Bring on the King!
The last time the Hawks saw King James (March 1 at Philips Arena) they came up short.
HAWKSVILLE - The last time the Hawks lost a home game it was at the hands of LeBron James.
The last time King James and his crew lost a home game was before the All-Star Break (Feb. 8 to the Lakers and the Cavs’ only home loss of the season).
The Hawks have won seven straight games.
The Cavs have won seven straight as well (and they are an outlandish 31-1 at home).
Something and somebody has to give Saturday at Quicken Loans Arena when the two teams square off in a rematch of a March 1 game at Philips Arena the King won 88-87 with a last second free throw.
It’s too bad the NCAA Tournament will keep most folks from tuning in to see the two hottest teams in the NBA and the Eastern Conference go at it.
Both teams are fighting for playoff position, the Hawks for home court in the first round and the Cavs for home court throughout the entire playoffs.
It’s a perfect storm for hoops lovers, particularly those that love to dive into the NBA’s version of March Madness. The brackets for the NBA’s tournament can’t be filled out just yet. There are too many variables still in play. But it’s clear right now that the Hawks won’t go into the final weeks on the playoff bubble.
If they did nothing else on this recent homestand, they stamped their ticket to the postseason.
In addition, they rebounded from a potentially devastating few days of internal turmoil between Mike Woodson and Josh Smith to show that winning truly does cure all.
Pounding out wins against teams like Detroit, New Orleans, Utah, Portland and Dallas (all likely playoff bound teams) sent a strong message to the rest of the league.
Not getting popped against Indiana and Sacramento, however, sent an even louder message to me. Because it proved that maybe now, I said maybe, the Hawks are free from the mental letdowns against lesser teams that has shadowed them the past two years.
“They’ve got this thing rolling right now man,” an advance scout for an Eastern Conference powerhouse said to me as the Dallas game ended and we were walking away from the court. “If you’ve got to come in here and deal with this team in the playoffs it’s going to be tough. Now I see what Boston had to deal with last year.”
Paul Pierce and the Celtics know just how tough it is to win at Philips Arena.
Since that playoff series with the Celtics, the Hawks are a jaw-dropping 30-7 on their home floor.
So it’s clear the Hawks are going to formidable on their home floor no matter the opponent.
The challenge now is to prove they can get it done away from home.
And that’s why Saturday’s game looms so large.
What team doesn’t want to join the Lakers as the only teams to go into the castle to defeat the King?
But if the Hawks are in the business of staring down their demons the way we think they are, winning a few more games on the road would certainly do the trick.
They’ve already surpassed last season’s road win total of 12 (they are 14-21). Inch closer to .500 on the road, though, and home court advantage and that magical 50-win season both come into clearer focus between now and April 15.
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318 comments Add your comment
JerryWest
March 20th, 2009
4:47 pm
Look at Bibby’s +/- in the 7 game homestand.
Team In min +/- out min +/-
Detroit In 36 +13 out 12 -9
NO In 31 +4 out 17 +6
Utah In 27 -4 out 21 +11
Indiana In 32 +4 out 16 +10
Portland In 39 +14 out 9 +4
Sacramento In 36 +3 out 12 +19
Dallas In 33 -7 out 15 +15
In the last 6 games we were much worse per minute with him in there.
TOTAL
In 234 minutes (+27)
out 102 minutes (+56)
Elijah
March 20th, 2009
4:50 pm
we all know what Woodson will do in 3 weeks or so when Duck returns… He will bench Mo, return him to 5 mpg, only use 3 bench players, and proceed to play a slightly-injured marvin williams 45 minutes a game until he gets injured again. Woodson will continue to prove his motto of “If it ain’t broke, fix it” and we will suffer.
BRING DUCK OFF THE BENCH**
Elijah
March 20th, 2009
4:50 pm
Marvin will have quite a few all star appearance? Must be in like 8 years when people like Jamison are gone…LOL. hes averaged around 14 ppg 4 years in a row. that’s not even 4 points a quarter
Mychelfromatl
March 20th, 2009
4:50 pm
WOW!!! Are my eyes fooling me?! Is ESPN starting to take notice of the Hawks. Did I just really read a healine about the Hawks that says:
“SECOND TO NONE: With help of key reserves the Hawks have owned the second quarter”
Hawks gettin love from ESPN!!?? Oh man, I’m suprised.
Heres the link: http://espn.go.com/nba/
Josh
March 20th, 2009
4:59 pm
Gilley, IT’S Friday/
DUANE FERELL
March 20th, 2009
4:59 pm
elijah, DO U EVEN WATCH THE GAMES, WHEN JJ WAS HURT MARVIN GOT THE TOUCHES AND RESPONDED, WHEN SMOOTH WAS HURT HE GOT THE TOUCHES AND HE DELIVERED, HELL HE GOT TO THE LINE LIKE 10 TIMES. THE OFFENSE GOES THROUGH JJ, WHO FINNALY JUST GOT IT GOING AND BIBBY. EVANS HAS NOT BEEN A FACTOR ALL YEAR, MARVIN IS NOT A BUST HE JUST PLAYS FOR THE WRONG TEAM AND THE WRONG COACH
Mychelfromatl
March 20th, 2009
5:06 pm
I think the Hawks can very well upset Cleveland tommorrow. Also, looks like SAMUEL isn’t the only one that thinks Woody should be Coach of the Year: http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/dailydime?page=dime-090320
CONZY
March 20th, 2009
5:06 pm
Hey Jerry West, great post about Bibby. I just have one question; Did you consider the fact that when Bibby is out the other team is playing their starters? I think our bench has been terrific in several second quarters……does that mean they are better than our starters? Think about it.
Mychelfromatl
March 20th, 2009
5:12 pm
He wasn’t the first coach to leave Philips Arena muttering about a rough second quarter. The past eight games have been the most prominent examples, but the trend has been evident all season. Murray (plus-4.4) leads the Hawks in plus-minus, while Pachulia (plus-3.6) is tied for second with Josh Smith. It’s not hard to see why: While other opponents see a big drop-off in play when the second unit checks in, Atlanta’s deficit is small by comparison.
It’s an amazing turnaround for a bench that looked to be a disaster zone when the season started. Josh Childress, the lone reliable reserve on the 2007-08 squad, bolted for Greece and seemingly left the cupboard bare. But Pachulia rebounded after suffering through a brutal 2007-08 season, and Murray has been a revelation as a late-summer pickup after being waived by Detroit last season.
-ESPN
Looks like Woody has no choice but to keep playing the bench, especially with everyone noticing how good they are becoming.
saystar1
March 20th, 2009
5:18 pm
“Hawks went +15 in the 15 minutes Bibby was sitting, and they went -7 in the 33 minutes Bibby played. Everyone in our defense had to work extra hard to partially cover Bibby’s defensive deficiencies.”
Woody has no clue and the sooner this team is rid of him the better. ASG should never let him speak to the media. I listened to an interview he did on 790thezone. When asked about Acie minutes he said “Well I mean again He’s a young player too. You guys gotta understand when I got a lot of these young guys early you had to play em–didn’t have a choice but to play em. Well I have a choice now you know I have Mike Bibby and I have Flip Murrary who are 2 veteran guys that have played for our basketball team and help us win. So therefore, Acie’s Law (laugh-hump); I mean Acie Law minutes basically have come in practice in terms of developing. Now when he’s put out in the game we expect him to play well and be ready to play. You know he hasn’t got the minutes he has expected or I expected coming into the the season but it’s not easy to play 3 point guards”
Now the above is some what revealing–he slipped and said “so therefore Acie’s Law” which he immediately laughed about and corrected gave the indication his not playing Acie so he better develop game skills in practice is Woody’s Law. I thought Flip Murrary was a 2 who was being played at the point, but Woody clearly sees him as a point. I don’t care how much we are winning now we are only going to as far as athleticism is going to take us because this team is not being coached up.
As far the the Biby +/- numbers I’ve notice this as well. Whenever Acie’s in the game he hardly ever switches staying primarily with the other’s team’s point. When he was in against Chris Paul, Chris had 3 TO’s in about a 2 minute span which the annoucers commented on. When Bibby’s man doesn’t have to be accounted the whole team plays better defense and stays a lot fresher.
TheAntiMe
March 20th, 2009
5:27 pm
I really hope that Marvin can make it back healthy for the playoffs. His play has been much improved this season and I’m afraid that he will be sorely missed in the playoffs when the Hawks will need all of their horses to compete with the likes of the Cavs and the Celtics.
If Marvin improves his game next year by anywhere near the same amount as he has this season and if the Hawks can find a true Center so that Big Al can move to what would seem to be a more natural position for him to Power Forward, then this time next year we may be talking about the Hawks 7 game road winning streak. I believe!
JerryWest
March 20th, 2009
5:44 pm
Conzy – I don’t have raw data about opponents. All I can say is that Deron/Paul and some others had a much harder time when flip/acie/mario were guarding them.
JerryWest
March 20th, 2009
5:49 pm
We need Marvin’s defense on Pierce/LeBron and all the other stud forwards. When we switch Marvin could hang with Garnett/Howard etc. Dirk has shown clearly that Mo’s size can be exploited very easily in our switching defensive scheme. If Dallas didn’t think that Dikembe would have blocked all their inside shots last night, we would have lost. This dallas team, despite missing several key players, played some good defense. Their stupid offense killed them.
RickNole
March 20th, 2009
6:11 pm
Just want to say GO HAWKS!!
I hope Marvin is able to come back, we will need him in the playoffs.
Time to dethrone the King!!
The Truth
March 20th, 2009
6:19 pm
Rod from College Park
I do admire your compassion for your position or point-of-view regarding the Marvin vs. Granger discussion. As I stated, it is fair game to offer random constructive criticism on any Hawks topic. However, a constant drum-beat is a different story. I think given the marathon of coverage, all points have been made 10 times over. For my two cents worth on the subject, comparing Granger to Marvin is little unfair since each player plays a different role for their respective team. It is an apple to orange comparison in my opinion. Granger has emerged to be the equivalent “Joe Johnson” for the Pacers. It is the Pacers game plan to run all their plays through Granger. He is their superstar. The Hawks don’t have that situation where as Marvin plays a different role. Compared to last year, Marvin has become very effective in a support role with his combination of rebounding, offense and defense. When asked to step up and become an offensive force, Marvin has shown a capacity to do that as well. I think we still don’t fully know Marvin full potential yet since his positive improvements are still a work in progress. He has made a big leap in his 3-point shot (for instance). No one knew he had that game last year. It might be more hidden inside Marvin than we yet don’t know about. Acquiring players in the NBA is like buying stock in the open stock market. You buy low and reap the benefits when that stock matures. Having said all of that, what happens off-season during contract talk with Marvin may have little to do with his contribution to the team as we have seen with other important players’ departure from their respective team. Look at what happen to Boston with the James Posey departure. It was a business decision. To speculate now about Marvin contract in the middle of a playoff run is nonsense and counter-productive in my opinion; but that’s just my two-cent worth.
fire man
March 20th, 2009
6:30 pm
Mr. Ferrell, your last comment, I think, hit it right on the head. This Hawks team is better off without Marvin in the starting lineup.
Maybe if he were on another team, he would play better and more consistently. Maybe, but I doubt it. But that’s all hypothetical. What we can do is look at the Hawks’ record without him.
It’s pretty good.
And I said earlier, I do blame Billy Knight for drafting him, and passing on Chris Paul and Deron Williams.
I also blame Woodson for playing Marv too much, and for not giving enough clock to guys like Acie and Mario, who bring energy and effort most nights when they get the minutes.
The NBA regular season is about energy and effort.
My beef with Marv is that far too often, you don’t get either from him, at the offensive or defensive end.
Again, he’s a nice kid, and he’s got great character, but an NBA team that sees itself in the top 4 in either conference should not have him starting.
MannyT
March 20th, 2009
6:41 pm
Would TheAntiMe be YOU? That’s a tricky handle.
I agree with YOU on most of your post. Marvin has been playing better, especially on defense. The Cavs game will be a major milestone, because Josh is likely the only other player that can guard LeBron as effectively.
For those others that say we don’t need Marvin at all, then you need to find someone to replace the things he does. He’s a good shooter, gets to the line a lot, and matches up well against P. Pierce and LeBron James. If you slide Josh to the 3, then someone in the front court will need to expand their shooting range.
MychelfromAtl, I saw the article and nice things about the Hawks, mostly in that backhanded, you’re not the Cavs, Celts, Lakers way of praise from Hollinger. Shame that the Cavs lost. They really needed this game. They blew it Instead of giving the Hawks some “doing it w/o Marvin” praise.
ESPN can be like that cool kid in school that refuses to admit that anyone can do things as well as someone in the cool crowd…even when the new kid (Hawks) do exactly what the cool kids did.
BWAF
Gilley
March 20th, 2009
6:59 pm
I think Marvin is more effective when the offense is surrounded around him but Joe Johnson is more effective when the pressure is off him but when he is the go to guy, he is hot and cold. Thus, he is not a superstar but a star player. Furthermore, Williams is still not worthy of a Number 2 pick but he doesn’t get the free reign like Joe Johnson does to prove he can avg 20 ppg a night which I feel he can. So he has to play the role the coach and team allows.
With that said, him being in the role of Jason Terry or Flip Murray will would benefit the Hawks more when he comes off of his injury in my opinion because he can score when he is in isolation and play off the block and let shooters like Mo, JJ, Thomas Gardner, etc get shots when he draws a double.
But him being a starter has been good too but he sometimes gets lost in the offense, so he has to do the intangibles like rebound and defend like he has been doing this season. But whatever Coach Woodson decides, we should stretch the rotations in the second for energy. Something about that second quarter!!!
Elijah
March 20th, 2009
7:06 pm
**we all know what Woodson will do in 3 weeks or so when Duck returns… He will bench Mo, return him to 5 mpg, only use 3 bench players, and proceed to play a slightly-injured marvin williams 45 minutes a game until he gets injured again. Woodson will continue to prove his motto of “If it ain’t broke, fix it” and we will suffer. BRING DUCK OFF THE BENCH**
rms
March 20th, 2009
7:18 pm
Win at home Lose on the road!!
Mychelfromatl
March 20th, 2009
8:03 pm
Damn…whats up with all the back problems. First AI, then Marvin, and now Acie. Sheessh!!
Mychelfromatl
March 20th, 2009
8:04 pm
^^^AI meaning Allen Iverson.
pinoy hawk
March 20th, 2009
8:18 pm
Those +/- stats are misleading. The hawks doesn’t need bibby to score like he used to when he was with the kings. What they need is the veteran experience and mental toughness that this guy has. bibby’s worth would be apparent when the playoffs comes!
ray
March 20th, 2009
8:28 pm
Clearly “fire man” and “Rod” are NOT the same person.
MannyT,
Very well put. As usual.
ray
March 20th, 2009
8:30 pm
MychelfromATl,
Back injuries happen from extensive time spent on the bench….
Najeh Davenpoop
March 20th, 2009
8:56 pm
I’m not holding my breath for the Hawks to win at Cleveland, possibly the only place in the league significantly harder to get a win than Philips Arena. But to me it doesn’t really matter. I’d just like to see them play the Cavs close and not get blown out. What’s important is that the Hawks, with a 4 game advantage in the standings with 13 games left, keep the 4th seed — with the way they are playing at home, a 4 seed is basically a punched ticket to the 2nd round of the playoffs.
Nate ArchiBALL
March 20th, 2009
9:19 pm
Great post ILL. If that post doesn’t make you think…………
mac12341
March 20th, 2009
9:34 pm
I am not going to attack any one person that is blogging, nor will I single out out any one player or Hawks coach. I think there is plenty of blame to go around. At times in the last part of January and most of January. Team and coaching staff seemed out of sync. Since Josh came back from injury he had some big games but was not consistent. He fell in love with the jump shot (which could be said for the whole team). His defense fell off as well
KevinA
March 20th, 2009
9:36 pm
The three guards that played for the hawks put up 45 shots. The entire Hawks front court attempted 23 shots and made 56% of them. When JJ drives he is very effictive. So why do JJ and Bibby continue to juck up jumpers when there is plenty of time on the clock? For the Hawks to win even 1/2 of the next 5 games will be dependant on feeding the ball to the front court. The only reason we got away all those misses with Dallas is Terry matched Bibbys poor shooting and JJ missed shots matched Dirks. Our front court won the game. If we want to keep winning we got to go low. Why is it so hard for Woody to connect the dots.
Najeh Davenpoop
March 20th, 2009
10:11 pm
“Reading “Sunshine” Shultz’s column this morning called to mind a trend that has been re-occuring over the last 5 years in the Atlanta media: Francouering young sports figures.”
This is in no way unique to Atlanta’s sports media. Schultz and his ilk are only following ESPN’s lead when it comes to this. The biggest flaw with sports media in general is that they are always looking for a narrative — it’s not enough for them to just report and break down what actually happens on the floor.
dmortone
March 20th, 2009
11:23 pm
Anyone get tired of seeing that nba commercial that shows JJ crossing Leon Powe in the playoffs last year? Cause I don’t.
Big Ump
March 20th, 2009
11:25 pm
The Truth
Nice article.
doc
March 21st, 2009
12:21 am
hmmm
from sekou ….Smith has played lights out since the Charlotte incident. He has averaged 17.3 points, 10 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.8 blocks as the Hawks reeled off seven straight home wins.
“These past few games,” Smith said, “if you notice, a lot of that hard stuff hasn’t been said, and you see the results. That’s all I ask for. I know you’re going to get on me when you need to, because I’ve still got a lot to learn and a lot of growing to do. But if you leave me alone a little bit … it’s just easier to do your job that way.”
i tell you they need each other to smooth out their rough edges. problem is for woody he needs josh more than josh needs him. kinda like we been saying here often. sekou seems to have forgotten the on and off relationship with acie in the mixture of players that woody has torn apart or down, some that were irreparable and quite damaging to the player.
JOSH = MVP!
whatever josh is just as much a winner as woody is and just as determined to deliver. woody coach let the players play and get out of their way like you do bibby, jj and flip. players will make mistakes just like you have done so many times as a rookie head coach.
Ed
March 21st, 2009
3:17 am
Just a comment on the Acie situation…there seems to be the misconception that he doesn’f fit Woody’s system. That is not the case…Woody just doesn’t like him, didn’t want to draft him, & every since Acie was forced on him it has been a very rocky relationship. Woody should be the grownup here and get over it & make use of Acie’s talent even inside his pitiful offensive scheme. As Ray pointed out, Woody took him out of the game after his man finally wound up scoring with no help from his teammates. Do you think JJ or any other significant player gets taken out for that?
Clyde
March 21st, 2009
4:14 am
The Hawks are the talk of the town. I’m glad to see this team put it together at the end end of the season. To me Flip has been the difference. e are still weak in the middle though.
cwm
March 21st, 2009
8:05 am
IS HAWKS GAME WITH CLEVELAND ON TV
hawks hawk
March 21st, 2009
8:27 am
Marvin aint the problem, its still the coach and having a shoot first and often point guard who doesn’t guard anybody. All the teams run pretty much the same offense against us since we switch so much on the picks with bibby in the game.he puts in no extra effort to fight to get around the pick or make an effort to switch back to his man. another reason why our bigs usually (J-Smoove) be at the 3pt line on defense ( out of rebound position) so much. I dont know if bibby really cares about defense, but me being a ball player i’d hate to see a 6-7 235 shooting guard have to cover my man every game. So thats where woody comes in, even though he has played the bench, he depends too much on bibby and doesnt chastise bout his defense and his hustle . Yes he gives us leadership but when he isnt hitting his jumpshot, leadership on the court leads to the other team scoring at will. If woody would jump into his stuff like he does Smith and Law, maybe just maybe bibby would step it up on defense. I agree let marvin play with the second unit, specially when u take bibby out and have acie in at least for a couple games to see how it goes. two scores coming off the bench would be good. woody dont fall back in the old WOODY routine. your job aint saved just yet,head coaches with 50 wins(maybe if we get there) have been fired that same season. with all that said everybody mostly have played good basketball. Josh haters are pretty quiet.
GO HAWKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Astro Joe
March 21st, 2009
8:37 am
Sekou, that was a pretty biased article about the Woody-Smith relationship. To end with Smith’s quote of “leave me alone” seems to suggest that Smith is the sympathetic figure. My oldest son came home with a poor progress report earlier this week and I have been riding him hard. He said last night “can’t I get a break?” While I don’t want to push so hard that he begins to hate his school work (and he clearly needs time to be a child) my first priority is get get him back on track and help him realize his potential. He has not demonstrated enough maturity to be given a break (yet). I’d suspect the same is true of Mr. Smith. Too many athletes don’t have someone willing to get in their face and demand better. We seem to only want the self-driven athlete. As I’ve stated before, I have no issue with how Woody has handled insubordination issues… I hate his game time decisions/substitution patterns (which are improving).
doc, Woody has 1 year left and Josh 4 years left on their respective contracts. So I agree, Woody needs Smith more. But Woody is probably a second round playoff appearance away from earning himself another coaching gig in this league (and leverage in a contract extension this summer).
Sekou K. Smith
March 21st, 2009
8:52 am
I shouldn’t be this fired up for a game not involving Michigan (I feel like we’re going to do something crazy against Oklahoma today, either win in a shocker or get run off the floor). But I am juiced for this afternoon’s Hawks-Cavs game. I’m just curious to see if the Hawks can muster the stuff needed to knock the Cavs off.
doc
March 21st, 2009
9:19 am
aj somehow i knew that remark would peeve you a bit. the kid is saying he is an adult now and growing into that. respect him as a man the way he does flip, jj, bibby, who make mistakes as well but arent his whipping boy. lord knows at least treat him the way he respected lorens and kept that popcorn machine around to build character. aj simple, he wants to be treated more like the man he is or is becoming than the child he was. that is what all father son relationships go through. it is about growth. woody needs to get over it and grow up too. maybe he is we will see or is he stuck being his mentor bobby knight.
as you state in speaking of woody, “I hate his game time decisions/substitution patterns (which are improving).”. it also sounds like a description of josh. that stuff you speak sometimes brings insurrection if he himself doesnt grow. it is what happens in all relationships of coaching unless you are a master like phil or pops. if you arent, you go out like larry brown did after three years with a team. relationship fatigue sets in when it is all negative.
at least josh is man enough to say it and step up and deliver after he says, “leave me the frick alone, i will deliver”. i laughed with the remark about josh being a sympathetic character. he is hardly saying that. you cant reflect negatively on that kind of stand up guy either. kind of reminds me of the greatest at just that mr. october, none other than reggie jackson. now that guy was a stud and he delivered and had to live with a maniac as a manager in billy martin. they butted heads more than a few times. sometimes coaches and managers bring it on themselves like martin did, still won championships which i hope woody can. martin was sure messed up. aj cant you at some point say, just because you are in charge doesnt mean you know what you are doing and sometimes need it be called on it? title doesnt bring entitlement. overall for the present they still need each other and woody needs josh and his abilities more than josh or really the team needs woody’s.
JOSH = MVP!
Elijah
March 21st, 2009
9:40 am
we all know what Woodson will do in 3 weeks or so when Duck returns… He will bench Mo, return him to 5 mpg, only use 3 bench players, and proceed to play a slightly-injured marvin williams 45 minutes a game until he gets injured again. Woodson will continue to prove his motto of “If it ain’t broke, fix it” and we will suffer.
BRING DUCK OFF THE BENCH**.
Elijah
March 21st, 2009
9:41 am
The key to winning today:
Al Horford pumping the guys up
John
March 21st, 2009
9:58 am
To all of the Marvin haters out there. Our depth is not good. We need Marvin to step up when Joe or Josh get hurt, like he has this season. Mo cannot step in and carry JJ’s load. Marvin can’t over a long stretch, but he can for a few games. I still say he should be our second option on offense. How many points do you want him to score? Not everyone can put up 17-18 points per game. I think our winning streak has much more to do with playing at home than it does Mo in the starting lineup over Marvin.
Astro Joe
March 21st, 2009
10:42 am
doc, what is Woody supposed to say, “I’m a bad coach now let’s enjoy our 48 win season”? What was he supposed to say at the time of the blow-up “you’re righ, Josh, you have been showing great effort and discipline and I should trust that these 10-12 games were my fault and you will make an immediate improvement”?
Here’s what we don’t get to see that Woody does. We don’t get to see who “handles their busiess like a man”. Who is organized, punctual, considerate, focused during film study, prepared, attentive during game planning, etc. All of that goes into forming the relationship between player and coach. Sorry, doc, can’t go there with you. I think if I’m going to give either the benefit of the doubt in the area of “trying to do what’s right for the team”, it will be Woody all day long.
happyhawk
March 21st, 2009
10:46 am
hey pinoy hawk add me in yahoo messenger smile4me_july86@yc…i’m also a filipino.:D
doc
March 21st, 2009
11:09 am
dont expect you to go there, only in your words maybe, a man delivers. bottom line, whether you say i am both, sir and set out to prove yourself or back the frick off and let me do my job then do it. josh is delivering. that is what he is saying, the same thing you did to your boss. did he really think you were both or did you? not. it didnt matter what you said only what you did. you both knew by your actions you would prove yourself. josh is the straw that stirs the drink, in the form of reggie not daryl.
they are both growing together. woody is a rookie coach in his first attempt at it. same age as josh on the job, isnt it? you have pointed out many times woody has his limits and is growing as well. good for them both is my point. they both need to rub off of each other to make the other better.
see what happens when woody forgets his lesson and see how listless the team gets as his sphincter tone gets tighter and he goes back to the destructive things he did in the past, or else he wont. we will see, just because he has the title coach doesnt entitle him either aj. it is a title only. tell me all your managers with the title deserved it and i will laugh.
JOSH = MVP!
Astro Joe
March 21st, 2009
11:19 am
doc, I was challeneged in my sales manager days. But I usually accepted the challenge more readily from someone with a history of proven performance (and demonstrated love for the team) as opposed to someone who at the time was pulling down the equivalent of 4 boards and shooting 35% from the free throw line. Should the source of the feedback matter? Maybe in the perfect world, no. But only a robot/computer or idiot not consider “the source” when dealing with disparate viewpoints.
Man, I’d love to debate the day with you doc (sincerely I would), but fatherhood calls. Taping the game to watch it later.
Go Hawks!
jhan
March 21st, 2009
11:39 am
doc – you forget that maybe the reason Josh has “stepped up” & “delivered” is directly related to Woody getting in his face.
Woody is basically the father to 15 guys every day. They all need to be coached differently. Some need very little guidance – others need continual guidance.
It just seems like too much of a coincidence that Josh always picks up his game & changes his attitued after these outbursts with coach. Why wasn’t Josh averaging 18 & 10 before this incident? He certainly was getting the same playing time.
I am a huge fan of Josh, not so much of Woody, but I believe the truth of this matter is somewhere between your stand & AJ’s.
doc
March 21st, 2009
12:04 pm
go be a father was that is the manly thing to do. i enjoyed it last night spending the whole day to see my daughter play her last home regular season soccer game as as senior and captain of the team. they start the playoffs next week and i will not be able to go because of work commitments. i know your love as a father and admire it.
btw, i hope you arent implying that josh doesnt do these things:
” is organized, punctual, considerate, focused during film study, prepared,
attentive during game planning, etc. ”
NEVER have we heard there was a problem with josh and his work ethic. it would be unfair to imply it in this manner as subtle as it might have been delivered. the problem is usually it was because of on court stuff. as the article said bibby can talk back and josh cant because of the way he says it ….that to me is bs my man bs. there is just as much insubordination as we can all see it only when it comes from bibby only woody excuses it in his mind as okay as he is coming from an “old pro” so he gets to get a pass. truth!
aj, some reason josh has always gotten under your skin about as much as woody used to. always wondered about that and what you are really seeing because it may not apply to josh at all.
KevinA
March 21st, 2009
12:32 pm
Marvin off the bench. – Marvin is a better player than Evans but like Evans he will defer his outside shots unless wide open. They are great team players. Marvin drives the ball better and plays better defense.
Bringing in Flip, Acie, ZaZa and Evans a litle earlier and having them play a few more minutes is the ticket. The bench has proven they can play at a high level. If the first unit is hot let-em play their normal minutes. But if the starters are not, lets defer to the bench. As we have seen over and over the starters get off to a slow start and the bench comes in to save a quarter or half. The upside bonus is the fresher legs for the starters.
The real debate might be is who will finish the games off. I don’t think we can take Flip off the court. Wether it’s Flip, Marvin or Evans, lets hope woody picks who’s hot.
ZaZa has earned a couple of extra minutes also. Depending on the match ups Al or Josh could use a couple of extra minutes rest.
1 1/2 hrs to tipp off!!!! Go Hawks.