Hoopinion

Quotes, Notes, and Links: Hawks 125 Nuggets 100

2009-11-08T10:58:00.001-05:00

"It's a big statement. Having a letdown loss last night, and being able to come in and beat the number two or three team last year in the Western Conference. That's a big boost of confidence. I had opportunities to succeed and I seized the moment. I have wonderful guys to pass the ball to and I was really looking to crash the boards."

Joe Johnson:

"I think we still have a little bit of immaturity on this team. And that's something we've got to look forward to working on. In no way possible should Charlotte beat us by 20, even though they were at home."

Which one is supposed to be the immature one?

Jamal Crawford was also looking forward rather than talking about the past:

"It's big, more mentally than anything else. We had tough loss against Charlotte last night, and we beat a tough Denver team. We didn't lay down, and we fought. From start to finish, I thought we were really good as a team."

Mike Woodson:

"I know George [Karl] is probably in there wondering where was the energy for his group tonight, just like I was last night, shaking my head."

George Karl:

"Atlanta has as many good one-on-one players as any in the NBA, and that showed."

It's funny because it's true. Last night, the Hawks did an excellent job of spreading the floor and letting players beat their defender one-on-one. That there was rarely a help defender arriving for Denver speaks to the their role in Atlanta's outstanding offensive night.

In other news, I'm getting pretty damn good at predicting* what people will say after basketball games.

George Karl:

"No one should feel happy about what went on, but no one should feel like it's broken, either. Anytime you go on a six-game road trip, if you can win half your games or more, it's a great success, and we have a chance of doing it."

*I'm aware this is not a gift of great utility.

Karl further demonstrates how to criticize a team while taking responsibility for one's own role in a short-term failure:

"Offensively, we take way too many tough shots and a lot of that should be on me. We don't have enough sets in right now, and today our playbook was limited because Kenyon gives us a versatility, and I think we missed that."

John Hollinger elaborates on how the Nuggets missed Kenyon Martin and JR Smith (and not just because Renaldo Balkman and Joey Graham aren't nearly as good):

With Kenyon Martin’s mid-range threat replaced by non-shooter Renaldo Balkman and Smith replaced by another weak perimeter threat in Joey Graham, the Nuggets made only two triples on the night. Worse yet, their drivers constantly faced crowds of Hawks at the rim, as Atlanta saw no need to respect any perimeter shooter besides Chauncey Billups. Atlanta returned nine Denver shots to sender, including six blocks by Josh Smith.

The Human Highlight Blog has a fine appreciation of Josh Smith's performance:

Through all the times we've pulled our hair out watching him, Atlanta's Saturday night 125-100 victory over the suddenly staggering Denver Nuggets showed why you just can't give up on a player like Josh Smith.

Smith was omnipresent throughout the dominant home team win on both ends of the floor. He consistently challenged the Nuggets interior on his way to an 8-10/2-4, 22 point night on the one end while stamping the defensive effort of the evening with his (6) blocks and a level of activity that had the Nuggets either settling for outside shots or looking over their shoulder.

The Nuggets had no answer for Smith's ridiculous athleticism and new found respect for attacking the hoop. He is one of the best finishers in the league now and he made the case over and over again against anyone Denver threw at him.

Hawks 125 Nuggets 100

2009-11-07T22:10:00.000-05:00

Boxscore

Team	Poss	Off Eff	eFG%	FT Rate	OR%	TO%
DEN	94.8	1.054	42.3	43.6	21.7	10.5
ATL	94.8	1.318	56.3	31.0	23.5	8.3

Whatever the Hawks suffered due to the vagaries of the schedule last night, the Nuggets--sluggish, disinterested, and irritable--made up for it tonight in Atlanta. Denver appeared more comfortable with their feet up than with them on the court, giving up an 8-2 run to start the game, a 7-0 Atlanta run over the first three minutes of the second quarter and a 10-0 run over the first 4:20 of the third quarter. That interminable, foul-riddled (22 personal fouls and 33 free throw attempts combined) third quarter delayed knowledge of the game's margin but not its result.

Once Carmelo Anthony figured himself unlikely to make many shots from the field, he put all his efforts into getting to the foul line. Scoring one point at a time will (almost) never better two- and three-point baskets. Denver attempted 11 and made 7 more free throws than the Hawks but Atlanta made 7 more two-point and 6 more three-point field goals.

Josh Smith led the team in two-pointers made. Not coincidentally, just one of his 10 attempts was a jump shot*. Even better, he grabbed nine rebounds, earned seven assists, blocked six shots, stole the ball twice, and turned it over just once. Those seven assists (just three fewer than the entire team registered last night in Charlotte) led the team which, as a whole, assisted on two-thirds of made baskets. Al Horford registered five assists (and 12 rebounds). Joe Johnson had five assists to go with 22 points and 7 rebounds of his own. Jamal Crawford (25 points, 4 rebounds, 2 steals) and Jeff Teague each had four assists. Mike Bibby had three (plus 11 points on seven shots) in 20:13, his minutes limited by an inability to guard Chauncey Billups without fouling. There was little one-on-one basketball to irritate either insiders or outsiders.

*and he even made that one, 5-21 on the year now

An NBA season finds its balance, and team's find their true selves, in between the extremes. Just as the Bobcats are not so much better than the Hawks as they looked last night nor are the Hawks so much better than the Nuggets as they appeared tonight. The Hawks' road trip had an unsatisfying end but was, in its entirety, a successful trip. Before the game, Mike Woodson offered the perspective his best player was unable to see immediately following the loss last night:

"If we had won last night, it would have been a great trip. It was a good trip because you go out, you play .500 on the road...that's what we want to do this year. We only won 16 out there last year and your elite teams, your good teams, they're winning at least 21 to 25 games on the road. If we can get to 21 games on the road it'd fantastic for this team and anything over that is icing on the cake."

George Karl will probably say something similar about the Nuggets tonight or tomorrow. They've lost two in a row on the road, haven't really been in either game in its final quarter-and-a-half, but they're 3-2 on the road, they're 2-0 at home, JR Smith's about to return, and it will take something more drastic than consecutive losses for the team's structure to feel true stress.

Closer to home, it's seven days into November and Atlanta's 2-2 on the road and 3-0 at home. The season's eight-and-a-half-percent done, as a whole, it's been strong, everyone's healthy, and the team's course is not due to change. Calm (which is not the same as complacency) should prevail in the coming days before the Hawks will head to New York and Boston, try to win both games (even though they probably won't win more than one), then return home to take advantage of their home court and some other teams' road trips as the season putters along, one hopes, in a similar competent rhythm.

November 7th Game Thread: Denver (5-1) @ Atlanta (4-2)

2009-11-07T13:51:00.001-05:00

TIP-OFF: 7pm (EST)

TELEVISION: SportSouth, NBA TV

RADIO: Hawks Radio Network, Audio League Pass

GAME NOTES: Hawks/Nuggets

ATLANTA INJURY REPORT: None.

DENVER INJURY/SUSPENSION REPORT: JR Smith serves the final game of his 7-game suspension tonight. Kenyon Martin suffered a left fibula contusion last night in Miami and is out.

FOR ENTERTAINMENT PURPOSES ONLY: Atlanta -3, 211.5 o/u

OTHER PERSPECTIVES: Roundball Mining Company

PREVIOUSLY, THE DENVER NUGGETS...lost 96-88 in Miami last night. Denver's first loss of the season was a eight-point defeat much like the Hawks' loss in Los Angeles was an eight-point defeat. Denver finished the game on a 14-3 run and outscored Miami 32-18 in the fourth quarter to make the margin of defeat superficially slighter.

Carmelo Anthony has been excellent through 6 games, averaging 31.7 PPG (48.4 2PTFG%, 41.2 3PTFG%, 81.4 FT% on 11.7 FTA per game) to lead the Nuggets to the league's 3rd best offensive efficiency despite Anthony Carter starting in place of the suspended JR Smith. As expected by those gifted with (occasional) foresight, Ty Lawson entered the NBA ready to contribute.

Consider this an open thread for all pre-game, in-game, and post-game (but pre-recap) thoughts.

Quotes, Notes, and Links: Bobcats 103 Hawks 83

2009-11-07T09:43:00.000-05:00

Gameflow

Highlights

Joe Johnson:

"I don't know when we all of a sudden just really became a selfish team. Now everybody wants to go one-on-one. It's me, me, me. It's crazy, man. Everybody who touches it wants to score. I really think guys on this team don't know their roles, so it's killing us. And it's going to continue to kill us. Ain't no way this team is 20-some points better than us. It can't continue to go like this."

Name	Minutes	Usage Rate	Usage Rate 08-09
Johnson	220	27.1	26.6
Crawford	171	24.4	24.3 (Flip Murray)
Josh Smith	183	21.4	22.6
Pachulia	87	20.9	16.3
Teague	65	18.2	N/A
Joe Smith	63	17.6	N/A
Horford	201	17.3	16.4
Bibby	175	15.7	20.6
Williams	178	14.5	18.2
Evans	90	14.3	14.2

Source: Basketball-Reference.com (08-09 season)

Joe Johnson's usage rate is up slightly over last year. So is Al Horford's. The other three starters have seen their usage rates decline in the first six games. Mike Bibby and Marvin Williams have seen their usage rates decline significantly. Jamal Crawford's usage rate is essentially identical to Flip Murray's.

So, either Joe Johnson is genuinely of the opinion that the team's 8th, 9th, and 10th men are "killing" the team with 10 to 14 minutes a game of roughly league average production or he's far too emotional after losses to speak rationally to media. The former is unconvincing on the face of it and the latter is unsettling* as, even in a best-case scenario, this team is going to lose at least 30 games.

*Even more unsettling when one considers his final sentence. You're 4-2, Joe. You've played four of six games on the road. Things are going pretty damn well and if there are any nagging worries, they're about the team's defense not the offense.

Flip Murray:

"[Mike Woodson] said he wanted me to come there but management never said it. Management never reached out to me during the summer."

Gerald Wallace, the young season's leading rebounder:

"I can't make a shot so I might as well rebound."

It's easier to manage when you win, but that's a good post-game quote: funny and simultaneously proud and self-effacing.

At Queen City Hoops, Brett recaps the game by the numbers.

Bobcats 103 Hawks 83

2009-11-06T21:58:00.000-05:00

Boxscore

Team	Poss	Off Eff	eFG%	FT Rate	OR%	TO%
ATL	89.7	0.92	41.4	18.3	13.7	7.8
CHA	89.7	1.15	53.6	16.9	30.0	16.7

Ouch.

One could look long and hard and still fail to find a silver lining to this cloud. The Hawks settled/Charlotte forced them into a stagnant* halfcourt offense that resulted primarily in jump shots (16 3PTA, 16 more 2PTFGA of 15' or more, unofficially). The Hawks mostly missed those shots and almost never rebounded one of their own misses.

But at least they didn't turn the ball over.

Charlotte entered the game having scored 86.6 points per 100 possessions. They were a full 33% more efficient tonight. Sure, that year-to-date figure included games facing tough defenses @Boston and @Cleveland but it also included home games against New York (82 points in regulation, 102 after two overtimes) and New Jersey (79 points). Charlotte's 61.8 3PTFG% is probably just one of those things** but they also made 28 of 62 two-point attempts*** (45.2%), far better rate than the 40% they averaged through four games and dominated their offensive glass. Charlotte's three-point shooting only amplified a poor defensive performance for the Hawks.

With the possible exception of Jeff Teague, who saw most of his action after the game has been decided and nicely stripped Gerald Wallace twice when forced to attempt to guard him in the post, no Hawk player should get off scot-free but Jamal Crawford, after giving a masterclass in instant offense for the better part of the last four games, offered a sobering reminder of how little he contribute when he is not making shots. 34 minutes, 14 shots, 13 points, 3 rebounds, 0 assists, 0 steals, 0 blocks, and little resistance when Flip Murray wanted to back him down before shooting over him.

As Drew points out, a 2-2 road trip isn't damaging in any real way but another poor defensive performance and/or loss tomorrow night when Denver visits Atlanta won't inspire confidence within the team or among observers.

*A road game and all, but the 10 Atlanta assists on 33 made baskets did not appear to be a result of stingy scorekeeping.

**Charlotte made 10 three-pointers in their first four games. Total.

***Not counting the combined 0-3 efforts of Gerald Henderson and Derrick Brown in deep garbage time.

November 6th Game Thread: Atlanta (4-1) @ Charlotte (2-2)

2009-11-06T15:07:00.000-05:00

TIP-OFF: 7pm (EST)

TELEVISION: SportSouth

RADIO: Hawks Radio Network, Audio League Pass

CHAT: Daily Dime Live

GAME NOTES: Hawks/Bobcats

ATLANTA INJURY REPORT: None.

CHARLOTTE INJURY REPORT: Flip Murray (left shin injury) is listed as day-to-day.

FOR ENTERTAINMENT PURPOSES ONLY: Atlanta -2, 180 o/u

OTHER PERSPECTIVES: Queen City Hoops

PREVIOUSLY, THE CHARLOTTE BOBCATS...in their four games, have scored 59 points, 79 points twice, and 102 points in a 108 possession, double-overtime victory over the Knicks. They are last in the league in offensive efficiency, second in the league in defensive efficiency, and are averaging a league-low 86.4 possessions per 48 minutes.

So why am I excited about watching this game? First of all, the Bobcats offer a different puzzle than the Hawks have had to solve in any their first five games. Sacramento and Indiana offered little defensive resistance, Washington and Portland wish to play at slower pace because of their half-court offensive execution, and the Lakers are just really good.

Also, whereas I think Sacramento has a chance to be as historically bad defensively as Charlotte could be historically bad offensively, the Kings aren't capable of balancing their weakness with an almost equal strength. Charlotte is going to be a top 10, maybe a top 5 defensive team this year. They are going to win games depsite a breathaking inability to score points with any efficiency and even less frequency. This will be history we witness, one scoreless possession at a time.

Consider this an open thread for all pre-game, in-game, and post-game (but pre-recap) thoughts.

Utah Flash Draft Garret Siler in First Round

2009-11-06T09:31:00.000-05:00

That would be Utah Flash, D-League affiliate of the Atlanta Hawks. It may not be official but the people* are now free to consider Garret Siler to be the Hawks' fifth-string center.

Brad Jones, head coach of the Utah Flash:

"We are very excited to bring a big guy with his potential to the Utah Flash."

*People excited by size, by someone not having played basketball as long as other professional basketball players, and by compiling above average stats in Division II. What do I know, though? Jon L at Ridiculous Upside thinks Siler's "probably the best big man in the pool." That's only going to make John Bryant work that much harder.

FanHouse: Ziller: Has Jamal Crawford Found Heaven?

2009-11-05T14:09:00.000-05:00

The answer, of course, is that it's too soon to tell but there is a nifty graph of Crawford's historical offensive ratings by usage rate.

Key quote:

Woodson has done a great job keeping legit offensive weapons around Crawford, allowing the guard to use ball movement more than he ever could in New York or Golden State. Crawford has basically served as the point guard behind Mike Bibby, but by playing Jam with Joe Johnson, Woodson has relieved some of the associated pressures. After all, Crawford is a pure scorer who can pass a little. (Wednesday night in Sacramento, Woodson also played Crawford with Bibby and Johnson for a stretch, with Marvin Williams stepping up to power forward as Smith dealt with foul trouble. The line-up had a few incredibly smooth possessions.)

Crawford's played four nice games in a row and Woodson has done a good job of letting Crawford play when he's making shots and pulling him when he's not. That discretion needs to continue as the career 43.8 2PTFG% shooter cools off (however much he does) from his five-game, 60 2PTFG% streak because, outside of 6.4 assists* per 100 offensive possessions, Crawford's contributed little else in his 135 minutes this season: 1 steal, 0 blocks, and 8 rebounds (2.6/4.2 OR%/DR%).

*For comparison's sake, Josh Smith leads the regulars** at 7.5 assists/100. Mike Bibby's averaging 6.5 and Joe Johnson 6.2 on the young season.

**Jeff Teague's averaged 11.3 assists/100 in his limited playing time.

Quotes, Notes, and Links: Hawks 113 Kings 105

2009-11-05T09:53:00.001-05:00

Gameflow

Highlights

I'll let the respective head coaches succinctly and without deviating from socially acceptable coach-speak delineate the difference between being in Year One and being in Year Six of building a team.

Paul Westphal:

"I told them (in the locker room), 'If I didn't think they were any good, I wouldn't be upset.'"

Mike Woodson:

"Take nothing away from the Kings, they have guys that can score the ball so I knew it wasn’t going to be an easy game. We knew that fourth quarter was going to be huge. Again, I've got to get us, the most important thing is we came in here and got our win."

Coach Woodson's quote comes from Sekou Smith's final game story for the AJC. He's off to write for NBA.com. The Human Highlight Blog offers a fine appreciation of Smith's tenure:

Smith came along in a dark time for Hawks coverage in the paper, as Michael Lee had long since left for the Washington Post, the team was completely rebuilding, and the paper was assigning very unqualified staff writers to cover the game.

All Smith did was inject a real beat writer mentality to the position, offered sometimes extremely strong opinion with the "pages" of his AJC blog, and roped quite a few people into good conversation about the franchise. Smith never pulled a punch, offered great material and asked the questions Hawks fans wanted answers to.

Good luck, Sekou--You'll be missed in the land you call Hawksville.

Ditto.

More from Westphal:

"We couldn't stop them. We couldn't stop them pretty much the whole game. The really executed well and went to their big time players. All of them."

Zach Harper of Cowbell Kingdom on the decisive fourth quarter:

The Kings failed to find way to get Kevin Martin shot attempts and didn’t have an adequate backup plan during this period. Martin checked into the fourth quarter around the 10-minute mark but didn’t attempt a shot until there was 3:43 left in the game. The Hawks made a concerted effort to keep the ball out of his hands and to force any other King to beat them. And it worked.

“They had a pretty good plan. Every time we set a ball screen, they were doubling it,” said Martin on why the Hawks were able to keep the ball out of his hands.

Yesterday I praised the Hawks' defensive rebounding through four games:

The Hawks...are, on the year, grabbing 78% of possible defensive rebounds (3rd in the league). It's early, but that's up from 71.6% last year (24th in the league).

Sacramento grabbed 35% of possible offensive rebounds last night so now, through five games, the Hawks defensive rebound percentage is 74.6% and they rank 12th in the NBA. Still above average, still a positive development, but still in flux.

A longer (early) evaluation of the season long themes is scheduled for sometime during the Hawks' three consecutive off days next week.

Hawks 113 Kings 105

2009-11-05T01:09:00.000-05:00

Boxscore

Team	Poss	Off Eff	eFG%	FT Rate	OR%	TO%
ATL	94.1	1.20	57.6	17.6	33.3	18.1
SAC	94.1	1.12	44.3	20.8	35.2	8.5

It was something of a replay of the opening night win over Indiana. Three quarters of negligible defensive effort from the Hawks against a lesser team. A renewed interest in stopping their opponents from scoring in the fourth quarter gets a boost from said opponents forgetting to get the ball to their best offensive player and substitutions* worthy of first-guessing. Ultimately, it results in a victory whose nature encourages dissatisfaction yet resists complaint.

The Hawks couldn't force a turnover or hold on to the ball themselves. The Kings (the impressive Jason Thompson in particular) dominated their offensive glass. Sacramento scored 112 points per 100 possessions despite Tyreke Evans (7-21 FGA, 0-3 3PTA) using almost as many possessions as Kevin Martin (11-22 FGA, 2-5 3PTA). These are not encouraging signs.

But it was the second of back-to-back road games, the third game of a four game cross-country road trip that the Hawks are now going to split at worst. No team is going to be sharp every night. Winning ugly more often than the next team might be the difference between the fourth- and the sixth-seed in the East. Perfect, let us not forget, is the enemy of good**.

And good things there were...Jamal Crawford made it 53 points in two nights. Joe Johnson narrowly averted a couple of late turnovers and finished strong for the second night in a row. Marvin Williams and Josh Smith*** made the most of their limited offensive opportunities. Al Horford anchored the late defensive stand. Jeff Teague looked fairly impressive in his sole stint. One hopes he doesn't come to feel the need to do as much as possible in limited minutes and initiate a vicious cycle that further limits his opportunities. Wouldn't hurt the young man were his veteran teammates to blow out a weaker opponent.

Charlotte's excellent defense and execrable offense will provide a different challenge on Friday night. I look forward to that game teaching us a touch more about this team.

*Is it really worth it from the Kings' perspective to have Desmond Mason (who had played less than half-a-minute before his fourth quarter stint) rather than Omri Casspi guard Joe Johnson if that means that Jamal Crawford then guards Mason rather than Kevin Martin on the other end?

**Also, a witty saying proves nothing.

***The latest Atlanta big man to commit his fifth foul late in the fourth quarter and get removed permanently from the game. It didn't affect the outcome but that doesn't mean it makes any sense.

November 4th Game Thread: Atlanta (3-1) @ Sacramento (1-3)

2009-11-04T15:54:00.000-05:00

TIP-OFF: 10pm (EST)

TELEVISION: SportSouth

RADIO: Hawks Radio Network, Audio League Pass

CHAT: Daily Dime Live

GAME NOTES: Hawks/Kings

ATLANTA INJURY REPORT: None.

SACRAMENTO INJURY REPORT: Francisco Garcia is out.

FOR ENTERTAINMENT PURPOSES ONLY: Atlanta -5.5, 204 o/u

OTHER PERSPECTIVES: Cowbell Kingdom, Sactown Royalty

PREVIOUSLY, THE SACRAMENTO KINGS...won their first game of the season Monday night, outlasting Memphis 127-116 in overtime. Kevin Martin lead the way with 48 points with most of the rest of the scoring coming off the bench, with four Kings reserves scoring as much or more than the other four Kings starters: Spencer Hawes (expected to start tonight) had 21, Beno Udrih had 16, Omri Casspi had 15, and Andres Nocioni (who may start tonight) scored 13. It was Sacramento's best defensive performance of the year as they held Memphis to 108 points per 100 possessions. The Kings' defensive efficiency for the seaon is 114.3 points per 100 possessions.

Consider this an open thread for all pre-game, in-game, and post-game (but pre-recap) thoughts.

Hawks 97 Trailblazers 91

2009-11-04T11:59:00.000-05:00

Boxscore

Gameflow

Highlights

Team	Poss	Off Eff	eFG%	FT Rate	OR%	TO%
ATL	87.7	1.106	49.4	22.5	29.7	13.7
POR	87.7	1.038	45.9	15.3	22.2	11.4

Just as in Los Angeles on Sunday, the first quarter last night was an aberration. This time, though, a productive plan of attack formed rather than fell apart before our eyes. Let it not be lost in celebrating the win and the final three quarters of wildly encouraging basketball just how poor the Hawks were in the first quarter: 5-19 from the field, 3 turnovers, and 15 points scored--team totals that would have been much worse had Mike Woodson not turned to his bench relatively early.

Jamal Crawford will (rightfully) earn plaudits for carrying the offense for much of the first half and freeing Joe Johnson from the Portland defense' full attention in the second half but it was Zaza Pachulia who provided the initial spark off the bench, coming in after Josh Smith's second personal foul 6 minutes and 20 seconds into the first quarter and scoring 6 points (on 1 FGA and 4 FTA), grabbing 2 rebounds, and finding Crawford on a back-door cut for the first two of the guard's 27 points.

Pachulia would be similarly effective in his two subsequent stints but by the the second half it was the Jamal Crawford show. If, in the first half, Crawford demonstrated how, at his best, he can be a devastating scorer (17 points on 8 first half shots), his six second half* assists showcased his ability to play well with others.

*during which he scored 10 more points, again on 8 shots

Joe Johnson took full advantage of Crawford drawing extra attention (and, frankly, took advantage of Crawford dominating the ball early in possessions so that Johnson could not) in the second half, busting out of the 2-16 shooting slump that lasted from the second quarter Sunday night through halftime last night to make 8 of 11 second half field goal attempts. Johnson is simply a different and more effective offensive player when he does not try to take on the entire opposition defense.

That's a lesson Brandon Roy and/or Nate McMillan might take away from last night's game. Roy struggled to initiate the Portland offense for much of the second half nor could LaMarcus Aldridge match his 14 point first half. It fell to Travis Outlaw to carry Portland offensively in the fourth quarter. Outlaw took advantage of Josh Smith's wandering eye on more than one occassion but because, unlike in the first half, Smith wasn't occupied with LaMarcus Aldridge in the low post he was free to help defensively. It looked a fair trade for the Hawks. Smith ended the night with two blocks to his credit but he altered many more shots than that.

Had the Hawks' strong second-half defensive performance ended (as it sometimes does) once a Portland shot went up, their effort might have been valiant but futile. Holding the opposition to 16-44 from the field (5-12 3PTA, that's a 42 eFG%) is nice but it doesn't complete the work of getting the ball back. The Hawks won the rebounding battle for the fourth time in four games and are, on the year, grabbing 78% of possible defensive rebounds (3rd in the league). It's early, but that's up from 71.6% last year (24th in the league). None of Al Horford, Josh Smith, or Marvin Williams especially distinguished himself offensively last night but their effort on the defensive glass secured the victory.

Al Horford:

"We definitely have learned out lesson and having a guy like Jamal made the big difference. But the key was Joe stepping up his defense on Brandon Roy in the second half. He took that challenge after halftime and we all followed his lead on that end of the floor and we took care of business."

Josh Smith:

"Jamal had a hell of a game. He can lead the league in scoring off the bench if we do it right. I don't think there's any doubt he's got to be the favorite to be sixth-man of the year."

Mike Woodson:

"Things didn’t go our way early. But trying to get a quality win against a top notch team on the road is what's important. Our defense really picked up in the third and fourth quarter. And Jamal was huge. He's a shot-maker. We haven’t had a big time guy like that off the bench that make things happen the way he did."

If you're wondering, no, I'm not entirely comfortable being the lone voice remembering what Flip Murray did last season.

It's no surprise that Peachtree Hoops has a far better appreciation of Zaza Pachulia's first good performance of the season than do I:

Welcome back my cuddly Eastern European bruiser of unathleticism awesomeness. At one point in the first half, Zaza was the offense. Seriously. And his defense keyed the whole thing. Zaza can't be your offensive leader if your not getting defensive stops too. Zaza blocked two shots. He played good man to man defense. Protected the rim. Basically, Zaza did what he does best, make me happy.

Kelly Dwyer goes Behind the Boxscore:

I haven't seen Atlanta play this hard since, well, the team's hot start to 2008-09. Oh, I'm sure they brought the effort during last year's postseason, but man, Atlanta really wanted this one.

Blazersedge wonders if averaging more than one lineup per minute in the final six minutes of a close game hurt the Blazers' comeback chances.

Congratulations to anyone who bet under 4.5 games on when my more thorough two-part game recap streak would end. These West Coast games are tough on the semi-professional scribe (citizen analyst?) . Consider today's late, single missive an interruption rather than an abandonment of the new model.

November 3rd Game Thread: Atlanta (2-1) @ Portland (2-2)

2009-11-03T12:58:00.001-05:00

TIP-OFF: 10pm (EST)

TELEVISION: SportSouth

RADIO: Hawks Radio Network, Audio League Pass

CHAT: Daily Dime Live

GAME NOTES: Hawks/Trailblazers

ATLANTA INJURY REPORT: None.

PORTLAND INJURY REPORT: LaMarcus Aldridge is questionable. Nicolas Batum, Patty Mills, and Jeff Pendergraph are out.

FOR ENTERTAINMENT PURPOSES ONLY: Portland -7, 191 o/u

OTHER PERSPECTIVES: Blazersedge, Beyond Bowie

PREVIOUSLY, THE PORTLAND TRAILBLAZERS...won 83-74 in Oklahoma City by holding the Thunder to 37.5% shooting on two-point shots, 21.4% on three-points, and forcing turnovers on 22.9% of Oklahoma City's offensive possessions. LaMarcus Aldridge suffered a right knee contusion as a result of a collision with Jeff Green.

GAMEDAY LINKS

3 Shades of Blue has a handy chart of various power rankings published after the season's first week.
Chad Ford (Insider) ranks Joe Johnson as the #2 (behind Carlos Boozer) unrestricted free agent (and Josh Childress the #6 restricted free agent) in the FA class of 2010:
Johnson is coming off yet another terrific year for the Hawks. He can score in a lot of ways and can play both backcourt positions. He just turned 28, so he still has four or five years left in him. If the Hawks don't take another big step toward being a contender this year, he could decide to leave for a team with a better chance of helping him win a title.
For those who, like me, are curious about David Andersen's rookie NBA season, Matt Stephens at Rockets Buzz offers the following observation about Andersen from last night's game against Utah:
David Andersen made Okur look like Dwight Howard in the post at times. Andersen was definitely a low point in an otherwise very good night. Defensively, he’s definitely the weak spot in the frontcourt whenever he’s in the game, and he isn’t doing enough offensively to earn himself playing time, going 1-7 from the floor tonight.

Consider this an open thread for all pre-game, in-game, and post-game (but pre-recap) thoughts.

Jeff Teague Provides Lamar Odom With an Opportunity To Exercise Discretion

2009-11-02T16:02:00.004-05:00

Quotes, Notes, and Links: Lakers 118 Hawks 110

2009-11-02T14:05:00.000-05:00

Gameflow

Highlights

Hey, I called it. Joe Johnson's results-oriented emotional rollercoaster continued:

"I thought we were past this but I was wrong. We still complain too much. To be honest, we just didn't have the effort needed to do this right. If shots aren't falling we stand around. We think offense more than defense. And you're not going to win in this league like that."

I think the cause-and-effect relationship between standing around and shots not falling may, in fact, be the reverse of that which Mr. Johnson states. Of the seven field goals he made during his 18 point first quarter explosion, five were assisted by a teammate. It's a lot easier to get a good look in transition, on the move without the basketball, or when the ball's moving out of a double-team than it is by dribbling in isolation against multiple, set defenders.

Al Horford:

"We have to focus on the defensive end. We have enough scorers that we're going to score the ball. We're a little too worried about our offense. If you look at any of the great teams that win championships, they do it with defense. If we want to get on that level, we have to start worrying about our defense."

Mike Woodson continued the theme of energy deficiency:

"I thought tonight we were so sluggish with the basketball, throwing it all over the gym. They had a lot to do with it because they got up on us defensively and we went the other way."

Here's my issue with assigning blame for most losses to energy or effort: When Bibby's three-pointer made the score 70-74 with 6:44 left in the third quarter, no one thought the Hawks were sluggish. Forcing Phil Jackson to put his starters back in the game for the final 6:40 is not indicative of a lack of effort. The Hawks lost because they got stagnant* offensively and were not in position to rotate back defensively when the began to turn the ball over quickly and repeatedly.

*Due to (in order of importance) 1) Not getting stops defensively, 2) The Lakers defense in the third quarter, 3) Design.

Atlanta's 3rd Quarter Turnovers

Name	Time	Result
Horford	10:07	Smith blocks Odom layup
Smith	7:18	Bryant dunk
Horford	5:30	loss of possession
Pachulia	4:10	Artest dunk
Crawford	3:45	Bynum dunk
Crawford	2:56	Bryant missed FGA
Pachulia	2:41	Bynum dunk
Smith	1:01	Bryant dunk

Peachtree Hoops raises the question of why Joe Johnson played just 9:21 of the first quarter:

Joe was 7-8 in the first quarter with one foul, and Mike Woodson sat him toward the end of the first quarter. You can say that Joe was not going to be enough. You can say the Lakers are better than Joe 'freaking" Johnson, but I would like the chance to prove you right. Coaches don't take out guys that hot in 9 year old church basketball. It makes no sense. Yes, he may have cooled off. Really, he had to, dude was on pace for 90 points after the first eight minutes. But why does your own coach cool him off?

One must feel sympathy for Mike Woodson, who, through three games, has been criticized both for playing Johnson too much (39 minutes in a close game on opening night) and too little (36 minutes last night in Los Angeles). Pinning the blame on Woodson for Johnson's 1-8 shooting in the final three quarters ignores the impact of Johnson's teammates in his hot first quarter (see above) and Ron Artest's defense against Johnson.

UPDATED 2:05pm EST

Kurt at Forum Blue and Gold offers an informed outsider's perspective on this:

Kobe was on Johnson for the first quarter, Artest on Josh Smith. Kobe started “playing free safety” as he likes to call it (we here have called it many other, less kind things). On one play in particular, Kobe left Johnson alone at the three-point line to double Horford inside trying to swipe at the ball for a steal, and Horford kicked it out for an open look by Johnson that he nailed. We all know you shouldn’t leave one of the best pure shooters in the game, but Kobe has and will. In the first quarter, six of those seven baskets by Johnson were assisted — credit here to the Hawks for making the pass to the open guy, these are not your Memphis Grizzlies. But Kobe was leaving him open for those shots.

Lakers 118 Hawks 110

2009-11-02T00:45:00.001-05:00

Boxscore

Team	Poss	Off Eff	eFG%	FT Rate	OR%	TO%
ATL	100.5	1.094	48.9	25.8	31.1	19.9
LAL	100.5	1.174	55.7	24.1	29.7	15.9

Let not the final score fool you. Sure, the Atlanta bench outplayed their Laker counterparts sufficiently in the fourth quarter that both Mike Woodson and Phil Jackson felt the need to put their starters back in the game but the Hawks didn't get within 10 points until Jamal Crawford's layup with 26.3 seconds left in the game. The Hawks needed an 8-0 run to cap a 34-20 fourth quarter to lose by eight points to a team without its second-best player.

Jeff Teague's fourth quarter (12 points, 2 assists, one made three-pointer, one spectacular dunk) was the closest thing to a positive the Hawks could take away from the game, an encounter thoroughly spare of hopeful signs despite Joe Johnson's bright start. Johnson scored 18 points in the game's first 9:21 and outplayed Kobe Bryant over that stretch. Bryant stopped settling for jump shots, a decision not unrelated to being guarded by Jamal Crawford for long stretches, and finished the game with 41 points. Bryant could have scored more had Ron Artest been interested in truly exploiting his teammate's mismatch against Crawford. Johnson finished with 27 points and made one field goal, a layup with 1:10 left in the game to make the score 106-118, in quarters two through four.

Unfortunately for those who think Johnson's overburdened offensively, the Hawks' young frontcourt made little argument for expanding their roles. Josh Smith took five jump shots in the first half. He made one. He took a sixth jumper late in the fourth quarter and missed that one too. For the game, Smith turned the ball over five times, largely negating his seven assists. Marvin Williams scored just six points and had but one play, a post up on the right block with 7:37 left in the second quarter, run for him. He missed a jump hook on that play. Al Horford tallied six points and nine rebounds (five offensive) against four turnovers of his own and struggled to defend the larger, stronger Andrew Bynum (21 points on 14 shots) in the post.

Turnovers doomed the Hawks in the third quarter. Their eight turnovers led to several easy Laker baskets. The Hawks scored 18 points in the third quarter. The Lakers scored 18 points on dunks in the third quarter and added 16 more points in other ways to increase a six-point halftime lead to 22 points.

I'm writing this recap before reading the post-game quotes. Let me preemptively dispute any potential suggestions that the Hawks lost due to a lack of effort. They played plenty hard but were clearly outclassed. The fundamental difference between the teams is that of talent. The Hawks got a great first quarter from Joe Johnson, a good third quarter from Mike Bibby, and a good fourth quarter from Teague. The Lakers got a great game from Bryant, good games from Bynum and Lamar Odom, and defense effective enough to counterbalance if not outweigh his shot selection from Ron Artest. The Hawks don't win this game if Joe Johnson sits a couple of minutes less in the first half or if Jamal Crawford isn't asked to guard Kobe Bryant so often. The Lakers, even without Pau Gasol, are the better team, both offensively and defensively, the same way the Hawks were simply better than Indiana on opening night.

November 1st Game Thread: Atlanta (2-0) @ LA Lakers (1-1)

2009-11-01T17:08:00.001-05:00

TIP-OFF: 9:30pm

TELEVISION: Fox Sports South

RADIO: Hawks Radio Network, Audio League Pass

CHAT: Daily Dime Live

GAME NOTES: Hawks/Lakers

ATLANTA INJURY REPORT: None.

LAKERS INJURY REPORT: Pau Gasol is out. Luke Walton is probable.

FOR ENTERTAINMENT PURPOSES ONLY: Lakers -8.5, 196.5 o/u

OTHER PERSPECTIVES: Forum Blue and Gold

PREVIOUSLY, THE LOS ANGELES LAKERS...lost 94-80 to the Dallas Mavericks on Friday night. The Mavericks reportedly carved up the Laker defense with the pick-and-roll.

GAMEDAY LINKS

It's hard to tell from the quote if it's a good thing or a bad thing* to "shake the silly off" but it's a worthy successor to "Bet it hit rim." Josh Smith:
"Everybody starts out thinking they're going to run off 10 or 20 straight until they get popped. I was confident last year when we started 6-0. I didn't think we were going to lose. But once you get hit in the mouth you sort of shake the silly off and get down to business. We learned that the hard way last year with the way we lost that game in Boston and how we had to fight back after that."
Steve Hummer profiles Jaml Crawford.

*Upon further reflection, maybe it's just part of growing up.

Consider this an open thread for all pre-game, in-game, and post-game (but pre-recap) thoughts.

Quotes, Notes, and Links: Hawks 100 Wizards 89

2009-10-31T08:53:00.000-04:00

Gameflow

Highlights

What a difference two regular season wins make. Joe Johnson:

"We've got enough guys to score the basketball, make plays, defend and rebound. I don’t think that's ever going to be a factor. As long as everybody just stays focused and confident and keeps the negative out, we're going to be fine."

Note to self: it sucks to lose, take post-loss quotes with a grain of empathetic salt.

Mike Woodson says what the fans want to hear:

"I think we have enough players that we can spread it around. There will be nights when Jamal is probably going to lead us in scoring. There's going to be nights when Al is going to lead us in scoring, and the same goes for Marvin and [Josh]. We have enough offensive weapons if they just buy into sharing the basketball, and the minutes they get, they make the most of them."

Then he does one for himself:

"But you win in this league on the defensive end, in terms of defending and rebounding. And tonight, we made a serious effort to defend and rebound the ball."

Josh Smith blocked the 900th shot of his career last night. He's the youngest player to reach that milestone. Soon thereafter, he became the youngest player to block 901 shots.

Smith:

"I wasn't thinking about it. I was just thinking about getting a win. Any individual accolades can wait. I'd rather get the W."

Brendan Haywood continues to make one compliment his fine defense, rebounding, and competent offensive game through gritted teeth by saying something like this about the officiating after an 11-point loss wherein Josh Smith sat out the last 3:33 of the second quarter and 9:41 of the third quarter in foul trouble:

"Some of it was them being aggressive and some of it was stuff I can't comment on."

Ladies and gentlemen, the subtle wit of Mr. Haywood.

What does Truth About It say, um, about it?

Atlanta was also 31-34 from the free-throw line while the Wizards shot 14-22. The disparity seems dramatic, but the Wizards migrated between trying to carelessly attack the basket and settling for jumpers. So in that regard, the Wiz really don’t have anyone to blame but themselves … but I’ll also credit Atlanta’s defense just a tad.

Joe Smith made the 30th three-point basket of his career last night. 22 of those makes came prior to the summer of 1997. He was on a nasty 4-41 streak behind the arc from 1997 through 2008 but has made 4 of 7 since December 23, 2008.

Drew wins best Nick Young line of the night:

Cure for Mike Bibby's defensive liability? Nick Young.

It's funny because it's true.

Anyone who's not Mike Miller* or DeShawn Stevenson should check out The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly at The Vent.

*Unless he's willing to take its contents as constructive criticism.

Hawks 100 Wizards 89

2009-10-30T22:54:00.000-04:00

Boxscore

Team	Poss	Off Eff	eFG%	FT Rate	OR%	TO%
WASH	92	0.968	47.5	17.7	18.2	16.3
ATL	91	1.099	44.2	39.7	25.6	14.3

Before tonight's game, Mike Woodson, when asked about the possible difficulty of learning very much about his team in the atypically fast-paced and high-possession* game Wednesday night, answered:

"It was a fast pace but Indiana forces you to play that way. I'm not too strong on always racing up and down the floor but they forced our hand to do it. I thought when we had to defend coming down the stretch that's when we really stepped up. We held them to 15 points in the fourth quarter and that's huge. That's when you've got to get it done and I thought our guys stepped up and met the challenge."

*The 101 possessions in the first game were more than in any Hawks game last season.

The Hawks didn't wait four quarters to step up defensively tonight. They didn't even wait four minutes. Gilbert Arenas had 5 points and an assist in the first 3:35 to guide Washington to a quick 12-4 lead. Mike Woodson called timeout and from that point forward the Hawks allowed 12 points on Washington's 17 subsequent first quarter possessions, scored 25 points on their 17 remaining first quarter possessions and built a five-point lead they would never relinquish.

Jamal Crawford and Maurice Evans keyed a strong effort off the bench, first by shoring up the defense, in relief of Marvin Williams and Mike Bibby respectively, in the second half of the first quarter. Evans scored eight points on three shots and played solid defense for all of the 16 minutes and 34 seconds he spent on the court. Crawford had a nice start to the game on the offensive end as well, making four of his first five field goal attempts, getting to the free throw line, earning a couple of assists, and not turning the ball over.

Crawford kept shooting but didn't keep making his shots. Just as it appeared Crawford might shoot Washington back into the game* Mike Woodson did what Jim O'Brien failed to do Wednesday night. Woodson accepted what he'd gotten form his bench and turned the game over to his starters. With 8:42 left and Washington within seven, Mike Bibby re-entered the game, ball movement re-entered the Hawks' half-court offense, and Washington never drew closer. That's how it should be. Jamal Crawford was acquired to shoot the ball. It's his primary skill as a basketball player. It's Woodson's responsibility to let or not let him shoot as best serves the team.

*Crawford made one of his last six field goal attempts.

In that fourth quarter, Marvin Williams scored 9 of his 10 points. Josh Smith scored 9 of his 20 points. Joe Johnson and Mike Bibby combined for the other 7 points and 3 assists. The bench's collective fourth quarter line: 5:03 played, 0-1 FGA, 1 turnover. Woodson could lean so heavily on the starters because they were rested. Johnson played a second over 30 minutes. Josh Smith (who suffered from some minor foul trouble in the second and third quarters) played 29:08. Bibby played 32:21. Marvin Williams played 31:43. Only Al Horford (12 more rebounds, 3 offensive) played heavy minutes.

Eight of the ten Hawks who played last night recorded a positive +/-. Joe Johnson's was 0. Jeff Teague was the straggler at -2. This happened because Woodson kept the matchups favorable. He rested the starters when he could afford to do so and thus he could turn to them when they were needed. Crawford, Evans, and Pachulia are good reserves. Joe Smith and Jeff Teague are going to be overqualified as ninth and tenth men most nights. There's no need to complicate matters as O'Brien did Wednesday night, or Flip Saunders, without Caron Butler* in the second half, did in allowing Nick Young to double his 0-fer (from 0-4 to 0-8) in the first four minutes of the second half before putting the superior Randy Foye in the game for the duration.

*He suffered a bruised knee courtesy of contesting a loose ball with Zaza Pachulia.

It's only two games, and two home games at that, but the Hawks have shown some promising signs: in getting to the free throw line fairly frequently, by controlling the defensive glass, and, perhaps most importantly, Josh Smith has taken 21 field goals through two games and 16 of those attempts have been at the rim. Of the remaining five, one was a result of a failed attempt to penetrate rather than a desire to shoot a jump and another, the only of the five field goal attempts away from the basket he's made, was a 16-footer taken at the end of the shot clock with 34.4 seconds left in a game the Hawks led 98-89.

The upcoming trip to West Coast will likely reveal more about this team but the first two games have provided little reason for concern.

October 30th Game Thread: Washington (1-0) @ Atlanta (1-0)

2009-10-30T16:31:00.000-04:00

TIP-OFF: 7:30pm

TELEVISION: Fox Sports South

RADIO: Hawks Radio Network, Audio League Pass

CHAT: Daily Dime Live

GAME NOTES: Hawks/Wizards

ATLANTA INJURY REPORT: None.

WASHINGTON INJURY REPORT: Antawn Jamison and Javaris Crittenton are out.

FOR ENTERTAINMENT PURPOSES ONLY: Atlanta -6.5, 203 o/u

OTHER PERSPECTIVES: Truth About It, Bullets Forever

PREVIOUSLY, THE WASHINGTON WIZARDS...beat the Mavericks 102-91 in Dallas Tuesday night. Gilbert Arenas made a triumphant return, scoring 29 points on 21 shots and earning 9 assists. Andray Blatche scored 20 points off the bench to make up for Antawn Jamison's absence on a night when Caron Butler (6-17 FGA) struggled to find the basket. Randy Foye matched Blatche's 8-14 mark from the field and allowed Flip Saunders to leave Nick Young and Mike James on the bench the entire night. There may be a correlation between that and winning this year for the Wizards. Sadly, JaVale McGee played just 42 seconds.

Consider this an open thread for all pre-game, in-game, and post-game (but pre-recap) thoughts.

ESPN.com: Daily Dime Live Starts at 7pm

2009-10-30T15:01:00.001-04:00

Join me for a chat, won't you?

Season-Long Theme: Backcourt Defense

2009-10-30T12:42:00.001-04:00

This may or may not be a regular* feature, but with little news prior to tonight's game I thought I'd take a moment and look at one game's worth of evidence regarding one of my areas of concern: backcourt defense.

Pacers @ Hawks, 10.28.09

First, the two-man backcourts...

Backcourt	Def Poss	Opp Pts	Def Eff
Bibby/Johnson	63	57	0.905
TEAM	101	109	1.079
Teague/Crawford	19	22	1.158
Crawford/Johnson	8	11	1.375
Teague/Johnson	8	16	2.000

As for three-man backcourts, the Hawks played Joe Johnson at small forward for just three defensive possessions. Atlanta allowed 3 points on 2 possessions with the Teague/Crawford/Johnson backcourt on the floor and 0 points on 1 possession with the Bibby/Crawford/Johnson backcourt on the floor.

There aren't, of course, many definitive conclusions to draw from such a small sample size. The Bibby/Johnson backcourt allowed the fewest points but also got to play the most against Indiana's TJ Ford/Brandon Rush backcourt. How much credit for Indiana's starting backcourt's offensive struggles should go to Bibby and Johnson and how much blame should be assigned to the Pacers is, as far as I'm concerned, an open question but at least now we know what happened.

Here's a table of the on-court defensive efficiencies for each player mentioned in this post:

Player	Def Poss	Opp Pts	Def Eff
Bibby	64	57	0.891
Johnson	82	87	1.061
TEAM	101	109	1.079
Crawford	30	36	1.200
Teague	29	41	1.414

Lest anyone get too concerned about Jeff Teague's defense, the Hawks scored 33 points during the 27 offensive possessions (Off Eff: 1.222) for which he was on the floor. For the game, the Hawks scored 1.188 points per possession.

*Regular in the sense of bi-weekly, monthly, etc. It will almost certainly not be a regular feature after each game.

Quotes, Notes, and Links: Hawks 120 Pacers 109

2009-10-29T10:23:00.000-04:00

Gameflow

Highlights

Al Horford:

"It's just the first game. We can't make too many judgments. But we are trying to make an effort to play better and we needed to shut them down inside and we did a good job of that when it mattered late."

Joe Johnson:

"There's no doubt Josh and Al carried us in the first half and that's big. I knew I had to step it up after halftime because I was pressing a little too much early. But when you have those guys going off like that on both ends of the floor we're a tougher team to deal with."

Mike Woodson, on Josh Smith and Horford:

"They really did a great job of protecting the paint. [Smith] made some unbelievable blocks when guys had plays right at the rim and he came form nowhere and got the block and we were able to secure the ball and go the other way. We really need those two guys to be shot blockers as well as to protect our paint."

Josh Smith:

"You're going to have nights like this, when the other team is shooting lights out and you're forced to play outside of your comfort zone a little bit. We wanted to clamp down on the defensive end and put the onus ourselves to get stops when it mattered and I think we did that...I know it wasn’t the sort of defensive masterpiece coach loves to see, but it turned out positive for us in the end."

Mo Evans:

"I feel like we kind of succumbed to the way they wanted to play and to the rotation they wanted us to use instead of milking that newly formed bench we brought in here. We’ve got to learn how to trust our second unit as well to go out there and play. We’ve got a lot of talent over there and I think we got a little nervous because they were out there making shots and then we had to extend our starters’ minutes a little longer than we probably wanted. That’s not going to work during those stretches when we have four games in five or six nights."

Mike Woodson:

"We’re all trying to get used to one another. They’re especially trying to get used to me and what I’m expecting when they’re out on the floor."

I had no problems with the distribution of bench minutes. Mo Evans had a very nice game but Marvin Williams is a better player. There will be nights when Jamal Crawford or Zaza Pachulia or maybe even Jeff Teague are playing better than a starter but last night wasn't one of those nights. So let's hold off on criticizing the coach on this issue until it's, you know, an issue.

If you really want to vent about something, note the apparent return of the Horford Treatment: Marvin Williams sat the last 2:43 of the first half after picking up his second foul and Josh Smith sat out the last 41.1 seconds of the first half after picking his second foul.

The Human Highlight Blog:

Game One also showed some of how Woodson may plan to deploy his bench and not use Mike Bibby so much. In what was not a settled game until the fourth quarter wound down, Bibby still logged just (30) minutes. He used that rest to make three big fourth quarter shots that gave the Hawks the lead and then put it out of reach. Two of the buckets were bombs that were standard issue open Bibby looks, but the 2-pointer sandwiched in between was a runner in the lane in which Bibby seemed to lose the handle on, but was able to sneak it by the taller players inside and get the bucket. That basket gave the Hawks a (4) point lead with 7 1/2 minutes left and the Hawks never trailed again.

It was nice to see you too, department: CoCo has the good, the bad, and the ugly over at The Vent. I presume Hawk Str8Talk will have a recap once Larry recovers from witnessing Al Horford's IMPRESSIVE performance.

Be warned, the bar for describing Horford's performance has been set high atPeachtree Hoops:

Oooohhhh, Mr. Horford. I love you when you average 10 and 8. So 24 and 16 is going to cause problems for my marriage.

To answer Joe Johnson's earlier question again, yes, that is a guy writing.

Mark Bradley:

[Joe Johnson] deferred to Josh Smith and Al Horford for a half, and then the Hawks’ best player reminded us that, even though this team has more good players than at any time in two decades, he’s still the Hawks’ best player. And if that’s the new method — let others get involved early and let JJ save it for later — it just might work.

Mike Wells of The Indianapolis Star has a nice piece on Indianapolis native Jeff Teague.

John Hollinger:

It’s a simple concept, really: get the rebound, throw it to a guard, and run.

Unfortunately, the Pacers were so focused on the “and run” part on Wednesday that they glossed over “throw it to a guard” on several occasions. Indiana made a whopping 25 turnovers in a frenetic 120-109 loss to the Hawks, and by my count at least six of them came in the backcourt while trying to advance the ball upcourt.

Each time, an Indiana player rebounded the ball and tried to throw it ahead to T.J. Ford or Earl Watson to push it upcourt. Each time, a Hawks defender was sitting on the outlet pass and pried the ball away from the Pacers.

Let's all spare a thought for Jared Wade of Eight Points, Nine Seconds:

Right after Solomon Jones entered the game, he found himself playing helpside D when the ball-handler was in the corner and his man was near the opposite elbow. He stood there under the basket, wildly looking back and forth between his two responsibilities and seemed to be overwhelmed by all the excitement going on around him.

I’ll chalk this up to Solo still being inexperienced and having nerves due to the fact that he is trying to carve out a role on a new team that he might actually be able to get burn for. But Solomon Jones looked lost and frenetic out there — and it wasn’t just on this one play.

That Indiana went with Jones as Hibbert's backup rather than the smaller, quicker, and more talented Jeff Foster may be an indication that other NBA teams do not consider Al Horford as undersized a center as do some Hawks fans. Or it might just mean that Foster was playing hurt.

A couple times last night, I forgot for a second that Brandon Rush doesn't play for Kansas anymore before I'd remember and feel the peace of not having to be frustrated by him anymore. Tom Lewis of Indy Cornrows does not feel that peace:

Despite the quibble about Dahntay being TOO aggressive, I'd much rather have that than what Brandon Rush ended up offering tonight. After a decent start and a couple of nice buckets in the lane, Rush wasn't able to rev up his game to match the intensity of the game. After a pair of turnovers where he literally just lost the ball on the dribble, JOB kept him tethered to the bench. Won't be surprised to see Dahntay starting on Friday.

In the long term, I like Jeff Teague a lot. Still, I note that, in his NBA debut, DeJuan Blair scored 14 points on 10 shots, grabbed 11 rebounds (5 offensive), and earned 3 assists against 2 turnovers all in 23 minutes. Blair needs a nickname. Forward your suggestions to @kpelton.

In another debut, Ty Lawson scored 17 points points on 13 shots and earned 6 assists against a single turnover. It would have been nice to get more than one of the underrated players available at the bottom of the first round.

Lest I injure myself in the act of premature self-congratulation, I should also note that Jonny Flynn had a very nice debut for the Timberwolves.

If you've made it this far, let me know what you think about the switch to two post-game posts per game: the game recap appearing at night and quotes, notes, and links in the morning.

Hawks 120 Pacers 109

2009-10-28T22:27:00.001-04:00

Boxscore

Team	Poss	Off Eff	eFG%	FT Rate	OR%	TO%
IND	101	1.08	60.3	28.8	18.2	24.7
ATL	101	1.19	56.9	24.1	19.0	10.9

Through a little more than three quarters, Jim O'Brien got a lot out of Dahntay Jones and Earl Watson. Then he asked them for more and learned they'd given all they had. Through a little more than three quarters, Mike Woodson got a lot from Josh Smith, Al Horford, and Joe Johnson. He asked for more and he got it (plus a couple big baskets from Mike Bibby to get from 100-101 to 105-101). There's no better decision an NBA coach can make than to put his best players on the floor.

In O'Brien's defense, neither TJ Ford nor Brandon Rush made a strong case for fourth quarter playing time but no matter how frustrating the distance between their talent and their production, they're better players than Watson and Jones. To expect more from the reserves (especially Watson, who visibly tired early in the fourth) who had, unexpectedly given so much, was equal parts greed and foolishness and neither a sound short-term nor long-term strategy.

Indiana provided further aid to the Hawks by spending their offensive possessions not letting Danny Granger touch the ball during the 10-point Hawks run that turned a one-point deficit into a 110-101 lead for the home team. On four consecutive scoreless possessions, Indiana posted up Roy Hibbert, Dahntay Jones, Hibbert again (this possession ended with a rushed, missed three by Granger), and Troy Murphy. In 9:44 of fourth quarter playing time, Granger scored four points on just three field goal and three free throw attempts. The Hawks (with Joe Johnson rather than Marvin Williams providing the initial effort) defended Granger better in the fourth quarter but Indiana also made them defend him less.

The first three quarters offered little solace for any Hawks fans that spent the summer worrying about perimeter defense and rebounding. Mike Bibby began the game guarding Brandon Rush with Joe Johnson marking the quicker Ford. Rush beating Bibby off the dribble for a lay-in began a procession that included Dahntay Jones beating Jamal Crawford off the dribble twice, beating Mo Evans off the dribble, successfully posting up Mike Bibby, Luther Head beating Crawford off the dribble, and Earl Watson making an uncontested layup and an uncontested three on consecutive possessions (with the help of Troy Murphy screens) against Jeff Teague and Joe Smith.

On the other end of the floor, the Hawks' offense offered little cause worry at any point during the night. Josh Smith took an ill-advised, unnecessary 21-footer with 5:58 left in the first quarter then did not take another jump shot the rest of the game, choosing instead to create offense for himself (He made 7 of his 9 remaining field goal attempts.) and others. He was credited with 8 assists against a single turnover, almost all a result of attacking the basket.

Al Horford took advantage of his mobility against the plodding duo of Hibbert and Solomon Jones to find ample open space. His teammates found him frequently in these dangerous scoring positions. The offensive load didn't prevent Horford also pulling down 13 of Atlanta's 27 defensive rebounds in 33:31 of the team's 240 minutes. Mo Evans chipped in 12 points on 5 shots in 15:08 before Joe Johnson and Mike Bibby took over in the fourth quarter. The starting backcourt combined for 17 points on 17 shots with 8 assists and 5 turnovers through three quarters. They combined for 18 points on 11 shots with 3 assists against a single turnover in the fourth, scoring or assisting on 20 of Atlanta's 25 fourth quarter points.

Little went according to plan on opening night. There were obvious examples of improvements possibly made and obvious areas where improvement is possibly needed. I'm hesitant to think I learned too much tonight if only because the Hawks are unlikely to play another 100+ possession game this season (barring multiple overtimes). It was a good win, born out of talent and improvisation. If this proves to be a successful season, I think those characteristics, more than anything else, will be what one remembers about opening night.

Quotes, notes, and links in the morning.

Opening Night Game Thread: Indiana (0-0) @ Atlanta (0-0)

2009-10-28T15:51:00.000-04:00

TIP-OFF: 7pm

TELEVISION: SportSouth

RADIO: Hawks Radio Network, Audio League Pass

GAME NOTES: Hawks/Pacers

ATLANTA INJURY REPORT: None.

INDIANA INJURY REPORT: Mike Dunleavy, Travis Diener, and Tyler Hansbrough are out. Jeff Foster is questionable. Danny Granger is ~~doubtful~~ a game-time decision.

FOR ENTERTAINMENT PURPOSES ONLY: Atlanta -8, 204 o/u

OTHER PERSPECTIVES: Eight Points Nine Seconds, Indy Cornrows

GAMEDAY LINKS

Matt Moore previews the Hawks through the Lion Face/Lemon Face prism at Hardwood Paroxysm.
Kevin Pelton and Bradford Doolittle (who penned the excellent Hawks chapter of the book) of Basketball Prospectus posted their final projections and predictions.
Neil Paine's Eastern Conference Preview on the Basketball-Reference.com Blog includes projected per 36 minute stats for every player.
Hawks? Check. Lang Whitaker? Check. NPR? Sure, why not.
The Human Highlight Blog ably previewed the Hawks in three parts. (1, 2, 3)
Here's a direct link to the Eight Points, Nine Seconds Pacers Preview.
The Pacers may not have heard of offensive or defensive efficiency. There's no disputing they weren't good defensively last year, finishing 19th in the league. That "free-flowing, high-octane offense the past two seasons" finished 18th in the league in offensive efficiency last year and 19th in 2008. The Pacers have averaged the third-most possessions per game each of the last two seasons, hence the understandable confusion. Less understandable: acquiring Solomon Jones and Tyler Hansbrough in the hopes they'll improve your team defense.
Bob Kravitz has heard of defensive efficiency.

Consider this an open thread for all pre-game, in-game, and post-game (but pre-recap) thoughts.