Hawks 102 Bobcats 97

Boxscore

Gameflow

Team	Poss	Off Eff	eFG%	FT Rate	OR%	TO%
ATL	88	1.16	47.4	39.5	29.5	13.6
CHA	88	1.10	48.7	30.2	30.7	13.6

With the exception of end-of-quarter buzzer beaters, the first half constituted a comprehensive debacle for the Hawks. Personally, I found allowing the not just Gerald Wallace-less but also the playing both Adam Morrison and DaSagana Diop more than DJ Augustin Bobcats to score 55 first half points more troubling than the Hawks scoring just 43 points of their own even considering that six of those points came via the aforementioned buzzer beaters, three more on a wildly off-target but banked-in Maurice Evans three-point attempt, and an additional two on an obvious but uncalled instance of Solomon Jones* committing offensive goaltending. 

*Said uncalled offensive goaltend being the sum total of Jones' contributions in 5:18. The memory of those good minutes he played in Al Horford's absence continues to dim.

Atlanta's poor defense in the first half allowed Charlotte to play Diop alongside Emeka Okafor without negative offensive consequence for much of the second quarter. Their combined presence aggravated Atlanta's first half struggle to score in and around the basket. Atlanta finished the first half 9-29 on 2PTFGA, 6-11 on 3PTFGA, and took just 11 of the 39 free throws they'd attempt over the course of the game. Four of Atlanta's fifteen made field goals (and one of the eleven free throw attempts) were the direct result of offensive rebounds. Charlotte's first-shot defense was extraordinary in the first half.

To the Hawks credit, they did not appear to spend halftime wishing Joe Johnson was in town to take and make jump shots. The Hawks opened the second half by making a concerted effort both to spread the floor and push the ball up the court thus creating open jump shots for Mike Bibby and Maurice Evans before Charlotte's defense was set. Not that the Hawks stopped attacking the basket altogether. They also correctly assumed that Morrison and Cartier Martin could not play two good defensive halves against Marvin Williams. Williams attacked the basket mercilessly in the second half, scoring 20 points on 2-5 FGA and 16-17 FTA.

Atlanta's adjustments might not have been enough to make up for the dreadful first half had Charlotte not cooperated by fouling all manner of Hawks. Emeka Okafor's three fouls in the first 6:14 of the third quarter (none of which were drawn by Williams) sent him to the bench for the remainder of the quarter and fully liberated the Hawks offensively as they scored 21 points in the final 5:46 of the third quarter to pull ahead by a point.

At that point, Charlotte had lost Raja Bell to injury and his absence had a clearly adverse effect on the Bobcats' offense. Boris Diaw's disappearing act didn't help Charlotte either. He played 7:16 of the fourth quarter and contributed a single assists, a corner three-point attempt that failed to draw iron as the shot clock expired and no rebounds. On the other end of the court, Mike Woodson countered the Okafor/Diop frontcourt with the Horford/Pachulia tandem (a good decision certainly made easier by Josh Smith's awful offensive* night) while Marvin Williams continued to thrive as the Hawks' first offensive option. Since the Hawks won, I hope his teammates took the opportunity to tease Williams about his calf cramping late in the fourth quarter. It took less than two games worth of carrying Joe Johnson's workload for Marvin's body to protest.

*Smith's five blocks certainly came in handy, though.

Speaking of Marvin, here's Al Horford:

"Marvin took over for us. He really was aggressive going to the rim and getting fouled."

Marvin also inspired some vintage Larry Brown sarcasm:

"It's tough when you play against LeBron and they keep putting him on the line. Every time we play LeBron and Kobe (Bryant) and people like that, they shoot 20 free throws. It's tough. I'm just being facetious there."

Does that final sentence mean that Larry's slipping in his old age or that he thinks we can't keep up? Something to ponder between now and tonight's tip against the Clippers. And/or you could read The Human Highlight Blog's recap which is so good that I've given up on trying to find the best bit to excerpt.

February 6th Open Thread: Atlanta (28-20) @ Charlotte (19-29)

TIP-OFF: 7pm

TELEVISION: Fox Sports South HD

RADIO: Hawks Radio Network, Audio League Pass

GAME NOTES: Hawks/Bobcats

ATLANTA INJURY REPORT: Joe Johnson is out.

CHARLOTTE INJURY REPORT: Gerald Wallace and Juwan Howard are out. DJ Augustin expects to return to action tonight.

FOR ENTERTAINMENT PURPOSES ONLY: Charlotte -2, 179.5 o/u

OTHER PERSPECTIVES: Queen City Hoops

PREVIOUSLY, THE CHARLOTTE BOBCATS...lost three straight road games following their win over the Lakers in Los Angeles, a win which came at further cost to Gerald Wallace's health. Wallace is missed.

The Hawks beat Charlotte 88-83 on November 21st and 83-79 on December 15th. Both games were played in Atlanta.

CANNOT LIVE ON BASKETBALL ALONE: The FriendSHIP Project's Opening Reception is from 6-9pm tonight at The Museum of Contemporary Art of Georgia, MOCA GA Expansion Gallery, TULA Art Center (75 Bennett St).

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

True Hoop Initiation: Meet Your Blogger...In This Case, Me

I didn't mind the questions* but the photo** hasn't grown on me. Fair warning.

*False modesty. I love questions about me, me, me.

**Photo credit: Alison Weldon.

Hoopinion Is Now Available on Twitter

Should be, at least.

I neither fully understand how or why to use Twitter so let me know if the functionality is not up to par.

Hawks 94 Timberwolves 86

Boxscore

Gameflow

Team	Poss	Off Eff	eFG%	FT Rate	OR%	TO%
ATL	92.9	1.01	52.3	37.9	21.2	19.4
MINN	92.9	0.93	40.9	15.9	38.8	19.4

I don't think I'll ever understand why Joe Johnson's absence inspired Marvin Williams to give the kind of defensive rebounding performance that could elevate him into an inarguably good NBA player but that doesn't prevent me from being thankful for the result. Much as the Hawks must be thankful that Joe Johnson's illness coincided with a trip to visit a team that starts perhaps the one point guard in the NBA who is a worse offensive player than Mike Bibby is a defensive player.

Which isn't to say that the Hawks didn't compensate for Johnson's absence. They played more zone than I can remember them playing in any single game this year. It worked fine for three quarters as Minnesota went 4-18 from beyond the arc. In the final quarter, with Rashad McCants replacing Sebastian Telfair in the lineup and Mike Miller more aggressively looking for his shots the zone was less effective. This was due, partially, to a visibly fatigued Al Horford struggling to close out on shooters due to playing most of the fourth quarter despite Mike Woodson's pre-game insistence (one he held to for three quarters) that he would limit Horford to four stints of approximately five minutes each.

It was a curious decision as there was no pressing need to push Horford's minutes on a night when Zaza Pachulia both stayed out of foul trouble and did a creditable job defending Al Jefferson. That either Telfair or Ryan Gomes was (and sometimes both were) on the court alongside Jefferson made it easier for the Hawks to double Jefferson though, to be fair to the lesser Timberwolves, helping on Al Jefferson really plays to Josh Smith's strengths as a defender.

Guarding Kevin Love, on the other hand, really demonstrated Smith's limitations both as an on-the-ball defender and a defensive rebounder. At 4:22 of the first quarter, Kevin Love caught the ball on the left baseline, approximately 15 feet from the basket, and beat Smith off the dribble, along the baseline, simply because Smith never got in a defensive stance. That shouldn't happen*.

*And I say this as one of the (apparently) few people who recognizes that Kevin Love is a supremely skilled basketball player.

Even though any reasonable person expected Love, an excellent offensive rebounder, to thrive against the Hawks, a poor defensive rebounding team, nine offensive rebounds in 30 minutes is ridiculous. Almost as ridiculous: Kevin McHale's decision to sit Love for the final 5:26 of the game.

But Minnesota* didn't lose this game, Atlanta won it. Marvin Williams, in addition to his good work on the defensive glass, gave a good account of himself as a primary offensive option. Mike Bibby made shots and didn't turn the ball over. Josh Smith attacked the basket, and, even if he was unable to convert the free throw attempts he earned (3-8 FTA) he refrained from taking bad shots** on a night when Atlanta's offensive margin of error was smaller due to Johnson's absence. Al Horford wasn't a revelation on his return (4 points, 6 rebounds) but even at less than full strength and in limited minutes he demonstrated the breadth of his value (3 assists, 3 steals, 2 blocks).

*Unless you want to take a macro-view and pin the loss on Minnesota's inability to acquire a competent point guard.

**It must be noted that, in Johnson's absence, there was also an absence of instances where Smith caught the ball 20 feet from the basket with the shot clock dwindling, thus giving him an excuse to take the jump shots he struggles to resist. I don't note this to imply that it's an either/or proposition but rather to highlight (again) the potential value that's typically wasted when Johnson and Smith share the floor.

At Peachtree Hoops, Drew won't go so far as to say the Hawks were better offensively without Joe Johnson but some things were definitely different:

Without Joe last night, Marvin had the mismatch. He could not be guarded. So with the game on the line, the Hawks went to him twice. Once getting two free throws out of him and once getting an assists on a Mike Bibby three pointer.

I can't remember the last time Mike Woodson exploited an offensive match up in the fourth quarter. Heck really any quarter.

The gang at Billy Knight Stole My Lunch Money concur:

It seemed the Hawks were lost on offense in the fourth quarter due to their usual standing around and watching Joe make something happen once the clock starts counting down in the fourth. So when the time came for something to happen and when the Hawks needed baskets they had no one to turn to.

Britt Robson saw the Hawks defend Al Jefferson much as Indiana had the night before, just with personnel better suited to the task. The Wolves' dreadful perimeter shooting helped, too:

Both Indiana and Atlanta fronted him quite a bit, and were relatively effective at it...It so happens that the Hawks are almost perfectly assembled for this type of defense: They've got Josh Smith, who is a pogo stick; Al Horford, who plays intelligently and has a quick second jump if he's faked off his feet the first time; and traditional center Zaza Pachulia and lithe forward Marvin Williams for variety. For many possessions during this game, they used their length and athleticism to play zone while fronting Jefferson, and, as mentioned, dared Foye and Bassy Telfair to knock down some wide open outside shots.

The backcourt (and swingman) shooting was pathetic. Telfair didn't make any of his nine attempts, Foye was 4-19 FG, and Ryan Gomes threw up his 1-10 FG, for a nifty 5-38 FG, with a 2-17 FG cherry on top from the three point line.

Rashad McCants' dervish defensive possession in the fourth quarter wherein he forced a driving Acie Law IV back about 15 feet then blocked Law's desperation jumper caught me by surprise. As it did College Wolf at TWolves Blog:

That defensive stop by McCants like 2 minutes or so into the fourth quarter was probably the best defensive play I've EVER seen him make. He stayed in front of Acie Law by himself out on the perimeter, and then blocked the shot causing a 24 second shot clock violation. It was amazing, especially by McCants standards. The downside is that now we know he has the tools to play good defense, he just has never chosen to do so in the past.

February 4th Open Thread: Atlanta (27-20) at Minnesota (17-30)

TIP-OFF: 8pm

TELEVISION: SportSouth

RADIO: Hawks Radio Network, Audio League Pass

GAME NOTES: Hawks/Timberwolves

ATLANTA INJURY REPORT: Joe Johnson and Thomas Gardner are out.

MINNESOTA INJURY REPORT: Corey Brewer and Kevin Ollie are out. Craig Smith (bruised ribs) left last night's game in the 1st quarter, did not return, and is questionable for tonight's game.

FOR ENTERTAINMENT PURPOSES ONLY: Minnesota -2, 199.5 o/u

OTHER PERSPECTIVES: Secrets of the City, Canis Hoopus, TWolvesBlog

PREVIOUSLY, THE MINNESOTA TIMBERWOLVES...won 116-111 in Indiana last night (Gomes Time!) to move to 11-5 in calendar year 2009. Kevin McHale is 13-15 since taking over head coaching responsibilities. Coupled with his 19-12 record as interim coach in 2005, the possibility exists that McHale is one of only three head coaches (Flip Saunders and Dwane Casey being the others) to achieve any sort of success helming the Timberwolves and the only successful Minnesota head coach not to be fired for no good reason by General Manager Kevin McHale.

Even with Al Horford expected to return tonight, the Hawks figure to run a rebounding deficit. Kevin Love leads the league in offensive rebounding rate, Al Jefferson is his typically excellent rebounding self, and Mike Miller has turned into an outstanding defensive rebounder over the second half of his NBA career.

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

Joe Johnson Is Definitely Out Tonight

Per Sekou Smith:

Johnson missed the past two days of practice with what coach Mike Woodson described as “some sort of viral infection.” He listed him as day-to-day, and Johnson did not travel with the team to Minnesota.

Also, Acie Law IV has missed practice the last two days:

Acie Law IV was in his hometown of Dallas to be with his ailing grandfather. He also missed practice Monday and Tuesday but is expected to meet the team in Minnesota.

And, Thomas Gardner missed at least one practice with "flu-like symptoms." A Flip Murray/Mario West backcourt looms as a real possibility and I can't pretend it doesn't interest me.

Mike Woodson took a good-humored and philosophical approach to the absences:

"We’ve got great timing, huh? All we can do is go with what we’ve got and do whatever it takes to get out of there with a win."

Joe Johnson Is Ill, Hawks Fans Not Feeling Much Better Upon Hearing the News

As Al Horford prepares (fingers crossed) to return, albeit most likely in limited minutes tomorrow night, Micah Hart reports from practice that Joe Johnson is ill and could miss the games in Minneapolis and Charlotte.

May Flip Murray's hot streak last one more week.

The True Hoop Network Stumps For All-Star Reform

Over at The Two Man Game, Rob Mahoney has compiled a battery of ideas from members of the network as to how to change (hopefully for the better) All-Star Weekend. I'd say my contribution is roughly commensurate with my interest in the All-Star Game festivities as of 2009. I figure my dwindling interest is due to some combination of my increasing curmudgeonlinesss and the sheer volume of televised basketball games that, you know, count.

Al Horford Returns to Practice

If everything goes well, Sekou Smith reports, he could return to action Wednesday night in Minnesota:

Woodson said to expect something along the lines of the four minutes per quarter that Milwaukee is deploying Andrew Bogut as he returns from a six-game absence with a sore back.

Al Horford:

"I felt really good. What I was concerned about was playing against contact. And I was fine. I think [Hawks assistant coach for player performance] Pete [Radulovic] and [head athletic trainer] Wally [Blase] did a great job of getting me back healthy, so I’m happy."

Marvin Williams:

"He looked good to me. Real good. It was definitely good to see him back out there."

Mike Woodson on Horford's return:

"I don’t think you can bring him back and play him big minutes. You’ve got to ease him back in. And most players like him, they don’t like that. It’s what we have to do. We can’t afford to rush him back and risk anything else going wrong."

Woodson on Horford's absence:

"But with him being out, you miss all the little things he does. He sets screens. He plugs it up defensively. He’s our best rebounder, the loose balls he always comes up with, the big blocks. He can do it all. We just can’t rush it."

Josh Smith:

"It’s definitely a big boost to have him coming back. We’ve missed his toughness."

"He just adds that extra toughness that we need in the paint. He helps me out a whole lot defending the paint and clogging up the lane with all the rebounds and blocked shots. He’s a nuisance on those offensive boards. So we’d love to have him back for however many minutes he can stand it right now."

Bucks 110 Hawks 107

Boxscore

Gameflow

Team	Poss	Off Eff	eFG%	FT Rate	OR%	TO%
ATL	92.1	1.16	50	25.9	33.3	13
MIL	92.1	1.19	56.8	37.	20.5	16.3

I don't have a good explanation as to why the Hawks start slow and finish fast. You'd think both the opening and closing quarters would feature much the same players for both teams. Certainly for the Hawks the only typical difference would be heavier fourth quarter participation from Flip Murray if he's playing well in a particular game.

I do have a partial explanation why the Hawks started slow and finished fast last night. Josh Smith spent the first quarter taking and missing jump shots. Four of them in the first 9:08 of the game. He also made a hook shot and missed a layup. The Hawks scored 22 points in the first quarter. Smith took just one more jump shot* the rest of the game. He missed that one, too, finishing the game 0-5 on jump shots and 8-11 on shot attempts at and around the basket where he also drew fouls resulting in four free throws of which he made two. And, yes, that does mark progress of a sort for Smith from the line.

*Perhaps someone on the bench reminded him how easy it was to get layups and dunks against the Bucks as recently as last week. Or, that he sat most of the second half last night after choosing to make half of his field goal attempts jump shots.

It's a partial explanation because it's not all about Josh Smith. Flip Murray also started slow and finished fast. He missed his first four shots (including two three-point attempts) before making seven of his final eleven shots (including three of four three-point attempts). Most importantly, likely, is that the Hawks didn't defend well at all as there was never a Buck on the court who Mike Bibby could guard without consequence. Bibby couldn't deal with any of Luke Ridnour, Ramon Sessions, or Charlie Bell, and, unlike the Nets' Bobby Simmons or Jarvis Hayes the night before, Richard Jefferson isn't a wing you can hide Bibby against. Mike Bibby isn't the sole reason that Milwaukee shot over 56% from the floor and assisted on 27 of 38 field goals but he's the crux of the team's defensive limitations.

A frustrated Sekou Smith also tries to get to the heart of the Hawks' limitations:

In a league where you’re defined by your last performance, having a reputation as a team that plays only when pressed is not an admirable quality.

Whether they like it or not, that’s exactly the reputation the Hawks have developed over these past two years (no one gave them much thought at all before that, when they were in the foundation pouring stages of their rebuilding project).

The Hawks are a reactive team, not a proactive one.

Josh Smith provides an affirmative quote (though he fails to indict his own recent willingness to open games by chucking jumpers):

"I just think that we react to teams instead of us forcing the issue and you saw early in the game they got up and pressured the ball and made it hard for us to catch and extended that lead. We had to counterpunch. And it shouldn’t always come to that. It took them putting the pressure on us to step back up and pressure them. And that should be the other way around. And if that’s the way we’re trying to play we need to change it up, because it’s not working."

Joe Johnson's doesn't exactly inspire confidence in the team's mental toughness:

"It’s been a carbon copy the past few games. It’s how we start the games. Fighting back is the hard part. And then you get back in the game and tend to relax a little bit and they go on another run. And we knew they were going to come out and play hard. So it wasn’t like they caught us off guard or anything."

After the game, Mike Woodson gave credit to Andrew Bogut:

"He was huge. He's a big target. Zaza had his hands full."

Marvin Williams either gave credit to all the Bucks or blamed himself and all his teammates:

"They came out and played hard, a lot harder than we did tonight."

The Human Highlight Blog delineates a difference between the Joe Johnson-era Atlanta Hawks and the Bill Russell-era Boston Celtics:

Bill Russell had a famous approach to his attitude regarding playing games. He said that the game was on the schedule, you have to play it, you might as well win. That approach says a lot about how his Boston Celtic teams were not just merely great, but all time great.

Let's just say the Atlanta Hawks have not embraced that philosophy.

In fact, one might say that the team has adopted a different approach and to the untrained (read: HHB) eyes, it looks a little like this:

We are going to play the way that each individual feels like playing. We're going to seek to do the bare minimum and try to win. We're going to give effort in spurts and hope that's enough to beat this team. If more energy or execution is required to win the game, then we won't win the game.

The schedule makers give us all a respite following this miserable five-game week. The Hawks are off until Wednesday.

January 31st Open Thread: Atlanta (27-19) @ Milwaukee (23-27)

TIP-OFF: 8:30pm

TELEVISION: No local TV so you'll need to fire up the League Pass if you're able to do so.

RADIO: Hawks Radio Network, Audio League Pass

GAME NOTES: Hawks/Bucks

ATLANTA INJURY REPORT: Al Horford is out.

MILWAUKEE INJURY REPORT: Michael Redd is out. Luke Ridnour and Andrew Bogut are probable.

FOR ENTERTAINMENT PURPOSES ONLY: Milwaukee -1.5, 192.5 o/u

OTHER PERSPECTIVES: Brew Hoop

PREVIOUSLY, THE MILWAUKEE BUCKS...have lost two of three since Michael Redd was lost for the season. The victory came last night in a 96-85 win at Toronto. Not coincidentally, Andrew Bogut returned to action last night albeit for just 16 minutes. Atlanta has hosted and won both meetings this season, 102-96 on November 26th and 117-87 a week ago Friday.

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

Hawks 105 Nets 88

Boxscore

Gameflow

Team	Poss	Off Eff	eFG%	FT Rate	OR%	TO%
NJ	89.7	0.98	44.7	28	31.8	19
ATL	89.7	1.17	56.4	37.1	21.9	16.7

In the midst of the giddy return of Mike Bibby's shooting stroke (7-12 FGA, 3-6 3PTA in the final three quarters) and Joe Johnspn's ability to convert scoring opportunities (29 points on 17 FGA and 7 FTA) let us not overlook the team's defensive performance in the second half of the game.

New Jersey's Offensive Efficiency by Half

Half	Off Eff
1st	1.18
2nd	0.78

Most interesting about that improvement is that it came about despite Atlanta's best defender, Josh Smith, spending most of the second half on the bench. Smith played the first 8:38 of the second half but never returned after picking up his fourth foul. There were two prominent in-game reasons not to bring Smith back into the game*: 1) Shot selection (3 of his 6 field goal attempts were jump shots and he never got to the free throw line) and 2) He couldn't keep Ryan Anderson off the offensive glass. As to the first reason, let's hope that a two-game amplification of Smith's season-long struggles at the free throw line don't dampen his already tenuous commitment to attacking the basket rather than floating on the perimeter. To the latter, though Anderson was only credited with four offensive rebounds, he got a hand (or finger) to two or three more New Jersey misses by consistently (if not constantly) boxing out Smith on New Jersey field goal attempts.

*Not including the fact that the Hawks immediately went on an 8-1 run after Smith left in the third quarter.

Even on an off night, Smith remains complex, garnering 6 assists against a single turnover and blocking two shots. In that respect, Smith's struggles are no different than those recent struggles of Bibby and Johnson. None of the three can play so badly as to be completely worthless even for a single night. What certainly looked different, however, was that whereas Mike Woodson really can't not play either Bibby or Johnson, he can not play Josh Smith without adverse effect.

As if we needed more evidence of the importance of Bibby and Johnson, contrast last night's game: No Horford, off night from Josh Smith, good game from Joe Johnson, three good quarters from Mike Bibby, good night for Flip Murray, and an average Marvin Williams performance equals handy win over the Nets whereas Wednesday night in New York good nights from Smith, Murray, Williams, and Pachulia couldn't make up for both Johnson and Bibby struggling. Of course, the difference between playing at home or on the road and the vastly improved (at least in the second half) team defense on Friday night also make a difference but the primary reason the Hawks win or lose a game comes down to whether or not Johnson and Bibby make their shots.

Johnson's good night had nothing to do with getting any more rest. He played 43:11 despite Acie Law IV getting to play 12:48. The reason: Maurice Evans played just 8:45. Woodson still seems willing to play Evans if he's making shots but on the nights when he does not, the Hawks are now going with essentially a seven-man rotation.

Further down the bench, with both Smith and Pachulia struggling, Solomon Jones got another chance to play extended minutes and used them fairly well though he again demonstrated that, if he's ever to become a consistently useful reserve he'll have to learn to play defense without fouling. That won't be an issue once Horford returns* but it remains a long term concern.

*Once Horford returns, one hopes that Jones will still provide useful and relatively aggressive minutes whenever a big man ahead of him in the rotation picks up two first half fouls.

Joe Johnson:

"I take a lot of the blame for January because I haven't been playing up to par. I think I'm starting to get it back now."

Marvin Williams:

"It's good to have them back. They haven't been shooting the ball well the last few games, but they came back tonight. ... I'll take my backcourt against any backcourt in the league."

Mike Bibby:

"We were making it tough on their top two scorers to get to the basket. Shots come and go when you play 82 games. Tonight we were trying to get on track defensively and try to play together."

Here's a quote that must be chalked up on the "Mike Woodson is largely reticent when speaking publicly" side of the ledger:

"It’s a great win. We’ve really struggled with this team. I don’t know what it is, but they’ve had their way with us. I just thought we made a really great effort to defend. We rebounded the ball, but we really defended. We executed our plan, and it worked."

I don't believe that even the harshest of Woodson's critics could believe that Woodson doesn't know why the Hawks struggled against New Jersey in the first three games. Otherwise, why was Mike Bibby guarding Bobby Simmons or Jarvis Hayes most of the game?

Al Horford could return as soon as Wednesday:

Center Al Horford missed his 11th consecutive game Friday night, recovering from the bone bruise in his right knee injured Jan. 9 at Orlando. He’s on the way back, though. Woodson said that Horford’s return to action could come as soon Wednesday’s game in Minnesota. “We’re going to step it up [Saturday] in terms of running,” Woodson said before Friday’s game against New Jersey at Philips Arena. “Come Monday, and depending how things go on Sunday, he’ll get a chance to go through a full practice. And if not Monday, he’ll for sure be out there Tuesday. A lot of it depends on how he feels the next few days after working out and how he responds to the increased activity.”

Dave D'Alessandro:

At various stages of this half-season, the Hawks seemed to serve as the Nets' best friend and comic foil, a team that showed up just in time to help the Jersey guys feel better about themselves.

That was the case in November, when the Nets' sweep of a home-and-home set was the springboard to a season-best 9-3 run and Devin Harris' official introduction to stardom.

Atlanta also made a timely appearance at the Meadowlands on Jan. 2, when they blew a 20-point lead, hand-delivered the Nets' finest moment (Vince Carter's 33-footer at the buzzer), and created the fantasy that the Nets had the resilience to overcome any obstacle.

Seems like years ago.

The Hawks delivered a powerful payback last night, perpetuating the Nets' downward spiral with a superb defensive performance in the form of a 105-88 rout at Philips Arena.

With only three home games between now and March 1st, it would be most beneficial were the Hawks to reprise last week's dismantling of the (now Michael Redd-less) Bucks.

January 30th Open Thread: New Jersey (20-26) @ Atlanta (26-19)

TIP-OFF: 7:30pm

TELEVISION: SportSouth, NBATV

RADIO: Hawks Radio Network, Audio League Pass

GAME NOTES: Hawks/Nets

ATLANTA INJURY REPORT: Al Horford is out.

NEW JERSEY INJURY REPORT: Yi Jianlian is out.

FOR ENTERTAINMENT PURPOSES ONLY: Atlanta -7, 197.5 o/u

OTHER PERSPECTIVES: Nets Blast

PREVIOUSLY, THE NEW JERSEY NETS...The Nets have lost eight of their last ten games but are going for the season sweep against the Hawks tonight.

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

Joe Johnson Is an All-Star

Congratulations to Joe for the honor. I think all Hawks fans hope the honor is sufficient to satisfy Joe and he takes one for the team (the Hawks, not the Eastern Conference All-Stars) and rests for most of the exhibition.

Glad I didn't have to post the alternately titled draft I'd prepared.

Johnson's reaction:

"It’s a huge accomplishment and honor. And not only for me, but for the entire organization. It’s a tribute to my teammates and the coaching staff, because without them it’s not even possible."

Mike Woodson also tapped that vein:

"I think it’s great for not only Joe, but our entire organization. And he’s put himself in this position because of how he’s performed individually as well as how we’ve performed as a team. I don’t see how he could not have been on the All-Star team with all he’s done."

Mike Bibby:

"For all the great players that have come through this league, just to make it once is an accomplishment. For Joe to make it three years in a row is something special. And I absolutely expected him to be on that team."

Marvin Williams on the Block?

ESPN.com's Chad Ford on the possibility of Marvin being traded before February 19th:

Marvin Williams, Hawks
Williams starts at the 3 for the Hawks but can also play the 4 in a small-ball lineup. He is the guy the Hawks infamously took instead of Chris Paul in 2005.

While Williams has been solid, he hasn't been great. And the Hawks will have a tough decision to make with him hitting restricted free agency this summer. The team already is cash strapped. Joe Johnson and Josh Smith have huge deals. Mike Bibby will also be a free agent. Ditto for Josh Childress. And sooner than later, they're going to have to pay Al Horford.

All of that has led to some rumblings around the league that Williams is available in return for a lottery pick and a little cap relief. My source in Atlanta denies it, but it's something to keep an eye on.

Chance of trade: 15 percent

There just aren't any obvious, good solutions to the Hawks' long-term salary cap problems.

Knicks 112 Hawks 104

Boxscore

Gameflow

Team	Poss	Off Eff	eFG%	FT Rate	OR%	TO%
ATL	99.8	1.04	51.2	20	15.6	9
NY	99.8	1.12	54	19.3	30.2	17

Before I evaluate last night's performance on a player-by-player basis, allow me to make clear that, as a team, that was a dreadful defensive performance (defensive rebounding inclusive). Some players were less culpable on an individual level but there was little evidence of communication on defense and, as much as Hawks fans can wonder what-if with regard to free throw shooting, there must be an equal amount of hypothesizing from Knicks fans with regard to 'How many points could we have scored had our other players been able to throw a pass to an open, cutting David Lee that arrived in the general vicinity of his hands?'

Marvin Williams probably played the most passable defense of any Hawk and did a decent job* on the defensive glass. Offensively his performance was unimpeachable: 28 points on 13 shots with half of those points scored in the fourth quarter in a futile attempt to match Nate Robinson point-for-point. Blame for it being futile lies not at the feet of Marvin Williams.

*A decent job by his established standards not those that I imagine for a theoretical and clearly above-average version of Marvin Williams.

Josh Smith gave us the full spectrum last night: 12 rebounds (5 offensive), 4 steals, 2 blocks, 26 points, and some terrible decisions. Smith opened the night by making three of five jump shots in the first 6:13. Rather than count his blessings that his poor shot selection didn't hurt the team, Smith took five more jump shots before the game ended, making just one more. In terms of field goal percentage, that's an above average jump shooting night for Josh Smith. That he took ten jump shots on a night when he was primarily guarded by Al Harrington* is troubling. That he continued to take and miss jump shots on a night he was also missing 8 of 10 free throw attempts stretches one's credulity. Though not as much as his now-constant whining. One of Nate Robinson's fourth quarter threes came as a direct result of nine out of ten players on the court continuing to play basketball while Josh Smith chose to spend the possession in the backcourt telling an official he thought Al Harrington traveled while corralling a defensive rebound. The Hawks couldn't guard the Knicks in the second half when they were five-on-five. That four-on-five possession transformed the situation from incompetence to negligence.

*Smith went 8-12 from the field in the paint or closer and got to the line those 10 times. The Knicks interior defense was there for the taking.

Flip Murray had yet another excellent second quarter, limiting his shot attempts to a wide-open three-pointer, turn-around jumpers over Nate Robinson, and dunks. As the game progressed, Murray became more willing to shoot the pull-up 20-footer that depresses both his field goal percentage and this viewer. Flip won't remember the fourth quarter fondly. Nate Robinson exposed both of Murray's defensive weaknesses--a lack of lateral quickness and a tendency to ball-watch when off-the-ball. That Murray spent the majority of the fourth quarter attempting (and failing) to defend Robinson isn't entirely his fault. Help defense was non-existent and, on a better defensive squad or simply a deeper team, the head coach would have had the option of putting a more appropriate defender on Robinson.

Zaza Pachulia might have put Nate Robinson on his ass once had played more than 3:34 of the fourth quarter. Like many of his teammates, Pachulia's strengths and weaknesses were both on display. He converted his opportunities on offense and, had it not been for Pachulia's 10 defensive rebounds in 27:49, I shudder to think how effective the league's 28th-best offensive rebounding would have been on their offensive glass. On the other hand, Pachulia really struggled to defend the pick-and-roll. He's simply nowhere near as quick as David Lee. Al Horford was missed.

Joe Johnson, I fear is becoming isolated from his teammates in more than just the team's offensive system. In this quote:

"We’re going to keep getting our [expletives] kicked if we play like this. We’re playing [terribly]."

...he makes an inarguable point.

This one, however:

"Offensively, we had no movement, no chemistry. It looked like we never played with each other."

...is a bit odd coming after a game where Pachulia went 4-5 from the field, Williams went 9-13, Flip Murray went 8-14, and Josh Smith, despite taking several bad shots went 12-22 and the team turned the ball over on just 9 percent of their offensive possessions. The only things keeping the Hawks from an above-average offensive night were missed free throws and a whole lot of missed jump shots from Joe Johnson and Mike Bibby.

Joe Johnson is no longer the sum total of the Hawks' offense, a point with which both he and Mike Woodson might need to come to terms. Johnson's play didn't really reflect his comments. He took 15 shots and had 7 assists, I just worry that (and it may just be something spoken at the peak of frustration with the loss) if he's truly conflating his offensive performance with the team's then it will slow the recovery process.

Mike Bibby can't buy a shot right now (8-42 FGA, 4-21 3PTA in the last four games). He missed another deadball free throw last night (4-9 FTA in the last four games) and he's simply too much of a defensive liability for just his passing and ball-handling (7 assists, 2 turnovers) to balance things out. Joe Johnson may not be the only Hawk guard in need of a rest.

Unfortunately Acie Law IV has continued, in his second season, neither to stay healthy nor productive enough to allow to/make Mike Woodson use him more heavily and consistently. Law's second quarter stint last night resulted in a 5 trillion, this coming two nights after the Hawks were outscored by 10 points in the 6:13 of the second quarter he played in Miami.

It was disappointing that Solomon Jones never got a chance to defend the screen-and-roll when David Lee was on the court. Which isn't to say that Jones was anywhere near as productive last night as he'd been in the previous two games just that Woodson didn't have many options as to how to shake things up defensively and he chose not to try what was, to me the most likely option.

At the time of his acquisition, I assumed that Maurice Evans would finally serve as the backup shooting guard needed to keep Joe Johnson's legs fresh for 82 games. I was mistaken in that assumption.

Links...

• CoCo offers pictorial advice to the Hawks.
• Larry's appreciation for Al Horford is growing:

Maybe he's more critical than I ever imagined b/c we look awful right now.

• Drew looks at allthe relevant numbers.
• Kelly Dwyer holds the Hawks' backcourt accountable:

When players like Mike Bibby (another poor shooting night: 2-13) come crashing back to earth, you have to rely on the little things to pull out close wins. The little things don't count for jack when Bibby is jacking and nailing 10-16 from the floor in November (and don't forget Joe Johnson's 5-15 night), but they sure meant a hell of a lot in this loss...And, I'm sorry, how can Joe Johnson play nearly 40 minutes and only pull in one rebound? Who does he think he is, Michael Redd?

Too soon? Sorry.

January 28th Open Thread: Atlanta (26-18) @ New York (19-25)

TIP-OFF: 7:30pm

TELEVISION: SportSouth, NBATV

RADIO: Hawks Radio Network, Audio League Pass

GAME NOTES: Hawks/Knicks

ATLANTA INJURY REPORT: Al Horford is out.

NEW YORK INJURY REPORT: Eddy Curry and Jerome James are out.

FOR ENTERTAINMENT PURPOSES ONLY: pick 'em, 207 o/u

OTHER PERSPECTIVES: Knickerblogger

PREVIOUSLY, THE NEW YORK KNICKS...The Knicks beat the Yao-less Houston Rockets 104-98 Monday night for their fourth straight home victory. The Hawks won the only previous meeting between the two teams this season, 98-95 in Atlanta on December 5th. I'm surprised the opportunity to suggest a nickname for the bench hasn't gained more steam. Can't say I have a useful suggestion myself, though.

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

Al Horford Makes Sophomore Team

Congratulations, and, you know, only play if you're completely healthy, Al.

Basketball Prospectus Adds Stats Pages

Kevin Pelton introduces the pages here.

Atlanta Hawks team page.

All players (alphabetical) here.

I haven't had a chance to look at these with any seriousness yet but I can't imagine that another information resource could be a bad thing.

Slam Online: Whitaker: My Night Announcing an NBA Game

Lang Whitaker spent last night alongside Steve Holman in Miami and confirmed that broadcasting a game is hard:

Announcing an NBA game is frigging hard. I mean, it’s really, really hard. Especially considering I came into it without having done any research, didn’t bring any notes, etc. Sitting on the couch and chiming in, I can do that the rest of my life (and I will do that the rest of my life). But having that open mic in front of your mouth and knowing anything you say is about to be transmitted out to thousands of listeners, it’s really, really hard.

Flip Murray Cuts to the Chase

"We missed [expletive] shots, man. It’s as simple as that."

as told to Sekou Smith this morning in Miami.

Other Recaps of Last Night's Loss

I'm not especially satisfied with my recap of last night's loss in Miami. If you, dear reader, felt a similar dissatisfaction upon reading skimming it, I recommend the following...

Peachtree Hoops:

Seven assists.

The Hawks managed to bring home seven assists last night. That matched the number of two point jump shots Dwayne Wade made from one specific spot on the floor.

Certainly some missed opportunities and some bad "heat checks" contributed to the total, but a more glaring problem exists that this number seven just keeps reminding me of, prodding me, hurting my feelings. A truly biblical number looming over the team's head with biblical proportions.

Without the three pointer going down early and relatively often, the Hawks do not have the patience or offensive sets to win many games against average and above teams.

The Human Highlight Blog:

A game is usually fun---it's a joy---and since the Hawks were 100 percent joyless--well except for when Josh Smith picked up a technical foul while sitting on the bench---he looked happy at that point---anyway, since the Hawks were without joy and gave the ol' more turnovers than field goals a real run for the money, we're not calling that a game.

The Hawks moved on both ends without purpose, the offense--which seemed inspired early on by going inside and getting Dwyane Wade two quick fouls (note to Coach Woodson---he finished with those same 2 fouls)---wilted under the weight of a ton of missed shots. The particularly deflating ones were the real close ones we call layups and dunks---not good.

Heat 95 Hawks 79

Boxscore

Gameflow

Team	Poss	Off Eff	eFG%	FT Rate	OR%	TO%
ATL	89.4	0.88	40.4	35.3	28.9	22.4
MIA	89.4	1.06	50.7	23.7	25.6	19

Yes, the Hawks really did go 13:25 without making a field goal and, yes, they did so one day after failing to make a field goal for 5:50 (between 6:06 and 0:16) of the fourth quarter in their loss to Phoenix. In both instances, it took a team effort to manifest such thorough futility but, to my eye, the offensive droughts are primarily down to Mike Bibby playing two bad games in a row.

It may be stating the obvious but the Hawks aren't going to win many games when Bibby is clearly outplayed by a rookie who misses 9 of his 14 shots and turns the ball over five times. In general, I believe it would be an exaggeration to claim that Bibby is as important to the Hawks' offense as is Joe Johnson; Johnson's presence on the floor creates many of the open looks Bibby has converted with such frequency this season. However, Bibby's presence has helped disabuse Johnson of the notion that he must single-handedly* carry the Hawks' offense. When Bibby's not making shots, or, even more disastrously, turning the ball over five times while garnering nary an assist, Johnson becomes as isolated an offensive player as he's been the past three seasons in Atlanta.

*Granted, playing alongside Bibby may have increased Johnson's defensive load every bit as much as it has eased his offensive burden.

I think it's interesting that the Hawks got back in the game (sort of) on the basis of Flip Murray taking control of the team at the end of the third and start of the fourth quarter. Murray doesn't blindly defer to Johnson offensively. Granted, this is not always a good thing but I think that down 18 with less than five minutes in the third quarter is a fine time to try something different. It didn't matter much last night as Miami had a massive head start and Dwyane Wade* but could serve as a lifeline for what may be a tiring starting backcourt.

*Though it was Mario Chalmers who took the game over briefly after the Hawks got within 7 with 9:15 left in the game.

Solomon Jones had another productive night, though he may have squandered the best chance for playing prolonged minutes he'll have this season by committing five fouls in just under 11 minutes. Still, if that's the biggest complaint that Solomon Jones' play engenders, I contend he's on the right track. Which is nice, as Al Horford's return is still at least a week away.

The Hawks revisited an old, unpleasant theme in their post-game comments.

Mike Woodson:

"This game is played in four quarters. And we didn't come to play the first two quarters."

Joe Johnson:

"We just weren't playing hard."

Should my opinion serve as any sort of tonic, it didn't occur to me that the Hawks weren't playing hard. They were playing poorly, to be sure, but I didn't notice a lack of effort and Miami's offense, it should be noted, did not set the world ablaze in the game's first fifteen minutes.

I think this Joe Johnson quote is more indicative of the problems witnessed last night:

"We’re not playing together on either end of the court...We’re not making the extra pass on offense and we’re turning the ball over and honestly, it’s very frustrating at this point in the season to see us spinning our wheels like this after all that we’ve done."

January 26th Open Thread: Atlanta (26-17) @ Miami (23-19)

TIP-OFF: 7:30pm

TELEVISION: SportSouth, NBATV

RADIO: Hawks Radio Network, Audio League Pass

GAME NOTES: Hawks/Heat

ATLANTA INJURY REPORT: Al Horford did not make the trip and is out did make the trip but is probably out. Acie Law should again be active and dressed tonight though that doesn't mean he'll play.

MIAMI INJURY REPORT: Dorell Wright is out.

FOR ENTERTAINMENT PURPOSES ONLY: Miami -3.5, 192.5 o/u

OTHER PERSPECTIVES: Peninsula Is Mightier, Ira Winderman

PREVIOUSLY, THE MIAMI HEAT...beat Orlando on Saturday night on the strength of some excellent "non-verbal communication." In the only previous meeting between the Hawks and the Heat this season, Atlanta won handily in Miami.

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

Team FT% on Deadball FTA

Per a conversation amongst bloggers at last night's game...

The Hawks' results shooting free throws resulting from technical, flagrant, and clear path fouls.

FTM	FTA	FT%
31	47	65.9%

The team totals for all other free throws:

FTM	FTA	FT%
765	1023	74.8%

Considering that, save for two Josh Smith attempts after a clear path foul, the other 45 deadball free throw attempts have been taken by players shooting at least 77.5% from the line this year and, save Flip Murray who has attempted and made a single technical free throw, are at least 78% free throw shooters for their careers, the Hawks have underachieved on these (infrequently occurring) occasions.

Breaking down the deadball free throw attempts by player, with their FT% on all other attempts in the final column:

Player	FTM	FTA	FT%	FT% (other FTA)
Johnson	13	20	65%	82.5%
Bibby	15	19	78.9%	81.6%
Williams	1	5	20%	80.7%
Smith	1	2	50%	63.9%
Murray	1	1	100%	77.3%

The Possible Influence of Rest on Josh Smith's Block Rate Since Returning From His High Ankle Sprain

In response to the third bulleted item in this post on The Human Highlight Blog:

Defensively, Smith ended a 2 game blockless streak (inspiring CoCo from the Vent to Comment and the HHB to openly break down the break down in Smith's blocked shot output) by swatting (3) for the night---and he seemed to be looking for the rejection with his defensive body language more in this game. Was it the extra rest between the Tuesday game against the Bulls and Friday night that made the difference in his energy? That's right, we're calling out newly ESPN minted Hoopinion to track the blocked shot rate when Smith has had extra rest since coming back from his early season injury vs. when he has had to play closer together.

Josh Smith played three full games before spraining his ankle. He blocked ten shots in those three games. He didn't block a shot in the 11 minutes he played against Toronto in the game in which he suffered the injury. Since returning, he has played on 0, 1, 2, 3, and 25 days rest. Here's a table showing how many shots he's blocked per game listed by the number of days of rest.

Days of Rest	Blocks/Game	# of games
0	0.875	8
1	1.58	12
2	2.25	4
3	0.5	2
25	1	1

A small sample size to be sure, but, since returning from injury, Josh Smith has blocked more shots when he's had at least one day of rest between games* and he's blocking significantly fewer shots (both in per game and BLK% terms) than any of the previous four seasons. Something to pay attention to going forward.

*Though the amount of rest beyond a single day doesn't seem to have had any positive influence on his shot blocking.