on the rejections. But Ibaka is out of position often while going for so many swats, so somebody has to crash the boards when he doesn’t get a hand on the ball.

We want tacos! The Thunder are 21-1 when allowing fewer than 100 points (the “1” being a one-point loss, their last loss at Houston over two weeks ago), 8-6 when they don’t. It’ll be a tall order for the Hawks, who have only scored 100 points (exactly 100 points) once in the past month.

Go Hawks!

~lw3

[Admin]

Very nice LW! Always enjoy reading things that you write like this.

I expect a loss tonight but I'd be happy to be wrong!

Biggest thing I want to see tonight are Marvin, Hinrich and/or Josh being held out of the game due to being traded.

[AHawks89]

Josh won't be traded, and if he does, I can't wait to see how many people regret it.

It's pathetic to see all the Josh hate on this forum. You don't realize what you have until it's gone.

Edit: I can't even open one thread without see Josh names mentioned. Has to tell you something about him. :)

Edited March 3, 2012 by AHawks89

[Admin]

Josh won't be traded, and if he does, I can't wait to see how many people regret it.

It's pathetic to see all the Josh hate on this forum. You don't realize what you have until it's gone.

Edit: I can't even open one thread without see Josh names mentioned. Has to tell you something about him. :)

So wanting to see him traded is hating him? Sorry but no, it's not hating. Hating on him would be saying I hope he's traded for a bag of chips or something else ridiculous. I want to see Josh gone so that we can get something of quality in return.

Oh well I'm sure he'll be here for the long run for some of y'all to hug on.

[AHawks89]

So wanting to see him traded is hating him? Sorry but no, it's not hating. Hating on him would be saying I hope he's traded for a bag of chips or something else ridiculous. I want to see Josh gone so that we can get something of quality in return.

Oh well I'm sure he'll be here for the long run for some of y'all to hug on.

I think you're taking words out of my mouth and trying to change them. What I'm saying it's sad how everyone thinks trading Josh will get us something better to fix our team. We won't get anyone better than Josh. No one in the NBA can bring what Josh brings to the table. It's funny that Josh is mentioned in every single thread!

Anyways, I'm not going to argue about Josh because I can name about 10 people (haters) who will back up your side. I wouldn't mind Josh being traded, but from all the rumors I've heard, there is nothing that has been a legit rumor. Every one of them has been ridiculous, and I hear some posters backing the trades up.

If there is a good legit trade than I'm all for it.

Edited March 3, 2012 by AHawks89

[Admin]

Fair enough I will agree that there haven't been any great trades for him rumored, but the one with he and Marvin going to Boston for KG and a 1st, even if that's not a real rumor, is actually pretty darned good considering we could sign a legit superstar plus have 2 1st round picks next year in a deep draft.

Anyway don't want to derail this excellent game thread from lw3 anymore.

[AHawks89]

Fair enough I will agree that there haven't been any great trades for him rumored, but the one with he and Marvin going to Boston for KG and a 1st, even if that's not a real rumor, is actually pretty darned good considering we could sign a legit superstar plus have 2 1st round picks next year in a deep draft.

Anyway don't want to derail this excellent game thread from lw3 anymore.

It is what it is. Everyone has their opinion.

And yes, LW game threads are always the best! Let's hope for the best and forget the rest!

Edited March 3, 2012 by AHawks89

[ItsThaKingHomie]

Don't Wait For A Comeback Like Last Night.. Play Completely Serious Or We Will Get Raped Tonight..

[Admin]

Boy the Thunder look awful tonight! They look like we did against the Heat and their Big 1 earlier this year. Josh doing great playing inside and overall very smart and tough play by the Hawks.

[Admin]

Hawks are 13-0 this year when leading going into the 4th... Let's see if we can pull this one out!

Oh shit son!! "He just grounded Air Congo"!!! He'll of a jam by Smoove!

[Admin]

Man oh man what an incredible game!!! Josh with an enormous game despite a few stupid mistakes but in spite of that he was the best player on the court tonight! Teague had some huge plays and Zaza was tremendous. Hinrich also with a lot of big minutes and the play of the game had to be Pargos buzzer beater 3 at the end of the 3rd to give us the lead as we're unbeaten when leading after 3. Other than the Bulls beat down earlier this year I think this was my favorite win of the season. Great great win tonight boys!!!!!

[AJtheGreat]

Man when Josh plays in the post like he did tonight, everything is good in the world.

[Guest]

Man when Josh plays in the post like he did tonight, everything is good in the world.

Agreed...Josh Supersized that dunk on Ibaka.

[BrandonJ0]

[Eddielives]

So don't take this as "hating" on Josh or not recognizing he's been playing extremely well recently, but just imagine if he stopped making those 3, 4, 5, 6 or more easily correctable mistakes every night. He really would be one of the top 10 players in the entire league. It's games like this that make me want to throw all the trade rumors aside and say just keep believing he will tap into his real talent and stick to it.

It actually reminds me of about 3 years ago when Joe got hurt and Josh stepped up and had several amazing games that made you believe he was on the verge of becoming a great player.

[Guest]

Wonder if this dunk will get any pub close to the Griffin dunk on Perk. Ibaka is the leading shot blocker. OKC players stay getting dunked on...

[lethalweapon3]

The sky is STILL the limit for Josh Smith!

~lw3

[High5]

I'm starting to think that Josh is a much better player (and the Hawks are a better team) when he's attacking the basket instead of settling for jumpers. I'm probably way off considering how fond he is of the jumpshot, but I think we should investigate this further. Also, despite his elite handles as evidenced by his insistance to lead every fastbreak, I think someone should try sprinting at him and demanding the basketball whenever he's at or behind mid court. Something about having your best finisher in a position to actually finish instead of handing out souvenirs intrigues me...

[Hawks27]

I was at Phillips and man that dunk was soooo dirty. The whole place went nuts! Best Hawks game I've seen in awhile. Great atmosphere between Hawks fans and lots Thunder fans. Josh was ballin!!

GO HAWKS!!!

[Joker]

When Josh plays with sense, he's so good. The problem is just that. Josh was amazing tonight. This was our most impressive win of the season. An ole to Josh, Zaza, Jeff, and Kirk.