Official Game Thread: Hawks at Jazz

[lethalweapon3]

“I’ve got two turntables. But that’s all. I swear!”

 

Tidbits Time!

Last week’s storming of State Farm Arena remains fresh in the minds of many a Hawk fan. Wins at turns by the Cavaliers, Knicks and Hornets, much like Atlanta’s win at Brooklyn, furthered confirmation that major corners were being turned in the NBA East. But only Charlotte, who fell below .500 yesterday, still has reason to feel that way. And at least until tonight, we’re back to looking down at all three of them.

After beating Atlanta, New York went home and enjoyed an even bigger margin of victory versus Utah, flipping an 18-point deficit into a 12-point win. But the Knicks have since dropped four straight. Cleveland somehow gained even more big men, but it has lost five of six since departing The ATL. Most recently, they lost by 30 at home to the Jazz, themselves winners of three straight (7-4), all on the road, entering today’s game at Vivint Arena against the Hawks (9 PM Eastern, Fox Sports Southeast, AT&T SN in SLC). Coincidentally, and COVID-willing, the Knicks and Cavs face off at MSG tonight, so one team’s woes will continue.

In the Western Conference logjam, the Jazz are vying with Portland (7-5), Phoenix (7-4), and Dallas (6-4, now with the Unicorn back) for the claim of Best in the West Outside of LA. After a pair of disappointing back-to-back games in the Brooklyn and Manhattan boroughs, coach Quin Snyder’s club righted the ship and concluded a six-game excursion with three road wins, including a 131-118 victory in Milwaukee last Friday. There were supposed to be seven consecutive away games, but…

Wednesday’s Wizards/Jazz cancellation offered Utah an extended respite ahead of the arriving Hawks, who themselves hope they’ve Euro-stepped a big COVID-scare once Wednesday’s Suns game got canceled. An unspecified staffer, hopefully doing fine, caught a case presumably while the team was prepping in Phoenix. Coach Lloyd Pierce and some staff had to isolate in Arizona, on the Health ‘n Safety tip, but he’s been cleared for takeoff and traveled with the team.

The Jazz remain among just five NBA teams in the “So You Think You Can Have Fans?” COVID-tition (Houston and Orlando lead the way, while the Yboraptors recently dropped out of the running). The Jazz have turnstiled about 1,900 fans per game, so it might be a bit disorienting for the Hawks, for the first time this season, to see a few moving cardboard cutouts sipping on mochachinos in the stands. They do allow coffee there now, right? Back home, we’ll have to wait until at least a week after the MLK game before anyone can saddle up (with their mask on) to the SVEDKA bar.

Utah prevailed against the Bucks without the services of glue-guy Joe Ingles, whose NBA-long 384-game streak of regular-season appearances (418 w/ playoffs included… he’s been around here that long?) ended due to a sore Achilles’. Aussie Ripken’s next streak ended at 1. After giving it a go in Detroit, the 33-year-old was deactivated for the Cleveland game on Tuesday and remains listed as out for today.

It may be true that social distancing demands were the only reason Donovan Mitchell didn’t try to strangle his all-world defensive center last winter. But All-Stars Mitchell (last 3 games: 29.0 PPG, 54.2 3FG%; NBA-high 36.3 PPG in the 2020 Playoffs) and Rudy Gobert (13.4 RPG and 2.6 BPG, 2^nd in NBA and just off last season’s career-highs) have let bygones be bygones. They seem sympatico on the court (+6.1 in lineups as a duo), where it matters most.

The real revelation comes at point guard. Mike Conley was, not even arguably, the most derided addition from 2019’s NBA offseason, and his clunker of a shot to conclude the postseason, after Utah blew a 3-1 lead over rival Denver, didn’t help matters. But the 14-year vet has entered this season with newfound confidence. He’s averaging 17.3 PPG, second on the club and a shade ahead of sixth-man Jordan Clarkson’s 17.2. Most importantly, his jumpshots are efficient -- 43.0 percent on threes – while he is passing and pressuring almost as well as he did in his peak years as a Grit ‘n Grinder. If the Jazz can continue eking their way to the top in the West, perhaps, there’ll be room for his first career All-Star nod?

The Nuggets were reveled after taking out the Clippers and blowing up the well-predicted path to an all-LA Western Finals in 2020. But perhaps there would have been a redeem team led by Gobert with the chance to snip the Clips, had Snyder had the benefit of Bojan Bogdanovic (20.2 PPG last season) at his disposal. It’s imagined that his shooting accuracy (37.4 FG%, down from 49.7 and 44.7 the past two years) coming around is just a matter of time.

While firing away from deep themselves (4^th in 3-point attempt rate, 6^th in team 3FG%), Conley and the Jazz aim to shoo people off the 3-point line, daring ballhandlers into the painted area to wrangle with the windmilling Gobert. Likely to be hounded once he crosses halfcourt, Trae Young’s off-drive floater game needs to be on-point. Because once Jazz opponents get inside (8^th-most paint points per-48), they usually don’t get a second chance to make a first impression (6^th-fewest second-chance points per-48). Young hits just under 41% on shots taken off drives to the hoop, and among the league’s ten most prolific drivers, Miami’s oddly off Jimmy Butler (39%) is the only other player shooting below even 50 percent.

Utah usually goes about 8-deep, and they are a little shallower without Ingles and possibly Derrick Favors, the South Atlantan who could not wait to return to the comforts of the Beehive State after leaving LouiZiona. He’s probable to play, despite a sore knee, but Favors comes off the bench because Royce O’Neale rolls out to the three-point line (46.7 3FG%) when he isn’t helping Rudy out on the boards.

Snyder would like to go deeper, especially in the early phases of the season, beyond relying on Clarkson, Ingles and Favors as reserves. But Georges Niang (36.7 FG%) has a front seat on the struggle bus. And the Jazz have yet to find somebody who can consistently help alleviate Mitchell, Jingles and Jangles on the defensive end. Shaq Harrison, Miye Oni, and Elijah Hughes are all hoping to become that ninth-man. But with each clocking in under ten minutes apiece, defensive depth for the Jazz (NBA-low 5.5 team SPG) remains a work in progress.

Enter The Gwu-Tang! Will our Trojan Man, Onyeka Okongwu make his long-awaited rookie debut this weekend, in PAC-12 Country? Watching lotto peers like LaMelo, Baby Boy, P-Will and Wiseman show up and show out has been fun. But after enduring all these injury disruptions to the Hawks’ would-be rotation, it would be such a pleasure for Pierce to finally roll out his rookie and find out that Gwu-Tang ain’t nothing to…

Thanks especially to the C+C Muscle Factory of Clint Capela and John Collins, Atlanta (NBA-high 31.3 O-Reb%) joins Utah (75.5 D-Reb%, tie-5^th in NBA) among the NBA’s top-five rebounding units, hopefully making tonight’s battle along the boards, much like Martha, a Wash. The over-extended Bruno Fernando and Solomon Hill have rebounded just enough off the bench to make opponents go, “Hmm.” But if Okongwu can effectively sop up some of their floortime this weekend, Atlanta is gonna make Gobert, and whoever starts upfront for the Blazers tomorrow, sweat.

 

Let’s Go Hawks!

~lw3

[AHF]

You know the ref is asking him where it's at.

[JayBirdHawk]

 

 

[lethalweapon3]

1:30 injury report's out. No changes for the Hawks, as Rondo's still listed as questionable (knee/injury maintenance). Favors remains probable for the Jazz.

On Utah's game notes, our old friend Coach Quin is now already the Jazz's second-winningest coach all-time, passing the legendary Frank Layden with Win #278 after beating the Cavs earlier this week. Snyder's got a little ways to go before catching Jerry Sloan (1127 wins).

Mitchell ranked 4th among all NBA players in clutch points last season (last 5 minutes of 4th quarters when games get within 5 points). Just behind 3rd-place DeMar DeRoazan (153) and Mitchell (152) was Trae Young (146), and, well, yeah.

~lw3

[lethalweapon3]

I faintly recall the days of being barely 20 and reminiscing about my old, 14-year-old self.

~lw3

[JayBirdHawk]

 

 

 

[JeffS17]

2 hours ago, lethalweapon3 said:

“I’ve got two turntables. But that’s all. I swear!”

 

Tidbits Time!

Last week’s storming of State Farm Arena remains fresh in the minds of many a Hawk fan. Wins at turns by the Cavaliers, Knicks and Hornets, much like Atlanta’s win at Brooklyn, furthered confirmation that major corners were being turned in the NBA East. But only Charlotte, who fell below .500 yesterday, still has reason to feel that way. And at least until tonight, we’re back to looking down at all three of them.

After beating Atlanta, New York went home and enjoyed an even bigger margin of victory versus Utah, flipping an 18-point deficit into a 12-point win. But the Knicks have since dropped four straight. Cleveland somehow gained even more big men, but it has lost five of six since departing The ATL. Most recently, they lost by 30 at home to the Jazz, themselves winners of three straight (7-4), all on the road, entering today’s game at Vivint Arena against the Hawks (9 PM Eastern, Fox Sports Southeast, AT&T SN in SLC). Coincidentally, and COVID-willing, the Knicks and Cavs face off at MSG tonight, so one team’s woes will continue.

In the Western Conference logjam, the Jazz are vying with Portland (7-5), Phoenix (7-4), and Dallas (6-4, now with the Unicorn back) for the claim of Best in the West Outside of LA. After a pair of disappointing back-to-back games in the Brooklyn and Manhattan boroughs, coach Quin Snyder’s club righted the ship and concluded a six-game excursion with three road wins, including a 131-118 victory in Milwaukee last Friday. There were supposed to be seven consecutive away games, but…

Wednesday’s Wizards/Jazz cancellation offered Utah an extended respite ahead of the arriving Hawks, who themselves hope they’ve Euro-stepped a big COVID-scare once Wednesday’s Suns game got canceled. An unspecified staffer, hopefully doing fine, caught a case presumably while the team was prepping in Phoenix. Coach Lloyd Pierce and some staff had to isolate in Arizona, on the Health ‘n Safety tip, but he’s been cleared for takeoff and traveled with the team.

The Jazz remain among just five NBA teams in the “So You Think You Can Have Fans?” COVID-tition (Houston and Orlando lead the way, while the Yboraptors recently dropped out of the running). The Jazz have turnstiled about 1,900 fans per game, so it might be a bit disorienting for the Hawks, for the first time this season, to see a few moving cardboard cutouts sipping on mochachinos in the stands. They do allow coffee there now, right? Back home, we’ll have to wait until at least a week after the MLK game before anyone can saddle up (with their mask on) to the SVEDKA bar.

Utah prevailed against the Bucks without the services of glue-guy Joe Ingles, whose NBA-long 384-game streak of regular-season appearances (418 w/ playoffs included… he’s been around here that long?) ended due to a sore Achilles’. Aussie Ripken’s next streak ended at 1. After giving it a go in Detroit, the 33-year-old was deactivated for the Cleveland game on Tuesday and remains listed as out for today.

It may be true that social distancing demands were the only reason Donovan Mitchell didn’t try to strangle his all-world defensive center last winter. But All-Stars Mitchell (last 3 games: 29.0 PPG, 54.2 3FG%; NBA-high 36.3 PPG in the 2020 Playoffs) and Rudy Gobert (13.4 RPG and 2.6 BPG, 2^nd in NBA and just off last season’s career-highs) have let bygones be bygones. They seem sympatico on the court (+6.1 in lineups as a duo), where it matters most.

The real revelation comes at point guard. Mike Conley was, not even arguably, the most derided addition from 2019’s NBA offseason, and his clunker of a shot to conclude the postseason, after Utah blew a 3-1 lead over rival Denver, didn’t help matters. But the 14-year vet has entered this season with newfound confidence. He’s averaging 17.3 PPG, second on the club and a shade ahead of sixth-man Jordan Clarkson’s 17.2. Most importantly, his jumpshots are efficient -- 43.0 percent on threes – while he is passing and pressuring almost as well as he did in his peak years as a Grit ‘n Grinder. If the Jazz can continue eking their way to the top in the West, perhaps, there’ll be room for his first career All-Star nod?

The Nuggets were reveled after taking out the Clippers and blowing up the well-predicted path to an all-LA Western Finals in 2020. But perhaps there would have been a redeem team led by Gobert with the chance to snip the Clips, had Snyder had the benefit of Bojan Bogdanovic (20.2 PPG last season) at his disposal. It’s imagined that his shooting accuracy (37.4 FG%, down from 49.7 and 44.7 the past two years) coming around is just a matter of time.

While firing away from deep themselves (4^th in 3-point attempt rate, 6^th in team 3FG%), Conley and the Jazz aim to shoo people off the 3-point line, daring ballhandlers into the painted area to wrangle with the windmilling Gobert. Likely to be hounded once he crosses halfcourt, Trae Young’s off-drive floater game needs to be on-point. Because once Jazz opponents get inside (8^th-most paint points per-48), they usually don’t get a second chance to make a first impression (6^th-fewest second-chance points per-48). Young hits just under 41% on shots taken off drives to the hoop, and among the league’s ten most prolific drivers, Miami’s oddly off Jimmy Butler (39%) is the only other player shooting below even 50 percent.

Utah usually goes about 8-deep, and they are a little shallower without Ingles and possibly Derrick Favors, the South Atlantan who could not wait to return to the comforts of the Beehive State after leaving LouiZiona. He’s probable to play, despite a sore knee, but Favors comes off the bench because Royce O’Neale rolls out to the three-point line (46.7 3FG%) when he isn’t helping Rudy out on the boards.

Snyder would like to go deeper, especially in the early phases of the season, beyond relying on Clarkson, Ingles and Favors as reserves. But Georges Niang (36.7 FG%) has a front seat on the struggle bus. And the Jazz have yet to find somebody who can consistently help alleviate Mitchell, Jingles and Jangles on the defensive end. Shaq Harrison, Miye Oni, and Elijah Hughes are all hoping to become that ninth-man. But with each clocking in under ten minutes apiece, defensive depth for the Jazz (NBA-low 5.5 team SPG) remains a work in progress.

Enter The Gwu-Tang! Will our Trojan Man, Onyeka Okongwu make his long-awaited rookie debut this weekend, in PAC-12 Country? Watching lotto peers like LaMelo, Baby Boy, P-Will and Wiseman show up and show out has been fun. But after enduring all these injury disruptions to the Hawks’ would-be rotation, it would be such a pleasure for Pierce to finally roll out his rookie and find out that Gwu-Tang ain’t nothing to…

Thanks especially to the C+C Muscle Factory of Clint Capela and John Collins, Atlanta (NBA-high 31.3 O-Reb%) joins Utah (75.5 D-Reb%, tie-5^th in NBA) among the NBA’s top-five rebounding units, hopefully making tonight’s battle along the boards, much like Martha, a Wash. The over-extended Bruno Fernando and Solomon Hill have rebounded just enough off the bench to make opponents go, “Hmm.” But if Okongwu can effectively sop up some of their floortime this weekend, Atlanta is gonna make Gobert, and whoever starts upfront for the Blazers tomorrow, sweat.

 

Let’s Go Hawks!

~lw3

Love the writeup.  Appreciate these.

[lethalweapon3]

~lw3

[JayBirdHawk]

 

 

[RedDawg#8]

34 minutes ago, JayBirdHawk said:

 

 

Does Rondo actually play is the real question.

Seems like the injury list is finally shrinking.

Still, those are 3 of our top 9 players out.

[REHawksFan]

39 minutes ago, JayBirdHawk said:

 

 

Do we know how much longer Gallo will be out?  We really need him back.  Just adds so much calmness and confidence to the teams. Not to mention this fan.  

[JayBirdHawk]

1 minute ago, REHawksFan said:

Do we know how much longer Gallo will be out?  We really need him back.  Just adds so much calmness and confidence to the teams. Not to mention this fan.  

Update was to be today...I haven't seen anything.

[bleachkit]

18 minutes ago, REHawksFan said:

Do we know how much longer Gallo will be out?  We really need him back.  Just adds so much calmness and confidence to the teams. Not to mention this fan.  

He didn't join the team on the road trip, so Monday at the earliest. But yes, he's a difference maker for us.

[Carmine]

[hawkman]

1 hour ago, RedDawg#8 said:

Does Rondo actually play is the real question.

Seems like the injury list is finally shrinking.

Still, those are 3 of our top 9 players out.

Goodwin makes his absence a lot easier to stomach. He's nowhere near the floor general and leader Rondo is, but he's looking like a legit backup PG as of late. I'm glad the Hawks kept him around after they signed Dunn and Rondo.

[terrell]

Onyeka Okongwu and Tony Snell both are on 15-minute restrictions tonight, per Lloyd Pierce.

 

[Dnice]

Starters looking crappy early.

[NBASupes]

All 10 points scored on Trae

[RedDawg#8]

Trae is getting eaten alive on ball screens.

He should not ever be asked to defend the point of attack, it sets our defense up for failure every time. 

Edited January 16, 2021 by RedDawg#8

[Cwell]

no offense smh all free lance bs