The Atlanta Hawks are preparing to be without injured starting point guard Kirk Hinrich when their second-round playoff series against the Chicago Bulls starts Monday. Hinrich underwent an MRI test Friday on his right leg, which revealed a significant strain to his right hamstring. Hinrich is considered doubtful for Game 1 in Chicago. He sustained the injury in the fourth quarter of Thursday's series-clinching win against Orlando when he landed awkwardly on a drive to the basket. Read more: http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=6449558
The Hawks can't have Crawford defend Rose...it'd be ugly. Without Hinrich, they'll try to use Teague, but that won't end well either. At the other positions, they have good players, but so do we. The Hawks are screwed regardless, but if they don't have Hinrich, they're super-screwed.
Yeah, if Jamal Crawford has to guard Rose most of the time consider the series won. LOL, it's funny to even contemplate Crawdaddy trying to stay in front of Derrick. Opposing coaches are still quick to praise Kirk for his defense. Kirk forgot how to be a good offensive player four years ago but he's still tough on the other end. Jeff Teague is better on defense than Jamal (who isn't?), but there's a reason he doesn't play much: he's not very good. So it still works out well for us. I know they're not correlated, but I'd trade an injured Boozer for an injured Kirk. Boozer has a nice advantage inside vs. Josh Smith, but Taj is well suited to play against quick PF's. When Derrick Rose is your defensive assignment, going from Kirk to Jamal is like falling off a cliff.
This article says Kirk is doubtful for the entire series: http://www.sbnation.com/nba/2011/4/29/2143643/kirk-hinrich-injury-hawks-bulls-nba-playoffs-2011 If that's true: 1). Partaay! The Hawks have no recourse to defend DRose without Kirk. At least none that I can think of. Out of their regulars they have Jamal, Joe Johnson, and Marvin Williams. I'll take any one of those, please. On their bench they have Damien Wilkins and Jeff Teague. Those guys barely play, and I would presume for good reason. Is there something I'm missing? 2). Maybe we should sit Carlos for the entire series? Against the Hawks, going from Carlos to Taj is not the end of the world. Not when our counterpart is Josh Smith. And especially not when Jamal fuckin' Crawford is trying to D up Rose for the entire series. After watching Carlos for an entire season, I have these opinions on him: 1). He's injury prone. Like.....duh, I know, right? But it's true. His body doesn't respond well to injury. This might be due to the fact that he's bulky, but his bulk is also a bullet in his holster that he uses to good effect on offense. 2). While he doesn't solely rely on his athleticism, he has a good "burst." It's the burst combined with his strength and skill that makes him so effective on offense. Right now I don't think he has it, and without that extra explosion he can manufacture shots but not quite in time to do it efficiently, hence his trouble finishing around the basket. For better or worse, Carlos is sort of like a three-legged stool. He relies on exceptional strength and skill, with just enough athleticism to make himself a damn hard cover. He needs all three to be effective, and right now he doesn't quite have enough explosion to put himself over the top. If I hear news that we're going to shut him down for the series I won't be disappointed. With Kirk's injury we should be able to beat the Hawks soundly, and I'd rather increase our chances of having the 20/10 Carlos against the Heat and Celtics than the one we've had for the last 6 weeks.
On Kirk, I feel bad for him, but I'll get over it. Wait, I already did. On Carlos, as you said, he has a nice combination of strength, skill and quickness. He can score because he is an inside threat and if you give him the 18-footer, he can hit it consistently. However, just as a team is best when it plays inside-out, so is Boozer. The repeated injuries? It's like Roseanne Roseannadanna said, "It’s always something. If it’s not one thing, it’s another...” As for the turf toe, I'm all for sitting him until he's 100% and I don't care how long that takes.
Boozer is such an odd-duck when it comes to his physical skills that I can't say I'm surprised by his injury issues. He carries a ton of weight for his frame. I'm sure losing weight would help with his issues, but then he wouldn't be nearly as effective. It is what it is. I'm for letting him rest, like you. We need him against Miami or the Celtics. The Bulls will beat the Hawks regardless.
