Gameday Thread: Hawks @ Hornets

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Originally Posted by UNO Gracias

Bee-Fense, I believe that the team lost sight of Huey's undisputed masterpiece is "Hip to be Square", a song so catchy, most people probably don't listen to the lyrics. But they should, because it's not just about the pleasures of conformity, and the importance of trends, it's also a personal statement about what this team should be. bucking the trend of high flying basketball, and back to basics like the Spurs.

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QFT

Some quick observations after coming back from the game:

1- Vasquez played terribly on the pick and roll; he missed Lopez at least 3x on his way to the basket.
2- Anderson was amazing. He had two amazing drive spin moves, including one to split a double.
3- Not surprisingly, Smith has his way with Davis on the post. Thomas played great one-on-one D on Smith in limited minutes.
4- JSmoove doesn't look right still. I just didn't see the same activity and energy from him that we're all used to seeing out of him.
5- Gordon was certainly forcing the issue. He wasn't as keen to look for the open man in crunch time, and that may have cost us. His perimeter defense was outstanding though.
6- Rivers got stuffed three times on the drive. I cringed when he attempted to do so on Smith. Quiet game from him.
7- Refs were very inconsistent with their calls. Extremely ticky tackey. The fans let them have it a few times.
8- Free throw shooting remains a problem. Davis seems to have lost his touch as of late and Gordon missed multiple and one opportunities due to his inability to knock his free throws down. 4-12 as a team.

That's all I can think of for now. I'll post some more thoughts on the game if others come to mind.

8- Josh Smith gave it to Ryan Anderson several times. Yet Monty kept with it.

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Originally Posted by AUSSIE_HORNET

Will Gordon play back to back games?
He may play but I doubt he starts.
I hope i'm wrong.
He did mention he is still sore, so you would think he will be limited to only 25 mintes for at least a week if not 2.

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If we're talking Derrick Rose, then I'd say 2 weeks of limited bench minutes. Gordon is not coming off surgery and being put back into the starting 5 helps him mentally as well. I'd say this happens after a day of rest and a day of practice starting Saturday in Dallas.

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Originally Posted by AD23forMVP

8- Josh Smith gave it to Ryan Anderson several times. Yet Monty kept with it.

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Yeah, that's true. I thought Anderson played better on him late, though. Especially after he began anticipating the inevitable post spin from Smith.

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Originally Posted by NOH2313

Some quick observations after coming back from the game:

1- Vasquez played terribly on the pick and roll; he missed Lopez at least 3x on his way to the basket.
2- Anderson was amazing. He had two amazing drive spin moves, including one to split a double.
3- Not surprisingly, Smith has his way with Davis on the post. Thomas played great one-on-one D on Smith in limited minutes.
4- JSmoove doesn't look right still. I just didn't see the same activity and energy from him that we're all used to seeing out of him.
5- Gordon was certainly forcing the issue. He wasn't as keen to look for the open man in crunch time, and that may have cost us. His perimeter defense was outstanding though.
6- Rivers got stuffed three times on the drive. I cringed when he attempted to do so on Smith. Quiet game from him.
7- Refs were very inconsistent with their calls. Extremely ticky tackey. The fans let them have it a few times.

That's all I can think of for now. I'll post some more thoughts on the game if others come to mind.

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Did idiots boo or cheer when Gordon came to the floor?

There were a few boos but mostly cheers.

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Originally Posted by AUSSIE_HORNET

Did idiots boo or cheer when Gordon came to the floor?

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Originally Posted by AD23forMVP

There were a few boos but mostly cheers.

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What he said.

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Originally Posted by AD23forMVP

There were a few boos but mostly cheers.

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Originally Posted by NOH2313

What he said.

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Thats good to hear.

Thanks

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Originally Posted by NOH2313

Some quick observations after coming back from the game:

1- Vasquez played terribly on the pick and roll; he missed Lopez at least 3x on his way to the basket.
2- Anderson was amazing. He had two amazing drive spin moves, including one to split a double.
3- Not surprisingly, Smith has his way with Davis on the post. Thomas played great one-on-one D on Smith in limited minutes.
4- JSmoove doesn't look right still. I just didn't see the same activity and energy from him that we're all used to seeing out of him.
5- Gordon was certainly forcing the issue. He wasn't as keen to look for the open man in crunch time, and that may have cost us. His perimeter defense was outstanding though.
6- Rivers got stuffed three times on the drive. I cringed when he attempted to do so on Smith. Quiet game from him.
7- Refs were very inconsistent with their calls. Extremely ticky tackey. The fans let them have it a few times.

That's all I can think of for now. I'll post some more thoughts on the game if others come to mind.

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Free throw shooting? lost us the game.

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Originally Posted by Pantazis76

Free throw shooting? lost us the game.

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Yeah, I was just about to add that. Davis and Gordon missed 3 a piece I believe.

As a team, we shot 4-12 from the FT line. Ouch.

Just one of those nights where they weren't falling. We've got a good FT shooting team on average.

We'd better make them because we get the 3rd least in the league per game.

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Originally Posted by luckyman

If we're talking Derrick Rose, then I'd say 2 weeks of limited bench minutes. Gordon is not coming off surgery and being put back into the starting 5 helps him mentally as well. I'd say this happens after a day of rest and a day of practice starting Saturday in Dallas.

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Gordon is coming off of surgery

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Originally Posted by kclaboy504

Gordon is coming off of surgery

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Like a year ago.

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Originally Posted by kclaboy504

Gordon is coming off of surgery

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He played 7 games after that surgery last year. He's not coming off any surgery this year.

Handwerger: Hornets' Gordon not Superman, will need help from teammates

If you didn't think we needed another scorer outside of Ryno other than Vasquez and EG after tonight... I don't know what to tell you...

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Originally Posted by jawznola

If you didn't think we needed another scorer outside of Ryno other than Vasquez and EG after tonight... I don't know what to tell you...

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Aside from our terrible defense, theist glaring issue is our lack of a reliable post offense. The problem wasn't perimeter scoring. The problem is our dreadful interior offense. We have none.

Like I said. We need another banger. In addition to a truer PG and a wing.

Atlanta frontcourt:
Josh Smith, 37 min, 23 pts, .575 TS%
Al Horford, 41 min, 20 pts, .588 TS%
Kyle Korver, 30 min, 14 pts, .788 TS%
And we all saw what Zaza did in limited minutes.

Atlanta backcourt:
Jeff Teague, 40 min, 4 pts, .225 TS%
Lou Williams, 37 min, 9 pts, .324 TS%

Great defensive game from our back court. Teague and Williams are fine players. Even when Gordon is having an off night offensively, the difference he makes on the defensive end over Rivers/Roberts is absolutely HUGE.

We didn't have an answer for Josh Smith. He's too quick for Anderson and Lopez, and too strong for Davis. I can't wait for Davis to bulk up a bit so that he can slow down guys like Josh Smith. Lance Thomas did a decent job on Josh Smith; I wish he would have gotten more minutes from a defensive standpoint, but then Anderson may not have been on the floor to provide offense. So many of our guys are "not quite there yet" that we still have to "pick our poison." I also wonder whether McGuire could have slowed down Smith. Does anyone know why McGuire didn't play a minute? Any injuries?

Our team is getting there. Even with Gordon having an off night, it's nice to see us contend for a victory against a team that is 1.5 games out of first in the East. We need a wing who can play great defense and make some sort of positive contribution on the offensive end. Luckily there are some out there in FA this off season (Kirilenko, Budinger, and Iguodala being my favorites) and we have money to spend!