Bucks at Atlanta Hawks Game 5: Quiet At Home
The Hawks like it here.
So how much conversation has there been among the Hawks regarding the rumors swirling around Woody’s future with the team?
“That’s the first I’ve heard about it when you told me,” Al said today at shootaround.
In addition to illustrating the often-insular world players occupy, the lack of buzz on the team about Woody’s status demonstrates that the familiar postures haven’t changed.
Rick Sund still is not going to do address Woody’s deal until after the season and there’s no guarantee an offer (even a “low-ball” one as described in the Yahoo! report) is forthcoming. ASG’s Michael Gearon Jr has suggested the Hawks’ postseason will have a bearing on that decision and others. Woody isn’t happy the Hawks haven’t started contract talks and has said so (though he also says he wants to return). The Hawks believe the lack of an extension hasn’t hurt Woody’s ability to coach the team.
The news to come out of the Yahoo! report is that there could be another job out there for Woody if he doesn’t return and the team’s willingness to sell their first-round draft pick for $3 million to raise money to re-sign J.J.. (That everything seems to be Joe-driven is causing great consternation for hawksdawgs at Peachtree Hoops.)
Meanwhile, the Hawks have a playoff series to finish. Asked about the Hawks’ confidence in coming back to Philips Arena, where they’ve won 14 in a row, Al said it “feels good to be back home” but then couldn’t help also talking about the Hawks’ troubles on the road.
“If we had the same swag that we have at home like we have on the road, we’d be a tough team,” he said. “But first we have to handle this game tonight. We are happy to come back here.”
– For all the consternation about the Hawks’ inability to win road playoff games (and I know most of that is because of what it would mean for the next round) this Milwaukee Journal Sentinel headline summed up Milwaukee’s issues: Bucks must win at least once in Atlanta to advance.
Forget for a minute that four games into the series, the Bucks are talking about what it will take to advance instead of how they can avoid elimination. The Hawks desperately need to win. The way they did that in Games 1 and 2 was by slowing Brandon Jennings and hammering the Bucks with Smoove and Al. Look for Milwaukee to use a similar approach against those two tonight:
The Bucks worked hard to frustrate Hawks center Al Horford and forward Josh Smith in Milwaukee, after those players were dominant in the first two games. Bucks forward Luc Richard Mbah a Moute defended Smith in Games 3 and 4 after primarily guarding Hawks guard Joe Johnson in Atlanta, and veteran center Kurt Thomas drew the assignment defending Horford.
And the Bucks have relied on help defense, with Jennings and other guards digging down on the ball when the Hawks’ big men begin to make their move in the paint. That did free up Atlanta’s perimeter players in Game 4, and the Hawks hit 10 of 19 three-pointers, led by Mike Bibby, who sank 5 of 7 attempts.
Smith still had 20 points and nine rebounds in 40 minutes in Game 4, but he wasn’t getting easy dunks off lob passes the way he did earlier in the series.
“He had a good game, and he scores in a variety of ways,” Bucks coach Scott Skiles said of the 6-foot-9 Smith, who was booed loudly by the Bradley Center crowd. “We’ve just got to keep him in front of us, try to make him take contested jump shots, try to keep him off the boards.
“We need to keep him from running out in transition, keep him from getting lobs after timeouts. We did that in both home games. Those are areas where at least we can have a little say-so in what he’s doing.”
– Woody has said he uses the switching defense to “hide” weak defenders. Brett LaGree, writing at Hoopinion, agrees but says switching also can make things harder for those weak defenders and the good ones:
It is hard to play good team defense without good defensive players.
Mike Bibby is a poor defender. Jamal Crawford is a terrible defender. Joe Johnson has amply demonstrated he cannot keep Brandon Jennings in front of him. Nor can Johnson fight through a Kurt Thomas screen. It’s no surprise that Mike Woodson has tried to address* these limitations. His singular method of address, to switch every screen, has pushed Josh Smith too often to the perimeter, exposing his primary defensive weakness (lateral movement) while simultaneously negating** his overwhelming strength (help defense).
*We’ll ignore, for the purposes of this discussion, how self-inflicted some of these limitations are.
**This is essentially what Orlando’s stretch 4 does to Smith when the Hawks play, and, typically, lose to the Magic.
MC
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677 comments Add your comment
bigdave
April 28th, 2010
10:51 pm
cant just you go.. my go.. and pray someone makes baskets. thats what this clown has done.
Fresh
April 28th, 2010
10:51 pm
Went away from Marvin and Al who were both carrying the team SMH, then proceeded to go to ISO Joe and Jamal SMDH. I have never stated these words before on this blog but…
FIRE WOODY.
Words literally cannot describe what I’m currently feeling, I may be done with ALL Georgia sport teams after this one…
terrell
April 28th, 2010
10:51 pm
When Marvin has a good game, no one else does. What’s up with that? MAYBE IT’S JUST TOO MANY DAMN FORWARDS OUT THERE AT THE SAME DAMN TIME. And where in the hell was our Allstar sg?
kwooden1
April 28th, 2010
10:51 pm
I’m depressed!!!
WHY???
April 28th, 2010
10:51 pm
Bigdave cmon, at home Joe is supposed to play better than this, I love Joe but damn man this was his time to show he wants that max deal
JeJe
April 28th, 2010
10:51 pm
JOE’S POST GAME WILL BE ALL ABOUT HOW “WE DIDN’T EXECUTE DOWN THE STRETCH.” NEVER HIS FAULT – ALWAYS “WE”..
O'Brien
April 28th, 2010
10:51 pm
Did I just hear the fans booing? Wow.
Looking forward to Woody’s post game conference. He will probably say;
1) “we will have to look at the tape to see what happened”
2) Bucks won one on our home court, now we have to go win one on there homecourt
Bucks finish on a 13-5 run…Where is the defense Hawks?
Hawks had 18 points in the fourth quarter. How many times during the year have we seen where the Hawks had 19 points or less in the fourth? Probably about 16-18 times…
VenomSpitter
April 28th, 2010
10:51 pm
If I don’t hear that Woody is gone by fri then ima riot.
Like Ice Cube said “WE HAD TO TEAR DIS MUTHAF.UCKA UP”
JeJe
April 28th, 2010
10:52 pm
JERRY STACKHOSUE SAID HE WANTED TO COME TO ATL BUT WE REFUSED TO SIGN HIM
FIRE WOODY
bigdave
April 28th, 2010
10:52 pm
when the game slowed down they could not execute…
why.. cause they have NO offense.. he refused to put a true point in the game.
JB
April 28th, 2010
10:52 pm
OK now I’m convinced that this team just doesn’t have “it” to go deep. They have no faith in Woody. Did you see that huddle after Al’s 3? No one was paying attention to him. That’s on ALL of them. Woody is gone.
WHY???
April 28th, 2010
10:53 pm
Congrats to AL that guy always leaves it out there on the court no matter what his stats are
Sautee
April 28th, 2010
10:53 pm
northcyde,
You wanna tell me that this was on Marvin or Al?
If it’s on the players, it’s on the guards.
Joe and Jamal? 10-34
UGH!
Taylor
April 28th, 2010
10:53 pm
Loss of words
Big Ray
April 28th, 2010
10:53 pm
Well that all but does it.
JMANES Bucks fan
April 28th, 2010
10:53 pm
SUCK IT HAWKS FANS!!!! WHERES YOUR FAT BLACK WOMEN CHEERING NOW????? Thanks for the 4th quarter choke job
jcwfalcon
April 28th, 2010
10:53 pm
lol. they are a joke. well, on to other things. they are done.
bigdave
April 28th, 2010
10:54 pm
damn a deal..
he’s played well all series.. all series.. played hard.. hit the glass.. he had a bad game. a bad game. he’s going 1 on 5..
JeJe
April 28th, 2010
10:54 pm
IS ANYONE EVER GONNA TAKE A FINE AND CALL OUT THE REFS?
NO
THIS TEAM SUCKS
Sautee
April 28th, 2010
10:54 pm
Another 4th quarter under 20 points.
It SHOWS that Woody doesn’t give a sh!t about offense.
northcyde
April 28th, 2010
10:54 pm
bigdave
April 28th, 2010
10:37 pm
all the blame on Joe if we lose?
pfff.. are you serious? what plays were we running there… Joe just did what he always does.. try to drive and find a teammate or finish. out of an iso… the defender just made a play, b/c it was predictable.
*****************
Bigdave . . . we’ve been running ISO-JJ for 5 years. He’s the captain and the leader of this team. No way in hell can he self-destruct like that. Either shoot the damn ball, or pass the damn ball. But don’t turn it over like that. He officially took 1 SHOT in the 4th quarter. But those 3 turnovers were killers. Then he backs off of Salmons on a 3 . . and fouls Jennings on a jumper with the shot clock running down?
And that ish is on Woody?
And you know I’m one of the biggest JJ supporters around . . and still am.
But you have to call ish like it is. He self destructed big time toward the end of that game. He has to take FULL RESPONSIBILITY FOR THIS.
This is his team . . he can’t melt down like that. He’s been in that situation hundreds of times. That’s the worst meltdown I’ve ever seen out of him.
Now he REALLY has to go “supernova” in Game 6, because no one believes now that the Hawks can pull this out.
It’ll be a shame if that’s how his last game in ATL ended. So now, he must atone for that ish on Friday night.
WHY???
April 28th, 2010
10:54 pm
Man we need a real PG to handle the ball and run the offense
woodie
April 28th, 2010
10:55 pm
Typical ATL pro sports teams.
jcwfalcon
April 28th, 2010
10:55 pm
wow. some classy bucks fans. this should be good for a laugh.
VenomSpitter
April 28th, 2010
10:55 pm
Don’t let Osh LOW IQ Smith off the hook.
WTF was with that stuuuuuuuuuupid 3 he took.
bigdave
April 28th, 2010
10:55 pm
you live by the iso you die by it..
we’ve been doing it all year folks. it came back to bite us. switching.. all year folks.. came back to bite us.
Josh Smith
April 28th, 2010
10:55 pm
When we play at our best, we cannot be beaten! We know this!
NUNNA!!
April 28th, 2010
10:55 pm
Hey,im not one who loves blaming the coach..But,when you make the same bone headed,non-adjusted game plans that got you in this position,and you don’t get a sense of whats working for your team,i.e.marvin attacking,horford deep inside,and you don’t specify it to the players and demand that they implement your plan or they sit,then heck,its ALL YOUR FAULT..
And,you don’t get into josh’s a– for his bone headed shot,then its ALL YOUR FAULT..
Hey,woody might not make the trip to milwaukee yall..
He might get the ax tonite!!
Mike Woodson
April 28th, 2010
10:56 pm
It’s a DAMN shame I have not received an extension. Our REGULAR SEASON RECORD has increased EVERY year
WHY???
April 28th, 2010
10:56 pm
Agree with northcyde
This was his time to shine, great players step up, not get stepped on by John Salmons
Clyde
April 28th, 2010
10:56 pm
MC WE NEED A NEW BLOG UP. THE FIRE WOODY TRAIN IS ABOUT TO TAKE OFF AND I’M GONNA BE UP ALL NIGHT.
FIRE WOODY
Nique's Revenge
April 28th, 2010
10:56 pm
BUX IN SIX
FIRE WOODY NOW
BONEY
April 28th, 2010
10:57 pm
Yeah let’s fire Woody – he had a bad 4th quarter – no execution by Woody – he only scored 18 points – Milwaukee had 30.
Where’s the defense Woody – you can’t guard anybody?
We might as well give the series to the Bucks – don’t bother to travel there for game 6 – another 4th quarter lead blown by Woody.
JeJe
April 28th, 2010
10:57 pm
GREAT GAME BIBBY! 2 POINTS IN 27 MINUTES! NICE!
WHY???
April 28th, 2010
10:57 pm
Man this is just too much, i am so angry with this
Clyde
April 28th, 2010
11:00 pm
NAJEH WELCOME TO THE CLUB. I’M GLAD YOU CAME TO THE LIGHT. I’M STILL WAITING ON SAMUEL AND DMARYD TO JOIN.
WE NEED TO FIRE WOODY TONIGHT AND LET LARRY DREW COACH ON FRIDAY.
FIRE WOODY
Scott Skiles
April 28th, 2010
11:00 pm
It’s so easy to punk your potato head coach. He runs the same plays over and over and over and over again. In fact, my wife did all the game planning for the hawks while I watched me some tv
bigdave
April 28th, 2010
11:00 pm
“execution will suffer when you depend on 1 or 2 guys to make 1 on 1 plays”
-stinger
so what happens when its not there.. do we have anything else? nothing..
VenomSpitter
April 28th, 2010
11:00 pm
LMAO trying to defend his brother Woody.
U and Woody can get the hell outta ATL. Go lick his ball azz head.
Sautee
April 28th, 2010
11:00 pm
As Big Ray has often said….
when things are crucial you fall back on the level of your training.
So THIS (a collapse (or as northcyde calls it a collaspes, lol) is apparently the level of their training.
Maybe the training is the problem.
kwooden1
April 28th, 2010
11:00 pm
ALL OF THE ISSUES THAT OUR COACHING STAFF NEVER ADDRESSED AS COME BACK TO HAUNT US!!!! CRAWFORD 4-18, JJ 6-16 BUT MARVIN 8-10!!! WHY DOES OUR OFFENSE NOT TAKE ADVANTAGE OF MATCHUPS. ISO JOE AND ISO JAMAL CLEARLY DOESN’T WORK IN PLAYOFF BASKETBALL!!!!!!!!!!!
SCOTT SKILES HAS CLEARLY OUT COACHED WOODY. SUND KNOWS WHAT TO DO!!
THIS SERIES IS OVER!!!!
IF IT WASN”T FOR THE FACT I WANT THE PLAYERS TO WIN, I WOULD SUPPORT THE BUCKS IN GAME 6
JeJe
April 28th, 2010
11:01 pm
FIRE MIKE KNAPP WOODSON
Wabe
April 28th, 2010
11:01 pm
northclyde,
you can pin tonight’s game on JJ.
But, we’ve lost 3 straight…….
Whose shoulders do the other two fall on?
It’s the SYSTEM, or lack the lack of one I should say.
BONEY
April 28th, 2010
11:02 pm
Defend him? I said fire him – then it’s on to the NBA Finals! Woody is the only one holding us back.
JeJe
April 28th, 2010
11:02 pm
IF MARVIN IS LIGHTING IT UP WHY NOT EXPLOIT THE MATCHUP IN THE 4TH? JESUS
KnightHawk
April 28th, 2010
11:02 pm
I appreciate the work Woody has put in here, but it truly is time for a change. This series will end on Friday in Milwaukee. Joe Johnson can go too.
O'Brien
April 28th, 2010
11:02 pm
JJ: 6-16
Crawford: 4-18.
It’s hard to win like that when 2 of our best shooters shoot that bad. Why was JJ and Crawford taking that many shots anyway? Either way, we don’t have any offensive system, so we tighten up when the game gets close.
northcyde,
When Dirk (who was MVP that year) played like crap against Golden State, most people still blamed Avery Johnson. And Avery deserved a lot of blame because he made the crucial mistake of changing his lineup to match Golden State. But he basically got all the blame nonetheless.
My point is, its always easier to replace a coach, because you cannot replace your star player, no matter how he self-destructs.
And we cannot replace JJ. Woody, on the other hand…
Nique's Revenge
April 28th, 2010
11:02 pm
FIRE WOODY FIRE WOODY FIRE WOODY FIRE WOODY FIRE WOODY FIRE WOODY FIRE WOODY FIRE WOODY FIRE WOODY FIRE WOODY FIRE WOODY FIRE WOODY FIRE WOODY FIRE WOODY FIRE WOODY FIRE WOODY FIRE WOODY FIRE WOODY FIRE WOODY FIRE WOODY FIRE WOODY FIRE WOODY FIRE WOODY FIRE WOODY FIRE WOODY FIRE WOODY FIRE WOODY FIRE WOODY FIRE WOODY FIRE WOODY FIRE WOODY FIRE WOODY FIRE WOODY FIRE WOODY FIRE WOODY FIRE WOODY FIRE WOODY FIRE WOODY FIRE WOODY FIRE WOODY FIRE WOODY FIRE WOODY FIRE WOODY FIRE WOODY FIRE WOODY FIRE WOODY FIRE WOODY FIRE WOODY FIRE WOODY FIRE WOODY FIRE WOODY FIRE WOODY FIRE WOODY FIRE WOODY FIRE WOODY FIRE WOODY FIRE WOODY FIRE WOODY FIRE WOODY FIRE WOODY FIRE WOODY FIRE WOODY FIRE WOODY FIRE WOODY
Dr. R
April 28th, 2010
11:03 pm
Change the team name to the Tin Men. If they only had a heart … This time of year, it takes mental and physical toughness (Spurs, Jazz, Celtics) and the Hawks are again exposed as a soft team in both areas. Time to rework this roster and bring in some harda$$ guys who can dish it out in the blocks. And a coach who will instill that toughness.
dandydawg
April 28th, 2010
11:03 pm
I know we Hawks fans are shocked. The way they played tonight and the last two games at Milwaukee has exposed this team as a “Nothing”. sure, they can come back to win the series, but since they play with no heart, can we just say the Bucks can play Orlando. I just hate to see us go up to Mil. and look terrible on Friday. By the way, that place is going to be rocking Friday night, nothing like Atlanta has ever seen. By the first quarter, the Hawks will be toast!!!!! Well, maybe next year. I hop;e I am wrong, but this team has no heart. What happen to Joe “I shot about 30 times a game” Johnson?