Hawks Squawks: Heat 100, Hawks 94
Wade soared past the Hawks for 38 points. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)
Miami–A D-Wade surge in the third, a couple bad possessions, a Michael Beasley eruption . . . just like that, the Hawks lost a game they once controlled. They can’t let road games slip away like this if they really want to win the Southeast.
– Josh and Jamal both tried to throw passes into the teeth of the Heat’s zone. “We had too many turnovers,” Woody said. “Blind passes when nothing was there. They capitalized on it.”
– The Hawks had seven of their 13 turnovers in the fourth quarter and made just 6 of 20 shots in the period. Once again they appeared baffled against a zone defense. “I can’t fault the effort,” Woody said. “The effort was great. We got the tempo the way we wanted it. But then their zone slowed us down.”
– Wade went off with 14 points in the third quarter, energizing his teammates and the fans. The Hawks controlled him in the fourth but then Beasley took over with 14 points on 6 of 7 shooting and a key steal. “We tried to post Smoove from the backside of the zone but Beasley did a hell of a job in getting to the spot,” Woody said.
– Beasley had seven straight points as the Heat turned a 92-91 deficit into a 98-92 lead. “We know he is capable of doing that,” Al said. “He was able to get two good looks from the corner. Wade had it going at that time so we thought we would get it out of his hands.”
– Beasley’s 3-pointer with 46.8 seconds to play was the dagger. “Honestly when it left my hand it didn’t feel too good,” he said.
– The Hawks still had a chance when they were down 98-94 and Carlos Arroyo missed a jumper. But Udonis Haslem rebounded. “That was pretty much the game,” Woody said.
– J.J. missed 12 of 15 shots in the second half after making 5 of 8 in the first. A tight deadline didn’t allow me to wait around and ask him if he still felt ill tonight.
– Joe Smith took a shot to the nose and didn’t return to the game. He still was available to play but Woody didn’t use him in the second half after he had eight points and made 3 of 3 shots in seven minutes of the first. He helped the Hawks bench players outscore the Heat reserves 20-10 in the first half.
– The game was delayed for several minutes at the start of the fourth quarter due to scoreboard and clock malfunctions. At first the operator couldn’t take a point away from the Heat’s tally after a 3-pointer was changed to a 2. Then the clock didn’t start to begin the half.
– “Both teams had an opportunity to rest,” Woody said. “That had no effect on what happened.”
– Smoove wasn’t so sure. “It let ‘D Wade’ get a longer rest and we didn’t want that to happen. They know what they was doing. They’ve been working at that scorer’s table for years and they don’t know how to count it down? It’s a smart move by them, though. Maybe we should try that.”
– I’m out, Hawks fans.
MC
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142 comments Add your comment
TheBark n' TheBite
March 7th, 2010
8:24 pm
wtfffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffff this some bullshat, the hawks suck
richbrave
March 7th, 2010
8:41 pm
Clyde
March 7th, 2010
6:43 pm
“MARVIN AND BIBBY ARE THE 2 WORST STARTING SFS AND PGS IN THE GAME…..”
Uh-h-h, NORTH CLYDE FORTY:
You could honestly say with a straight face that they are worse than RANDY FOYE and MIKE MILLER?
For the 13.325 million the two WIZARDS make, I would trade you for both straight up right now.
Section 303
March 7th, 2010
8:42 pm
Banks, Woodson is the guy you can thank for Josh Smith becomming the player he is today. A lot of NBA coaches would have either let him run wild or traded him during his idiot days. Woodson stayed on him, took no crap, and Josh is a better man/player because of it.
Woodson is a tough man. I don’t agree he never praises his players, though. I go to almost all the home games. I’ve seen him give plenty pats on the back over the years.
Blast
March 7th, 2010
8:48 pm
Hawks lose a tough one on the road vs Heat that just beat Lakers, and all of a sudden, Hawks, sucked. Roof is falling down. Tank the team and start all over. Who are these people? Hawks aint gonna win every game down the stretch. Once I saw Miami beat LA, I knew Hawks were in for a dogfight. Wade was a monster, and Beasley a beast. They did what they had to do to pull off that win.
Now, I blame Woody for not using his bench in the 2nd, but ultimately, it wasn’t Woody that caused the two turnovers in the 4th that clinched the game. It wasn’t Woody that made Joe shoot another bad %. If guys are tired from playing heavy minutes the night before, or are sick, then they need to tell the coach so. They are not supermen. If you cannot perform at a high level, then sit your butt down.
Woody has his faults. I’m not a big fan of his, but Woody does not play the game. His players do. Now if they are not listening to him, that is a different storry altogether……
JeJe
March 7th, 2010
8:57 pm
Northcyde,
Since you keep saying that: Do you think we can beat Orlando or Cleveland in a series?
northcyde
March 7th, 2010
9:00 pm
northcyde can you really tell me woody is a good coach,do you like our iso-joe slowdown offense with little ball movement. joe is a really streaky shooter & i dont think his over dribbling eating up the time actually helps our offense. you say for every bad shooting day joe has that he has a great shooting day. if he is he has to do better than that.we have a lot of great atheletes on this team we need to play an uptempo game.
will woody ever develope a point guard,will he ever stop over using our first team
*************
Is Woody a good coach? Yes. He teaches them the right things ( defense and rebounding ). He’s developed the right people ( not the scrubs, but the key players ). The players respond to him on most nights. He doesn’t waste minutes giving them to sorry bench players. He runs a low-risk offense that relies on his best players making the plays. If I were to give him a grade on the year, he’d get a B from me. the Hawks are 40 – 22 and still in the divisional race . . . not 22 – 40, battling for a lottery pick. If you’d asked people if they’d take us being 40 – 22 with 20 games to go in the season, you would’ve gotten a HELL YEAH from EVERYBODY!!
Do I like ISO-Joe? Yes. When ISO-Joe has it going, it’s the best thing for the offense. Last night we actually moved the ball and relied less on ISO-Joe. Joe just simply missed open long jumpers when people threw the ball to him in catch and shoot situations. But ISO-Joe not only enables JJ to be assertive as an offensive player, it allows people like Mike Bibby and Marvin Williams to get wide open shots. I tell you this . . it will be ISO-Joe that will save us come playoff time, whether it be via his shooting or passing. The best player on the team has to be able to score in ISO situations in the playoffs.
We need to play uptempo We need to play uptempo when it is there. Get the defensive rebound and go. But pushing the ball just to be pushing it, is a bad idea, beacuse we don’t have a quick penetrating PG to take advantage of that. People want to play like Golden St., but playing like Golden St, and not having the right personnel, would be playing inefficient basketball . . that’s why they’re so inefficient as a ballclub, even if they did beat us once.
Will Woody ever develop a PG? I don’t know. But it would help if Woody could ever get a PG that could make a lay-up or an open 18 footer. Woody can’t shoot for the PG that’s for sure.
Will we ever stop using our 1st team? Why should we? Our 1st team is ranked #3 in the league. JJ, Smoove and Horford are playing better than they did last year. And even though Marvin and Bibby are struggling, the overall chemistry is still there.
Our bench, on the other hand, is ranked #26 in the league. On our bench, we have one player who can create a shot for himself and make it ( Crawford ). But Zaza is one of the worst shooting centers in the league ( 43% FG ), with even worse defense. Teague is one of the worst shooting PGs in the league ( 36% FG ). Mo Evans is having his worst shooting year in his career ( 43% FG – 33% 3FG ). Joe Smith is having his 2nd lowest shooting year in his career ( 42% FG ), and can’t go every game. Jason Collins is useless. Mario West hustles, but people cry every time Woody plays him, instead of Teague.
*****************
See . . a lot of things people say around here would be all well in good, if they didn’t flip out over every single loss. Fact is, if Woody tried to develop the 7 – 10 guys on the bench, this team would have less wins than it currently has right now. Why? Because those guys, on most nights, are sorry. If Woody did like other coaches, and reduce his rotation to 8 or 9 players, he could develop those 7, 8, and 9 guys a little more.
northcyde
March 7th, 2010
9:28 pm
JeJe, I need to see how we match up against Cleveland with them having Antoine Jamison. But while the odds are in Cleveland’s favor, we could beat them in a series if we played our A-game. We match up well against Cleveland, and we have the length to somewhat slow down Lebron, and turn him into a jumpshooter.
With Orlando, Smoove and Horford have to be willing to all out battle Dwight Howard on the boards the entire game. And JJ needs to step up against them offensively, even willing to take 20 – 25 shots if need be.
Truth about our troubles with Orlando, is that we’ve had one bad stretch do us in, in each game.
Game 1 vs Orlando – we had a double digit lead at halftime . . then collasped in the 3rd and let them back into the game, when we went ice cold and they went exclusively to Dwight. In the 4th, “Dad” kills us by scoring 15 pts in the quarter, while we only scored a total of 16.
Game 2 @ Orlando – our bench came in and got destroyed by their 2nd team at the end of the 1st quarter, and their 2nd team was on fire. They never looked back after the 2nd quarter.
Game 3 @ Orlando – we play then toe to toe until midway in the 3rd quarter, when JJ continued to try to play team ball and pass to the open man. Horford, Smoove, and Bibby go a collective 0 – 5. while Orlando didn’t miss, and they blew the game open, going on an 11 – 0 run.
Basically against Orlando, it comes down to Horford and Smoove battling Dwight on the boards and defensively, and JJ and Crawford doing enough offensively to sustain the offense. Like Cleveland, they have the advantage. But to say that they’ll automatically beat us? No. Play the dang series and let’s see what happens.
That’s the same way Boston feel about us, even though we swept them.
JeJe
March 7th, 2010
9:39 pm
northcyde,
While I agree when we are on our A-Game we are tough to beat, we just do not have the depth to handle those teams in a series. Orlando has a million guys (literally) who can contribute and put up numbers.
Barnes, Pietrus, R.Anderson, Redick, JWilliams, AJ (who killed us on Thanksgiving). I’m not even talking about their big 4, all of whom are All-Star level! Cleveland is not quite as deep with true talent, but LeBron is not going to lose a series to Atlanta, especially going into FA July 1
JeJe
March 7th, 2010
9:39 pm
Orlando has Gortat and Bass (who they don’t even use). Their depth is sickening.
TheBark n' TheBite
March 7th, 2010
10:16 pm
watchin the celtics get smacked by washington, the hawks need macgee
Najeh Davenpoop
March 7th, 2010
10:26 pm
“I have been a hawks fan for a long time. The problem I see is that Woody is always berating his players. He never praises Teague for making a good play but always jumps on his azz for mistake. He does this to all of the players. ”
As much as I criticize Woody, I can’t agree with this. Woody’s biggest strength as a coach has always been his tough-love approach and his ability to keep this young team in line emotionally and mentally. He kills the confidence of young players by denying them playing time, which is related to his inability to manage a bench, not his temperament. I haven’t yet heard one player — including Josh Smith, who supposedly hates Woody if you believe the bobbleheads at ESPN — take even a subliminal shot at Woody through the media. He’s not a good X’s and O’s coach by any stretch of the imagination, but he has always done a good job keeping players motivated, especially during the years when the Hawks sucked.
JeJe
March 7th, 2010
10:50 pm
Woodson’s biggest problem is NOT USING HIS BENCH in the 2nd half AND STICKING TO HIS STARTERS+JAMAL NO MATTER HOW BADLY OR POORLY THEY PLAY.
HE DOES NOT EXPERIMENT WITH NEW PLAYERS OR TRUST PLAYERS LIKE MO OR TEAGUE TO PLAY EXTENDED MINUTES (ZAZA TOO). THIS HAS BEEN GOING ON FOR THE PAST HALF-DECADE AND HOPEFULLY SOMEONE ELSE SEES THIS BESIDES ME BECAUSE IT SEEMS MYSELF AND 1 OR 2 OTHERS ARE THE ONLY PPL THAT SEE THIS
o.O-Mac-Town -Macon, Georgia- Westsider-O.o
March 7th, 2010
11:06 pm
The hawks have the talent, but the basketball IQ of the team and coach is just not up to par.
Everybody knows Woodson is poor at in game adjustments, offensive strategy, bench utilization, etc.
So thats 1 strike against us.
The players know that Woodson sucks at all of the above as well. They basically know it’s “all on them” to get it done out there late in ball games. Knowing this, are you telling me that this team amungst themselves couldnt come up with SOMETHING thats better than what we see out there in 4th quarters???
Joe acting like he’s in someone’s backyard. They allow Josh Smith to get the ball many feet away from the basketball and try to create his own shot. wdf???
I mean, even if I’m just hooping with guys in the gym, if we have some big dude with an advantage down low we are dumping it to him, and we arent allowing cats that cant dribble to try and shake people. Despite the horrible coaching, these professional basketball players havent figured some of these things out on their own?
If Woodson and/or the team as a collective just were smarter we’d be much better.
o.O-Mac-Town -Macon, Georgia- Westsider-O.o
March 7th, 2010
11:11 pm
i mean come on people, we’re in close games deep into the 4th, and the best thing we can come up with on several possessions is giving the ball to Josh Smith many feet away from the basket..for him to try and take some guy off the dribble or take a jumper (two of his weaknesses).
It’s horrible to see stuff like that.
JeJe
March 7th, 2010
11:12 pm
“We can’t be the hunted any more. We got to be the hunters,” Barnes said. “We got to go at people and take it at people, no matter who it is.”
Who on the Hawks has this mentality? I thought Woodson was an assistant for those rugged Pistons of 2004. Where is the fire in this team?
Marvin and Bibby are 2 soft players and don’t bring anything to this team. They are bottom 5 if not the worst at their positions among starters in the NBA
sam'l
March 7th, 2010
11:48 pm
Is it safe to come out again?
((((Go Hawks!!!)))
Big Ray
March 8th, 2010
2:58 am
Too funny.
So if you criticize the team but SUPPORT it, people want to bash that and say you’re supporting and encouraging mediocrity.
But if you’re bashing the team, never have anything good to say about it, and don’t do anything but point out what people are doing wrong, then you’re grounded in reality.
Wow. I guess those people are perfect at their jobs, too….
Big Ray
March 8th, 2010
3:02 am
Woody is a good coach. You don’t get to 47 wins (or more, like we will have this season) by being a totally bad one. Does that mean he’s as good as we need him to be? No, it doesn’t.
At the same time, the argument can be made that Woody doesn’t have the most talented bench in the business. News flash: to get that, you have to shell out the dough. We don’t shell out the dough. So, we have to make do in other ways.
Now before you get all caught up in that, remember that we’ve suffered no major injuries this year. Houston and Portland HAVE. Look what Nate McMillan and Rick Adelman have done with their respective teams and tell me could Woody do the same?
There’s your answer as to how good of a coach Woody is…
Clyde
March 8th, 2010
3:48 am
We will see how good of a coach Woody is when the postseason starts.
terrell
March 8th, 2010
6:18 am
If it were any other team besides the Hawks, I’d say we have a easy schedule to finish the season. Never know with this group though. Btw, tired legs = blown leads.
Parvati
March 8th, 2010
7:24 am
Seriously, who cares what these overpaid NBA thugs do?
O'Brien
March 8th, 2010
8:05 am
Ray,
Another answer to how good of a coach Woody is; Look at Scott Brooks and OKC. 38-24 in the tough western conference, with a first time head coach in first full season with the team, and the team is also very young. Also, Look at Scott Skiles and what Milwaukee is doing.
That being said, Woody is a good coach, but it would be nice to see him step his game up some more. And for those who want to fire Woody, the grass is not always greener on the other side.
Hawks need to beat the Knicks tonight, and I’m looking forward to what TMac can do.
doc
March 8th, 2010
8:28 am
o’b the okc thunder is 18 and 6 in the east. they are our equals if not better than us at this point. they only blew up their team 3 years ago and it took us six. hmmmm
O'Brien
March 8th, 2010
9:31 am
doc,
OKC drafted better than us too. We ended up with Marvin, Josh Childress, Shelden Williams, and Acie Law.
Is it wasn’t for JJ, I dont know where the Hawks would be (actually, we’d probably still be rebuilding).
The Truth
March 8th, 2010
9:31 am
My two cents (keeping it real):
The Hawks has way too many BUTS to be considered a serious contender. For example:
The Hawks will make the playoff BUT
The Hawks can beat any team in the East BUT
The Hawks is one of the top teams in the NBA BUT
The Hawks is a talented team BUT
The Hawks is a “Well” coached team BUT
The Hawks has a strong bench BUT
Joe Johnson is an elite player BUT
Mike Bibby is the savvy veteran PG for the Hawks BUT
Al Horford is one of the best centers in the league BUT
Marvin Williams has recently had 2 of his strongest games BUT
Woody is the right coach for the Hawks BUT
Sund has assembled the right talent for the playoff run BUT
The ASG has demonstrated financial support of the Hawks BUT
The Hawks fan base is excited about the prospect of winning a title BUT
Too many Buts = pretender (not contender)
IT IS WHAT IT IS!
JeJe
March 8th, 2010
9:54 am
richbrave,
I would take Foye over Bibby any day of the week. Have you seen his game logs? He was the only reason the Wizards were close in the Boston game yesterday. He is just a little inexperienced and the team has no chemistry at this point since they have been thrown into the line of fire
Najeh Davenpoop
March 8th, 2010
10:01 am
Yeah, drafting is the single biggest reason the Thunder are where they are already. Imagine if they had gotten the number one pick and taken Oden. Where would they be now? Not where they are, I can tell you that much.
Wendell Thomas
March 8th, 2010
10:03 am
Woodson is probably the worst coach in the NBA! Correction…he is the worst coach in the NBA. Does he really think he has earned a contract extension!!!? This guy is horrible. Why, why, why won’t he use the talent on the bench. Are the starter running the team and rfuse to come out of the game or is Woodson really this darned dumb!!? His coaching has lost game after game! With the talent on this team they should not continue losing games like these! Every team in the NBA will use the zone against the HAWKs in the future. They will also push the ball because they no that our five starters will play the entire game and will be so fatigued by the 4th that they can’t rebound, pass, or mmake shots! It is so frustrating watching this team and that dumb look on Woody’s face!!!!
It does not matter how many games they win in the regular season! They will never win the Southeast, East, or any other championship until Woody is fired and Josh Smith matures! They will win quite a few games based on talent alone but does anyone really think this team is capable of winning a championship with woody as the coach!!?
N-Trigue
March 8th, 2010
10:06 am
I dont understand why we dont use Mario West more when the opposing teams back court players are killing us!!! What is he here for if your not gonna use him in these situations???
Wendell Thomas
March 8th, 2010
10:11 am
Blast…
The coach should realize how many minutes the payers have played. The players have gorgantuous egos and will never admit that they are tired. Do you really think the HAWKS can beat any of the elite teams with a 6 player rotation? Josh Smith contiues to takes outrageous shoy but never gets benched. Miami might have beat LA but when they played us they were one game above .500. If we cannot beat these teams or a zone defense we will never be anything but a good team zero championships!!
O'Brien
March 8th, 2010
10:14 am
JeJe,
There is a long list of PG who I would take over Bibby. There is also a long list of SF I would take over Marvin.
Najeh,
Agreed. OKC should have some money to sign somebody this offseason too, so I look for them to continue their climb.
What’s the bigger mistake so far? Us taking Marvin over CP3 and Deron or Portland taking Oden over Durant?
Fundamentals
March 8th, 2010
10:18 am
Bad decisions at the end and we ran out of gas. Miami turned it on in the last 4-6 minutes and our mistakes cost us. Not a good win, but nothing to lose our heads over.
I still want to know why we can’t impose our will and defense on teams like New York & Golden State? We can’t outshoot them. When will we learn not to try?
JeJe
March 8th, 2010
11:46 am
I AGREE WITH WENDELL.
Woodson messes up so many close games that we lose track. He has lost us so many games by not running an offensive plan that will KEEP US SCORING IN THE 4TH QUARTER. THE GUY DOES NOT CARE ABOUT OUR OFFENSE. HE SAID IT WILL “TAKE CARE OF IT SELF.” HE SAID HE DOES “NOT GIVE A !@#$ ABOUT OFFENSE.” THAT IS WHY WE GO ICE COLD EVERY 4TH QUARTER. WE RELY ON 1 ON 1 AND ATHLETICISM ONLY.
HORFORD RUNS STUPID ISOS AND TAKES HORRENDOUS FADEAWAY SHOTS. WHY DOES HE KEEP DOING THIS?
doc
March 8th, 2010
11:56 am
interesting story brewing in l a land:
http://nba.fanhouse.com/2010/03/07/gasol-has-inside-perspective-on-lakers-recent-woes/
sounds a bit too familiar, no?
doc
March 8th, 2010
11:58 am
yeah o’b i know how it happened.
Nacho
March 8th, 2010
12:21 pm
Banks: I agree. When a person is always responding only to the negative and not to the positive, it is a sign that he or she really don’t have anything to add. That fits with Woody.
O'Brien
March 8th, 2010
12:22 pm
doc,
Thanks for the link.
“Gasol believes the defending NBA champions have been thrown out of sync because one guy again has become too dominant in the offense. And guess who that guy would be?
“Kobe is a great player, the best offensive player out there … but at the same time, we need to find some balance with our interior game, develop it a little more, moving the ball and changing sides,”
Gasol said gingerly, knowing he was treading on sacred territory by questioning Bryant and the offense of coach Phil Jackson. “We need to get focused on that a little more, to find balance, to find some flow.”
The key for JJ is to know when he is needed to dominate. Sometimes, he can be a better facilitator.
The Truth
March 8th, 2010
12:35 pm
doc
Yes; the story is very familiar indeed. Perhaps this style of offense is becoming “Old School” and fading with an Old (injured) Kobe vs. a young Kobe. This featured and constant diet of ISO offense may have been invented for the Great MJ, it has also proven to backfire if the team chemistry is not in place. Since JJ is not in the same league with MJ and even Kobe (at least not yet), this whole ISO offense design the Hawks features with JJ may already have a verdict.
JeJe
March 8th, 2010
1:31 pm
Kobe is not “fading.” He has been tearing it up lately. Any shot he gets off in the 4th he makes, with the exception of yesterday. He is a deadly shooter, just not playing with his team cohesively.
Expecting one of the resident AJC geniuses such as Big Ray to research Kobe’s game log, to show me that he has NOT in fact made every shot he has taken
terrell
March 8th, 2010
1:42 pm
Obrien, It could be us taking Sheldon over anybody. lol! Coulda had Roy, or Rudy Gay. That was a horrible draft talentwise though, so taking Marvin is probably worse since there were so many talented players still on the board(Paul, Williams, Bynum, Granger, etc.. Then we had the nerve to take Salim over Monte Ellis. Ouch! How bout Charlotte taking Adam Morrison at 3, Chicago trading Aldridge for Tyrus Thomas, or McCale trading Roy for Foye? Wow! But at least they didnt tell the world they’d take him, like we did with Shellhead.
terrell
March 8th, 2010
1:43 pm
I meant Salim over Ellis in the 2nd.
DemondWilson
March 8th, 2010
4:42 pm
Banks: you are exactly right about Acie Law. Law was unbelievable at driving to the basket and making the layup. He could do that in almost any situation, whether he was pressured or not. That is an incredible ability to be able to do that under pressure when you need a deuce. However, Law was never given that role to drive to the basket during crunch time and get two points either at the charity stripe or making the layup. Instead law was relegated to the end of the bench (probably the 12th player) and he could never get enough playing time to score the basketball. Law could have been an invaluable weapon for the Hawks but instead was shipped out and put in the pile of undeveloped talents. The Hawks (or I should say MIKE WOODSEN) WASTED LAW’S TALENTS.