Hawks at Warriors, AKA My Weird Woody Weekend
Oakland– So on Friday before the Hawks played the Suns, Woody said this about Jason Collins and Joe Smith, two of his postseason-toughened veterans:
“When the playoffs come, they can be a big, significant part of it. I haven’t told them that, but I hope they can sense it. In the playoffs, your rotation thins and you tend to play the guys that have done it. They become more valuable in the playoffs.”
I wondered about both parts of that statement: the thinning of the postseason rotation and using those guys more. But then Woody played both Smith and Collins in the first half against the Suns and Smith played great and Collins wasn’t bad and I’m thinking, “Hey, maybe this is the start of something.”
But then of course Woody didn’t play either of those guys in the second half and in fact used no reserves other than Jamal Crawford. And while owning up to that mistake, Woody said this:
“I had to see something for myself. I condensed things last night almost like it was a playoff game, when your backs are against the wall and you have to have one. I blew out six guys trying to do it. I can tell you it won’t happen again.”
It was all very confusing for me. So I’m looking for some clarity from this game.
– Very interesting development in the Hawks’ Ilgauskas watch. Mark Heisler of the LA Times on Twitter: “Source says NBA has told other teams it won’t let Z go back to Cavs. May be woofing with no rule against it, maybe not.”
And this: NBA stopped just one now-common trade-buyout-re-sign scam-when Stackhouse admitted it–may be working on way to make it two.”
The Washington Post reported Z’s buyout from the Wizards will come sometime this week and that his “heart is in Cleveland.” If the league breaks his heart and won’t allow a reunion (a move the players association would fight) it obviously increases the chances the Hawks can land Big Z.
– Mitch Lawrence of the Daily News had this note today:
Of the top free agents for 2010, Atlanta’s Joe Johnson is the one considered the most likely to find a new team. The Hawks have heard the rumblings and already made it known that Johnson will get a first-year salary of around $17 million in a new multi-year “maximum” salary deal. He’s making $15 million now.
But a league source said the Hawks haven’t let that be known to J.J.: They haven’t negotiated with him since he turned down their extension offer before the season. And so far there have been no indications from J.J.’s camp about his intentions for free agency. At All-Star weekend, J.J. said he’d “love to” stay with the Hawks but was noncommittal about his plans.
– Former Warrior Jamal on if he tries to stick it to his old teams: “It depends on how I’m feeling.”
Well, how is he feeling tonight?
“We’ll see.”
– Talk amongst yourselves, Hawks fans.
MC
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422 comments Add your comment
BONE
February 21st, 2010
10:43 pm
The Hawks lost to a f.uckin DLEAGUE team basically.
What the Hawks need to change for them to be successful:
Fire Woodson and get Mike Fratello
Bench Bibby and start Teague
Tell Josh’s dumba.ss to never take a jumpshot again in his life and work on his freethrows.
Get rid of Marvin and Zaza for players who can actually PLAY
Did I mention fire Woody
If none of that happense ship this team to Vegas or somewhere.
Eman
February 21st, 2010
10:44 pm
The problem is that the hawks can not find another coach that can do better. Dam, Coach you should not have j smith taking the last shot. This one really hurts!!
bigdave
February 21st, 2010
10:44 pm
funny aint it iREP…
J.J.M.
February 21st, 2010
10:44 pm
hawks lucky im a die heart fan
We Blew a 17 Point Lead to GS
February 21st, 2010
10:44 pm
NOT JOE’S FAULT….WE DON’T RUN PLAYS!! EVERYBODY WANTS TO BLAME THIS PERSON OR THAT PERSON…TEAMS THAT WIN LIKE THE LAKERS AND MAGIC RUN AN OFFENSE..WE DON’T. IT’S THAT SIMPLE. EMBARRASSING.
TruthSeeker
February 21st, 2010
10:44 pm
I’ve been slow to get on the “Fire Woody” train, but after tonight I just don’t think I can justify saying he should keep his job any longer. How many times this year have the Hawks gone stone cold in the fourth quarter? It’s happened twice in the last two games, and it happened in critical home games earlier this year against the Magic and Cavs. Couple that with all the inexcusable losses and playing down to the competition and I just am out of patience with this head coach.
The Hawks are too talented to be this inconsistent.
IREPATL
February 21st, 2010
10:44 pm
LOOOOOOOOL @ BONE
RA
February 21st, 2010
10:44 pm
They needed the lesson more than they needed the win, and the lesson is this, a basketball game is composed of four quarters. The Hawks built the lead and they threw it into cruise control. They lost the momentum, they lost the game. I hope they get that formula figured out by the time the playoffs roll around because if they don’t, they’re not going to have to worry about Boston, Cleveland, or Orlando. Second, they can forget the Southeast Division. They’re not that far out, but it may as well be a distance of a thousand miles. They’re not ready. But as Orlando is inaugurated, again, as the Southeastern Division regular season champions, the Hawks need only think back to nights like tonight against teams like Golden State, New York, Chicago, Charlotte, Miami, teams that the Hawks are head and shoulders better than, but they simply couldn’t get it done. Orlando won’t win the division, Atlanta’s handed it over on a silver platter.
Blast
February 21st, 2010
10:45 pm
Sad, sad loss. Jamal was pretty good, but Joe was horrible because he swallowed the ball. Yeah, he scored 30 points, but he played selfish, held the ball too long even when he wasn’t making shots, and he certainly didn’t make em in the 4th. He was forcing it. But he still held the ball. 30 points is meaningless if your team lost.
Melvin
February 21st, 2010
10:45 pm
What happen to the refocus after the All-star break….
truthspitter
February 21st, 2010
10:46 pm
Hawks suck ass
darrell starks
February 21st, 2010
10:46 pm
OH WOODY, WOODY, WOODY,
GO HAWKS!!!!!!!!
Atlanta Killed Hip-Hop
February 21st, 2010
10:46 pm
Damn ATL cant do crap right.
truthspitter
February 21st, 2010
10:47 pm
Hey Atlantakilledhiphop come give me a blowjob
darrell starks
February 21st, 2010
10:47 pm
8MAN ROTATION WHY IN THE H JOE SMITH, AND MOE DIDNT PLAY TONIGHT?
GO HAWKS!!!!!!!!
vava74
February 21st, 2010
10:48 pm
Tonight the refereeing was awful: Crawford was fouled on the lose ball and they called out of bounds, JJ was fouled in his last drive to the hoop, … the list goes on and on.
Nonetheless, there were serious flaws in our game since the tip off. Why did we stopped going to Al and started shooting jump shots?? Why was Josh being fed with so many balls when he was struggling offensively in the 4th??
Since Curry was scoring at will against everyone and JT0 was not getting burned more than the others, why did he have to come out? He had 4 dimes with pretty good passes in transition and a very good steal. Bibby was again 1-6. What did he bring to the table in comparison? Why have him on the floor during the last stretch instead of Marvin when we being over-matched athletically?
And, we were burned again by the opponents bench, including 12 points by a rookie C coming in from the NBDL!!!!
When the Warriors started to play with 2 Centers at the same time we did not adjust and started to lose the interior battle against a bunch of scrubs. Why did Woody keep Joe Smith nailed to the bench after his good showing two days ago?
IREPATL
February 21st, 2010
10:48 pm
@bigdave for real i can see the hate on duck and zaza but joe? na he did what he was supposed to do all night and i believe he wouldve got a touch on that last possesion where josh thought he could do what he does in his dreams, i think joe wmay have converted i mean dude was hot all game.
I seriously would like to know what sund is thinking after seeing a game like this
truthspitter
February 21st, 2010
10:48 pm
Don’t go to Hawks games until they get a legit team out there. Marvin, Teague, Zaza are all garbage
falcons pick spoon
February 21st, 2010
10:49 pm
WHoa everybody needs to calm down. The Hawks have TWO glaring problems which would be Mike woodson’s coaching and Mike Bibby’s decline. This game was a wake up call. Yes Josh made an idiot play by shooting the three but lets not forget he has done way more great than bad this season. Bibby has totally lost all confidence and sure looks like he won’t be the starting pg next season. Hopefully the Hawks can find a coc=ach who can utilize his talent the right way. How bad must Teague perform in practice? If he got Bibby’s type minutes i’m sure he would put up a much better line than what Bibby did, but we all know that’s not happening with Woody aboard. Things will look better from here on out but i’m very fearful come playoff time.
MAD-DONNA
February 21st, 2010
10:49 pm
I don’t know rather to call them, the best/bad team, or the worst/good team?
Hawk n the Ham
February 21st, 2010
10:49 pm
Mark Fox for coach! LOL. Just kidding.
Woody, does sweat not get in your eyes with no eyebrows?
BirdDawg
February 21st, 2010
10:49 pm
This was absolutely pathetic. And that idiot Woodson just sat on the bench with a dumbfounded look on his face, as usual. He has lost this team (if he ever had them to begin with). How the hell do you have an 18 point lead against a team full of rookies, d-leaguers and 2nd/3rd year players that’s down to only 8 healthy players AND LOSE?!!!! To all the Woodson defenders, I’ve never seen a performance like this against a Phil Jackson, Pat Riley or Chuck Daly coached team. Hell, even an Mike Fratello coached team rarely had a meltdown this pitiful. This team fell apart because we have a coach that has no control and no offensive structure. They look like an AAU team freestyling most of the time and tonight they got OUT-freestyled by a much quicker team. Get Jeff Van Gundy, Byron Scott…anybody to finish out the season rather than this clown. I’m sick of this crap!!!!
Blast
February 21st, 2010
10:49 pm
I would rather Joe score 18, and 5 other Hawks average double figures in points, thsn Joe score 34 and Hawks lose.
terrell
February 21st, 2010
10:50 pm
Hawks are no better than they were this time last year.
hock
February 21st, 2010
10:50 pm
Anybody with a brain still think this team is going anywhere? IsoJoe offense = Harebrained Coach
NUNNA YO BIZNEZZ
February 21st, 2010
10:51 pm
awwwww,i for one enjoyed the game even tho we lost..it was the best up and down game we played until that lapse in the 4th qtr..
i say,lets now learn that we have to have a total 10 man rotation,with 11-13 getting special duty if needed..
mario on defense..randmo as another inside scorer..collins for beef in the middle and rebounding..
and don’t get it twisted by my opening comment..im mad that we lost but we saw over the last 2 games what we’ve been wanting to see all season..
teague with the starters and running,running,running the offense..
and,more minutes from joe smith and seeing just what he still can do..
we won one,and lost one..
and its sad that the coaching staff has waited all year long to do what most of us COACH/FANS,have known what would be best for this team all year long..
TAKE A BOW HAWKS FANS..
AND NOW IM OFFICIALLY ON THE “FIRE WOODY” BANDWAGON..
IS THERE ANY MORE ROOM ON IT FOR ME?????
terrell
February 21st, 2010
10:51 pm
Bibby for 2 MORE years is almost laughable.
truthspitter
February 21st, 2010
10:51 pm
Zaza,Teague, and Marvin
For a 15 minute bj down on Fulton Indy, that trade would probably get decline, worthless
Wabe
February 21st, 2010
10:51 pm
I’m sorry, but this one falls more on Woody’s shoulders. The man gets too tight on the rotation as we get deeper into games. We actually saw JT0 get minutes in the 2nd half tonight, and did he disappoint?
I don’t even remember Mo Evans seeing the floor, but did we miss much? Between him and Marvin, it’s just all one big disappearing act. Now ya see me, now ya don’t…
Zaza honestly looks disappointing this season. Seriously, does he have small hands or something, because the ball is always flying somewhere. And when Zaza fouled Watson, I’m thinking, are you serious? He’s 6′0 to Zaza’s 7′0. You’ve got to be kidding me. You’ve got to try and contest that.
Nothing new. We hit yet another lull, and Woody can’t seem to solve the problem. ISO-ISO-ISO…it’s so ***************!
Please, more minutes for JT0. To those of you who think that him being on the floor jeapordizes our chances of winning, I ask you, was that true tonight? After a loss like this one, I could honestly care less about playoff talk and seedings, we’re obviously a peice short from being a serious player for a championship. What that peice needs to be is debatable, but I can already tell you that Bibby’s not the near-term/long-term solution at that spot. Lineups featuring Jamal/JJ with no PG get the Hawks in a tough spots because we resort to too much ISO. Get him out there now!
darrell starks
February 21st, 2010
10:51 pm
MC YOU HAVE NOT CALL ME YET 2 EXPLAIN WHY WOODY CUT OF HIS EYEBROW?
GO HAWKS!!!!!!!!
skydawg
February 21st, 2010
10:52 pm
Mike Woodson has to go. The Hawks have been winning in spite of their bi-polar coach. Imagine how good they could be with a REAL coach.
RA
February 21st, 2010
10:52 pm
In your rush to spread blame, blame that I believe the entire team deserves (with the possible exception of Al Horford), don’t take anything away from the Warriors. They played three and a half good quarters of ball. If we get half that out of our team, we wouldn’t be having this conversation. And truthspitter, you’re being a little hard aren’t you? Zaza and Marvin will have to redeem themselves, but I don’t blame anyone but Woodson for what’s happened to Teague (who in all honesty did show flashes in transition tonight). You see all over the NBA what can happen when rookies get the chance to play, Teague hasn’t had that chance, so he’s still very much a rookie, and barring injury, heaven forbid, I don’t see any meaningful pt in his immediate future…
Hawk n the Ham
February 21st, 2010
10:52 pm
Bibby should join Rathbun & Nique on TV. Could you imagine having to listen to Bibby talk for a whole game?? LOL
Zach
February 21st, 2010
10:52 pm
last call on the warriors was with 3:59 remaining…not surprisingly, it was when the warriors first took the lead.
truthspitter
February 21st, 2010
10:53 pm
Not Woodson fault he was just fine when they had a 18 pt lead. It’s Sund’s fault we need a bench cant rest the starters or it’s like you are automatically given up 10 pts
We Blew a 17 Point Lead to GS
February 21st, 2010
10:53 pm
the Atlanta Spirit are not going to pay for a good coach. Look what they did to the Thrashers..Why should we be confident that they will go out and hire a good coach?? I AM NOT A HUGE JOE JOHNSON FAN BUT IF WE DID NOT HAVE HIM WE WOULD BE NO BETTER THAN A .500 TEAM. EVERYTHING RUNS THROUGH HIM. IF HE LEAVES AND WE KEEP WOODSON WE WILL BE BACK TO SUB 500 BALL.
vava74
February 21st, 2010
10:53 pm
And why didn’t Woody play Mo? If there is an opponent against which Mo’s lack of size is less noticeable or nor even important is against these guys…
BONE
February 21st, 2010
10:54 pm
Big Z is looking at this team and is like “Hell no I don’t wanna go there”
And Joe ain’t comin back next year. If I was him I wouldn’t either this team is just too dumb.
Section 303
February 21st, 2010
10:54 pm
This game shows that there was reason to panic after the Miami game, before the break. They didn’t show up that night and acted like they could just turn the effort on or off. Typical of this loser organization.
“Refocus after the break”….they must think we are all stupid. This team is a fraud.
JustChillFans
February 21st, 2010
10:54 pm
Its funny how everybody is bashing the hawks for losing.
The same people bashing them gone be on the blog tomorrow lol. This is really y the hawks suck. They have noooo true fans! After every loss everybody say the hawks sucks.. If im not mistaken nobody in the history of the nba has went undefeated.. Jus chill becuz the hawks will be fine in the playoffs..
Greg
February 21st, 2010
10:55 pm
What does Woodson get paid? Whatever it is, I’m letting it be known to Hawks management now that I will accept half of that and I’ll assure them that I too can instruct 4 guys to stand around while the other one dribbles the ball for 20 seconds and then throws up a shot without ever thinking about passing. I too can sit on the bench with a dumbfounded look on my face when the crap hits the fan and tell the media at the end of the game that I’m sorry we blew another lead to a crappy team and I forgot about my bench again.
When the Hawks finally fire that clown, who do you think will hire him? Nobody in the college or pro ranks, at least not as a head coach. He’ll probably end up being a scout like Dennis Felton.
Section 303
February 21st, 2010
10:55 pm
vava 74, Mo Evens? You really think that guy was the answer? He has not made a shot in the last month.
truthspitter
February 21st, 2010
10:56 pm
Hawks are a bunch of frauds they will lose out in the 1st round mark my words. No bench at all, we have one of the top 5 worst benches in the league
RA
February 21st, 2010
10:56 pm
One more thing, Woody has to take some of the blame for what happened tonight, and he will, but Woody wasn’t out there not converting on mismatches, Woody wasn’t out there not cutting off the lane after their little spec of a point guard went down it again and again. Woody didn’t get T’d up with 34 seconds left to go in the tied game. Woody didn’t pass the ball to the person on the floor least likely to make the shot. Now, he left his reserves in too long in the 4rth quarter, and the Hawks paid for that, but let’s be clear, the players simply didn’t get it done on EITHER end of the floor in the fourth quarter. It was the Cleveland game all over again, minus the cheating at the end. I’m not saying that Woody is clean, they’re all dirty.
Ole Hawk's Fan
February 21st, 2010
10:57 pm
ZaZa couldn’t play for Wheeler HS…………………….Give Sund an “F” for bringing back Bibby, ZaZa, Jason Collins, Marvin(High Pockets). I don’t think the Kid from Kentucky will blossom under Woody tutledge……………I’m not sure he is an NBA Cabler Player. Bring in Bill Lambeer is the Hawk’s New .Coach
bigdave
February 21st, 2010
10:57 pm
against the worse defensive team in the league we manage a scoreless drought allowing a to the tune of 12-0… we have nothing we can run???
the Jamal shot against PHX was a curse. ball should have gone to Joe Johnson.
Zach
February 21st, 2010
10:58 pm
how do you score 38 in the 3rd and 14 in the 4th?
kwooden1
February 21st, 2010
10:58 pm
My first question is why didn’t Joe Smith play?
My second question is, “Where is the mental toughness”?
I’m not really worried about the loss and I’m not especially angry about the game. I watched the Wizards beat a Denver team that’s beaten Cleveland and Boston in the last few days. I think this is the kind of loss that they can really from, especially the coach. Horford was dominating the game but they stopped getting him the ball during the beginning of the 4th. The execution and body movement basically stopped too. Unless Joe Smith was hurt Woody should have known that he could play center against the Warriors and would have been just as effective as Zaza. (I really think Zaza is hurt) These kind of games happen, but I hope the lessons are learned.
GO HAWKS!!
The Bird and Indian (Reggie)
February 21st, 2010
10:58 pm
All hell has broken out on the blog again. It’s why I’ve slowly drifted away from here. Most of the true fans are gone. I ask why Bone and some other even bother coming to this blog on a regular basis. If you hate this team so much, why are you here? You want the team to leave? I’m sorry a team that has been 3rd in the conference for a big part of the year is so bad to you. I wish we had Golden State fans. Did you see that crowd tonight? They have one of the worst coaches and owners in the league, yet they sell out the house on a Sunday night game. It was a trap game. I knew it was a trap game, nonetheless it hurts. The Hawks have got to buckle down and make a run at the 3rd seed. I really don’t want to play Toronto in that first round.
The schedule gets real light here soon. Other than Utah and Dallas, it’s considerable easy. We can easily go on a 9 out of 10 and get the groove back. Boston and Cleveland are struggling as well, so we need to try to gain some ground there.
Joe played very well tonight. I’m not sure where the dogging is coming from. You don’t realize how much he has to do every night to get his points. He’s not getting an easy 25 like Kobe does. He has to do it 1 on 1/2 and just do hard work. Every source from the outside of the organization repeatedly praises Joe Johnson every night for what he has done and is doing in Atlanta. It’s why he makes the All-Star team every year and gets voted most underrated by all NBA player polls/Analysts. I think he’s so underrated because of our fans. Every other team praises their all-star and does everything they can to represent them and advertise them, while we sit around and say how we need a new star and we need to trade him. Joe Johnson isn’t even close to the problem with this team.
The problem is the point guard position. It’s Mike Bibby. His confidence has absolutely flopped. He doesn’t take big shots anymore. He doesn’t provide effort and hustle like a point guard should. I’m all for playing Jeff Teague now so he’s ready for the playoffs, because Mike Bibby cannot guard Jose Calderon, or Derrick Rose, or Raymond Felton, or Jameer Nelson, or Rajon Rondo, or whatever point guard we might have to face. The only guards he can handle that will be in the playoffs is Chalmers and maybe Mo Williams. I was hoping we were the ones trying to get Nate Robinson. We could have tried to get some kind of quick guard with a little experience. If Mike Bibby keeps it up and Teague doesn’t get time, that will be the reason we are out in 5/6 games in the 2nd round of the playoffs.
Hawks fans, calm down. We have one of the youngest and best teams in the NBA in ATLANTA! The cursed basketball city. Think about 4 years ago, this time. I’m very satisfied with my team. Go out and support them, because if Joe leaves this summer and we find ourselves with Josh Smith as our star, it will be back to the 30-52 seasons. Have fun whining. I’m gonna go and get back in place at the Braves blog that I haven’t participated much in as of late. Go Hawks!
BONE
February 21st, 2010
10:59 pm
ZaZa couldn’t succeed in the wheelchai league