Hawks - Wizards

[lethalweapon3]

One final pairing remains on the Hawks’ mostly-fortuitous home stretch against .500-or-worse squads. Tonight, it’s a team feeling much better about its prospects then they did coming into Atlanta just a couple weeks ago.

Beating the defending champs on your home floor would have you smelling yourself a bit, even if it’s just the second win of your season after starting off 0-for-11. But the Washington Wizards, getting two days’ rest after upending the Heatles, recognize they could very well have been 4-2 over their last six games, had they not dropped back-to-back razor-thin decisions to Atlanta and Charlotte over Thanksgiving weekend. Late heroics from Devin Harris in regulation and Kyle Korver in the waning seconds of overtime averted turning the day before Turkey Day into “Black Wednesday” for Hawk fans.

There’s a birthday boy in the house tonight once again, and this time it’s Kevin Seraphin. Returned to a bench role after 5 straight starts, the French Guianese gargantuan managed a double-double effort against Miami without getting to the line once. He similarly led the Wizards in scoring in the last Hawks game (21 points) without more than a single trip to the foul line. Seraphin’s free throw attempt rates (0.08 FTA/FGA; 1.5 FTAs per 40 minutes) are the lowest among any NBA big getting major minutes. He’s averaging almost 12 points per game and has been to the charity stripe just 12 times all season. Seraphin relies on his hook shots and mid-range jumpers (especially along the left baseline) for his offense, keeping him from mixing it up inside. As a Hawk, you will want no part of that lethal hook shot (69 FG%), but you’ll gladly settle for those jump shots (35 FG%; 11% on jumpers from 3-to-9 feet).

For maybe the second time in his life, Jordan Crawford excelled against LeBron James, and this time we get to keep the tape. His team-high 22 points off the bench were important, but perhaps moreso was not having to force things because he’s sharing the playmaking duties with his teammates (6 assists, 1 turnover).

Trevor Ariza will be unavailable due to a calf strain suffered late in the Miami game. Even without Kyle Korver available for another game, the Wizards will be pressed to hold up defensively on the wings and along the perimeter. When the Wizards want to go big in the backcourt, they’ll put Livingston, Webster and/or Singleton out there. For smaller, quicker rotations, Crawford, Beal, Price, and/or Martin will have to do.

Coach Randy Wittman went with a lineup of A.J. Price, Bradley Beal, Trevor Ariza, Chris Singleton, and Emeka Okafor against Miami. He gambled that bringing Crawford, Seraphin, Nene, Shaun Livingston, and Martell Webster off the bench would create an advantage, relative to Miami’s reserves, eclipsing whatever gains the Big Three would have against his starters. It is anyone’s guess whether he sticks with this approach to his lineup, but the Hawks’ reserves were outscored 62-18 and out-rebounded 35-10 during the November 21 game.

That was the game where Al Horford went a conspicuous 1-for-10 from the line (in his last three games, he’s a combined 7-for-9). He and the Hawks bigs will want to sustain a physical, close-to-the-basket game against Nene, Okafor, Seraphin and Booker. But it was also the game where he racked up 10 assists, setting up 6 different Hawks for scores, including three layups for Josh Smith for the final 6 of Smoove’s 25 points. It will help Atlanta to continue the heady play of one of the league’s most unselfish frontcourts.

As for the Wizards, cutting back on unnecessary fouls as compensation for defensive effort will help their cause. Portland and Miami took just 18 and 16 free throws in Washington’s two wins, compared to an average of 23 freebies in their losses. Against the HEAT, the Wiz took 13 more free throw shots (sinking 11 more).

As disappointed as many Hawks were about Cleveland’s last-second putback this time last week, there was foreshadowing provided by the preceding Wizards game. Webster easily rebounded and laid in a missed Kevin Seraphin hook shot for what appeared momentarily to be Washington’s first victory of the season. Particularly thanks to their bench players, the Wizards managed a whopping 58 rebounds in that overtime game (58-37 overall, 19-10 offensive boards). And that was a game with Nene (1 rebound) coming off the bench for his first action of the season. Especially with Ariza (15 rebounds in that last Hawks-Wiz matchup) out of action, the Hawks must seize back the rebounding edge early and late if they intend to win going away.

They cannot look ahead. But we (the fans) can. With a win tonight, next Monday’s game in Miami could be for the Southeast Division lead.

Go Hawks!

~lw3

[lethalweapon3]

Couldn't find the Village Theatre comedy bit, so instead here's Josh pregame pretty much saying, "No Coasting this time around."

http-~~-//www.youtube.com/watch?v=S4MY1RfOG_E

~lw3

Edited December 8, 2012 by lethalweapon3

[Guest]

Great as usual lw3.

I hope there is no let down from the Nuggets game particularly with the rebounding effort.

[AnthonyI11]

Why isn't this game televised?

[lethalweapon3]

Locals like me not already at the game are off to enjoy the golden pipes of Steve Holman (@RealVoiceofHawk) and Hometeam Brandon Leak tonight on 680 AM (93.7 FM).

Also the game will be broadcast by the Wizards in the DC area, so those of you with NBATV will probably get peeks of the Wizards' broadcast during their GameTime show.

~lw3

Edited December 8, 2012 by lethalweapon3

[Admin]

The Hawks are looking like they did against the Nuggets the other night, playing fast but also hitting the boards hard and looking great. Teague has been nearly unstoppable, except when he misses and Josh has continued his excellent play from the last 3 games where he's averaged nearly 20 and 12. Another quarter like this and it could end up as a blowout. Would love to see that happen and see our young players get some minutes.

[High5]

I feel like no matter what the score is at any point in the first 3 quarters, it will be a tight game in the 4th. At least we finished strong. Or rather Josh finished strong.

[cam1218]

We do play better at home, this much is obvious to us that watch the games. But why do we struggle to close out games?I think the issue is really the crowd. We are ready to play hard at home, but think of when the Hawks struggle on the road..it has a lot to do with the other teams play, but it is also the crowd noise.Since we always lose against the Spurs, I'm going to make up a scenario...Hawks cut the lead to 2 with 10 left in the fourth. We force a bad shot and get the ball, make a three, and have a one point lead. We force a turnover on the Spurs next possession, but then Duncan gets the ball back and finds Manu for three. Shot made, Spurs lead, crowd goes crazy (back into the game). They then go on a 8-0 run and the crowd gets louder and we get worse and worse on offense.It was because of their play mainly, but the noise in the arena is what really made us force shots.The crowd can make the opposing team take quick shots, it can ruin communication, they can keep the home team engaged too. The visiting team knows that they can weather the storm and get back into the game in what seems like an empty gym. We NEED a better atmosphere during our home games!

Edited December 8, 2012 by cam1218

[benhillboy]

What are the odds Stephenson will hit 5 threes in a win against a contending team? If he did, I'd say his season was successful.

[TheTruth]

As I said in the chat, the Hawks don't make it easy, nor does it always look pretty, and even though things get tight, they usually win in the end.

So either they are like the Falcons...or my girlfriend.

[BrazilianHawk]

Great effort in not letting the Wiz take the lead late in the game. All-around good game, especially from Josh. He took way more long jumpers I would like to see (fortunately hitting some of them), had a few bonehead plays, but he was most definitly our savior tonight.

[TheNorthCydeRises]

I guess Drew thought that Seraphin and Nene would be a bad matchup for Ivan, which is why he got a DNP last night . . . unless something was up with him that I don't know about.Not going to nitpick about that a lot, seeing that we got the win. At least Drew went with the big lineup in the 4th when that lead got cut down significantly.I'm making every effort to be in Memphis tonight to see the Hawks vs Grizzlies game tonight. I wish that Horford ( 41 min ), Smith ( 38 min ), and Teague ( 39 min ) could've had a little more easier time vs the Wiz. They could've used an easy game going into a battle with the league's best team tonight. It's going to be real strange watching the Hawks live in a very hostile enemy arena.Normally a Hawks game in Memphis would take place in the middle of the week with about 10,000 lukewarm fans in the building. Totally different atmosphere now there, with them being the best team in the league.

[Admin]

Yeah that's gonna be an awesome game to be at North! I have no idea why Ivan didn't get ANY PT last night but something had to be up as he had been giving him more minutes and I can't believe he just forgot about him. Makes me wondering if something happened in practice or maybe something else was going on. Or maybe it was just because our big 3 bigs were playing so well.

For anyone who didn't get to see the game last night, there was an amazing play that Josh made in I think the 4th quarter and it ended with a missed 3 by I think Stevenson, but man I literally yelled "Wow" and "Oh my God" about 2 different things he did. One of those things that there are probably 2-3 guys in the NBA who can make a play like he did.

[HawkNJersey]

Yeah that's gonna be an awesome game to be at North! I have no idea why Ivan didn't get ANY PT last night but something had to be up as he had been giving him more minutes and I can't believe he just forgot about him. Makes me wondering if something happened in practice or maybe something else was going on. Or maybe it was just because our big 3 bigs were playing so well. For anyone who didn't get to see the game last night, there was an amazing play that Josh made in I think the 4th quarter and it ended with a missed 3 by I think Stevenson, but man I literally yelled "Wow" and "Oh my God" about 2 different things he did. One of those things that there are probably 2-3 guys in the NBA who can make a play like he did.

What he do?

[Admin]

What he do?

It was just a play where he was driving down the court and absolutely embarrassed the guy defending him and then he made an incredible pass. I'm gonna try and get a video together for it and show y'all once NBA League Pass Broadband has the game available, which for some reason isn't yet.

[AHawks89]

Yeah, I would like to see that play again. Did behind the back dribble shake and bake, then faked the shot, got his defender in the air, then passed the ball to Stevenson. Had me going WOW x2 in a few seconds. Would had been nice if Stevenson hit that 3 to finish up that play. Always seems like when plays happen like this, the shot is always made. Unfortunately not this time.

[Admin]

Yeah, I would like to see that play again. Did behind the back dribble shake and bake, then faked the shot, got his defender in the air, then passed the ball to Stevenson. Had me going WOW x2 in a few seconds. Would had been nice if Stevenson hit that 3 to finish up that play. Always seems like when plays happen like this, the shot is always made. Unfortunately not this time.

Yep I was shocked that Stevenson, Mr Automatic, missed that shot. But man it was one hell of a play from Josh. Maybe the sweetest play I've seen him make this year and that's saying a lot with some of the passes he's made.