Hawks Squawks Game 3: Bucks 107, Hawks 89

im not sure how much of a “quality shot” we have inside going to Al Horford against Kurt Thomas.. he just doesnt have the skill or strength to be productive inside. we can get the most form him utilizing the pick and pop/roll game…

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“Instead, JJ went ISO”. MC.

JJ was the only one making shots, so its hard to blame him for going ISO.

Except for game 4 against Miami last year (which we won by 10), we have been blown out in 9 of our 10 road playoff games last 3 postseasons. Unacceptable.

I’m tired of hearing the same cliche game after game from the players. No energy, no focus, blah blah blah.

The bucks kept it close in ATL in both games, without bogut and redd. And we can’t even keep it close in Milwaukee. And woody said we did not match their “physicalness”.

I don’t think physicality was the issue woody. But This is a TEAM loss, so hopefully we will play better in game 4.

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Misery loves Company:

Thunder crush Lakers (#8 vs #1).
Bucks crush Hawks (#6 vs #3)

Shame on them Lakers! & they’re REIGNING – CHAMPS!

Puts things in perspective – a little.
Arguably The Best Player & The Best Coach & The Best Team?

Keep HOPE Alive! Yes we CAN!

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Scott Brooks COY!

Great Press Conference! Listen UP Hawks & FIND the motivation he is talking about!

Dark Horse- OKC?

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OKC actually has looked pretty impressive against LA. Considering they completely dominated LA in Game 4, who had just lost to them in Game 3 and should have made adjustments, and almost made LA look lost, I’m starting to think they may actually have a chance at winning that series. However, I don’t see them being good enough to actually take the West even if they did beat LA. There are just too many dominant teams in their way with much more experience and savvy, whose coaches (e.g. sloan and popovich) who would never allow a 20+ point loss.

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There are just too many dominant teams in their way with much more experience and savvy, whose coaches (e.g. sloan and popovich) who would never allow a 20+ point loss.

Not for nothing, but I’m just sayin’…

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Visiting ESPN.com, you can see the flip side of getting no respect when you win — you don’t get any attention when you get your azz kicked either, especially when a better team gets their azz kicked right after you.

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For those of you who bash the Hawks about inconsistencies on the road, listen to Kobe’s post-game interview for Game 4. That way you can hear what one of the best players to ever play the game has to say about that sort of thing.

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I’m sorry folks, but Smoove and Horford have to take FULL RESPONSIBILITY for this loss. Just like how JJ’s passive play in a few of those games vs Miami in last year’s playoffs was on him, our PF and C have to be blamed for this loss.

Horford grabbed 3 rebounds. Smoove had 9 OFFENSIVE BOARDS, but didn’t break double figures scoring.

That’s what is unacceptable.

And MC . . go back and see what Smoove and Horford shot in the 1st half. At one point in that game, JJ was 5 – 8 FG . . . the rest of the Hawks were 5 – 20 FG.

It was the bad closeouts, combined with the lack of offense from Smoove, Horford, and Marvin . . and Crawford in that 1st half, that put us in the decifit that we were in.

See, the REAL PROBLEM is that Smoove and Horford aren’t reliable ISO post players. And when they miss shots, the Hawks are pretty much one and done on the offensive end. They have to be set up so that they can be effective.

JJ pretty much did everything he could to keep us somewhat in that game in the 1st half. I think he even had 5 FT attempts in the 1st half . . lol . . which is almost unheard of for JJ.

Nah . . . the frontline must take FULL RESPONSIBILITY for that debacle last night.

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You WIN & LOSE – The WAY you PLAY!

A btt-whippin’ A real eye – opener. The Hawks are not good enuff to relax against anyone.
Kobe & Joe, both dissed their teammates!

Mr. Woodson, IF J-Quick brought you to the “Dancing with the STARS?
Then Dance with J-Cross! For pete’s sake, at least LOSE the way you WON! You – can’t go wrong that way & maybe even KEEP your JOB – in the process.

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Oklahoma City is a damn good team. Forget about them being a #8 seed vs Milwaukee’s #6. They are light years ahead of the Bucks. The West was so competitive that eighth seeded Thunder was only 7 games worse than the top seeded Lakers during the regular season.

OKC is the youngest team in the league and they already play with more composure and confidence than the Hawks do. Point is don’t draw a comparison between the Lakers and the Hawks because they both got blown out tonight. A good team would have still handled the Bucks. I don’t know if any team would have been able to beat the Thunder tonight.

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“Marvin’s 1 for 7 shooting line looked bad but he had eight rebounds and probably was the best guy on closeouts.”

Das sum old bullsyt. Did you see Kevin Durant Last night? Marvin=Worst #2 pick in history. Dude has no heart or will to be great. We should trade him Mo (overrated utility player, ugliest jumpshot in bench history), and Bibby (old, just wanated that last contract, but knew he couldn’t deliver on it) to Memphis for Hasheem Thabeet and Rudy if the Grizz are that dumb.

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Time for Sund to pull a Joe Dumars and trade in the 50 win coach (Carlisle) and his stupid switching for a real coach (hell bring on Avery he’s been to the finals before. Dirk is just soft and will never get there again. Just couldn’t take the heat).

Why in the hell is Bibby still in the NBA if he cant defend. Where was Jeff Teague? Why in the Hell were we doubling down in the post??? Kurt Thomas? Mbah a Moute? Just so they could do what they wanted to do this whole series!!! Jack uncontested jumpers!!!!!

I’m tired of it. You can say what you want, but this is the third postseason in a row where we’ve come out like this on the road and laid an egg. I’d say that’s a big enough sample space to make a definitive decision on the coaching staff/sum whack players who have no heart or will to be great (Marvin).

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There is no excuse for coming out like that for the THIRD YEAR IN A ROW. You would think they would have geotten tired of all the haters: Jon/Brent Barry and Charles Barkley and finally get thier stuff together.

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How do you get beat by Dan Gadzuric on the Boards???? He’s not even supposed to be in the NBA!!!!

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“the hawks are sending a message to the rest of the playoff teams “if you get them down they will give up”

Free ride to the ECF for the Magic.

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This is the main reason Woodson don’t have a contract, for some reason he just can’t motivate his players. Trust me when I say the Hawks have all the pieces in place, they just have major mental breakdowns. They’ll find a way to make this a 6 or 7 game series which it shouldn’t, considering the Bucks are without Michael Redd and Bogut. It’s so frustrating being an Hawks fan, come on Hawks!!!

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My new policy will be aimed at aiding the Atlanta Hawks, a team that simply cannot win road playoff games. Therefore, I will proide $700 Billion so that this struggling NBA franchise can buy a playoff road win. Yes we can

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i think we all know the talent has been what has carried this team, not the coaching … talent can only take you so far though and we might be seeing that this series … seriously, coach should have called a time-out when the Bucks got up by 5. the other teams did that in the playoff series b/c they expected to win the games. you don’t just let your guys play through it and see where it goes after the team gets up by 15 or so points

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We should beat the Bucks Sunday night. They played well last night, got the calls, and we never got it going. I expect us to take the next two, but we have to play all-out and stay focused. When one of our guys takes it to the rack, we have to crash the Offensive boards and get those second-chance points, utilize our size and athleticism inside. Also, Mike Bibby was Defended much better off the pick in this game. He needs to take his shots decisively next game

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Ayy man kin I shoo dat tree nah. Ih be in my range nah I promis

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I “persuaded” a few ladies once in Milwaukee. I thought there was plenty of stuff to do.

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The Bucks with Bogut & Redd would have swept the Hawks! What does that say for the “progress” this team has made? Crawford, whom I think is valuable, decides to dissappear in the playoffs? Where is the “great bench” (Jamal, Mo, ZaZa, etc.) we all thought we had? They were absent even in the two wins!

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A beautiful day in ATL – ready for a round of golf after major rain this past weekend.

Well a nightmare last night, but as one famous person said a few years back, “we was who we said we was”

That means we was the team with no toughness. Our so called center, was a no show. Forget the stat line, when is he going to show up as a big man? Hint? Never, he is not a center. He can not even dominate Thomas, who is 90 years old. I mean my fair wife is tougher than Al with clubs in her hand, ooops sorry getting away from the subject.

My friend Wooden has no center, and people are picking on him. Not to mention no point guard. This team lacks defensive intensity all year, and it has to do with lack of a true center and a fast enough point guard. And that monk Marvin, what a joke. MC were you watching the game with your eyes blind folded? How you givin the monk credit? Bibby falling on the floor was the funniest thing. He is soooo old. He was afraid to to take his shots. why?

Ahh well kiddies, at least i live in the south, and hate Sweden (sorry i mean north)…

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Bottom line….No offensive philosphy. No head coaching ability. I hate to say this but the season can’t end fast enough so Woody can go!!!!!

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Just a bump in the road to the destination that has been destined for this team since the beginning of training camp. 2nd round exit.

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Hawks played liked they didn’t feel good. I know what that is like. I might miss a few more games. I’ve got an ingrown toenail. Just like my buddy Mike Bibby

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think it was the typical 3rd game in the series that is happening all over the NBA. Home team makes their last stand but the best team wins the next two. Hopefully, the Hawks decide to show up and close out the Bucks the next 2.

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Who would be so stupid as to match Zaza against Bogut? Seriously you guys can border ignorance

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and dont give me the tired line on spoiled overpaid atheletes. you either perform, or i kick you off the team.

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This is the year that Woody prooves he has taken the Hawks as far as he can. I would like to thank Woody for doing all that he has done to get the team to the playoffs.

Now is the time for ownership to get a coach that can kick this group in the pants and go deep into the post-season.

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WHEN THE COACH IS GOTTA GO, FOR REAL THOUGH. THIS IS GETTING OLD, BRING IN CHARLES BARKELEY OR STEVE SMITH. SOMEONE THAT WILL THIS TEAM EXCITING TO WATCH AND UTILIZE ALL THE PLAYERS, NOT JUST WEAR OUT YOU STARTERS. WOODSON PLAYS THE STARTERS SO MUCH COME PLAYOFF TIME THEY LOOK SLUGGISH AND WORE DOWN. USE YOU BENCH IN CRUNCH TIME TOO SO THESE YOUNG TROOPS CAN FEEL A PART OF WHATS GOING ON, YOUR JOB IS TO BRINGTHE TEAM TOGETHER AND STAY TOGETHER. IF I WAS ON THE BENCH I WILL NOT WANNA PLAY FOR YOU EITHER MAN, YOU CAN SEE THE HATE ON THESE GUYS FACES, YOU ONLY USE THEM WHEN WE GET BLOWN OUT, THATS NOT GOOD.GIVE THE RESERVES MORE PLAYING TIME DURING THE SEASON AND WATCH HOW MUCH HAREDER THEY LOVE PLAYING FOR YOU AND BUST THEIR BEHINDS FOR YOU, YOU HAVE TOO MUCH ANIMOSITY TOWARDS ROOKIES LIKE YOU FEEL THEY SHOULDN’T BE THERE, WELL YOU SHOULDN’T EITHER MAN BECAUSE I SEEN YOU TOO MUCH. YOU DON’T EVEN GET EJECTED COACH, HOW YOU GONNA FIRE YOUR TROOPS AND YOU NEVER EVER GET EJECTED…OH I KNOW WHY, YOU DON’T WANT THE ASSISTANT COACH TO SHOW HE CAN DO A BETTER JOB WITHOUT YOU, MAYBE YOU CAN TRY THE BOBBY COX SYMPTOMS SOMETIMES AND GET THROWN OUT BECAUSE YOU ARE TOO BORING TO WATCH AND THEREFORE I KNOW YOU MUST BE A VERY BORING COACH, WE NEED YOU GONE THIS NEXT SERIES, NOT NEXT YEAR, NEXT SERIES, YOUR GONNA RUIN THE YOUNGER PLAYERS, LIKE PREVIOUS ONE, AND BY THE WAY TAKE MARVIN WILLY YAMS WITH YOU. HATER… GO TEAGUE, GO JOE SMITH, GO ALL RESERVES AND YOUR TIME WILL COME, MAYBE WHEN WOODY IS GONE BUT IT WILL COME…. GO HAWKS….

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guys quit posting long post and not saying anything

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At least Josh Smith knows what it’s like to play in front of a sellout crowd.

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I like what Tee said. We could do without the ‘all caps’ emphasis though. Woody got us to 50 wins, congrats, but man, when are we gonna lace up our boots and go to battle. For real. We can’t even play consistent enuff to sweep scrubs like the freakin Bucks!! We gotta take ‘em in 5 if we’re gonna be half way respected as a legit contender. Woody is a soft, rookie and bench hatin chump too. I’m still pissed we got rid of Solo. He’s gonna be a solid backup for someone who knows how to use bench players. He’s not the only one either. We just don’t have a championship caliber coach yall. Bottom line. Let’s just enjoy the regular season and settle for mediocrity. Go hawks, blah, blah, blah..

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“your biatch ass bucks were getting there asses beat”

10 points on the road is getting there asses beat?

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Ok fair weather Hawks fan let’s hear your comments about the great Lakers who are getting beat bad by the Thunder, and don’t forget the no one can touch the Cavs got beat also. And Jon Barry who calls the games as bad as he played, you can tell he is bitter about the Hawks for some reason. I wonder why? Did he get cut and can’t let it go, cry baby

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Adam: atleast be a man and come back here for entertainment when you are once again bitching about Bogut’s semi-bust ass being hurt and what you would have done after you lose Monday

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Fire Woody, ha…ain’t it the truth. It’s one thing to lose on the road…and the Hawks do plenty of that…but to get run out of the building should absolutely not happen with the talent the Hawks have.

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WOODY MIX IT UP ON DEF. PLAY SOME ZONE …..OUR GUARDS ARE NOT QUICK ENOUGH TO KEEP UP WITH THEM.. GOOD COACHES MAKE ADJUSTMENTS DURING THE PLAYOFFS, THE HAWKS KEEP PLAYING THE SAME EVERYTIME DOWN THE FLOOR.

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Same story every time.

The Hawks can’t win on the road. They will go back to ATL down 3-2 and be lucky to eke out a series win at home. If they lose or split at home against whoever their next opponent is, they’re through.

An absolutely pathetic excuse for a professional sports team.

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I might be in the minority when I type that the coach is not the problem to the point that you guys make him out to be. I get the point that we had no business losing like this anywhere in the world to the Bucks but we will bounce back. On the other hand, we dont have the personnel to beat Orlando or Cleveland and that is on the front office not Mike Woodson as you guys will claim. Just look at the Cavs and Magic from 1-12 then look at us and its no contest.

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I am starting to lean towards Joe leaving unfortunately also because he is human and I would, Al will be a restricted FA next summer and he should leave to, leave Josh to shoot bricks and cry to the refs

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Don’t forget Sheldeon “shellhead” Williams

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I wish I could say this was unbelievable…but after watching Hawks playoff basketball the past two years with Coach Woody at the helm, this it is VERY much believable. I just wonder how much longer Hawks fans will have to suffer through this Jekyll and Hyde style of playoff basketball? When you consider how well the Hawks “CAN” and “HAVE” played in the past three regular seasons, there is absolutely NO REASON as to why they continue to suffer blow outs on the road in the playoffs…except there is a disconnect between the coach and players. Nothing personal against Woody, I imagine he is perhaps a very likable guy with certain basic coaching skills. However, this team’s performance in the playoffs the past two years, combined with the current tournament is a flat out indictment that Woody does not have what it takes to guide this team to play basketball at a championship level.Consider the numbers:

1 – Number of road playoff wins the past three seasons (includes this one)

10 – Number of road playoff games played the past three seasons (includes this one)

24 – Average margin of defeat in road playoff game losses past two seasons (not including this one)

If there was any doubt about the players tuning out Coach Woodson, it was crystal clear during one of the time outs in this game where Woody was “wired” and he was attempting to tell the guys to play harder, but they were walking and/or looking in the opposite direction! It was obvious they had tuned him out.
The good news is that old habits are hard to break and this team’s failure to play consistently at a level their talent suggests will no doubt continue. This will likely result in the Magic sending the Hawks home after a four game sweep in round 2. WHEN this happens, it would be HARD for Rick Sund to justify giving Woody a contract extension. He is out of excuses. No more being able to blame “youth” or “injuries” for his inability to deliver in the playoffs. His nine lives should be up before the end of next month. Although…you can never be quite sure what the Atlanta Spirit Group will do, just look at Don Waddell.

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Adam- I always found it humbling when my team beats another team and that other teams fans are freaking out.

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This team played without pride. The coach is horrible. Once he saw lack of effort, sit those guys!!! I would rather lose with Teague, West, Randolph etc!!!! Their effort was HORRIBLE! Make them sit and watch!!! Okay, the Lakers are getting blown outt, but OKC is a really good team that won 50 games. Milwaukee is the WORST of all the playoff teams!

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April 25th, 2010
7:03 am

Attention Hawks Fans:
I have just instituted a policy aimed at “bailing out” top-tier NBA playoff teams that are “too big to fail. If the Hawks were to lose this series, the economy would collapse; therefore, my policy will provide $700 Billion so that the Atlanta Hawks can buy a road win in the playoffs.

ps: Of course it won’t work but I have to pay back all my Repub supporters at Goldman. Besides, most of you idiot voters will have forgotten who gave the bailout by the time it is implemented. Peace-out fools…got some $$$$ to count.

Thank you and goodnight.

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Jerome:

And that’s why Atlanta fans are considered fair weather in pro sports.

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The Hawks were not only outplayed but outcoached in the 3 rd game. The coach does not play but Woodson should have recognized what game plan the Bucks were successfully deploying and should have devised a strategy to stop their run sooner. Obviously, the Bucks had several days to plan to play to their strengths-their guards obviously have more speed and can shoot high percentage three’s against the taller Hawk players. Shooting from the perimeter worked this time, now the question is what does Woodson have planned to stop their guards?

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That comment was meant for Mark Bradley’s blog but didn’t show up so I posted it here.

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“The Hawks got their butts kicked. The details of the beatdown seem almost inconsequential in light of the aggregate effect of this blistering in the Bradley Center. The Bucks never got it handed to them like this at Philips Arena, where at least they fought back when the Hawks blitzed them.”

MC, this is what pisses me off. When you see other teams show more fight/heart than the Hawks. The Hawks say they are playing for something. Well honestly right now, it looks like their just playing in front of the home crowd. Not that I don’t appreciate defending home court. But it’s time to get this thang going on the road. Forget what the Lakers, Cavs, do. Show what the Hawks can do. Know what I’m saying?

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No one is jumping ship, I think the main thing is that changes need to be made. From coaches to players to playing style. Three years in a row now…..the writing is on the wall.

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two days ago you all were talking sweep, now we are the worse team in the play off. prozac anyonr? wait and see how this thing turns out, maybe then there will no reason to complain. patience my friends, patience!!

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Interesting how Josh Smith seems to think Milwaukee is “Nowheresville” despite the fact that Milwaukee proper has a larger population than Atlanta proper. Last I checked he doesn’t work for the Travel channel, so maybe he should just stick to basketball…but it seems as though he and his teammates can’t even do that.

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Punk

THey, correction needed; the Lakers were down by 30 points in the 4th & ended up losing by 21 points
(I Think?). The Lakers were blown-out there.

But, we can seek no solace in the Lakers losing. We are NOT the Lakers. But, thiese losses
All over these playoffs do affirm that any team can be defeated on any given night.

These are the BEST players I’m the World! But, we are all humans. This loss was boderline
ABUSIVE to watch. I should have gone out on a blind date last night (at least I would have had a decent meal)or something.

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Sometimes this team plays like they don’t have much respect for the sport.

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agreed, get this loss out of the way and move on … Lakers got their butts kicked worse than the Hawks did last night and we are also still up by a game, so really can’t be too angry.

adam, your bucks won a game … whoop-ti-do … that was to be expected but i’ll bet you the hawks take the next two games to finish up the series. if bogut and redd had both been healthy, i can almost bet you the games would have been closer but this loss last night would not have been this badly. they would have had a different game plan in place to deal with those two. looks as if the coach didn’t even have the team ready after the first two beatings.

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TigerWoods:

Maybe your guy Wdsn needs to use some of that tough love on our Bigs
since they are so inept. Maybe he should have, oh never mind, it’s
Marvin’s, Al’s, & Josh’s fault. Wdsn had ‘em ready, they just are not
up to the task of mastering his transcendentally sophisticated concepts or holding up to the rigors of his verbose, imperious, concussive
form of inspiration.

* Or *

Maybe his bluster has worn thin and they have tuned him out.
So, now they’re just hangin’ in the wind.

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umm after reading these posts i see any and everything has been said, my opnion is that woody better find some way for the team to be more competivie in every game in these playoffs starting now or he’ll be fired JOSH<MARVIN<HORFOED<and BIBBY MAN UP!!!make shaots,rotate on D,and show some heart and energy enough said from the young hawks fan!

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I love Horford, but he was nowhere to be found yesterday.

That said, i’m not sure Woody even called a time out in the second half.

FIRE WOODY

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^ retarded

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But an opinion is an opinion, I guess.

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Josh smith must have had 2 much old milwaukee beer last night because he look like sh!t next time shut your chopps unless your going 2 back it up.
GO HAWKS!!!!!!!!

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Dude, TS, are you kidding me?

Did you watch the game?

If you wanna whine about anything defensive, whine about the poor rotations. There’s no winning with you bro. On some nights, you whine about one guy’s inability to block the paint, but then when the Bucks SHOOT LIGHTS OUT, it’s still Horford to blame.

How many times did I see Delfino open in the corner for 3? Poor rotation.

Jennings killed us a couple times from beyond the arc.

Salmons went off, and Woody had no idea how he should play him.

How Horford is the one and only guy you choose to point out after a total team loss last night just leaves me…..

baffled.

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Marvin william sucks as usual, AND HE IS HURTING THE HAWKS IN THE WORST WAY AT THE 3 POSITION.
GO HAWKS!!!!!!!

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Truth-Serum

April 25th, 2010
10:44 am
J. Smith F 35:46 2-12 0-0 3-6 9 3 12 1 2 0 3 1

12 rbs 9 offensive an assist and a blk.

Wabe (horford nut hugger extraordinaire) I agree:

April 25th, 2010
10:27 am

A. Horford C 30:50 5-9 0-0 0-0 -19 2 1 3 0 1 3 0 1 0 10

Read what you posted. How does J.Smith grabbing 9 OFFENSIVE BOARDS prove he played defense?

Read, kid.

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TS, no, you’re talking about defense.

Don’t start hugging J.Smith’s nu+s now because you’re baseless argument fell flat. How do you go from talking about Al Horford’s defense, and use J.Smith’s outstanding night on the offensive boards to justify your argument?

Common now, kid.

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MC, I sit through the entire game…it was miserable and disappointing to watch…However I never expected the Hawks to sweep the bucks…I think I stated as much when we started talking about Orlando.

Basically, the Bucks did to the Hawks…what the Hawks did to Buck…they attacked us at our weakness. They attacked Bibby and Crawford on defense…that was smart…plus they took away Josh…Because they knew, they had a better match-up with Al against Thomas. It amazing how these wagon riders comes out in droves when the team has a bad game. Kurt Thomas is a savvy vets with years of experience guarding the elite Bigs of the league…he made a living frustrating young Bigs like Al. Al finally figured it out and started going to his jump shot…but by then the flood gates was open.

The biggest disappointment besides the continued struggles of Crawford had to be Josh. I mean you run your mouth ABOUT the opponent’s hometown…then you become listless when the team come out and punch you in the mouth first. I watch numerous plays where Josh was disengaged, didn’t hustle for the loose ball, didn’t hustle back on defense, and just stood around. Okay, the whole team was struggling, BUT, don’t run mouth and come out with an effort like that.

However, Hawks fans its not the end of the world…GET OVER IT…AND STOP YOUR WHINING. They will bounce back. I expected the Hawks to win one of those two home games…and I still do. I expect the Hawks to come out with a much better effort Monday, and go up 3-1 in the series.

Woody, has to make some adjustment at the guard position…Josh will be fine…its a learning experience. What ever momentum we had come out of game two was lost with a four day layoff. If Teague had butterflies the size of golf balls…THEN CRAWFORD GOT BUTTERFLIES SIZES OF BASEBALLS…he needs to shake off the butterflies and STEP THE F UP…we need him. Woody its time to give MO and Teague some PT…Skiles will keep attacking that line-up until we make a change.

I’M CALLING A WIN ON MONDAY….GO HAWKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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How many times was Marvin on the ground last night?

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No, the fans in Milwaukee > the fans in Atlanta. They don’t have as much to do and you can actually get to the arenas without spending hours in traffic. It made me wonder if the fact that their fans were blatantly louder than ours had anything to do with the Hawks fragile mentality. That said, I can’t respect a coach who makes no adjustments. We were within 9 twice and did nothing. Bibby is the root of all evil on defense. When Marvin isn’t aggressive our offense doesn’t go. Move Bibby out of the lineup. Put in Jamal at PG. Johnson to SF and Evans at SG. Have Zaza back up Horford or Smoov but don’t take both of them out at the same time.

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And, that’s a wrap.

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Good job, Smoove. All you had to do was keep your mouth shut and let us steal these 2 games. Now we are bound to lose every game in Milwaukee because of your idiot mouth. It’d be one thing if the Bucks were talking trash about our team or city, but they weren’t.

And I think MC owes us an apology: the guy came out with numerous articles/blogs about how severely overmatched the Bucks were, and now we lose. So where’s your explanation for that one?

This team last night looked like the Hawks I usually can expect — horrendous defense, 3 on 5 the whole game with Bibby and Marvin doing nothing. Seriously: can Marvin convert a fast-break layup? Why the hell is this guy always on the ground? WTF did Bibby do last night? Marvin does nothing all game, hoping to hide behind the other superior starters – then he picks up garbage points in the 4th.

FIRE WOODY

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^ Keep switching up my words to prove YOUR POINTS.

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Switch up your name, switch up my words, still a TS thought.

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We are fans right? We have been watching this team right? Why is it a surprise and panic that we lost game three like this? So what… They won one game. The real test is for Woodson to make adjustments for the next game. He will, we are mad, so I expect a win Monday. I would have love a sweep, but that is hard for any team to do. We will win in 5. I would love JC to step up though… He is playing horrible. Things will be fine. Stop being over dramatic.

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When did Bogut become unguardable? He’s good, but seriously do he has handles like a point. Marvin sucks, go to the basket with the intent on making a shot rather than hoping someone touch u so u can fall. Pathetic

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Yall can protect Horford all yall want but there were too many times someone drove the lane and Horford just stood there watching.

FIRE WOODY

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If we can’t protect the paint against the Bucks without their star center how in the world do yall expect The Hawks to do it against the Cavs or the Magic?

FIRE WOODY

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WE CAN’T BEAT A BUCKS TEAM WITHOUT MICHAEL REDD AND BOGUT (HAWKS ARE AT FULL HEALTH)

FIRE WOODY

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I’ve never been this disgusted with the Hawks. Playing hard should never be a problem, but it is with this group, over and over again. I have never seen a bigger collection of head cases in all my life.

Really, the team should just shut up. I mean, don’t say anything. Al talked about how they would be “playing for our lifes” when they went to Milwaukee. Then they just don’t even bother to try. Josh starts ripping the city, then is a complete nonfactor.

F these guys. Seriously, F them. If they don’t care, why should we? I hope there is nothing but empty seats in Philips on Wednesday. This team does not deserve an ounce of support.

And, I really don’t care what they do on Monday. Saturday told me all I need to know. Those people who always mock this team and say they are a joke. Well, it turns out they were right.

Just a complete joke of a team showing their true colors.

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Wow, I must say I agree with everything Section 303 wrote.

WHY DOES MARVIN WILLIAMS START? HE DOES NOTHING FOR THIS TEAM. WHY IS JAMAL BEING PHASED OUT?

LOL @ people who thought we should sweep MIL because ORL was gonna go to 6 or 7 vs. Charlotte. Looks like we are going to 7 unless we win tomorrow and ORL is going to sweep.

NICE

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JeJe , man you are a funny guy. FIRST IT WAS JJ WILL CHOKE ON THE ROAD…man you are all over the place…but the tone remains the same….just admit you are a troll from another team’s blog bro.

Section 303, keep the faith brooooooooooooooo…MAY THE FORCE BE WITH YOU…don’t forget…aside from all hype…the team as whole is limited in terms of playoff experience…Skiles made an adjustment…now its Woody’s turn.

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

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We gave Bibby a new contract for letting opposing point guards run circles around him. That’s just like drafting Witherspoon instead of drafting Dez Bryant. SMH. Only in Atlanta.

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“Great job by the Bucks. You’ve got to hand it to Scott Skiles and his staff. It appears that the extra time in between games allowed them to make the necessary adjustments to be competitive. That is what good coaches do.
First, they adjusted by putting mbah ah moute on Smoove instead of delfino. Their logic was probably that they would let Joe get his numbers and try to contain everybody else.”

Good points. So what adjustments willWoody make? NONE.

FIRE WOODY

I swear, hearing commentators say how we go away from doing things that help us win has to be the most embarrassing thing about watching these games. This team is garbage

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Adjustment isn’t in Woody’s vocabulary.

FIRE WOODY

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YOU KNOW THAT YOUR COACH IS NO GOOD WHEN YOU HAVE MIKE TIRICO(OR HOWEVER YOU SPELL HIS NAME)SAYING THAT IF HE HAD A TEAM RIGHT NOW,HE’D WANT SCOTT SKILES AS HIS HEAD COACH..AND NEVER SAYING ANYTHING ABOUT A COACH WHOSE TEAM MADE SIGNIFICANT STRIDES IN WINS PER SEASON BUT,ARE STILL INCONSISTENT,STILL LOSING IN DOUBLE DIGITS ON THE ROAD,STILL DO NOT PLAY TO THEIR STRENGTHS,AND STILL,STILL,STILL GETS OUTCOACHED!!!!!

LETS STOP MAKING UP EXCUSES FOR THIS TEAM..I LOVE THE HAWKS,BUT THE DIRECTION THEY ARE GOING IS AS FAR AS THEY MAY GO..WE HAVE TO MAKE A COACHING CHANGE NOW,LETS NOT EVEN WAIT TILL THE END OF THE PLAYOFFS,THEY ARE NOT GOING ANYWHERE PAST THE 2ND ROUND,IF THEY GET THERE…

AND DON’T TALK ABOUT THE WAY THE LAKERS GOT BLOWS OUT LAST NITE AND COMPARE IT TO THE HAWKS..THE LAKERS HAVE A RING..THEY GOT IT LAST YEAR..AND THE LAKERS DON’T AVERAGE 20+ POINTS ON ROAD LOSES THE PAST 3 YEARS!!

EVEN IF WE WIN ON MONDAY,(AND I DOUBT IT) THERE IS NO WAY WOODY IS COMING BACK..NO WAY IN HECK WILL SUND ALLOW HIM BACK TO COACH THIS TEAM NEXT YEAR UNLESS WE WIN OR LOSE IN THE FINALS…AND THE WAY HE COACHES,SUND MAY EVEN REPLACE HIM ANYWAY AND THANK WOODY FOR GETTING THIS TEAM TO WHERE WE ARE NOW AND BRING IN SOMEONE TO GET THEM OVER THE HUMP..AND TO PLAY MORE CONSISTENT AND BE BETTER COACHED…

FIRE WOODY NOW!!!!!!!!

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CORRECTION:
I MEANT BLOWN OUT,NOT BLOWS OUT IN PARAGRAPH 3..

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Mark Bradley has a new piece up. You should check it out. I agree with everything he says. This is a player problem. That’s what it is. Point your finger at Woodson all you want, but you could bring any coach in here and still have the same problems.

We have the biggest collection of headcases in the entire baskeball world.

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Why would Ryan not get better?

And you didn’t like the Curtis Lofton pick?
Grimes got 6 picks last year, TD signed him as an undrafted FA.
DeCoud in the 3rd round had himself a good season last season.
Chris Owens played well last year as well, he was snagged in the 3rd by TD.

Don’t know why we’re talking about the Falcons, but I don’t know why you’re attacking TD on Hawks blog. TD’s turned that organization down, and he’s got a core group on both sides of the ball that he’s building around. You can add Weatherspoon to that group, a vocal LB that could potentially be the face of this defense in the coming years.

But, we can take this to the Falcons blog.

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Miami arena is EMPTY right now. I expect the same at Philips when we return home.

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Damn

Score is 9 – 5 Bucks.

Smoove tries to force the issue by taking Moute off the dribble, but ends up running into a double team and loses the ball. Bucks race the other way in transition with Jennings having the ball. JJ gets back in time to pick up Jennings.

But guess what? Here comes Kurt Thomas AGAIN .. . this time trailing the play, and sets ANOTHER light screen on JJ. Jennings sees that, and pulls up for another 3 and drains it.

Score is now 12 – 5 bucks

And to Jon Barry’s credit, he correctly identifies that as a “transition pick and roll”, citing that there was no one to switch off to Jennings. And he’s right. He mentioned on the first 3 point make, that Milwaukee doesn’t necessarily want to play against the set Hawks halfcourt defense, because we may not know who to pick up.

The only possible player in the area when Jennings took that 2nd three . . was Smoove. But he had his back to Jennings, trying to pick up where his own man was. Horford was all the way down on the low block, expecting Thomas to eventually come down there.

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Very next possession.

Hawks set up in their halfcourt offense, but it eventually ends up in an ISO situation for JJ. He misses a 17 foot jumper, and the Bucks go the other way. And I be damn if they didn’t try to do the SAME THING AGAIN !!

The difference, is that instead of Horford running all the way down on the block, he’s running with Thomas, enabling him to at least be in position to guard Jennings at the top of the key. So when screen on Smoove ( who had initially picked up Jennings in transition ) happened, Horford is there to pick up Jennings off the switch.

Horford plays good defense on Jennings, who is reluctant to take a jumper over Horford, and can’t get by him to get into the lane. The ball eventually ends up in Salmons hands. Thomas comes over to screen JJ, but Smoove picks up Salmons off the screen. As Salmons drives baseline, JJ cheats down to help double Salmons, who passes out to Thomas for a wide open 18 footer.

Smoove gestures to JJ as if to say . . why did you do that?

Score: 14 – 5 Bucks

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Mad Hatter: [TRUTH SERUM]
Please do not be offended with your new soriquet.
It carries much wgt. as well as your true moniker.

If Wdsn [your guy] moved Al to the [4] & Josh to the the [3] and then
called Marv the *[5] a *center, would you then be happy with Al & mad @ Marv for lack of blocked shots.
[My hypothetical, so don't say Josh is a better [4] than Al]
That is not the question?

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JJ is a culprit in all of this too. There is no reason for him to try to help double everybody, leaving shooters open out on the perimeter.

Stackhouse has Crawford posted up on the baseline. Big time advantage for Stack. But JJ casually goes toward Stackhouse, trying to play in between Stack and Jennings, who is out at the top of the 3 point arc. Once JJ shades more toward Stack, Jerry simply passes the ball out to Jennings, who knocks down another 3.

24 – 11 Bucks . . . and Milwaukee has made 9 out of their first 11 shots.

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Alll about defense folks. I wonder how much talking this team does out on the court?

And the Bucks purposely tried to play fast once we missed shots, taking the first available open shot.

Milwaukee made a ton of shots in that 1st quarter though. Shot 68%

Wow @ Josh Smith’s awareness on defense in that 1st quarter. And JJ was only slightly better. Both have to do a better job at knowing who you are leaving open on the perimeter.

Toward the end of the quarter, there was a play in which Ilyasova starts out down on the block, but drifts out toward the 3 point line. As Salmons was driving down the left side ( with Horford on him ), Smoove stays down on the block to help double Salmons. So Salmons just casually tosses the ball out to a wide open Ilyasova who knocks down a 3 ( with Smoove jogging out toward him as he shot the ball ).

Gotta do better Josh. Know who you are guarding. Stay with your man, unless you’re being screened off of him.

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If this team is going to double team . . DO IT AGGRESSIVELY. Stop the passive double teams.

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GET WADE THIS OFF SEASON!!!!!!

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@Just Saying…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=44ksjkEMABs

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Unfortunately, they may tire themselves with this team, and be swept by The Magic..

Big changes afterwards..

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“You should know by now not to argue with TS. where was He when horford had 20, 10 and 3 blocks in game 2?”

The point is we won the game and when he put up 3 rebounds in 31 minutes we lost. So we will have to have a strong showing in the middle to win games in the latter rounds, which is T.S.’s point!

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northcyde,

Bibby and Crawford are horrible defenders, so I can see what you’re saying about them playing man to man. But even if their guy goes off, so be it.

I think it would be worth giving it a try when the players are slacking on the switching, because even if Jennings gets 50, they would still have chance to slow down everybody else.

TS,

I agree that it would be nice to have a prototypical center, but until Rick Sund figures out a way to get us one, Horford is all we have.

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Food for thought.
[I left that out]

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Mike is Back:

*I look forward to Wdsn being with his 3rd team.*

See, I wish him well! [continued employment]

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@Mike Is Back I agree! People act like just because we lost one game, the series is over and we’re down. Good thing for home court advantage because if we did NOT have it, I don’t know what the Hawks will do. Notice how the Hawks play well against better opponents than weaker ones. I believe the break kind of threw ATL off a little.

I know you can not make excuses esp. for a 3rd seed team, but it’s the NBA playoffs. A team is going to at least try to win. No team is going to just let you sweep them unless you just say there’s no hope. HELLO: Did anyone see the Heat/Celtics game 4 earlier. The Heat did not give up. The Bucks did the same.

Only thing that is difference in the Hawks loss last night is that we didn’t fight back cause once we got the lead down to 9 we did not hold onto it like the Bucks did. When the Hawks are down, they need to continue to play. If they get down like this again by 20+ points, I seriously think they need to just call timeout & just continue to play HARD, DETERMINED, FOCUSED, COMMITTED & FOCUSED!! They need to play like there is no tomorrow because if they don’t, then Orlando nor the league or commentators will take them seriously.

We need to take game 4, so we can go home to Philips and take game 5 & let it be instead of taking it to 6 games because we need all the rest we can get it. Besides we need to get 5 games cause Magic just may sweep the Bobcats if not, they will take game 5.

We are a veteran playoff team, the loss was unacceptable, passed embarrassing. We need to play like we did in game 1 & 2. Get back to that cause thats what got us our two wins. If we play like we do at home, then we will be 3-1. See how the Cavaliers bounced back from their game 3 loss to the Bulls. We need to do that.

I still believe in the Hawks, BUT does anyone else? Make people who don’t believe in you do! We need this game tomorrow & give us hope. And no one needs to stay focused on this loss esp. Hawks, they need to think about and be ready and just stay calm for tomorrow’s game. And don’t think about Game 5. The Hawks need to think about game 4 ONLY!!!!!!!!

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Grandad, be careful what to wish for…the grass is not always greener on the other side. I eat crow on this blog all the time…BE CAUSE I BELIEVE IN THIS COACHING STAFF…AND I BELIEVE IN THIS TEAM…and that ain’t gone make you popular…they had some bad games…but they always come back and redeem…thats whatzup!!!!

The Hawks gotta go through the fire like every body else.

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looks like a preparation issue to me.. and if thats the case we’re usually doomed given our sub par adjustment abilities…

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Truth-serum,

Yes, Al had an atrocious game that cannot be defended in my mind. An absolutely awful game. Maybe his worst all year.

But in three games he has NINE blocked shots. Your BIGGEST gripe about him has historically been “He ranks 25th in blocked shots” (even when he ranks 17th).

Horford is currently tied for second (with LeBron) in blocks for the playoffs.

That’s among ALL players.

And you can’t even acknowledge it.

Pitiful.

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Here’s some Horford reality:

Playoff rankings for centers:

Scoring: Tied for 1st (with Nene and Noah)

Rebounds: 7th (despite a 3 rebound game) Note: There are 16 starting centers in the playoffs.

Blocks: 2nd

Steals: Tied for 1st (with Noah)

FG %: 2nd

FT %: 3rd

Those are some pretty impressive rankings. All found at http://www.nba.com/statistics/player/

In fairness, Horford IS playing against their second-string center. So he SHOULD have good numbers (and he SHOULD have had MANY more than 3 rebounds).

But it should be acknowledged that he is, other than last night, having a good series. And that he was a large part of our two wins.

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Sautee

Thanks for the research. Very interesting to know the FACTS! Out of 16 centers – that is very impressive.
Hey, Al just had an off night. It happens to the best of them.

What happened to Dwight fouling out of two straight games & throwing elbows everywhere like KG? If not for
His teammates & deep bench, those would have been losses. What did he score? Like 5 points in one game this week?

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I’m posting this on all 4 major AJC blogs, just so everybody will see this.

LOL . . . yeah . . . I knew this was the case. But I wanted concrete evidence, instead of just saying it. Cause I know people doubt opinions sometimes without facts. So I’ll just post the facts.

JOSH SMITH’S production in the 9 playoff road losses:

— 2008 —

vs Boston:

( Game 1 ) . . 3 – 10 FG . . 0 – 0 FT . . 6 pts . . 7 rebs . . 2 asst . . 3 blks . . 1 stl
( Game 2 ) . . 3 – 13 FG . . 7 – 10 FT . . 13 pts . . 8 rebs . . 3 asst . . 4 blks . . 2 stls
( Game 5 ) . . 4 – 13 FG . .10 – 10 FT . . 18 pts . . 5 rebs . . 3 asst . . 1 blk . . 3 stls
( Game 7 ) . . 3 – 11 FG . . 1 – 2 FT . . 7 pts . . 4 rebs . . 2 asst . . 1 blk . . 2 stls

— 2009 —

vs Miami:

( Game 3 ) . . 4 – 14 FG . . 4 – 5 FT . . 13 pts . . 8 rebs . . 0 asst . . 1 blk . . 0 stls
( Game 6 ) . . 3 – 13 FG . . 1 – 3 FT . . 7 pts . . 10 rebs. . 0 asst . . 3 blks . . 1 stl

vs Cleveland:

( Game 1 ) . . 8 – 15 FG . . 6 – 10 FT . . 22 pts . . 6 rebs . . 2 asst . . 1 blk . . 0 stls
( Game 2 ) . . 2 – 13 FG . . 4 – 4 FT . . 8 pts . . 1 reb . . 3 asst . . 1 blk . . 1 stl

2010 —- vs Milwaukee:

( Game 3 ) . . 2 – 12 FG . . 3 – 6 FT . . 7 pts . . 12 rebs . . 1 asst . . 1 blk . . 0 stls

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

JOSH SMITH’S production in the 8 playoff home wins:

— 2008 —

vs Boston:

( Game 3 ) . . 11 – 17 FG . . 2 – 3 FT . . 27 pts . . 9 rebs . . 6 asst . . 1 blk . . 2 stls
( Game 4 ) . . 8 – 16 FG . . 12 – 13 FT . . 28 pts . . 6 rebs . . 2 asst . . 7 blks . . 2 stls
( Game 6 ) . . 3 – 8 FG . . 5 – 6 FT . . 11 pts . . 6 rebs . . 2 asst . . 3 blks . . 0 stls

— 2009 —

vs Miami:

( Game 1 ) . . 9 – 14 FG . . 5 – 6 FT . . 23 pts . . 10 rebs . . 2 asst . . 0 blks . . 3 stls
( Game 5 ) . . 6 – 16 FG . . 7 – 9 FT . . 20pts . . 8 rebs . . 4 asst . . 2 blks . . 2 stls
( Game 7 ) . . 7 – 12 FG . . 7 – 8 FT . . 21pts . . 9 rebs . . 3 asst . . 1 blk . . 2 stls

— 2010 —

vs Milwaukee:

( Game 1 ) . . 6 – 10 FG . . 0 – 2 FT . . 12 pts . . 10 rebs . . 4 asst . . 4 blks . . 0 stls
( Game 2 ) . . 9 – 11 FG . . 3 – 3 FT . . 21 pts . . 14 rebs . . 9 asst . . 2 blks . . 2 stls

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

Just for a summary:

In 9 playoff road losses, these are his numbers:

11.2 ppg . . ( 32 – 114 ) 28% FG . . ( 36 – 50 ) 72% FT
6.8 rebs
1.8 asst
1.8 blks
1.1 stls

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

His numbers in 8 playoff home wins:

20.4 ppg . . ( 59 – 104 ) 56.7% FG . . ( 41 – 50 ) 82% FT
9.0 rebs
4.0 asst
2.5 blks
1.6 stls

This is incredible actually. I know players tend to play better at home . . but damn. You might see this kind of disparity in a role player, but not usually for a starter. The difference in shooting percentage is mind boggling.

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northcyde,

Looking at those stats would imply that as Josh goes, so goes the team.

Sautee,

I will ask you the same thing I asked Wabe. Why do you try to have a debate with TS? There is nothing you can say or do that will change his mind.

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Truth-Serum, thanks for the Ditto bro…I don’t know much…but anybody that think Al is suppose to dominate Kurt Thomas because he plays on the second unit for the Bucks…has very little knowledge of Thomas career. Al has the toughest math-up of anyone on the team…save for who ever Bibby and Crawford are guarding. lol

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Truth-serum,

First, thanks for at least acknowledging that you want him to succeed. Most times it doesn’t seem so, from your language about him. I don’t understand wanting someone to succeed but mocking their name, but hey, to each his own.

You said this: “You have to deny the interior basket ,alter shots and force the opposition to become a jump shooting team if you are going to compete for a championship. Period.”

I DO think that is important. However, it’s NOT everything. Let’s look at the last two Champs, and their Finals stats, and here’s what you get:

2008: Boston over LA in 6 games. Kendrick Perkins averaged 0.83 blocks per game while KG averaged 1.0. Both less than Al’s season average this year (1.11 / gm). Yet they beat the Lakers in six.

2009: LA over Orlando in 5 games. Pau Gasol averaged a pretty good 1.8 blocks per game while Andrew Bynum averaged 0.6

So don’t put TOO much onto blocking shots and protecting the paint. Did it help the Magic to have the best shot blocker in the league last year? No, they lost in 5 games. Despite Howard’s 5 blocks / game average.

LOL, they even lost game 4 when he blocked NINE shots. So, while blocked shots are important for the message they send, it’s NOT the most important defensive stat, IMHO.

And did you see the link that Najeh posted to the Raptors site? Here’s the link if you want to see it: http://www.raptorblog.com/100422b.php

It shows Horford as the best post defender in the league against his man in the post. Same as northcyde’s earlier stats showed. You can try to refute it all you want. That toothpaste is out of the tube.

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Spurs -vs- Mavericks. 3-1.

Yeah, I don’t like Dallas & Jet Terry was disrespectful when they beat the Hawks in Dallas.
But we got ‘em @ phillips arena. I just don’t like Mark Cuban being so vocal &visible. He interjects himself into the games. I see MJ doing that too – its not a good look!

Arthur Blank does it too, but he’s not over board with it!

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I think Truth wants Horford to be a Josh Smith like weak side defender, as well as a solid post player. Well . . . maybe he can’t cover the paint and the weak side like Smoove can. That’s still not an indictment on Horford, and the job he does do when guarding his own man on the defensive end.

To me, it’s more important for Horford to try to dominate on the boards on a nightly basis, than to be some shot blocking deterrent at the rim or a great weak side help defender.

The 3 rebounds is inexcusable though. I want to see Horford try to go out and get 23 rebounds next game. Or at least split the difference, and get 13.

When JJ and Marvin leads us in defensive rebounding ( 5 ) in a game . . and Horford and Smoove grabs 4 total defensive rebounds between them . . . that’s a problem. No way we’re winning a game when that happens.

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I hope the Hawks are watching Denver right now, instead of out at The Velvet Room tonight. After getting blown out in Game 3, they’ve come out with a vengence vs Utah. Their energy level is through the roof right now to start the game.

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O’Brien,

On the other hand………

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NORTHCYDE CLAIMS HE HAS A JOB AND POSTS HALF THE TIME FROM THERE.

U DO THE MATH, AJC PEEPS

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IT’S NOT WOODY’S FAULT! IT’S THE PLAYERS’ FAULT! JOE IS A SUPERSTAR! WOODY SHOULD HAVE BEEN COACH OF THE YEAR
IT’S NOT WOODY’S FAULT! IT’S THE PLAYERS’ FAULT! JOE IS A SUPERSTAR! WOODY SHOULD HAVE BEEN COACH OF THE YEAR
IT’S NOT WOODY’S FAULT! IT’S THE PLAYERS’ FAULT! JOE IS A SUPERSTAR! WOODY SHOULD HAVE BEEN COACH OF THE YEAR

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drmaryb since you can tell the future what’s the numbers for the Fantasy 5 tomorrow.

FIRE WOODY

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CLYDE

5 – 11 – 13 – 24 – 32

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NorthCyde

Bump – That Fool! (Woe I went back to the ’70’s for that one). LOL!
That guy simply trolls the internet looking for NorthCyde – so, he can get at you.
He needs your attention for some reason. Heck, he might be a punk!

But, don’t worry NCyde, I got your back like a “Bobby – Knight” Tight Red Sweater.

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West. Coast teams are getting butt – whippins out there. Not even competing with all the 50 wins teams – I didn’t expect to see so many 3-1 series. Go – Figure! Dallas & Denver laying down!

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TigerWoods:

my point was not to bash Wdsn on that occasion this AM, although taking opportunities @ cheap humor never dissuades me from expedience.
if I made it seem as if “our” last game was his [Wdsn's] blame,
then I willingly correct myself.
I do think Bibby got off easy from “our” fans & the Josh/Al tandem
took an unwarranted amount of abuse, given their consistenly strong effort all season.
TW – I hope all is well.

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1-9 on the road in the playoffs

FIRE WOODY

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‘Hatter’ [TS]

Try & think of Josh, Al, Joe & Jamal + one as five athletes functioning as a single *organism. [or unit] (use any *metaphor you please)
Don’t put a # on them – now just let them play basketball.
[even Marv] (or a Big)
They will learn to space themselves, they really already know. They have been learning ea. other for 3, 4, 5 yrs. now.
Chemistry has been developed and that is why I don’t think Joe will
‘not’ leave. [provided ASG gives him a fair [market value] contract.
This is why we should be relunctant to trade Bibby, Marv or Zaza.
**Childress left and we should probably trade his rights if given the chance. Because he left – on his own.
TS – try and realize that Josh and Al love and enjoy playing together as teammates. You can see it.
**NOTE (Marv was close friends with Childress/thats why disrupting
chemistry is dangerous/Marv was better when Childress was here)
So…yes Al needs some help…but not @ ‘HIS’ [Al's] expense!
Lets get him some help to make both he & the Hawks better next yr.
The way basketball is played now – guys – don’t worry about pos.#’s.
Lets just put ‘five good’ basketball players on the ct. @ all times.

John Wooden:
“I don’t necessarily play my five best players, I play my five that play the best together.”

We’ve had some good dialogue on the board today.
I haven’t read it all but I’ve enjoyed the discourse.

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“Chemistry has been developed and that is why I don’t think Joe will
‘not’ leave.”

Then I didn’t put quotes around it, what will the ‘Mad Hatter’ think?

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There is one good thing about the Hawks playing in the playoffs. They are keeping our minds off the Braves.

FIRE WOODY

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The Nuggets lost to the Jazz last night.

FIRE WOODY

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Najeh,

Is that on the coach, on the players, or a combination of both?

How about them #2 seed Mavericks? With Dirk, Terry, Butler, Haywood and JKidd, they were one of the picks to challenge the Lakers in the West, and now they are on the brink of elimination, down 3-1.

They had a 14 pt 3rd quarter lead, and lost the game. We saw Avery and his Mavericks lose in the first round (twice), and now Rick Carlisle will probably lose in the first round too. Is it coaching? Is it Dirk is too soft?

I’ll say this. I’m glad the Hawks play in the East, because its tough out West.

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THE HAWKS GOT BLOWN OUT IN GAME 3

RESIGN WOODY

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“Hawks guard Jamal Crawford admitted that they underestimated how fueled the Bucks would be by their home crowd.”

HOW DO U LET THIS HAPPEN? FOR THE 4 FREAKING DAYS OFF DID THEY NOT ONCE THINK MILWAUKEE WOULD PLAY ITS BEST BALL IN GAME 3? WHAT THE HELL DID WOODY SAY TO THESE GUYS?

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“We saw Avery and his Mavericks lose in the first round (twice), and now Rick Carlisle will probably lose in the first round too. Is it coaching?”

Funny thing is, Carlisle is getting ripped by the media right now for playing his slow, aging, ineffective starting PG over his quick, young, talented rookie backup. Sounds familiar, doesn’t it?

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Scott Brooks(a real coach)>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Woody the woodpecker

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The HAWKS have to crowd the shooters and make sure that Smoove and/or Horford are always near the paint. The offensive has to start with Josh in the post and Josh needs to work a lot harder to get and hold position. Bibby needs to be the one delivering him the ball, because Marvin, JJ and Horford haven’t been doing a great job of getting him the ball quickly enough. The Bucks aren’t a great shooting team, but like every team they’re pretty good when they get things going. Lastly, Marvin has to attack the rim. Bucks have no shot blockers and they are worried about Smith/Horford getting offensive rebounds.

GO HAWKS!!!

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Also, the HAWKS need to find away to get Crawford going. It appears that the Bucks are crowding him and forcing him to drive instead of pulling up for jumpshots. Basically they’re double-teaming him and he hasn’t responded well. The second unit has to do a better job of moving the ball and creating some more space for him to work. The Bucks are going to run out at every shooter, so the 2nd unit is just going to have to start knocking down shots.

GO HAWKS!!!

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Sautee is annoying.

FIRE WOODY

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Woody have make adjustment.
GO HAWKS!!!!!!

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From ajc.com, Mike Woodson’s comments.

” I’ve got to make some Adjustments to help Jamal be Jamal like he has been during the regular season”.

Here comes Woody with that A word.

Wabe, Najeh,

I give Woody a hard time for the same thing that Rick is getting blasted for. But I will also admit that coaches have it tough trying to find the right combination. Because if Carlisle played his young, talented and fast rookie, and they lost the game, the media might blast him for not playing his veteran PG.

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HOW IS CRAW SUPPOSED TO FIND HIS RHYTHM IF MARVIN IS GETTING ALL HIS MINUTES?

I DON’T THINK MARVIN DID 1 GOOD THING IN THE ENTIRE GAME SATURDAY. HE HAD 8 OR SO POINTS IN GARBAGE MINUTES, BLEW THREE FAST-BREAK LAYUPS, GETTING STRIPPED BY MIDGET-ASS JENNINGS
LOL

FIRE KNAPP

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Gee- Your 11:35 post is right on the money. But, I fully blame you for the loss. You and your dang predictions. I also blame MC for the loss because he wrote the “looking ahead” article. I don’t blame myself (of course). Fortunately, I was at my wife’s birthday dinner, which originally seemed like terrible planning, but in retrospect I am glad I wasn’t forced to watch that debacle.

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In the case of the Mavs, for the last couple of years they were able to get by with switching Kidd onto the SG and matching up someone like Jason Terry onto opposing PGs. Kidd was after all a great defensive player in his prime. Now it doesn’t even look like Kidd is quick enough to guard SGs, let alone players at his own position.

In the case of the Hawks, as long as they are running the switching D, they will need a point guard who is quick enough to disrupt passing lanes, so that hopefully he can disrupt entry passes before he gets posted up by someone much bigger. Teague can be that guy, but Bibby definitely can’t.

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“Mike Brown, the head coach of the Cavs, said in order for you to get road wins in the playoffs your defense has to come up big. And with Bibby on the perimeter and Horford in the middle a road win seems very unlikely.”

Also, our defense is even tougher when we play 3 on 5. Actually, it’s 3 on 7 because Marvin and Bibby are so bad that they count as players on the other team. Add in the fact that tonight is a road game and the refs will probably make us lose to help NBA Revenue, and we’re playing 3 on 10 (2 of those 10 are Kurt Thomas and Mbah-Moute).

FIRE MIKE WOODSON

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The Hawks players were NERVOUS against Milwaukee. The Bucks were HOT and the hawks players were out of synch and were demoralized and couldnt get their games going. I knew Joe would show up because Joe is Joe. I’m surprised at Jamal Crawford because hes a 10-year vet, but he was nervous since it is his first playoff appearance. Horford and Smooth have no excuses, but being it was a road game I can understand why they were uncomfortable. Bottom line: Hawks are in command leading 2-1 and if they snatch tonight game, the HAWKS WILL HAVE A STRANGLEHOLD ON THE SERIES AT 3-1. That will almost certainly give the hawks a 99.9% chance of winning the series. Hawks take it in 6.

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If we had 1 injured rotation player, people on here would claim we lost because of injuries, even though when we lose to teams with horrendous injuries (Milwaukee in regular season and Detroit twice in regular season) this is never an issue

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What is with all this HATE on this team lately?

We won 53 REGULAR SEASON GAMES. We are the THIRD seed in the East, have IMPROVED over last year and are one of the most TALENTED and ATHLETIC teams in this league!

Sheesh, it’s so hard to keep you people happy! I mean, Jason Collins has played in 2 NBA FInals before, Woodson has a ring with Detroit, and Horford/Bibby/Marvin all have National Championship(s) from College.

The season’s success is predicated on REGULAR SEASON – NOT playoff records!

We are also an elite road team as you will see tonight

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I sure hope that Woody Woodpecker gets fired because I just cannot stomach the hawks any longer. HIRE AVERY JOHNSON, CHARLES BARKLEY, DOMINIQUE WILKINS, KENNY SMITH or Byron Scott as the next Hawks head coach. I think either of those candidates (Bozos) would do much better than coach Woodsen. Woody is completely clueless. Woody is allowing Marvin Williams to start and Marvin is playing as though he is deaf, dumb and blind. I just think the Hawks are embarrasing themselves in the playoffs this year, like they do every year.

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