Mavericks at Hawks, AKA Lineups, Perspective and My Big Z Delusions

Good blog. Lineups/rotations have been a hot topic on this blog for quite some time, but I don’t think our discussions are indicative of how Woody will continue to floor the same lineups/rotations for the remainder of the season. I honestly don’t see Woody as a guy who will experiment with what he’s had going for most of the season.

I’d honestly like to see JT0 get some starters minutes. Between JT0/Bibby, there’s limitted ability. I think what’s obvious at this point is that unless Bibby’s making his shots, he’s really useless. So, instead of trotting him out there night in and night out with the starters, have him come off the bench. I do think that would help bolster the benchplay, knowing we still have a sharp-shooter that can come in with the 2nd unit and make buckets.

I think Woody should try to experiment with Mo/Marvin as well. Marvin is clearly struggling to grasp his role on this team, so bring him off the bench. Lets see what happens if we bring him off the bench.

I think it’s obvious Woody’s struggling to mix/match his bench guys with the starters. Instead of sprinkling the bench guys in with the starters, Woody often rotates 5 for 5, which gets us out of the flow of the game. It’s also hard to score buckets when you field a lineup with 4 “defensive guys” playing alongside Crawford, expecting him to go 1 on 5 on the offensive end of the floor really stagnates our attack. I think bringing Bibby/Marvin off the bench would give us some more offensive firepower on the bench, and it would give JT0 a chance to run with the starters to see what he can do. Regardless of what it is, I do think Woody needs to experiment with something – whether it be scheme or rotation – to find a way to shake things up and spark this team again. Do I think it’s gonna happen though? Nope.

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I will be right behind Hawks bench helping Woody with his line up substitutions and time outs!!!!

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Sorry about the typing error!

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@ THHB,

No doubt the Hawks would have to make some adjustments defensively if they were to acquire Big Z and he were in the game. It would be a joke watching him try to stay in front of Rondo or another quick PG on the perimeter.

That said, I think his size alone would have a significant impact on our bench on both ends of the floor. He can still block a few shots and even if his shooting is not quite as good as it was, you still can’t leave him.

Z is only a 15-20 mpg guy at this stage of his career but I really think he would help in certain situatons.

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Trace! Don’t get me wrong, I would take him for free, of course—I just don’t believe there is a strong use case for him beyond the niche situation mentioned by Michael and in other non-defensive critical situations, therefore I have also been skeptical of Z being any kind of magic elixir for the team.

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Truth,

It will likely be a near sell out but how many of those fans will be cheering for the Hawks? You would think that if there are any Hawks fans in this town, they will be in the house cheering like crazy for the home team. I’m not holding my breath.

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MC,

I think Woody should start Teague some games depending on matchups (especially against the fast PGs). This is similar to what he used to do when Royal Ivey was here. Ivey would start each game, but still only averaged 10-15 minutes per game.

I also like the idea of Mo starting at SG, JJ at the 3, and bring Marvin off the bench. The main concern about that is JJ would be forced to defend the other team’s SF from the start, and he would lose his size advantage.

But if Teague is in the game, JJ would not have to guard the opposing PGs as often (although Teague commits some silly fouls and needs to continue working on his defense).

But in the meantime, a bench with Crawford, Marvin and Bibby should be allow JJ to get a few extra minutes of rest, and our bench play should improve tremendously.

But I don’t see Woody changing this starting lineup, unless there is injury. But at the very least, he needs to do a better job of mixing and matching starters with bench players, as has been previously pointed out. And he does not have that many games left to figure it out.

I was looking forward to seeing what Marvin would do(defensively) later, but if there is no Caron Butler, that would be good news for the Hawks. But I’m curious to see how we handle Haywood.

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THHB:

To expand on MC’s answer; a team can play a one man zone. In this scenario said player must be a [Big]. He would act as a goaltender.
For obvious reasons, a team could not do this with Bibby.

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I type slowly and missed a great deal of exchange before I entered my post. I think it still applies.
THHP – You got a burr under your saddle today?

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‘THHB’ – My apologies I told you I couldn’t type worth a darn.

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Who cares having Z starting at center would make josh and horford more dangerous defending shots(can you say block party)just because of Z’s 7′3 frame.Horford would go back to his natural position and that would mean more points and less fouls.If i was the hawks front office i would show him that they mean buisness putting a two or three year offer on the table.

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@ MC, I agree with you. That guy Bret Lagree is insane if he doesn’t think a 7′3 guy who has playoff experience, can shoot & block shots wouldn’t benefit this team. That’s amazing that a blogger for the Hawks doesn’t think Z would benefit this team.

As for our subs, I’m fine with everything. Yea Marvin has struggled & Bibbridge (Bibby) has regressed, but for all our whining & complaining, we’re the 3 seed & only 2 games behind ORL. I don’t think changing everything will get us the results we all desire. Stay the course Hawks…tinker with mins & lineups on a game by game basis, but Marvin to the bench & Teague getting starter mins on a regular basis are overreactions IMO.

Great blog as usual…I think what I like most about this blog is that it’s thought provoking & allows us to draw our own conclusions. Keep up the good work.

P.S. Any other big men who we might pursue, MC?

-REEcognize the Roe!!!

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Wabe, we obviously need to figure out how to compete with the Magic (scoring over 90 points would be a good start). But I think that changing the starters that have been together for about 160 games to address concerns with the Magic and Cavs just seems like shooting off your foot. I think Woody is doing the right thing by tinkering with in-game line-ups associated with the bench. He has long since shown his willingness to end the game with whomever he feels will help him deliver the win (often NOT the 5 starters).

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Point taken Astro.

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AJ, Wabe

I’m just skeptical that the same things we complan about now (ie Bibby’s defensive liability, Marvin’s disappearing act, lack of results from our bench) are the same things we will be complaining about in the playoffs.

By experimenting now, that might give Woody something to think about. And it might light a fire under Marvin (there should not be anything wrong with his confidence), and it should help Teague’s confidence and hopefully lead to better results.

It might seem drastic that the #3 seed in the East is changing its lineup, but what will matter the most is the end result. I will say that Woody has seemed more flexible of late when it comes to sprinkling his bench players with starters, so hopefully he will continue to improve.

And although he may not finish the game with the 5 starters, the most common change is usually Crawford instead of Marvin (2 years ago, it used to be Chills instead of Marvin, and last year it was Flip instead of Marvin).

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MCUNNINGHAM-I would love to see Woody try a different approach against Orlando. Instead of committing all of his resources trying to attack or stop their strength, C DHoward, he should try to attack their weaknesses by creating matchup disadvantages for them. Against Orlando, he should bench Marvin, move Smooth to SF and match him up against MBarnes, and play RMorris at PF and match him up against RLewis.

The advantage of size and inside scoring ability RMorris and Smoove would present against their forwards, along with C AHorford, would certainly keep DHoward busy. Starting Teague instead of Bibby, to go against JNelson, would give us a much better advantage as well, especially on DEF.

Considering how completely none competitive we’ve been so far this yr against Orlando, what do we have to lose by trying it?

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We have done so well against Orlando this year, that I would hate to have Woody try something else. Sigh!

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O’Brien,

In my opinion, it would seem a little drastic for a team that is currently on pace to win 53 games to change it’s lineup at the end of February. If Woody was going to consider a lineup change (I STILL don’t think the lineup is the issue), he should have done that before Christmas.

I think doing it now has the potential to create a distraction that this team just doesn’t need. That is particularly true in the case of a young team like the Hawks. In my opinion, the risk of losing a few key games that we otherwise might not lose is just too great.

I have no problem with Woody tinkering with different combinations on the floor but I think there is a HUGE risk in sending Bibby or Marvin to the bench.

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Man you guys are hilarious with the RandMo love. Are you serious? RandMo? You think Rand Mo has ANY shot against Howard? Just because RandMo has made a few nice moves against the scrubs of the NBA in the 4th quarter when it doesn’t matter doesn’t mean he is ready for meaningful minutes in the NBA. You guys have seen Zaza lately. If Woody thought RandMo could provide ANYTHING, don’t you think he would get in the game on occasion?

Obviously, you guys all missed the game where RandMo DID get in against the Magic and Howard promptly posted him up, gave him the drop step and almost dunked him into the basket with the ball. RandoMo is too slow and too soft to be effective against Howard. BEST CASE for RandMo is that he becomes a serviceable, situational big man but unless he gets a LOT tougher, that situation will NEVER include defending Dwight Howard.

In addition, the Magic kill us because we can’t guard Howard so inevitably, we double him which leaves a 3 pt shooter open on the perimeter. Placing Smoove at SF is not going to prevent that from happening. In fact, it will facilitate that happening. Smoove needs to be near the basket versus the Magic on both ends, aggressively going to the basket on offense and providing help D on the other end.

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Astro

Nobody has quite put it that way buddy. You’re content to watch the SS Hawks sink this year in hopes of a better next year. There might not be a next year!

We’re looking for anything that might give a slight opportunity against the Magic using what we have. Nobody has declared it a full roster change or anything of the sort. Just to test the combination sometime agaist a team with a dominant center. MN would’ve been a good outlet to experiment with going big to win the boards against a team with 2 decent bigs. Why not try it to see?

If it doesn’t work we can go with our 7 man rotation that hasn’t proven the confidence to stay within 20 of Orlando. Either way change is needed against them.

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Trace, agree, agree, agree….there have been instances of Randolph getting run before scrub-time and the results made it obvious that his usual time is where (for now) he is best left to play. The post moves he uses against the other team’s bench aren’t as effective in that time and the defense left wanting.

You left out the part when Howard was laughing at Randy after that particular usage.

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Horford is among the bottom feeder when it comes to defense. Hes allergic to it.

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How can every coach in the league say that Horford is the hardest working PF/C they’ve seen in quite a while that they’d love to have on their team and you come up with that crap while talking to yourself?

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So what’s ATLANTA’s take on J-CRIT’s apology on the radio show? That comment about the injury not being right is really alarming.

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With our likely playoff positioning 3-5, the road to the eastern final goes through Cleveland or Orlando. Boston becomes irrelevant to us in this scenario.

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A Hawks Fan

Is this a trick question?

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@Fundamentals,

Sorry, but there is no easy answer for us versus the Magic. There just isn’t. We almost have to play a perfect game to beat them.

Howard is just too big and too strong for Al to handle one on one and he is too quick and athletic for Zaza. That situation creates problems for us on both ends that are very difficult to overcome. We are not the only team who has this problem with him. The Cavs went out and got Shaq for that reason alone.

If you double Howard, the 3 point shooters beat us. They made 10 and 12 3’s respectivley in the games where we tried to double Howard. Howard’s mere presence makes our guys have to cheat toward him which leaves shooters like Lewis, Anderson, Reddick, Carter, Nelson, Barnes, Williams and Pietrus in position to make us pay. For whatever reason, they ALWAYS seem to make us pay.

If you single cover Howard (like we did last time), he goes for 31/19 and just demoralizes you by continuously dunking in your face.

That said, I think the way to attack the Magic is to try to play Howard straight up as much as possible and double him occasionally, mixing up where the double comes from. Collins didn’t have a lot of success versus Howard last time but I would plan on letting Collins use his six fouls to make him earn it from the line. I never liked Hack a Shaq but you have to do what you have to do.

Most people think we have to run to be effective against ORL but I think that actually plays right into their hands. When those guys get to running and shooting 3’s in transition, they can run you out of the gym in a hurry. I think we need to run when it is there but we should also slow it down versus ORL and just try to be close going into the 4th quarer where the great individual skills of JJ and Jamal can create problems for anyone.

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why cant we just get Dion Glover back

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Can someone help me understand why Mcunningham and others might think that Collins cant guard Dwight Howard? That olando game he played about 1 minute and got 3 fouls called on him he did not destroy collins so everyone has given up on him guarding dwight thats crazy give him another chance. The refs just didnt want him on dwight in orlando. I think he will be better in atl when we play them.

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Collins had a PERFECT anticipation swipe when Howard was trying to do a spin move that was called a foul.

The other fouls were contact fouls when they were fighting for position exercising the same level if aggression.

Howard threw Zaza into the ground on that same game and Zaza got called for a foul…

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Guys, Orlando can be beaten. Many teams have done it. Unfortunately, I’ve been busy so I haven’t seen HOW they do it. You who have access to watch….how have they done it? I like Ken S’s idea in that it presents a different tack.

I’d put Mario on whoever they have that is hot….Play him in spurts against whoever is hot… .

Duke did something in a semifinal game or maybe a championship game a few years ago…..They were down 15-20 points at the half. They came out with wild, feverish energy, so much energy they knew they’d be burned out after about 5 minutes, but after that 5 minutes,they were a couple of points in front. After that they took several time outs and went into a stall. They dragged themselves to the foul line in slow motion to buy time. (oh yeah, they won too, Laettner was there) ….Obviously WE can’t stall, but that’s the TYPE of COMPREHENSIVE STRARGEY CHANGE we need to beat Orlando and now possibly the new, improved Cleveland.

Can Dwight Howard run full speed for an entire game? Run his buns off….Then, when he shows some fatigue, take the ball into him with dipsy doodle or hard drive and get 3 or 4 fouls on him.while he’s a little unsteady. Then take on the rest of the team on while he sits. Or make Pachulia or Horford practice about 200 17-footers a night for the rest of the year. Or Joe Smith , and have whoever Howard is guarding go outside the key and start bombing away, go to work on offensive rebounds and cash in. If Z wants to, let him do it. (Newsflash…Z ain’t coming…) If necessary start work on a full-court press and platoon the entire fricking team. Have em ready..let them know what is going to be expected of them. Both Cleveland and Orlando are fine teams…….but they can be beaten.

As for Dallas, I’m taking the hawks tonight by 7….because they know it’s a big game and they won’t come out flat!. The game will be tied at the half….Hawks will be by 3 to start the fourth, they’ll fall behind. Crawford will win it with 2:30 left. Kill me if I’m wrong (verbally, please, not literally)..

Then, in the second game, completely change the strategy.

I think at this stage of the season, we do need to win every game.

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@ saml’ it will be a big win, especially after Dallas beat the Lakers and the magic on their home court during their 5 game win streak, and the game is on ESPN @ home

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@niremetal is that accurate? oh well

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It’s from the Cleveland Plain Dealer’s beat writer, so if any reporter would know, it’s probably him.

Assuming this is true, I’m surprised that he did it this quickly. The buyout was finalized yesterday, and teams aren’t even allowed to sign him until Monday because he has to clear waivers, if I’m not mistaken. Announcing his decision before the ink even dried on his buyout rather than even pretending to entertain other teams’ offers will raise a lot more eyebrows about there being an honest-to-goodness prearranged deal than he’d get if he just waited a week.

His agent is an idiot.

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Hubie!

Hawks have to win this game!

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LMAO @ duck.

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Josh off to a good star

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start*

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Well therted all right now not so much

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Damn dirk is on fire

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Now atlanta is chucking jump shots

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smh

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Typical hawks choking again

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How you gonna choke in the 1st qtr?

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MARVIN IS F……ING USELESS!!!!!

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Hawks are gonna lose

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WTF is zaza gonna do

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im sorry i gotta turn it

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Woody calling a time out to draw up an iso…

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Get this team outta ATL and bring in the Thunder at least they got heart.

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The mavs are playing what people would call BASKETBALL. The hawks don’t know how to play BBALL

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See, this is what I mean. It’s one thing to compete, play a pretty solid game and come up short….but efforts like this just make you cringe.

16-0…really? Well it’s a long game …..I hope we can comeback and win or atleast COMPETE, but right now this is just pathetic… It’s like Dallas is playing Georgia State’s Mens team.

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Dirk got left wide open for the J on Woodson’s infamous switching D…if anyone noticed. He just bricked it…finally.

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and that was out of a time out..

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This and the warriors game is a prime reason of why woody needs to be fired.

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The best Josh can do is try to force Dirk off of his sweet spots and try to get a hand up because Dirk is going to get great looks at the basket all game because of his size advantage.

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Fire Woodson!

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No Teague tonight… that midget is going to blow pass Bibby everytime…

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LMFAO…

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How many point blank misses was that on that last possession????

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Hawks playing worse than Eduardo Najera’s hair looks.

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LMAO @ Mac

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The worst supposed “GOOD” team in the league your Atlanta Cawks

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Hawks playing nervous because they are on ESPN? Come on guys, you’re in your own gym!

AL getting good looks, but not just falling. Like how they are going to the inside now.

Jamal is doing too much dribbling up high and running down the clock.

Step it up, Hawks!

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I believe in every time out….Woodson says this: “OK this is what we’re gonna do, we’re gonna inbound the ball cleanly, stand around and try to get the rock to Crawford and Joe so they can get us points, the rest of you guys just show lots of energy!!”

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LOL Woody has the starters/+Craw in with 9 minutes left in 2nd. What a moron. Just gonna lose by 20 and burn the starters’ legs

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The hawks offense reminds me of the episode of “Cousin Skeeter” where the only play the coach had was pass it to BIG NEIGHBORHOOD.

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OK, the Hawks start scoring, but they’re trading baskets. They might have wanted to do that when it was 18-13.

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lol@Woodson actin like he was coachin

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Down only 3!

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Horrible drought by the hawks. But they have turned up the defense and the offense to come back. Only down 3.

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Oh no@ESPN’s Woodson boosterism

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JustChillFans, maybe because there’s nothing wrong with acknowledging when your team does good AND BAD, instead of acting like everything is OK.

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They should inspect the Mavs backboard during the commerical b/c I think Josh put a dent in it after that block on Stevenson shot…

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Game ain’t over yet, folks! Stop doubting. Hang with your team to the end!

Did somebody switch channels? You’ve missed some great basketball!

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rolling…

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lol@JustChillFans…..bruh….makin one or two good plays…or h3ll even havin 1 good game ,when you’ve stunk it up for 5 or 6 consecutive ones doesnt mean crap.

Bibby can suck for 5 straight games then comes back in 1 game and hit back2back threes and someone has to say somethin like “What all you bibby haters gotta say now??? Exactly shut the hell up.”

Bibby is a below average player at this point in his career.

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Jamal just put up an awful 3…

lol at him asking for the ball from Al when Al had a wide open dunk on the fast break.. wow.. he wants to score em all…

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the duck quacks!!!!!!!!

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Melvin, these Hawks are like Jekyll and Hyde

Finally a made shot for Marvin. I forgot he was on the team lol
And a Mario sighting

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lol hostility, hate, some truth….but mostly hate

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…………..very mature

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Even ballgame. It’s any team’s to take in the 2nd.

Phew! Happy to see the Hawks come alive. The poisonous hate on this blog was getting unbearable. Not saying Hawks gonna win the game, though I think if they share the ball, rebound and defend, they will win, but at least they are not laying eggs in the game so far.

In that 2nd qrt, Hawks certainly fed ESPN, especially Josh Smith!

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Bone have you ever once said anything positive about the Hawks? Why are you here?

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Oh ye of little faith…

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AJ,

C’mon man, is it not EXACTLY what you would expect?

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“Oh ye of little faith.”

I love that, Astro.

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Bibby, Joe, Josh and Al with big minutes.

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Sautee, they’re “fair and balanced” just like Fox News.

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Since alotta people wanna question me about certain things I’m gonna address some things. I enjoy watching GOOD BASKETBALL. The Hawks are above avg but they do not play GOOD BASKETBALL. If you all knew what GOOD BASKETBALL looked like you wouldn’t be so damn optimistic. I’m keeping it real and I haven’t been wrong about too much of what I have said about the Hawks. THEY ARE NOT CONTENDERS. Yet. If you don’t like what I say go cry about it.

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Marvin with a block. Good job Marvin. Keep it coming.

And why cant we stop Dirk? Man, he is a tough cover

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Hubie said Hawks slipped back to the mode they were in, in the 1st half.

That’s because they retained the same starters coming in to the 2nd half. I would have started the crew that ended the 2nd.

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JOSH STOP GIVING DIRK SPACE TO SHOT. HE IS A TOP 10 PLAYER IN THE WORLD. DO NOT LET HIM SHOOT
JESUS

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Blast,

Good point. But most teams tend to start the 3rd with the same team that started the game.

That is what we want to see from Marvin, because he will get a lot of those shots. Open 3 from the corner.

The old Bibby seems to be bac. Hopefully Marvin will continue what we have seen so far

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Mack, they look bad together and they look good together. Novel thought, huh?

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Josh Smith!

Hawks MVP!!!!

And to imagine that some ‘fans’ questioned his basketball IQ!

What is YOUR basketball IQ, those so called ‘fans’, now?

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The Hawks should promise Big Z that they’ll force Marvin to give him his yearly salary as an added bonus to whatever he’d already get, if he signs with us. Marvin is more useless than the guys who collect buggys outside Grocery Stores and should be paid accordingly.

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Damn Mac lol

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In spite of Woodon during the good stretches@Astro Joe

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LOL @ HUBIE SAYING WE’RE GOING TO RALLY

HAS HE SEEN THE HAWKS PLAY THE MAGIC

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Marvin with a block, he just needs to be involved and bring energy

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They Hawks sell more Mario West and Randolph Morris jerseys than Marvin Williams ones. That’s saying alot.

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yeah thats sad we sell more Mario West jerseys, he wasnt even on the team at the beginning of the year

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Dang, JeJe you seem to be more infactuated with Jesus than you do the Hawks!!

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Marvin has got to make that layup.

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Haywood’s BEASTIN on those boards right there.

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I wish there was a way we could have kept Flip AND Crawford. It would have been nice to have 2 guys coming off the bench capable of giving you 15-20 any night.

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It’s not as easy as it looks to box out a 7 footer.

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WOODSON’S GONNA PLAY THE STARTERS/+JCRAW THE ENTIRE 4TH. GOOD JOB DEVELOPIGN THE BENCH. I’M SURE TEAGUE COULDN’T HAVE DONE ANYTHING ON BAREA. IDIOT

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He should do that more

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Jamal on Josh:

“All great passers have a high basketball IQ and he’s one of the best”.

Jamal must not have read THAT much of the blog, or he’s know how dumb Josh is.

heh heh

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Najeh, did they have nimbers on their uniforms? Was one of them named Byron Davis?

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LOL @ CARON VS. JAMAL

CARON LOVED WASHINGTON

JAMAL WAS BENCHED LAST YEAR

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Damn can Al finish 2nite

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There are some folks on Hawks blog that I do not think are real Hawks fans. I think they are fans of Cleveland, Boston, Orlando, and LA. But they come in here dropping disparaging comments about our team despite all the travesty Hawks have had in years past, and the relative success they are having now.

It’s really simple.

If you don’t like or support HAwks, then get the hell off our blog! And don’t watch Hawks basketball either, MOFO!

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lol@JeJe….now you know that’s not possible. Carlisle?? Smart? He was an ESPN Analyst. IMPOSSIBLE!!

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i Like when Hubie Brown calls the telecast

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Hubie Brown gives an excellent analysis of our team

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lets see what these last mins are gonna bring

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Put Josh back in the game woody

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LOL Terry talkin trash to the fans.

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JeJe… Yeah. Barrea. Is. Playin. & his team is losing! Hey. Man, This is the NBA! Woody got to get to 50 wins. Contract. Year. – Man.

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IREPATL is right. ATL is a city of posers and fakers. Always have been. Highest gay population %
Stole Bass music from Miami. Stole Crunk music from Memphis. Now you guys are doing skinny jeans and funny haircuts and making gay music, stolen from the Bay Area of Cali.

Houston is the capital of the south.

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wish we’d got that Haywood.

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Now does everybody see what I’m saying. I don’t care about playing good in spurts. I want to see them play good the entire game.

I’M RIGHT AGAIN

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no Hubie.. every coach can coach..

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*not every coach can coach…

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SORRY AZZ W H O R E F O R D!

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stubborn.

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Bibby bop…

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woody bout to throw dem boes looooooooooooooool

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wtf is kidd doin

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throw kid out of the game!

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looooooooooool halarious turn out , these boyz goin ham the last 5 mins of the game

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Kidd is a p-rick.

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5th Ward, stfu!!! Highest gay population from outsiders that moved here from where you’re from..

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If we pull this out thank Mike Bibby.

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I was reading Woodson’s lips, he called Jason Kidd an Albino who looked like Mike Bibby’s offspring…..then he told Kidd he had something in the trunk for weak (insert a word here) like him

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Phuck Jason Kidd.

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How the f_ck is he making 3s

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kidd goin off, wow

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smh hawks choke again

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Hawks down 2. 58 seconds in the 4th. Game still ain’t over yet!

Ref have been screwing us.

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damn.. they get 1 shot.

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I lost some respect for Kidd on that play.

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lol@Kidd even being able to get that off

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that technical shot is a factor right now

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cant feel bad about mavs coming back, they are hot right now, but we should have already won

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This is a playoff game now. GREAT GAME!!!!

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lol @ woody callin j-kidd a f@g tonight, tht should make sportscenter

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Kidd is a chicken spit wussy!!
That wasn’t “smart” – it was lame……He was out of bounds!!!!

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Man they sure wrote a nice script to this one.

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overtime and the starters are tired. way to go Woody.

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Well the hawks are gonna lose. They just wanna shoot jumpers

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refs stole this game from us…..lol game over………?

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Hawks have played well, but they will lose this game if they play the way they are doing so far.

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will hawks score in ot?

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wish we had a developed Jeff Teague… id go small right with them…

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The officials are HORRIBLE! Josh had a dunk and they call that crap.

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hawks have been exposed

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Playoff type game we will blow it. Its hard being a Atlanta fan in any sport.

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Game over

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“not shot well”?

they haven’t scored at all …

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WTF is joe doin

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good offensive basketball…

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I hope we can get a defensive center real soon Horford is weak.

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me= disgusted

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we can buy a shot now, a game of runs ends on Dallas making theres, oh well

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Hawks: 7.5 back, losing
Raptors: 12.5 back, tied

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iso a zone.. pick and roll a zone…? no zone offense hmmm…

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good drive Joe…

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HA! What a bunch of clowns!

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Trust me, I’m a gambler.

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MAN SERIOUSLY HORFORD HAS SUCKED THIS GAME. NO BETTER THAN MARVIN.

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No center, no chance against a team that has one.

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fire Woody!

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AND ONCE AGAIN WHEN I 1ST SAID THE HAWKS WOULD LOSE THEY ENDED UP CHOKING.

I KNOW WHAT I’M TALKING ABOUT.

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And gosh Bone, doesn’t that make you feel great?

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Wow, Cleveland in OT at Toronto, no Bosh..

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we lost that game on the boards. and Woody’s fat ass.

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OMG THE HAWKS SUCK IM SO SICK OF SEEING THIS HORRIBLE TEAM, GET US THE THUNDER, GET US AVERY JOHNSON, GET US SOME PANTIES…………lol j.k , but yea we seriously need a C, im mean j-kidd out rebounded our strarting 5 almost by himself

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Mike Bibby can’t check grandma in a wheelchair!

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Well if we are choking then whats the answer? fire woody? lets get that chant going

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ON THE BRIGHTSIDE…look at ATL’s upcoming schedule…EASIEST in the NBA

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Hawks just cant hold a lead they get to comfortable with big leads. I also noticed they paid wayyy to much attention to Dirk leaving kidd with the open 3’s. Now other teams will see that the hawks cant play against the zone. Now the hawks may lose games and fall down to the 4th seed.

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The best the Hawks will do this year is the four wins against Boston, but wait until next year though!

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“ON THE BRIGHTSIDE…look at ATL’s upcoming schedule…EASIEST in the NBA”

True but how will the hawks be mentally after losing this game.

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Mike Woodson….SMH!

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Now thats what 3 recent games that the hawks have choked away. The Celtics must feel great that they don’t have to worry about the hawks stealing the 3rd seed.

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It would also be nice if the team would either learn or be taught how to be disciplined about their defense. How many times did Dirk’s defender leave him to double someone else? I think in the first half, Marvin left Dirk to double Marion. When was the last time Shawn Marion needed to be doubled? I’ll tell you, when Joe was playing in Phoenix.

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i was typing before i read the post… but hey.. Woodson does some good things… i wont take that away from him, but Astro he has glaring deficiencies as a head coach… maybe he’s learning and growing too.. i dont know, but in order to take the next step we have to be able to adjust and counter…

simply bringing in Crawford and expecting defenses to become scared just wont cut it…

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Fire Mike Woodson. I honestly look at this game as a failure to make adjustments (Woody) & an ineffective bench. Our starters played A TON of minutes tonight.

Josh: 42
Al played 50 MINUTES tonight!
Bibby: 39
Joe: 47
Jamal: 39

ZaZa, Mo & Joe Smith combined for 25 mins. Our guys looked spent and it showed. But the primary blame goes to Woodson. The technical on the sideline for being out of the coaches box is the dumbest thing I’ve ever seen by a head coach

-REEgistered as Roe!

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If the hawks go 2 the finals I will donate 200 dollars 2 Haiti

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Dirk and kidd had 46 minutes, but they dont play extensive minutes like we do, we do it ALL the time, and we will be spent AGAIN in the playoffs

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I think people are forgetting woodson didnt call a timeout when the mavs went on that long run

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Donate anyway JJM, what’s it gonna hurt?

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Woodson is coming out with a new book everybody it’s called “HOW TO LOSE WINNABLE GAMES” with a foreword by Marvin and Bibby

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maybe woody was thinkin he’d go over a wring Kidd’s neck if he called a TO. it was a lil be-yatch move by Kidd , but “really a pro, vet” move too. whatever. woody was stupid to get caught in that situation.

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dave, I can live with the consequences of the swicthing defense. We’re naturally undersized and should use our quicjkness on the defensive end. I’d venture that Horford and SMith also GET rebounds due to the switching defense (which puts them on guards). My guess is that we give up some and we get some. It’s obvious that Horford/Smith won;t win too many battles on the board against Haywood/Dirk.

But doubling down on the post and leaving Dirk is ALWAYS a bad idea. I’d much rather see Kidd try to hit a turn-around jumper than see Josh leave Dirk open for an open jumper. It’s not even close in my mind. A turn-around, contested jumper by anyone or an open jumper by Dirk? Come on… that’s just poor discipline.

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Ree Roe, you mean Al was in the game for 50 minutes, I believe he played about 2.

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GUYS LET GET RID OF THIS BUM AND FIND A REAL CENTER.

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Woodson is coming out with a new book everybody it’s called “HOW TO LOSE WINNABLE GAMES” with a foreword by Marvin and Bibby.

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“JJM, I guess you missed our home game against Utah… or is Jerry Sloan NOT a real coach?”

you cant compare that game to this. Even the fans were like why the coach not calling a timeout.

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I’m usually the one that comes and writes an optimistic novel about how we should still be happy about how far the Hawks have come and that it’s coming together. I’m not doing that tonight. This one hurts a lot. Woody has gotta improve. Joe has gotta find that quickness he showed a few times tonight. Al has gotta finish more consistently against bigger guys. Josh has gotta stop complaining about calls and get back on D. Marvin has gotta step it up. Jamal has gotta improve his shot selection. Bibby has gotta have more games like tonight. There, I’m okay now. Step it up Hawks.

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Woodson is coming out with a new book everybody it’s called “HOW TO LOSE WINNABLE GAMES” with a foreword by Marvin and Bibby..

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Did you think we didn’t see it the first time Bone?

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Let me repeat (Again), Al Horford will not be able to supplant Josh Smith at the 4 position, therefore he should be trade bait this summer for a (Real) Center. With him having an All-Star season (excluding tonight), we should get good value him.

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OB, Zaza was not an option in this game. Horford had an awful game… not because of Woody but because of Haywood and because Horford couldn’t keep his composure. But again, good lesson for the playoffs. Horford has GREAT hands but he seemed to fumble a lot of entry passes because he was too worried about how he was going to get his shot off against Haywood (my opinion of course). And we’ve seen Horford do that before. Like a receiver who doesn’t look a pass into his hands because he’s trying to figure out where to run after the catch.

Well, guess what, Horford will likely be playing against bigger bodies throughout the playoffs. Keep him put there all freakin’ game and let him learn how to compose himself and play the game in these situations. Because this team can’t win a playoff series without Horford playing well.

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It’s funny because it seems as if the Hawks were playing better, this time last year. Don’t get me wrong, these Hawks are a better team than last year squad, but they’re not playing with a sense of urgency right now, especially in the fourth quarter. I think Mike Woodson has taken this team as far as he can.

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Guys,

I usually don’t question decisions by the coaches and I understand that it is easy to point the finger @ the coach when you loose. These are my points to question:
1. I just felt that we did not use our bench enough tonight to at least keep our best players fresher coming down the stretch.
2. I was surprised at our lack of knowledge on how to attack a zone.
3. I was very surprised at our decisions to not call any time outs to stop their momenium when we still had the lead.
4. We continue to have a lack of imagination on offense.

I guess that I’m just flustrated like most of you are.

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Let me express that I’m an optimist when it comes to the Hawks & I’m passionate about this team, but this loss exposed alot of issues we’ve been blogging about on here since training camp. I’m not even mad…more reflective. We lack depth & good coaching. Our starting 6 is as strong as any…after that we struggle big time. MC, give Woody hell!

-REEcipe for Roe!!!!

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Kill Mike Woodson!

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Woody took a charge!!!! The first charge that I’ve seen taken since Joe Smith took one about 2 months ago. I might have missed a few games, i admit. Woody was off the court though, & Kidd is an bush-league, major league a$$! Just my opinion.

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I wish we were playing tomorrow evening on the road. I’d love for these guys to be forced to travel together out of town after that loss. They’d either kill each other or come out of it a more unified bunch.

But now they just go to their indvidual homes and complain to someone who barely cares.

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If you think that Woodson was standing out of bounds, I don’t know what game you were watching! Woodson was on the court and during play a player has the right to go anywhere on the court. Kidd doesn’t have to explain to anybody why he wanted to go to that particular spot on the court and it doesn’t matter if he ran into Woodson on purpose or through out his elbow to initiate the contact. It was a smart play by Kidd and the call was a no brainer for the refs.

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Mark Bradley is chewing on that Kidd-play bone. I hope that MC comes strong with quotes regarding our poor performance against the zone defense. That’s why we loss the game, not because of a fluke call involving Kidd and Woody.

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ASTRO JOE-Are you and Woodson sleeping together? The gm went into overtime, which means the score was tied at the end of regulation. If your boy/girlfriend had kept his ignorant ass off the court, they wouldn’t have gotten that point from that technical foul shot, and the gm would have ended with us winning by ONE(1) point, moron.

We have 36 wins, and for us to win 55gms we’d have to go 19-6 over our last 25gms. Ironically, 19-6 has been our best overall record this season, so I went back to that point to see how we’ve done since then. Well, we’ve gone 17-15 over those 32gms, and some still insist on believing Woodson is doing a good job and the team is doing just fine.

The way this team has played and Woodson has coached over the last 32gms, what are the odds of us finishing the season winning 19 of our last 25? Before the season started, we predicted what our overall won/loss record would be. So, lets predict what we’ll do down the stretch and what our final won/loss record will be. The way we’re playing now, we’d be hard pressed to win 50gms.

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*get what we can for Al

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K.S.:

rich brave inferred the other day that you have a coaching background.
Curious? I know t-syb is lurking. Someday, I’d like to share philosophy.

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I can spell, I just can’t type! Plese be aware bacause it annoys me.
JRR – that was self-deprecation. Just so you would know.

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BOSTON JUST LOST TO NEW JERSEY!!!! LOOOOOOOOOOOL

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