IC Cold Links: Pacers win, up next Hawks, Bulls and Lakers
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The Pacers accept the sloppy win against Stephen Jackson and the Charlotte Bobcats. Jackson started off hot (understatement of the day!) in front of his former crowd but eventually cooled off. The Pacers really need to tighten up the offensive glass, giving up opportunities in hand fulls the last couple games.
The league decided to give Roy Hibbert a nice birthday present (Happy Birthday, Roy!) this season with Al Horford, Pau Gasol, and Joakim Noah. The Pacers couldn’t sweep the past three sub-500 teams they have faced consecutively, but seem to be up to big challenges this year. So, here they are…another big challenge facing them head on. Can they put three solid games together and come out 14-10? Can they beat the defending champions again? This will be a tough test, but this season they have showed the ability to overcome what they haven’t been able to do in the past.
So, they have shown the ability to beat good teams, what will be their record after these three games? Fill me in and let me know what it will take to sweep this stretch…
After the jump check out the links of the day…
- Box Score
- Pacers grind out… Continue reading
Initial Reaction: Spurs 108, Hawks 92
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Quick Thought: Take a picture, Hawks franchise, to see what you ought to be emulating.
Summary:
It was fitting that Jamal Crawford dribbled the ball off his foot on the Hawks last possession, a turnover that was one of seven for a fourth quarter that saw the Hawks, who had held together despite some uneven play all night long, finally wilt on the road in San Antonio.
Josh Smith had a sensational block that was so pure in its rejection, that even Tim Duncan offered no protest. Such prize came with a price: Smith suffered an injury to his leg on the play, what looked to be muscular in nature, and barely was able to offer any help the rest of the way. The Hawks would be outscored 43-30 the rest of the way, with Smith playing four minutes in the final quarter before having to leave again despite the Hawks being within (7) with 4 minutes left.
However effective the Hawks were, despite their ultimate collapse late in the game, their poor defense was the ultimate culprit. They held a clinic on defending the post and running three point shooters off the line in Orlando, but faltered in the same attempts in San Antonio.
Why? Dribble penetration.
I mentioned that the key piece missing in Orlando was Jameer Nelson, without whom the Magic could not exploit the Hawks lack of perimeter defense and, therefore, could not open… Continue reading
Game Recap: Hawks End Long Dry Spell in Orlando With 80-74 Victory
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The Hawks 80-74 victory over Orlando on Monday night was a stark turn of events for the the two teams that dates back to last season. This time it was a Hawks team that grinded out a victory in a less than stellar played game from either side. This was also a game where new Hawks coach Larry Drew showed a willingness to change in an effort to grab a victory. In case you missed it, the Hawks started a big lineup that featured Marvin Williams at shooting guard, Josh Smith at small forward, Al Horford at power forward, and Jason Collins at center. The decision to make the change in the starting lineup was made a little easier with Joe Johnson out but the decision to place Collins on Howard with no double teams was different than the way the Hawks have approached this team in the past.
By single covering Howard, the Hawks were able to stay on Magic shooters and weren’t constantly trying to chase following a rotation. Without Jameer Nelson, the Magic were missing that penetrating force that usually draws the defense in and that led to Vince Carter having to try and go out and win this game alone. Add to the fact that the Hawks big men were able to take Howard out of his comfort zone which led to him only scoring 14 points on… Continue reading
Atlanta Hawks News and Notes from Orlando
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The Real MC talks about coach Drew’s promise to play Jason Collins at center and Al Horford at power forward this season:
Say what you want about his effectiveness but L.D. has stuck to his pledge of using Collins so Al can play more at power forward. Assuming he doesn’t hack Dwight every other play and foul out in five minutes, after this game Twin probably will have played more minutes this season than he did all of last year.
Orlando Magic blogger Andrew Melnick talks about the Hawks recent struggles against the Magic:
Suffering from devastating defeats at the hands of the Orlando Magic is nothing new for the Hawks. If you include the postseason, the Hawks are now 3-13 in their last 16 games against the Magic.
Coach Drew talking about adjustments in play calling with Joe Johnson out of the lineup:
“We know that without Joe we have to do things a little different,” Drew said. “We’re running less isolation plays and maybe becoming a little less predictable. Mike is certainly capable of hitting big shots and he proved it tonight.”
More Drew talk from MC’s post game blog post:
“We… Continue reading
Instant Reaction: Hawks 80, Magic 74
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Quick Thought: Mike Bibby is more valuable than given credit for.
Summary:
Mike Bibby played 36 minutes tonight against Orlando, and 21 of them were in the second half. These are long minutes for Bibby these days. That Jameer Nelson was missing and thus couldn’t expose Bibby too much on the defensive end allowed that much run for the Bibster. What that allowed was Drew to have Bibby controlling tempo (and turnovers) on the court longer. All of this was very good, considering that the possessions that had Jamal Crawford running the offense were iso-heavy at best, chaotic and lost at worst.
The Hawks will also get credit for defending Orlando well, and indeed, instead of wasting time doubling down on Dwight Howard and therefore leaving the Magic shooters open to bury the Hawks that way, the Hawks put Jason Collins in to start, mixed in some Zaza Pachulia and, yes, even Etan Thomas to do what Collins called “disrupting” Howard’s rhythm. And it worked to a good degree, as Howard was limited to 11 shots and was put on the line and converted only 4 of 8 attempts there. So by not doubling Howard, the Hawks still held him to 11 shot attempts, 14 points, and were able to stay at home against the Magic shooter, rendering Rashard Lewis impotent and making Vince Carter have to win the game by himself.
By having Collins… Continue reading
Atlanta Hawks 80, Orlando Magic 74
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In one of their worst offensive showings since Stan Van Gundy took over as head coach prior to the 2007/08 season, the Orlando Magic fell to the Atlanta Hawks, 80-74, on Monday night to drop their second straight game. Without point guard Jameer Nelson to orchestrate the offense, Orlando stagnated and failed to get good shots for most of the night, shooting 4-of-22 from three-point range and turning the ball over 17 times in a low-possession game. Atlanta’s Josh Smith poured in 19 points, 13 rebounds, 3 assists, and 4 blocked shots to outplay his childhood friend and former AAU teammate, Dwight Howard, who shot only 5-of-11 from the floor to finish with 14 points, 13 rebounds, and 3 blocks of his own. Mike Bibby hit the crucial basket, a straightaway three-pointer to give his team a 6-point edge with 26.2 seconds to play, forcing the Magic to play the free-throw game the rest of the way.
Against an active and engaged Hawks defense, the Magic failed to move the ball from side-to-side, which is one reason they’ve enjoyed so much success during Van Gundy’s tenure. Far too much one-on-one play for Orlando tonight, which resulted in just 9 assists on 28 field goals. The Magic’s defense was no slouch either, yielding less than one point per possession to a potent Hawks crew, but Atlanta didn’t make many mistakes even though it missed 62 percent of its shot attempts. With Smith… Continue reading
Game Recap: Miami Heat 89, Atlanta Hawks 77
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Last night in Miami was a familiar recipe for the Atlanta Hawks. Get down early, make a spirited comeback, and then fold at the end due to a lack of execution down the stretch. I wrote in the game preview that the Hawks had no reason to come out tight. Even with Joe Johnson in the lineup they would be considered underdogs in a game in Miami. To say the least I didn’t like the team’s approach. Atlanta came out tentative and settling for a variety of jump shots. Even the Hawks resident superhero Al Horford was reluctant to put the ball on the floor and drive his way to the hoop. The motion offense looked like it repeatedly broke down in the first half as the Hawks failed to establish any sort of rhythm on offense in trailing 26-15 after one period of play.
The second quarter wasn’t much better for Atlanta but they were able to prevent themselves from being blown out of the game. Miami outscored Atlanta 24-21 in the second but as I pointed out in the game thread, the Hawks were lucky to only be down 14 at the half. Miami shot 54% in the first half while the Hawks shot 34%. Al Horford went to the bench early with two fouls and ended up with six points on 3-4 shooting… Continue reading
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