RECAP: Hawks 108, Cavaliers 89

Brandon Barnes —  December 7, 2013 — 2 Comments

FINAL

       CLE(6-13) 89 – 108 (11-10) ATL

Key Performers:
A. Horford (ATL): 22 pts, 9 reb, 4 ast, 2 stl, 2 blk
D. Waiters (CLE): 30 pts, 7 reb, 4 ast
[FULL BOX SCORE]

On a night where much of the attention was focused on Kyle Korver’s streak, the Hawks offense came out in full force. Supported by a 37-point outburst in the 1st quarter, the Hawks ran the Cavs outta town with ease. Kyrie Irving was held scoreless and the Cavs were atrocious. Oh, and THE STREAK THE STREAK THE STREAK! (More on that later)

Reaction Grades: [assessed 0-10]

Al Horford: Lil’ Tito was in a groove all night long, shooting 10-for-19 from the floor (see Key Performers above). He shot 13 mid-range jumpers. Thirteen! He only made six of them, which surprises me considering how wide open he was on many of those. The biggest low point of the night for Horf was when he fumbled a gorgeous pass on a fastbreak and lost it out of bounds. Come on Al! You won the Heisman as a WR in my NCAA 14 Road to Glory! 8.5/10

Jeff Teague: He’s still averaging 16 points and eight assists, but, for the past few games, I haven’t liked what I’ve seen from Teague. He added 13 points and six assists last night all while shooting 43% from the field. That makes two straight “eh” games. His three-ball continues to fail him (1-for-4 last night) and it seemed as if the Cavs were daring him to shoot from out there. Last time we had an opponent dare a player to shoot a three? I think you know who it is. Next up is a tough test against Russell Westbrook. Should be interesting to see what kind of game Jeff brings. 5/10

Paul Millsap: With all the rumors surrounding Omer Asik being dealt, the Hawks scenario generally involves swapping him with Paul Millsap. I highly disapprove. Trillsap showed us again last night why he is worth for than $9.5 million a year. A beastly statline of 16 points, 14 rebounds, and 5 assists sums up the Cleveland power forwards well. They were thoroughly dominated last night. 8.5/10

DeMarre Carroll: He didn’t make any of his three attempts from the beyond the arc, but snagged eight boards. Eight boards! I don’t know whether to be happy that he’s crashing the glass so effectively or angry because he’s taking away stats from Al and Paul! But hey, 10 points and 8 boards for DeMarre is a solid night, even if he didn’t make a three. 6/10

Kyle Korver: THE STREAK THE STREAK THE STREAK THE STREAK THE STREAK THE STREAK.He played well on his record-breaking night and said at halftime that he’s “glad its over so he can play some basketball.” The Hawks gave him a nice tribute video showing all 90 of his made threes. Job well done. 90/10 Continue Reading…

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NBA Record Now Belongs to Korver

Cole Patty —  December 6, 2013 — Leave a comment

Early in the first quarter against the Cleveland Cavaliers, Kyle Korver broke the record for most consecutive game with at leas on three-point fieldgoal. Dana Barros was the previous holder with 89, and now that Korver has 90 he can now focus on how far he can take the streak. Yesterday Bloomberg Sports predicted that he had a 50% chance to reach 100 straight games, but there is no telling how far consistent Kyle can take it. If you want to watch history being made, the video from NBA.com can be found here: http://www.nba.com/video/games/hawks/2013/12/07/0021300282-cle-atl-korver-record.nba/?cid=nba_12_twitter_L.

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RECAP: Hawks 107, Clippers 97

Brandon Barnes —  December 5, 2013 — 5 Comments

FINAL

       LAC(12-7) 97 – 107 (10-10) ATL

Key Performers:
P. Millsap (ATL): 25 pts, 9 reb, 6 ast, 3 blk
B. Griffin (LAC): 24 pts, 7 reb, 4 ast
[FULL BOX SCORE]

The Hawks came ready to play tonight, that’s for sure. The Clippers didn’t make a single three in the first half and they had trouble keeping Paul Millsap under control from destroying them all game long. While a late Clippers run closed it to 79-74 with 11 minutes to go, the late efforts weren’t enough as the Hawks piled a nice lead back on and closed the game out with ease. I’ll be honest, it was nice having a game that didn’t go until 0.4 seconds left. I still have fingernails to chew on.

Reaction Grades: [assessed 0-10]

Al Horford: On a night where Big Al was 2-for-10 outside of the paint, he provided a solid presence down low. While he wasn’t main course of the Hawks “meal” this evening, he was certainly my favorite side dish. Lil’ Tito (Because I’m new here at HH, I’d like to warn you that I tend to call Al Horford “Lil’ Tito” more often than not) had a relatively quiet 21 points and 9 boards in a night where only had one turnover and also recorded a defensive rebound while sitting down. True story. 7.5/10

Jeff Teague: Five personal fouls tonight for Teague in a game where he only attempted five shots. Yikes. He had four turnovers in the game, but, in my opinion, only two of them were really his fault. One pass mishandled by Korver and a silly offensive foul (where I think Jamal Crawford just slipped) don’t count in my box score. Oh, and his pick-and-roll defense was sub-par tonight (Hint: I used “sub-par” because I didn’t want to hurt his feelings). Other than that, Jeffrey scored six points and dropped six dimes. He had a nice isolation three pointer that impressed me, but other than that, he was “eh” in a game where he didn’t need to be great. 4.5/10

Paul Millsap: Trill recognize trill, as it has been all season for Paul Millsap. The 9.5 million dollar man battled it out with Blake Griffin (until Blake got scared and had Jared Dudley switch over). In what I believe to be his second-best game of the year, Millsap put up a very solid stat line of 25 points (on 60% shooting), nine boards, six assists, three blocks, and one steal. I’m going to dock him just a touch because of what Blake Griffin did on the other end, but you have to tip your hat to Blake for making some tough, awkward shots down low. 8.5/10

DeMarre Carroll: The Junk Yard Dog was must’ve been feeling trashy tonight because he was in his element all night long. He made both of his three-point attempts and shot 4-for-6 overall. 12 points and seven rebounds is exactly what I want to see from DeMarre. He must’ve read Bo’s recap of the Spurs game, because his transition game was flawless. Well, flawless as in “he didn’t have any chances to over-dribble”. Actually, he didn’t have any fastbreak chances at all. He also shot a perfect 2-for-2 from the free throw line, something Paul Millsap can’t say tonight (0-for-2). 6/10

Kyle Korver:The Streak is back! The Streak is one away from owning the record! The Streak is the only reason Kyle’s father came to watch his game tonight! While the last statement is probably, no, make that definitely not true, what is true is that “The Streak” is a nickname I am seriously considering. It was just another hot shooting night for Korver, hitting six treys and scoring 23 points. Ho hum. He still needed 51 more points to catch his mom’s career high. So, with that information handy, do we consider tonight’s performance a family failure? All jokes aside, Kyle played a very nice game and his hands were all over the place, as per usual. He’ll go for the record on Friday as he tries to make it his 90th consecutive game with a triple. 7/10 Continue Reading…

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D-League Assignment Not a Bad Thing for Schröder

Buddy Grizzard —  December 4, 2013 — Leave a comment

I predicted big things for Dennis Schröder at the start of the season. With the Hawks announcing that Schröder will be assigned to the NBA Development League, I’m sure a lot of people, including Schröder himself, must be disappointed. They shouldn’t be, because the D-League is exactly what Schröder needs to take the next step in his career.

I watched the D-League extensively last year due to my fascination with Royce White, so allow me to make a few observations. The D-League has a scarcity of size because most big men who can play at that level already have multiple contract offers overseas. Front court players toiling in the D-League are typically either draft picks on assignment or players who do not wish to play overseas.

As such, the fact that Mike Scott was sent down last season and lit the D-League up doesn’t prove much. There simply isn’t much NBA-caliber post defense to be found. What Schröder will encounter, however, are a bunch of undersized scoring guards (think Jared Cunningham) who are trying to prove themselves on every possession. This actually makes a D-League assignment highly beneficial for Schröder because all he needs is to tighten up his handle and stop committing so many turnovers.

Send John Jenkins down to the D-League and it won’t necessarily help because D-League teams aren’t any better at guarding the 3-point line than the Hawks are. But Schröder will face a number of lightning-quick guards, all of whom have something to prove against any player with an NBA contract. Scott wouldn’t benefit as much. He needs to keep getting lit up in 4th quarters by players like Boris Diaw until he figures NBA defense out.

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Hawks Assign Dennis Schröder to Bakersfield

Bo Churney —  December 4, 2013 — 1 Comment

The Atlanta Hawks have assigned guard Dennis Schröder to the Bakersfield Jam of the NBA Development League, it was announced today by President of Basketball Operations/General Manager Danny Ferry.

Schröder, Atlanta’s first round pick in the 2013 NBA Draft (17th overall), is averaging 3.7 points, 2.5 assists and 1.1 rebounds in 13.9 minutes in 11 games this season. He ranks tied for fourth among all NBA rookies in assists and tied for 16th in scoring.

Schröder has fallen out of the rotation recently in favor of Shelvin Mack. Although the Hawks don’t have sole ownership in Bakersfield, it will be good for Dennis to get some playing time instead of just warming a spot on the bench.

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RECAP: Spurs 102, Hawks 100

Bo Churney —  December 3, 2013 — Leave a comment

FINAL

SAS(15-3) 102 – 100 (9-10) ATL

Key Performers:
T. Duncan (SAS): 23 pts, 21 reb, 2 ast, 2 blk
A. Horford (ATL): 18 pts, 7 reb, 3 ast, 2 stl
[FULL BOX SCORE]

This one was definitely a heartbreaker for the Hawks. After trailing for much of the game, the Hawks were able to grab a lead in the third quarter. However, the Spurs went on a 21-5 run at the end the of the third and beginning of the fourth to separate themselves. But the Hawks fought back and eventually tied the game with 4.7 seconds left after a three from Jeff Teague. However, Tim Duncan just too much, as he hit the game winning jumper on a pindown play with 0.4 seconds left to lift San Antonio the victory.

Reaction Grades: [assessed 0-10]

Al Horford: The Boss was the best player on the floor for the Hawks on the night, but I had the feeling that there was still more things he could of done. He defense was good, but he and the Hawks were worked on the boards throughout the game. Obviously rebounding is a team effort, but a couple of plays stick out where Al should have been able to secure the defensive board, but he just fumbled the ball to the Spurs. Very costly in a two-point game. 8/10

Jeff Teague: Going up against Tony Parker isn’t easy, and Jeff did a very respectable job. His defense wasn’t too bad, and Jeff finally had some touch from behind the arc, going 3-for-4 on three-pointers. The Spurs defense didn’t allow him as many opportunities in the lane as one would want from Jeff, but he still had 19 points, seven assists, and four free throws on the night. A good job overall. 8/10

Paul Millsap: Millsap may have hit a couple of very clutch three-pointers to give the Hawks a chance to steal one, but his overall night was brutal. he was 6-for-20 from the floor and he was outplayed by Tim Duncan in nearly every facet of the game. Splitter and Duncan played very well on Millsap inside and Paul’s jumpers didn’t fall enough to make up for that. Tough night, even with the 14 boards. 5/10

DeMarre Carroll: DeMarre scored the Hawks’ first seven points and finished with a very strong stat line of 17 points, eight rebounds, and two assists. He did a good job defensively with keeping Parker and Leonard – his primary assignments on defense – in check. That said, I’m still annoyed by his transition game; DeMarre in transition sounds like it should be great, ala Corey Brewer, but DeMarre often tries to handle the ball too much, which should be a no-no in this offense. Not only is it a pass-heavy offense, but out of all of the guys in the starting lineup, DeMarre should be the last guy trying to run the break. 7.5/10

Lou Williams: The Hawks really need Lou’s minutes restriction to be lifted soon. Not because Lou lit it up in this game (he was 5-for-14 from the field), but because Cartier Martin isn’t exactly the option you want out there when you have Lou Williams idling around. On the topic of this game, Lou was 0-for-6 on threes, most of which were open looks. Part of that could be attributed to the rehab, but Lou shooting that poorly is an anomaly; 10 points and four assists (no turnovers) under those circumstances is still good. 6.5/10 Continue Reading…

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Jawing with Jawz: A Conversation with Mike Muscala

Brandon Barnes —  December 3, 2013 — Leave a comment

For my debut piece on HawksHoop, I decided to have a chat with the Hawks’ 44th overall selection in the 2013 NBA Draft – Mike Muscala. After four nice years at Bucknell University, Mike is playing his 2013-2014 season overseas for Blusens Monbus Obradoiro in Spain. He has documented his time across the pond in a series of videos entitled “Jawz Journey”. Check out episodes one, two, and three.

BB: Thanks for joining me, Mike. How’s it going?
MM: Thanks for having me, Brandon. Estoy bien!
BB: Magnífico! How have you adjusted to life in Spain?
MM: I’ve really enjoyed my time here in Spain so far. I’m living here with my best friend, Peter Vang, whom I’ve known for most of my life. The people here are all very friendly and I’m loving the food!
BB: I noticed in your 3rd Jawz Journey video that, besides your friend/roommate, you have befriended teammate, former Miami Hurricane, and fellow American Durand Scott. What’s it like having that guy you can relate to and speak your own language for once?
MM: Durand is a great player and an even better person. He refuses to learn how to drive manual, so he always rides with me and Peter. I shouldn’t talk though, I don’t know really know how to drive manual either (as you can also see from the Jawz Journey videos). Nick Minnerath and Ben Dewar are two other Americans on the team as well.
BB: Speaking of languages, I noticed you speaking some solid Spanish in one of your interviews. Would you consider yourself fluent now or just knowledgeable in basketball terms? Continue Reading…

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RECAP: Wizards 108, Hawks 101

David Vertsberger —  December 1, 2013 — Leave a comment

FINAL

WAS(8-9) 108 – 101 (9-9) ATL

Key Performers:
J. Wall (WAS): 26 pts, 6 reb, 12 ast, 5 stl
P. Millsap (ATL): 23 pts, 10 reb, 2 ast, 2 blk
[FULL BOX SCORE]

The Hawks once again found themselves in a second-half rut, but this time they couldn’t come back to take the victory as they did last game against the Dallas Mavericks. The Bradley Beal-less Washington Wizards, now at 8-9, built an 18-point lead in the third that was cut down to a one-possession gap multiple times in the final period, but the Hawks fell short. Turnovers, poor transition defense and another outstanding performance by the rising John Wall ultimately gave Atlanta their ninth loss of the season, now standing at 9-9.

Reaction Grades: [assessed 0-10]

Al Horford: Horford had yet another strong outing, once again coming up big late with a slew of fourth-quarter buckets to keep the Hawks in the contest. His usual brand of defense and scoring was on display against the Wizards, finishing with 16 points on 7-13 shooting from the field and 2 blocks. Strangely enough, he totaled zero assists – only the third time all season he’s gone a game without recording one. Both of those previous contests were also losses. 8/10

Jeff Teague: Teague was a major disappointment tonight, being totally outplayed by fellow potential first-time All-Star John Wall. Jeff looked nothing like the point guard who seemingly made his leap in prior games this season, looking shaky on the offensive end and being a non-factor on defense. Wall blew by Teague like a human turnstile in transition at every opportunity, not that Teague could do much of anything about it. But maybe one foul? Or try not to gamble for a steal? Offensively, Teague struggled with decision making above all else. He looked tentative and the results resonated with the eye test. 15 points on 18 shots, 5 turnovers to 5 assists. I’m being hard on him of course, but this was his worst game of the season by far and it was pretty gruesome. 2/10

Paul Millsap: Millsap was a man-child on this night, leading the Hawks offense with a stupendous 4-5 shooting from downtown and 23 points. His interior presence was also felt on the offensive end, with Washington being unable to guard him as a roll man. His rotations were on point tonight, making fewer defensive errors then we’ve seen from him in the past. This is a great sign, which hopefully foreshadows a completely understanding of the system in place and more consistent outputs on that end. He too finished with 2 blocks alongside Horford. Paul also took on the rebounding load, collecting 10 of Atlanta’s 40 boards. 10/10

DeMarre Carroll: Carroll was a major piece of Atlanta’s comeback, with big transition attacks and a steady defensive night as well. He was only 3-9 from the field, but his 4 free throws, 8 rebounds and 2 steals tell another tale. Coach Bud relied on Carroll tonight with Kyle Korver and Lou Williams both out, playing him a team-high 37 minutes as a swingman doing most of the dirty work. Carroll stepped up to the plate.7.5/10

Cartier Martin: Cartier’s hot shooting streak continued on this night, making 2-4 long bombs taking the seat of the starting two guard slot. Martin finished with 12 points but a team low -13. This was due to his spotty defense, with the worst of it coming at the wrong time. Martin continues to shine as a preseason tryout turned rotation player, however I can’t help but wish a speedy recovery for both Kyle and Lou. Cartier is just much better suited for an off-the-bench sparkplug role. 6/10 Continue Reading…

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RECAP: Hawks 88, Mavs 87

Bo Churney —  November 30, 2013 — Leave a comment

FINAL

DAL(10-7) 87 – 88 (9-8) ATL

Key Performers:
J. Teague (ATL): 25 pts, 1 reb, 6 ast
S. Marion (DAL): 15 pts, 12 reb, 2 ast, 2 stl
[FULL BOX SCORE]

The Hawks were down by as many as 17 in the third quarter and appeared to be heading for their fourth consecutive loss. However, in the fourth quarter, Jeff Teague led the offense, and Al Horford and Paul Millsap anchored the defense to allow the Hawks back in the game. With 1:16 left, Millsap hit a three to bring the Maverick lead down to 87-86, and Horford hit a 19′ jumper with 4.2 seconds left to secure the Hawks a win. The Mavericks did lose Jose Calderon in this game, which surely affected it, but Monta Ellis will likely be left kicking himself after this one, as his seven turnovers are a big stat that jumps out to where the Mavericks could have won.

Reaction Grades: [assessed 0-10]

Al Horford: Four turnovers in the fourth quarter from Al nearly kept the Hawks from coming back. Of course, Horford did hit the game-winner, which helps redeem his six total turnovers on the game. As stated in the opener, Horford’s activity on defense is what helped the Hawks limit the Mavs to 3-for-19 shooting in the fourth quarter. In total, Horford had 17 points, 12 rebounds, and two assists for the game. 8/10

Jeff Teague: Jeff had his fourth 20-point game of the season with a 25 point effort tonight. 15 of those points came in the second half, as Teague got to the free throw line a total of 11 times in the 24 minutes span. Teague wasn’t a defensive negative in the second half, but he was in the first, as his going under of screens on Jose Calderon allowed Calderon to open up with 4-for-5 shooting from behind the arc. Other than that, good game from Teague, who was a team-high plus-11 on the night. 8/10

Paul Millsap: Good all-around night from Millsap, who had four assists and six rebounds to go with his 15 points. His defense was solid on Dirk when he was forced to guard the German in one-on-one situations. On his clutch three-point with a minute to go: “Jeff threw me the ball, I just felt it and shot it. othing spectacular, I just threw it up to the basket and it went in for me. It was early in the shot clock, I better have made it.” 8/10

DeMarre Carroll: DeMarre just fell short of his second career double-double, only scoring nine points (which were all in the third quarter) to go with his ten rebounds. He was as active as always, going hard at the basket to on cuts and rebound opportunities. His jumper still annoys me sometimes, but eh, sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. 6.5/10

Lou Williams: Restrictions on playing time are coming off one-by-one for Lou. In his first start in his return, he played 25 minutes and scored 12 points to go with two rebounds and two assists. He had a very nice floater in the third quarter and is showing some more will to venture into the lane on offense. 7/10 Continue Reading…

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Budding Sets: Wheel Variation

Cole Patty —  November 29, 2013 — Leave a comment

The Spurs run a set they call Loop, where Tony Parker runs around two screens on the baseline. He curls around the second, and receives the ball with position to drive. The Hawks actually ran this exact set in last night’s game with Teague, but Jeff isn’t always the player on the baseline looking to get freed up. A variation of the Loop is a set the Rockets ran successfully last year called Wheel. In this set, a less able dribble — but bigger spot-up threat — goes baseline around the two screens but steps out beyond the three point line. If executed right, the team gets an open three for one of there biggest threats from downtown.

But, Budenholzer knows his players well already. He knows that he can tinker with these sets to accentuate the nontraditional bigs of the Hawks. In Houston, both the baseline screeners were bigmen. In Atlanta, there is only one screen Kyle gets around, as the second baseline player is DeMarre Carroll. Carroll instead of screening, cuts the opposite way. Instead of the defender having to choose to get out on the three point line or stop an immobile screener, it becomes a matter of knowing they could get beat by a matter of seconds in two opposite directions. As long as Horford’s screen is executed right, it becomes a matter of pick your poison.

Both these clips end in a miss unfortunately, but any team in the league would have Kyle Korver shoot open threes all day. He’s shooting 51,6% on threes total, and surely some of his misses have came on covered looks. Everyone knows this guy is deadly, so process takes a little precedence over result. Continue Reading…

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