Bobcats at Hawks, AKA Here Comes Yet Another Gritty Opponent
Remember those stretches this season when the Hawks were running opponents off the floor? Forget it.
Here come the Bobcats Charlotte, who follow the Kings, who followed the Thunder. Different levels of talent among those teams. Similar levels of energy and effort.
The Bobcats allow the fewest points per game in the league. Adjust it by possessions, and it’s the same thing.
It won’t be easy for the Hawks to score. They tend not to like that. If they abandoned (or just failed to execute) the offensive plan at times against Oklahoma City and the Kings, it’s not hard to imagine them doing it more often against the Bobcats.
“We are going to have to grind for 48 minutes,” Woody said, “which is OK. Last year we didn’t have a lot of blowouts and we had to grind. That’s good. It helps keep guys on their toes. With blowouts, you start to take things for granted.”
The Hawks insist they aren’t doing that with the Bobcats. Of course, they said the same thing against the Thunder and Kings yet still lost focus for stretches. Maybe those Woody-Larry Brown-Stephen Jackson-Flip Murray connections will have them alert from the jump.
“They are a good team,” Smoove said of the Bobcats. “They are buying into that (toughness) philosophy. That’s how Larry Brown has his teams play. It’s going to be a fight.”
– You are concerned about this one. At Peachtree Hoops, hawksdawgs explains how the Bobcats tend to play with his emotions:
I did not circle this game as being a must watch game before the season started. Not because I thought the Bobcats were going to be bad but because the Bobcats make me cry. They find ways to eek out victories against the Hawks in the most painful way possible or they just beat the ever living crap out of Atlanta. Neither is good for my soul.
Blog commenter Astro Joe fears a Bobcats beatdown:
Anyone else concerned that Stephen Jackson, Gerald Wallace and Flip will come in tonight and punk us in our own gym? I am… I still think that we are a soft team. Charlotte may try to take our lunch money tonight and the Hawks will go whining to the refs (as opposed to fighting back). I have a nasty feeling that the Bobcats will wear their bully hats and we’ll be grousing about another heartless (effort).”
That was pretty much the theme of Woody’s post-practice speech to the team Thursday (regarding the Bobcats coming in straight gangsta, not about his team being soft). So the Hawks are aware, at least.
– Woody’s desk was piled with letters from an elementary school class in Charlotte asking him to vote Wallace as an All-Star reserve. Nifty PR move.
– The fans loved Zaza’s dunks the other night. But he’s from the leave-’em-wanting-more school: “If I do it every time, then it’s not as exciting anymore,” he said.
– The league announced the All-Star starters on Thursday night. The reserves, voted on by coaches, will be revealed next Thursday.
John Schuhmann at NBA.com thinks J.J. makes it, Al Horford gets a “tragic shaft” (hey, hey, easy) and Smoove is a “wildcard.”
– Talk amongst yourselves, Hawks fans.
MC
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237 comments Add your comment
Cavs rock
January 22nd, 2010
9:57 pm
Cavs destroy the lakers, Hawks barely survive against Bob’s cats.
Big Ray
January 22nd, 2010
9:58 pm
BONE ,
I don’t know what’s wrong with him. Really, I don’t. Lately he’s done that more and more, and he’s only missed. And most of them have been a good distance from the basket. He needs to cut that out, but hey, what do I know?
Anyway, Hawks win and it was due in large part to Crawford’s great help off the bench, and our frontcourt’s performance overall (especially in the second half).
BONE
January 22nd, 2010
9:59 pm
Enter your comments here
Michael in Dunwoody
January 22nd, 2010
9:59 pm
Cavs rock: How ’bout them Spurs?? Or should I just post a link to the Hastily Made Cleveland Tourism video? Nice town you got up there..
Sautee
January 22nd, 2010
10:01 pm
Ray, and Bone,
Remember, it’s a contract year.
Cavs rock
January 22nd, 2010
10:02 pm
Atlanta cant hold a candle up to the history of Cleveland, except for racism. Some town!!!!!
Cleveland is one of the old, real American cities.
Blast
January 22nd, 2010
10:03 pm
As far as I know, Cleveland has the highest unemployment history in the country. So u wanna come up here and talk some smack?
Cavs rock
January 22nd, 2010
10:06 pm
Based on the Morgan Quitno Press 2008 national crime rankings, Cleveland ranked as the 7th most dangerous city in the nation among US cities with a population of 100,000 to 500,000 and the 11th most dangerous overall.[139] Violent crime from 2005 to 2006 was mostly unchanged nationwide, but increased more than 10% in Cleveland. The murder rate dropped 30% in Cleveland, but was still far above the national average. Property crime from 2005 to 2006 was virtually unchanged across the country and in Cleveland, with larceny-theft down by 7% but burglaries up almost 14%.[140] In 2009, a Cleveland neighborhood located near the intersection of Cedar Avenue and 55th Street ranked the 21st most dangerous neighborhood in the United States.[141]
kwooden1
January 22nd, 2010
10:09 pm
GREAT WIN tonight!! Defense was very solid and Charlotte was out of sync most of the game. Cavs rock now the Hawks are even against Charlotte, just like the Cavs, but the HAWKS have only lost once.
GO HAWKS!!
BONEY
January 22nd, 2010
10:10 pm
Hey Cavs rock,
Thanks for the stats – Cleveland sounds like a wonderful place (NOT!) . . .
BONE
January 22nd, 2010
10:13 pm
Cleveland still has a better basketball team than us!!
Big Ray of Gayness
January 22nd, 2010
10:14 pm
I agree.
BONEY
January 22nd, 2010
10:16 pm
Woody thoroughly outcoached Larry Brown tonight – nice to see – wouldn’t you agree, BONE?
northcyde
January 22nd, 2010
10:20 pm
I dang near called this game perfectly:
* My score: Hawks 104 – Cats 89 . . . . .Actual score: Hawks 103 – Cast 89
* Said that JJ would get 20+ pts and 7 dimes . . . he got 19 and 7
* Said that Horford would get 20+ pts and 10+ boards . . . . he got 21 and 9
* Said that Marvin and Bibby would make early shots . . . they did just that, with Marvin being great almost all game
* Said that they had no one who can guard Crawford . . .. he goes off for 24 pts
LOL . . the only ting I remotely called wrong about tonight, was that I thought this would be a gradual beatdown . . not one where we did it in spurts. With no one else but Wallace doing anything, Jackson needed to have a monster game to beat us. And he had a dang good game ( outside of the turnovers ). But it wasn’t enough.
That’s why I don’t stress out about the Hawks folks. I know this team like the back of my hand. Those losses in which the opponent plays out of its mind to beat us, isn’t the true reflection of this team
We have a good ballcub here folks. They’re not going to play perfect basketball every night. But they do enough things well, to win games on a consistent basis.
And no, Larry didn’t outcoach Mike tonight. LOL . . he was going to play Gerald Wallace the ENTIRE 48 MINUTES.
Good win by the Hawks. Get behind your team Atlanta.
vava74
January 22nd, 2010
10:21 pm
I am watching POR imploding in BOS Hawks style…
It’s good to know and see that Nate makes the same mistakes Woody does… and that the Blazers squander possession after possession and… lose the game!!!
ILL-logical
January 22nd, 2010
10:21 pm
Man, Joe has got to stop shooting the other team back into the game: Josh was wide open under the basket several times in the second have but Joe went iso, time after time.What is trying to prove? Is he auditioning?
BONEY
January 22nd, 2010
10:21 pm
It’s nice when the Hawks win – all the haters and crybabies (most of them anyway) that started out on here tonight suddenly are real quiet.
vava74
January 22nd, 2010
10:23 pm
I bet that nire will not be getting anything tonight…
wtf JJ
January 22nd, 2010
10:26 pm
Why doesn’t anyone on here say anything about JJ blatantly not pasing Josh Smith the ball? He is wide open by the rim every time Joe shoots that contested runner. Funny everyone talks about Smith’s IQ he plays like he is smarter than selfish Joe. Joe shot a runner 1 on 4 tonight. If Woodson was a coach he should of yanked him. The bigs are open in the paint and this guy keep shooting jumpers in the lane with three people on him.
BONE
January 22nd, 2010
10:26 pm
Um who is impersonating me?????????/
BONE
January 22nd, 2010
10:27 pm
Someone is impersonatingf me ya’ll
BONEY
January 22nd, 2010
10:32 pm
The bigs are not open in the paint – what game were you watching? JJ had 7 assists – team high – smoke on that . . .
BONE,
Nobody is impersonating you – you’re paranoid . . .
BONE
January 22nd, 2010
10:33 pm
Who’s impersonating me? I’m the resident Hawks hater on here . . .
BONE
January 22nd, 2010
10:37 pm
Ok the real BONE is signing off OK ya’ll. Any other posts from a “BONE” are fake.
Big Ray
January 22nd, 2010
10:40 pm
This bone guy is a real loser.
KevinA
January 22nd, 2010
10:41 pm
The cats just kept coming and coming but ran into a Hawks team that played great. This is the type of game I have envisioned for the last year. Not to many games Josh and /Al get 27 attempts. Are they a dark hole with little passing? They had 11 assists.
Finally the guards passed the way they should with 16 assists. 32 for the team total. We played more up tempo and ran some.
When we quit going inside out and setteled for jumpers is when the Cats made their runs. For the most part we played great team ball and held them at bay while extending the lead. Slowely but surely we are moving to this style of play.
Thanks to the guards even Marvin was involved and he responded. Hope we can package this style of play and take it on the road. We will need it.
BONE
January 22nd, 2010
10:41 pm
I refuse to be impersonated! Totally unacceptable. A clear violation of the blog code of ethics. A major crisis of monumental proportions. A catastophe with extreme implications.
BONEY
January 22nd, 2010
10:45 pm
Hey BONE,
They say crack makes you paranoid . . . Things that make you say, Hmmm . . .
Kip Smithers
January 22nd, 2010
10:45 pm
BONE, put a sock in it pal. Geez.
Lil' Ray
January 22nd, 2010
10:46 pm
This bone guy is a real loser.
BONE
January 22nd, 2010
10:47 pm
Be quiet, Rip Smothers . . .
Medium-sized Ray
January 22nd, 2010
10:50 pm
That bone guy is hilarious!
J.J.M.
January 22nd, 2010
10:56 pm
NBA.com poll Which of these players most deserves to be an All-Star in 2010? Zach Randolph
David Lee
Chris Kaman
Josh Smith
josh smith is in the lead with 44 percent
Smedium Sized Ray
January 22nd, 2010
11:03 pm
Zi Zam Zee Bove, Zee Law!!!!
Gamma Ray
January 22nd, 2010
11:08 pm
Yi Yam Yee Bove, Yee Law!!!!
Penis-ula
January 22nd, 2010
11:11 pm
Go Hunks – I mean Hawks . . .
rms
January 22nd, 2010
11:27 pm
I was at the game tonite and after watching the game in person I am off the Teague bandwagon!! I think I see why he doesnt get heavy minutes. Josh has absolutely NO HANDLES whatsoever. Horford is a BEAST or “BOSS” as he likes to be referred as. Joe is just an “average Joe”