Hawks at Magic, AKA They Can Get Four Ws in One
Orlando– If the Hawks beat the Magic tonight at Pyramid Scheme Arena, then a) they finally figured out Orlando b) Woody coaches the East All-Stars, c) the Hawks extend their lead over the Magic in the Southeast Division to 1.5 games, and d) they stay in front of Boston for No. 2 in the East through the weekend. Lose, and none of those things happen.
So while finishing this week 2-2 would be good, 3-1 means some national shine. And, as Hawks PR Man Arthur Triche notes, it means Woody will be forced to come up with a story to explain his missing eyebrows to the hundreds of reporters who will ask him about them for four straight days on All-Star weekend.
– The smallish Hawks might get a large dose of the Magic lineup featuring both Dwight Howard and Marc He's not Dwight, but he's big too. (www.totalprosports.com)
– Van Gundy is one of the league’s unfiltered coaches. He speaks his mind and tends not to care who takes offense (though, after the way Shaq cracked back on him last season, perhaps sometimes he should care). And so even when he praises the Hawks for their season thus far, he does it like this:
“They’re a very talented team. Their first eight or nine guys are outstanding, and they’ve played the entire year injury-free. So, they’re one of the few teams that hasn’t had to make any adjustments. They get the same eight or nine guys out there every single night. They’ve been together for a long time. They’ve had no injuries this year. It’s rolling along. That has a lot to do with it. They’re a good team, and they’ve faced no adversity whatsoever.”
The Orlando Sentinel’s Josh Robbins says Van Gundy’s tone wasn’t jerky when he said that, he was just being matter-of-fact. I covered Van Gundy, so I know what Robbins means. Nothing Van Gundy said isn’t true (except maybe the “no adversity whatsoever” part) but it seems to me Van Gundy managed to get his digs in, too. He’s never boring, at least.
– Al returns to Gatorland and gets some love.
– Talk amongst yourselves, Hawks fans.
MC
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294 comments Add your comment
bigdave
January 30th, 2010
7:55 pm
how are we giving up 3s with Howard out of the game…
no PG… turnover.
BONE
January 30th, 2010
7:56 pm
Man the Hawks are getting outworked.
Melvin
January 30th, 2010
7:56 pm
Much needed timeout. Hawks are coming apart…
BONE
January 30th, 2010
7:56 pm
Theere backup center is showing us up. Thats sad.
niremetal
January 30th, 2010
7:56 pm
Awesome block by Josh, esp retaining possession.
BONE
January 30th, 2010
7:57 pm
Like I said the hawks can’t beat the Magic
O'Brien
January 30th, 2010
7:57 pm
Hawks need a PG to settle the offense down. Too much one on one. But you cant put Bibby in, because he is a major liability.
Hawks need to turn up the defense.
J.J.M.
January 30th, 2010
7:57 pm
well damn josh
Elmore Spencer
January 30th, 2010
7:58 pm
Dogs lead at the half 38-36
O'Brien
January 30th, 2010
8:00 pm
Come on Hawks. 8 turnovers in the first half.
And whats up with Joe. Most of his shots look short.
vava74
January 30th, 2010
8:01 pm
The switching defense is killing us on the defensive boards
bigdave
January 30th, 2010
8:01 pm
what??
bigdave
January 30th, 2010
8:01 pm
Horford saw that coming.. he just didnt want any of it
J.J.M.
January 30th, 2010
8:02 pm
game over
O'Brien
January 30th, 2010
8:03 pm
vava,
When it comes to the switching, Woody said “the s#*t works”
Hawks better be careful, because this can get away from them in a hurry.
BONE
January 30th, 2010
8:04 pm
How can the Hawks not know that was gonna happen?
I saw that coming from a mile away.
vava74
January 30th, 2010
8:05 pm
Man, Bibby is waaay out of game shape…
bigdave
January 30th, 2010
8:06 pm
no excuses about whats left in the tank. if you are an elite team you cant worry about it. no matter who the opponent was the night before. these guys have beat you 5 straight and will be neck and neck with you for the division crown. if the Hawks cant get up for this game something is wrong.
Sautee
January 30th, 2010
8:06 pm
O’Brien,
Yeah you just saw what happens when Horford tries to help Bibby.
BONE
January 30th, 2010
8:07 pm
Bibby makes Paul Pierce look like a fitness trainer
Melvin
January 30th, 2010
8:07 pm
Terrible foul by Josh…
BONE
January 30th, 2010
8:08 pm
LOL Josh yelled at Bibby’s punk azz
bigdave
January 30th, 2010
8:09 pm
i dont know how these refs expect us to defend Howard if we do our work early they call fouls for being to aggressive. yet they let Dwight and the likes of Sheed battle all night.
O'Brien
January 30th, 2010
8:09 pm
Come on Josh. That was a stupid play.
bigdave
January 30th, 2010
8:09 pm
that was stupid of Josh… why even attempt a steal?
hock
January 30th, 2010
8:10 pm
Josh Smith, the Dumbest Player in the NBA strikes again.
O'Brien
January 30th, 2010
8:10 pm
Instead of being down 2, we’re down 5. Boneheaded play Josh
drmaryb
January 30th, 2010
8:10 pm
Bob just wonders, “How much is in the TANK for the Hawks after last night win & celebration?
A Better question is, “How much is in the BANK for the Hawks after last nights win & celebration?
No Excuses, If you want to TOUT a young – TEAM? You can’t be tired on the 2nd Night of a back-to-back too! Pick your STORY “Bob Rathburn” & damnit stick to it!
These guys make way too much $$$ to be too tired to bring it every night! Kobe & LeBron never gets tired…so I don’t wanna hear SHiiiit!
niremetal
January 30th, 2010
8:10 pm
Dammit, my game stream died. Friggin hate it when games are on NBA TV so that it’s blacked out on League Pass…
O'Brien
January 30th, 2010
8:11 pm
Woody with a technical. Whats going on here?
I hope its a ploy by Woody to get his team fired up.
Melvin
January 30th, 2010
8:11 pm
Hawks meltdown to end the half…
vava74
January 30th, 2010
8:11 pm
O’Brien,
Yes, it works, but not all the time!
To defend the Magic we just need to play one on one
vava74
January 30th, 2010
8:12 pm
Nire, mine too… Try pinoycable.com or p2p4u.net
Blast
January 30th, 2010
8:13 pm
Wow! Here we go again. First that 3 point foul on Josh and a tech on Woody. If it was really a foul on Nelson, it should have been two shots, not three. Then what did Woody do?
How are Hawks supposed to contest when they seem to play the opponents and 3 refs as well?
niremetal
January 30th, 2010
8:14 pm
hock,
I remember you this time. Do you just drop in every month or two to call Josh dumb? Do you have anything else that you’d like to say about the Hawks, or is that all you got?
Ree Roe
January 30th, 2010
8:16 pm
Outside of losing our composure in the final secs, it was a solid first half. It’s a 6 pt ballgame & we’re in position to win. Let’s go Hawks!
-REEcently Roe!
drmaryb
January 30th, 2010
8:17 pm
49-45….we’re only down 4 to 5 points….not bad….I like our postion! We are in the GAME! just come out in the 2nd half play some D & pass the ball from side to side! Go inside! We can win this game!
niremetal
January 30th, 2010
8:17 pm
Thanks vava!
Blast
January 30th, 2010
8:20 pm
The 3rd quarter will decide who wins it all. Hawks have to play above themselves and beyond the refs to win this game.
cp
January 30th, 2010
8:22 pm
Marvin needs to step up. He is missing some open shots. He has been invisible almost the whole season so far. Marvin needs to show something out there tonight. I hope to never see a lineup of Crawford, Mario, and Mo Evans again. You would think we would want all our bigs available tonight but for some reason yet again we have a big sitting in a suit just so we can have Mario activated. Makes no sense. And where is Joe Smith?
Melvin
January 30th, 2010
8:23 pm
Hold up. Did Vince play in the 2nd qtr????
hawkfan
January 30th, 2010
8:23 pm
@ niremetal
Absolutely. That is why I just canceled my broadband league pass … they want you to pay to watch games online, but then if you dont pay for NBATV they black out the broadband stream. Completely absurd … no use paying for games you cant watch.
JohnnyWalking
January 30th, 2010
8:23 pm
Man u guys are low down..LOL Alll that talk about cutting Nique’s mike off and somebody finally did it… To Start the Game. Good to see Woody try to stand up for Josh after that play. All the pressure is on the Magic and that 190 mil payroll they have. Van Gundy talking all that smack, he better win a championship or he is gone.
Big Ray
January 30th, 2010
8:25 pm
Well, we are competing. Interesting substitutions by Mike Woodson early on, and I have to say they have been largely effective.
Jamal is emerging as the team’s best situational scorer. Notice I said “situational” and not just plain “best scorer.” That title still goes to JJ for now at least. Crawford has taken the most shots so far, and missed more than he has hit, but there is something to the way he attacks. Joe meanwhile, has been an efficient 4 of 8 from the floor and also has 5 assists. This is how the tandem works best, I think.
Oddly enough, difficult shots for Jamal are not like difficult shots for Joe. Jamal is lightning fast and seems to get more separation, while Joe is slower, more methodical, and tends to draw more contact.
Yet it’s Jamal that gets the calls, if we get any. Joe still can’t buy a call, and that really sucks.
Orlando’s offense is also more efficient than ours, as shooters tend to get more open looks (lucky for us they have been missing on a number of these), while our guys end up working for their looks. Hmmmmm. We’re playing well enough to not get blown out, but not well enough to compete for the win.
One good hot streak and a run for the Magic, coupled with a cold stretch (in which we shoot a ton of jumpers, trying to get back into the game) and they will blow us out. What a tightrope we walk….
vava74
January 30th, 2010
8:25 pm
You’re welcome!
“Over two people served!”
(it’s a joke) – now I feel that I have to explain all ventures in humour…
hawkfan
January 30th, 2010
8:25 pm
Any way to sign Howard away from Magic? Hawks would definitely be title contenders with him on the squad.
O'Brien
January 30th, 2010
8:28 pm
Marvin is 2-8. I hate to harp on him, but he can definitely be a wild card. He needs to knock down every open shot.
I hope Hawks make a run in the 3rd, as opposed to lettign Orlando make a run like Boston did last night (aided by FT of course).
Melvin
January 30th, 2010
8:30 pm
bigdave,
what do you know. Joe hit the floor and get the foul call….lol
Hawk n the Ham
January 30th, 2010
8:30 pm
Look! We doubled Howard and he travels!
BONE
January 30th, 2010
8:31 pm
LOOK AT BIBBYS SHHITTY D