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
The Bird and Indian (Reggie)
February 21st, 2010
11:36 pm
SIMPDAWG: I’d love to have J-Chill (Mr.B) back. He’s just a rock solid role player off the bench. He could be providing a bunch for us right now if he was here. Kirk Hinrich is scarily similar to Bibby. He’s a little quicker than Bibby and can play a little better defense but their offensive games are almost identical. A quick, penetration point guard would be a great fit for this system and Kirk Hinrich just isn’t that.
mgm
February 21st, 2010
11:38 pm
Its easy to get angry after this game. I was thinking about what makes a championship calibre team in the NBA. The formula has been set and has been the same for most of the history of the NBA. First you need a superstar go to guy for the when the game is tight in the playoffs at the end of the game. Second you need a super side kick that would be a go to guy if he weren’t on the team with the real superstar. Third you need another great player that fits perfectly into the system. Fourth you need a great bench player that can score when the team rests the first three guys. Fifth you need a coach that knows how all of these guys fit together and doesn’t stifle their abilities.
Dynasties include a couple of superstars who aren’t selfish or the greatest player of all time.
In any event the Hawks don’t have any of these characteristics except a bench scorer in Jamal Crawford. Joe Johnson is not a Superstar. He would fit into the second guy category but he has been spoiled into thinking he is the only option at the end of the game by the coach. And on this team he may be. Who else other than Crawford do you trust to make shots in crunch time.
I think it would be interesting to see the Hawks go for D Wade and let Joe go. They still need a true center and I don’t know if there is one that would work but I say this team will frustrate in its current make up. No way they get out of the second round of the playoffs regardless of who they play. They actually could lose in the first round if they meet an up an coming team in round one. As it stands, they are not a championship calibre team and quite frankly they are probably poorly coached but even with better coaching they are short on late game ability to go very far.
The Bird and Indian (Reggie)
February 21st, 2010
11:42 pm
mgm: I’ll trust Joe taking a late shot over Jamal any day.
mgm
February 21st, 2010
11:45 pm
That’s my point. Its Joe first or Jamal but no one else.
Grandad
February 21st, 2010
11:46 pm
StevenA – Well said!!!
section303 – Are you serious? Josh just ended up with the ball in his hands, not his fault.
As far as being an All-Star, Josh: 14/17/7/2/2 what’s your beef?
cp
February 22nd, 2010
12:01 am
Mike Bibby is done. He has been terrible since around November. Its about to be March. Teague showed more in 10 minutes than Bibby showed in 30. Once again will one of these Bibby supporters explain to me what Teague cant do with Bibby’s minutes because it ain’t much. I’m sure the kid can go 1-7 5 dimes and a few turnovers. Its time to stop making up silly excuses about him playing can cost us wins because Bibby sure isn’t showing us anything out there…. Marvin is the invisible man. Ive never seen a guy who had less impact on a game than this cat. He might score 5 points early and another 5 when the game is pretty much decided. Pachulia has been terrible this year. Mo has been so bad Woodrow went with the non talented Mario over him tonight. If this team keeps it up I wouldn’t be shocked if they fell to the 5th seed. Even if the Hawks make it to the second round they will not be there long. Woodson has done all he can for this team. Its time to start looking for a replacement for next year.
Taylor
February 22nd, 2010
12:03 am
What are the chances Childress comes back?
TheAntiMe
February 22nd, 2010
12:17 am
I thought that it could get no worse for Mike Bibby than in the Phoenix game when the dude threw that bounce pass through Bibby’s legs for the assist on a jam. Looks like I was wrong. I really hope he can get it together because Woody is going to sink or swim with his veteran point guard.
JeJe
February 22nd, 2010
12:22 am
MARVIN and BIBBY HAVE A COMBINED 6 YEARS LEFT ON THIS TEAM. 42 MILLION MORE OF THEIR INVISIBILITY. THAT’S 3 ON 5 WE ARE PLAYING SINCE THEY SUCK AT DEFENSE AND BRING NOTHING TO THE OFFENSIVE END.
IMAGINE IF WE HAD MAGGETTE AND CURRY AS OUR PG AND SF.
OR ANTHONY JOHNSON AND JOSH HOWARD.
ANY HALF-ASSED PG OR ANOTHER OTHER STARTING SF WOULD BE AN UPGRADE OVER THE HORSE!@#$ WE HAVE NOW
Wink
February 22nd, 2010
12:23 am
I put this lost squarely on the feet of Josh & Woody. Josh reverted to Josh of old in the 4th quarter. He had multiple turn overs & bad shot selection. No way he should have taken that 3 attempt with time left on the clock. Woody could not get us anything to break the momentum of GS; he could not even get us an ISO Joe.
This team was undersized & undermanned. We beat them up in the paint in the 3rd; can’t explain what happened in the 4th. Maybe we got rope-a-doped.
Of course, we all should have known this could happen, as this was a nationally telecast game. We always go for maximum embarassment. Out superstar will get jobbed by the marque player on the other team, a rookie Step Curry. Josh will seek the spotlight in crunch time and Marvin will totally disappear. Also, Woody would limit his bench after saying he learned his lesson from the Phoenix game.
I say we should finish 5th instead of 4th. The benefit is we will still get the same 1 round matchup. We will get a higher draft pick. Finishing 5th means Woody MAY NOT be retained. Teague confidence & career could possibly be salvaged before he goes the way of AC Law, Salim, etc. JJ will leave in free agency.
Downside we will be stuck with Marvin, ZaZa, & Bibby thanks to the good work done my Sund this past off season. Maybe Belkin will sell his 30% stake by refusing pay his share of expenses over the last 4 years.
I say we should be more concern with the teams behind us in 5th place as they could easily be in 4th. We should hope we don’t drop to 6th, because then we get Orlando, Boston, or Cleveland in the 1st round.
This gloom & doom is based on the play this team. I don’t know if they are the 4th best team in the East or the worst 4th seed team in the East???????????????
TheAntiMe
February 22nd, 2010
12:24 am
And just a thought. Since every team knows that with the game on the line that the Hawks are going to be looking to J.J. or Jamal Crawford, why not get the ball to Al Horford down low where he has been pretty good at scoring this year. Especially if he can get an open look from 15 feet or closer.
The Bird and Indian (Reggie)
February 22nd, 2010
12:27 am
Taylor : There’s not a great chance for Childress coming back. If he continues to grow his fame in Europe, I don’t know if he’s going to come back. He’s making great money in a great country and probably has people kissing his feet. Even if he does come back, there’s not a great chance it will be with us. I see him going to an elite team like Cavs and becoming a valuable role player. I really wish he would come back though. He was one of my favorite players here and boy oh boy would he be a great piece to fit in right now. No more of Mo Evans ugly jump shot.
JustChillFans
February 22nd, 2010
12:27 am
Omg u terrible fans are funny. If this team sucks why are u on this blog. This blog is for fans!! Maybe if we praise this team, be positive, and start actually getting behind ur star in joe johnson we might be better.. All you people who bash bibby and marvin dont you think that doing that will only put more pressure on them to do better.. Geez.. And u people talk about coaching and woody, i bet yall couldnt coach this team to 5 wins. We need more real fans!! The problem for the hawks to me is that we dont have enough set plays, woody plays the same rotation regardless if ur hot or cold.. Bibby is a liabily on defense but he is really needed on offense, randolph morris should be used over zaza! Morris just needs a chance and he will prove himself, joe needs sum more breaks down this stretch and thats y woody should use his bench more, and the iso-joes are great, if im not mistaken kobe does iso ALOT at chrunch times but i guess since hes kobe thats cool but its not.. Joe is ur best player its not too many ways for him to score without doing a iso anyway.
sam'l
February 22nd, 2010
12:34 am
To Just Chill and others who can’t understand why some of us are ticked……We ARE true Hawk fans….We really are…..and we want these guys to succeed. But you cannot lose an almost 20-point lead LIKE THAT and still have respect. The LIKE THAT involves the record of the other team, the complete turnaround in the last two quarters, the seeming lack of will and brains, absence of hustle and pride, losing the ball, failure to finish shots, no defense….I can’t even write this down, but the overall feeling I have is overwhelmingly BAD right now and this nightmare comes from watching a potentially great team go to pieces and by going to pieces I mean just turn into totally dysfunctional clowns in a totally embarrassing way. I mean you can lose….but not LIKE THAT!.
This is really not the time to sit back and think, “You can’t win them all, we’ll do better tomorrow, stop sweating it,” Based on this game, I see Joe Johnson gone and the fans GONE and Josh and Jamal and Al all GONE. I see the entire team moving soon. It stems from this feeling that there is something horribly dysfunctional and sick about the Hawks’ very soul, and tonight it was laid bare for everyone to see. It doesn’t matter they can jump and shoot and rebound and block shots and go 15 minutes without a turnover, score 35 points a quarter….it doesn’t matter….
The one thing that would keep my interest alive at this point is if the Hawks actually did something that showed they had any brains at all…
FIRE WOODSON TONIGHT. (And no, they ain’t hiring Fratello….).
Now, where’s Sund’s address……
Question: did you see Crawford go flying when he got a two-handed shove just before his technical ? I did. How come nobody else did?
Comment…Hawks will beat Utah easily, just to drive us even more crazy. But I’m ready for this….I quit. After 50 years, NO MORE Hawks fan. Bye.
. .
Grandad
February 22nd, 2010
12:56 am
How on earth can anyone get on Josh tonight??
My gosh, he shouldn’t have even been in the game for the final 7 sec.
14/17/7/2/2!!!
Get off marv…he will be traded this summer. Have patience.
He will transform into a solid player under another coach.
Wanna take bets what kind of player he would be playing for ‘Pop’.
How about running the P & R with DW for Sloan [requires practice].
Never mind, he’s gonna be gone either way.
What we’ve got is what we’ve got. Unfortunately that includes Wdsn.
Grandad
February 22nd, 2010
1:00 am
sam’l – Sorry to disagree, but Utah takes us to the shed. 20/25/@ least.
BirdDawg
February 22nd, 2010
1:44 am
@ sam’l – I’m glad someone else feels my frustration. Every team loses, but elite teams with elite coaches do not lose LIKE THIS. The world would start spinning in the opposite direction if Cleveland or L.A lost LIKE THIS. I agree with you on all points except the one about Utah.I have to agree with Grandad, Utah is about to open up a can of whup @$$ on these guys unless they have a drastic turnaround. And to JustChillFans, teams that give a damn about their fans do not put this type of product out for us to cheer for. We’re supposed to cheer a team losing an 18 point lead to a defensively constipated, d-league team with only 8 players? Yeah, that loss was really the fans’ fault. We’re on this blog because we do give a damn. Much more than the Hawks seem to care anyway.
Ken Strickland
February 22nd, 2010
2:27 am
ASTRO JOE-Your act is getting old. In your futile attempts to make excuses for Bibby and Woody, you only succeed in making yourself look dumber than you really are. Your beloved MBibby played 29 useless mins and scored THREE(3)whole pts on 1-6 shooting. This was by far one of his worst gms, if not his worst, yet all you can do is try and discredit Teagues good performance by claiming it was because we were playing the NBA’s worst DEF team.
Like I said in a previous post, YOU’RE JUST AS CLUELESS AS WOODSON, AND YOUR DILUSIONAL ATTITUDE AND THOUGHT PROCESS IS JUST LIKE HIS. You need to take a serious look at this unnatural MAN LOVE you seem to have for Bibby and Woodson.
GA Bulldawg
February 22nd, 2010
2:44 am
@ sam’l: Some TRUE fan you are!!! If you wanna quit on this team because of only ONE REGULAR SEASON game, then good riddance to you!! The fan base is better off without you anyway! That’s what’s wrong with sports fans nowadays. Everybody wants to bandwagon for the monopolizing teams (Lakers, Cowboys, Celtics, Yankees, etc) and not stay committed to their teams during challenging times like tonights game…i’m old school and I believe in fan loyalty–WIN or LOSE!
BirdDawg
February 22nd, 2010
7:02 am
GA Bulldawg, I agree with you that fan loyalty is important. And to that end, I can’t stand any of those teams you mentioned. But at the same time, you have to respect them for putting a consistent winning product on the floor, field, etc. If the Hawks were losing a game here or there due to other teams playing better or just not getting some breaks, that would be understandable. It is just this one regular season game, it’s the fact that they have made the same mistakes for the last six years and no one seems to be able to correct it. If they were a team of mediocre talent but trying their best, you applaud them for their heart and gutsy play (much like for the Falcons this year). But this team has elite level talent and consistently under-achieves and finds ways to beat themselves resulting in the current frustration of the fan base. Anyone watching can see this team has cost themselves about 3-5 wins this year, the coach at least another 5-7. I will always be a Hawks fan, have been since the days of Tree Rollins and Doc Rivers (yes he was the Hawks point guard before he was the Celtics’ coach
) but I would like to see my and every other true fans loyalty rewarded with some consistently good basketball or at the very least some heart, guts and will. Let the other teams beat them, not the coach or players.
terrell
February 22nd, 2010
7:23 am
If the Hawks can pull out a win in Utah tonight ,I’ll take back everything I’ve said about this team(not about Woody though). After a bad loss at GS, tonights game is a must win if you ask me..
JustChillFans
February 22nd, 2010
5:15 pm
Sam i feel ur pain but didnt the lakers blow a 20 point lead to the cetics that year the celtics won the ship? Even the best teams blow leads and find ways to come back if they are down big. Y is nobody praising that we were actually up 18 on a team that plays great at home, instead everybody wants to bash them for blowing the lead.. Im a true fan too, i know were not going to win the ship this year so thats why im not totally upset with the hawks.. U guys honestly think we are going to win the ship?? No, so y be so bashful, just get behind the team if ur a true fan, if ur not go to the nets blog or something..