Official Game Thread: Hawks - Suns

[lethalweapon3]

Here comes the Suns! And I say, it’s alright. With the rest of America still oddly focused on the hampered mobility of some dude from Los Angeles, the Atlanta Hawks are moving on. They will try to improve their playoff standing by exacting a measure of revenge (no need to wait for a year) against a Phoenix Suns team that tripped them up on March 1, right when the Hawks were in the midst of a nice confidence-building winning streak. It’s taken almost two weeks for the Hawks to fully recover and, darn it all, it’s all the Suns’ fault! Well, not really. Similar to the case with the gentleman from Tinseltown, an objective observer would suggest the Hawks’ wounds in that last meeting with the Suns were clearly self-inflicted. Horrendous shooting decisions from Josh Smith and Jeff Teague (5-for-21 together), a pile of turnovers from that duo plus Devin Harris (16 of the Hawks’ 20), and repeated failures to slow Goran Dragic (19 points, 8-for-15 shooting) on drives or close out on then-reserve Wesley Johnson at the perimeter all combined to crumple Atlanta’s chances to make a comeback. Teague (ankle) and Smith (mind) both participated in shootaround this morning, and must be more effective out of the gate for the Hawks to seize control of this game. Coach Hunter was emboldened enough by the March 1 game, at the time the Suns’ third straight victory, to move Wesley Johnson, and both Marcus and Markieff Morris, into the starting lineup, finally unseating P.J. Tucker along with Jared Dudley. The latter bickered loudly with Hunter and Luis Scola during the third quarter of the Hawks game, and apparently got the short end of that dispute. Whichever Hawks get tagged for the starting power forward and center spots need to go hard at the Suns like Icarus. During a 111-81 blowout of the Suns, the Rockets’ “Donuts” Motiejunas went off for a career-high 19 points on Wednesday against a Phoenix frontline that had Luis Scola at center and the Morris Twins at the forward spots. Phoenix had no answers for another spry seven-foot player, Kosta Koufos, who got his double-double (22 points and 10 boards) on Monday. Johan Petro (10 points and 11 rebounds vs. LAL) has been a solid contributor in his past two starts for Atlanta, and deserves another chance to shine tonight. Scola has been manning the middle because Marcin Gortat’s sore foot may keep him sidelined for at least the rest of this month. Perhaps bewaring the Ivans of March, Coach Hunter may look to veteran Jermaine O’Neal to get his first start this year. Jerm Daddy missed four games while tending to his ill daughter (heart surgery), then returned to log 23 minutes against Houston. Hamed Haddadi (nine blocks in his last four games) is getting steadier minutes for the first time in his five-year career, and will be brought in to keep Atlanta’s halfcourt offense from becoming a layup drill. Bringing Scola closer to the rim hasn’t made him any more of an offensive threat. He’s had no more than two field goals in any of his last three games, and seems only to be effective when he can get opponents in foul trouble and get shots from the free throw line (87.9 FT% in his last ten games). Monica may consider changing her stage name to include her surname, which apparently is DNP-CD. Mister DNP-CD, Shannon Brown has been called off the bench one time in the past month, for less than eight minutes in a loss to Denver on Monday. Instead of the summer 2012 free agent, Hunter appears to be going with rookie Kendall Marshall, who had ten points and a career-high six assists against the Rockets on Wednesday, and was part of the reserve crew (with the Morrises, Wesley Johnson, and O’Neal) that held serve against the Hawks in the fourth quarter of their March 1 victory. There are few players of similar talent, offensively, that have been pushed to the margins, on a bad team, as firmly as Brown. If he does play, the Hawks will need tight defense to keep the Caged Tiger Syndrome that bites them periodically (Nate Robinson, Jeremy Pargo) from wreaking havoc once again. His Thursday night Buckhead party notwithstanding, Dahntay Jones has likely had a rough 36 hours in the public eye. If he makes an appearance, it would be nice for the crowd, likely to be heavily pro-Hawks fans tonight, to offer up some cheers. Go Hawks! ~lw3 View the full article

[benhillboy]

I was upset about the loss two weeks ago. If we lose tonight, I'll be thoroughly pissed. Coaching Josh would be easy for me. Shoot a jumper, especially with ample time on the clock, sit down. Turn the ball over trying to bring it up with a PG looking at you like youre crazy, have a seat. Right next to me so I can show you first hand how well the smart guys play without you through sensible eyes. Get an offensive rebound, you can run until your toungue drags. Leggo.

Edited March 15, 2013 by benhillboy

[JackB1]

Me and Coachx will be attending this oneSent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk HD

Edited March 15, 2013 by JackB1

[Peoriabird]

Please don't be afraid to bench Josh Smith tonight LD.

[macdaddy]

I hope Dahntay gets a standing O. I'm still steamed about the league response and very tired of hearing up to the second reports about Kobabe's ankle.

Go Hawks!

[benhillboy]

I hope Dahntay gets a standing O. I'm still steamed about the league response and very tired of hearing up to the second reports about Kobabe's ankle. Go Hawks!

Judging by our fans, I wouldn't bet on it. The play on Kobe was questionable, but I'm sure no one would question Dwight's aerial wrestling splash on Ivan that wasnt called. Missed calls against us dont count nationally I guess. Fu&k em all. Lets Go.

[Dnice]

lol @ Monica's husband.

[Dnice]

They might wanna guard Dragic.

[DocWilkins]

Is it just me or is Dragic wiping the floor with Teague tonight? Teague can't check the dude...

Edited March 16, 2013 by DocWilkins

[TheNorthCydeRises]

Excellent ball movement on that Deshawn 3 pointer.

Close this team out and get ready for Brooklyn on Sunday.

[Guest]

2 wins in a row - back to 5th in standings.

[benhillboy]

We got that Vintage '09 Devin poured up. I got an idea, bench Josh every other game. You're pretty much assured of the Good Josh we all know and love to show up instead of his evil twin. 29 fast break points, 27 assists. Damn if the arena looks like a ghost town or the national media doesn't know how fun this team is. I love these low-paid mofos. Boss is my dude, but probably none more than KK. His threes to turnover ratio (everybody got their own stupid stat, that's mine) gotta be the lowest ever. At the start of the season I was most looking forward to him getting hot for a month and shooting 50% from out there. With his attempts at 6 a game, we'll just round his whole damn season up to 50%. He's actually missed when open too much for me, he should have about 30-35 more attempts on the season. One of the worst debacles in Hawks history I've ever seen was the best three point shooter in the league, who the Hawks have never had, being booed (IDGAF who it was), in Phillips Arena. And as a much better man than me, he stayed classy in his postgame comments. There's no possible way he's coming back here, so I'll just enjoy him for the rest of the season. He's actually zoned in at a high level now, his shots barely hit the nets tonight.I know it was the Gortat-less Suns, but still. Let's Go up to Crooklyn and dominate. It's just Joe Johnson and the Nets in the way of a 4 seed.

Edited March 16, 2013 by benhillboy

[Randy]

Looks like Korver's 3pt shooting has rubbed off on Petro!!

[PSSSHHHRRR87]

Was at the game last night and I had a good time. The Philips was actually pretty full last night outside of a few upper level sections and the 10x sections. I thought I was going to be able to max and relax up in 210, but our entire row was full, the row in front of me, and the rows behind me. Actually, it seemed all of the 200 level seats were full and a few of the 11x sections too.<br /><br />As for the game, Josh played well and Al finally showed up in the second half. Teague didn't start (injury or something else). Harris was looking like the Harris of old and Petro's three had the place rocking! lol. Korver and Deshawn played great too. Go Hawks! The most resilient team in the league!