Show Flip the Money
Rod Tidwell and Hawks sixth man Flip Murray both rolled the dice and won.HAWKSVILLE - Flip Murray's made his case.
HAWKSVILLE -Flip Murray’s already made his case.
The Hawks aren’t yet done with this regular season or even the playoffs.
But one thing has become clear, the Hawks’ sixth man of the present needs to remain their sixth man for the future.
Flip MurrayMurray is the Rod Tidwell of this Hawks' season and they'll have to show him the "Quan" this summer.
Someone just jokingly asked me if I was Murray’s agent for writing something like this. Of course, I’m not. But if I were, this would be one client I wouldn’t be worried about heading into the summer.
Some team will show Murray the “Quan” this summer. And the Hawks need to be that team.
After all, Murray’s performance this year isn’t that of some mercenary on his latest job. I asked him after his season-high 30-point night against Minnesota Monday if he was upset about coming out before he could get one more bucket and set a new career high.
He gave me an are-you-serious look I wish I could have frozen and shown to you.
“I don’t care about nothing like that,” Murray said. “That wasn’t about me showboating or trying to get stats. We were trying to win that game and take care of our business. That’s all.”
Murray’s affinity for this team and for Atlanta has been obvious from the start. He was on his way to Russia before the Hawks had to scramble for replacements when Josh Childress bolted for Greece (they got Murray and valuable veteran pick up Mo Evans).
Murray’s history with Hawks GM Rick Sund (in Seattle, which isn’t nearly as colorful as his rise from Philly playground legend to NBA regular ) no doubt played a role in his choosing to remain stateside and play on a one-year deal (at a bargain basement price of $1.5 million). But give Murray credit for making the most of the opportunity.
And as for this summer, when suitors will be lining up to inquire about his services for the future, the Hawks will have one major chip on their side (not that these things are always valid once negotiating time begins).
There weren’t 29 other teams calling him and asking him to delay his departure for Russia.
There was only one.
HAWKS AND SPURS GO AT IT LIVE HERE IN JUST MINUTES
No Tim Duncan for the Spurs as the Hawks try and extend their home winning-streak to nine games and clinch a playoff berth on the same night against the four-time champs.
Duncan is sitting out the second night of a back-to-back for the second time this season, per my Spurs counterpart Mike Monroe. Something about resting the big fella to make sure he’s feeling just right come playoff time.
What a novel approach!
Game time.
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262 comments Add your comment
bigdave
March 25th, 2009
9:19 pm
BS!!!!!!!
a job on us all night!!! i cant believe the NBA!!! we are at home dammiit who cares if its the spurs….!!!
Fred
March 25th, 2009
9:19 pm
Najeh, I am sorry, but if you cannot beat a team featuring Bonner, Kurt Thomas, #5 (whom I have never heard of) and Roger mason coming off a late night back-to-back thriller, then you have serious problems.
It was so obvious that the hawks felt like that tonight to. Usually Woodson saves his bed-wetting “we did not have enough energy” games for on the road, but he brought a full dose of it tonight.
The Spurs are a mediocre to bad team without Duncan and Ginobli, and tonight is an absolute embarrassment for the hawks.
rick
March 25th, 2009
9:20 pm
Is it just me or does anyone else see Flip floating open around the three point line and JJ now wants to imitate an aggressive player.
ValdostaMike
March 25th, 2009
9:21 pm
Fred, we had a bad night against a good team. That’s why they play 82.
ValdostaMike
March 25th, 2009
9:22 pm
“He went by Bibby like he was standing still. And Josh misses a three”
From bad to worse
Melvin
March 25th, 2009
9:23 pm
Bring on the Celtics…
A-TownDown
March 25th, 2009
9:23 pm
See this is where woody woodpecker will say gosh golly gee we sure miss acie law tonight. But he wont play him on other nights. Well why do we need him. Oh yeah because bibby cant defend other guards and like bigdave said he is guarding the other teams power forward or something stupid like that and they get an easy two points. Is this who we are paying some fourteen million dollars for I ask you. man please where is jarret jack or somebody. woody woodpecker still wont play mario because bibby hit one luck three point. man this is so crazy and there goes the game with parker gettin another layup. that dominique wilkins says we have to take a hat off to the spurs for winning the game with no tim duncan. Duh that is what good teams do not lose to teams when their best player is out. I like the hawks but philly is going to catch them and the heat both. see yall later
MAC-TOWN
March 25th, 2009
9:24 pm
Big Board by “J-Smoove” with 1 sec left. Thats what he gets paid the big bucks for.
Mark
March 25th, 2009
9:25 pm
We can beat the good teams, but not the elite ones. Joe ISO, Joe ISO, Joe ISO. What great coaching!
welikebaseball2
March 25th, 2009
9:25 pm
Wow. No answer for Parker all night. Hate to reek of coach bashing, but good coaches make adjustments. It’s not like Parker was scoring from a variety of sets. It was the pick & roll all night! I don’t know if Woodson ran ONE double team at him the whole game! Wow…
Mark
March 25th, 2009
9:27 pm
We need to trade Marvin and Josh for Chris Bosh immediately. Joe needs some help on a consistent basis. Let BIBBY GOOOOOOO! He sucks defensively.
bigdave
March 25th, 2009
9:27 pm
Rick,
Joe was taking high% shots and making them…
Mark
March 25th, 2009
9:28 pm
Valdosta Mike, we have bad nights against most of the great teams. Why, because we are nothing more than mediocre.
A-TownDown
March 25th, 2009
9:28 pm
Fourty two points AND ten asissts you will never see that from a hawks point guard thanks to bibby and woody woodpecker. Too bad because joe johnson and flip murray played really good. Now where is that stupid rod guy who keeps saying that we dont need no marvin williams sure could have used him this time around, huh?
bigdave
March 25th, 2009
9:29 pm
i swear, Acie Law can be the same type player…
Mark
March 25th, 2009
9:29 pm
Melvin, Did you say bring on the Celtics? Why?
bigdave
March 25th, 2009
9:29 pm
if he had a coach that believed in him… Pop built Tony up…
Fred
March 25th, 2009
9:30 pm
Mark, we did not lose to an elite team tonight. We lost to a mediocre team who has a vastly better coach than we do.
If any other team in the league featured a starting lineup of matt Bonner, Roger mason, Tony parker, and whoever the other two are, they would not go .500.
This was a terrible, terrible loss, and it could well be 3 in a row by Sunday afternoon, and the 4 seed will be slipping away.
ValdostaMike
March 25th, 2009
9:30 pm
From Mark: “We can beat the good teams, but not the elite ones. Joe ISO, Joe ISO, Joe ISO. What great coaching!”
hard to disagree
kirkinga
March 25th, 2009
9:31 pm
Tough loss tonight. The Hawks really could’ve used Marvin tonight.
No time to sulk, they have another tough opponent ahead and have to let this one go.The heat loss so it could have been worse.
Go Hawks!!
bigdave
March 25th, 2009
9:31 pm
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO…. snnnnnnnnapppp…
a Kevin Willis sighting…!! and his arms still havent grown…
Mark
March 25th, 2009
9:31 pm
I don’t know A-TownDown, even with Marvin we would have lost. We are just an OK team that glad to make the playoffs and hopes to GET (Yeah you heard me GET) to the second round.
Mark
March 25th, 2009
9:35 pm
Fred, they still had Parker and Ginobli. With those two, they are just as good as we are.
Astro Joe
March 25th, 2009
9:36 pm
So I stayed for the first half and watched Smith act like he was taking a Sunday stroll as he seemed determined to play like Smooth and not Smash. And the result was a stat line that looked like he was playing SG and not PF. Popovich decided to hack Smith everytime he got the ball down low and watched him miss free throws. I wonder if we’ll see that again?
Woody needs to learn the expression “situational substituions” or more specifically, “situational activation”. Unless the ASG has mandated that he not play Speedy this season, how does he NOT activate the one and only player on the team capable of guarding the opposing team’s best offensive weapon? The result was that either Joe or Flip had to guard Parker in the tight 4th quarter (at least tight at the beginning) which kept them from having energy to perform on the other side of the court. Bibby has yet to have a big game against an elite PG… maybe because he ends up checking a non-PG in those situations and expends too much energy chasing guys beyond the free throw line. Or maybe he just wilts against superior competition. Whatever, dude needs to find a way to excel against above average PGs.
One more criticism… Joe has this “hero complex” that kills this team too often. Team fights back to tie the game and Joe decides that he alone will make the shot to give them a lead. So he comes down, refuses to pass the freakin’ ball, takes a contested shot, misses and we lose our ability to maintain momentum. I’ve seen him do it for 304 years, He’s a tremendous player but often, he’s not the catalyst for our comebacks. It’s amazing the number of possessions this team has when Joe is the only one who touches the ball. And against a team like the Spurs (who are experts at team-ball) it really sticks out. Joe can’t beat these teams by himself and when he tries he really hurts his team.
Smith played real soft, Joe played selfishly, Bibby came up short and Woody never considered using his one option who could slow down the oppsoing team’s best weapon (again, unless ownership has his hands tied, how do you expect some combo of Joe, Bibby and Mario to guard that Frenchman?) and the Hawks looked like pretenders for most of the night. But alas, that’s probably who we are. Pretenders.
Mark
March 25th, 2009
9:37 pm
I am a big Josh Critic, but he has been doing well lately and was due for a night like this. He still has to improve his ft shooting and so does the REST OF THE TEAM. That is gonna hurt us in the playoffs.
Big Ray
March 25th, 2009
9:38 pm
Okay, so we could have used Marvin tonight. Not! What was he going to do, guard Tony Parker? The problem was once again Mike Bibby. Woodson says he tried to use a double team on Parker but I did not see one. Woodson sure has a lot of excuses. But Marvin was not going to help one bit. Get off his jock already.
Fred
March 25th, 2009
9:39 pm
Ummm, Ginobli barely got a sweat going. Look at who played the minutes for San Antonio. That was a garbage team they had out there besides Parker.
Mark
March 25th, 2009
9:41 pm
Astro Joe, you said it. We are nothing more than PRETENDERS! We won’t be CONTENDERS, until a
major move takes place. The great teams have to 20 point scorers or at least two scorers that people respect. Lakers (Kobe, Gasol) Celtics(Pierce, Garnett, and this year Allen), Magic(Howard, Lewis) or even Cleveland (James, Williams)
ValdostaMike
March 25th, 2009
9:42 pm
Woody “woodpecker” just cooks the meals, he doesn’t buy the groceries.
It was tough to watch. Worst thing was they kept the crowd out of the game all night (maybe not at the end of the 2nd and 3rd) but it was a LARGER crowd than normal but QUIETER.
I agree Bibby is not the future. But right now I do think he is our best option. I do wish we would play more players. Mario needs more 2nd half minutes. I never really appreciated Marvin until we didn’t have him. I sure do miss Childress.
niremetal
March 25th, 2009
9:44 pm
I love the Spurs…they were my adoptive team throughout the Hawks’ dark years. So I won’t take anything away from Pop’s team, but this definitely was a winnable game for the Hawks.
In fairness, Bibby actually had a few good defensive sequences against Parker. Once, Parker started a drive, and Bibby totally cut him off and forced him to give up the ball. Another time, he funneled Bibby right into J-Smash, again forcing Parker to give it up. The problem is consistency. He takes entire plays totally off, or makes a half-hearted attempt at a steal, allowing his man to blow by him. Or he funnels the player in the general direction of the lane, but not towards a specific defender to effectuate a double-team. Frustrating.
JJ shot well and tried to take over in the fourth, but he still had a couple plays where he dribbled around and held the ball for too long.
We tried to run the offense through the frontcourt a couple times, but Horford and Smoove were just ice cold. More importantly, the Spurs are so good with their defensive rotations that they never leave a dangerous shooter totally open when they double down – which means that going inside never actually opens up the floor. That’s why they’re an elite defensive team even when Duncan and Bowen don’t see the floor.
I’ll bet anyone here $5 that the Spurs will win the NBA title this year. I know the Lakers seem unbeatable now. But with Duncan fresh, Manu healthy, Parker being Parker, and Gooden getting their backs, I honestly think that they can take the Lakers out.
niremetal
March 25th, 2009
9:45 pm
*Bibby funneled Parker. Whoops.
Mark
March 25th, 2009
9:45 pm
Ray you can say it again. Bibby is a LIABILITY! The good teams with any type of scouting will expose
us on that all night. Our pick n roll defense is shaky with Bibby because everybody has to give him help.
This may sound dumb, but why can’t we start Flip instead of Bibby or if we have to play Bibby, why not Flip at SG, and Joe at the SF. We may get off to better starts every night.
Big Ray
March 25th, 2009
9:46 pm
…..getting past the sarcasm, and trying to beat the usual multiple personality haters to the punch…
I sure wouldn’t have minded having Marvin in the least bit. Hello….that’s more scoring. Joe needed more help than just Flip Murray. Where was he getting it? Everybody else was missing. That’s right: EVERYBODY. The Spurs were fouling Josh Smith like crazy when he was going to the basket. He went 6-11 from the line. What do you think Marvin would have done?
Funny how Acie wasn’t available for this game. Poetic justice if you ask me….You never miss them until they’re gone. Like Chill, Marvin, etc…
Well, I have to agree with Astro Josh-basher. We weren’t playing, we were pretending. I’m not disgusted with the team. I continue to be disgusted with the coach, who will face harder challenges in the playoffs. I continue to be disgusted with his love affair with Bibby, who has less defense than a Pac-Man Jones court case.
But I love this team. I have to agree with A-Town Down as well. Watch out for the 76ers, especially since Miami seems to be determined to lose when we lose. We could end up being matched up with those guys. Oh joy.
ValdostaMike
March 25th, 2009
9:47 pm
Astro Joe, why wasn’t Mario an option to defend Parker. He played him tighter than anyone else.
TheHawksFan
March 25th, 2009
9:47 pm
There was an answer for Parker. He was on our Bench. He added Parker to his list of rips. But Mr. West didnt sniff the floor in the 2nd half. Can we take the sandbags off pleaseeeeee!! Damnnn. There is NO excuse to NOT play this guy. If Bibby didnt get bruised up, he proabably would have not played at all and we would have lost by 20. Bibby is falling off fast. Teams are tight on him and he doesnt have the speed or strength to get spacing for his shot. We plain just gave this one away. This could be our PLAYOFF team AS IS right now. Who knows if Marvin or Acie will come back to form this year. But if we are gonna play 6 guys on D and 7 on offense just piss the rest of the season away right now. Tightened UP WOODY!!!!!! Beat Beantownnnnnn… Goooo HAWKS!!!
Mark
March 25th, 2009
9:47 pm
Niremetal, Bibby isn’t our best option. We need to start Flip and bring Bibby off the bench, but Woodson doesn’t have the Balls to do that.
Reggie
March 25th, 2009
9:48 pm
Mark: I believe we were doing iso Joe iso Joe because that was working. I’m not sure why you’re going to point out Joe when he is the only reason we were scoring in the 4th quarter. He is absolutely amazing in the lane and just toying with people. He maybe could also be a threat outside if some people could get penetration other than him and kick it out. /the reason we were doing that was not Woody, it was just plain Joe knowing he was the only one who could score and took maters in his own hands. Horford has no true offensive game and can only score when other people find him. Josh Smith amazes me to this day with some of the things he does. He still shoots outside shots and tries to have a savvy post game when he doesn’t. I don’t understand why he can’t develop and offensive game with all the years he has had a chance. Bibby looked like a 50 year old man tonight with how slow he was moving. Flip still thought he was shooting like he was the other night and shot about 6 bricks in the second half. The only guys I was satisfied with was Zaza and JJ. JJ really had some energy tonight but too bad nobody else cared (including Woody).
Fred: We won’t lose the 4th spot or 5th. The bigger problem is knowing we can hang with a team that has a good point guard, which would be 2nd round vs. the Cavs. We’ve seen what Mo has done to us and he isn’t even one of the top PG’s. If Woody doesn’t play Law or West in that series if we get there then his job should be taken away. I’m pretty sure that Mario could have contained Tony to under 40 if he was on him.
Mark
March 25th, 2009
9:51 pm
What must we do to be able to win it all! This team will never win it all, they’ll just be what they are. A possible 50 win team that loses in the 2nd round every year.
J.J.M.
March 25th, 2009
9:54 pm
i agree we should start flip but this game wasnt josh fault as people may think. this was just bad coaching. Tony Parker made majority of his shots because the hawks kept switching, horford and zaza kept playing off giving parker a open jump shot. but its also funny how these fans in here cry and say josh or the hawks suck but when they won 7 in a row fans were all on their banwagon. i mean come on they will be ok acie playin pretty well. just let them fight it off and hopefully they get the 4th seed.
SWAT Native
March 25th, 2009
9:54 pm
REUP FLIP, PLEASE! What I never understand about teams playing Tony Parker (Antoine as I call him) is they let him sail to the basket rather than putting him on his back and making him pick himself and make free throws. The Lakers had success with this in the playoffs a few years ago. Hammer him whem he goes to the hole and let’s see how bad he wants it!
Mark
March 25th, 2009
9:54 pm
Here you go again Reggie, trying to be the best HOMER you can be. I believe there was a man named Flip Murray who was having a good night. I guess Flip doesn’t get penetration in to the lane, probably just as good as Joe. Parker scored 42, but he had other guys that contributed in that 4th quarter. So Reggie spare me that delusional homer crap!!
darryl allen
March 25th, 2009
9:55 pm
the hawks should have put parker on his ass. it was a joke how he drove the lane and nobody gave a hard foul. they better get in playoff mode or they wont make it out of the first round.
falcon21
March 25th, 2009
9:57 pm
If this team only had a fair coach they would have won 50 games already. Mark says no balls, I say no brains.
Mark
March 25th, 2009
9:57 pm
SWAT Native, I agree. We should be a little more tougher. Horford and Josh are tough, but they need a little bit of that ANTHONY MASON and CHARLES OAKLEY mentality. Josh was getting pushed around and knocked down all night. He or Horford should have done the same to Parker.
Mark
March 25th, 2009
10:00 pm
falcon21, I agree no brains.
Darrell Allen, you are also right. This team has to beat people up when they go to the lane, even if it means taking a flagrant foul. Heck put Randolph Morris or Solo ( who should be playing more) in to do that.
Mark
March 25th, 2009
10:02 pm
Woody doesn’t have balls or brains, he has OVARIES!!!! Don’t LOL!! I am serious!!
hawkfan
March 25th, 2009
10:02 pm
CELEBRATION TIME COME ON! THE HAWKS ARE IN THE PLAYOFFS! but we still lost, oh well the heat lost too, so it’s all good
Patrick
March 25th, 2009
10:04 pm
People tend to over-react after bad loses. Couple of things.
1) This loss was bad. But this was one regular season loss.
2) Parker made Bibby look foolish. Fortunately, Mario Chalmers is not Tony Parker.
3) Josh played like crap. Plenty of Hawks played poorly tonight. Just because he is more frustrating to watch when he is playing poorly doesn’t mean that this a better team without Josh or any nonsense like that.
4) Woodson is a bad head coach. That this would be pronounced against the league’s best coach should not be a surprise.
So, yeah. Bad loss to a good team. Fortunately, this team has evolved to the point where it can have bad losses to good teams. Brush it off and move on.
-Patrick
SWAT Native
March 25th, 2009
10:05 pm
Pat Riley would fine every player on the floor for all the layups they gave ‘Toine tonight. Oh well, bring on the C’s – I know I’ll be there!
Mark
March 25th, 2009
10:05 pm
Hawkfan, I would be happy, but I know what is gonna happen when they get in their. You see right now they are fighting for this SO CALLED HOME COURT ADVANTAGE, but when they get into the playoffs they will probably lose GAME 1 or 2 and screw that up as well. All we are gonna do is JOE ISO, JOE ISO, BIBBY THREE and maybe FLIP and MORE MISSED FTs.