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
le brown james THE KING OF ATLANTA
May 10th, 2009
4:18 pm
Neverthelees, HAWKS, “FIGHT ON!!”. Play your game and “SHOCK THE WORLD!!”
WE ARE WITH YOU!!!!
LET’S GO HAWKS!!!! LET’S GO HAWKS!!!! LET’S GO HAWKS!!!!!
SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!
This is a SECRET from a HAWK FAN. TELL EVERYBODY!!!!!!!!!
………………………”ATLANTA HAWKS, BOOM-BYE-YEAH!!!!”……….
…………………………”SHOCK THE WORLD!!!!”………………..
haha easy men you can have a hart attack, take it easy, is the king your team is facing now is not their fault to be such a bad team.
ILL-logical
May 10th, 2009
4:18 pm
The best thing to come out of the Hawks playoff run is the economic impact on Atlanta’s beleagured hospitality industry, especially downtown.
Otherwise, we are at a crossroads . Where does this team go from here?
Do they retain the current coach; a critical issue because you can’t retain/attract players without a coach/system in place. And if you retain Woodson,which is my guess, do you retain the system that has been exposed by the national media?Or do you tweak the roster?
Progress is great and kudos to all but now the real work is managing the expections raised by the teams success.
darrell starks
May 10th, 2009
4:26 pm
MY TOP TEN PLAYER IN THE NBA.
1.Jordan 2.Wilt 3.Majic 4.Oscar 5.Shak 6.Bird 7.Kobe 8.Lebron 9.DR.J 10.Russell
le brown james THE KING OF ATLANTA
May 10th, 2009
4:42 pm
MY BOTTOM TEN PLAYER IN THE NBA
1.j smoove 2.j jonhson 3.m bibby 4. a horford 5.m willians 6.z pachulia 7.m evans 8.f murray 9.a law 10.s jones.
wang dang doodle
May 10th, 2009
4:43 pm
le brown james THE KING OF LIGHT BEERS FOR GAY MEN.
And…you’re gay!
le brown james THE KING OF ATLANTA
May 10th, 2009
4:46 pm
thank you gay wang dang doodle.
party hard and die
May 10th, 2009
4:46 pm
Let’s see a top 10 and bottom 10 list for coaches next.
My money’s on Woodson as the worst since he can’t even spell “offense.”
Great guy, but he needs to be fired ASAP.
JustanObserver
May 10th, 2009
4:47 pm
Just a thought to the effect that maybe this series is a validation of the old adage that the Mills of God Grid Slowly but They Grind Exceeding Fine. Maybe all of the bad calls against the Hawks are just The Man’s way of making up for all of those Maddox and Glavine pitches which were called strikes in the ‘95 series when the television camera proved they were mostly three to four inches wide of the outside corner.
wang dang doodle
May 10th, 2009
4:48 pm
Anytime, big guy. Same time and place next time?
(under the bleachers at the Jake on the Lake; you bring the vasoline and apple sauce)
wang dang doodle
May 10th, 2009
4:49 pm
You’re saying all these no calls against the Hawks are Maddox’s fault?
Congratulations…you’re gay.
le brown james THE KING OF ATLANTA
May 10th, 2009
4:54 pm
we pay the ref so what
WHO DIED...??
May 10th, 2009
5:00 pm
le brown james THE KING OF ATLANTA = pole smoker
niremetal
May 10th, 2009
5:00 pm
I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again:
I’d give both my arms to have a player like Shane Battier
le brown james THE KING OF ATLANTA
May 10th, 2009
5:05 pm
thank you who died that’s a compliment.
Los Angeles Lakers Front Office
May 10th, 2009
5:05 pm
When you say “arms,” do you really mean Marvin Williams?
If so, throw in a few basketballs and I’m pretty sure we have a deal.
Think we can get this deal done before Houston’s next game? okplzthx
Dee White How Hard
May 10th, 2009
5:08 pm
Playoff basketball is BORING!!!
Especially when the Hawkettes lose by double digits…nasty!!
No wonder I won such a weak division!
le brown james THE KING OF ATLANTA
May 10th, 2009
5:09 pm
For a good time, call 1-877-4-DOO-DOO.
$5 for the first minute.
$10 for each additional minute.
le brown james THE KING OF ATLANTA
May 10th, 2009
5:14 pm
haha that’s funny,but that wont’ stop the king tomorrow night to finish your sorry a## team in 4.
A Tribe Called Quest
May 10th, 2009
5:24 pm
Woodson says we can’t double-team because LeBron is shooting 3’s a few feet behind the line.
WELL IDIOT IF WE DIDN’T HAVE 5″3 SF MO EVANS GIVING LEBRON 8 FEET OF SPACE, MAYBE WE COULD CONTAIN HIM BETTER. ITS PATHETIC WE HAVE GUYS LIKE SOLO AND MARIO AS ACTUAL BENCH PLAYERS.
EVERY SINGLE YEAR SEKOU WRITES THAT SOLO HAS BEEFED UP 20 POUNDS. WTF? THE GUY COULDN’T BENCH PRESS A 20″ FLAT SCREEN TV.
Hoppin' Bruh
May 10th, 2009
6:00 pm
I just got my 2009-2010 season tickets.
Looks like I won’t be buying toilet paper for a while!!!
A Tribe Called Quest
May 10th, 2009
6:01 pm
It’s absolutely amazing that the Rockets play without their best players T-Mac, Yao, [Mutombo], and Ron Artest had an awful game, yet they won big, AND they score 99. When is the last time the Hawks scored 99 and Joe and Smoove didn’t show up? When’s the last time Bibby drove past a player for a layup?
Can we please get a quicker point guard?
Hoppin' Bruh
May 10th, 2009
6:21 pm
When’s the last time we REALLY showed up?
Sautee
May 10th, 2009
6:23 pm
Tribe,
We HAVE a quicker point guard, but Woody won’t play him.
Sautee
May 10th, 2009
6:27 pm
niremetal,
I don’t know about giving BOTH arms for Battier, but I’d give my LEFT arm to be ambidextrous!
cee
May 10th, 2009
7:30 pm
SAY WHAT U WANT ABOUT THE REFS YOU CANT DEFEND SOMEBODY WHOSE MAKING FADE AWAY 3 POINTERS FROM DAMN NEAR HALF COURT THAT LEBRON IS ONE HELL OF A BALLER I WENT TO THE GAME THE HAWKS JUS DONT HAVE IT AND THE CAVS DO
cee
May 10th, 2009
7:32 pm
GET YOUR BROOMS READY ATLANTA I SMELL A SWEEP
le brown stain
May 10th, 2009
7:51 pm
I is retawded! I lives in Clevalands and likes LeBrons nuts! Im on thems all the times. He the only thing in Clevelans, it is a crappy city. Thank God for LeBron! Otherwise I realize I live in Clevelands
A Tribe Called Quest
May 10th, 2009
7:51 pm
” I’m going to push our guys to make sure they don’t throw in the towel. Because if we force another game … anything can happen.”
Woodson saying the guys are going to throw in the towel? Wow that says a lot about our team.
It’s absolutely amazing that the Rockets play without their best players T-Mac, Yao, [Mutombo], and Ron Artest had an awful game, yet they won big, AND they score 99. When is the last time the Hawks scored 99 and Joe and Smoove didn’t show up? When’s the last time Bibby drove past a player for a layup?
Can we please get a quicker point guard? Sautee, Acie lacks serious basketball ability and a jumpshot to be effective
Sautee
May 10th, 2009
8:06 pm
Tribe, I’ll disagree with whether we’ve seen enough of Acie to decide that.
He certainly didn’t look like he lacked ability when he went for 20, 7, and 6 against Cleveland earlier in the year. In like 23 minutes.
Nor did he seem to lack ability at A&M.
Give him regular time and his jumpshot WILL return. And he has plenty of quicks.
The Truth
May 10th, 2009
8:29 pm
As I watched the recorded Sat game (several times now), it’s clear to me that despite Lebron’s monster game, we still had our chances to win that game. But for us to have won, we needed a collected team effort and outstanding individually performances from JJ, Bibby and Josh. That did not happen. For those with short memories, we were in this game up until the 5:00 min mark in the 4th quarter. We were there. Here are key points that lead us to struggle the entire game:
Josh didn’t defend on weak side help very well. He was inconsistent at best. Donte West, Lebron and others had a field day blowing by their defenders and beating Josh. He did have one defensive game changing moment when he blocked Lebron lay-up but he could play good defense consistently.
Bibby played way too timid and was erected at times. We needed more scoring and better decision making from him. He only had 8 points and some critical turnovers. I was disappointed in the leader.
Back to Josh; He made many untimely bad offense decisions shooting and missing perimeter jumpers and 3’s when we desperately needed scoring inside. Woody begged his team to go inside and draw fouls but Josh defied him. I am sorry to say, this act alone was a major reason we could not recovery from Lebron scoring surges. The crowd started to boo him at the end when the game was decided. As much as I like Josh’s heart, his desire to be the hometown hero cause too much selfish plays with causeless disregard for the magnitude of this game.
As much as I have teased JJ soft games in this series, he did have one of his better games. But that still was not enough from our star player. He needed a monster game even with a bad ankle. At times, he still played timid and should have demanded the ball despite the double team. To Josh’s credit, perhaps some of those bad decisions to shoot those jumpers may have been because no one else would step up. Remember, great players must play great during desperate times. Joe is still not there yet. Despite some timely misses, Joe was not the weak link in this game.
Mo Evans was just a body on the floor for all it’s worth. He gave us nothing on offense and defense. Lebron had a field day. Woody made a bad decision to give him that much PT. I would have taken my chances with Marvin bad wrist over Mo. There are bench players and there are starters. Mo Evans shows you why he is a bench player. We must address this problem in off-season.
I am afraid that despite the successful season we have had, we may have been better off falling short of our goals this year. If we had fallen short, we would have the urgency to make major changes to upgrade during the off-season. Now, our second-round play-off appearance may have masked the underlining chemistry flaws this team still has. Some of our key players just don’t play at their best on this team and for this coach. We may have gotten the most mileage out of this lineup. With our success this year, The ASG is blinded and may not feel the need to make the critical changes to get us to the next level.
Barry
May 10th, 2009
8:38 pm
Point Blank. We need a center to let the other guys play their natural positions. We also need a mopre elusive guard. Joe is a straight up player. He is not elusive on the court. When he tries to be elusive, he is out of control. They play safe. Bibby is elusive but he rarely drives to the hoop with his elusiveness to make shots and/or dish out passes consistantly. Flip plays elusive and drives to the hoop. We need more wick, elusiove, defensive playing guards like this and a center. POINT BLANK.
A Tribe Called Quest
May 10th, 2009
8:52 pm
Sautee, I know he put up those numbers — I watched the entire game. Also, you fail to mention that those numbers were after the Cavs were up [at least] 20 and he was doing that against Cleveland benchwarmers like ATL’s own JJ Hickson and Darnell Jackson (if that’s even his name). I’ve salivated over Acie’s ability to get in the lane, but he seriously cannot shoot, and he and Duck can never friggin stay healthy. If we had Stuckey, we’d be on a whole different playing surface right now. I wanted Acie to succeed, but as some scout told Sekou in a blog earlier this year, BK drafted a PG that is NOT compatible with Woody’s style of play. Woodson likes the shooting PG’s like Tyronn Lue, and that’s why Woodson has publicly stated his infatuation with Bibby. Acie does not fit this mold, and would probably be better suited on Portland or some other team. I would really like to see us go after Raymond Felton.
As I said before, you do NOT need a superstar PG. Houston is paying Aaron Brooks minimum wage (seriously) and this guy is a freaking stud. I am in complete admiration of HOuston’s ability to destroy LAL at home without 2.5 of its best players (Artest did jack@$!@), yet we need JJ to put in 28 for us to beat any good teams — and we cannot win on the road anyway
A Tribe Called Quest
May 10th, 2009
8:53 pm
The NOT needing a superstar PG is in reference to overpaying for Bibby to stay here. Get an average PG like Raymond Felton, or try trade for T.J. Ford, who, along with Luis Scola, are the 2 most underrated players in the NBA
le brown james THE KING OF ATLANTA
May 10th, 2009
9:10 pm
don’t worry hawks fans next year your sorry team will miss the playoff and the pain will be less.
darrell starks
May 10th, 2009
9:32 pm
Rick Sund i no i have said keep woody only if we beat miami i change my mind because i realize that this is business and as long we continue to have woody as our coach every year we will be debating about what should we do as a team when it is obvious that its our coach and not the team we have the player but in a wrong system and sometime you have to make tough decision and this is one you have to make.
GO HAWKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!
rms
May 10th, 2009
9:46 pm
Sautee,
Concerning your statement about Acie being a quicker guard you better not let the local sportstalk radio guys hear you say that or they will mock you relentlessly for that
rms
May 10th, 2009
9:50 pm
Nobody seems to like the guy. Personally I would like to seem him given a fair chance if not here then somewhere else. No need to give up on him now and look foolish like Dallas does now with D. Harris
Hoops
May 10th, 2009
9:56 pm
Look guys, the Hawks have really improved over the past 5 years. They are getting close to being a top contender, but they are not in the upper core group of teams that can actually compete for the NBA Championship. The Lakers, the Cavs, the Celtics, maybe the Magic, but not the Hawks yet! What moves do we need to make during this off season, after we lose to the Cavs? I think JJ, Smooth, & Horford are the only players that we need to continue to build around. Bibby, Marvin, and all the other players are expendable for the right trade. I do like Flip Murray more and more as the season goes on.
What are some thoughts from other Hawks fans on this off season?
A Tribe Called Quest
May 10th, 2009
10:02 pm
Anyone notice how Flip hogs the ball at the end of every quarter? Yesterday at the end of the 3rd (I think), he took some awful shot and Smoove just dropped his shoulders. Flip needs to learn how to pass the ball.
rms, I have been an Acie supporter, but he can’t do much better than Flip/Bib have been doing. I’m not even sure he’s that good of a defender, either.
rms
May 10th, 2009
10:10 pm
Where is Samuel and his famous “Woodson=COY” banner????
The Truth
May 10th, 2009
10:21 pm
Exactly, Flip was responsible for the comeback in the 3rd quarter. But, for some reason, when we needed him to flip the switch in the 4th and score, he went passive. Good defense by Lebron had something to do with that but that hadn’t stop Flip in the pass. There were points in the 4th quarter when it seems no one wanted to shoot the ball. It ended up in Josh’s hand taking a bad jump shot. It clear in this game, Flip was not himself. But any great plays we get from Flip is a bonus based on the salary we pay him.
le brown james THE KING OF ATLANTA
May 10th, 2009
10:28 pm
hey everybody im so gay…i love riding lebrons nuts cuz they feel so damn gud…im actually from Atlanta but im jus one of those fair weather fans..hey you all should join me and the cavs on lebrons nuts cuz they are so smoooooovee!!!!
le brown james THE KING OF ATLANTA
May 10th, 2009
10:30 pm
I JUST REALIZED THAT THE HAWKS WANT US ALL TO BASH THEM SO THEY CAN COME AND WIN 4 STRAIGHT GAMES…..COMMON HAWKS I BELIEVE YAL CAN BEAT US CUZ WE SUCK AND LEBRON IS OVERRATED
rms
May 10th, 2009
11:03 pm
Not only does Flip hogs the ball but he causes turnovers when he drives to the lane and looses the ball and looks at the ref to bail him out and ends up looking all the more crazy. Yes, he has done some good things but take the ball out of his hands at the end of the quarter. I dont know what worse, watching Josh jack up jumpshots or watching Flip drive to the lane and loose the ball at the end of the quarter
huh
May 10th, 2009
11:06 pm
Stuckey is a bigger Law. He does not have a great jumper and is better when attacking the rim. Woodson loves a pg who can shoot so please explain to me why we would be better off with a pg who has the same problem as the one we have on the bench, cant shoot? Stuckey is a decent pg but lets not act like he is the next Chris Paul. I’m willing to bet Detroit wish they still had Billups….If you were reading any of SS past blogs you would have read when the scouts were praising Law for his defense and basically said he does not fit what Woodson wants his pg to do but he would be very effective in another system. Seeing how we have no system I cant say I disagree with the NBA scout….
I’m guessing Samuel will show up sooner or later and blame everyone but his best friend Woodson for this teams failures. According to him it has always been our terrible talent and not the great coaching of Woodson as to why team was not better sooner… I guess we improved every year because of the brilliant Woodson and not roster improvements or natural progression in play by the many young players we have..I might get flamed for this but whatever. Stotts might have done more with less talent than Woodson. When the team was gutted and we pretty much only had JT and Jackson the team played pretty well. Stotts could have gotten 47 wins and a trip to the playoffs if the owners were as patient with him as they are with Wooodson.
kwooden1
May 10th, 2009
11:17 pm
Couldn’t bring myself to blog after the game, just to messed-up to think logically.
I will start with the fact that Lebron has really taken another step forward. I haven’t watched a lot of his games this year, but clearly over the summer he’s improved, if not fixed his jumpshot. He was a very streaky shooter the last two years, but not any longer. I hope that JSmoove, Marvin and Al can look at his work ethic and improve to this summer. I think Lebron gets IT terms of working on his game and leading his team. I can’t comment on the refs, because I will never understand why its so hard to Call a Foul, maybe I have to ref a game myself to get some appreciation.
I was really impressed by the fight the HAWKS showed, hopefully that will transfer to great work in the summer. If they can pull out a game tomorrow night that will be great, but anymore than that is a miracle!
This summer is going to be very interesting because of the anticipated luxury tax level going down. I think the HAWKS should make a hard run for Amare, if they can’t get him. They should trade Marvin and some else for someone like Klieza or the “Birdman” from Denver. I like Klieza because he can shoot, but the “Birdman” can defend and rebound. Denver’s going to give “Birdman” another contract, but that might leave Klieza open. This is the summer to decide which small forward to keep Marvin or Josh. If the HAWKS keep both, their going to have to get a new offensive system. Either Woody goes or he needs to be on strict orders to push the ball and use the bench OR ELSE.
Keep fight’n GUYS
GO HAWKS!!!!!
Rollins Tree
May 10th, 2009
11:29 pm
Hey Sekou. Want your honest opinion……
Do you think Woodson will be back next year as head coach?
mykhalc
May 10th, 2009
11:46 pm
“I don’t know what we’ve got left,” Johnson said as he walked to his car after practice. “Hopefully, we’ll play with a little fire and not let them close it out on our home court. But I don’t know.”
Johnson’s uncertainty stems from the Hawks’ inability to sustain anything close to their customary level of play for more than a few minutes against the Cavaliers.
i’m sorry…but that’s NOT bein’ a leader to me!!!
“In this series we just haven’t made the adjustments,” Woodson said. “And you can blame it on the coach. I’ll take the heat for that. I think a lot of time it comes down to who wants it the most. And right now they’re beating us to the punch on pretty much everything that they want to do and what we want to do.”
not only can he f’n NOT coach, he can’t even SAY anythin’ different!! USELESS…PERIOD!!!
doc
May 11th, 2009
12:04 am
heh heh heh, myk glad to have you back. now where oh where is ole honest these days?
mykhalc
May 11th, 2009
12:12 am
DOC, i think you said it best in one of your posts…to para-phrase…’the we’s have to turn to I’s ‘. somebody…JJ…needs to separate himself into the I category!!