Josh Smith out 2 weeks due to Ankle injury

[HMFFL]

Two weeks is the least amount of time they reported.

[ConverseChris]

yeah 2-4 weeks
wow this blows

[HoopsGuru25]

4-0 but still horrible news. They played well w/o him in the Toronto game but history shows we suck w/o him(I believe 2-9 in the last 2 years). Just start Solo at center because we already know it's impossible to have a good defense with Zaza as your starting center.

[KF10]

Wow at Mario West's block!

[lethalweapon3]

Take your time, Smoove! Barring further injuries, the Hawks are in good condition to hold serve while Josh rests his ankle. More minutes for Marv, Zaza, Mo and Solo.

~lw3

[Skyhawk1]

I think we'll be fine. I hope J. Smith rests his injury untill it's fully healed. Now, it's time for guys like S. Jones and Morris step up. Zaza didn't play well tonight, but he's an option we have to consider. Let's just hope we can weather the storm ahead and get back home from this road trip with a couple of wins.

[HMFFL]

It's going to hurt not having Josh out there, but will be able to deal with it for the rest of the month, because the rest of the month is far from being difficult compared to what it could be.

[Harry10]

so i guess this means Hunter is going on the road with the Hawks.

[evildallas]

Zaza has been playing well this year. He didn't have a good game against Toronto, but like Al he picked up quick fouls. I was amazed at the quality minutes turned in by Solomon and Randolph. Also, don't sleep on Marvin. He turned up the intensity on the offensive end a bit and was playing the 4 for a while as the Hawks went small against Toronto for a stretch. Over the next 2-4 weeks, all 4 bigs need to step it up and either make the most of their minutes (Solomon and Randolph), be more offensively pro-active (Al), or not try to do things they aren't good at (Zaza). Sometimes the team will also go small like they did against Toronto's bench in the 2nd half. Provided they step up and meet the challenge, getting Solomon and Randolph quality minutes now should only make the team better once Josh gets back. Yes, that's my attempt at looking for a silver lining.

I think the positive coaching influence may be the addition of Jim Todd. Anyway, props to Woodson and the coaching staff for sticking with Solomon instead of going back to Al or Zaza as soon as it got reasonable to risk a 5th foul. The situational coaching has gotten a lot better than what I witnessed the last 4 years.

[D21]

DEN is supposed to buyout McDyess' contract, it would be perfect at this moment with this injury, but also for the future.

He certainly wants to play for a contender, but "hey Antonio !!! ATL is 1st in the East right now..."

[LL Cool Scott]

Time for King Zaza to unleash the terror. Zaza will break you!

[ATLfan]

This is time for Solo and Zaza to really step their game up.

[BigAlHorfordROY]

I think we will be fine, our bench has played really well so far and our schedule over the next two weeks isn't that bad.

Woody said that Smith is a fast healer, and he doesn't expect him to miss much time. As you saw Smith walked off under his own power, while Tony Parker basically was carried off the floor and they also said two to four weeks for him. If ZaZa and Solo can keep contributing quality minutes we should be fine.

Go Hawks!

[JoshB914]

I'm not too worried. JJ is playing incredible basketball right now and we look like a confident bunch. This could make us a deeper and more confident team in the long run, as Solo and Morris will have to step in and do the job.

The upcoming stretch of games is pretty easy. And hopefully we'll be a better team when josh comes back.

[realfung]

Sad for the Hawks, I hope they can do well without him, just have someone gets career nights so to make the record better.

I think the Hawks is doing good and I really look up to them now.
I think they are a legit playoff team.

[High 5]

DEN is supposed to buyout McDyess' contract, it would be perfect at this moment with this injury, but also for the future.

He certainly wants to play for a contender, but "hey Antonio !!! ATL is 1st in the East right now..."

McDyess has to wait 30 days before he can sign with any team if he is bought out. Or does he just have to wait 30 days before he can sign back with Detroit? Not that I think he would sign with us anyway.


As far as the Smith injury, with the way the team is playing I'm not that worried. I definitely wish it didn't happen, but at least Horford can slide to the 4 and guys getting extra minutes could help later in the year. I could still see us going 5-2 without him. Assuming he misses 2 weeks.

[Hawks]

It sucks that he is out. This does mean more shots for Horford and for him to establish himself. Also give Marvin the chance to step up. It is time for help to establish himself and now the time. No more excuses for Marvin. Lastly we got a Vet team now. As Woodson said Smoove is quick healer. Positive I saw was him walking off the court by himself. When I saw Tony Parker injure himself. The guy couldn't even stand or walk.

[mattlanta]

Time for King Zaza to unleash the terror. Zaza will break you!

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[ATL DirtyBird]

Josh heals quickly and our schedule for the next 2 weeks isnt exactly killer. The only game you could mark as a lose is the Boston game, but dont be suprised if the Hawks come out posessed trying to prove something against Boston. This hurts but wont cripple us, we should have to keep doing what were doing! Its the first time ive been excited about Hawks basketball in quite some time!

[HMFFL]

Hawks’ Jones and Morris expected to fill void of injured forward

Neither Jones nor Morris will be tapped to replace Smith in the starting lineup, but they will see backup minutes that otherwise wouldn’t have been available.

“You’ve got to keep yourself mentally ready to go in this league and that’s all I’ve ever tried to do,” said Jones, who played 25 minutes against the Raptors and finished with six points, nine rebounds, three blocks and impressed defensively against Raptors All-Star Chris Bosh. “When people started getting in foul trouble [early in the game] I told myself to get ready. I started warming up on the bench.

“You hate to see Josh get hurt, because that’s a huge blow for our team. But at the same time, that’s how it goes. Sometimes a guy gets hurt and somebody has to step up and fill the void.”

Neither Jones nor Morris alone is capable of replacing Smith’s stats and leadership. Combined, however, with Zaza Pachulia filling in as a starter, they should at least be able to carry the bulk of the load.

“We know the same plays those guys know,” Morris said. “We’ll come in and give good minutes and both myself, Solo and even Z will answer the bell when we’re called upon.”

Jones hasn’t been asked to work like this since his rookie season. He played nine consecutive minutes Saturday after Smith had already left the game and his mouth never closed — he was that tired.

“I bet he hasn’t played those kind of extended minutes in a long time,” Marvin Williams said with a smile. “But that’s the way it goes. When they call your name you have to be ready. We know these guys can do it because we see them every day in practice. Solo’s been giving people fits since the summer, so to see him out there in the game doing the same thing proves that his hard work is paying off.”

That coach Mike Woodson didn’t hesitate to put either Jones or Morris in the game also shows how much trust he has in his two reserves.

“Solomon and Randolph have been working hard in practice,” Woodson said. “I tell them all the time, when their time comes, they have to make the most of it. They took that in stride big time [Saturday night]. Their minutes were very positive for our team.”

Jones said it was vindication for all the hard work that’s gone into his career after two uneven seasons.

“There was a point in time I got down a couple years ago when I wasn’t playing and I was till trying to break into the rotation,” Jones said. “But now, I’ve been through this for two years, this is my third year. I know the things that happen throughout the course of a season, the injuries or whatever.

“Yeah, it is hard to think about having to go in because somebody is injured. But that may be your opportunity to shine, your chance to break into the rotation. So you have to be ready.”

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