Official Game Thread: Hawks at Jazz

[lethalweapon3]

“No, guys, no! When I ask, ‘WHO GOT the JAZZ?’, you respond with… y’know what? Never mind.”

 

SEGABABA Tidbits! Or, on second glance, it’s more like Chunks again. Thankfully, not the Chunks that our poor, downtrodden Eastern Conference semifinalist Atlanta Hawks have been blowing. They will do all they can to avoid getting tuned up by Donovan Mitchell and the Jazz in Utah (9 PM Eastern, Bally Sports Southeast and 92.9 FM in ATL, AT&T SportsNet in SLC). All, that is, that they know how to do, right now.

You can bet they’re a bit punch-drunk after getting treated like Glass Joe by Steph Curry and the Warriors last night in San Fran. Speaking of punch-drunk… Deron Williams is doing WHAT? While D-Wade is investing in NBA franchises, D-Will has been wrapping his arms around Mixed Martial Arts… the business, and the fighters!

Deron co-owns a prominent MMA gym in Dallas, which is swell and all. It’s cool to be invested in a hot sport. Hopping in the Octagon and engaging in combat sports for-real-for-real, though, kind of feels like Jerry Jones snapping the chinstrap back on to go over the middle on a slant route.

The former Jazz All-Star and gold-medal Olympian is committing himself to the undercard of that “One of Them Pauls – That Other Fury” PPV bouts. Sure, it’s going to be “just” boxing, with all respect due to pugilists. But there’s no way, even as a former big-league pro athlete turned fight gym owner, that I would risk earning my own wing in the Nate Robinson – Johnnie Morton Hall of Shame.

Unlike those canvas eaters, D-Will is a former Texas state wrestling champ who has spent over a half-decade, away from other sporting endeavors, training and immersing himself in The Sweet Science. He’s not heading into a ring versus another jabroni who’s vastly more prepared, nor against some showy Hey-Look-At-Me-Over-Here-Gimme-Likes-Try-My-Sponsored-Supplements Meta influencer. So at least, unlike our fat and happy Atlanta Hawks, Deron has put in the work to give himself a puncher’s chance.

If you’re not in a mood for ex-schedule-ses, scroll down. Like, way down. This contest is the first and, unless some screwy COVID Upsilon variant starts wrecking the NBA schedule again, the only “5^th-game-in-7-nights” on the Hawks’ docket.

It’s the first since the final game before the All-Star Break in February 2018, when a certifiably bad Hawks team, lit up by Ish Smith and the dunkless Blake Griffin, lost in Detroit to drop to 18-41. Hopefully, and same with the last few second-halves of Hawks action, John Collins was able to toss the Memorex of that game in a trash bin. I mean, Dorsey and Delaney were starters! In place of Schröder and Bazemore!! Quin Snyder got out of Dodge just in time.

By the time these Hawks make it to the court in Denver on Friday, with or without their tailfeathers tucked between their legs, they will have “enjoyed” the first two-day “rest” period (i.e., no game days) since the season began.

Of the 29 other NBA clubs, only three will have waited longer for their first two-day siesta than the Hawks, once off-day #2 arrives for Atlanta on November 11^th. Seventeen of them have already “enjoyed” it at least twice, like Denver and Phoenix thrice, while the entire Western Conference have already kicked back for at least one. The Jazz, like the Warriors, Suns, Cavs, and Pistons (all Hawks opponents played in the early going), have had at least one stanza of three or more non-game-days.

Among the exceptions in the NBA East, the Knicks [November 14^th] have suffered through just a third of Atlanta’s volume (3) of back-to-back series, and that single one involved a quick jaunt from MSG to Embiid-less Philly last night. The Sixers [November 16^th] will get their second back-to-back of their season today, a home-home deal that has the Bucks arriving from yesterday’s White House festivities. The prior one required travel from Philly to lowly Detroit.

The Hornets [November 17^th] have the most comparable initial schedule to Atlanta’s, with their three back-to-backs thus far and deep West Coast travel. It’s noteworthy, since the Fighting Mason Plumlees are on a 1-6 buzzkill of their own, including five straight L’s, after a spiffy 4-1 start. Including last night’s conclusion to their creature double-feature at STAPLES Center, two of Charlotte’s three back-to-backs required no leaving-town travel at all, something Atlanta won’t be able to say until next week (more on that, later).

Phoenix took their one (1) three-day and two (2) two-day breaks to recalibrate, all spent in Arizona, and now they’ve won five straight after starting out a disappointing 1-3. Golden State got to stay home, after thumping OKC for a second time, before their three-day break, and then was allowed to dust off three subpar teams, all still at home, before the Hawks could enter the building yesterday evening.

Then, there’s Utah, who was already 2-0 before their three days’ off. The Jazz went on to rattle off five more wins in six games, dropping only a first-night-of-a-short-road-trip back-to-back in Chicago, culminating in their afterburner-fueled 116-98 win in Atlanta.

Afterwards, Quin Snyder’s crew, with Donovan Mitchell back in tow, eased on down to Florida to complete a 4-game-in-6-nights stretch. And, well, whaddya know? Looks like somebody’s tired. Just when you thought the tough times won’t last for the Hawks… check out to whom the Jazz blew a ten-point fourth-quarter lead!

Utah headed up the Florida Turnpike after Mitchell’s 37 points were not enough to sneak up on Miami. Snyder rested Mike Conley, who nearly helped Mitchell erase the heat’s 19-point fourth-quarter lead in the final five minutes, ahead of the next night’s game in Orlando. Finally an All-Star as of 2021, Conley is very good, but he’s not the reason the Jazz shot 19 percent on threes in the Magic Kingdom on Sunday.

The Jazz started poor (down 28-15 after a quarter) and ended poorer (32-15) in their 107-100 loss to the Magic. Where, Atlanta might ask, was *this* Jordan Clarkson (2-for-11 3FGs @ ORL, 1-for-6 the night before @ MIA) when the Hawks needed him in the second half (4-for-5 3FGs @ ATL; 1^st half 0-for-5) of last Thursday’s flub?

Need we mention, the most “winnable-looking” game for the Hawks comes next week, when Orlando stops by State Farm Arena one night after Milwaukee? Fun!

If you made it through all my whining about the schedule, congrats! The Jazz (7-3) flew home from Florida, and they’re trying tonight to avoid a three-game losing streak that easily could’ve been four. Five, if you count their last game at Vivint Arena, a white-knuckle affair they nearly dropped to the Fighting Harrison Barneses one week ago.

Today kicks off a five-game homestand for Utah, featuring entirely Eastern clubs, a string which gets broken up midway by another two-day break. But I’m not complaining, no.

Their fortune comes by way of the half-baked Hawks sauntering into SLC dazed and confused. Atlanta ends games poorly, but the starts of games begin with stilted offensive play (39.7 1^st-quarter team FG%, 4^th-worst in NBA) and end with defensive disorganization.

An Atlanta ballhandler dribbles up the floor, does… something (either come off a pick, or drive-and-kick). Then it’s pass (just ONE, thank you; ATL is 2^nd only to Luka’s Mavs in fewest passes made per game), receive the pass, dither, dribble aimlessly, shoot, miss, try getting back on D. Emphasis on “try” (64.3 opponent transition eFG%, 3^rd-worst in NBA). Things get more confounding for the Hawks when the play initiator isn’t either Trae Young or Delon “Cameo” Wright.

Don’t bother asking De’Andre Hunter, a clear play terminator in the starting unit (3.4 assist%, 3^rd-lowest of NBA players w/ 10+ games and 20 MPG; 1.4 O-Reb%), to do much on offense other than seek out his own shot. Cam Reddish, tied with Hunter for second-worst in The Association behind only Utah’s Rudy Gobert (0.48), at least for today, with a 0.50 assist/TO ratio (min 10+ games & 20 MPG), will at least find creative ways to tricky-dribble the ball off his own leg.

Behind Atlanta (25.8% of possessions), the Jazz (24.6%) are the second-most frequent users of pick-and-roll ballhandler plays. But Utah’s offense connects with a solid 53.2 eFG% (3^rd-best in NBA), compared to Atlanta’s 46.7 (10^th in NBA). The Jazz have a better sense, than Atlanta, on how to guard those plays properly as well.

NBA opponents attack Utah with an NBA-high 23.9% of possessions featuring P&R ballhandlers. Jazz defenders have a strong procedural sense of closing out, getting on the proper side of the ballhandler and forcing less comfortable shots (39.7 opponent eFG%, 5^th in NBA). Should they fail in their mission and foes get the ball inside, well, there’s Rudy (40.9 opponent FG% of defended shots, as per NBA Stats). Or, heck, why not Hassan Whiteside (92.9 D-Rating, 5^th in NBA)?

Clint Capela, by his own standards, hasn’t been as strong a disinfectant so far this season (46.0 defended FG%) for Atlanta. Sting Woppers like Kevin Huerter and Bogi Bogdanovic (118.5 D-Rating, 3^rd-worst of NBA players w/ 20+ minutes), singed repeatedly by Curry as the Warrior supernova balled last night’s game outta control, cannot allow the space for volume scorers like Mitchell (NBA-high 35.3 usage %; 118.4 O-Rating, 3^rd in NBA) to thrive.

Setting the tone from the tip allows the Jazz, despite their swoon of late, to have cohesive units on the floor at game’s end (15.5 4^th quarter Net Rating, 2^nd-best in NBA). They leave teams like Atlanta just hoping they’ll miss (79.9 D-Reb%, 2^nd in NBA, just ahead of UTA’s 79.8%), without really knowing how to force misses.

So much of this is fixable. But the schedule hasn’t yet afforded this team’s remodeled coaching staff adequate time, in or outside of Brookhaven, to do much fixing, or time for their concepts to sink into players’ noggins, unless it’s literally on the fly. The company line, from Hawks PBO Travis Schlenk on down, is that the unexpectedly shorter offseason was spent more on rehabbing than on gameday prep, and it shows.

Things will even up, schedule-wise, in the coming weeks and months. Time, we are told, is on their side, yes it is! The question, which can’t be answered tonight, is whether patience, and resolve, is on this team’s side, too.

In closing… look, don’t you get cute out here, Tim Duncan. Gloves are for workouts. Period. A little cardio doesn’t hurt anybody. When Carrot Top’s reps start calling, hang up the phone, please, and thank you.

 

Remember Our Vets! Let’s Go Hawks!

~lw3

[Sothron]

This is a must win game to me. We are one season away from "same ol' Hawks" that go on long losing streaks and by December we're looking more at lottery guys than actual games.

[Spud2nique]

I “liked” it before I read it, gotta set the mood.. 

 

There.. lw3 and ocean view can’t beat that! 

Edited November 9, 2021 by Spud2nique

[JayBirdHawk]

17 minutes ago, lethalweapon3 said:

By the time these Hawks make it to the court in Denver on Friday, with or without their tailfeathers tucked between their legs, they will have “enjoyed” the first two-day “rest” period (i.e., no game days) since the season began.

Of the 29 other NBA clubs, only three will have waited longer for their first two-day siesta than the Hawks, once off-day #2 arrives for Atlanta on November 11^th. Seventeen of them have already “enjoyed” it at least twice, like Denver and Phoenix thrice, while the entire Western Conference have already kicked back for at least one. The Jazz, like the Warriors, Suns, Cavs, and Pistons (all Hawks opponents played in the early going), have had at least one stanza of three or more non-game-days.

The League did us no favours with this schedule, just Brutal.  Just no real practice days.

[marco102]

 

[Spud2nique]

20 minutes ago, lethalweapon3 said:

Deron Williams is doing WHAT?

I hate Jake Paul but I don’t know who I’m root for here 

 

21 minutes ago, lethalweapon3 said:

Nate Robinson –

Exactly 

 

22 minutes ago, lethalweapon3 said:

Dorsey and Delaney

We’ve come a long ways. Kg’s boy 

 

23 minutes ago, lethalweapon3 said:

The Jazz, like the Warriors, Suns, Cavs, and Pistons (all Hawks opponents played in the early going), have had at least one stanza of three or more non-game-days.

It’s tough love!-Adam Sliver

 

25 minutes ago, lethalweapon3 said:

If you made it through all my whining about the schedule, congrats!

To you sir 

 

25 minutes ago, lethalweapon3 said:

half-baked Hawks

[shakes]

Yesterday I said we would lose by 20+.  Today I'm going to say the Jazz feel sorry for us and we only lose 18.

 

 

[JeffS17]

I think we're winning tonight.  I think we're going to come out locked in after a loss where everyone in the basketball world is gushing over steph's performance.  We're frustrated right now but I don't think this team has quitters.  My predictions:

• Trae has 13 assists and only 2 turnovers
• Capela stays around the paint and plays defense like he did last year
• Hunter locks in on Mitchell and Donovan shoots 35% in the game
• Heurter has a nice redemption game
• Delon gets good minutes and our bench lineup looks 1000% better than last night
• Gallo makes three 3s
• Hawks win by 8

[marco102]

17 minutes ago, JeffS17 said:

I think we're winning tonight.  I think we're going to come out locked in after a loss where everyone in the basketball world is gushing over steph's performance.  We're frustrated right now but I don't think this team has quitters.  My predictions:

• Trae has 13 assists and only 2 turnovers
• Capela stays around the paint and plays defense like he did last year
• Hunter locks in on Mitchell and Donovan shoots 35% in the game
• Heurter has a nice redemption game
• Delon gets good minutes and our bench lineup looks 1000% better than last night
• Gallo makes three 3s
• Hawks win by 8

Love your optimism, but going into the second night of a back to back in Utah with that altitude is not a good recipe for success.  I think we'll see the turn around in Denver.  The Hawks have played them well there in the past few years.  Then the schedule will ease up a bit and the Hawks will be at home. 

I hope you are right though and will be pleasantly surprised if they pull it off tonight. 

[Carmine]

We winning tonight guys?

[terrell]

4 hours ago, marco102 said:

 

I hope Bogi plays.. We can sit Hunter...Start Huerter..This could be a blessing in disguise if we win.......Shake up the starting 5.....Its obvious that Hunter is still trying to see where he fits in the offense....

Edited November 10, 2021 by terrell

[terrell]

3 hours ago, JeffS17 said:

I think we're winning tonight.  I think we're going to come out locked in after a loss where everyone in the basketball world is gushing over steph's performance.  We're frustrated right now but I don't think this team has quitters.  My predictions:

• Trae has 13 assists and only 2 turnovers
• Capela stays around the paint and plays defense like he did last year
• Hunter locks in on Mitchell and Donovan shoots 35% in the game
• Heurter has a nice redemption game
• Delon gets good minutes and our bench lineup looks 1000% better than last night
• Gallo makes three 3s
• Hawks win by 8

[Peoriabird]

5 minutes ago, terrell said:

I hope Bogi plays.. We can sit Hunter...Start Huerter..This could be a blessing in disguise if we win.......Shake up the starting 5.....Its obvious that Hunter is still trying to see where he fits in the offense....

Can't win without defense and I don't think that tandem scares anyone on the Jazz team

[terrell]

14 minutes ago, Peoriabird said:

Can't win without defense and I don't think that tandem scares anyone on the Jazz team

It worked when Hunter was injured.. Nate gonna wear Hunter knees out having him chase small guards around..smh..He needs a break anyway....lol

Edited November 10, 2021 by terrell

[Peoriabird]

2 minutes ago, terrell said:

It worked when Hunter was injured.. Nate gonna wear Hunter knees out having him chase small guards around..smh..He needs a break anyway....lol

That was with a functional Capela

[terrell]

9 minutes ago, Peoriabird said:

That was with a functional Capela

True...

[JayBirdHawk]

 

 

40 minutes ago, Peoriabird said:

Can't win without defense

[terrell]

1 minute ago, JayBirdHawk said:

 

 

And so it begins.................................................................................

Will Solo get the start? Pretty sure he will........................................................

Edited November 10, 2021 by terrell

[Peoriabird]

Hello Solomon Hill

[terrell]

2 minutes ago, Peoriabird said:

Hello Solomon Hill

Hello Yourself...