General Hawkspital
Luke and Laura or Josh and Woody?
HAWKSVILLE – So we’re back to this are we?
Feuds between Hawks coach Mike Woodson and his players isn’t anything new around here. But I have to admit, I thought it was a thing of the past.
I foolishly assumed that last year’s playoff run and this past summer’s realization that things had to get better from there was the end of all the drama.
And then Friday night happened and the Hawks locker room turned into an episode of General Hawkspital, the Hawks produce more drama in a season than Luke and Laura did in 20 years together.
It’s not clear exactly what words got tossed back and forth between Woodson and longtime co-star Josh Smith. But it’s safe to assume that they weren’t talking about catching a movie together on the next off day.
What became abundantly clear as the media scrambled through the Hawks’ locker room before tonight’s game against Detroit at Philips Arena is that whatever fences that needed to be mended got the treatment required.
Smith was smiling. Woodson, too. It was no doubt the product of an earlier face-to-face between the two where they (once again) hashed out their differences, promised to try and do better and then went their separate ways.
The only glitch in this entire process is that these two guys are joined at the wrist (no handcuffs needed). They’ll share the blame this summer if this season continues to spiral out of control for the Hawks, who are in need of major boost with just 20 games left in the season and the official chase for the fourth spot in the Eastern Conference already in full stride.
You’d think that would be clear to them by now. Smith is the only player still here from Woodson’s first day of training camp in 2004.
I suspect they’ll never be super close. Sometimes guys just don’t mix well, their personalities clash. But in the meantime, they might want to find a way to work together so the Hawks don’t take a promising season and dump it in the trash.
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289 comments Add your comment
Astro Joe
March 7th, 2009
9:09 pm
Can’t turn into wimps on the defensive glass.
ray
March 7th, 2009
9:10 pm
Crap, fading again. Come on guys.
Rotate a little faster, will ya Joe? How about a little leadership?
dbc in b'ham
March 7th, 2009
9:13 pm
why did woodson wait so long for the timeout?
niremetal
March 7th, 2009
9:14 pm
Ray,
Come on, man. You jump on Josh’s bandwagon instantly, but I’ve never once seen you give JJ a break.
ray
March 7th, 2009
9:14 pm
Al and Josh, coast to coast.
I wonder how Joe likes his “young guys running wild out there” now?
niremetal
March 7th, 2009
9:15 pm
(And yeah, I realize that’s a little unfair, but I was just surprised at how quick you seem to have forgiven Josh)
MAC-TOWN
March 7th, 2009
9:15 pm
people…remember this…… 78-75 hawks……….our two “stars” missed their 3s ….richard hamilton drains his to tie the game……all this proceeding a wild shot by josh smith in which hamilton also turned into a 3 pt bomb.
We dont play well or smart with the lead, our stars arent knockin down the “big shots” mean while other team’s stars (heck..even their role players) are….
we also need more ball and people movement on offense…
it seems so simple to correct (or atleast show an effort to…)
dbc in b'ham
March 7th, 2009
9:16 pm
one more basket and a stop
Astro Joe
March 7th, 2009
9:17 pm
Smith will have to make free throws or Hack-A-Smoove begins.
niremetal
March 7th, 2009
9:18 pm
1 of 2…I’ll take it.
ray
March 7th, 2009
9:18 pm
Niremetal,
Don’t start with me. I’ve given JJ plenty of breaks, but he hasn’t been so “great” lately. Besides, you’re not one to give Josh breaks.
Let’s just call it what it is: JJ is “your boy” and Josh is “my boy.” You defend JJ as ardently as I do Josh. Whereas I like JJ, you probably don’t like Josh (gee, that was a hard guess).
And don’t give me that “bandwagon” CRAP, because I’ve given Josh plenty of venom, particularly after that Lakers game in which he failed to get a single rebound. I’ve been a fan of him, yet have said COUNTLESS times that if trading him makes us better, then do it.
If you’ve missed all of that, including the “Three Amigos” Hawks Hacks post, then you did so conveniently.
Joe has played like crap tonight, Josh has played quite well. Not your picture perfect Hawks game story, sorry.
dmortone
March 7th, 2009
9:19 pm
Now if only Josh could be consistant…
ray
March 7th, 2009
9:19 pm
AAAARRRRRRRR!!
falcon21
March 7th, 2009
9:20 pm
Josh, Joe and Al are the team. Substract Mike Woodson and we would have something.
ray
March 7th, 2009
9:20 pm
Oh, I’m supposed to hold a grudge, Niremetal? Even Woody didn’t do that (apparently). That’s low. LOW.
otrhawksfan
March 7th, 2009
9:20 pm
lets get a charging call on rip so we can sit him down
dbc in b'ham
March 7th, 2009
9:20 pm
josh just wants to be an option, i get frustated watching joe hog the ball!!! way to go josh.
Astro Joe
March 7th, 2009
9:23 pm
Do you leave Smith in the game?
otrhawksfan
March 7th, 2009
9:23 pm
87 might still be the magic number lol
dbc in b'ham
March 7th, 2009
9:23 pm
woodson is the biggest problem we have. he just does not have what it takes to get the hawks to the next level.
mykhalc
March 7th, 2009
9:23 pm
WOODSON with chalk!!!???? not good
KevinA
March 7th, 2009
9:24 pm
With all the Josh bashing it looks like he gets the game ball tonight in a much needed win.
Astro Joe
March 7th, 2009
9:24 pm
MONEY.. Joe. MONEY!
mykhalc
March 7th, 2009
9:25 pm
oh…it was the same JJ play!!! no need for chalk!!! get this team a REAL HC!!!
ray
March 7th, 2009
9:26 pm
ROFLMAO @ Mykhalc….!
falcon21
March 7th, 2009
9:28 pm
Great coaching Woodson. NOT
mykhalc
March 7th, 2009
9:28 pm
aaahhh ain’t WOODSON showin’ class!!!??? get him outta here!!! i rather watch the f’n DOW than watch him coach!!!!
otrhawksfan
March 7th, 2009
9:28 pm
i got a question for your guys what do you think is the % of our out of bounds plays turning into points. good game hawks way to pull this out.
Astro Joe
March 7th, 2009
9:29 pm
I trust everyone saw that the first guy to congratulate Smith on a great game was the big bad wolf. Hmmm.
dbc in b'ham
March 7th, 2009
9:29 pm
still we need more bench play
Sautee
March 7th, 2009
9:29 pm
Mychalc,
ROFL!!!!!
mykhalc
March 7th, 2009
9:29 pm
whatz shakin’ ray???!!!
mykhalc
March 7th, 2009
9:31 pm
Sautee, you still slingin’ that bass???
niremetal
March 7th, 2009
9:32 pm
Nah, Ray. I just took umbrage at the venom directed at JJ, which I thought was largely undeserved. He’s playing bad, but your words seemed to paint him as to portray him as arrogant, and seemed to blame the bad defense on him (I didn’t hear you raise a peep when Josh played lazy D on back-to-back plays early on).
As I said, my initial comment was unfair. I don’t know why you went off my second comment like you did, but that’s fine. I don’t dislike Josh, believe it or not. I have a love-hate relationship with him, same as I do with every Hawk on this team not named Al or Mario (yeah, even JJ, although I admit that I cut him more slack than I do Josh). I always thought Josh would pull out of this funk eventually, and I said so. But that doesn’t mean I don’t think his stretches of poor focus and decisionmaking (which even you have to admit happen more often and more violently than JJ’s) are gone for good.
Josh played his ass off tonight, and had his best game that he’s had since I don’t know when. Hope Marvin’s ok…can’t afford to lose a man overboard at this point.
Astro Joe
March 7th, 2009
9:33 pm
Game ball to Josh but don’t sleep on Horford. Another GREAT game 18/12 with very efficient shooting.
falcon21
March 7th, 2009
9:35 pm
From Josh, Joe told me I was not bending my knees on my shot. What does the coach have too do now?
otrhawksfan
March 7th, 2009
9:36 pm
whats up with this bobcats?? the score is 93 to 77 with over 8mins left. the southeastern divison could get as good as the midwest with sa dal hou and no.
Samuel
March 7th, 2009
9:37 pm
Woody=COY
thom
March 7th, 2009
9:37 pm
NOBODY CARES!
Gilley
March 7th, 2009
9:40 pm
Once again Joe Johnson played bad but he got assists and his teammates played well. Only if 1 or 2 out of the players can play well enough on the road to give the Hawks a chance when JJ not playing good, which is often nowadays. Bibby played well but I wish he would play like this on the road. Josh Smith played well. WE need more of that even if he not scoring energy!! Horford was nice. Flip too. We need to carry this momentum to beat CP3 and them Monday. Let’s rise up baby!!!
terrell barron
March 7th, 2009
9:43 pm
Samuel, COY? Please! Are you serious? I’d give Nigue the broadcaster of the year 1st. Now that’s saying something. Just messin with you man. lol!!
niremetal
March 7th, 2009
9:43 pm
Watching Cavs-Heat on League Pass. Wade just pulled a JJ – dribbled around too much, and was forced into a bad spot. When you watch these guys every day, you realize that no star is flawless. LeBron and Wade are definitely in a class of their own, though, in terms of his explosiveness at getting to the rim.
And I think it was you, Ray, who said it awhile ago – I can’t stand the way Varejao plays, but I’d take him on the Hawks in a flash…
Oh, and the Cleveland play-by-play guy? REALLY annoying.
dbc in b'ham
March 7th, 2009
9:44 pm
balanced scoring, jj w/12 points, josh w/19, al , bibby , flip double digits. jj does not have to carry this team.
rms
March 7th, 2009
9:44 pm
Come on dont show up now with your ridicuolous COY banner! Stick wit ya boy even when they lose like they did yesterday.
ray
March 7th, 2009
9:45 pm
Once again, **Woody** didn’t hold the grudge. Nice gesture at the end of the game towards Smith. It certainly couldn’t hurt…
Okay,
Just so we don’t criticize JJ too hard (like we do Josh..):
JJ shot 4-12, including 1-5 from the arc. But so what. He was probably sick. Or tired. Or something, but it wasn’t his fault. At all. He had 3 turnovers. So what. He had twice as many assists. He was tired, and has to guard every position on the floor. He scored 12 points. So what. He won the whole game with that one free throw at the end. He’s unequivocally, unquestionably, undeniably THE MAN, head and shoulders above his teammates. A leader for leaders to follow. And he only dribble the ball for so long because his brain is a rolodex of thousands of perfect plays that he could execute if only his teammates were good enough to play with.
Getting back to the rest of the game…
Bibby’s shot was mostly on, and that’s ALWAYS good to see.
Marvin has the worst time against Tayshaun Prince sometimes. Tonight was one of those times. His performance was dismal. But he’ll be alright. As it is, he held his own with Prince on the other side of the floor, as Prince had a worse shooting night than Marvin did. Marvin has shown himself to be a solid defender this year, and for that I am really glad.
Horford looks like he has really, truly broken through. Another double double in fine fashion, with his passing skills on display. Where were those people who were saying “trade him, trade him, he’s not very good” at now? Clyde must be about ready to kill himself…hee hee.
Josh Smith? Bad shooting from the field, but a great job on the boards and from the line. Guess Mark Price gets to keep his job after all. For a little while, anyway. He also ended up with 4 blocks. Love that.
Josh combined with Horford and Williams to harrass Detroit’s starting front line into a 10-34 shooting performance, and battled them to a stalemate on the boards.
Flip is his usual lightning rod. Zaza continues to provide solid production at the same rate he always does.
Kirk,
Looks like you called it right, at least for this game. Our guys looked good.
kirkinga
March 7th, 2009
9:46 pm
ray, per your 7:51, I’m sure I don’t what you’re talking about.:)
But yes, I haven’t gone back and verified, but the Hawks have been horrible when they play 5 games in a 7 day period, especially when losing the first game. If you recall when Josh went down after the 6-0 start, it was a 5-in-7 that saw the Hawks struggle for the first time all season. I believe that pattern continued throughout the season. Perhaps someone will go back and give us the numbers, but I’m sure that we’ll see clusters of losses in those stretches. Luckily, there aren’t any remaining on the schedule.
Well order has been restored, at least for tonight. Much needed win for the team and hopefully a harbinger of better things to come.
As predicted, the Hawks and their nearest competitors were true to form tonight. The Hawks winning at home while the teams chasing them struggling on the road.
On to the Hornets.
Go Hawks!!
otrhawksfan
March 7th, 2009
9:47 pm
larry drew said the line up is set so all the solo for pt talk can stop for a while. He did say acie will play more. so we got 1 for 2 a guess thats not bad.
niremetal
March 7th, 2009
9:47 pm
Haha…right as I said that, Varejao flopped and didn’t get the call, which left Haslem wide open for a dunk.
And Beasley is the truth.
Gilley
March 7th, 2009
9:49 pm
dbc in b’ham
March 7th, 2009
9:44 pm
balanced scoring, jj w/12 points, josh w/19, al , bibby , flip double digits. jj does not have to carry this team.
Okay,
Just so we don’t criticize JJ too hard (like we do Josh..):
My point exactly!!!!!!!!!!! I am holding JJ responsible like other try to do Josh Smith. He has been playing bad for most of 2009 and he is our best player so he deserves the blame. I am glad we got the win but he played bad!!! 4-12 1-5 shooting threes. C’mon JJ. Do better
otrhawksfan
March 7th, 2009
9:50 pm
you dont like the cavs play by play man you talking tv or radio. I hate cornbread now he has a problem