Do they have anything left?
Do Joe, Josh and the Hawks have anything left? We're going to find out in a few hours.
HAWKSVILLE - The clock is ticking on this once miraculous season for the Hawks.
How much time remains is hard to tell, could be a couple games or a couple days.
No one knows for sure.
But one question about these Hawks remains.
Do they have anything left?
Fresh off two straight blowout loss in Cleveland, it’s all come down to this one showing, tonight’s Game 3 against Cleveland at Philips Arena.
If the Hawks can dig down and find something that works long enough to hold off the Cavaliers, maybe, just perhaps maybe, they can stretch this series out a few days longer.
We all know there have been far too many injuries to contend with for the Hawks to actually dream about springing an upset.
But there is still time to save a little face and make the NBA, the city of Cleveland and even the Cavaliers sweat a little bit.
Win tonight and waking up Sunday morning in a 2-1 hole gives people hope. Go to bed tonight down 3-0, however, and Monday’s Game 4 becomes 48 minutes of survivor. And with LeBron James smelling blood and the Hawks smelling vacation … well, it could be just enough to shove the Hawks all the way over the playoff cliff.
I took a seat in my barber’s chair a little earlier today and before he could even get started, one of his fellow barbers stopped him so he could ask the question that I’ve been getting non-stop the past 48 hours.
“Them boys gettin’ swept or what man?”
I’ll tell you like I told him, it all comes down to tonight.
The Hawks have been holding on to the aura of their own home court advantage, and all the cosmic energy that comes with it, all season long.
It worked for them in Game 7 against Miami. But that was a series clincher. And they weren’t missing three injured starters (only Marvin Williams sat that one out, Al Horford and Joe Johnson did not).
Johnson, Horford and Williams might play tonight (all three are officially “game-time” decisions) and it still might not be enough to hold off the Cavs. They’re that good. And that focused. And that serious about doing whatever it takes, whenever they have to and wherever they have to in an effort to win a championship.
I loved Wally Szczerbiak’s quote after Game 2 when he was asked about the Cavs’ six, double-digit playoff wins this postseason – “You haven’t seen the hard work we’ve been putting in,” he said, insulted that anyone would dare to think the Cavs are just good enough to show up and blow teams away without doing any dirty work to make it happen. “There’s a lot of work that goes into playing as well as we’re playing. We definitely put the effort in on the practice floor, in the film room and in the weight room. We’ve done it all season long, so we are going to continue to do that and it’s paying off during game time.”
This from the team’s seventh, eighth or ninth man, depending on Mike Brown’s playing rotation on a given night. That’s what winning big is all about, that attitude, that mindset and that kind of sacrifice.
And while this looks like hard work from the Hawks’ perspective, James is smiling at the opportunity to play in “another hostile environment” – if an arena filled with fans wearing his jerseys and gasping at his every move, from the powder toss at the start of the game to his headband toss to the crowd at the end, and everything in between, can be considered hostile.
“We have a 2-0 lead,” James said. “A series is never won in two games or three games. But Game 3 is going to be really fun.”
We shall see shortly.
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845 comments Add your comment
CLEVELAND.COM
May 11th, 2009
9:56 pm
you guys know real BALLERS don’t rest in the south…the hawk walk north only to find her way still stuck in the dirty south
le brown james THE KING OF ATLANTA
May 11th, 2009
9:57 pm
ve been to Cleveland, I’m from Atlanta. All these people claiming Cleveland, I’ve been to Cleveland more times than they have. Cleveland Heights, Shaker Heights, the Flats, Olmsted, all that. I guarantee all these all of a sudden Cavs fans, I can name more Cavs players than they can. People are pathetic
IS THAT ALL YOU GOT . HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
Sautee
May 11th, 2009
9:57 pm
AJ,
I could live with that, but I’d worry about chemistry when he goes to the bench for good. I also FIRMLY believe that we don’t spend more than 5-7 M / yr for him, or else we could get more bang for the buck elsewhwere.
I mean I KNOW you’d rather have Hinrich if we were gonna pay 9-10, right?
Bibby is what, 31?
CLEVELAND.COM
May 11th, 2009
9:58 pm
im in cleveland as i speak …cleveland.com is our newspaper
bigdave
May 11th, 2009
10:01 pm
no RJ they werent… you just dont like Josh..
niremetal
May 11th, 2009
10:02 pm
Sautee,
He turns 31 Wednesday. Happy b’day, Mike!
le brown james THE KING OF ATLANTA
May 11th, 2009
10:03 pm
SAM FROM DA SWATS DO YOU WORK FOR THE TRAVEL CHANEL OR SOMETHING ? WHO CARES IS YOU BEING IN CLEVELAND OR NOT .HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAA.
CLEVELAND.COM
May 11th, 2009
10:04 pm
you guys be good…know need to stick around here..our work been put in…
CLEVELAND.COM
May 11th, 2009
10:04 pm
later…
Sam from da Swats
May 11th, 2009
10:05 pm
Dude go to bed busta…
mykhalc
May 11th, 2009
10:08 pm
i didn’t watch but is WOODSON still the HC????
SWAT Native
May 11th, 2009
10:09 pm
Let’s wait until tomorrow to rebuild the Hawks. For tonight, as a fan, I have to say I’m proud of the year that the Hawks had. Getting swept at the end hurts, but I think we can all say that they gave us a good year, met or exceeded most of our expectations and we’ve got good reason to feel good about the future.
If you go back and look at where the “experts” had the Hawks, they were going to implode early in the year, get Woody fired, and miss the playoffs by a wide margin. Instead, they won ten more games, moved into the top half of the bracket, hosted a series and advanced to the second round. I think they did fine.
le brown james THE KING OF ATLANTA
May 11th, 2009
10:11 pm
BYE SAM HAVE GOOD NIGHT .
Melvin
May 11th, 2009
10:11 pm
Niremetal,
I recall you attending the ownership court hearings and making comments about the ASG financial status. Do you think these owners have the capital to invest into this team if they so choose to????
kwooden1
May 11th, 2009
10:15 pm
Hate to go out that way, but finally our deficiencies caught up with us. With that said definitely a step forward, if not a large step forward. The HAWKS have a lot of key components and a lot of parts that other teams want. No doubt the team has heart and fought hard, just the lack of size and no really offensive system caught up with them.
Off Season Talk:
1) Resign Bibby – I think he should end his career with Atlanta. Its not a coquencidence that they’ve made the playoffs each of his years here.
2) Either the HAWKS get a new offensive or they get a new COACH!!
3) Hard run at Amare S. (If you can get JSmoove + Evans (salaries are close) I would take it) I like JSmoove a lot, but that move would balance the team.
4) Extend Flip and Zaza (Got to reward those guys for their efforts.
What I think Sund will do:
1) Resign Bibby, Flip
2) Extend JJ, Horford, Marvin
Overall I don’t think Sund will do anything major.
That’s what I’ve got for now
GREAT SEASON
GO HAWKS!!!
Melvin
May 11th, 2009
10:16 pm
SWAT, good point. I proud of this team as well. I can’t say they over achieve b/c I predict them to win 45-50 games. However, Im very proud of their accomplishments (47 wins and making it to the 2nd round of the playoffs). I think the playoffs was a good learning experience for them. I look forward to the offseason and hope that they can improve individually and as a team next season…
Good Job Hawks.
Macaroni Tony
May 11th, 2009
10:19 pm
I wouldn’t trade js. He makes alot mistakes but I would stick with the guy. I don’t think that would be smart, but I would get some more veteran players.
niremetal
May 11th, 2009
10:21 pm
Melvin,
Ever since the cloud of uncertainty about whether they would continue to own the team has been lifted, ASG has shown no fear about spending money to improve the team (the trade for Bibby set them back a good $11M total, and the signings of Flip/Mo plus the re-signing of Josh brought the Hawks up to “the pack” in terms of total payroll (15 of the 30 nba teams have payrolls between $67 and $72 million).
The question is less of whether they have the resources (they do…only 1 of the 7 owners’ outside businesses appears to have been seriously affected by the economy, and Phillips has been a cash cow because no one can afford to rent out the Dome anymore), but rather of whether they know what a good use of that money is. Put another way, I’m less concerned that they won’t be willing to spend $9M to improve the team than I am worried about the possibility of them spending $9M to sign a player that they shouldn’t have paid more than $6M for.
kirkinga
May 11th, 2009
10:22 pm
Great season for the Hawks! Shame it had to end, but the better team won this series.
Congratulations to the Cleavland Cavaliers. You guys have a great basketball team playing as well as possible right now. Best of luck.
(Note to Cleavland fans invading our blog…you won a 2nd Round series against us, but Atlanta will always have that 95 World Championship on you!)
As the NBA season continues on without our Hawks, I’m sure we will all take time to reflect on the team’s season and future.I’m not mad at them, I’m very pleased they achieved their publicly stated goals this season, not too many teams are able to do that.
Well Done!
Go Hawks!!
Macaroni Tony
May 11th, 2009
10:22 pm
I am also proud of this team. When I first read that they was suppose to win only 31 games it was so belitting. We made it to the second round of the playoffs and I’m happy. We need to get rid of some of those bench riders. Speedy should be gone by now.
mykhalc
May 11th, 2009
10:23 pm
i’m proud of the team too!!! they under-achieved in the season due to coachin’ and advanced in the playoffs despite coachin’, not playin’ well as a team, and injuries!!! NOW fire WOODSON’s sorry a$$!!!!!
mykhalc
May 11th, 2009
10:25 pm
SPEEDY and WOODSON can do their exit interiew at the same time and make the same flight out!!!
Macaroni Tony
May 11th, 2009
10:27 pm
I heard Chuck and Kenny (who I don’t care for) talk after the game about who’s team is it JJ or JS. And what they really saying is one of them should be traded. The last time our team did a bad trade we didn’t make the playoffs for ten years. I think that we should keep both of them.
OldTimer
May 11th, 2009
10:33 pm
Way to Man up Hawks. You’re a bunch of baby cats.
Blast
May 11th, 2009
10:35 pm
Go Hawks Go!
Hey! Hawks had a great season, man. When was the last time they made the playoffs, and secured a high seed berth so early in the season? Win so many games, win a first round match up finally? They just came up against the best the NBA could offer. Cleveland is a far superior team, so Hawks have nothing to be ashamed about. I would have love for them to win at least just one game, but the Cavs are just that good. And I pick them to win the title.
It gets interesting now. And it all falls on GM Rick Sund. The TNT crew made some worth while analysis. Who’s team is the Hawks? Is it Joe, or Josh’s team? And on my own, is it Bibby? I garner to say that this off season, Hawks chatter is going to be even more fun than last year when we only took Boston to 7 in the first round.
Big learning experience for Hawks and management in this series. I believe it exposed Hawk’s defects, which fans on this blog knew about all along, to the nation. Now, lets’ see what Sund is gonna do about it!
Go Hawks, Go! Still love Ya!
Now maybe those pesky, no-job-no-life Cleveland fans will leave our blog alone!
SWAT Native
May 11th, 2009
10:37 pm
Chuck and Kenny (and C Webb) are some of the “experts” I was talking about. I got mad at halftime seeing how they couldn’t wait to clown the Hawks (”get the fishing gear ready”). I’m not listening to anything more they say.
I’m still waiting for C Webb to acknowledge that if he had given Bibby any help against the Lakers he might have a ring of his own right now. Never mind the bonehead timeout he called in the final four.
SamIMeanRod From CollegeParkIMeanDaSwats
May 11th, 2009
10:39 pm
Oooopsie! Looksie like our resident resident of College Park/Da Swats finally slipped up and lost track of when he posted as Sam and when he posted as Rod!
A couple blogs ago, “Rod from College Park” posted this:
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!
Today, MJ3 called “Sam” out for that comment and “Sam” responded without refuting. Whoops! So now “Rod/Sam” can no longer run from the fact that he/she/it is indeed a single person.
And now that that’s settled, onto the offseason!
niremetal
May 11th, 2009
10:42 pm
I’m seriously waiting with bated breath to see what Bibby and Joe have to say after tonight. Whether they speak words of confidence about Woody might go a long way towards determining whether Woody stays or goes…
Please, both of you – call the man out.
bigdave
May 11th, 2009
10:43 pm
im telling ya SWAT…
it trips me out how they cant wait to clown Josh or somebody… but in their “expert” analysis they never say anything about how Bibby’s defense stinks… you know why.. cause they are a bunch of nut riders.. they are on a buddy buddy system.. front runners… they give acclaim to guys who they like and kick it with from time to time…
they dont know anything about the Hawks, work next door, yet feel they are qualified to create some time of Joe v. Josh war…
ha! folk crazy…
bigdave
May 11th, 2009
10:45 pm
niremetal…
been waiting to, Bron just left the podium… are u watching ESPN news..?
SWAT Native
May 11th, 2009
10:49 pm
bigdave,
The good news is that no one in the Hawks front office is paying attention to them either. I still say that Kenny’s still mad that they hired Woody instead of him.
Blast
May 11th, 2009
10:49 pm
If I were Sund, Hawks core the next two years would be: Bibby, Joe Johnson, Josh Smith, Horford. Build around them, get the necessary pieces. I would keep Zaza, and Flip off the bench. Anybody else is trade bait, including Acie if Woody will not play him. (I expect Woody to be back.)Trade Marvin if he asks for too much. Trade Marvin anyway, whether he signs for the cheap or not. He is too injury prone.
I’m still a Joe fan. He did not have a great playoff series this year, but it’s easy to forget what he did last year in only seven games. And Joe said it right. It’s about what have you done for me lately, not what you did for me last year. We should remember that without Joe’s 21 points per game this season, Hawks would not have even smelled the playoff.
I just don’t think Joe is a no. 1 scoring option for the Hawks. I think he should be no. 2. Which means the Hawks have to get another superstar, or create one in Josh Smith. And I have said it before. If Josh can get his act together, can he be the difference maker the Hawks need for Joe to shake loose?
niremetal
May 11th, 2009
10:50 pm
bigdave,
Nah, been watching Mavs-Nuggets. I doubt they’ll show anything, but the ASG Youtube channel usually posts the post-game conferences within an hour or two after each playoff game…
Macaroni Tony
May 11th, 2009
10:52 pm
I think that we a new coach and I’ve blogged about it for years but we need some veteran players also. I’ll take that, along with resigning Zaza and Flip. I would trade Mo Evans.
Melvin
May 11th, 2009
10:53 pm
Niremetal, thanks. I always felt those guys had more capital than many on the blog believes and said a few times on the Hack blog in the past.
SWAT Native
May 11th, 2009
10:56 pm
You guys should watch NBA TV. They show all the press conferences. Woody made some good comments about the year the Hawks had and how he told them that they shouldn’t hang their heads. He said he wished that the Hawks had been healthy and it might have been a different series. Bibby was standup and said he didn’t play well tonight, but in the end they got beat by a great team.
richbrave
May 11th, 2009
11:02 pm
Well hell, both my prediction and my wish have gone aglimmering. At least the BRAVES kept their unbeaten streak against SANTANA.
richbrave
May 11th, 2009
11:04 pm
O.K. HAWKS fans. Look to the draft. Next up MAY 19 lottery selections for the WIZARDS. You guys don’t have that fan elixer this year. WIZARDS get the third pick and take HASHEEM THABEET.
Ken Strickland
May 11th, 2009
11:04 pm
CLEVELAND.COM-You say you live in Cleveland, WOW, do I feel sorry for you. It’s obvious you’re not accustomed to success, but with teams like the Browns and Indians, that’s understandable. Lebron James and his teammates have represented the city of Cleveland and it’s fans with class. It’s too bad you silly Cleveland fans are too childish and immature to return the favor. YOU’RE EMBARRASSING YOUR TEAM AND THE PROFESSIONISM THEY’VE DISPLAYED WITH YOUR SILLINESS.
niremetal
May 11th, 2009
11:10 pm
Woody’s press conference up:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CWvKnKXAuc0
Blast
May 11th, 2009
11:17 pm
Kenny Smith looks too tight for his suit on national tv.
The Truth
May 11th, 2009
11:18 pm
OUR CLEVELAND GUEST CAN GO HOME NOW!!!!!!!!!
JUST REMEMBER THIS; THE SAME PEOPLE YOU MEET GOING UP, YOU MEET THE SAME PEOPLE COMING DOWN. SINCE YOU WERE THE TOP SEED IN THE NBA, UNLESS YOU WIN THE CHAMPIONSHIP, YOU HAVEN’T DONE ANYTHING YET. YOU HAVE JUST MET EXPECTATION BY BEATING THE HAWKS. WIN THE CHAMPIONSHIP AND I’LL BE IMPRESS; AND PLEASE DON’T GET UPSET BY ANY OF YOUR NEXT OPPONENTS, BECAUSE AS BAD AS WE FEEL ABOUT OUR LOSS, YOU WOULD CERTAINLY FEEL EVEN WORST.
HAVE A NICE FLIGHT
Big Ray
May 11th, 2009
11:28 pm
“If I do anything more than what I did tonight, we win this game,” Bibby said. “I didn’t shoot the ball well. I do anything and there is a good chance we come out on top.”
Now THAT is taking responsibility. Nice comment by Bibby…
A Tribe Called Quest
May 11th, 2009
11:31 pm
I have been very harsh on this team recently, but I will take a step back now:
1) This team is not far off from going to the finals
2) If Woodson is here for the next few years, as it should seem, we need to get him a true post presence.
3) I do NOT want to overpay for Bibby. He should take less money to stay here, definitely sacrificing money so we can sign other players. I’d like JJ’s extension to have the same stipulations.
4) Acie Law has no future here with Woodson as head coach
5) Marvin is a VERY solid man defender. If he could’ve played 40 mpg with his defense on LeBron, we would’ve won at least 1 game, although the blowouts in Cleveland would’ve probably still occurred
6) We’ve had enough playoff experience now and we have had this core together long enough now that we should start winning on the road. This means winning vs. NYK in February and Miami in the 1st round
7) We need Flip and ZaZa
————————-
7) So here are my plans:
1a) Resign Bibby for cheap (21 mill/3 yr)
2a) Resign ZaZa and Flip for 24 mill/4 years and 9 mill/3yrs
3a) Dangle a package of Smoove, Law & Mo + Pick / Marvin for Bosh or Amare. This is a business. Smoove is getting better, but we need a surefire post player if we want to contend for the finals the next 3 years. Look what Cleveland and Boston did. They realized that LB23 and Pierce had no one around them, so they added a nice piece to put next to them
4a) We need Sund to be proactive and working the phones. If he just resigns everyone and we are over the cap next year, I will be VERY pissed off.
GO HAWKS
mykhalc
May 11th, 2009
11:32 pm
that’s how leaders do it!!!
Melvin
May 11th, 2009
11:32 pm
You gotta like Bibby for making this statement below. Notice how he used “I” instead of “WE”.
“If I do anything more than what I did tonight, we win this game,” Bibby said. “I didn’t shoot the ball well. I do anything and there is a good chance we come out on top.”
Bibby made just 1-of-6 shots, a 3-pointer. He had just one assist.
I guess we can expect to see Bibby in a Hawks uniform and Woody controling the sidelines next year…
“It’s not my decision to make,” Bibby said. “I told them before, I love it here. … I definitely want to come back. I love the coaching staff, love the team, love the city.”
Count coach Mike Woodson as being in Bibby’s corner.
“I would love to have him back next year,” Woodson said. “Mike Bibby is a big part of what we did this season. He came over last year and we don’t make the playoffs without Mike. We don’t win 47 games this year and sew up the fourth spot and host the first round at Philips Arena without Mike. I would love to have Mike back.”
Asked how important it was to have Bibby back, Johnson said. “Very important. We went to the playoffs two years in a row together. We won a series. I’m looking forward to having him back.”
KevinA
May 11th, 2009
11:39 pm
I predicted 42 to 45 wins. Beat my expectation. I hoped for a first round win and got it. Next year I will expect 47 to 52 wins and a secound round win. This prediction will change when Sund knows what money he has to work with. Then we will know what we will have to work with. Let us prey the owners will invest in this rising team.
Najeh Davenpoop
May 11th, 2009
11:40 pm
I just got back from the game. To be honest, I’m surprised there’s not more anger and disappointment being expressed on this blog. Let me say something: that was the worst game I’ve seen Cleveland play all year. LeBron wasn’t driving for most of the game, they were missing all kinds of open shots, and they certainly didn’t look like an NBA Finals team. On top of that, maybe most shockingly, the refs were actually calling the game in the Hawks’ favor most of the game, especially in the first half. The Hawks got away with a lot of ticky tack fouls for which the Cavs were called.
In short, the table was set for the Hawks to force a Game 5. Everything that is not normally in their control was going their way. So what did they do?
They blew it.
The Hawks’ effort and execution on both ends was pathetic. The usual complaints about Woody still apply, but this went beyond that. At least Horford can claim that his injury slowed him, because he was a non-factor. But Bibby was also nonexistent for most of the game. Joe Johnson gave a decent effort but he is clearly no match for LeBron James, and every time LeBron guarded him Joe was unable to get off a decent shot. Marvin looked like his wrist was still bothering him, and at this point I can’t even remember when he first suffered that injury. Flip Murray played like a rookie — his passing was awful, his shot selection was awful, and he was a complete liability in every way, shape, and form. Zaza’s 18-board effort in Game 4 against Miami is pretty far in the rearview at this point; Varejao and Ilgauskas were getting key offensive boards all game and there was nobody to stop them.
In short, in an elimination game the Hawks mailed it in. They lived up to what Charles Barkley said about them: one foot in Cancun, the other in Hartsfield. Nobody other than Josh Smith really looked like they wanted to be there. Josh was the one guy attacking the basket (most of the time), getting boards, getting his hands in passing lanes, and trying to make things happen.
I stayed until the end just to boo them off the court (of course only a few other people joined in because Atlanta fans are used to mediocrity). This game was beyond pathetic. I don’t know where the dude Stendec is, the one who usually posts over-the-top rants every time an Atlanta team loses, but if there ever was a game that deserved a Stendec rant it was this one.
A Tribe Called Quest
May 11th, 2009
11:41 pm
Well now that we lost 3 home games in the playoffs, maybe our players won’t be so overconfident next year.
BOSH TIME!
Najeh Davenpoop
May 11th, 2009
11:44 pm
As far as the rest of the playoffs, I’m pulling for the Cavs (my pre-playoff pick to win it all) and the Nuggets (exciting, deep, talented team with the best chance to beat the Lakers). A Cavs-Nuggets final would be entertaining as hell.
Oh yeah, and I hope the Hawks are watching this Mavs-Nuggets game and seeing how a team is supposed to play down 3-0 at home. Credit the Mavs from battling back from a double-digit deficit to make this a close game.
Props to Bibby for taking personal responsibility, but I would any day exchange a couple of those pronouns for a couple of made 3’s.