Comments on: Paying the price for a big win

By: drmaryb

drmaryb — Fri, 01 May 2009 02:09:32 +0000

Big Ray,
Yup! you thought you saw a “Putty-Cat?” You DiD…You DiD! You DiD see a “Purty-Cat!”
Hawks-Win! Yeah! One-to-Go!

By: FreddieBrown

FreddieBrown — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 18:48:18 +0000

I really appreciate the play of two Hawks having big games the last two contests with the Heat. Zsa Zsa Pachulia (12 points and 18 boards Saturday) and Flip Murray (23 points on Monday). Had the hawks not gotten steller performances from these two Hawks, their season might have been on the brink of elimination or may have ended by now. That shows that the Hawks are truly a team now becase double JJ (Joe Johnson) doesnt have to carry the load every night anymore. This is what makes the Hawks a championship caliber contender and has been the hallmark of the Hawks all season long. This Hawks season was plagued by an array of injuries where key Hawks (starting players Al Horford, Marvin Williams, Joe Johnson and Josh Smith) ALL MISSED SIGNFICANT AMOUNTS OF TIME and their seasons were all beseiged by frequent injuries. Through it all the Hawks still reached their goal of getting the fourth seed and came to within 3 games of reaching another goal of 50 wins by finishing with 47 wins (a great accomplishment). Now the Hawks can shock the world by winning a championship in June. First the Hawks have to beat the Heat on Friday or Sunday, then take on King James and the Cleveland Caviliers. The Hawks are capable of getting past Cleveland and possibly Orlando (winning the conference finals and representing the East in the finals). The Hawks are capable of accomplishing that this year. Should the Hawks make it to the finals, they are capable of beating the Lakers or the Denver Nuggets whomever happens to make it that far. You have seen the Hawks grow up right in front of your eyes and have now metamorphasized from being a doormat to an elite team in a quick transformation. THE HAWKS ARE FOR REAL! Go Hawks!

By: KingCobra

KingCobra — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 18:06:38 +0000

I kept saying repeatedly on my BLOGS that Flip Murray should be getting more playing time because he is a great shooter and he attacks the rim by driving to the basket. This will result from him either feeding an open teammate or finishing at the rim. Flip is one of the few players on the Hawks who doesnt just stand around and wait for the ball. Flip makes things happen and is constantly flipping the switch on opponents all the time! Flip was a tremendous acquisition this year and the Hawks should utilize him much more than they have. The Hawks can correct this problem permanently by taking Marvin Williams out of the starting lineup. I know that if Marvin sits on the bench most observers would say that he is now Starvin Marvin, but it is better for the Hawks and in the long run it will make them a better team. Flip Murray should be a permanent fixture in the starting lineup and I think the Hawks would be an upper echelon elite team if they did that. I also believe that Al Horford and Josh Smith should be more active by driving to the basket more and attacking the rims more frequently. They are both athletic monsters and would cause havoc on opposing teams if they broke lose toward the basket all the time. Trust me, no one could stop either guy because they are both extremely, explosive athletic athletes. And last but not very least, Joe Johnson should go back to being Joe Johnson, the person who he is (one of the top 5 players to ever play in the NBA). This is who Joe Johnson is and he should get a little selfish by attempting to gun for 30 points every night. He may not make it to 30 every night but I guarantee you that his scoring will increase exponentially and he will end up in the top 5 in scoring. The other guys will get their points if Joe is hungrier for points and his teammates have matured to the fact that they are all now explosive players and should all gun for their points each and every night. Joe is capable of leading the NBA in scoring and should do what will give the Hawks more scoring punch.

By: doc

doc — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 14:53:56 +0000

ken sing another verse of the same song. singing to the choir bro. solo was a man and yes rio made wade earn every point instead of simply spotting up after going through a screen. solo said dont come here to do your business either or you get fouled, not that hard but fouled with no chance at the and one. shame magliore cant play more than the goon anymore as he couldnt see the difference.wade on the other hand gives a dirty foul after a technical and ends up still playing.

By: Astro Joe

Astro Joe — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 14:43:25 +0000

Ken, the bench utilization comments are fair during the regular season but I think they are simply off target in the playoffs. Every coach shortens their playing rotation in the playoffs. Every possession counts in most series. You simply can’t trust the 9-12 players on the bench to be as efficient and productive as the first 8 players. This is the NBA playoffs, not YMCA youth basketball. If Evans, Bibby, Joe and Flip are healthy, I don’t want to see Mario get anything more than a cameo appearance to avoid a 3rd foul on one of the main players before the half ends. And the same is true for Solo. Why would I ever want Solo in the game (again, other than for a cameo appearance) if Horford, Smith and Zaza are running things down low? It’s one thing to say you want those end of the bench guys to get more minutes, its another thing when it comes at the expense of a proven player who can keep the gas pedal pressed down in a playoff series.

By: doc

doc — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 14:43:13 +0000

joe, i cant stop laughing bro…… not quite rolling but almost tearful.

t-mobile missed one dunk too, that he could have laid in because of this lurking monster coming at him named josh. took his eye off it. rio pissed off d wade more as he showed out after the stop at the end of the half. you should have read the glare on wade’s face and he came out smoking to start the second half showing his a moves. see, rio gets a pass for showing up the other guy, josh doesnt. same type of over eager enthusiasm that shows they havent ever been there before but maybe they can get there and then not feel a need to do it and we will lose for it because it is part of the fun and entertainment within reason if it happens sporadically; in the moment, rather than TO rehearsed stuff.

By: Astro Joe

Astro Joe — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 14:25:41 +0000

doc, good comment about the Bibby/Acie foul scenario with Horford’s injury.

Big Ray, I was busy with some corporate crap most of the evening and couldn’t hit the blog. But my presentation for some strange reason has a lot of references to “T Mobile sucks”, “poor baby got a boo-boo on his noggin” and “FLIPPPPP”. I’m hoping they will think the last one means that it is time to turn the page.

I have only two issues with the Josh dunk attempt at the end. First, you have to make the freakin’ dunk. Surely there are other dunks in his vast arsenal that could have rewarded the fan base AND would have resulted in a make. (Sorry, doc, but creativity must always take a back seat to production). Second, I hope that he has enough maturity to accept the head-hunting that will come Friday evening. Smith can’t afford to get kicked out of the game with Marvin and Horford likely out. In baseball terms, Smith is about to get drilled in his next plate appearance and he absolutely cannot charge the mound.

By: Ken Strickland

Ken Strickland — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 14:24:15 +0000

Last nights gm is a perfect example of why I would love to see a coaching change. If we’re going to become a consistent playoff team, we can’t afford to wait until were facing possible playoff elimination or desperately trying to end a losing streak to employ a winning strategy. It took Woodson until gm 5 to realize we’ve been playing a one man driven OFF and the solution is to attack that one man.

Isn’t it amazing how much of an impact players like Solo and West can have when they’re allowed in the gm and given adequate mins? MWest made Dwade expend a lot of energy, and use his ballhandling skills and moves 20-25 ft from the basket, just to get him off his hip. Solo set the tone by letting Heat players know driving the lane would be hazardous to their physical health. It appeared as though Heat players got a taste of their own medicine and didn’t like the taste.

In gm 4 they were the ones being physical, which caused MBibby to lose his composure. In gm 5 we were the ones that were physical, and they were the ones that lost their composure and went from being physical to playing dirty. In last nights gm, the Heat players suffered such a physical and psychological beating that they reacted as though it was an elimination gm and they had nothing to lose by playing dirty.

Woodson needs to understand we’ve had consecutive dominant wins over the Heat both home and away, and we didn’t it without one of our starters. HE ALSO NEEDS TO STOP WAITING UNTIL AN INJURY, SUSPENSION OR FOUL TROUBLE AFFECTS ONE OF OUR KEY PLAYERS BEFPRE RELYING ON BENCH PLAYERS OTHER THAN ZAZA AND FLIP.

By: terrell barron

terrell barron — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 14:20:30 +0000

I was talking about for the series, not the game.

By: doc

doc — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 14:12:41 +0000

dan and yes he is pressing, some shout that josh throws up air. jj was very off to start the game and didnt come down until he took it to the hop himself. durn the b\guy just about missed the backboard completely on one open look. he sorta looks like ray allen out there at the start of the playoffs last year. may be a very good comparison.