Soaring Down South - An Atlanta Hawks blog

JJ's been hauling his fair share recently

After a third quarter collapse and loss in Philly the night before, the Hawks responded to Larry Drew’s claims that they quit by blowing out the over-matched Cavaliers, 121-94.

Joe Johnson led the way with 25 points on 10-18 shooting, including 5-9 from three. Joe is really starting to pick his game up after a slow start to the season, averaging 22 points on 50% three-point shooting over the last five games. He seems to be taking more shots in the flow of the offense instead of relying on isos, which is really keeping the offense from continually getting stagnant in the halfcourt. I really hope Joe continues to do this, because it is becoming increasingly obvious that this team is better when keeping ball movement high and rarely falling into isolation sets.

Some other positives from the win:

• Zaza started and played a great game: 13 points, six boards (five offensive!), and four assists. He and T-Mac really have a great two-man game going when they are on the floor together, which I think is a great weapon to have from a second unit. Though Drew has been starting Collins recently, I think continued performances like this from Zaza will earn him a permanent spot against teams that don’t have Dwight Howard.
• Marvin, Ivan, and Pargo went a combined 16-23 from the floor, with Pargo adding six assists. This was probably Pargo’s best game as a Hawk, as he had no turnovers with his 14 and 6. He also had a few heat checks, which were entertaining to say the least.
• This was the highest scoring game for the Hawks this season, surpassing the 111 scored against Charlotte on the 12th.
• Jerry Stackhouse scored!

Even though this was a blowout, there still were a couple of negatives.

• Smoove had another bad offensive night, going 2-9 from the floor. His shot selection wasn’t terrible, but he still managed to miss a few at the rim that he normally makes. However, he did make some great passes and recorded four steals against one turn.
• Despite the blowout, the Hawks did let Cleveland shoot 49% from the floor. It’s great that the Hawks had a great shooting night, but they can’t allow opponents to shoot almost 50%.

All things aside, this was a great win on the second night of a back-to-back and shows that the Hawks may have more mental toughness than last year. They start a five game road trip in Milwaukee on Monday, so let’s hope they maintain that mentality.

Boxscore (Yahoo)
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No Horford? No problem.

We all know the Hawks will take a step back with Horford out, but at least we know that the Hawks will not be Charlotte Bobcats bad.

With Horford out, the Hawks expect Joe Johnson and Josh Smith to step up their play, and they certainly did tonight.

Joe Johnson and Josh Smith had a combined 53 points (21-40), 20 rebounds, and 11 assists.

You probably won’t see that great of a stat line as Hawks play tougher opponents later on, but give credit to Joe Johnson and Josh Smith for taking the lead in this game as the two captains and leaders of the team.

Joe and Josh were the two highest contributors, but overall, it was a great all around effort from the entire team in this blowout win.

Final Score: Bobcats 81 | Hawks 111

After the jump, see some of the other game notes I have from this Hawks win…

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From the Associated Press:

ATLANTA (AP)—Atlanta Hawks All-Star center Al Horford is expected to miss at least three months with a shoulder injury.

The team announced Thursday that Horford tore his left pectoral muscle in the first quarter of the previous night’s game at Indiana. The injury will likely require surgery—a major blow to a Hawks team that has made the playoffs four years in a row and is off to a solid start with wins over Miami and Chicago in the early going.

Horford could be out for as much as four months. Even with the most optimistic projections, he will miss nearly all of the remaining regular-season games.

Horford should be back by playoffs, but Jason Walker of Peachtree Hoops tweeted a very good question. Will the Atlanta Hawks be in the playoffs with Horford out for the rest of the regular season?

Jeff Teague plays against his hometown team tonight, the Indiana Pacers.

Who?: Atlanta Hawks (7-3) vs. Indiana Pacers (6-3)

When?: January 11th, 2012; 7:00 PM (Eastern Time)

Where?: Bankers Life Fieldhouse (Indianapolis, IN)

How?: SportSouth HD (TV) & 680 AM (93.7 radio)

Other Atlanta Hawks Coverage: Atlanta Hawks Fan Site, AJC Blog, Peachtree Hoops (SB Nation), Hoopinion (TrueHoop)

The Opposing Team’s Blogs : Eight Points, Nine Seconds (TrueHoop), Indy Cornrows (TrueHoop)

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Happy 32nd birthday to Damien Wilkins!

He only played 52  games (60 games when counting playoffs)  in one season for the Hawks, but I figured it’s still nice to give him a shout-out, especially since we (Soaring Down South) didn’t even acknowledge that he signed with a different team this off-season.

So without further ado, here is my ode to Damien Wilkins. Continue reading this post »

Have you seen this guy play lately?!

If you haven’t noticed, Josh Smith is playing like a beast in the last three games.

Two days after putting up a ginormous 25/5/5/4/6 game vs Chicago, Smoove led the Hawks again with 26 points on 10-14 shooting. Josh started off quickly, making his first four jumpers (that’s a phrase I don’t get to say often in regards to Josh), and consistently getting to the free throw line with 11 attempts. (Although he only made six of them)

After a terrible start the season, it is really refreshing to see Josh excelling. He is attacking the inside more and is making his jumpers. I don’t think he will continue to make his jumpers like he has the past few games, but his shot selection is definitely improving and we really need to see if he can continue to make the smart decisions on the floor.

Other positive notes from the game:

• Joe played another quiet, but great game. He finished with 22 points on 9-15 shooting, with six assists. Instead of forcing the isos like he sometimes does, he allowed for the offense to reset when it was obvious that his iso was going nowhere.
• Teague was aggressive throughout they game and was not as hesitant to take the open jumper. He was 3-3 from three point range and had four assists and two steals against two turnovers.
• Horford had 14 points on 7-14 shooting, and was the most successful Hawk on the boards with nine. He had six assists and was part of my favorite play of the game, where he caught a laser pass from Smoove and smashed it home for two.

Now, a couple of negatives from the game:

• The entire team was bullied on the boards, which the Nets won 40-33. Vlad Rad did have six boards, but he could have easily had more if he could have managed to grab on the ball more effectively. Joe only had three rebounds and was part of the tag-team effort with Radmanovic that allowed Nets rookie MarShon Brooks to collect 10 rebounds.
• The defense did a bad job of switching in the 2nd half, allowing Anthony Morrow and Shawne Williams (!) to go off from three point range. New Jersey finished 11-22 from three, and broke the 100 point mark for the first time this season.
• All of the starters played 37+ minutes, with Teague, JJ, and Horford all playing 42 or more. The bench really provided nothing; Zaza looked bad when he tried to put the ball on the floor (why does he ever do that?), and the rest of the bench crew really did not have enough time to do anything.

Overall, the team played decent, although the effort on defense left something to be desired. However, after playing the daunting 9-in-12 game stretch, it is good for the Hawks to get another win on the road, even if it was against New Jersey.

Boxscore (Yahoo)
Recap (AP)

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Can Jeff Teague slow down Deron Williams?

Who?: Atlanta Hawks (6-3) vs. New Jersey Nets (2-7)

When?: January 9th, 2012; 7:30 PM (Eastern Time)

Where?: Prudential Center (Newark, NJ)

How?: SportSouth HD (TV) & 99x (98.9 radio)

The Opposing Blogs: Nets Daily (SB Nation), Nets Are Scorching (TrueHoop)

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Marvin Williams is out for Mon @ NJN & Wed @ IND.

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Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images

Let’s think clearly for a minute. All the flashy dunks and the defensive player of the year awards aside… Is Dwight Howard really the answer in Atlanta? I know all the “experts” are saying to give up everything, including Philips arena, to snag Dwight but is that really the chance the Hawks want to take? Especially if he doesn’t commit to the Hawks long term? The Hawks fan base is not interested in the playoffs anymore obviously. Bottom line is, they want a championship. So what makes us so sure Dwight will even give the city that?

Let me be clear, I think Dwight is a great player. He can alter a game with his great rebounding and defensive effort on a nightly basis. And to be quite frank, his presence will make casual fans and the national media take Atlanta serious.

With that being said, I am not sold that he is the answer to the problems in Atlanta.

Am I insane? I guess you could say that, but I’ve never thought of Dwight as an all-time great like some people do. I see him as a big fish in a little pond. Dwight has many limitations that are covered up by his athleticism (kinda like LeBron James but that’s a whole different article). Dwight is a terrible offensive player outside him just being a physically better than most players. He has no back to the basket post moves outside of bully ball which doesn’t work against legit centers. So you can’t give him the ball and say “Dwight go get us 30″ like you could with Shaq, Olajuwon, etc. So is he as great as we think?

Now I’ll say with roster as is, I could only see Dwight pulling a CP3 and giving the Hawks a year to see what will happen. If that’s the case, the question is can the Hawks win a championship with him? Because as I stated earlier most fans from what I have been reading could care less about playoff wins. So I put together a few possibilities via the trade machine and can up with a few different scenarios.

The best deal for both teams would be Al and Kirk for Dwight. Al’s a good player, Kirk expiring contract,  and throw in some picks and Orlando might bite. Josh doesn’t make much sense in Orlando seeing as though if they do trade Dwight they will need somebody capable of being a Center and Al is capable. Now I’m sure there could be other teams that could get in and make the trade interesting but for argument sake I will use that trade.

One problem the trade presents is Dwight can’t hurt you outside of 15 ft which leaves no lanes for Josh Smith. This puts Josh into more of a shooting Power Forward position since Dwight is going to clog the lane most possessions. And nobody, and I mean NOBODY, wants to see Josh put in that position. Especially since Josh doesn’t have the highest basketball IQ. It could possibly help Joe and Marvin because of the double teams some teams will bring at Dwight. That will get them a lot of open looks. If you decided to keep Teague it could potentially hurt him because his game is getting to the basket. Howard again clogs up the lane which takes away a lot of driving lanes. If Teague became a better shooter/playmaker then Howard would certainly help his game. Again that’s only one scenario, it could be better could be worse.

So with Dwight/Joe/Josh as your core for say two years could you beat Bosh/Wade/James or the Bulls? I’m not sure. Joel Anthony is a solid defensive center (and that’s all he does well) and Joakim Noah is one of the best post defenders in the league. Both have given Dwight problems in the past. Also both teams have players (Rose, LeBron, Wade) that could get Dwight in a lot of foul trouble. (Another problem of his) And even if you do get past those two teams. You presumably run into the Thunder or Lakers. The Thunder just has the best post defender in the league Kendrick Perkins and the Lakers will throw Andrew Bynum out there and match up very well.

So again Dwight is certainly not the answer short term. Now if he says he wants to stay long term(which I doubt), he’s only 26 so you can maybe build some pieces around him (hard to do with JJ’s contract). I know the Atlanta Hawks fan base is dying for a superstar since it’s apparent they will never embrace Joe of being that. If the ASG wants to win over some fans they can go ahead and give Sund the green light and hope that Orlando takes the bait. But if the fans and ASG are really serious about a championship, then they might want to wait for a better ALL AROUND deal to come.

Can Jeff Teague lead the Hawks to a win against the Bobcats?

Who?: Atlanta Hawks (4-3) vs. Charlotte Bobcats (2-4)

When?: January 6th, 2012; 7:00 PM (Eastern Time)

Where?: Time Warner Cable Arena (Charlotte, NC)

How?: TNT (TV) & 680 The Fan (93. 7 radio)

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