Hawks have (internal) moves to make
New York – Joe Smith. Drew Gooden. Luther Head.
With all these players suddenly showing up on the waiver wire, someone emailed today asking where the Hawks were in their pursuit of one of these soon to be (they have to clear waivers first) free agents.
Maybe someone lost the memo, but it’s the same situation as before the trade deadline last month, the Hawks are simply not in a position to make any moves.
They already have 15 men on the roster and under contract, so there aren’t any moves to be made. The team that took the floor against Cleveland Sunday night and then again last night in Washington will be the same one that hits the floor come playoff time.
Whether or not that’s good enough to get through a first round playoff series against the likes of Miami, Detroit or Philadelphia remains to be seen. I don’t know why it wouldn’t be, especially if those teams are set roster-wise, as well. But no one can be sure right now.
That means the Hawks (Hawks coach Mike Woodson to be exact) have to find some ways to tinker and tweak what they already have to give this team a boost. It certainly helps when they can fend off teams like Washington with a shift in production like they had Monday, when Marvin Williams assumed the alpha-dog role normally played by Joe Johnson.
But what about when the big dogs come calling, as will be the case in later this month? Solid playoff teams and playoff contenders won’t be as easily vanquished as the lowly Wizards were at Verizon Center.
Over the course of the next six weeks it would be nice to see Al Horford, Josh Smith, Mike Bibby, Flip Murray and even Mo Evans or Zaza Pachulia try that costume on for a night or two. Anything to throw off the masses before the playoffs, when a team’s every flaw is magnified a million times under the spotlight of the postseason crush.
The more the Hawks spread the wealth the better. And is it me or does Johnson always seem more effective when someone else cranks it up and he can sneak up on a team and smash them with big shots late (as he did to the Wizards)?
There are just too many defenses designed to stop him these days. The two- and three-man pressure sets like Denver used last week are going to be the norm between now and April 15. The Hawks’ best recourse is to spread the responsibility around and allow Williams and others to assume more of a scoring load or at least run the offense through someone other than Johnson for stretches.
The best move the Hawks can make at this point is to stretch that roster out (I know teams normally shorten the rotation this time of year, but the opposite could work in this case) and throw a few trick plays at teams scouting them.
Because up to this point they’ve been an open book. Teams know it’s Joe Johnson left, Joe Johnson right and Joe Johnson up the middle on nearly every play. An advance scout for a team the Hawks could meet in the playoffs told me as much before Sunday night’s game against Cleveland.
“They’re like one of those three yards and a cloud of dust football teams,” my scout friend said. “Clear out this side and clear out that side and we’re going to run that sucker right up the middle and dare the other team to stop us. That’s the way they play offense under Woody. When it works, you can’t do anything to stop them. But when it doesn’t, they have a hard time. And in the playoffs, teams are going to do whatever they can to take away your main stuff and try and force you into your alternative options. Right now, I really can’t tell you what those other options are. When they’re at home they feed off their crowd and they run more, they share the ball more and they play more up-tempo. But on the road, it’s not as easy. And correct me if I’m wrong, they beat Boston all three games at home during that series last year but couldn’t find their footing on the road, right?”
That’s exactly right.
So it turns out that the Hawks do have a few moves to make. Just not the kind that seem so sexy right now with all the talk about contenders adding players for the playoff push.
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263 comments Add your comment
Big Ray
March 4th, 2009
7:52 pm
The Hawks have 15 guys on the roster? You mean 15 players? Wow, I did not know that…
Ben
March 4th, 2009
7:57 pm
I think the Knicks give the Pistons a run for their money for most tatted team. Harrington added like 30 since he played for us…Wilson Chandler…wow
dmortone
March 4th, 2009
7:58 pm
I’m mad Woody would rather give a sick Bibby minutes rather than play Acie Law
TskOoOo
March 4th, 2009
7:59 pm
Lookin good so far. I love that this posts our message so fast
Big Ray
March 4th, 2009
7:59 pm
Looks like we’re off to a good start. Al Horford is going to have another good night. He’s already got 7 points and 4 boards. I love when he shuts up the hatas…
Big Ray
March 4th, 2009
7:59 pm
Ben,
I gotta hand it to ya. That was funny.
terrell barron
March 4th, 2009
8:01 pm
And Marvin with the left hand floater.
Samuel
March 4th, 2009
8:02 pm
Doc,
Looks like your kinda ballgame tonight. **Jack up 3 Heaven**
Big Ray
March 4th, 2009
8:05 pm
Sam,
Ah gee, seems like a “COY” would be able to put a stop to that….
Big Ray
March 4th, 2009
8:11 pm
Gallinari is no joke
Big Ray
March 4th, 2009
8:19 pm
Josh with his one rebound, but he’s scoring with ease.
Samuel
March 4th, 2009
8:25 pm
We’re 0-7 from the 3pt line. That means we have to make 14 straight to get to 35%, huh Doc. There’s one by Mo. Looks like we’ve shot the Knicks back into the game.
Sekou K. Smith
March 4th, 2009
8:26 pm
“slightly heavy set cat” huh? I like that. Sounds better than “Chubb Rock” or “Fat Boy” too. And it’s Big Kuntry with a K. I gave dude the nickname and I spelled it with a K.
TskOoOo
March 4th, 2009
8:29 pm
what exactly does bibby do besides shoot jumpers? doesn’t play defense, is slow, and is ice cold every day. OMGOMGOGM HES SICK, SHUT UP TSK OOOO
Samuel
March 4th, 2009
8:31 pm
Joe, how dare you pass up that wide open 3 for a layup?
Astro Joe
March 4th, 2009
8:34 pm
Looks like Zaza is out-rebounding our starting PF again.
Did I miss something… did Josh Smith start working out with Eddie Curry?
terrell barron
March 4th, 2009
8:35 pm
Dominique is awful. I’m sorry.
Big Ray
March 4th, 2009
8:35 pm
Call a 20 second timeout to “design” a play where Flip shoots it from halfcourt. Brilliant.
Must be a “COY” thing…
Blast
March 4th, 2009
8:36 pm
Still waiting on Flip to make that long heave to end every quarter. I admire him for taking those shots, shooting percentage be damned.
Woody should have called a time out immediately, not wait until the Hawks almost lost the inbound.
Samuel
March 4th, 2009
8:37 pm
In honor of D’Antoni whe’re playin zero defense either.
Cuz, what about the Bold and italics. This thang is too bland. I like the Old site. Looks too much like Hawks Hacks. Did yall merge or something?
bigdave
March 4th, 2009
8:37 pm
someone explain why Woodson calls time outs with 2.4; 1.3; .9; etc. seconds left in a HALF, or PERIOD… then when we need them, like at the end of games (Denver), we dont have em…!!!
Big Ray
March 4th, 2009
8:38 pm
Joe,
Yeah, that’s the ticket…don’t worry, he’s going to get traded this summer for the 7′2″ son of a Turkish goat herder. Everything will be fine then. No more dumb Josh. You’ll be happy. All of you. I promise. Or so Sund said…
Da Real Real
March 4th, 2009
8:39 pm
Don’t need to Stinger to tell me the Hawks should be up by 10….far as I’m concerned it should be about 15. No hussle, no effort tonight.
But hey at least they finally upgraded the Hawks blog, took long enough.
Astro Joe
March 4th, 2009
8:41 pm
Astro Joe
March 4th, 2009
8:43 pm
Ray, I just want dude to grab rebounds. Is that asking for too much from a guy who has done it in the past? I’m not asking him to do anything but out-rebound the team’s PG. Sorry if that’s being unreasonable.
cp
March 4th, 2009
8:44 pm
Marvin, Horford, and Josh look pretty good so far tonight. If Bibby is still sick why is he out there ? He cant hit anything right now. It would be better to let the guy rest and let someone else handle the pg duties. Hopefully the guys realize we were having our most success when we attacked the rim and stop jacking up so many jumpers. And yea Woodson looks like he will pretty much go 8 deep for the rest of the season.
bigdave
March 4th, 2009
8:44 pm
yea… slightly Sekou, slightly… haha…
so its Kuntry with a k… like TI’s boy… gotcha… i should win some seats down their on “Gucci Row” for unveiling your identity… make that happen Sekou…!!!
bigdave
March 4th, 2009
8:45 pm
better yet… i an internship down there at AJC will suffice…!!
Blast
March 4th, 2009
8:50 pm
I don’t see any reason why the Hawks won’t win this game. They just need to continue going inside, and crank up the defence, that all. All NY got right now is the three ball and fast break. Cut those out, and let them make contested jumpers. and the Hawks needs to stop turning the ball over too.
You right, Doc, I like the new blog for instant posting, but it is bland, and bold and italics are highly missed. What’s up AJC? are we sacrificing instant post for the other conveniencies?
TskOoOo
March 4th, 2009
8:50 pm
james verrett says the hawks need to get back to the gameplan. what exactly is the gameplan?
Big Ray
March 4th, 2009
8:51 pm
Joe,
Why whatever do you mean? I want him to do that as well. Don’t tell me the king of sarcasm is going to let…a little sarcasm…get his little goat..
TskOoOo
March 4th, 2009
8:51 pm
i dont like this new ajc format because there’s only like 10 posts per page so you have to keep opening new pages to see other posts
Big Ray
March 4th, 2009
9:00 pm
Horford is going off again. I love it.
Big Ray
March 4th, 2009
9:01 pm
Joe,
Sarcasm aside, don’t be surprised if Josh is gone this summer. I’m just sayin’…
Sekou K. Smith
March 4th, 2009
9:01 pm
This game is slipping into the danger zone right now. Hawks aren’t playing with any defensive fire. Can’t tell if there’s something wrong with Josh or not. He’s moving half speed out there.
Big Ray
March 4th, 2009
9:02 pm
And it doesn’t matter if you think this core can get better and be just fine the way they are.
What matters is what Sund thinks, and each GM wants make his own mark. The possibility stands. Especially with Marvin making the strides he is now. I’m just sayin’…
TskOoOo
March 4th, 2009
9:04 pm
This quarter has made it obvious who should be here next year and who shouldn’t…
Josh Smith: wtf is this guy doing? He looks totally uninterested, like all he cares about scoring
Marv, Horf, and Joe are trying to get this thing going, and Bib may still be sick.
Also, Joe is getting the hell hacked out of him. He has never been fined before…When is he gonna blast the refs and get that mandatory $15,000 fine?
Hawksfan
March 4th, 2009
9:05 pm
Sekou, is Josh sick or something?
Big Ray
March 4th, 2009
9:05 pm
Don’t know what’s wrong with Josh either, but he’s not in the game right now, and last I looked, there were 4 other teammates who are responsible for playing defense too.
Najeh Davenpoop
March 4th, 2009
9:07 pm
The new digs are dope, but I miss being able to use **bold** and *italics*.
For those of you wondering what Sekou Smith looks like, http://www.nba.com/media/hawks/final_day_041807_3.jpg (don’t know how to do links on the new format either).
Blast
March 4th, 2009
9:07 pm
Looks like the refs are anxious to get this game over with. They are not calling anything. Must be some good gambling going on in New York tonite!
Hawks need to win this game. Don’t toy with this team. Keep em off the glass!
TskOoOo
March 4th, 2009
9:08 pm
great foul call on flip. looks like Lee jumped into harrington. great call, idiot ref
bigdave
March 4th, 2009
9:09 pm
hey coach… nobody on the knicks can stay in front of Acie Law.. he’s on our team.. how bout get him in here these last 2 mins see if he can attack the middle…
Big Ray
March 4th, 2009
9:11 pm
Like I said, don’t worry. He’s as likely gone as not.
Long as we get something good for him and the team improves.
Of course, to hear some tell it, you’d think a bag of Doritos and Calvin Booth would do the trick. Heh.
Big Ray
March 4th, 2009
9:13 pm
I’ll give Woody credit: he’s going with other guys like Pachulia and Evans when he yanks Smith.
That’s good, as some sit-down time should be teaching him some lessons. If it doesn’t, then I’m totally wrong about him and he needs to go. If it does work, then he’ll come in motivated and get the job done.
Either way, good job by Woody to sit him. Only…he could have benefited from this years ago. Of course, we had nobody nearly good enough to play in his spot while he sat.
nola dawg
March 4th, 2009
9:15 pm
nice work davenpoop (by the way, fantastic name). always wondered what our boy Blog Z looked like.
Will someone please get Bibby some theraflu… I mean come on man, how long you been sick?
mo
March 4th, 2009
9:17 pm
is it just me or is nique and rathburn the WORST announcers we’ve ever had?
TskOoOo
March 4th, 2009
9:20 pm
The old Hawks are back. Sleepwalking through 3 quarters against a far inferior, then clawing back in 4th and losing by 3. Good game.
Big Ray
March 4th, 2009
9:20 pm
Take note that Smith has played significantly fewer minutes than the rest of the starters. He’s not producing, so that was a good decision.
However, Bibby is not producing either, but you don’t see Law. You see Flip, but he’s also JJ’s backup and he’s not shooting worth a crap tonight either. Still no Law.
**This is where Woody aggravates the pi$$ out of me, by not being fair across the board.**
Look, either Bibby is sick, tired, or is just plain sucking tonight (just like the last 3 games), yet here he is having played 30 minutes tonight. I’m waiting for some hair-brained explanation as to why he can’t just be relieved.
I suppose the answer is that Woody is “COY”, and can’t be wrong, therefore it must be that Acie sucks so bad that he shouldn’t be on the roster. I’m not even saying “play Acie”, I’m saying “rest Bibby” because he isn’t giving us much of anything. And I’m willing to believe he’s actually not back up to full strength. Gee, I wonder why. Did he get brought back too soon?
And since we’re not winning this game, I would be interested in hearing just why this is happening…preferrably from somebody that’s not all over his jock…
bigdave
March 4th, 2009
9:20 pm
everybody barking at each other again…