Official Game Thread: Hawks at Wizards

[lethalweapon3]

“So, listen, before we take things any further, Miss Spice, I’mma have to card you.”

 

Andre 3000’s new album is fire, I hear. But for the real smoke, I’m holding out for Jordan Poole’s fiddle album.

He’d make for a terrible Nero. But as the once mighty but now 8-9 Golden State Warriors incinerate and smolder out West, under an inferno of chokeholds and referee beefs and ejections, Poole is over here on the Eastern hill with his Washington Wizards, just going to town on his little instrument.

Sure, his Wizards (2-13), playing the Atlanta Hawks again (7 PM Eastern, Bally Sports Southeast and 92.9 FM in ATL, Monumental Sports Network in WAS), this time in D.C. on the second night of a back-to-back, are sitting last in the Southeast Division. But Poole’s prior employer, the Warriors, narrowly eclipsed San Antonio at home last night to get out of the bottom of the Pacific.

The Wiz, led by Poole’s 26 points (1-for-6 3FGs, 8-for-14 2FGs, 7-for-9 FTs, 7 assists, 2 TOs) gave the Bucks fits last night in a close-knit contest at Milwaukee. While Giannis, Dame and Brook Lopez needed to score in the 30s to prevail 131-128, the Dubs needed all of Steph Curry’s seven threes just to hand the Spurs an 11^th-straight loss.

Poole (39.9 FG%, 28.6 FG%, 3.6 APG, 2.9 TOs/game) has been a party for all the Shaqtin’-style lowlight reels, as has Kyle Kuzma and the overworked and oft-exploited center Daniel Gafford. But with Klay and CP3 and Wiggs being brick fests out West, plus Klay and Andrew guarding like they’re stuck in Burning Man mud, might Steph be longing for his old backcourt mate just a teensy bit?

Might Dray be considering that Poole, sticking his nose out where it doesn’t belong, was really the least of his worries? Probably not. But it is fun to imagine.

Suffice to say this is Must Win territory again for the Hawks (7-7, 4-2 on road), as they bear a rare rest advantage and the Zards were a blown Landry Shamet wide-open-three away from dragging their hosts into OT in Wisconsin last night.

As a club, with or without Poole, the Wizards shoot the rock just fine. Coach Wes Unseld might be the team’s best threat to grab a board, as they simply cannot rebound to save their lives (30^th in both O-Reb% and D-Reb%, 29^th in D-Rating). Given the Hawks’ Lois Lane approach to the defensive glass (26^th in D-Reb%, 25^th in D-Rating), that’s saying something.

If Coach Quin Snyder’s club commits to closing out properly on three-point threats, goes over on screens for Corey Kispert and Deni Avidja, keeps the only Wizard starter shooting above 80 FT%, Poole, off the line, and boxes out on the caroms that are sure to come, it will be a quick night, no matter what the Hawks’ offense displays.

Atlanta proved to be as unserious about the IST as they are about keeping teams below 130 points. But the good news, as they head to Boston tomorrow, is they’ll be rewarded with plenty of time to kick back and recalibrate once this five-game road swing ends. The Wizards will, too, and you can bet Poole is pulling for his old team to back their way into the IST quarters so he can lay back and laugh at their misery on League Pass.

These days, the Warriors are on fire -- not in a good way. As far as Jordan Poole is concerned, they don’t need no water.

 

Let’s Go Hawks!

~lw3

[Spud2nique]

13 minutes ago, lethalweapon3 said:

just going to town on his little instrument.

     
 

16 minutes ago, lethalweapon3 said:

But with Klay and CP3 and Wiggs being brick fests out West, plus Klay and Andrew guarding like they’re stuck in Burning Man mud,

 

 

17 minutes ago, lethalweapon3 said:

But it is fun to imagine.

Lovely  

18 minutes ago, lethalweapon3 said:

Coach Wes Unseld

Wait, you know it’s junior ..

19 minutes ago, lethalweapon3 said:

so he can lay back and laugh at their misery on League Pass.

He’s gonna have to join my club, it’s called..

I hate the Scrubs.   

20 minutes ago, lethalweapon3 said:

These days, the Warriors are on fire -- not in a good way. As far as Jordan Poole is concerned, they don’t need no water.

 

I got a shortcut..

 

Thanks as always lw3, great game thread  

 

Vegas has Hawks -7.5

2k has Hawks by 15.

 

GO HAWKS!!!

[lethalweapon3]

Bilal Coulibaly (bruised knee) and Delon Wright (sprained knee) were the most used Wizard reserves in Atlanta when the Hawks won 130-121 a few weeks ago, but both were sidelined last night in Milwaukee. Unseld also DNP'd back-benchers Patrick Baldwin, Anthony Gill, and Mike Muscala, while Ryan Rollins (sprained knee) remains out.

The rooks Bufkin and Gueye remain the sole Hawks on the Boo-Boo Report.

~lw3

[kg01]

So what we thinking, squawk?  175-173 type of score today? 

Laughing to keep from cryin'.. 

 Man TF up, kg.  This is all part of my plan to get Laundry fired.  Mwahahaaaa... did I say that out loud?  

[Spud2nique]

1 hour ago, lethalweapon3 said:

just going to town on his little instrument.

Again … is he getting free cable in the locker room? Isn’t it scrambled though? He’s popular with the ladies isn’t he? But why then? 
 

He isn’t … master of his domain? 
 

Poole’s plan B career path  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Spud2nique]

43 minutes ago, kg01 said:

Laundry fired. 

Please don’t. I can’t handle seeing another crybaby Stanford alumn hangin out on campus or a nearby cafe reminiscing, I’ve already ran into Jarron Collins and Fred Savage a couple decades ago, I can’t watch Laundry fold, it’s another step back.

 

What’s Bob Whitsitt the trader up to these days?  

 

 

I will say this, I was with a couple of my scrub fan friends yesterday talkin shop. Late night we were at a restaurant and they had taped the Warriors Spurs so they purposely weren’t looking at the screen , my inner cagey almost came out and wanted to do a play by play my bad.

 

 

[HawksNWaffles]

Ok so..... I literally just typed Hawks vs Wizards, here what I got

 

 

[lethalweapon3]

Nobody from Italy will throttle us tonight. Somebody from France, however, cannot be ruled out:

~lw3

[hawkman]

Early Mitten sighting.

[Peoriabird]

Looks like the Hawks are going to improve those defensive numbers tonight...Wizards are awful

[Peoriabird]

Spoke too soon! Lord have mercy

[JayBirdHawk]

Right on cue...Bogi with a bad foul.

[Peoriabird]

These guys just don't guard the 3 point line

[TheNorthCydeRises]

Murray ultra aggressive tonight.

[Peoriabird]

Thank goodness the Wizards can't shoot because they are getting open shots with just 2 passes

[Dnice]

They can't shake the sorry ass bullets, surprise.

[TheNorthCydeRises]

Good job Trae.  Way not to mess up your shooting % with a half court heave.

[JayBirdHawk]

Stat-O-The 1st quarter...'Zards with ZERO Orebs. 

Sucks we only have a 4pt lead though.

[Peoriabird]

its got to be the scheme because all you have to do against this defense is beat your man off the dribble which makes the hawks team collapse into the paint leaving all of the 3 point shooters wide open

[hawkman]

Oh no. Absolutely cannot afford to lose Jalen.