Sunday, April 15, 2012

Initial Feedback: Dwane Casey, Huh

Initial feedback: A completely subjective and immediate response to the events of tonight's game, featuring a comment and rating, the latter on a scale of 1 to 10, on every player who saw the floor and the head coach, along with ephemera and miscellany as the author deems necessary.

Your ratings and commentary, dear reader, are welcomed in the comments to this post.


Boxscore

Players
Jeff Teague: A victim of Aaron Gray's one-man zone clogging the lane in the first five minutes but Teague did nothing to redeem matters once Jason Collins left the game. Ben Uzoh's inability to shoot (What are the odds 'Nique had no idea he'd already seen Uzoh, while with the Nets, play against the Hawks this season?) should have given Teague a similar freedom to have an impact defensively. It did not. 2/10

Kirk Hinrich: Rushing back from his shoulder surgery somewhat overshadowed the apparent reality that Hinrich just doesn't have much left. Gave a game effort defending DeRozan in the post and, yes, the Hawks should have sent him help in those situations but, at the same time, his involvement in Alan Anderson's early Crawford rather set the tone for the game. 2/10

Joe Johnson: A good season doesn't entirely disguise the fact that he can't really contribute when he's not making shots. 3/10

Josh Smith: Far and away the Hawks' best player. His early jump shots were as much a function of Jason Collins' presence as Smith's own predilections. His third quarter jump shots go in the "Never Trust the Hawks" file. Both because the team's comeback centered around sets wherein Smith had the option to take six jumpers in a quarter and that Smith took that option six times. 6/10

Jason Collins: Given the injuries to Horford and Pachulia, Jason Collins might have needed to play five minutes in this game. One hopes, if put in that situation, one would postpone that eventuality as long as possible. Instead, the Hawks, upon including Jason Collins in the starting lineup, seemed determined to have him touch the ball on every possession. Dig your own hole. 1/10

Ivan Johnson: More than just not Jason Collins yet not enough to anchor a second unit. 5/10

Marvin Williams: Competent but unable to impact games consistently. Poor cap management and lack of depth gives him an outsized importance to the team. 3/10

Jannero Pargo: Just because he's having a career year doesn't mean he's a good player. This could get ugly in the playoffs. 1/10

Willie Green: See Jannero Pargo. Scored half of his 14 points in the final three meaningless minutes. 3/10

Vladimir Radmanovic: Pargo and Green minus having the carer year. 2/10

Jerry Stackhouse: This game was so enervating that Jerry Stackhouse didn't attempt a shot in garbage time. 1/10

Erick Dampier: If Erick Dampier can't get on the court when the team's top two centers are hurt and almost an entire quarter is treated as garbage time, then why is he on the roster? Related, what do you think Erick Dampier weighs right now? No rating

The head coach
Once again, the injuries aren't his fault but the unrelentingly below average offense and reluctance to adjust defensively are. 2/10

A thought regarding the opposition
The case was made for Dwane Casey's ability to scheme and convince his players (not even really his players in this case, given the prevalence of 10-day contracts) to execute defensively. That the Raptors players have every reason to go get theirs offensively, the relentlessness with which they played to their (rather limited) strengths impressed as well.

2 comments:

Bo Churney said...

We need to get an "energy" counter for Larry Drew's press conferences. I swear that's all he talks about when we lose.

Also, never trust the Hawks? http://twitpic.com/85gxsk

rodnatl said...

cricket sounds...no effort(energy). thanks hawks for giving your fans a reason to think we can win. i just don't get it. and u want me to spend my $$$ for playoff tkts?!!! signed a hawks fan. cricket sounds.....