Hawks Thoughts from the Weekend

Friday Night’s win against the Rockets was one of the most entertaining games of the season. Credit Mike Woodson for holding Josh Smith out for 11 minutes of the fourth quarter due to his foul trouble. When the Hawks needed him most, a tip-in basket with less than a second left, Smith was available thanks to shrewd coaching.

The Hawks should not get out-rebounded by an undersized team like the Rockets, but they were. Some of that was thanks to the bigs being in foul trouble all night. With that in mind, why did Zaza Pachulia only log 14 minutes?

Marvin Williams finally got hot, with 13-of-19 shooting against the Rockets. He hit 3-of-5 from long range, followed by 1-of-5 from deep the next night. On the season, he is 9-of-28 (32.1 percent) on three-point attempts. I still think he’s taking way too many long range jump shots. He has made up for it of late with 13 offensive rebounds over the last three games.

Saturday’s 96-88 loss to the Hornets was a classic trap game. Coming off an emotionally charged win at home against the Rockets, the Hawks had to travel to New Orleans the next day. They came into town as a team claiming to be the best in the league and should have destroyed a struggling Hornets team with a new coach and without their best player, Chris Paul. But the Hawks hit just 37.2 percent of their shots, including just 4-of-22 from three-point range. In contrast, the Hornets connected on 12-of-17 (70.6 percent) three-pointers thanks to lazy perimeter defense.

Losing Mike Bibby in the first quarter certainly did not help. The Hawks were ill-equipped to replace him in the middle of the game. Still, the Hawks only turned the ball over six times. With more preparation, I think the team is deep enough to accommodate an injury to a starter over the short term. Thankfully, the Hawks do not play again until Thursday against the Magic. Bibby is questionable for that game. If he’s unable to go, look for Jeff Teague and Joe Johnson to start in the backcourt. Jamal Crawford is another option, but it may better to keep him in his sixth-man role and allow Teague around 20 minutes at the point.

Coach Woodson on the lack of attendance at the Philips Arena this season: “All I can say to our fans is we need your support. These guys are playing for something this year, man. It’s fun watching us play. I know the fans are there and we just ask you to come out and support us because [the players] need it. I think amazing things can happen when the house is filled.”

The Hawks drew only 12,997 on Monday against Portland prior to that statement. Their next game, a 105-90 win over the Heat, drew over 18,000. Only 16,674 turned out for Friday’s nail-biter. Despite being tied for the best record in the league, the Hawks rank 17th in attendance this season. That’s a shame. During last year’s 47-win campaign, Atlanta ranked 20th. Given the performance to date and the style of play of this season’s team, the Hawks should be selling out every home game. Eight teams in the league are at 99 percent attendance or better this season. The Hawks sit at 91.4 percent.

Tags: Hawks attendance, Hornets beat Hawks, Josh Smith game-winner, Marvin Williams, Mike Bibby injury, Mike Woodson