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Official Game Thread: Hawks - Pistons

lethalweapon3

By lethalweapon3
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lethalweapon3 Grand Master

lethalweapon3

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If it ain’t fixed… don’t break it!

Such appears to have been the mindset of the general managers for two floundering teams that oppose each other tonight, the Atlanta Hawks and the host Detroit Pistons (7:30 PM Eastern, SportSouth, FoxSports Detroit).

Pistons GM Joe Dumars didn’t meddle with the bog-jam in his starting frontcourt, the brutal inefficiencies in his starting backcourt, or the bench that’s sorely lacking in talent and health. He may not have had any choice in the matter, especially given his unwillingness to float Greg Monroe to other GMs as an available trade target. The only major transaction of the past couple weeks was the toppling of his hand-picked Head Coach, Maurice Cheeks, in favor of Assistant Coach John Loyer. That maneuver was probably ordered from somebody above Dumars.

Cheeks’ 21-29 record was still the best Detroit has seen since 2009, when Dumars joined everyone else in realizing Michael Curry wasn’t really the guy to get the Pistons over a three-season Conference Finals hump. Yet, Joe D didn’t invest $56 million in Josh Smith and $24 million in Brandon Jennings just to see his team struggle to get over the playoff-seed hump.

Piston fans, finally understanding the warnings other NBA fans have screamed about since the summertime, have abandoned the Brokedown Palace in Auburn Hills (lowest home attendance percentage in the NBA). They’re now resigned to hopes of an entertaining tank job to conclude the season, Rising Stars MVP trophy-breaker Andre Drummond leading the way.

Dumars, to the contrary, sees a 9th-seed that could soon overtake the Hawks (25-28) or the Bobcats, a Detroit team that could use a couple days of postseason revenue with the HEAT in town, and a team that might still salvage his employment despite at least a half-decade’s worth of missteps. That is, if only Loyer proves himself the right guy to pull the strings and find a player rotation that actually works.

Charles Barkley stammered his way through a sizing up of Drummond’s Dilemma during All-Star Weekend festivities. “He’s a terrific player who’s playing with those other idiots up in Detroit. And they’re not going to win… they’ve got some idiots on that team.” It remains to be seen how self-aware the alleged “idiots” are. “They’ve got some talented players who are not going to ever get it.”

As for the other end of the floor, not since the days of Rowan and Martin has anyone experienced a laugh-in quite like what Hawk fans enjoyed yesterday, when GM Danny Ferry went out and made the remains of forward Antawn Jamison the big prize of Trade Deadline Day. Jamison was freed from the Clippers’ grasp for the low-low price of the rights to Cenk Akyol; presumably, the Clips saw all they needed of Sofoklis Schortsanitis, and want no more of him.

The dandruff-inducing Lou Williams Experiment was perhaps the first sign that Ferry is signaling to his small yet devoted Hawks fanbase, “What, who, us? Tanking? No, that’s so beneath our culture! We wouldn’t dare do such a thing! ((looks around))... Shhh! Of course we’re tanking! What, are you crazy?” Yesterday’s stand-pattery was just another hint of Ferry having realized the wet dream of Billy King handing him their lottery pick, or any pick in 2014, is much less likely to become reality.

Atlanta may drop eight-straight for the first time since 2006-2007, a funk that was only temporarily interrupted when Zaza Pachulia dropped 22 points to help the Hawks, minus an injured Josh Smith, top Elton Brand’s Clippers.

Having seen his team finally crumble after too many injuries and fundamental lapses, Ferry’s content with letting Jeff Teague work out his wayward shooting in a Hawks jersey, Williams extending his Local Boy Made Good Victory Tour, and watching Kyle Korver and Paul Millsap scratch some sense of relevancy out of the remainder of the season while getting hounded mercilessly by opposing defenses.

Teague told the AJC he’s fine for tonight after spraining his ankle against the Wizards, but if he looks a little gimpy, this may be a good time to kick off the Shelvin Mack Experiment, too.

Ferry isn’t even sure Jamison is a keeper for the rest of the season. He tells the AJC he plans to “look at” Antawn (Antwan! Antwaun! Antwoné!) over a couple days, just to see if he Feels Good about him as a fit on this roster. As if there is no place to fit the guy. (EDIT: NEVER MIND! Ferry just needed a couple hours. Jamison has been jettisoned.)

Just to make room for Jamison’s make-believe-acquisition, the Hawks had to cut loose Cartier Martin for a second time. He’s since been re-signed for the rest of the season, and hopefully he’s already still with the team, since they all went up to Detroit early.

Otherwise, in one year’s time, Mike Scott will have transformed from a man hopelessly buried in the Hawks depth chart to Atlanta’s Obi-Wan Kenobi, their only hope to come off the bench at the forward spots and at least look like he knows what he’s doing.

Scott could even start at the 3-spot if DeMarre Carroll continues to deal with a nagging hammy and Martin's not yet available, although it’s more likely Head Coach Mike Budenholzer will go small-ball and play Korver at small forward again. Would you like to play a little center, too, Mike? That can be arranged. Because Pero Antić’s status with his bum ankle remains up in the air as well. After a couple of weeks in a funk (6.2 PPG, 35.1 FG% last 5 games), look for an offensive outpouring from Scott, tonight and in many games going forward.

Detroit (22-32) can only hope the Hawks’ forwards don’t bait Josh Smith into a Long-Range Shawty shooting contest. He’s actually played good-soldier over the past four games with Loyer taking over as the designated emergency manager, shooting just nine three-pointers (of course, making one). He’s dialed down the playmaking production (last 4 games: 14.0 PPG, 37.1 FG%, 7.8 RPG, 2.5 APG, no steals in the past three games) on many fronts lately, perhaps in an attempt to get Jennings and Monroe more consistently involved on both ends of the floor.

Of Detroit’s many problems with their beleaguered frontline, maybe their most revealing flaw is their unrelenting focus on scoring at the offensive end of the floor. The Pistons lead the league by far with a 31.4 offensive rebounding percentage (14.6 per game), Drummond leading the league at 5.5 offensive boards per game and “Moose” Monroe (2.9 per game) not all that far behind. The putbacks help them lead the league with 51.9 PPG in the paint. But, the incessant cherry-picking results in many instances where opponents are beating those bigs down the floor, even on inbounds after they make a bucket.

Those offensive rebounding chances for Drummond and Monroe arrive largely because of crappy shot selection and proficiency by their teammates. Led by Smoove and Jennings, the Pistons’ 29.7 3FG% above-the-break is dead-last in the league, while their 35.0 2FG% outside the paint is the worst in the East. Only one of their top 9 three-point shooters hit at above 35 percent (reserve Kyle Singler’s 37.0 3FG%). Aside from Drummond (60.8 FG%, 2nd in NBA) and Monroe, none of their top 11 field-goal shooters connect above 45 percent. They are also very likely to call their own number on the shots they take, their 15.4 assists per 100 possessions the worst in the East.

Thanks to the Piston bigs not getting back in time, only the 76ers give up more fastbreak points than Detroit among Eastern Conference teams (13.7 opponent fastbreak PPG), and no one in the East gives up more points in the paint (43.6 PPG). Add in some nonchalant perimeter defense from the Piston guards and wings (42.5 opponent 2FG% outside-the-paint, highest in NBA; 40.9 corner 3FG%, 6th-highest in NBA) and the Pistons’ 51.7 opponent effective field goal percentage ranks second-highest in the league, despite their imposing starting frontline.

The Pistons will try to wear down Atlanta’s wafer-thin frontline. But whenever the Hawks snare rebounds or steal the ball, they have to make smart outlet passes and beat their men down the floor for easy buckets. They must force Jennings and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope to make defensive plays or force Smoove to try and chase down shots from behind.

Go Hawks!

~lw3

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Edited by lethalweapon3
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DJlaysitup Newbie

DJlaysitup

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Yeah lets tank for Doug McDermot

Why not..DMac...easy to type fast in the chat...looks like the guy has our type of size (6-8, 215)...and he's a Creighton guy!(from Wiki) "As a sophomore, McDermott was one of five men named first team All-America for the 2011–12 season. McDermott is Creighton's first player honored by the NABC on its first-team All-America squad. McDermott also was named the Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year, the first Creighton player since Booker Woodfox in 2009. McDermott finished his 2011–12 season averaging 22.9 points per game, a figure that ranked third nationally. His 801 points, 307 field goals and 48.6 percent shooting accuracy from three-point range were all school records for a single-season. Creighton finished 29–6 and advanced to the third-round of the NCAA Tournament. On March 26, 2012, Doug McDermott was named a first-team AP All American.[5]On April 25, 2013, McDermott announced he would be returning to Creighton for his senior season and would not be entering the 2013 NBA Draft.[6] That July, he relinquished his scholarship and became a walk-on for his final season at Creighton. This came about after the NCAA had granted senior guard Grant Gibbs, who had missed full seasons at both Gonzaga and Creighton with injuries, a rare sixth year of eligibility, putting Creighton over the NCAA's limit of 13 scholarships in the 2013–14 season.[7] On February 13, he was named one of the 30 finalists for Naismith College Player of the Year.[8]" Edited by DJlaysitup
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DJlaysitup Newbie

DJlaysitup

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Teague out. mack will start and carroll will play

I hope DMC is at pretty much at full speed. Mack should be OK as a starter - Pistons don't have anything special at the point (IMO). Dennis should get some good minutes tonight so that is an extra bonus for us serious Hawks fans.Stinger's Keys just showed that the Pistons are the worst shooting 3 point team in the NBA (lw3 mentioned that too). Edited by DJlaysitup
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PSSSHHHRRR87 Enthusiast

PSSSHHHRRR87

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News related to the Pistons/Hawks game that was postponed in January:

The Detroit Pistons at Atlanta Hawks game, originally scheduled for Jan. 29, has been rescheduled for Tuesday, April 8, at 7:30 p.m. ET at Philips Arena.

http://www.nba.com/2014/news/01/30/pistons-at-hawks-rescheduled/

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benhillboy Grand Master

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Feels like forever since we've started this well don't know if it's us or the Pistons being horrible tho. And as much as I respect Nique Farrell is 10x easier to listen to.

It's a little of both I guess. Brand, like Jermaine O'Neal last night, proved old geezers with old school Big Man fundamentals can still get it done in spot duty against these younger, less polished frontcourt players. Hawks Nation can finally sleep easy if we finish up a nice blowout versus a team ripe for blowing out. And I'm totally with you on Farrell over Nique. Just flat out more observant, researched, and articulate commentating. Edited by benhillboy
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capstone21 Experienced

capstone21

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Streak continues and the funny thing is that I was cheering for Detroit.I want the lottery now...no doubt that this is a lost year and the chance to get one do those potential special players is too much to pass up on. Charlotte also won tonight which is good. C'mon Cavs ! C'mon Knicks!

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