Atlanta Hawks Squawks: Hawks 105, Wizards 95

first

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gilley i agree with u and its so sad cause we got the better record better player-makers and they still say the heat can win only cause wade will get the calls from refs but whatever cause we just got to believe get more aggressive on d! hawks is going to shock everybody!

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Bibby, Smoove didn’t even play in the 4th. We have got to add to our bench next year. We need a back up point and not Teague. Teague is gonna be good, but he’s not ready just yet. I like Joe Smith also, but we need someone who can produce and hit that shot also. I thought he would be a good mid range shooter but he has not hit that consistently yet this year.

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Right now, we have the Heat first. IS that what we want???
Bucks would get the Celtics now.

Don’t think we want the Heat.
Bucks don’t want the Celtics either.

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Nice recap MC. Agree with everything — nice confidence-booster, but the Wizards are nothing special, and the Hawks didn’t exactly put on a basketball clinic.

Boston and Charlotte both won tonight, while Milwaukee lost and Miami was off.

Right now, remaining schedules look like this:

Hawks: @MIL, CLE

Celtics: @CHI, MIL

Hawks are still 1 game ahead of the Celtics, which means their magic number for clinching the #3 seed is 2. They need either 2 wins, 2 Celtics losses, or 1 win and 1 Celtics loss to clinch the #3 seed.

Looking at that schedule, given the Hawks’ road woes, I wouldn’t guarantee either of those wins, and both of those games are winnable for the Celtics. It wouldn’t surprise me too much if the Hawks go 1-1 and the C’s go 2-0, which would give the C’s the #3 seed. The C’s have been up and down, of course, so a loss to the Bucks in the rematch is not out of the question either. The wild card is whether or not Cleveland chooses to play LeBron in the final game of the season; if they rest LeBron, it’s possible the Hawks could go 2-0 and clinch the #3 seed regardless of what the Celtics do. But there is no question the Hawks have a tougher road ahead of them than the C’s.

The potential first round opponents look like this:

Bucks: ATL, @BOS

Heat: @NY, @PHI, NJ

Bobcats: @NJ, CHI

My guess is that the Heat and Bobcats win out with the Bucks going 1-1, although with the Bucks really anything is possible. If that happens, the Heat would get the #5 seed, the Bucks would get the #6, and the Bobcats would get the #7.

I’d definitely rather see the Bucks than the Heat, and more importantly, the Hawks need to be doing everything they can to avoid Cleveland. That requires that they build on this road win and go get a win at Milwaukee. If they can do that, it puts the pressure on an inconsistent Boston team to win out.

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so the Hawks have a 1 game lead over Boston with 2 to play.

Hawks play Mon and Wednesday ; Boston plays Tues and Wednesday. I hope they can lock up the 3rd spot before playing Cleveland.

Rooting for the Hawks and Bulls next week!

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We HAVE to have that win in Milwaukee! Maybe the Cavs will rest some of it’s starters in preparation for the playoffs?

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The Cav’s will play hard against the Hawks for their own selfish reasons. They’d rather see the Hawks as the 4 seed and as their 2nd round playoff opponent than the Celtics. If the Hawks have any shot at all at doing some damage in the playoffs, they need to win both of these last two. The Bucks are without their best player and, if they are ever going to win a game vs the Cavs, they’ll do it when it doesn’t mean anything for Cleveland.

The Hawks defense is just atrocious. That’s why they can’t be taken seriously. The Wizards are one of the lesser offensive teams in the league yet they got pretty much any shot they wanted time after time and shot over 50% for the game. Fortunately, Crawford bailed us out.

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I don’t want anything to do with Miami in the Playoffs. While I agree that we are a better team, I just know The refs will be giving Wade every call. They took us to 7 last year, and they too have improved. Plus Miami has playoff experience. Milwaukee has almost no playoff experience. just my 2 cents

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I will take the win tonight, especially considering that the Wizards blew out Boston the night before. All of you who pointed out our poor defensive effort are correct. However, at this point, I don’t see any magical turnaround for the playoffs. Hopefully, the coaches will take some really good looks at the film on whoever we play, notice some tendencies and try to exploit them.

Jamaal should get the 6th man of the year award and that will be one highlight of the season. What I am hoping is that when we look at the home crowd during the playoffs that it is overwhelmingly Hawks fans and not the other teams. With this being our 3rd year in the playoffs, I hope we have better support than in the pass in the stands. It does make a difference. Also, let’s hope everyone stays healthy. Unlike other teams we have shown how fragile we can be when a key piece goes down. Go Hawks!!!!!!

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The reason Teague is not ready is because he has a coach who does not know how to develop rookies. That has been the case as long as Woodson has been here. Don’t blame the rookie! That also applies to the bench. Look at JJ’s minutes. Every year we hear they will go down and don’t. He’s not keeping himself in the game.

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If this team was a legit title contender, it wouldn’t have lost 6 in a row on the road.

FIRE WOODY

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[...] Hawks Blog – AJC [...]

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all mike woodson haters. leave him alone.you just make yourself look like a bunch of fool idiots.the man has won 63% of his game, made the hawks into a contender after years of losing and has them in a position to compete for the NBA championship.oh well, why am i talking to a bunch of racist idiots?i don’t know but i won’t any more.go get em hawks!

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How can you be 6th man of the year, when your’re better than most of the starters, and play just as many, if not more min?? Just sayin. Jamal Crawford is a starter in this league. Period! If anybody should be vying for the 6th man of the year, it should be Marvin, Thats who should be coming off the bench.

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That’s it Cdog, throw the race card out there. Pathetic. There are so many reasons to criticize Woodson, it would take all day for me to list them all. Over a six year period, how many high first round draft picks and big free agent acquisitions do you need to win more than ONE playoff series(barely…when you were favored….only to get swept in the next round).

If the Hawks don’t do any better than they did in the playoffs last year, Woodson is OUT. No if’s, and’s or but’s.

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It was a very entertaining game. Glad they got the win. Jamal and Joe did their thing. Bench played well. Marv is still being Marv meaning he ain’t do much.. Defensively they weren’t good and were horrible when it came to rebounding last night. These two things scare me going into the playoffs. Allowing a terrible team to have so many open jumpers is not going to do it. Not boxing out and just being flat out lazy when it comes to rebounding is not going to cut it either. These two aspects scare me for the first round regardless of who we play. They have to honker down and play some better defense and rebound the dam ball.

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woodson is a good coach despite all the hate u cant argue his numbers from 13-50 plus wins in 5 seasons,the team continues to progress i dont recall any of u guys picking the hawks to be better than the C s and to be a contender?? give the man his due. We dont have lebron like the cavs,howard like the magic,or three hall of famers like the celtics but here we are in 3 place give WOODY HIS DUE!!!go hawks

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Mr. Woodson

Was a ROOKIE 6 years ago too! His game has also improved each year. He’s a Salesman in many ways &
He’s selling a version of Larry Brown’s system here. & Mr. Woodson has even beaten his Mentor many times in the past 6 yrs. (For those if you who revere Larry B).

Larry Brown himself said Woodson ia doing a great JOB here in Atlanta. How GREAT was Larry B.
In Philly & New York? Please answer that? You can only do so much with out ALL the pieces you need in place & The Players have to all get on board and set aside personal agendas too.

Joe has done that. This guy is the quintessiential UNSELFISH player! I can’t believe the INGRATES on this blog- But, I figure they are very UNSUCCESSFULL in their own lives – Personal & at
Work. How many of You haters are Super-Stars at your crafts or do you all work for someone who cuts a paycheck every week? Just wunderin’. Where the hate really lies? Is it WOODY? Or do you just hate yourself & your pathetic lives.

Are you jealous because he’s paid to have FUN for a living? Sometimes, I must admitt,
Mr. Woodson doesn’t look so happy. I hope its NOT because he’s reading this FICKLE blog.
I hope he has better things to do than some of us on here. (-smiles-)

I am Mary ROONEY & That is my Opinon. (Tic..Tic…Tic.. For 60 Minutes). LOL!

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Please don’t print lies!

Josh worked with Olajuwan 1 year – Period!!! ( His 2nd)
Josh worked with Calvin Murphy 1 year – Period!!! (His 3rd)

That’s IT!

Coach Woody & Staff & Nique set that up for him intially because he was so RAW he had no foot work & couldn’t dribble a ball. Remember? No College?

Josh wasn’t even BORN when these Houston Greats PLAYED!

So, who the HELL do YOU think introduced him to these Cats?
Sometimes, I want to order CAT-Scans on each hater blogger – just to see is there anything between the ears! I mean really?

Maybe JT0 should do the SAME? You do that in the Off-Season on your own time to improve your game! (Hint-hint?).

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I think Josh worked with both guys the same summer. He said he called them up and asked them for help, they said yes so he flew to Houston. I think it was mentioned somewhere Josh worked with Steve Smith last summer. Josh takes it upon himself to ask those guys for help. I don’t think the coaching staff has anything to do with it. Dude wants to get better and has no problem asking for help. If only he can knock down those free throws and box out.

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yeah like its been said we dnt have a lebron a kobe or dwight howard but we got our hawks players we need to stop being so negative towards them because some teams aren’t even going into the playoffs at least we have been now 3yrs in a row some people just aren’t satisfied the cavs lost finals easter conference thing against the magic but u don’t see their fans complaining nothing comes easy u can not say the hawks will lose because of statistics u have to have confidence n play!!

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CP

I am pretty sure that I am correct re: Josh in Houston all they way around. The Coaches & Nique set that up!

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Can some bloggers not add?

Hakeem was winning rings when Josh was 1 day old. I guess Josh was a season ticket holder while drinking formula in diapers.

He must have been like that David Chapelle baby….slinging weed on the corner down at. TechWood Projects in 1985. LOL

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AND NEXT YEAR IS D-WADE AND KING JAMES YOUR DOUBLE NIGHTMARE HAHAHAHAHAHA

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drmaryb Hakeem didn’t win any rings in the 80s dummy.

Just stop becuz u are embarrassing yourself.

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greg, show me a perfect coach, one who has no faults and i will show one or someone who is in a fantasy world.remember all of the coaches before woodson.no one criticized them as harshly as they do woodson and none of them has an nba championship they gain while coaching in atlanta. what’s the sad part about it woodson is winning.no coach in no sports has won every game they coached.you act as though woodson is suppose to win every game he coaches, not going to happen and no other coach is going to win every game.yes we can always find fault when someone loses . it just that when you have a targeted dislike for a person, you tend to find fault even when its not there and when there is no need to.because of him being an african american, many is cricizing him for that main reason, no denying it, thats the reason for the criticism.well, to be fair if you want to do that, none of the current head coaches for the current pro atlanta teams should have a job now because they all have plenty of faults only they are not criticized wrongfully like woodson because he is an african american.you say he should be fired because of what he does in the playoffs, at least he makes to the playoffs.that can’t be said for the other atlanta head coaches.instead of cricizing the team, get behind them and cheer them on or just plainly, don’t bother to follow them.plain and simple.show me a perfect coach and i’ll show you one who is not part of our earth

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Spitt!

Again you miss the ENTIRE point, so you resort to niti-picking. You & your little friends
Don’t have enough brains combined to embarrass me? Laughable. You failed to mentio Calvin Murphy at all? Do you even know who he is & how old he is?

Do you really believe Josh was of age when these cats played & won.

Suggestion: when you see my name? Please keep scrollin’. My posts are too
Intelligent for you to comprehend! Later.

Oh & I will do the same for your posts too – moving forward!

Peace!

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cdog

Thank God! someone on here who doesn’t have a roasted peanut for a brain.

Sometimes, It seems like we are talking to people’s kids on here, (13 year olds) who should not be on-line talking with grown folks. When, I was growing up, we were not allowed to jump into grow-folks conversations! These kids now are off the chain and out of control!

i love all your posts. You give the good, the bad and the ugly. It is all relevant. Our team can do a ton of things better – but, we ARE moving in the right direction. That’s what I am so happy about.

I also like stability at the HC position, as long as we see things moving forward? We should stay with our coach so that we have some continuity and stability. Especially, with the owner-ship group in so much turmoil.

Let’s make a pact to stop schooling the simpletons. Do like Mr. Woodson and sit their azzes on the end of the bench.

Oh well, I have to go to church now and pray for us all! We all need prayers – right?

You feel me?

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Nah drmaryb he did it on his own. I just found the blog talking about it…

http://www.ajc.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/ajc/hawks/entries/2007/06/25/dreaming.html?cxntfid=blogs_hawks

If that doesnt work ill just copy n paste the old blog.

AJC > Sports > Hawks > Blog > Archives > 2007 > June > 25 > Entry

DREAMing!
By Sekou K Smith | Monday, June 25, 2007, 01:45 AM

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Our entire focus seems to be on Thursday night’s draft, as it should be. Al Horford and Mike Conley Jr. are making their stops through town today (workouts that will be reported on by ya boy Blog Z – yeah, after a few weeks of craziness he’s back – in this space and in the paper a little later), giving us all a little more to think about before we head into the final hours before draft night.

I don’t know about you, but I can’t remember being this anxious about any draft. I mean, we’ve always got our own ideas about what might happen. But seriously, I can’t remember stressing my brain like this in regards to a draft in years. It’s probably not healthy to have gotten this wrapped up in something we’ll have no control over … whatever, that’s never stopped anyone before.

But while we’ve been eyeballing these workouts, rumors and all other things draft, guys already under contract have been putting in work. Folks have picked on Josh Smith around here (and elsewhere) for his attitude and other perceived shortcomings. And he’s wisely ignoring his haters and going about the business of improving his game. He’s been in Houston going through NBA summer school with Hakeem “The Dream” Olajuwon as his sensei (me thinks young fella will have a few new post moves to unleash the next time we see him in game action). Smith is also working with Calvin Murphy to refine his outside game (we can only hope that pirated copies of this workout footage finds its way to youtube). And Smith is doing it all on his own, not at the behest of the Hawks or anyone else (which I think speaks volumes about how serious he is taking his development).

He’s without a doubt the Hawks’ most pressing offseason issue (draft included), because his immediate future will impact the Hawks’ bottom line (financially and in the win-loss column in 2007-08) more than anyone not named Joe Johnson. That’s why it is so important that he do exactly what he’s been doing with his summer. Players that don’t come back with a new wrinkle to their game from one season to the next will get abused by the guys that do.

After we finish up the draft and move into the free agency/summer league phase of the offseason, I’m planning on finding my way into at least one of these summer school sessions in Houston with a larger story planned on the “Under Construction” portion of Smith’s fourth year progression (he’s working with arguably the league’s greatest low-post technician of all time people). I’m also trying to dig up information on other guys, too. Because I know he’s not the only Hawk in the lab. Other guys are putting in the work as well.

And that’s one of the reasons why I have to temper my energy and enthusiasm regarding the draft. I think it’s natural for us all to get carried away with the this stuff since we roughly a month after the draft lottery to work ourselves into a frenzy regarding these prospects. Guys like Smith, though, will have to do the heavy lifting next season if the Hawks have any chance of ending their playoff drought at eight years.

I’m not suggesting we ignore the next 72 hours of draft hysteria. Not even close. I’m only suggesting that we try and put this stuff in its proper perspective. All that preaching aside, make sure you come back here Monday evening for my thoughts on Horford and Conley (hey, I’m not crazy. I know the draft pays the bills this time of year).

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i had to take time off playing to answer JeJe, he is the lowest human being around this site.

i have a wood in my hand that i like to take to his head.
How can you put in every post Fire Woody? If there is a post police, they should get rid of you for the most uncreative, unimaginitive, unhealthy posts.

Yep may be we should get somebody who runs away from Hawks to coach them. Or somebody who keeps losing in other places. Or somebody we offered job tyo before and was too chicken to take it. My Wooden friend has done exactly what is needed to get the most out of the birds.

ok i have to run back to playing and putting, but just wanted to say Je Je is stupid. Don’t pay no attention to his boring same same posts.

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northcyde

“That’s IT!

Coach Woody & Staff & Nique set that up for him intially because he was so RAW he had no foot work & couldn’t dribble a ball. Remember? No College?”

Got anymore lies you want to tell us?

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and while you brought up BROKE lenny wilkens, see my previous about how he helped torpedo the best hawks season ever 1993-94 by throwing Nique in the toilet!

yeahhhhhhhhhh TRUTH fo ya

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Here goes:

drmaryb:
With all due respect, why do you defend Wdsn so vociferously?
I am obviously on the same side of the fence with the “pea brains”
as you say. [I hope you read my dissertation yesterday AM/prev.blog]

southcyde:
why, did they set him up with someone else, rather than coach him ‘up’
themselves?

Wdsn/Josh – corollary: beginning their 1st yr./ until 2010.

*Wdsn-rookie coach
*Josh-rookie

*W-has been slow to improve or change
*J-ditto

*W-Will not win COY
*J-Did not make all-stars

*W-supposedly a def. coach
*J-excells on def.

*W-continues to make same mistakes [just has more talent]
*J-continues to make same mistakes [**5th yr. still launching('3's')
**[Josh beginning to wean himself]

W-stubborn, mule headed, conservative, unimaginative, uninspired,
inept, jaded, obtuse, singular, worn, sensitive, and hackneyed.
J-stubborn [referees] sorry, I got on a roll with Wdsn’s virtues.

***NEXT TIME I DO A COROLLARY…i’M GONNA DO A ['W'] & a ['W'].
I bet I get to use ‘obtuse’ again.

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There is a lot of people clamoring that woody is doing a good job. That is to be debated. I believe he is adequate. Woodson is supposed to be a defensive coach but the team is not a defensive team. Has the team gotten better; sure they have; In spite of Woodson. He still hasn’t taught Joe Johnson to catch and shoot. He catches and dribbles for 15 secs. He should be shooting coming off those 2 screens set for him but he doesn’t. Coaching – team not responding or listening to you. The trade for Bibby helped and the trade for Crawford was brilliant. Woodson had nothing to do with that. Without Crawford this year this team would have lost 6-8 more games …meaning we would be no better than the Heat. Coaching should win you 8-10 games a year. Talent and scheduling should win or lose you the rest. Can you name a game where Woodson’s great coaching has won this team a game? Or a game where he drew up a play that won the game. (And if you consider ISO’s plays a play please don’t respond). Pick and pops for Al Horford should be a play ran with regularity with Joe, Bibby or Crawford. Every player should have a play drawn up for them. Even Marvin. Woodson’s play book: Every play is a ISO play: josh ISO post-up (left box), Al ISO post-up (right box), Crawford ISO (at the top of the three) and the all famous ISO-JOE(anywhere/ anytime he wants) Woodson also plays his starters the entire second half. Jamal and maybe ZaZa will play in the second half. Teague, Joe Smith and Mo Evans (who has been playing a little more lately) will not see the floor. And if the game is close he will play the starters the entire 4th qrt. I could go on but way … he should be replaced but wont because the team improves there winning total every year. But this young team has players that have improved as well. Normal player improvement accounts for a lot. And don’t say “replace with who?” because there are a least 3-5 guys on TV right now that can replace him

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I’m really pleased that we got this win, because the Wizards really handed this one to us by selfdestructing down the stretch, like we have a tendacy to do. Even though we’ve won the last 2 gms against weak teams, we’ve needed spectacular efforts from JCrawford to get it done.

During our recent struggles, I’ve noticed Woodson trying to utilize some strategy, as far as trying to match players to certain situations, but it’s an obvious struggle for him. He’ll send players in to get certain things done, but only with 40secs of less remaining. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. He needs to get over his personal issues with certain players and start using that strategy before we come close to losing a lead.

During the playoffs, I can see it’s going to be the starting 5 plus Zaza and Crawford, with MEvans and JoSmith getting cameo mins between them. If we can’t matchup with these 7 players, that’s just too bad for us. I can’t foresee any type of lineup experimentation or adjustment, since Woodson wouldn’t even try anything like that during the regular season.

We’d better hope that Bibby, JJ, Horford, Smoove and Crawford are hitting on all cylinders, especially from the outside. And we will have to get more from Marvin if we intend to have a chance of getting out of the 1st rd, no matter which of the 3 teams we draw.We’d better get our act together for the last 2gms, or we’ll limp into the playoffs lacking confidence and dragging a boat load of unresolved issues with us.

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For All You Hawks/Coach Woodson Haters:

Team History:

YEAR W L
2009-2010 51 29
2008-2009 47 35
2007-2008 37 45
2006-2007 30 52
2005-2006 26 56
2004-2005 13 69

** Even with our current “woes” you have to admit “not bad” for the past 5 years……..

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gusman354 Welcome Back. Looks like you guy’s have got things going. If you guys win out you might have to face the Celtics, but if the war must continue it must!

GO HAWKS!!

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If the Hawks played consistently (especially on the road) then I would have no problem with the Hawks playing the Heat.

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I can’t wait for the regular season to end and the playoffs to start, just like the Hawks. I think they’ve been bored for the last few weeks and that’s why they have been playing down to the level of competition. If they can hold the 3-seed, they have done more then most people expected already. Remember, early in the season people kept saying that they haven’t done enough to reach the level of the “Big Three”. But, they have proved folks wrong. As I said earlier in the season, they have made it a “Big Four” and have a chance to be the 3-seed which a lot of people didn’t expect.

I know it’s a dangerous game to play, but I believe they will elevate their game for the playoffs like they did against the Celtics a couple of years ago. I actually hope that the Hawks don’t get Milwaukee, because I think they may take them lightly and play down to them. I hope they get a hot team in the first round that will force them to play at a higher level.

I think that this year’s playoff will be a good measuring stick to see how far they have come and what they need to add to get to the championship level. I can’t wait.

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…and, I agree with Blast that I would love to see the Bulls play the Cavs rather than Toronto. And for those that keep saying “Fire Woody” -based on what?

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draft picks and good trades the past 5 years /= woody skill

that is DOES NOT EQUAL

next u will say mike brown is great but not because of lebron? woody is at best average. but not a championship coach. and we don’t have a championship superstar to get us there, either.

hopefully we can hustle and get past the heat maybe in less than 7 games this time, then 2nd and 3rd round opposing stars will have some terrible games we can steal.

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Grand-Daddy
(My Man)

I Love & Respect your opinions because you make many valid points about Mr. Woodson & more importantly you do it with class & intelligent arguements & most importantly with out Vitriol & Venom. You are an effectifecommunicator & you do ot with CLASS not AZZ.

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drmaryb: Thanks sweetheart.

b.j. – I forgooten more than I ever knew in the 1st place.
I never said “he didn’t”, only, “I don’t recall”.
Hawks & Lenny fan. Didn’t agree with trading ‘Nique’.

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Mike is Back!

&I for one am glad as hell!

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If I’m the Bucks right now, I rest some players and take the loss tomorrow and to Boston hoping Miami would win at least 1 more game. I would think they would much rather play us than Boston, who they lost to at home without KG playing.

Plus I hope this happens for the Hawks sake.

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^^^^^^^^^^^ Scott Brooks

FIRE WOODY

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oh and woody u don’t give the opposing team’s players dap and hugs before the game. at least keep your lovefest out of the public and fans’ view

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northcyde
coach’s names as requested:
nate mcmillan, larry brown, scott skiles, rick adelman, scott brooks..

could have thrown in:
greg pop – spurs played without tony parker, manu and timmy
jerry sloan – D. Will, KGB and booz went down for long strecthes
mike d’antoni – out coach woodson every time ….it was the knicks

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Mike is Back . . . deep down, people know the real deal.

As of right now, this is the 5th most successful team in ATLANTA HAWK HISTORY. We need one win to tie for 4th all time . . and 2 wins to have sole possession of 4th.

People can act like we’re supposed to be “elite” and have 60 wins, but if you were to pull up an old blog before the season started, I GUARANTEE YOU that most people expected the Hawks ( record wise ) to be right around what they are right now. And I’d make a wager that the “Woody haters” didn’t expect this team to improve any, even with the addition of Crawford.

This team, Woody, nor the players are nowhere near the “troubled” bunch that people make them out to be. What you see with the Hawks, is the natural progression that most teams go through, when they learn how to be a winner. ( at least those teams who don’t try to buy a Championship ).

This year’s Hawks team seemed to beat every inferior team that they faced last year, but had problems against the good teams. This year’s Hawks team has a winning record vs teams with a .500 or better record, but have lost 10 games to under .500 teams ( mainly on the road ). And part of the reason for that, is that the inferior teams at home now look at the Hawks as an upper echelon team.

Remember what KG and the rest of the Boston players said about the Hawks after we beat them the first game this year in Atlanta?

“The Hawks play us real hard for some reason”.

Well duh . . . they were considered to be an elite team, and no one around here has forgotten that playoff series.

Have any of you noticed that since the beginning of the year, just about every inferior opponent treat the Hawks as a BIG GAME? No one looks at us as an automatic win anymore.

NO ONE.

That doesn’t excuse the 4th quarter meltdowns. And that’s the other part of becoming a winner . . learning to play as a favorite. Even last year, people overlooked us at times. Now that the shoe is on the other foot, we’ve tended to do the same thing. Next, year, if they bring everyone back ( including JJ and Woody ), you’ll see the Hawks play more consistent against bad teams on the road. They know what to expect now.

So far, this has been a milestone year for the Hawks. Now it’s PLAYOFF TIME!!!

Congrats to the entire team and the organization.

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northcyde:

I am not a Wdsn ‘hater’. Ugly word.
I prefer you not use that word in connection with ‘me’, Thank you.

However, I’ll be the first to admit i did not expect our record to be much better than it is right now.

AND – The reason is absolutely, I had/have/have not had confidence in
Wdsn for a while. The reasons do not bear repeating.
K.Strickland, Sautee, Clyde, O’Brien, Big Ray, vava, and myself plus
many many others have repeated ad nauseam @ one time or another “WHY”
we have lost confidence.

Now, I stated, that I did not have confidence in the man.
Before the season, during or after.
However theere are [3] distinct attributes about the man I do not
particularly care for:
1. His careless handling of Teague. [*a pattern - yes]
2. He’s a bully – [just like his mentor BK]
3. He uses foul language in public.*
*(children listen to him on TV & radio)

Hate – No!
Get that word outa’ my face.
Now carry on an intelligent conversation.
By the way, I enjoy what you have to say, whether I agree or not.
Just because I don’t agree with you, doesn’t mean I hate you.
Now play nice.

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“Name the coaches in the NBA that you believe have done a better job than Woody THIS YEAR.”

Scott Skiles
Larry Brown
Scott Brooks
Nate McMillan
Jerry Sloan
Gregg Popovich
Phil Jackson
George Karl
Rick Adelman
Jeff Bower
Mike Brown
Stan Van Gundy

That’s more or less in order, although I probably forgot someone. Hopefully I didn’t list anyone twice.

I’d put Woody right below them, at about the same level as Alvin Gentry and Rick Carlisle, for this season. Nothing to be ashamed of, but at the same time, there’s a lot of room for him to improve. The guys on that list either had their teams contending despite devastating injuries, have a legit shot at an NBA title, or both. Woody still gets the solid B from me, with moments of slipping into B- territory, that he had at the All Star break.

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“He uses foul language in public.”

If you’re talking about cursing during games, I’d be surprised if you can find anyone in the NBA who doesn’t do that. You might want to get the A.C. Green for Hawks Coach petition started.

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grandad THIS IS NOT 1956, DID U MISS WHAT K.G SAID ABOUT MICHEAL FUC7ING JORDAN? DO YOU NOT SEE PLAYERS ALMOST EVERY SINGLE PLAYER YELL CURSE WORDS AND US FOUL WORD? WHO CARES THEY ARE GROWN MEN WHO CAN SAY WTF THEY WANT, YOURE AN OLD FASION GUY AND I RESPECT THAT BUT WE LIVE IN AN ERA WHERE CURSING IN FRONT OF “KIDS AND WOMEN” IS THE NORM, IN FACT THEY ARE THE ONES WHO DO IT THE MOST, SORRY BUT THTS THE SCREWED UP WORD WE LIVE IN, SO ITS PRETTY IGNORANT TO BELIEVE THESE PLAYERS ARE GONNA SPEAK IN ANOTHER WAY THAN THEY ARE ACUSTOMED TO FOR ANYBODY , ESPECIALLY THE ARROGANT ONES. AND ITS THIER RIGHT TO SO WOOD CURSE ON!!!

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JUST WAIT TILL THE PLAYOFFS N TUNE IN TO NBATV FOR POST GAMES, LAST YEAR THERE WERE SO MANY BLEEPS LOL, AND NOT ONLY NBA COACHES, WE CAN TAKE IT A BIT FURTHER AND TALK ABOUT THE NUMBER OF FOOTBALL COACHES WHO SWEAR THEYRE ASSES OFF IN INTERVIEWS, NFL, MLB, U NAME IT

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SAM’L & GRANDAD-Your comments are well thoughtout and well presented. Excellent work, just excellent! What can you say about someone who finds it unacceptable to want and expect more from a team that’s definitely capable of accomplishing more? He seems content to compare this teams accomplishments to what has or hasn’t been accomplished in the past.

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3:09 post to ‘BONE’ / sorry about that. G’day.

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Ken Strickland:
[based on a previous conversation/a couple of moons ago]

I finally figured something out!
I like ‘Tina Fey’ pretending to be ‘Sarah Palin’ better than I like
Sarah Palin herself. What the heck, let the bloggers figure that one out.

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Now that absolutely no one will read this post, it’s safe to say what I really feel.

Joe Johnson don’ say much. I think he feels he’s given his best shot and he really does want to leave, maybe go to NY or some place where the radio stations can be heard for more than a few miles out of town. Where the people are perhaps a little more intelligent. Where there’s real sense of pride based on more than one’s particular race. I think it bothers Joe that sometimes the fans don sho or maybe root for the wrong team and I think he gets why. Georgia is football country and baseball with the Braves success, but basketball requires a kind of intuitive thinking that seems to be missing in Atlanta. If management had concentrated on just bringing intelligent basketball to the floor rather than marketing gimmicks (and given us someone intelligent to listen to rather than Skip Caray and Steve Holman who really sounded as if they’d grown old singin the blues), there would be no problem. The raw excitment is there this year. Those cheers at the San Antonio game were thrilling. Raw excitement and thrills!

Now, the bad news…..

I think if the Hawks don’t show the hustle and drive and intelligence that Joe Johnson needs to feel so desperately, Joe gon blo. Then all this Woody talk gon be over, because you won be able to put Humpty Hawk together again.

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Funny convos here re: WOODSON. If you had defended the guy three years ago,, you might have suffered injury at a game over it, and the few who did defend WOODSON such as myself suffered insult here. Back then DR MaryB and myself were preaching patience for the coach and his young team, a commodity in very short supply back then. Now’s that going now?.

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mike woodson will be the hawks coach next season.he’s not going anywhere. live with it

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You can see why Mo is rumored to be opting out of his player option next year when with all his positive efforts he can’t break through Woodson’s stuborness with always starting Marvin.

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Woody may not be the best coach in the NBA, however what he’s done here is amazing.

This team is about where they should be behind Cle & Orl (teams who have better rosters) and little above Bos (due to injuries).

The problems with the fan base, we expect Woody to work miracles with an unbalanced roster. No matter how in love we are with the talent on this team…it’s not championship talent.

Orlando & Clevland built their teams to win a championship now. Rick Sund built the Hawks to perform better in the playoffs.

Woody has several areas he could improve as a coach, but so can the other coaches we hold in high regard.

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Enter your comments here

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Nate McMillan . . . no doubt. With all of the injuries that Portland team had, they could’ve easily thrown in the towel. But he kept that team steady and in the hunt, despite the injuries. Once they acquired Camby, it helped stabilize that team at exactly the right time to make a run at the end.

Stan Van Gundy . . . no doubt. They had that stretch in January where they looked like they were coming apart at the seams. But they righted the ship, and have been the 2nd most dominant team in the league ( outside of Cleveland ) since that point.

Those are the only “no doubts”, Everybody else you can make arguments for or against.

*****************
Greg Popovich . . . arguably yes . . but only because of the Tony Parker injury ( although they got off to that very mediocre start w/Parker in the lineup ). The rest of the team, for the most part, has been healthy. But he’s POP, so he’s going to get the benefit of the doubt regardless.

Larry Brown . . . yeah . . The Steven Jackson trade was the difference maker for them. Outstanding at home . . . horrible on the road. They have currently the #1 ranked defense in the league.

***************

Jerry Sloan . . . eh . . . Utah is dominant at home, schizophrenic on the road, just like we are . . 4 more wins so far than last season, just like us . . but he’s Jerry Sloan. He’ll get the benefit of the doubt regardless.

Alvin Gentry . . . eh . . . He has a Hall of Fame PG and arguably the best PF in the league on his site. 2 top 15 players. Their main guys have been healthy all year. And like Miami, they feast on below .500 teams, while having a losing record vs teams over .500. They’ve won 20 of their last 25 because of this.

***********

Eric Spolestra . . . NO . . . Why? Because Miami doesn’t lose to bad teams? They struggled all year, but got hot ( much like Toronto did back in January and February ) simply because they’ve feasted on bad teams. He has arguably the 3rd best player in the league, and their team has been relatively healthy, but they’ve only improved their win total by 2 games.

Rick Carlisle . . NO . . Why? They’ve only improved a mere 3 games from last season. If Woody had the chance to trade Marvin and Zaza, for Butler and Haywood, I bet we’d be a better team than the current Dallas squad. Dallas is loaded with talent. They SHOULD have that record.

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Some people say Woodson is stoic on the bench. Some people say he is “blank” on the bench.

I like Woody and I hope he helps us in the playoffs, but I do not believe that he makes proper adjustments and I don’t believe that he knows how to develop someone. And I especially do not like his offensive game plan.

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Follow-up to Follow-up for Grand-dad, how any one can twist statistics to their advantage or looking through cloudy colored glasses

Talented team [Hawks] good record but:
* virtually no inj.
Counter: How about a very thin bench? Compare Hawks bench to Cavs and Magic and Celtics. How about no trades for a big man?

* core has been together a good long time.
Counter: The same core others say is too ISO JJ. The same core some say lacks a true center. The same core some say has no real penetrating point guard. The same core some say is underachieving with Marvin.

* best player in contract yr.
Counter: JJ’s performance is not even the best of his time in ATL. And some continue to put JJ down for being too isolationist. Some say he takes too many shots. How can that be an advantage???

* only marginal improvement (reg. season) 47 -50?
Counter: Marginal is relative to number of wins already under belt. You grow from 13 wins by a large number, but as your team is already above average (Hawks last year), the room to grow gets smaller and smaller. How about one of only handful of coaches to have improved teams every year for 5 or so years in a row.

* team upgraded off-season
Counter: Upgraded by losing Murray and Adding Jamal. Right agree. How about when we lost Chils? Was that not a downgrade? If we lost him, should Wooden record not have gone downhill?

* good bench [his fault for uninspired use thereof]
CounteR: Good bench?? Are you kidding me? Which big man do you consider good? Joe your same age Smith? Zaza out of shape? Teague not ready for big times. Cheeseburger and Randolph Morris

* break out yr. for Josh
Counter: Agreed, give credit where credit is due. Wooden put up with Josh for years while Josh became known league wide as the coach killer. Yep, Wooden had a lot to do with that.

* All-star yr. for Al
Counter: Yes true, something Wooden saw immediately with Al. From day one.

* Jamal > Flip
Counter: Point back to Chils. When Chils was let go, Wooden still improved this team. If that was a big loss, so is adding Jamal a big win.

* Great start…wobbling[hanging on/choose metaphor]across finish line.
Counter: Are you kidding me? What are you watching? The 4th qtr meltdowns on away nights? Or wins vs. Jazz, Spurs, Lakers, Magic,….

* Play-offs / his fate to be determined?
Counter: You can not discount the body of work of over 80 games. That is foolish, even for an old man

I am gone seriously this time….

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northcyde,

Greg Popovich – How many games did TD, Manu, and Tony Parker miss due to injuries? If the Hawks top 3 had missed more games, I wonder what our record would be.

- Duncan: 3
- Ginobli: 6
- Parker: 26 ( 16 -10 without Parker . . . 33 – 21 with Parker ) . . basically no difference this year with or without Parker

Sloan – 4 more wins than last year. Who did they add to the roster? Not the SMOY. And have you looked at their bench?

According to hoopsstats.com . . .

Hawks bench – 20th in the league
Utah bench – 7th in the league

http://www.hoopsstats.com/basketball/fantasy/nba/teamstats/10/7/diffeff/1-1

We added Crawford, but that may have adversely affected both Marvin and Bibby, because Crawford took playing time and shots from them. Last year, Bibby averaged 15 ppg and Marvin 14 ppg. This year, Marvin averages 10 ppg . . Bibby 9 ppg. That’s a 10 point reduction from those two. They’ve also seen about an 11 minute playing time reduction, as a result of Crawford being here. Down from 68 minutes to 57 minutes ( together ).

You said “no to Eric Spolestra, because he has arguably the 3rd best player in the league, and their team has been relatively healthy, but they’ve only improved their win total by 2 games”.

Besides Wade and Haslem, who else in on Miami’s roster that would get consistent minutes here? So how is Woody that much better than Spolestra, who is in his SECOND year as a HC?

- Dwyane Wade > Joe Johnson

- Jermaine O’Neal has played in 70 games and averaged almost as many points as Horford ( 13.6 ) . . and shot 53% FG . . He’s not better than Horford, but this year, he hasn’t been chopped liver either.

- Hawk bench – 20th in the league
- Heat bench – 6th in the league

- Beasley would get consistent minutes ( would probably take all of Mo Evans time ) . . . Richardson would get time . . Jermaine O’Neal would get time . . Joel Anthony, with his shot blocking prowess, may get time ( especially before Joe Smith ) . . Chalmers > Teague

( see the link posted previously )

I’m not hating on Woody, because I think he deserves a lot of credit for helping the team get to where they are, and I think he should be judged by how the Hawks perform in the playoffs coming up. But I dont have him as high on my list like you do…

No problem. Just understand what those other teams bring to the table.

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Hey Yall:

EVERYONE IN THE LEAGUE NEED TO BE VERY AFRAID OF OUR HAWKS. The Hawks need not be afraid of anyone. All the Hawks have to do is play ball like they should. And that’s moving that ball around, quickly, and hitting the open man for the shot. And of course, playing their knitty gritty nasty defense. This team reminds me of the old New York Knocks with Willis Reed. That team was consiidered small because they did not have a big center to the likes of the Lakers, 7 foot 3, Wilt “THE STILT’ Chamberlain, but they had heart and teamwork, moving the ball, and playing stellar defense wherein they defeated the Lakers for the NBA title. Couch Lou Holtz did a masterful job in sending Bill Bradley, John Lucas, and Dave DeBussheur on the perimeter wherein Walt Frazier and earl Monroe attacked the rim, made jumpshots, and kickked the ball out to the guys on the perimeter who did not miss a shot. The destroyed and confused the Lakers. Al Horford reminds me so much of Willis Reed. He is tough and smart and knows how to shoot the ball around the basket and of course, get rebounds: JUST LIKE WILLIS REED. Unlike the old Knicks, the Hawks have the X-factor and that is Josh Smith who does everything around the basket, on offense and defense. Mo Evans and Marvin Williams are our Bill Bradley and Dave Debusheur. They can make those perimeter shots. Joe Johnson is our quiet Walt Frazier and Jamaal Crawford is our Earl Monroe. Mike Bibby is our Henry Bibby: the quiet ball leader who plays like “THE ASSASSIN”-he will hurt you. Know it is up to coach Mike Woodson to coach like Lou Holtz of the Knicks and have his team outwitt and out shoot the opponent. This team have the ingredients. Now it is up to the coach to make a strong concoction for wining the NBA title. I recommend the Hawks looking at those old Knick tapes of the Lou Holtzman Knicks. They were the ‘GIANT KILLERS” and so are our ATLANTA HAWKS!!!!!!

LET’S GO HAWKS!!!!!. ‘SHOCK THE WORLD!!!”

SSSSSSSSSSSHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This is a SECRET from a HAWK FAN. TELL EVERYBODY!!!!!!!

………………………………………..”SHOCK THE WORLD!!!!…………..

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northcyde , I hear ya on Woody dawg…don’t let Woody’s detractors sway you. I’m not falling over myself trying to heap praise on Woody for doing some type of masterful coaching job…I’m just acknowledging the man body of work. When you have a chance to lock down third seed, and win 50 plus games…that got to count for something. Far be it from me to forget the dubious cloud that was hanging over this organization, and frugal payroll with which the GM has to operate on. Through it all…the team has continue to improve. It hasn’t all ways been pretty…but I would be remised if didn’t acknowledge the steady progress this team has made under Wood’s tenure.

GO HAWKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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