The NBA playoffs, King James version!
Welcome to LeBron's world Hawks!
HAWKSVILLE - If the Hawks felt like there was some cosmic [Dwyane Wade-fueled] wave of energy trying to keep them from reaching the Eastern Conference semifinals, wait until they get on the floor Tuesday night in Cleveland.
That’s where they’ll get their first taste of the NBA playoffs, King James version.
In short, if they thought Wade was an issue – the so-called one-man team that they couldn’t get past in anything but seven games – wait until they face LeBron James and his crew.
Not only have the Cavaliers rolled to the best record in the league, boast the NBA Coach of the Year in Mike Brown and the league’s probably MVP in James, they’ve also had nine days to rest and load up for the Hawks on their way to what all of the basketball-loving world assumes is a table for two in the NBA Finals with Kobe Bryant’s Los Angeles Lakers.
I can’t think of a better time to be the Hawks.
No one thinks you have a chance. No one is expecting you to be anything more than a speed bump on the Cav’s road to the NBA Finals.
“We’re the team that wasn’t even supposed to make the playoffs right?” Hawks forward Josh Smith said. “If you let [the media] tell it, we didn’t even belong here. And we were supposed to lose to Miami. And here we are. We just keep showing up where we’re not supposed to be.”
The Cavs have lost twice on their home floor all season, so Tuesday night’s series opener should be interesting. The Hawks should still be in a groove and the Cavs have been off for so long … it should be interesting.
MIKE BIBBY’S BEST SHOT of the entire first round of the playoffs came before halftime of Sunday in Game 7 and it had nothing to do with his 3-point stroke.
Hawks coach Mike Woodson roasted him for passing the ball to Smith in the corner on in the final seconds. As Smith’s 24-footer bounced off the rim with 10.9 seconds left, Woodson jumped Bibby’s case for making the pass.
The surprise was Bibby’s response. He jumped Woodson right back, much to the delight of those of us sitting close enough to hear the entire exchange.
“If you don’t want me to throw to him put him somewhere else,” Bibby shouted. “He’s wide [@*&$%] open. Wide open. What do you want me to do? If you don’t want him shooting that then put him somewhere else. You tell him.”
After getting it back as good as he gave it, Woodson crossed his arms, did a pirouette and smiled at everyone watching as he strolled back toward the Hawks’ bench.
Woodson said later it was the first time Bibby’s “really lit into” him. And that’s why he was smiling about it. He loved seeing that kind of fire and emotion from his veteran point guard.
"NO! Wait a minute coach, let me tell you something!"
It was by far Bibby’s best shot of the night. And his reaction was right on the money in so many different ways. Because it’s clear that Smith has to curb his own enthusiasm for long distance shots (did you see him working in the paint early? The up and under moves, the ball-fake and step back and then lefty kiss off the glass. It was stick stuff. The Heat didn’t know what to do with him). And since he’s struggling in that department, it’s up to Woodson to find ways to help him curb it.
THE HEAT LEARNED A LESSON MANY TEAMS have this season about the Hawks when they play on their home floor. Forget what you thought about them away from Philips Arena, because for whatever reason, once they got on their own floor they’re a totally different team.
“They’re just terrific at home,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra Sunday after the Hawks had finished using his team as a dust mop. “They play with a great deal of confidence and energy here at home. We’ve struggled against them here in this building all year long, but it’s not just us. Everybody has struggled here as well. And it’s because they’ve built a pretty tough home court advantage.”
By Sunday night Spoelstra’s rage about the Hawks trying to embarrass his team a couple games ago had morphed into sincere praise.
“They’re a tough team,” he said of the Hawks. “They’ve really gotten a lot better. We’ve seen them mature over the years. They’re a team similar to us two or three years ago. They’ve developed their young guys, and more importantly they’ve kept the same coaching staff to help develop those players and have a consistent system.”
Wade might have summed it up best, though, after the game when he highlighted the difference between his team and the Hawks.
”They got more than one guy,” Wade said. ‘They’ve got four or five different guys they give the ball to and say, `Go make a play, either for yourself or somebody else.’ That makes it tough to guard.”
YOU WON’T SEE JOE JOHNSON BEATING HIS CHEST or poppin’ his jersey after big plays the way some other NBA stars do. It’s just not his style.
He drained two of the most wicked shots of the entire series Sunday, two 3-point bombs in Wade’s face, and didn’t do anything more than ball up his fists at himself. He glanced over at his family and friends that sit along the front row across from the Hawks’ bench, making sure they understood that whatever was ailing him early on in this series was no longer an issue.
Joe Johnson during a rare celebratory moment ... from another time. He barely cracked a smile in Sunday's Game 7 thumping of the Miami Heat.
The first smile he cracked was with five minutes left, when he headed to the bench to a rousing ovation from the crowd after his 27-point, five-steal explosion.
“I had to wait until it was late in the lock when I pretty much knew it was over,” he said of why he didn’t hop on a scorer’s table or call any attention to himself beyond his monster performance. “We’ve blown big leads before, so I had to make sure. If we win a championship you’ll see a whole lot [of emotion from me]. Other than that, it’s just competing, going out and having fun and trying to win ball games.”
And if you wondered if he felt any relief after finally playing like the All-Star folks around here have become accustomed to seeing, don’t.
“The only relief was that we won,” he said. “I’m putting this Miami series behind me and moving forward to Cleveland. And hopefully, we’ll make it an even better series.”
All THE TOP SEEDS IN THE EASTERN CONFERENCE MADE IT TO THE FINAL FOUR. Boston and Orlando are set to scrap on one side of the bracket and the Hawks and Cavs are set to duke it out on the other side of the bracket. That’s actually the way it was supposed to work out.
They basically went wire to wire as the top four teams in the East, with some momentary shifting along the way. Dallas and Houston crashed the Final Four in the Western Conference. Houston won the 4-5 matchup with Portland while Dallas knocked off the depleted Spurs in the 3-6.
There’s something to be said for the Hawks making sure things held form in the East, though. It validates their 47-win season and legitimizes all the talking they’ve done the last six months about being one of the top teams in the Eastern Conference. Knock ‘em all you want, but they said they were headed to this point and here they are.
And they’ve yet to play their best. When you consider the injuries to both Al Horford and Marvin Williams and the fact that neither guy has played up to his own standard this postseason, the Hawks actually have quite a bit of room to improve upon their performance against the Heat.
And both Horford and Williams will return to action in this series. Williams could play a huge role, if healthy enough, defensively. Because the Hawks are going to need an active defender with the size, agility and athleticism to at least keep James occupied for long stretches.
Williams worked well against James during the regular season matchups (the Cavs took the season series 3-1 but the Hawks actually had one of those wins snatched from their grasp on a questionable late foul call) and again, if healthy enough, could potentially do similar work now.
Time will tell.
But admit it, you like talking Hawks this late in the season don’t you?
I know I do.
Tell us what you think about the site
Customer Care »
Vacation stops, manage subscriptions and more
AJC Services
Sections
Other Editions
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement
© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
657 comments Add your comment
darrell starks
May 5th, 2009
11:43 pm
HAWKS 33 REBOUNDS 6 OFFENSIVE
CAVS 41 REBOUNDS 15 OFFENSIVE
ENOUGH SAID GAME OVER.
GO HAWKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Rod from College Park
May 5th, 2009
11:43 pm
Big Ray,
Corny huh. So telling some clown who obviously has never picked up a basketball in his life, calls me a jackass(I’ll take the homophobe comment), but tells me I don’t know anything about basketball, when I played division 1, to play me is corny. Wow! So I guess if another man spits on you, it’s corny to punch him in face huh. So continuously saying that me and another man live together and share the same computer and post as different people, because we both see that the number 2 pick in the draft is not living up to his draft status, is not corny, huh. Niremetal, keep studying. Make something of yourself. The world can never have enough lawyers. You will always have your blog friends to support you. I’m sure Marvin will surprise us all and live up to his number 2 pick for the rest of this series. You guys are right, and I am wrong. If he only were healthy. LOL
Rod from College Park
May 5th, 2009
11:50 pm
Niremetal,
Respect from you or any of your blog buddies is not something that I am looking for. Keep studying, I hear the bar is tough. I hear it’s almost as hard as Marvin trying to defend Lebron. LOL
Rod from College Park
May 5th, 2009
11:55 pm
Newkid,
You can’t make statements like that about Marvin on this blog. Everybody on here except for me and a few other people think he is one of the best players on our team. He never stumbles is what they will tell you. They will tell you that he has shut Lebron down by himself. They will say that he can create his own shot. Watch yourself. You won’t get ant respect from the blog buddies. LOL
kensington
May 5th, 2009
11:56 pm
This team needs a new coach. This is no disrespect to Mike Woodson, but it seems that he has done all he can do. Every year the Hawks two biggest flaws are inconsistency and playing terrible on the road. And even though they have improved their win totals each year, their two biggest flaws are still inconsistency and playing terrible on the road. They need someone that can give this team an offensive identity and also be able to develop better bench play. I just don’t think Woodson tries. He would rather let his starters carry a heavy load.
Volman
May 5th, 2009
11:56 pm
Uh oh, Rod played D-1 ball. Watch it.
Da Real Real
May 6th, 2009
12:03 am
Tough game, but I’d have to say it went as I thought it would go. I didn’t think Cleveland would come out rusty especially after what happened last night out west. There’s always two different scenarios when one team plays only 4 games in a series and the other team plays 7.
We simply didn’t have anything in the tank in that 2nd half. I think some folks figured this would happen and is the main reason why the Cavs are being picked to sweep or win in 5. Arguably the Celtics were better than the Cavs last year, but there are a lot of factors going into this series as to why the Hawks may not fair like they did last year against the Celtics.
1) This is the second round, not the first round. 2) Health….our Hawks are nowhere near as healthy as they were going into last years playoffs and that also factors in the fact that you’ve played far longer this season then you did last. Its obvious Woody is only going to go 8 into his bench right now and when you have 2 guys who aren’t even close to 100% you’re then only playing with about 6 guys against a team who’s going to throw at least 10 guys at you and this is when you see us run out of gas and start seeing guys settle. Fratterno hinted at it earlier in the game – We’ve been playing every other day for the past week and then only had a day’s rest before this game.
The only way we can make this out of a series is if the Hawks can dig in and find something left in the tank…I just can’t see it happening. I think Cleveland wins this next game, and I think we win our first home game, but after that I don’t expect us to win again. Not because we’re not good enough to do so because I think we are….I just think there are to many things going against us. Primarily being that we are a banged up team going against a well oiled machine right now.
A Tribe Called Quest
May 6th, 2009
12:05 am
Joe says he’s tired in Mark Bradley’s blog.
OK Woodson you’ve been in the NBA for 27 years. Do you have to remind us that everytime you talk?
newkid
May 6th, 2009
12:05 am
Rod, being a fellow Tarheel, I love Marvin. But it is what it is.
The Truth
May 6th, 2009
12:17 am
I had promise that I would not interject any drama during the Cleveland series but I’m sorry, I have to call out JJ in this game. Yes, it was other Hawks players struggling also but JJ is making 70M dollars. JJ supposed to be our star player. JJ supposed to be our leader. JJ supposed to show-up for big games because that’s what stars do. That is the group dynamics of every NBA team in the league except our Hawks. Even the announcer asked that question during the game, just who is the leader on this Hawks team anyway? It’s been a lot of debate about whether Mike Bibby is worth his 15M/yr contract, but I am beginning question JJ contract value more so than Mike Bibby. Mike is playing like the professional that he claims to be in the playoff. Josh has earned his contract value by exceeding everyone’s expectation in the playoff. In fact Josh has emerged to be the face of our franchise, not JJ. Even though Flip struggled tonight offensively, he gets a pass because he has been a reliable player except for tonight. He was due to have an off game. But JJ is playing like he is skating, just trying to get by. Like he has no desires but to get the 4 losses over with and go home. He showed up only for games 7 of the Heat series and that’s about it. He seems to be comfortable with being just a pedestrian player with no burning desires to go to that next level consistently. Maybe all that money has gotten him complacent. He is beginning to take the Hawks organization for granted with his sub-par performance in big games. Perhaps we need to put some doubt in his next contract.
Playoff basketball is a time when all players aspire to push their game to the next level. JJ game seems to be digressing in the post season. I’m sorry but mediocre is unacceptable for a 70M player, he must be called out.
dino
May 6th, 2009
12:24 am
Hawks fans are so trifling. I’m trying to figure out why every one is blaming Joe. I will admit he could have been more agressive, but I wouldn’t say the rest of the team has played all that great either. Bibby made alot of bad decisions, Flip held the ball too much when he should have passed, and Josh took way too many ill-advised jumpers. I hope the Hawks do trade Joe. He deserves better than this bullsh@t. And you people wonder why nobody wants to play for this city. You act like star players are rushing to come here because of your championship pedigree. Last time I checked, Dominique never got past the 2nd round of the playoffs. What a joke.
The Truth
May 6th, 2009
12:47 am
dino
What team do you represent and why are here? This a family matter. If we are the joke, then you must be an even bigger JOke for being here. Contrary to your bleeding heart, the NBA is a business that is about getting return your investment. These players are not held to double standards, what is good for the goose is also go for the gander. In that case JJ should not be treated no different then Mike Bibby or any other player when it comes to contract talk.
Rod from College Park
May 6th, 2009
12:50 am
Newkid,
Honesty is always the best policy. A few months ago, I was the most hated man on the blog for saying that we should keep Josh and get rid of Marvin. But no one who was calling me and idiot, with no basketball knowledge will admit that.
The Truth,
Totally agree. Someone earlier actually told me that Joe was playing well. What game were they watching?
Clyde
May 6th, 2009
1:16 am
Here is the key. The Cavaliers will not let JJ beat them so they double on the perimeter and whenever he gets the ball. On hand the Hawks rely on single coverage to defend Lebron.
If the Hawks want to win they have to push the ball up the court in transition. Smooth and Horford are too quick for the Cleveland bigs. But that takes getting stops on defense which will be hard to do since they have to answer for Lebron. I say give Acie 10-15 minutes to speed the game up a little.
RMS funny stuff and a shot-blocking center would have helped tonight.
dino
May 6th, 2009
1:51 am
@ The Truth
I represent the Hawks and don’t lecture me about family matters because everyone knows that family will screw you over faster than anyone else will. I know that the NBA is a business, but don’t blame a player because the Hawks organization has not handled theirs. Woodson is an ineffective coach that does not know how to utilize his best players and can’t develop his young players. Knight drafted too many wing players who can’t shoot and signed Joe as a point guard (and part of that is Joe’s fault for saying he wanted to play the point). I don’t have a bleeding heart. I’m just making an observation. Most organizations would be figuring out ways to find the right kind of help (role players) for their all-star. Look at the Pistons and that whole Iverson debacle. Nobody is arguing how great a player Iverson is, he just was not a great fit for that team and their offense. I’m not saying Joe doesn’t have his faults (errant retaliation fouls and those d@mn iso’s), but you run him out of town and then what, build around Josh and his zero basketball iq. That dude has had five regular seasons and he still doesn’t get it. And then we are right back to nobody wanting to play in this freakin’ city and an empty Philips.
Atlrayzd
May 6th, 2009
2:18 am
Joe Johnson says he’s tired(logged alot of minutes this year) but he doesn’t want to make any excuses (sounds like one to me). Hate to say it but wrap it up the series is over. I really and truly respect the amount of minutes he logged this year but at this point being the face of the team, the highest paid, and in the second round of the playoffs to come and out and say your tired is nothing but an excuse. Since he is out of gas lets bring him off the bench. Bibby, Flip, Josh,and Al Joe said he is tired. Joe you’ll have plenty of time to rest very soon.
niremetal
May 6th, 2009
2:19 am
I actually agree with dino about Atlanta’s tepid fan base for pro sports. It’s not a knock. I could give you a dissertation on the reasons why that is (the big reason is that most of Atlanta’s population grew up elsewhere and therefore have loyalties to other teams). But I don’t agree that we should trade JJ. Anyone who thinks that we have another franchise player on this team is kidding themselves. I’d love to see JJ paired with another All-Star…I just want to see it happen here.
And Hms, you forgot my fav’rits:
STEVE HOLMAN: The refs were giving the Cavs all the calls. It was 5-on-8 out there! And the Cavs are a bunch of low-down stinking punks. And LeBron is the reincarnation of Hitler, Saddam, and the 2008 Celtics rolled into one.
RANDOLPH MORRIS: Wait…we had a game today? Seriously?
MARVIN WILLIAMS: *Trips on the microphone cord and tears his ACL.*
niremetal
May 6th, 2009
2:22 am
(I tried to think of a good one for Zaza, but the best I could come up with was “Don’t make me angry – you won’t like me when I’m angry!”)
darrell starks
May 6th, 2009
7:15 am
JOE IS TIRED NO WAY!!!!!!!!!! IS JOE TIRED WOODY WHO PLAYED 41 MIN A GAME DURING THE YEAR THATS WHY YOU DEVOLOP YOUR BENCH DURING THE YEAR TO KEEP YOUR PLAYER FRESH.
GO HAWKS!!!!!!!!!!!!
jon barry
May 6th, 2009
7:21 am
Suckerzzz!!!
dap01
May 6th, 2009
8:08 am
Newkid summed it up best. If our guards aren’t hitting long jump shots, there is no offense. As Andro has said many times, we need a big that can hit the 15 foot shot. Why does Bibby pick up his dribble and then look for somewhere to throw it? Why does AC barely play even when we are down by 25?
If our game plan does not work, are any adjustments tried?
doc
May 6th, 2009
8:31 am
hmmmm, so jj is tired. havent we been saying that for months and asking why he plays meaningless minutes at times? didnt someone say it want important, guess it was after all. yes, it has now gotten us into the second round. the off season will require addressing this issue either in coaching or support players obtained by the basg and the gm, rick sund. guess we can rehash this later, it needs to be one of the bigger issues for the off season. until then i still think one victory in this round will be meaningful and wont give up hope. folks the cavs are really good, of course miami also beat us like this in three of the four away games in round one.
The Truth
May 6th, 2009
9:08 am
dino
The best piece of news that JJ or any Hawks player needs to hear from this blog is “The Truth”. That news can be “Good”, it can be “Bad” or it can be “Ugly” at times. If you think I’m trying to run JJ out of town, than you have misunderstood my point. I’m offering JJ constructive criticism regarding his performance during the post season. In other words, I am giving JJ his midterm performance evaluation for the post season. This type of exercise goes on in corporate America every single today. You should know what I mean if you have ever worked in corporate America. For example, if you are a senior level “anything” than you are paid to be better than your junior counterparts. We all know JJ is much better than his current production. If this unpleasant news would cause him to rededicate and focus than I am sure he will thank us for caring.
Super Lou
May 6th, 2009
9:28 am
Go to the Rack or GET BACK! No “jump shooting” team deserves to win a playoff series and that’s exactly what the Atlanta Balks are. A soft, jump shooting team that stands around and watches their “best” players go 1 on 1. No grit at all. Btw, it’s wonderful as a Duke alum to see our “lesser athletes” shine in the playoffs whereas the “better athletes” from Carolina stink. Yes, Williams IS A A BUST, but name one player from Carolina in the last 4 years who hasn’t been a bust?!
Silly rabbits, tricks are for kids. The Cavs will gobble up these twinkies in 5. Ha Ha
Da Real Real
May 6th, 2009
9:46 am
LoL @ The Truth: Yeah I’ve worked corporate (now own a business) so I know what you mean about those evaluations. Unfortunately for us fans we aren’t the ones giving the evaluations and the players are probably thankful of that. For me personally, I thought JJ’s performance last night was decent at best…it was better than some of those games he gave us in the Miami series. Unlike the last series I just can’t really complain about to much of anything because my expectations in this series are low and I’m not saying that in a bad way. I can’t ask or expect the Hawks to do to much more than what they have done this year because they have far exceeded anything I expected them to do.
I not only think JJ is tired but I think the team is tired (well at least the ones that throughout this whole season has logged major minutes). This is the furthest and longest this collective group of guys has played together. I can’t ask 6 or 7 guys to beat a team who won 60+ games, coming off 8 days of rest, and and rotate 10 guys on their home court with…oh yeah…arguably the best player in the game. I’m just going to sit back and watch and if the Hawks do somehow push this more than 5 games my smile will be even bigger than it was last night – even during a blowout. It’s been fun watching these guys grow up. I’m done complaining about this team for this year because my expectations have been met.
cee
May 6th, 2009
10:14 am
umm cleveland is on a mission and atlanta is just a bug in the way to the championship THE HAWKS AINT READY YOU SEE THE DIFFERENCE IN A REAL STAR WHERES JOE?
A Tribe Called Quest
May 6th, 2009
10:15 am
Joe says he’s tired in Mark Bradley’s blog.
OK Woodson you’ve been in the NBA for 27 years. Do you have to remind us that everytime you talk?
A Tribe Called Quest
May 6th, 2009
10:15 am
Ayo where’s my brother Rick Sund and Dante?
Mike is back
May 6th, 2009
10:18 am
Yeah…Mr Optimism is back,”RIGHT!!!” well JJ finally admitted he’s tired…No time to lick his wounds now…he got TO MAN THE F UP!!!!!
I KNOW WE GOT BEAT BY 27…THEY PLAYED THEIR SCRUBS…LBJ WAS LAUGHING…HELL EVERYBODY WAS LAUGHING…BUT IT ONLY COUNTS ONE GAME!!!!!
We kept it close for three periods…then they fail apart…everybody tried to win the game by themselves…nothing but one on one the rest of the game. You can’t blame Woody for that. THEY KEPT IT CLOSE FOR THREE PERIODS…You gotta try to build off that…continue to fight… and let the ney sayer and detractors keep talking. Everybody kept calling Mo Williams name…they called it right.
WOODY GOT ACIE, MARIO, AND GARNER…THEY ARE BIG GUARDS…WE NEED TO KEEP SOMEONE WITH SIZE ON MO…WE CAN’T USE JJ HE IS ALREADY WORN DOWN…CUZ NO DISRESPECT TO BIBBY…ITS JUST A BAD MATCH UP…I WOULD TAKE MY CHANCES WITH WEST. BOTH CAN BEAT OFF THE DRIBBLE AND SHOOT THE THREE.
THEY ARE GOING KEEP ATTACKING JJ ON OFFENSE…AND BIBBY ON DEFENSE WITH THE PICK AND ROLL UNTIL WOODY MAKE AN ADJUSTMENT!!!!!!!
Mo broke the game open…Woody can’t wait to game three to make that adjustment…he may have to sacrifice some defense to keep Mo under control.
THE HAWKS NEEDS TO FIGURE OUT A WAY TO GET AL GOING…HE’S AN EMOTIONAL GUY LIKE JOSH…WE NEED HIS HUSTLE AN INSPIRATION…HE’S A BIG GAME GUY…I LOOK FOR HIM TO STEP UP.
LET’S GO AL AND KEEP FIGHTING HAWKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Mike is back
May 6th, 2009
10:33 am
I meant sacrifice some offense to keep Mo under control.
Mike is back
May 6th, 2009
10:35 am
Daaaaaaaam…what offense!!! Heh heh
Ariose
May 6th, 2009
10:36 am
If Marvin and JJ Don’t Show up we’re getting swept…..I’m just being real here…….and playing Acie would certainly help…..Solo too…
McDyess AND Rasheed are unrestricted Free Agents this Summer. Thoughts? Oh…..and we still need to trade Marvin, our 1st round Pick, and some cash for Rudy Gay……Just Sayin’. Rudy’s numbers have dropped since resident Chucker O.J Mayo stepped onto the scene. It’s got Memphis fans worried about Rudy…..well Marvin doesn’t need or want the ball so that solves their problem, and we get Rudy…..Bibby, Joe, Rudy, Josh, Al, Zaza, Sheed, Flip, Mo, Acie, Solo…..looks good to me…..
le brown james THE KING OF ATLANTA
May 6th, 2009
10:44 am
get use to hawks this is not ncaa miami heat any more, this is the real men now not some rookie team, i say the cavs in 4 , not a chance for your sisi team .
bigdave
May 6th, 2009
10:45 am
agreed Dino, Niremental…
Rod from CP you said for the folks that think Joe played well, particularly in the 1st half, you question there basketball IQ…? haha… aye, what do you think he could have done better…? did he not distribute the ball, stretch out the double team, was he passive..? did he not do a good job defensively? whats expected from Joe when doubled and tripled…? i mean it would be nice to base it on relative situations but we dont send 2-3 defenders at anyone… unless there in the post…
it was clear that team fatigue set in. not a good thing especially, with the fresh bodies Clev. throws at you, and their physical play. as a result offensively, the passes were lazy, the recipient of the passes weren’t stepping to the ball… defensively, rotation, mental break downs, ball challenges, all things we were doing in the first half…
le brown james THE KING OF ATLANTA
May 6th, 2009
10:47 am
long live king james
The Truth
May 6th, 2009
11:07 am
Man, let’s frame the story this way: last year Mike Bibby came to the Hawks to play starting pg with limited knowledge of the offense with a left thumb injury and a bad foot injury. While not being 100%, he played his azz off, didn’t complain, made no excuses when he played poorly at times and was a major factor in getting us into the first round with the Celtic where we pushed them to 7 games. Now, after 10 years we have advanced to the second round with an opportunity to do something special against the highly covered MVP Lebron James and company. We have accomplished this because of the acquisition of key support players such Flip Murray, Mo Evans and also a more seasoned Josh Smith. Given this scenario, our 70M dollar star player Joe Johnson (who is not injured) responds by saying “MAN I’M TIRED” but I’m not making excuses.
kwooden1
May 6th, 2009
11:22 am
I looked at my comments from last night and I don’t think I’ve changed my view. I saw a lot of good things from last nights game, at least the first half and most of the 3rd. I really don’t think fatigue is a problem, the may issue is # of possessions! Cleveland is going to play the half court game and keep the game slow. The HAWKS have to continue to be patient and understand that their faster than Cleveland. If your faster than someone, you don’t have to run extra fast to beat them, just your normal speed. Josh was making Shaggy, Z, Wallace, whoever was covering him look silly with his speed and quickness. Overall the HAWKS were getting good looks they, just weren’t making a lot of them late in the 2nd and they stopped running their sets consistently in the 3rd.
JJ can be more aggressive, but Cleveland was bring another player at him every play after he scored one-on-one. JJ probably could take more 3s but if he just passes out of the doubles quickly I will be happy.
I think the HAWKS are starting to trust their half courts sets more and make the extra pass more often. I think they’re still moving forward in the maturing process. I will always hope for a better offensive system, but its not happening this series so this is the last time I’m going to talk about it.
Stay consistent with the sets, hit the boards and push the ball for secondary breaks! I think that’s a winning combination!!!
GO HAWKS!!!
Rod from College Park
May 6th, 2009
11:49 am
big dave,
What he did not do is attack. You don’t wait on the double team you attack. He also did not protect the ball. He had a number of turnovers. He is a great shooter but won’t shoot when he is one on one. He waits on Cleveland to double instead of doing what Dwayne Wads did every time a smaller player was on him. He would shoot over him, or immediately go to the rack.
Guys I know you don’t like me. I personally don’t give a @@*%! All these excuses are for losers. This is one of the reasons Atlanta is considered a terrible sports town. If Joe Johnson played the way has been playing in New York, LA … they would be killing him in the media. We make excuses. If Marvin Williams (The #2 pick in the draft) played this way in New York, LA … He would not be able to come out of his house. This is reality. We have to hold these guys accountable and stop making excuses. JOE IS TIRED. MARVIN IS STILL LEARNING. ACIE DOES NOT PLAY ENOUGH…… These guys are professional athletes, who play at the highest level. The players in our starting lineup are all high first round picks except Josh. As much as he is bashed on this blog and in the media, to me, he, Bibby and Zaza are the only players who have played almost every game in the playoffs at a high level. IF YOU ARE ON THE FLOOR, THERE ARE NO EXCUSES.
Coach Woodson has done a good job this year. I am not a fan of his, but I will give him credit this year. That being said, He has to learn how to make adjustments. Joe had Delante West checking him, and Joe never posted him up. Cleveland was a different team after the half, and so were we. They made adjustments, and we did not. We have no chance in this series, if our coach does not adjust, and our star player does not play like a star. It’s that simple. Coach Woodson, you might want to think about doubling Lebron, and make sure Mo Williams is not wide open for 3. Make the other guys beat you. My high school coach can figure that out.
Ariose
May 6th, 2009
11:52 am
Cavs fans, please leave and don’t come back. After those Cranky Heat fans infested our blog for two straight weeks, im burnt out. Just go away please…..
No Crying in Basketball
May 6th, 2009
12:04 pm
I finally have gotten to see the hawks on a cosistent basis, Eight games in a row, and they have to be the most all or nothing team I have ever seen. The most frustrating Jeckle and Hyde performances ever. I love these guys and I love getting to watch them, Flaws and all. I miss the old days of 40 games a year on TBS.
I hope they sign woody for 10 more years, Good or bad he lets his players play. . Just so everyone on this Blog will have something to whine about. We had better lock up Bibby for the rest of his career.
If we could only find a wide body to clog up the middle and move Al to his natural position, we might be able to get to the next level.
doc
May 6th, 2009
12:07 pm
da real real, ditto and along the lines of what i have been saying, series goes five games we we have to think we have stolen one game. grand season and yes i am not surprised nor disappointed at last nights performance. any more victories are icing on the cake. give me a couple of competitive games at home and we can call it a very grand and successful season. uh, then it is back to work as the mountain top has not been cleared.
rod, salient points on the last post. no argument here. josh is still the leader of the band and the most consistent player we have on both ends. when he has it to give he rarely takes a play off unless it is to rail at the refs and get burned by it on the other end. does it happen too often? yes, but less than jj at times, catching a breather on defense or bibby, who thought working hard cannot keep up with the true class point guards in theis league … er, attested to by mo williams doing his thing unscathed while i watched last night. shoot, he really didnt have to do anything with lebron doing his thang but when that trade was done, and i still question why milwaukee chose t be a lottery team again with the move, i knew all were dead except maybe the c’s before garnett’s injury and the lakers.
play on!
Cavs fan since '70
May 6th, 2009
12:18 pm
Everyone’s talking about how JJ was constantly being doubled, so I went back and watched the game again. Here’s what I saw:
In the first half JJ touched the ball only 20 times (it almost seemed like his teammates were intentionally ignoring him) and was double teamed 6 times. He drove the lane twice, once Lebron stole the ball and once he passed. He was on one fast break, and passed the ball at the rim.
In the 3rd quarter (I didn’t bother with the 4th), it looked like they suddenly realized JJ was on the team. He had 18 touches and was doubled 8 times.
Often he passed just as the double was coming. This is not a bad strategy, as someone must be open, but it seemed nothing ever came of those passes. He never attacked the double. Except for the two drives in the first half and one or two in the second he was very passive.
Just my take.
Samuel
May 6th, 2009
12:27 pm
Doc,
You and JJ can make all the excuses you want but I ant buying them. The whole basketball world is watching and pretty much coming to the same conclusion. JJ is overwhelmed by the expectations of being a super star and a go to man for a championship caliber team.
Forget the scoring, he’s just choking in every aspect of the game.
Too many minutes, BS. The man had practically a week off at the end of the season. No more back2backs during the playoffs. There are no excuses.
Although Cleveland beat us handily last night, I can still see us winning at least 2 games and maybe more if our “All star”, Redeem Team stud steps TFU.
Back to my Tater Tots.
The Truth
May 6th, 2009
12:28 pm
Rod from College Park
EXCELLENT POINTS, YOU COVERED ALL THE BASES
A Tribe Called Quest
May 6th, 2009
12:38 pm
This is one of the reasons Atlanta is considered a terrible sports town. If Joe Johnson played the way has been playing in New York, LA … they would be killing him in the media. We make excuses. If Marvin Williams (The #2 pick in the draft) played this way in New York, LA …
AMEN
Atlrayzd
May 6th, 2009
12:43 pm
Rod from College Park…. Well Said. Amazing how some people refuse to acknowledge the obvious.
Dante Fitzgerald
May 6th, 2009
1:00 pm
Ayo, JJ needs to step up!!! Point. Blank. Period.
A Tribe Called Quest
May 6th, 2009
1:10 pm
HEY WOODSON YOU SAID WE WERE GONNA BE MORE UP TEMPO LAST YEAR. WHATS WITH THIS HALF COURT TRASH.
WHATUP DANTE FAM. I SEE U KID
kwooden1
May 6th, 2009
1:25 pm
Rod from College Park… have to disagree in terms of this passed game, but overall your talking the same talk that’s been on this blog for as least the last two years. JJ could have shot the ball more, but in the 1st half the HAWKS were scoring just fine with good team offensive and Smith making Cleveland look silly! The 2nd half brought the turnovers and empty trips, along with poor ball movement. Personally I don’t want Joe to go for 30-40 every night, because that’s not winning basketball. He’s not as athletic as Lebron/Kobe/Wade so he’s got to shoot more jumpshots to get his points. (Bad Idea!) I will agree with taking and making big shots when we need them is not happening, so maybe thats what you’re talking about. But that by itself doesn’t win games either, see Wade last series in his 4 loses!
Rod as you said before the game, can’t let Mo kill us and West was a tough match-up also. Those guys made all the difference.
Doc is right to keep expectations low in this series if they don’t get better as a team. I believe their developing an identity (I don’t like it, but I said I would stop talking about their offensive) on offensive and they already have an identity on defensive. Overall nothing has changed in terms of them not be a prototypical team, so they’re going to have to try an be Detroit (of 3 years ago) until they get people in their natural positions.
I’m not from Atlanta, so I can’t comment on the type of sports town it is, but I live in Washington DC and many people talk like this isn’t a sports town either. Meaningless conversation to me.
GO HAWKS!!!!
doc
May 6th, 2009
1:45 pm
samuel, i am not making excuses for jj. he is the coach’s selected leader and if you notice your coy is the one that always gives him the credit for being the man and doing everything for the team. rarely does he say that about josh. just saying. i am just repeating what is said by him.
i had hoped he had thrown the collar as noted above, just saying and you have heard me ask what is wrong with the guy and point out how ineffective he has ben from time to time and how josh is our more consistent and complete player this year. so where did i get it wrong samuel? not sure what you are really saying, what your coy is saying or what you and i have said about the man for big games he hasnt elevated his game this year, injury or fatigue or choke. he says fatigue, you say choke, coy says he is our man.
personally as disruptive as josh is painted he gets ready to deliver and doesnt fade even when there are folks wanting him to. i admire that. that instills in me some confidence about josh, doesnt it you? we both have an edge about us or at least i know i do, i guess i like that in josh, too. how about you?