We’ve got (a few) answers
Good afternoon, all-
Thanks for your patience. I kind of ended up taking the long way back from the arena because I had to run an errand, and then lunch, then transcribing and now the blog.
Some Mike Woodson material:
He thinks the Celtics are the best team in the league, better than they were two years ago when they won the title.
The psyche question – “The Lakers, they’re the champs until somebody takes it from them. But I think this team has got a legitimate chance to win. To come in here and try to win a game would be huge for our team. It would give us some huge confidence in terms of the season and going from there. It’s not going to be easy. … We’ve got to play a perfect game to come out of here with a win.”
My thoughts. I wouldn’t go crazy parsing “to come in here and try to win a game would be huge,” as opposed to saying, “to come in here and win a game would be huge.” That was just the way he said it. What I found interesting was that he thinks his team has to play perfect to win.
Zaza Pachulia put it well, calling it “important” to win. “You’ve got to beat this kind of team. I’m not saying every time, but you’ve got to steal a game, especially on the road. The next step, to build on the things we did last year, this is it. This is the kind of game you have to win.”
Woodson on minutes distribution against the Knicks. (In order, Joe Johnson 43:51, Al Horford 41:31, Josh Smith 39:44, Mike Bibby 34:37, Jamal Crawford 26:58, Marvin Williams 21:54, Mo Evans 21:52. As many of you noted, Teague got 1:34) Basically, he said that Johnson and Horford were the ones who were unusually high.
He played Horford long because he got hot in the second half. He didn’t play Joe Smith (1:31) because New York’s small-ball style of play would have created mismatches in the Knicks’ favor. As for Teague, “I elected not to play him. Jeff’s going to play. The most important thing is we won. That’s what you’ve got to look at. Jeff’s minutes will come.”
(I think this is a pretty valid point. Eight games in, they’re 6-2. You could certainly argue that talking this early about minutes is nitpicky.)
I will say this – Woodson likes him and has very high hopes for him.
Said Woodson, “He’s just got to be ready to play when we put him in there, and he will.”
As for coming at Boston with a different strategy, he said, “I don’t think we can get away from too much of what we do.” He made the point that his team played Boston well last year, losing three games by a combined 10 points, and the last by 12. Obviously, how Crawford changes the dynamics of the series will be interesting. (Of course, Kevin Garnett missed the last two games with his knee injury)
On Marvin
As I noted in a post to the last blog, Williams spent maybe 30 minutes after the shootaround shooting. He took mid-range jumpers, free-throws and 3-pointers. He was working pretty hard – he was drenched by the time he was done.
He didn’t sound very worried about his numbers, saying it’s early, but, obviously, he was aware enough to stay after to shoot, which he said he does periodically if he feels he’s getting out of rhythm.
He made mention that he thought part of it was getting fewer shots – 6.9 per game this year compared to 10.2 last season and 11.5 the season before that. (This did not come across as a complaint.)
Mostly, what he kept going back to was that he was just trying to get his rhythm back and work on his mechanics to shoot his shot the same way each time.
He said the contract didn’t have anything to do with it, that the time to feel pressure was last year, when he was playing for his next contract.
Said Williams, “We’ve got enough guys to score. I’m never worried about me scoring personally or whatnot. There’s a lot of guys that can score on this team. If everybody comes in and does their part defensively and rebounds, it’s fine.”
Anyway, that’s about all I’ve got. I gotta get cracking on the notebook and get over to the arena. Hope this is of interest to you. Thanks again for all of the questions, and I apologize I couldn’t hit more. I’ll see if I can get to a few more before the tip.
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413 comments Add your comment
Najeh Davenpoop
November 13th, 2009
10:35 pm
Great crossover, but Josh has to finish that.
Melvin
November 13th, 2009
10:35 pm
Dang Josh, how you missed that layup after you broke KG ankles…
The Hawksta
November 13th, 2009
10:35 pm
Nobody saw this coming!
hawks_4_life
November 13th, 2009
10:35 pm
SMOOOVVVVVEEE WITH THE CROSSOVER ON PIERCE…..TOO BAD HE DIDNT FINISH
The Hawksta
November 13th, 2009
10:36 pm
Brilliant!!!!
BONE
November 13th, 2009
10:37 pm
LMAO Marvin hardly played
kwooden1
November 13th, 2009
10:37 pm
GREAT WIN!!!!!
vava74
November 13th, 2009
10:38 pm
yeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!
bigdave
November 13th, 2009
10:38 pm
aye… Woody coached his ass off
hawks_4_life
November 13th, 2009
10:38 pm
Question
Who thinks now that our frontcourt is too small to compete now? We beat the blazers, celts all frontcourts that are considered bigger, and we completely outplayed them.
Blast
November 13th, 2009
10:39 pm
Hubie gave the Hawks a lot of love, man.
Hawks showed their mettle tonight. Beat Boston at home? Who would have thunked it? Hawks 7-2 right now, and no injuries! Wow!!!!!!!
Ernest
November 13th, 2009
10:39 pm
Great win by the Hawks!!!
Najeh Davenpoop
November 13th, 2009
10:40 pm
It goes without saying, but this is probably one of the best games I’ve seen these Hawks play. They proved a lot today, but one of the biggest things to me was how they DOMINATED the glass against a much bigger team. The length posed by the C’s was no match for the athleticism and effort of the Hawks. If they bring it with that intensity they can beat anyone in any way they choose, no matter how tall their opponents are.
And props to Woodson for coaching a great game too.
The Hawksta
November 13th, 2009
10:40 pm
Ken you gotta show the energy from the locker room! I know they are feeling themselves after that win!
Big Ray
November 13th, 2009
10:41 pm
Hell yeah, hell yeah, HELL YEAH!
I don’t care what ANYBODY says, we TOOK that game from Boston, in Boston, and we are on the cusp of turning that corner. That might have been the first part of that turn, in fact.
I LOVE it. Way to go Hawks!!!!
Blast
November 13th, 2009
10:42 pm
The Boston Garden must be shell shocked right now!
Melvin
November 13th, 2009
10:42 pm
Good win. Players played great and Woody coach a good game…
Big Ray
November 13th, 2009
10:42 pm
That’s funny. Where are those Celtics fans that usually raid our blogs? OH…wiping their noses….ha!
Big Ray
November 13th, 2009
10:43 pm
Co-sign Najeh and Melvin .
terrell barron
November 13th, 2009
10:44 pm
Gotta give a shout out to Ole Woodrow. He finally realized that he has a bench. He even put in Collins for crying out loud. Good job tonight Woody.
Ramon
November 13th, 2009
10:45 pm
Woody deserves all the props tonight! His substitutions kept the team fresh throughout.
Big Ray
November 13th, 2009
10:46 pm
Woody made the right moves out there. The guys stepped it up every chance they had, and never let up, mistakes and all. Boston never could smugly pull away, like they used to in the past. They’ll be lookin’ for blood next time we meet up. Well somebody call the Red Cross, because they lost a lot tonight.
Blast
November 13th, 2009
10:46 pm
Anybody care to question the Jamal Crawford acquisition right now for Acie and change?
terrell barron
November 13th, 2009
10:46 pm
Question fellas????? Did Woody impress Sund enough tonight to warrant an extension?
Big Ray
November 13th, 2009
10:47 pm
Agreed. Damn good job by Woody. Great use of his bench bigs. Perfect injection of Smith and Zaza at the right times.
Ramon
November 13th, 2009
10:48 pm
Terrell, no he coached a great game. But he have to show that over an extended period of time for me. If he can coach like this against the Heat when they come to town, and in Denver next week. Then maybe so.
Najeh Davenpoop
November 13th, 2009
10:51 pm
It wasn’t just the substitutions. I don’t know how much of this falls on Woody’s game planning and how much falls on the backcourt, but they did a great job giving the front court looks in the post today. Even if it’s not an even split between the guards and the forwards, involving those guys in the offense makes it easier on the guards and keeps the opposing team honest. I would think Woody deserves at least some credit for game planning to involve Josh Smith and Al Horford in the offense.
BONE
November 13th, 2009
10:51 pm
I’ll give woody his props. He finally coached a great game.
The Truth
November 13th, 2009
10:52 pm
Hey Big Ray
How to you spell a good ole fashion azzz whipping?
Blast
November 13th, 2009
10:52 pm
No. Woody does not deserve an extension yet until he shows what he can do in the playoffs.
Big Ray
November 13th, 2009
10:53 pm
Teague definitely wasn’t ready for this level of competition, but I like how Woody threw him in that fire anyway. Lesson learned, I’m sure. Good burn for the kid, and good timing by Woody for giving it to him in the first quarter. He would have hurt us playing late in the game, when we needed poise and stability (Bibby).
Keep this up and he’ll move up the pecking order for COY. Oh hell, then we’ll have to throw Samuel a party!
Hey….with this many positive comments about Woody, poor ol’ Truth Serum won’t know what to do!
mark
November 13th, 2009
10:55 pm
Great Win! Maybe we are for real!
mark
November 13th, 2009
10:56 pm
What’s up Ray! Maybe we can sneak into the Eastern Conference finals this year for the first time in franchise history.
Big Ray
November 13th, 2009
10:57 pm
Terrell Barron ,
If there was one game of the season that Woody would want himself judged by, this would be it, I’m sure. However, if you’re making a decision that will span for years, off of one game, then something’s wrong. It better be game 7 of the Conference Finals or something…The record speaks for itself. I like what Woody did tonight. But I doubt Sund is foolish enough to base things off of one game. What if we turn around and lose by 25 the very next game? Does this game make up for he inexcusable whipping we took from Charlotte? See what I mean….If this single game warrants an extension, then the loss to the Bobcats warrants a firing. Needless to say, I don’t subscribe to either extreme.
Truth ,
I spell it 97-86! So much for one of the big three being 10-20 points better than us, at least on that night. And it was no fluke. We flat-out beat them.
Big Ray
November 13th, 2009
10:58 pm
What’s up, Mark !
Hawks Fan In New Orleans
November 13th, 2009
11:00 pm
GREAT ROAD WIN against The Leprechauns!!! We reallt sent a message to all teams in the east – that we are the baby beasts and we are quickly maturing into Tha Beasts. Total annihilation on the boards made for an abundance of 2nd chance points. I great quick road trip. Let’s handle our business in the A against the Hornets and we are rollin!!!
Obrien,
I agree with you on The Hornets firing B. Scott so soon. I think the teams failures lay more in how it was constructed and being 13million over the luxury tax threshold more so than bad coaching. There are no ballers on the squad outside of Chris Paul. CP and B. Scott were trying to squeeze molded, cruddy and dry lemons into lemonade and they have been the past few years – the juice just ran out – The GM is next IMO.
I wish we could bring B. Scott in to coach this squad – B. Scott wanted more team depth but the GM failed to provide it. Woody cried for more depth, Sund provided it but coach won’t play his bench.
That being said, let’s upset PP and Celts tonight baby!!!
bigdave
November 13th, 2009
11:00 pm
out the corner of my eye… my goodness Bynum has become a beast…
Hawks Fan In New Orleans
November 13th, 2009
11:01 pm
Disregard the last part of my post as that was typed prior to the tipoff.
Najeh Davenpoop
November 13th, 2009
11:02 pm
For those of you who don’t know, Chris Paul was carried off with an ankle sprain tonight and will be out at least a week. This, of course, means the Hawks will be facing a CP3-less Hornets squad tomorrow in Philips. Should be an easy game, but they need to guard against the letdown coming off the huge win.
Looking ahead, the schedule doesn’t get much easier — Portland, Miami, a surprisingly competitive Houston team, New Orleans again, and then Orlando are on the schedule next. I’d love to see if the Hawks can continue with this kind of intensity against those teams. None of those games will be easy, but every one of those teams — yes, even Orlando — is beatable if the Hawks play with the unselfishness and intensity they did tonight.
mark
November 13th, 2009
11:02 pm
Ray I will admit Josh looks like an allstar and maybe waiting on his UPSIDE has paid off! What do you think?
Hawks Fan In New Orleans
November 13th, 2009
11:04 pm
Chris Paul is injured – looks pretty good in Hawksville tomorrow.
Chris is also p-ssed they fired Byron Scott without consulting him – I won’t be surprised if he requests a trade.
cp
November 13th, 2009
11:05 pm
Great win tonight. The bench came up huge.. Joe just has to stop the dribble dribble dribble shoot and learn to pass out of the double team better. We have to follow up this huge win with another. No let down against the Hornets.
JSS_62
November 13th, 2009
11:07 pm
The pundits at ESPN must be having a stroke, oh, and Jeff Schultz too!!!
bigdave
November 13th, 2009
11:07 pm
nba tv has Joe on..
Ken Sugiura
November 13th, 2009
11:09 pm
pretty impressive W. i’ll hopefully have a game story with quotes up on the website by 12:30.
O'Brien
November 13th, 2009
11:13 pm
Great win tonight. and Woody coached a good game. If Woody can give us more well coached games like this, he wont have to worry about an extension.
Some comments:
1) JJ still dribble dribble, dribble, shoot too much sometimes.
2) Marvin only played 23 minutes, and scored 6 points. Woody will go with the Bibby/Crawford/JJ lineup a lot, so Marvin’s minutes will continue to go down unless he has an impact on the game. And 9 games in, he hasnt.
3) I like the fact that Woody left Teague in when he did, although Teague was messing up.
4) Lets beat the Hornets in ATL tomorrow night (plus CP3 probably wont be playing).
Again, good job players and coaches.
Grandad
November 13th, 2009
11:21 pm
Just got here guys and can’t stay long:
I’ve been consistently critical of Woody and therefore it’s only fair
to give him his due tonight. He managed to get Teague in early so that when crunch time came around he didn’t have to worry about that. When we ran the flex in the 1st half it created alot of scoring opportunities inside for our young bigs. (I still cringe like tonight
when we went iso Joe late and quit moving) But, tonight is not for critique. We should all enjoy this benchmark win. Mrs. Grandad couldn’t
understand why this game was so important. She said they’ll still be playing in the summer. But as reg. season games go, this was big. Once again kudos to Woody on a great win. Yawl young folks ought to go meet
the team @ the airport. One last note, at least Woody does not cry and pout like Doc tonight when he started to realize he was gonna get beat.
I’m outa here for now…great job Hawks…Now GO DAWGS !
KevinA
November 13th, 2009
11:30 pm
Wow Ken Sugiura checks in and has promise of more. Give the man the job.
Got to love this win.
Once more we showed balance between the front court and back court. Al and Josh are pushing JJ for MVP for team leader. Jamal could make an argument right benind them. What can you say about Bibby – he came through in the clutch time after time.
Joe smith and ZaZa were – extreamly efficient and played steller roles. A Friggen great team effort. Great night for the Hawks and Hawk fans.
Big Ump
November 13th, 2009
11:35 pm
Ramon read your 8;36 pm post and 10:48 post. Changed of mine (huh)
Traceman
November 13th, 2009
11:51 pm
Great job guys! Great effort all the way around from players and coaches.
THAT is the D that I know we are capable of playing! Paul Pierce got his but most of the shots he made were contested. I hate him but that guy can play. Still, everyone else was kept in check.
Like most of you, I wish JJ would pass out of the double team quicker and I wish he would pound the ball a lot less but he still had a solid game. He matched Pierce’s point output while shooting a respectable 9-21 despite facing a double team most of the night and great man to man D from Pierce when he wasn’t being doubled.
Also, the fact that he was being doubled left Crawford going man to man against Ray Allen in the 4th, a total mismatch. Glad to see that Woody was willing to go away from JJ and go to Crawford in that situation. Crawford was able to consistently get to the line and he made a couple of huge shots. Crawford shot the ball poorly overall (4-15) but he made the ones that mattered most. Teams are going to have a HARD time defending us with both those guys on the court. If Bibby and Crawford can continue to hold their own on D in the 4th (they have for the most part so far), we are going to be hard to deal with.