Atlanta Hawks: The Blueprint–Remixed With Joe Johnson (sore Achilles’) out
J.J. to miss first game of season.
It looks like the Hawks’ good fortune with injuries finally has ended.
Joe Johnson (sore Achilles’) is not on the Hawks’ team flight. He’s been ruled out for New Jersey tomorrow and probably is out for Thursday Wednesday at Toronto, too. Mike Bibby (back) made the flight but is questionable for New Jersey.
J.J. will miss his first game of the season and just his fourth since 2007-08. He wasn’t available for comment because he was getting treatment (and napping, as is his custom).
“I’ve always said when somebody goes down it gives somebody else a chance to step up and play,” Woody said before J.J. was officially ruled out. “That’s why I tell guys they’ve always got to be ready.”
Woody wasn’t ready to say how he’ll adjust the lineup, in part because he wasn’t sure if he’ll be without both J.J. and Bibby. If it’s just J.J., then Jamal Crawford could get his first start of the season at shooting guard. But Woody didn’t rule out bringing Crawford off the bench, in which case Mo would get the call. If both Bibby and J.J. are out and Woody sticks with his preference for bringing Jamal off the bench, then the rookie Teague would get his first start.
– If the Hawks are serious about catching Orlando (and for that matter announcing themselves as contenders) then what you saw against the Pistons is how they need to look like for maybe 12 of their 17 games remaining.
The Hawks got after it on defense. They worked for good shots, controlled the tempo and played with energy. The Hawks jumped an inferior opponent (the standings say they’ve got lots of those left) and when the Pistons tried to make their inevitable run they let them know they weren’t going to rise up on that night.
That’s the blueprint.
“That was the perfect game for us down the line,” Josh said, “except for the turnovers.”
Could it mean the Hawks finally have figured out how to impose their will from the jump?
“If it becomes consistent, then I think so,” Smoove said. “But you really can’t gauge it from one game.”
It’s not easy to stay up in the NBA. The season is long. Bodies are tired and banged up (see J.J. and Bibby). The schedule can be rough (like those four games in six days coming up for the Hawks).
“It’s tough,” Al said. “But you realize every other team is like that as well, and a lot of these other teams aren’t playing for anything. You really have to focus in and get up and get motivated.”
Woody said he understands what it’s like for players at this time of year. He used to be one of them, after all. But as the coach of a team trying to make a breakthrough, Woody wants the kind of effort he saw Saturday more than just here and there.
“It comes down to who wants it the most,” he said. “We’ve shown signs over the last two years how much we really want it. Look back two years ago (in the playoffs), then the jump we made from that point to get to the next round last year. We could have quit in Miami when we lost homecourt advantage but they didn’t’ quit. They wanted to get to the second round and they made it happen.”
Now the Hawks want to win the division. They are 3.5 games back of Orlando with 17 to play so they’ll need Orlando to stagger a bit. And staying in front of Boston for No. 3 is becoming more important because the Bucks are looking like a team the Hawks don’t want to see in the first round.
The Hawks can’t control what the Magic does, except for that final meeting on March 24 at Philips. For that matter, they really can’t worry too much about where they end up in the playoffs bracket when they are still trying to perfect that blueprint.
“We’ve got to just get focused and get through the regular season and we will figure out that (playoffs) part then,” Woody said.
– Pick my Cardinals over Cal in your bracket because they always follow a bad game with a good one. That also means don’t be tempted to pick them to beat Duke, though nothing would make me happier (a first-round loss for that team in Lexington would be a close second).
MC
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119 comments Add your comment
T.C
March 16th, 2010
10:53 am
Northcyde your right on it,woody is questioned from the fans on whatever strategy.When or if another coach comes in the bird organization and be most of the fans liking and fail,i would love to see the fans response then.
NUNNA YO BIZNEZZ
March 16th, 2010
11:04 am
p.s.
first on the second page!!!!!!!
just kidding yall,but,sometimes i wonder if the reason that woody has not developed a PG since he as been here is because of:
A.They are not NBA talent
B.Neither he nor his coaching staff know how to coach up a PG(before u say it,mark price was a shooting guard but did play some point although he was not a natural PG)
C.Maybe he thinks that he does not need a true point to run his offense..
although we had drafted ac law,royal ivey,and now teague,those 3 have been mainly used as other options,and not truly the floor general..
he got who he wanted when we traded for bibby,and now,im thinking,that this could be the reason for my last reason,
D.He simply believes that he knows players better than the GM.
With the exception of the baby hawks,smoove,chills,and marvin and shortly afterwords horford,woody has not given ample playing time nor developed any other rookie or young player..
he and knight we good friends and he might have already had an attitude of,”oh,i know he don’t know what he talking about”towards billy..
and now with sund,im sure he has done some homework on him and knew his record on the success of his draft picks or maybe the lack thereof..so,he is not encouraged at all on playing them or developing them,mr.sund..
and the lastest statement he said about he likes teague,is only to apease sund,thats all..
but i don’t think sund likes the fact that he brought in youth and a bench for the past 2 years for woody and he has yet to utilize either..
this is it for woody..championship win or bust..
i think he is already gone and sund already has his list of candidates ready to call…TODAY
NUNNA YO BIZNEZZ
March 16th, 2010
11:07 am
CORRECTION:
THE PARAGRAPH BEFORE THE FINAL ONE I MADE A TYPE-O
I MEANT TO SAY,”AND THE LATEST”,NOT THE LASTEST..MY BAD
vava74
March 16th, 2010
11:28 am
NUNNA YO BIZNEZZ,
Nice stuff you are smoking:
“B. Neither he nor his coaching staff know how to coach up a PG(before u say it,mark price was a shooting guard but did play some point although he was not a natural PG)”
Mark Price was one of the best PG of his early playing days and his career was better solely on account of a nasty thorn ACL which severely hampered his ability when he was having his best year averaging 16.9ppg on 49% shooting and 10.1apg.
His assists career average of 6.7 per game does not seem as impressive as it should simply because after the injury his minutes per game dropped, finishing off his career at only 29.9 per game.
vava74
March 16th, 2010
11:29 am
“not even better”
Grandad
March 16th, 2010
11:38 am
TS:
Touche.
But as I told you once before, dx2=repetitive & reddunddant.
You do amuse me.
Gooday mate.
Hardy "Flippin" Har
March 16th, 2010
12:07 pm
Man, that chick in the Stein Mart ad sure does look good.
Da Wiz
March 16th, 2010
12:16 pm
Nunna,give it up son cause these no playing non-athletes don’t even have a clue.
They only go by stats when they can’t even relate to the issues that go on between ballers,coaches,and other times the front office. So what do they do? They hit you up with the stats,lol.But to be honest,i bet that vava is one of the many who actually pay and go see these games and think they are knowledgeable after sitting in the stands,lol. Go figure.
Vava,price was a shooting guard in high school and college. And you are right,he did run the point in the pro’s,so it was a mistake on nunna’s part on bringing price in the convo like that. What nunna should have said was,price is the hawks shooting coach and thats what he generally does,is coach them on range,form,and release. How to plant feet for jumpers,how to shoot free throws,etc.
But as far as his criticism on these suckers as coaches,he is on point. They can’t coach. How in the heck can you coach an nba team and they don’t know how to play against a zone? Thats pure T stupid.
Fire them all. This team already has a nice set nucleus in place. josh,crawford,teague,and horford are already in place to build a team around,and i think that by jj out over the next 2 games it will be a repeat performance of what we saw last year before the all star break,we will see marvin step up and make up for the points we lose if jj is gone next year.
we’re not gonna miss this dude.we’re not gonna miss woodson. and im real hyped about what i saw in horford in the all star game. thats this dude game man,to get out there and run. and woodson is holding he,teague,mario,crawdaddy,west,and others even othello hunter,back from doing work.
GeeMack
March 16th, 2010
12:26 pm
NUNNA YO BIZNEZZ
I agree that Teague getting more minutes would probably help our defense.
However in defense of the coaches, it’s hard to tell a man, to do something differen,t when what he’s doing is successful.
With all of the complaints the Hawks fan throw towards Woody; the Hawks are still a top 3 or 4 team in the east. Also they are top 7 or 8 in the league.
The Hawks are on pace to win more games than last year, and duplicate there 1st round success. No matter how it’s sliced the Cavs & Magic are better teams than the Hawks.
Bother have elite star players and the supporting cast is jus t as good if not better.
GeeMack
March 16th, 2010
12:33 pm
Da Wiz
You only fire a winning coach when the team underacheives. This is not the case for the Hawks.
The problem with Hawks fans is we think this team is on par with the Lakers, Magic, Cavs, and they’re not.
vava74
March 16th, 2010
12:39 pm
Da Wiz,
I appreciate your criticism. I had not idea that Price had a background as a shooting guard. I thought that it was his brother Brent who being a mite taller (6′2” if I’m not wrong) converted from SG to PG in the NBA.
However, I did see quite a few games in his prime and his game went well beyond merely shooting.
I am not saying that he was the best guy in world running a team, but he was easily within the top 6/7 PGs in the league back then.
And it’s fact that he is acting just a shooting coach.
Big Ray
March 16th, 2010
1:10 pm
Truth Serum ,
THIS is what I said:
No, I don’t expect Woody to berate a player. But he is far more positive about Teague before they drafted him, and now that he’s on the team, than he has been about any of the young guards who have come here before. Sorry, but Woody is a straight up guy. He says what he means, and means what he says. He’s not a liar or a politician. So if he says he likes Teague, then that’s what he means, no matter how inconvenient it might be for a particular argument. Or are you calling him a two-faced type of guy who will say one thing to one guy, then another behind his back? If Woody thought Teague didn’t have any skills worth mentioning, he’d say “well, he has things he needs to work on”, and leave it at that. Dude doesn’t speak with a forked tongue….
But, you twist my words into this:
I appreciate you ray, Im sure at some point your contention that Woodson is unpolished as a speaker and personal manager well get traction, perhaps at a bubba crew convention. I have no problems with the “politically correct”, choice of wording….
You know what this means? It means that you are so concerned with being right that you are willing to paint a horrible picture of a guy you support. It means you are willing to call Woody “politically correct.” It essentially means you think he’s telling lies when he says that Horford is a good defender and plays his position well. Or that he’s lying when he thinks Teague can take over the team in time, and has the skills to play the game. You can’t even agree with a compliment paid to Woodson. Why? Because it doesn’t support your opinion of two players that you don’t like.
Did it ever occur to you that Woody might believe what he says to be true? No, because then that might mean you are wrong about both players (one for certain). And we just can’t have that, so it’s better for Woody to be a two-faced, sly, smooth-talking, politically correct person who says one thing to management, a totally different thing to the player, and something else entirely in public. Yes, a coach needs to be able to handle the media, management, and players differently, but guess what? He doesn’t have to tell lies to do that.
Woody thinks Teague can play, and can take over the team in time. Woody thinks Horford plays his position well, and rebounds and defends well. But, since that can’t be true, tell us what Woody is REALLY thinking and telling management. I’ve never claimed to know what goes on in discussions with management. But obviously you know that what Woody says in articles and interviews is all politically correct lie telling, so tell us the truth. Tell us what Woody really thinks, and what he’s saying to management. Make us believe it. I mean, according to you, we can’t believe what the man himself says, right?
I really like the part about Woody conspiring with all the other coaches in the league to get Al Horford named to the all-star team. That was downright hilarious, no wonder Grandad is so amused by you….
I think this should be your tag line after every post: “Woody is right…as long as he agrees with me publicly.”
Now go ahead and twist my words again, or reply with an insult-laden post. Facts and logic seem to have that effect on ya…
Ken Sugiura
March 16th, 2010
1:16 pm
Barry-
question from the last post – if the Hawks and Celtics tie for the No. 3 spot, the Celtics get the No. 3 seed by virtue of being a division winner. it’d kinda stink, given the hawks swept them, but, i imagine if the shoe were on the other foot, no one here would be complaining about it.
KevinA
March 16th, 2010
1:40 pm
I never expect to get to much out of either Teague or Bibby. When it does happen I am plesently suprised. I am more interested in seeing ZaZa Josh and Al on the court at the same time with Evans and Jamal. We almost never thry this “big” lineup. Tonight would be a good time to try it.
A couple of games ago Teague did a great jub in a few minutes, he ran several pick and roll’s with great execuation. If he can play like that tonight – give the kid more burn. I still can’t see Bibby and Teague on the floor at the same time, there is just not enough D between them.
J.J.M.
March 16th, 2010
1:40 pm
well I guess he picked a good game to miss
terrell
March 16th, 2010
1:51 pm
The Celtics and Hawks WONT tie.
Joseph Killeen
March 16th, 2010
2:59 pm
Teague can play im excited about him. He is polar opposite from acie law remember that disater. The hawks will be rallying around mo jamal horford josh and marvin as well as BIG Z and Joe Smith the wise the vet. This is a game the hawks should win. we will get bibby and jj back soon. lets see what these hawks can do.
GO HAWKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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