Atlanta Hawks: Send-Da-Bucks (UPDATE: Playoff Schedule)
This didn't mean much in the big picture but it sure looks cool. (Reuters photo)
EDIT: The NBA released the schedule for Hawks-Bucks:
Game 1 – Sat April 17 Milwaukee at Atlanta 5:30 PM ESPN
Game 2 – Tue April 20 Milwaukee at Atlanta 7:00 PM NBATV
Game 3 – Sat April 24 Atlanta at Milwaukee 7:00 PM ESPN
Game 4 – Mon April 26 Atlanta at Milwaukee TBD TBD
Game 5 * Wed April 28 Milwaukee at Atlanta TBD TBD
Game 6 * Fri April 30 Atlanta at Milwaukee TBD TBD
Game 7 * Sun May 2 Milwaukee at Atlanta TBD TBD
All games also to be televised by either Fox Sports South or SportSouth.
*If necessary
– Not much to say about the game. The Hawks won 99-83, Rook’ looked good and nobody got hurt. Cavs coach Mike Brown summed it up: “Glad to get this game over with. Now we can focus on the playoffs.”
– It was a weird night. I spent more time looking at the out-of-town scoreboards than the main one. You probably did the same. I vaguely recall seeing Jason Collins shoot a 3-pointer but that can’t be right, can it?
– And then Heat-Nets went into overtime as us hacks waited for Woody to come out for his postgame presser. That was no good for my deadline. Then it went to double overtime, and Woody came out. That was no good for my questions because, really, I had none.
– The Hawks won 53 games, their most since winning 56 in the 1996-97 season. “It’s been fantastic,” Woody said before the Heat game ended. “We look at things in three phases: exhibition, regular season, and now it’s time for the playoffs. We don’t know who we are going to play, but it don’t matter. (Thursday) we start that journey.”
– Long story short(er), I had to leave the locker room before the Heat game was final. So I don’t know how the Hawks feel about playing the Bucks. But judging by their reactions while watching Heat-Nets, I’d say they are ready to take on Milwaukee.
– Coincidentally, I’ve lived in Milwaukee and Miami. I will let you guess which city I was trying to visit for the playoffs.
– Jamal and J.J. didn’t dress. Bibby, Al and Josh didn’t play. Woody says the Hawks are in good health. “Everybody is fine. If they had to play tonight they all would have played.”
– The Hawks were 2-1 against the Bucks during the regular season. All of those games were played after the Bucks traded for John Salmons. One of those, the Hawks’ 104-96 victory on Monday, came after Bogut was lost for the season.
– That was, in my opinion, the best road game the Bucks had played since winning at Utah on Feb. 22. If the Hawks play with that kind of energy and focus in this series I don’t see how the Bucks can stay with them. Of course, we know that’s a giant “if” for the Hawks.
– My quickie analysis says the Hawks enjoy significant advantages at center (Al/Zaza over Kurt Thomas/Gadzuric/Ilyasova) and power forward (Josh over Mbah a Moute).
– Salmons is sneaky good but J.J. obviously is better all-around. Brandon Jennings is good but he’s an erratic rookie. Ridnour is solid. But give me Bibby/Crawford over those two.
– Delfino/Stackhouse probably has the edge over Marvin/Mo. Probably, right?
– The numbers say the Bucks are a much better defensive team than the Hawks, and that the Hawks are much better than the Bucks on offense.
– I’d say if the Hawks really are capable of turning it on for the postseason, they have more potential to be a better defensive team than the Bucks do of being a better offensive team. Sound about right?
– Anyway, back to Hawks-Cavs. Teague had 24 points, 15 assists and five turnovers. “The young Rook’, I can’t praise him enough,” Woody said. “It’s been tough on him not playing many minutes.”
– Before the game, Woody offered some personal perspective on his handling of Teague: “I know it’s tough on him because I know how it was when I came in to the league after playing a lot of minutes in college. I played for a coach who didn’t believe in playing rookies, (former Knicks coach) Red Holzman. He thought rookies should sit and learn. And I learned a lot in that first year.”
– So that how it’s gone for Teague. “I think I showed that I can play in this league,” he said. “I think (Woody) believes in me. He’s told me it was going to be a learning year like he told you guys. So I just soaked everything up and tried to learn as much as possible, and tried to learn from Bibby and Jamal as much as I could.”
– Woody’s rotation includes Jamal, Mo and Zaza off the bench. After that “it’s up in the air” with Joe Smith, Collins, Teague and Mario perhaps playing “in certain situations,” Woody said.
– The league releases the official schedule early Thursday morning. I’ll update this post when I get it.
– I’m out, Hawks fans.
MC
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179 comments Add your comment
O'Brien
April 15th, 2010
11:32 am
Fresh, I dont think anybody (in their right mind) could be debating if Bogut or Marvin was the right pick. But some of the comments on that Milwaukee Blog are crazy.
Some of my favorites are; “this series will determine if the bucks made the right decision in passing over jeff teague for brandon jennings”. and “This series will determine if Dan Gadzuric is better than Zaza Pachulia”
I guess you have crazy fans everywhere…I do like the”Fear the Deer” comments too lol
JesusAlou
April 15th, 2010
11:53 am
Good blogs all around. Teague did a great job last night. Im satisfied with the Hawks season. Its true we could have won more games but to finish 24 games over .500 at 53-29 is a great accomplishment, provided that Woodys first season with Billy Knight as GM was 13-69. In addition, by winning last nights game we tied Denver and Utah’s records at 53-29. That means in the ENTIRE NBA, which most people may not realize, there were only five teams who had better records than the hawks. Lakers, Phoenix, Mavericks, Orlando and Cleveland. Thats it. Our record ties us for the sixth best record overall in the nba. What that means is we have a great chance this year of either a) making the eastern conference finals, based on our elitist status or b) making it to the NBA Finals. The Hawks have their BEST chance this season to win a title. Whether Cleveland and Orlando get eliminated before the Hawks play them is irrelevant, I still think the Hawks have a great chance to make it to the finals. Let the games begin. Hawks, roll over milwaukee!
vava74
April 15th, 2010
12:13 pm
Dezz, you are a one man theater. In (very) small doses, very entertaining.
ATL is a Baseball town
April 15th, 2010
12:17 pm
We are one good center from a championship.
Mike is Back
April 15th, 2010
12:19 pm
Big Ray, I couldn’t agree with you more on your comments on The Rook. I use to tell my kids all the time…you don’t want your mother complaining to coach to get you playing time…you want to earn it…that way the other players will respect you. Teague is just a rookie…Woody did they right thing bringing The Rook alone slow…that way he could avoid some of the pit falls…most rookies endure. Now he is peaking at the right time heading into the playoff. Would you rather have it the other way around…hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm???
In terms of MO minutes…I heard about MO’s commends…but I think I can say this…MO is a much better defender than he had been in the previous seasons…especially against SF. He uses to get housed against Big SGs and SFs when he first signed with the Hawks…That may have had more to due with his minutes then he is willing to acknowledge. Now that he has regained his offensive prowess, and proven that he can defends both position with more ferocity…he is getting his time to shine…I’m happy for him…it couldn’t have come at a better time…can someone say Cha Ching. Through it all he has been a condensate professional.
Some of these cats will always want to focus on the minutes distribution of the players…but you can’t argue with results. The Hawks are the third seed in the East, in a supposedly underachieving season, and they were three games short of a franchise records for wins. FOR ALL U WOODY HATERS…read’em and weep. lol
Oh, did I mentioned they are still one of the younger teams in the league…GO HAWKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Don't Sleep on Zaza
April 15th, 2010
12:36 pm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=occogLZ2TLo
He goes hard.
TruckRobinson
April 15th, 2010
12:46 pm
I dont understand it. People keeping saying repeatedly, “Fire Woody” and in reality, those people should be saying “Woody for coach of the Year!”. Woody has set this team up to win the NBA finals. That is a matter of fact. As someone stated in an earlier blog, the playoffs this year are setup for the Hawks to avoid Boston, Cleveland and Orlando and get into the Eastern Conference Finals against the Miami Heat. Win that series and you’ll probably play in the NBA Finals against either the Denver Nuggets, Los Angeles Lakers or Dallas Maveriks. The Hawks would be favored in that series against those other two teams. Against the Lakers, the Hawks would be the underdogs. The Hawks would still beat the Lakers because the Lakers are significantly worse than last years team. If you doubt what I say, last years lakers team featured the heroic plays of former laker Trever Ariza. Ariza made key steals in the conference finals against Denver and also in the finals and should have been the playoffs MVP. Ariza was also firing 3s at an unbelievable rate and helped the lakers win the larry o’brien trophy. This year the Lakers dont have as great a team as last year and feature Ron Artest as their upgrade from last year. Artest is like a time bomb waiting to go off and the minute someone rubs him the wrong way, the boxing gloves instantly go on Artests fists and hes ready to swing his way out of the situation. The Lakers have more swagger than last year and theyre better defensively but that wont guarantee them a title.
Don't Sleep on Zaza
April 15th, 2010
12:50 pm
Next season: Kyrolo Fesenko, Gani Lawal, Travis Outlaw, & Linas Klezia
Oh, and swap Bibby for Ridnour.
Seattle Hawks Fan
April 15th, 2010
1:11 pm
What is all this hate for Woody? We won 50+ games and finished as the 3rd seed above Boston. At the begining of the season I remember a lot of people on here had Rasheed Wallace pushing Boston to the #1 seed in the East. We beat Orlando in our last game against them, so we stand a good shot at reaching the Conference Finals. Without two FREAK players (Lebron, Howard) we would be the number 1 seed in the East. Go Hawks!
JeJe
April 15th, 2010
1:17 pm
WOODSON WILL NEVER CHANGE THE STARTING 5. IT’LL ALWAYS BE THE SAME DAMN STARTING 5, EVEN IF BIBBY IS 65
AtlSouthside
April 15th, 2010
1:20 pm
Hawks in 4. All blowouts!!! Let’s GO HAWKS! I’ll be in Philips Arena for Game 1
sam'l
April 15th, 2010
1:27 pm
The problem with Woodson is not that he has 52 or 53 wins this year. The problem is that he could have easily had 60 had adjustments been made in a timely fashion.
Salim had at least one talent. He was a great 3-point shooter. He could have won games for us on that basis alone.
But it’s just a game. Now, on beyond Zebra….
I peronally do not feel that the playoffs are set up for the Hawks to avoid Cleveland, Boston and Orlando so we can face the Heat. I like the Bobcats’ chances to at least slow Orlando down. Orlando is scary sometimes. The Cats would have to play 48 minutes at full steam every game, I won’t count them out. I think they will be prepared with a viable game plan and will go down fighting.
Cleveland obviously is a good team. But the main reason the Cavaliers will be in the conferrence finals is they’re not playing for just a championship…..they are playing to keep LeBron in town and for the future of the franchise and for NBA league economic stability, and every player on the team knows it, the coach knows it, the management and the league office know it, and even the most unbiased referee on the court is going to cringe when he has to call the charge on the King with 15 seconds left in game 6. Even if there are no memos and no tricks.
MIami was hot….someone says they weren’t playing contenders in their streak…but I don’t know. I’d say they’re a slight favorite to beat Boston. Spoelstra is crazy-smart and he’s always looking for a weak spot. Actually he’s exactly what I would like to see as an assistant for Woody. Hear what he said last night when he benched Wade, something about offending the basketball Gods if he tried to tank. Miami and Boston both tried to throw their games. Miami would have lost to the Hawks in hard-fought games but maybe would have left a couple of our people injured.. Correct me if that didn’t happen last year. I could be wrong. I don’t have videotapes but I seem to remember lots of hard fouls .and playing Cleveland without a full healthy squad. Try to undercut Kevin Garnett in Boston….Miami might not be so lucky. (You probably won’t see Rashid Wallace taking a rebound and putting it in the wrong basket either ) . .
So we may not see Boston, but probably both Orlando and Cleveland…maybe not LA cause Kobe is playing hurt. (I like to use all my fingers). If Parker is really back, San Antonio becomes a dark-horse with [all the rest of those teams] who are a lot younger, but no team in the league is smarter than San Antonio, every player on the team. . .
This said, do I think the Hawks have a chance to go all the way?
Hell yes!
KPH
April 15th, 2010
1:40 pm
GO HAWKS!! The city is starving for a championship and I think you guys can give it to us.
northcyde
April 15th, 2010
1:43 pm
Some of you sound like Boston Celtic fans 2 years ago, when we were matched up against them. The Hawks are still not a good enough road team to NOT expect this series to be somewhat of a battle.
I believe that we can win this series in 5 games. Matter of fact . . . we better.
Because if we have to go back to Milwaukee for a Game 6 to end the series, Milwaukee will fight like hell to keep the series alive and will probably win that game . . forcing a Game 7 ( that we should win ).
I’d be shocked if Milwaukee will just lay down and die for us.
lewis
April 15th, 2010
1:44 pm
The most underrated teams in the playoffs this year in order,
Spurs
Bobcats
Mavs
Hawks
I’d like to see a Dallas – Cleveland finals personally. I don’t think LA has the energy to keep up with Lebron. I like Kidd, Marion, Nowitzki, Butler, Haywood, Terry, beaubois, etc, and I like their experience.
I’d love to see the Hawks in the ECF, but too many variables that have to be just right.
RoryCensure
April 15th, 2010
1:45 pm
Seattle Hawks Fan: I’ll tell you why there is all this hate for Woody. Every hawk fan knows that this years Hawks edition was a 60-win team that underachieved because Woody was too inept to make the adjustments in time and the Hawks gave away victories that they could have had. Why should Hawk fans be happy about a 50-win series in woodys seventh year, when the Oklahoma Thunder have experienced a 50-win season in their first year as an expansion team with Kevin Durant leading the charge. The Hawks could have enjoyed a 50-win season by woodys second season, but the Hawks made terrible draft choices, (picking Marvin Williams over Chris Paul) and their growth went at a snails pace. Secondarily, the general manager made a GREAT MOVE by acquiring Jamal Crawford, but could have done better and got more pieces to give a chance for the Hawks to win a title. The Hawks still have a chance to go all the way, but in order for it to happen, Boston, Orlando and Cleveland must ALL be eliminated for the Hawks to avoid them to give the Hawks a fighting chance. Then if the Hawks make the finals, the Lakers have to have been eliminated so the Hawks wont face them in the finals to cap it off for the Hawks to make it all the way as champions. That means the Hawks would have to avoid facing teams that are better than them: Boston, Cleveland, Orlando and Lakers for the Hawks to win the crown. That stinks.
northcyde
April 15th, 2010
1:49 pm
As far as Teague goes . . . I expect 6 pts – 3 assists in the 1st half when he gets into a game for those 7 – 8 minutes that he’ll play. If he can do that, he’s impacting the game.
bigdave
April 15th, 2010
1:52 pm
J. A. Adande
TRAPPED TEAM: Atlanta Hawks
For a while, I thought the Atlanta Hawks were ready to make the natural progression from their first-round loss to the Celtics two years ago to last year’s second-round loss to the Cavaliers and advance to the conference finals this season. But it’s impossible to envision the Hawks’ beating Cleveland or Orlando. It doesn’t seem fair that a team that has come so far so fast has already reached it limit, but sometimes these things happen. Ask the Bucks or Nuggets of the ’80s or the Cleveland Cavaliers of the ’90s or the Sacramento Kings of the 2000s.
The Hawks could lose Joe Johnson to free agency, but that shouldn’t be envisioned as the worst-case scenario. The worst case might be bringing him back and paying full scale for a player who hasn’t shown he can carry a team to the conference finals. At least Johnson has good company. Dominique Wilkins never got the Hawks to the conference finals. Neither did Pete Maravich. Sometimes franchises just have a ceiling. Atlanta’s is in the second round.
lewis
April 15th, 2010
1:54 pm
damn you adande why must you be right
tiger woo
April 15th, 2010
2:11 pm
It’s just plain silly to say the Hawks should be a 60 win team this year – Orlando didn’t even make it to 60 and they were clearly better than the Hawks this year . . .
I mean, even the mighty Lakers only managed 57 wins. Get real . . .
O'Brien
April 15th, 2010
2:15 pm
What does Adande know?
Who knows what the Hawks ceiling is? Some might say the second round, but I think this team has a chance to go to the conference finals (why can’t we win all 3 home games in the second round?).
Also, our players are still young, and if Sund and the ASG can resign JJ, and add a couple more pieces, then our ceiling might be the NBA finals. However, we will have to upgrade our bench, and our coach will have to be able to make adjustments on the fly.
As for JJ not showing he can bring a team to the conference finals, he can’t do it on his own. We need the right pieces around him, and we need the right coach. What are those pieces? Who is the right coach? They pay Sund the big bucks to figure it out.
northcyde,
What should happen is Hawks in 5 (losing only game 3). What do I think will happen? With these Hawks you never know, but I’m thinking Hawks in 6.
tiger woo
April 15th, 2010
2:18 pm
Truth-Serum – you speaka the truth . . .
doc
April 15th, 2010
2:39 pm
some days are just so right with dezz and truth. it is the bad twin that gets soem folks i think.
Mike is Back
April 15th, 2010
2:44 pm
MC, I got angina when I read BOTH Bradley’s and Shultz’s blog stating that the Hawks will have a easy time with the Bucks. It brought back bad memories from the past…when Crucky was playing for the Phils…and the Philly’s with their tobacco chewing misfits were supposed to be steamed rolled by the all mighty Braves on their way to the World Series. They showed no respect for the team or the city…THEY didn’t give those guys a snow ball chance in H to compete with the mighty Braves…”Right!” Needless to say the AJC printed enough poster board material to fill up a recycle bin…Well we all know how that series end. Hopefully, the Hawks want listen to that rubbish and remember what happen to the Cavs last year. Any team can beat you if you under estimate them. Anybody that thinks that the Bucks will be a push over…needs to lay off the Kool-Aide. Skiles will have his guys ready to compete…it want be easy…you can count on that. Look for a lot of zone…like always…it will come down to execution and ball movement.
The Hawks are still a very young team. I believe the Hawks will win the series…however, I still think they will endure some struggle alone the way. It is just a maturation process…this is only their third year in the playoff…and second time hosting a playoff series. I hope the players are not drawn into the media hype. That would be a shame after all the hard work they have put in to put themselves in this position. These have to be the most competitive first round match-up in the East…that we have seen in some time. Maybe the Cavs versus Bulls could be a cakewalk…however, the rest of the match-ups should very competitive.
DON’T BY INTO THE HYPE…BE PREPARED FOR A STREET BROIL…GO HAWKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
northcyde
April 15th, 2010
2:48 pm
Truth-Serum
April 15th, 2010
2:15 pm
tiger woo the 60 wins is a misguided attempt to set the bar so high as to say Woodson under achieved, when its clear that 99%(there was 1 exception who picked the hawks 3rd seed) of the experts pick them 4-8 seed. Since they finished third that means that woody has the hawks performing at or above expert assessment of their ability.
Way to go coach woody!
************
LOL. . . exactly.
That’s the only defense mechanism they have left . . . to continuously raise the bar and try to say that Woody can’t get us to that “next level”. For them, even if we make it to Orlando, but lose in an all out war of a series, that won’t be enough.
If we BEAT ORLANDO though, the bar will be raised AGAIN, if we lose to Cleveland. The talk then will be . . .
“so what that he got us to the EC Finals . . he’s not good enough to get us to the Finals. Doug Collins was fired in Chicago when he made the EC Finals. So did Rick Carlisle in Detroit. So making the EC Finals means NOTHING, if we can go out and get a coach to put us over the top.”
It’s NBA FINALS or BUST for Woody, when you talk about those people that think this was a 60-win team. Anything less, and they’ll try to run Woody out of town.
JeJe
April 15th, 2010
2:56 pm
I’d put Joe on Salmons, hoping they cancel out with each other (hopefully JJ does better than that) and just destroy the rest of this team
LamontSanford
April 15th, 2010
3:09 pm
Everybody is raving about the Hawks winning 53 games. Had the Hawks picked up a couple of free agents during the offseason last year, the Hawks record would have been 77-5, giving them the greatest season in nba history. The Hawks would have broken the bulls record of 70-12 in the late ’90s. That record of 77-5 would have dwarfed the Cavs record this season of 61-21. What would you rather be 72 games over .500 or 40 games over. The hawks blew it but they are still at the top of the nba heap in terms of rule and power. As long as the hawks are there, they should try very dilligently to win an nba title. As charles barkley once said, anything less would be uncivilized!
VenomSpitter
April 15th, 2010
3:16 pm
Are ya’ll serious? The Hawks did underachieve. We should have about 60 wins. Do ya’ll not remember all the games we choked away this season?
Grandad
April 15th, 2010
3:22 pm
TigerWoods!!!
I left a retort for you on each of the last two blogs.
Thanks for the compliment.
SinbadWestminster
April 15th, 2010
3:34 pm
The hawks fans are the most ungrateful and dumbest fans ive ever seen. Woody goes out and coaxes his team to a steller 53-29 record (twenty-four games over .500) and the 3rd seed overall in the conference. What more do you want? You want us to have better record than Orlando, Lakers or Cavs. Were not as good, we dont have as many good players so the record wont match theirs. Should the Hawks go out and add the right free agents, then their record would rival those three elite clubs. In the offseason, had we attempted to sign Maxiel of Detroit, Amare Stoudemire, Antoine Jameson, Antonio McDyess, John Salmons or another blue chip free agent, our record would have improved for us to win 60 games. We didnt so that is why we dont have the best team in the nba. We might still get lucky win the title, but in order for us to do that, Orlando, Lakers and Cavs MUST be eliminated so the hawks wont have to play them. Then the hawks are better than everybody else and the title will then be up for grabs for the hawks to secure.
LouFan
April 15th, 2010
4:13 pm
I am still baffled on how people state that we have no chance versus ANY elite team. We play very well versus the Cavs, where we lost two games because we gave it to them… Not because they out played us. We have taken the Lakers, Mavericks(should have been 2-0), Spurs and Suns, 1-1 as well. The only team that has demolished us is Orlando. Which I feel we can win against if we throw our big guys (Jason, Randolf, Zaza, Joe…) at Howard and guard the three. I feel the only real opponent to the Hawks is themselves. We have the man power and bench to go to the finals. All the Hawks have to do is play, stay focused, and show a little heart and they would be a huge upset to any team.
Have more faith in your team you so called fans. Show support and hope that they mature these playoffs (Including Mike Woodson)… Where ANYTHING can happen.
Expect big games from Jamal Crawford(First time in playoffs), Joe Johnson(Wanting that cash next year), Josh Smith(Something to prove from last years immaturity), Al Horford(Spreading the offense with his jump shots), and Zaza(Always brings the heart into the playoffs).
cp
April 15th, 2010
4:16 pm
From some of these comments I can tell some of these cats did not see the game last night. The Cavs played their main guys last night. Hickson, Jamison, Delonte West, Illgaskus, Parker. I know some of you want to discredit the game last night but the Cavs played starters and their main bench guys last night. And like vava said, why even debate with truth serum. That cat clearly never knows what he is talking about. He just rambles on and makes dumb points. Most times the point he is trying to make goes against his own argument.
I’m on the official Travis Outlaw for Hawks starting sf bandwagon. After seeing Marvin play with the second unit guys lat night and still not stand out I just gave up on him. Mario freaking West looked more like a player last night than Duck. Time to move on from this draft mistake and bring somebody else in here.
northcyde
April 15th, 2010
4:55 pm
I like how people add the “games that we choked” to our win total, without realizing that there are games that we won, that we probably should’ve lost ( if not for a great shot, dunk, or good defense at the end ).
It all balances out . . . hence . . . the 53 win total . . . the 4th best regular season record in Atlanta Hawk history.
JuniperChestnut
April 15th, 2010
5:06 pm
What people dont realize is that despite the fact that we choked away about 10 games that we had won which we lost; on the other side of the coin we WON THREE GAMES THAT WE WOULDNT HAVE WON HAD THE STARTERS BEEN IN: Game #1: last game against Toronto–Chris Bosh was out; Game #2: last game against Lakers–Bynum was out; Game #3: last game of the season against Cavs–LaBron,Mo and Shaq were all OUT. We might have won only 50 games this year had those 3 game been played with the starters in. So 53 is not bad, although I still say we should have won 60 games this season with our current talent level. Add more talent and well win 70.
sam'l
April 15th, 2010
5:17 pm
I categorically deny raising the bar to make Woody seem bad. I plead guilty to thinking the Hawks are better than they show.
Go back…count up the games where we came out “flat”, the games where we couldn’t penetrate a zone, the total fourth quarter meltdowns, the inability to deal with the unexpected (Cleveland clock, Jason Kidd disaster), letting relatively obscure players on other teams have career nights…….the Golden State fiasco, letting the New York Knicks punish us……the feeling that we can’t possibly beat other clubs when perhaps there IS a way…..
Add the total of blown games to the number of victories…….I got 60.
Playing as a coherent team, Horford, Smith, Johnson and Crawford are fantastic. . . .
If Woody can be just as fantastic, the Hawks can be champs and we’ll all feel a little better about the world in general.
Najeh Davenpoop
April 15th, 2010
5:18 pm
It’s easy to say that no other team had 60 wins so expecting the Hawkd to reach that number is unrealistic, but many of those teams probably have at least a few games where they underachieved as well.
At the same time, like northcyde says, there were several games in which the Hawks played like sh-t and still pulled out a last-second victory. Nobody is counting those as losses.
The one thing that consistently caused the Hawks to play below their full potential this year is the lack of a real offensive system. I’d say realistically they win 2-3 more games this year if they actually ran plays. Yes, Woody deserves criticism for this, but not to the extent that it overshadows an otherwise great season. Ultimately how well the Hawks do in the second round and beyond will determine how Woody should be judged this season.
As for Adande, it is fair to say that the Hawks’ ceiling this year appears to be the 2nd round, but assuming the Hawks won’t improve beyond this point when their front court is all under 24 and there’s no telling how good their point guard of the future might be is absolute lunacy. Most people had the Magic’s ceiling as the conference finals heading into last year’s playoffs too. The Hawks certainly have the potential to improve well beyond where they currently are, even if that doesn’t happen this season.
sam'l
April 15th, 2010
5:20 pm
If the Hawks don’t make it but show energy and intelligence and guts in their effort, they are still worthy of respect. (Because not everyone can win)
Ken Strickland
April 15th, 2010
5:43 pm
After just read the article about Woodson stating he expects an active summer from Teague. It also said he gave the bulk of his PG mins to JCrawford and MEvans, so I did a little research and found out a different story. Last yr our guards and their mins were Bibby(34.7), JJ(39.5), RMurray(24.7) and ALaw(10.2). This yr our guards were Bibby(27.4), Crawford(31.1), JJ(38.0) and JTeague(10.1).
Bottomline, JJ’s mins were reduced by 1.5MPG, Bibby’s by 7.3MPG, Crawford played 6.4MPG more than RMurray, while Teague and ALaw were the same. Add the reduced mins of Bibby and JJ (8.8)then subtract Crawford’s 6.4 increase over RMurry and you get an extra 2.4MPG. Then factor in MEvans’ 6.3MPG reduction this yr, and add it to the 2.4 reduction and you see how Woodson could have easily increased Teagues MPG to a consistent 15-18MPG.
How can Woodson claim he gave some of Teagues mins to MEvans when he actually reduced his mins by 6.3MPG? Woodson is a damned lier who had no intention of developing Teague and allowing him an opportunity to demonstrate he could provide more overall OFF/DEF production for this team than his beloved MBibby. He was afraid if he had done what he did last night earlier in the season, Teague would have forced his hand on the Bibby issue, especially the way Bibby regressed.
Hell, instead of telling Teague he needs to have a productive summer, he should be telling that to Bibby. Teague will automatically get better with more mins, consistency, encouragement and confidence, while Bibby will only get worse no matter what you do, except for his DEF, which can’t get any worse.
VenomSpitter
April 15th, 2010
5:47 pm
LOL @ Ken calling Woody a liar. He is a liar.
NUNNA YO BIZNEZZ
April 15th, 2010
6:41 pm
Daniel said:”Do you really think that having more of Teague (which of course means less of Crawford [Not Bibby}) would have this team in a better position now and for the future? That position is at best supposition if not flat out wrong-headed.”
———————————————————————————————————————————————–
How is this so when crawford is a shooting guard.
He does spill bibby,thats because woodson wanted he and joe to play together.
We all have see that they play decent but crawford would be best suited to spill joe or he or joe play the SF position while the other plays SG..
Note from last night:Morris showed why with more time and knocked off rust,he would be a nice addition into the lineup,and collins showed for a big man,(and not jumping on his jumpshots,well,toe shots)that he has some outside range.. He could bring the oppositions big man out on the perimeter(collins that is)to help open up the lane for joe,crawford,smoove,teague and even marvin!!
Mo will be Mo,and he’ll make a way to get his,trust!!
Grandad
April 15th, 2010
6:54 pm
Mad Hatter: You do entertain.
vava74: I actually enjoy the combined works of “The Mad Hatter”!
TS, Sybil, et al.
Ken Strickland: Wdsn admitted in MC’s article above:
He had no intention of playing Teague.
Red Holzman didn’t play Wdsn, when he was a ‘rook’.
Sit & learn.
‘So’…that brings me to:
Venom Spitter: To whom are you calling a liar? Wdsn or KS.
Curious?
KS’ remarks are factual.
Were you agreeing with KS, I hope !
53 wins are fantastic. But as stated above by ‘Lewis’ we are underrated.
Why?
We coulda/shoulda had a better record.
Why?
I have my answer…all you folks are entitled to yours.
bigdave: Was that an actual quote from ‘Adande’.
If so, don’t let it bother you.
Typical ESPN bias from our northern oppressors.
He is too young & doesn’t know the Maravich story.
I doubt he mentioned how we got reamed in the ‘DR J.’ deal.
Have patience ‘bigdave’.
GATA Hawks!
Big Ray
April 15th, 2010
7:24 pm
As far as I’m concerned, J.A. Adande is not the be-all, end-all. In fact, nobody from ESPN is. I agree with the blogger that said it’s fair to say the 2nd round is the Hawks’ ceiling THIS year.
Of course, it’s also every easy to say that when the choice is between Lebron and a strong Cavs team or Dwight/Vince and pretty strong team. Gee, looks like Adande didn’t go out on a limb after all, eh?
I think anyone here could have an already has done that. At the beginning of the year, no less. Consider me unimpressed with his analysis.
I’m much more impressed with Northcyde agreeing with one of the many versions of Truth Serum. I don’t know whether to say that necessity makes for some very strange bedfellows or this is one of the best comical ironies I’ve ever seen on the blog. Either way it is frakkin’ hilarious.
Big Ray
April 15th, 2010
7:30 pm
I don’t know that you can call Woody a liar.
He said he intended to bring Teague along slowly, and he said that at the beginning of the season. That’s precisely what he did.
Where is the lie? Woody never struck me as a liar.
Big Ray
April 15th, 2010
7:31 pm
Grandad ,
Good post.
Hawks Playoffs 10
April 15th, 2010
7:46 pm
Looking at all the playoff schedules, the Hawks are the only ones to play 3 games in 7 days. Some teams play 3 games in 4 days while others play 3 games in 6 days.
But the Hawks are the only team to get 2 days off between game 1 & 2 and 3 days off between games 3 & 4. Cleveland on the other hand only gets 3 off days
O'Brien
April 15th, 2010
8:00 pm
Ken
From day 1, woody had no intention of playing teague, because he believes a rookie should sit and learn their rookie year, especially since he had veteran guards in front of him.
Although I disagree with woody, I don’t think he did it because he was afraid of teague showing up bibby. He did it because that’s what his coach did when he was a rookie.
Sleepy
April 15th, 2010
8:57 pm
lol these Teague arguments are bordering on delusional fantasies.
There are 144 perimeter minutes to be allocated once you factor in the amount of games we were trailing its clearly no doubt that he gave those minutest o Crawford and Mo Evans because when we are behind Crawford usually becomes a fixture at point with Mo and JJ filling the wings and Marvin stepping in depending on how well he is playing that game .
If you wanna be mad at someone be mad at the starters they are the ones who regressed and put together maybe 10 complete games as a unit. That forces game to be decided in the final 3 minutes instead of being over at the 6 minute mark allowing the rookie to get stable playing time throughout the year
Some fans are really having hard time dealing with winning they would rather lose as long as the young player gets time because thats what theyve come to expect this time of year .
Teague is coming along just fine and will be ready to go next season . the preparation hes getting now is the best thing that couldve ever happened to him .
vava74
April 15th, 2010
9:00 pm
Adande like most ESPN analysts was trying to find an interesting angle on how to qualify our franchise.
What he said is historically true and remains applicable to this year. So, although I may object to the style of this type of piece “god given decree on how the hawks will be forever” the contents are sadly true as it as already mentioned above but must be put into perspective: the is no unavoidable fate, nor curse. It’s a simple combination of lack of money, popular support and poor/average management.
As for this season, only an Howard injury would take us into the ECF, both due to lack of a quality game and the protection Howard gets from the refs.
With balanced refereeing, we would have a decent chance but we know what we will get and we would need to raise the quality of our game dramatically to upset ORL.
Grandad
April 15th, 2010
9:03 pm
I saw where ‘The Mad Hatter’ actually quantified
the basketball IQ of Jeff Teague.
Now that’s funny.
MH you sure do make me laugh.
SWAT Native
April 15th, 2010
9:20 pm
MC,
Why do you keep denying that LaBron has been to the finals? Wasn’t that addressed in a blog a few weeks ago? I see you said it again in your Five Players to Watch article.