Lakers vs. Hawks 12/08/06
Friday, Dec 8
The Hawks started the season fast winning four of their first five games but have been up and down since that time as they have experienced some injuries (Josh Childress, Speedy Claxton, and Marvin Williams have all missed games). This will be their fourth game of a five game road trip and they are coming off a big win at Denver on Wednesday night. Atlanta used a 3-2 zone defense in the fourth quarter to overcome a 17 point deficit and won by 2. Shelden Williams sank two big free throws to provide the winning margin. Joe Johnson had a game high 27 points at Denver and make no mistake about it, this is his team. We cannot let him have a monster game tonight but at the same time we cannot pay so much attention to him that it opens up opportunities for other players to have a big night.
Atlanta’s probable starters are former Laker Ty Lue at the point, Joe Johnson at the 2, Josh Smith and Shelden Williams at the forwards and Zaza Pachulia at the center. This may change due to the fact that Claxton, Childress, and Marvin Williams are listed as day to day. They have already announced that Marvin Williams will play tonight but may not start. Lue is a quick, aggressive defender who made his reputation during the 2001 Finals when he guarded Allen Iverson. He will look to run the offense but can score if opportunities are there. The Hawks rely heavily on Johnson (last season he led the Hawks in points, assists, and steals). He can shoot the 3, post up and can make plays for himself and his teammates. He is capable of taking over a game. Josh Smith is a left handed player who really wants to get to his left on drives. He is very athletic and will look for lobs or offensive rebound putbacks/dunks at every opportunity. Shelden Williams is their work-horse. He is a physical rookie who is going to hit the boards and sets hard screens. Pachulia is a tough player. He will post some out of their early offense through set and loves to shot fake and drive from the perimeter. If Claxton plays we know he will look to push the ball in transition all the way to the paint where he can pull-up for the shot or kick out to open teammates. They will use Salim Stoudamire as guard off the bench. He has unlimited range on his shot and isn’t afraid to shoot so we must find him in transition and rotate quickly to him. Lorenzen Wright is a veteran big man who provides rebounding and stable play for the Hawks. Marvin Williams is a very talented young forward with a load of offensive skills. He prefers to face up and take his man but is a capable post up guy also. Cedric Bozeman has also played for the Hawks due to their injury problems and while not a great perimeter shooter he is capable of playing the 1,2, or 3 spots. Matt Freije is a big man who is a better shooter than his percentage shows this season so we must not let him get comfortable.
Atlanta runs most of their offense through Joe Johnson and one of their favorite sets is generally referred to as the “Paul Pierce Play” due to the Celtics star’s proficiency at executing it. The play starts with the point guard with the ball at the top and a big at each elbow. Johnson is in one corner and the other wing player in the other corner. The point passes to the big opposite of Johnson and Joe then flashes in the lane looking for the quick, easy paint catch. If the paint catch isn’t there then they will continue with options out of flex action. When it comes to their pick and roll game, Atlanta has a small wrinkle that is a little different than how some other teams run the middle screen and roll. Sometimes they will start with a dribble weave into the middle screen and roll action and sometimes they will have the 2 set a low baseline screen for the 5 who continues up high to set a screen and then roll hard to the basket. As the 5 is rolling the 2 pops up high expecting the snap back pass.
It is imperative that we get back on the winning track tonight. We need to jump on them early and keep them down because the more you allow this team to hang around the better they get. Last season they came in Staples Center and beat us. We must protect our home court tonight.
Source:
http://my.lakers.com/lakers/news.html?id=5
Scouting Report VS. The Atlanta Hawks
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