April’s Fools
Mike Woodson, Joe Johnson and the Hawks are scrambling to finish with a bang.
HAWKSVILLE - If this is some sort of sick belated April Fools’ prank Hawks, it’s not funny.
Three straight losses, now?
I know, it was three straight to playoff bound teams playing at a much higher level than the Hawks could as presently constituted (despite all the chatter to the contrary a healthy Marvin Williams would help).
But not now.
Not with everything (namely the fourth spot and the home court advantage in the first round of the playoffs that come with it) on the line.
It’s one of the more deflating stretches I’ve seen out of these Hawks this season. And there have been others.
Check the standings, though, and you’ll realize that now is hardly the time to start a tailspin.
Not even a glorious late Sunday morning brunch with the fam and neighbors at Highland Bakery could erase the stain of what I’ve seen from these Hawks the past week.
After a big time effort against the Los Angeles Lakers in a home win last Sunday, they’ve basically fallen apart before our eyes.
They couldn’t keep pace with 76ers late Tuesday night in Philadelphia (a team and city the Hawks could see a whole lot more of in the coming weeks). They suffered a similar fate Friday night in Boston in yet another loss to the Celtics.
For a while it appeared that they would use their home court mojo to end their slide Saturday night against Orlando … then they suddenly went cold and suffered the exact same sort of power failure in the second half against the Magic.
It’s a nasty trend that should worry you. Because no playoff team should be suffering these sorts of lapses with the postseason just days away.
Naturally, the Hawks aren’t ready to call this a code red just yet.
“You can’t go into panic mode,” Josh Smith said. “You just have to bounce back and try to get these games on the road and win out the rest of the season.”
Sure, it sounds good in theory.
But panic mode might be exactly the place the Hawks need to go to find refuge or at least some answers.
Josh Smith insists now is not the time to panic!
They haven’t met the physical or mental challenge of their opponents in a week, which is a clear indictment of not only the performance on the floor but also of the preparation that goes into every game.
The Hawks’ history of struggles on the road make this week’s road tests in Toronto and Milwaukee, on Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively, even more critical.
I’m going to close with a little ditty from one of our regulars (you probably know him as RA) who sends me regular emails throughout every game.
He made some interesting points about what he sees as some alarming developments after the Magic game:
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353 comments Add your comment
Najeh Davenpoop
April 8th, 2009
10:24 pm
HUGE 3 by Bibby! Great extra pass by Josh too.
bigdave
April 8th, 2009
10:27 pm
Good Nite… part 2.
bigdave
April 8th, 2009
10:30 pm
brought to you by… your “front runner” (ha) Joe Johnson…
Big Ray
April 8th, 2009
10:35 pm
Nice clutch moves by Joe, but you can tell he’s sucking wind.
Well there’s win #45…I’ll take it!
Melvin
April 8th, 2009
10:37 pm
Hugh Win for the Hawks tonite… Let’s beat Indy on Friday and rest our main guys next week…. Go Hawks…
Melvin
April 8th, 2009
10:38 pm
Huge Win for the Hawks tonite… Let’s beat Indy on Friday and rest our main guys next week…. Go Hawks…
Najeh Davenpoop
April 8th, 2009
10:40 pm
The magic number is 1 now right? Heat have 4 games left and Hawks are 3.5 games up…
Melvin
April 8th, 2009
10:42 pm
Well, I predicted 45-50 wins before the season. Glad to see the Hawks prove me right…lol
doc
April 8th, 2009
10:45 pm
47 points out of 19 shots by our three bigs. that is huge and efficient. got to keep slamming it inside. way to deliver josh, al and zaza.
doc
April 8th, 2009
10:46 pm
yeah melvin, they have “officially” exceeded my expectations of 39 to 44 wins.
ILL-logical
April 8th, 2009
10:50 pm
While Wilkens and Rathbun break their arms patting Joe on the back for his clutch shots they have conveniently forgotten that it was Joe who stopped the momenteum with his consistent failure to move the ball and BONEHEADED turnovers.
And will someone please introduce Wilkens to the concept of verb subject agreement!
Samuel
April 8th, 2009
10:54 pm
I believe I told yall more than once that we would lock the 4 spot down and have a couple of games to rest our starters.
The good about this game: Josh looked a lot more comfortable at the line. Bibby seems to have his stroke back, just in time for the playoffs.
The Bad: JJ still reverts back to his old self. Tonight he hit some clutch shots but still not good shots. We’re still relying too much on the 3 ball.
Nique quote of the night:
Lamont Sessions “has woken” up.
Thank God for Mike Fratello and the telestrator, huh Doc or Nique would be on the streets.
Woody=COY
Ariose
April 8th, 2009
11:08 pm
The good thing is that Josh has found his stroke from earlier in the season from both the FT line and the feild. He’s hot at just the right time right b4 the playoffs.
Snowman, that was me with the whole “Snowman is an Idiot” routine. I’m sure everyone on the blog knows why I did it lol. No hard felings, but you were talkin’ bad about my boi slim sizzle. It had to be done hehehehe….
Ariose
April 8th, 2009
11:10 pm
I’m not going to say what my preseason win total was at this point for fear of jinxing myself…….let’s just say if we win out the rest of the way I’ll be right.
Macaroni Tony
April 8th, 2009
11:17 pm
i know that we don’t have a complete or solid team (bad coach), but if we didn’t have soo many injuries then I mark of 50 wins would have been made….
RLP
April 8th, 2009
11:33 pm
With Cleveland playing at Philadelphia and Miami playing at Boston and Indiana playing at Atlanta Friday night the chances are high that the Hawks will clinch fourth seed Friday night. They could even lose and the chances would be good that they would clinch given their competitors opponents.
I know it would be nice to get the starters a break after clinching. But it would also be great to close out the season with a five game winning streak which is entirely within the realm of the possible given their opponents in these last three games.
Najeh Davenpoop
April 8th, 2009
11:50 pm
I think I picked the Hawks to win like 42 games or something… whatever it was, I’m sure it was less than 45. So as much as I hate on Woody, he does deserve some credit.
If I’m not mistaken the Heat would have to win out and the Hawks would have to lose out for them to even finish tied, at which point it might go down to the 6th or 7th tiebreaker. The Sixers could win 4 of their next 5 with the Hawks losing out and beat out the Hawks for the 4 seed due to tiebreakers, but they play Cleveland twice and Boston once in the last 5 so that’s probably not happening. Looks like the #4 seed is pretty much in the bag.
kirkinga
April 9th, 2009
1:07 am
Great win for the Hawks tonight!
As predicted after having to face superior teams, the Hawks would regain their swagger against lesser opponents. The Hawks will not only secure the 4th position in the East, but have a bit of mo working going into playoff season.
Good job by the team..and coaches.
Go Hawks!!
Snowman
April 9th, 2009
2:02 am
Great win for the Hawks!!!!…Agreed Kirkinga about coaches and players tonight!…
O'brien
April 9th, 2009
8:53 am
Great job Hawks. Great job Woody. One thing the team has done a better job of recently, is coming out of half time and stepping their game up.
I think the Hawks will have the 4th seed locked up on Friday, so we definitely need to give the bench guys some burn the last few games. Hopefully Marvin will be able to play at least 2 regular season games to help him get ready for the playoffs.
Mike is back
April 9th, 2009
9:16 am
ILL, I saw it TOO,. How
can YOU dare call out JJ after the performance he put on last nite. CMON MAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Samuel, another good job by Woody. Ya…Ya…some
agrue they stumbled for a while at the end. But it was the time management of
Woody in the first half that allowed JJ and Bibby to have fresh legs when the
game was one the line. I like how he is starting to mix things up. Still too
many jumps shots when there is no shot blocker on the opponent’s team.
When the opponent’s team has no shot blocker…the first option got to be
the post.
JOE MADE SOME
hugeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee shots!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
GREAT WIN HAWKS, FINISH IT FRIDAY NITE!!!!!!!!!!
Astro Joe
April 9th, 2009
9:31 am
I predicted 42 wins and the 7th seed (comfortably). So they have exceeded my expectations. Thus, the reason I am enjoying the heck out of this season (just like I enjoyed the Falcons last year and hope to delight in what the Braves do… regardless of yesterday’s nightmare. Imagine if Woody had kept Joe on the bench while the opposing team went on a 15-0 run. That’s kind of what Cox did when he didn’t bring in Gonzo to put out the fire in the 7th inning).
Good news about Marvin, it sounds like he may be real close based on what happens at practice today. While I am not impressed with Evans as a SF, it seems like bringing Marvin off the bench (if he returns) would make the most sense… at least until he is ready to go full-charge for 30 minutes a game.
It would be great to wrap things up tomorrow against Indiana. I know how many bloggers around here are anxious to see the untapped oil fields we have in Morris, Gardner & Hunter.
ILL-logical
April 9th, 2009
9:40 am
The Re-EMERGENCE of Josh’s offensive CAPABILITIES raises some direct and subtle issues for the organization going forward.
Josh’s capability to contibute consistently to the offense in a number of ways is a condition long desired by most fans. The direct issue going forward is how to take advantage off it and develop it further? At age 24 , there is a great deal of upside for him. But where?
The organization(and Al’s agent) is clearly committed to Al at the 4 and the face of the franchise.Makes sense ,at least from a on court perspective: he is more physically fitted there.
So,where do you play Josh? And more importantly , are there other talents on this team that can be developed that would allow the team to keep the chemistry that the core group has established and obviate the need to spend money in a weak free agent market?
Consider this: what if the core guys all bought second homes in the nearly empty condo towers near Phillips arena and worked out to 1)add 10-15 lbs of muscle to Solo’s upper body; 2) have Mark Price work on Acie’s,Mario’s andd Josh’s shooting ;and , 3)develop Othello Hunter into the banger that the Hawk’s lack to counter act some of their general lack of heft in the half court playoff style favered by the Celtics,et al.
Maybe then Mr. Sund and Woodson could develop a relationship that would free Woodson(and the fans) from the tyranny his 7 man rotation.And the edict from Sund to develop the talent he has ,as well as design a system that takes advantage of said talent would be followed.Most of all, this would free all of us from the fear of Sund’s personnel moves based on his track record.And reduce costs.
A lot to consider but there is hope that somehow, someway these youngsters can get better and win more sooner than later.
doc
April 9th, 2009
10:07 am
Hey Sekou,
Planning on writing another blog anytime soon?
doc
April 9th, 2009
10:20 am
ding!
discerning folks know the real from the false.
Melvin
April 9th, 2009
10:29 am
ill-logical, where do you come up with this stuff… nevermind
doc
April 9th, 2009
10:34 am
though at my age i dont remember things that well, that series is still one that irks me as much as the d wade debacle a few years back to give that title to the heat. robbery. wasnt shaq the benefactor in both scenarios was just looking around the league. after comments made here detracting coach karl clearly someone on the real list for coy suggesting karl had lost the team and it was imploding; well they are now two games from 50 win elite category and won 8 of their last 10. anyone want to man up to their comments or have they mis-remembered oh yeah, how bout tiger! heeeee’s back! i can start watching golf again. everyone else is still a pretenda.though at my age i dont remember things that well, that series is still one that irks me as much as the d wade debacle a few years back to give that title to the heat. robbery. wasnt shaq the benefactor in both scenarios was just looking around the league. after comments made here detracting coach karl clearly someone on the real list for coy suggesting karl had lost the team and it was imploding; well they are now two games from 50 win elite category and won 8 of their last 10. anyone want to man up to their comments or have they mis-remembered oh yeah, how bout tiger! heeeee’s back! i can start watching golf again. everyone else is still a pretenda.though at my age i dont remember things that well, that series is still one that irks me as much as the d wade debacle a few years back to give that title to the heat. robbery. wasnt shaq the benefactor in both scenarios was just looking around the league. after comments made here detracting coach karl clearly someone on the real list for coy suggesting karl had lost the team and it was imploding; well they are now two games from 50 win elite category and won 8 of their last 10. anyone want to man up to their comments or have they mis-remembered oh yeah, how bout tiger! heeeee’s back! i can start watching golf again. everyone else is still a pretenda.
Shaunty
April 9th, 2009
10:46 am
Enter your comments here
ILL-logical
April 9th, 2009
11:07 am
On a more serious note, things are not going well in AJC land: 45 + heads must roll this week. Here’s hoping SS makes the cut and continues our chat board.
doc
April 9th, 2009
11:08 am
cowardice?
imitation, the best form of flattery.
here what was really said:
doc
March 29th, 2009
10:38 pm
kirk, though at my age i dont remember things that well, that series is still one that irks me as much as the d wade debacle a few years back to give that title to the heat. robbery. wasnt shaq the benefactor in both scenarios?
was just looking around the league. after comments made here detracting coach karl, clearly someone on the real list for coy, suggesting karl had lost the team and it was imploding; well they are now two games from 50 win elite category and won 8 of their last 10. anyone want to man up to their comments or have they mis-remembered?
oh yeah, how bout tiger! heeeee’s back! i can start watching golf again. everyone else is still a pretenda.
cowardly pretenda, not even close.
Magic
April 9th, 2009
11:23 am
What is the magic number of wins left to secure home court?
Ariose
April 9th, 2009
12:00 pm
Do you guys think that Joe can persuade Marion to come to Atlanta in a super 6th man role? I mean, they played four years together an they looked really friendly from what little I saw of the toronto game. I know Marion wouldn’t like a small role by going to Boston or something like that……but he also wants to be in a winning situation. We get out and run, and thats his style(he’s like the ultimate garbage guy…sorry zaza). I’d rather have him over childress, and Marion hasn’t lost any of his athleticisim at 31. Besides, at his age and with th ecenomy, there’s no way anyone will pay him above the MLE. I figure with us being 14mill under the cap over the summer, we could trade for Kaman and sign Marion befor using the Bird rights on Marvin…..that just leaves Bibby and Zaza though……this is going to be a very interesting summer.
Lacsho
April 9th, 2009
12:36 pm
Great win!!!
I was the first one to predict 50 wins. Everyone thought I was crazy, but after watching this season unfold, we should be at 50 wins right now.
Now I need to Meet up with Ando to collect my money. I think the bet was 50 big ones. So Ando get at me, Ray has my number.
Peace!!!!!
Novice Ned
April 9th, 2009
12:58 pm
Ariose, didn’t Marion want out of Phoenix because he didn’t like being the third banana? While he may have changed his mind and may appreciate being on a winning team, I kind of doubt that he is ready to take a substantial pay-cut AND become a modern-day Childress for the team. Speaking of which, wouldn’t we rather have Chill at a lower price than Marion (if we’re talking about a bench guy)? Also, there are a few ‘tweeners available in free agency this summer. Bass, Powe and Big Baby are all some type of FA. I think those guys would also be cheaper options to provide that high-energy board work off the bench.
Ariose, is Salim going to play this season or are the Bucks just giving him an audition before the summer? I was expecting to see him get a little run last night and was disappointed. What’s the deal? Is he healthy?
doc
April 9th, 2009
1:18 pm
lacsho, i think you were one of two that thought they would get 50. for a while it looked promising. doesnt matter if thy take care of business and make it to the second round and make some noise then.
novice salim is signed for the rest of this year and next. they thought enough of him to sign him and say dont play until next year. we want you here now that you have healed up the severe injuries but let us not risk problems now.
Ariose
April 9th, 2009
1:20 pm
Novice Ned, You’re probably right about Marion. I was just thinking of him because i’m looking for a homerun hitter this off-season. Someone who will take us to that next level. We’re alreadytherir with that second teir of contenders like Utah, New Orleas and Portland. I just hope that whoever we get puts us over the top. Hey Rasheed is a Free Agent This summer too…..it’s worth looking into.
Also, Salim is singed through next season. They are playing it safe with him. They want him to continue to rehab to make sure the injury doesn’t relapse. They figure with nothing to play for and less than five games left on the season, there was no reason to risk playing him. It also gives him time to go through training camp with the and get acclimated to Scott Skiles’ system.
Ariose
April 9th, 2009
1:24 pm
Doc beat me to the punch lol.
Blast
April 9th, 2009
1:49 pm
Even when the Hawks were down 9 at the break, I knew they would return to win the game last night. I knew because I realized Hawks had not stepped up their defence yet, and Milwaukee could not keep shooting such a high percentage. I wasn’t worried at all, just watched and enjoy the game. Even when the Bucks tied the game in the fourth, I still knew Hawks were going to win. Great back to back road wins. Now can they win the remaining 3 games left in the season?
Novice Ned
April 9th, 2009
1:54 pm
I saw a brief glimpse of Salim last night late in the game during a timeout. Looks like he has been hanging out with Childress’ barber. I just took a look at the games in the next few days. Both Philly & Miami have tough games in the next 2-3 days. This should be wrapped up before the game against the Heat. It has also been fun to watch the chaos in the West. I’m sick about Ginobli… I’ve always been a Spurs fan going back to Ice Man and the underrated Alvin Robertson. I’m picking the Jazz as my underdog team in that conference. As one might suspect, I like Jerry Sloan and his “my way or the highway” coaching style.
Astro Joe
April 9th, 2009
1:57 pm
Having split personality issues. I use Novice Ned on the Braves blog (since I’m a modest baseball fan and those guys over there are straight from the Iowa farm). Sorry to confuse anyone.
I am Ned and Ned is I… or something like that.
Astro Joe
April 9th, 2009
1:59 pm
One other thing… it’s good to see the Hawks win two road games with strong offensive performances. That’s a pleasant surprise. Not good that we gave up so many points against non-playoff teams, but good to see that we could win in a manner other than stopping a team from scoring 95 points.
RLP
April 9th, 2009
2:25 pm
Doc:
You wrote -”after comments made here detracting coach karl, clearly someone on the real list for coy, suggesting karl had lost the team and it was imploding; well they are now two games from 50 win elite category and won 8 of their last 10.”
I did not copy all of your quote but I want to disagree with what appears to be equating 50 wins as part of the “elite category”. I don’t mean to quibble and I think you may have misstated your position but I do not consider 50 wins to be a part of the “elite category”. To be considered elite I think a team needs to be near are at least very close to a 60 win season. This year there are 4 teams that I would consider to be in that category – LA, Cleveland, Boston and Orlando. After rereading your post I think you were really referring to the 50 win category as being the second level of success and that Denver is in that category.
I know there are bloggers here who get upset because some of do not consider the Hawks to be striving for that goal. Frankly, given the circumstances surrounding this team I think the only way our Hawks can get to that level is with a change in ownership. So I look to see at what level they can compete. I think it is at the 50-60 wind level if everything goes exactly right. Right now they are on the cusp of that level. there are seven other playoff bound teams in the Western Conference. who are either at or near that level. That is where Karl is.
After this season is over I think it will be fun to speculate on what the Hawks can do to reach that level. It will also be fun to see the pro and con of whether they will be able to maintain the growth they have achieved over the past five seasons. It will also be fun to look at the teams in the third tier and speculate on which teams are rising as well as to see what teams currently at that level who will fall out. And can any team at that second level reach the first level. Or will any of the teams at that highest level fall off that tier next year. I will go on record as predicting that the Celtics have run their course and are due to fall out unless changes are made over the summer. They do have ownership capable of making the needed changes.
Astro Joe
April 9th, 2009
2:58 pm
RLP, I agree with your prediction on the Celtics. But who potentially goes up is a crap shoot. We have 4 of our top 8 players due for new contracts. Philly could lose their veteran PG. It took an epic season for Miami to make it to this level. Maybe with a healthy JON (if that’s possible) and a better Beasley/Chalmers, Miami could be a few games better. Can a healthy Agent Zero get the Wizards back in the hunt? You’re right, it is fun to start the speculating. Sorry, that I jumped the gun. Still a few regular season games and a playoff to play.
Ken Strickland
April 9th, 2009
3:03 pm
GEEMACK-with an OFF system that better suites the talents of the players and team instead of the HC, with better decision making, better player and mins utilization, instead of overplaying a select few, maybe Woodson would be stuffing his roster full of Allstar’s rather than a doghouse full of young players begging to escape.
No other NBA team has KG, Pierce, Allen, Odom, Bryant or Gasol on their rosters. Look at how many HC’s that have been fired over the last 2yrs. Following your flawed logic, no HC should be held accountable and/or fired for their teams poor performances because they didn’t have RAllen, KGarnett, PPierce, KBryant, LOdom or PGasol or 5 former or current Allstars on their roster?
A HC’s accomplishments are judged by how they perform with the players on their roster, not how they might perform with the players on someone else’s roster. DOES THAT MAKE SENSE?
doc
April 9th, 2009
3:11 pm
RLP that is the terminology that our gm uses and i have adopted it as pretty acurrate. that is what he wants, year in and year out.that was what he and woody were shooting for when the season began and the mantra used occasionally by woody. it requires 30 wins at home and 20 wins on the road. that is his formula for the elite class of the nba. quibble with him if you want. heh heh
i guess you are saying then that within the elite there are tiers and i agree. from the top tier you find the champion, again i agree. in order to get into the top tier one has to start by being in the elite. ultimately for the playoffs it is about having more home games than road games. going back to decide the winner that is one of the most important criteria.
look i am proud as the dickens of this team, elite or not i really like them and hope the best for them. for the most part it has been fun to go to every game i have attended this year. since i have already purchased playoff tix and season tix for next year i hope this run continues and we see a team in the elite category competing for the top tier next year. for the short term i would like to see one more regular season win and six more wins in the playoffs to grow on. no one could quibble with that being a huge success.
Astro Joe
April 9th, 2009
5:10 pm
Ken, to your 3:03 post, what is the time-honored way to judge a head coach’s performance with the players on their roster? Is it actual wins or shoulda/coulda wins? Is it actual accomplishments or shoulda/woulda accomplishments? Is it demonstrated improvement in wins/playoff status, etc or is it shoulda/coulda? I agree with your earlier post, Woody should be evaluated based on the 15 players on his 08-09 roster and not who wasn’t available to coach. Likewise, he should be evaluated on his 40-something wins and not that “potential” for a bigger number.
jc_dawgs
April 9th, 2009
5:15 pm
Hawks have a done a great job overall. Looks like they will clinch the 4th seed with a couple games still left.
I pray that Johnson and Bibby play reduced minutes in the final reg season games once they clinche the 4th seed. It has to be a no-brainer for Woodson.
Big Ump
April 9th, 2009
5:50 pm
Ken Strickland
Give it a rest man.. We all know what your post is about when we see your name pop up.
Shaunty
April 9th, 2009
5:55 pm
Gotta be careful if we clinch #4 seed that Woodson doesn’t rest starters too much. We all want to see it, but there’s no point in playing Gardner / Morris for 30 min because they’ll hardly in the playoffs.
So Woody can decrease the mpg, but make sure that the starters and rotation players get mins. Maybe give Joe and Bib a day off
Sekou Smith
April 9th, 2009
7:28 pm
New blog up!!!!!! Hot news and stuff sprinkled throughout.