Initial Feedback: Hawks Win (The Part of the Game After They Fell Behind By 32)

By Mark Phelps

Initial feedback: A completely subjective and immediate response to the events of tonight's game, featuring a comment and rating, the latter on a scale of 1 to 10, on every player who saw the floor and the head coach, along with ephemera and miscellany as the author deems necessary.

Your ratings and commentary, dear reader, are welcomed in the comments to this post.

Boxscore

Players
Josh Smith: Josh came hot out of the gates, but it didn't last long. The rest of the team seemed to follow his lead. Points for the other facets of the game, but really a sluggish game from J-Smoove. 4/10

Jeff Teague: Teague, like most of the Hawks, struggled to contain the Heat's attack on the basket, and once he played back to defend the first step, it was too little, too late. 3/10

Joe Johnson: Who can contain the big 3? Don't ask Joe. He clearly does not know. -27 in 28 minutes of floor time. 3/10

Zaza Pachulia: Zaza stayed active on the offensive boards, but had a difficult time blocking out on the defensive end. Stayed consistent on offense. 5/10

Marvin Williams: Abused by James and Co. Marvin looked to get hot toward the end of the first half, but offense was not coming today. Not enough additional effort to contribute effectively. 2/10

Tracy McGrady: McGrady was aggressive in his floor time, but was more out of control than penetrating. 2/10

Kirk Hinrich: Yet another guard being assaulted by the Heat's backcourt.1/10

Ivan Johnson: LeBron had it in mind to make Ivan his patsy when they were on the floor together. Absolutely lost on D. -11 in THREE minutes in the first half. Used some garbage time to pad a few stats, but in the useful parts of the game, Ivan wasn't useful at all. 2/10 (a generous 2)

Willie Green: Give Willie credit for hitting his open shots, but when he was on the floor, D-Wade went into full-attack mode and scorched Green. He had no answer. A game where Willie Green gets 25 minutes is often a bad sign. 3/10

Jannero Pargo: Garbage minutes AKA the fourth quarter. 1/10

Vladimir Radmanovic: See: Pargo, though it was nice to see him hit a couple of threes. 2/10

Erick Dampier: Occupied floor space/got court time workout for 5 minutes. 1/10

Jerry Stackhouse: Simultaneously painful to watch and one of his best games as a Hawk. 2/10

The head coach
Drew preached slowing down the Heat's transition game, and did virtually nothing to actually achieve that. GI Joe said that knowing is half the battle, but maybe Drew didn't understand that the other half is putting that knowledge into action. 2/10

A thought regarding the opposition
The Heat enjoy clogging the lane and daring you to shoot jumpers, so it seems that an effective offense would be one to attack the rim and focus on drawing fouls to weaken the front line. Take a few bricks out, perhaps the house will fall.