Game Recap: Milwaukee Bucks 98, Atlanta Hawks 90

The same way John Wall asked to be fined for pouting or rolling his eyes on the court, JSmoove needs to do the same for taking 3’s. Absolutely no reason for him to ever take 5 3PT attempts in a game.

Ok, that might have been harsh, but c’mon! This is the fear that everyone had of Josh playing the 3 position by playing a center along with Horford. I don’t think the hawks can survive this season with Josh doing that.

I would have rather taken my chances with the Horford drive than the Smith 3, which makes me wonder why anyone kicks it out to Josh when he’s hanging out at the 3 point line in the first place. I would have rather seen an Iso-Joe play than that. I’m curious to know which play Drew drew up during the time out.

Speaking of mismatches, I’m surprised you didn’t mention the Bibby/Boykins matchup. I thought that hurt us as much as anything in the last few possessions of the game. There was one possession where Boykins flew right by Bibby, and Bibby was clearly upset that the help defense didn’t get there in time. Then on one of the following possessions, he got the help he needed, which forced Boykins to brick one off the top of the backboard and somehow still get it back, and with 6 seconds on the clock, Bibby decides to bail him out and intentionally foul him.

I love Bibby’s savvy and confidence late in games, but I think Drew should consider pulling him out on the defensive end late in games for Teague, JC2 or Wilkins. Teams do it all the time, and with the amount of stoppages of play in the final minute or two, we can bring Bibby in and out without him missing an offensive possession.

This a tough loss to take. But there are mitigating circumstances.
A team that had to survive without Lion and Marvin, in one night had to absorb them back in. This will take a little time. For Lion, that was one half, for Marvin it will be longer. For Smoove, that was the entire game. And it is always hard to play on the road.

Clearly Smoove was guilty of hoisting shot after shot. But to Kriss’s point, why did LD not say anything. As we discussed in game thread, end of first half Smoove was 4 of 12. He had taken as many shots as Jamal and JJ combined. Instead first thing after the half Smoove puts another jumper up. My point is that coach needs to fix issues, not just be a caretaker. He should have taken Smoove out and sat him down for a while. Lack of action, means implicit acceptance, so Smoove continues. This is just how he is, he will not correct himself, he will not grow up. And here is something else to consider, Smoove accepted to move to small forward, as a small forward he believes he needs to shoot from outside. He has gradually become less and less efficient, and again, he needs to be talked to or sat down now that Marvin is back. Again Smoove does anything that is needed, it is on coach to sit him down when needed.

But and here is where Kris you are NOT calling Bibby out. Bibby has been a great player and he still should get minutes. But his slow lateral movements mean he is attacked. With about 8 minutes left in the game Hawks leading 78-71, Bibby and other starters came back in. Boykins scored 9 of his 11. This is what was happening at the defensive end. What happened on offense, was also partly, attributable to lack of a point guard that can handle the ball. As long as Bibby gets trapped, then our other players get the ball in situations that is hard for them to score and have to create something for themselves. Think the last play, I don’t think LD called for Smoove to shoot. He asked to get the ball to Lion or JJ. Deer knew that, defended that with their lives. Lion passed to the open man because Lion is smart. And LD had probably said if Lion or JJ not open, pass to open man. Smoove was open, he took a good open shot. But he sucks from outside. Again point being, ball should not be in the hands of Lion. It should be in the hands of point guard, but point guard is too slow and can be easily trapped, so instead ball went to our center. While we can be critical of Teague shooting, he is fast enough to defend and to penetrate. It is time to get him more involved or Hawks will be attacked by faster point guards of any team.

Josh is the perfect example of a player buying into his own hype. He is not a #1 and he will never be one. Problem is that in that Pterodactyl sized brain of his, he is option #1-5. What bothers me the most right now is how he looks at 8 feet of space in front of him and his first instinct is shoot instead of go to the hole. Watching him is like watching a learning disabled child try to figure out the area of a circle…it is visually frustrating to the observer, but you continue to allow it to go on because part of you feels all of the sudden the lights will come on and they’ll get it.

All the talent in the world, but a complete zero in the “knowledge of the game” department. I am very glad I missed last night’s game because my TV may not have survived.

Call me a hater all you want, but I am getting very sick of seeing Josh piss all over his coaches and teammates. He’s been in the NBA too long for that crap.

IMO this is not an option unless you’re moving Joe to the SF and Mo into the starting lineup. Smoove cannot remain at the SF position if you expect him to stop lingering around the perimeter. I know he finds himself out there more often than not, but at least when he’s in the PF position his man will be in the post. I honestly feel he thinks he’s entitled to take those shots because he helps so much on defense. I cannot express to you the anger I feel when he takes one of those “ill-advised” shots early in the shot clock. My question is how the hell is he always the one waiting to receive the kick-out pass? It’s uncanny his ability to be receipient of those passes. Give the Bucks credit. They clamped down on the defensive end and we settled. Joe tried his best to take Delfino off the dribble, and Delfino wasn’t having it. He defended Joe pretty well. That last foul call on Al was a bunch of crap.