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
mel
April 29th, 2010
12:12 am
woodson said “our half-court offense was terrible.” WOW is this guy a f*#ckin idiot. YOU’RE the Coach…. You and that damn coloring book you use during time outs is funny. The only reason this is a series is because we switch.. i dont care who couldnt hit shots for us in this game. We stop switching and use Teague or Mario, Milwaukee cant score 85 against us.
Ghost of Bob Weiss
April 29th, 2010
12:12 am
See us Hawks fans aren’t alone. Bill Simmons twitter….
sportsguy33
Harold Lederman just scored Round 5 of Skiles-Woodson a 10-7 round for Skiles. He now leads 50-42. Woodson’s corner holding a white towel
o.O-Mac-Town -Macon, Georgia- Westsider-O.o
April 29th, 2010
12:12 am
“What is there to do in Milwaukee?? The same thing as there is to do in Atlanta….lose to the Bucks.”
- John Salmon’s Beard
o.O-Mac-Town -Macon, Georgia- Westsider-O.o
April 29th, 2010
12:15 am
“Atleast we aren’t the Washington Capitals”
-Mike Woodson, addressing the team post game in the locker room
Clyde
April 29th, 2010
12:16 am
Sometimes I think Atlanta would be better off without the Hawks, Braves, or Falcons. All they do is lose.
FIRE WOODY
mel
April 29th, 2010
12:19 am
i wonder how joe will do in chicago wit a point guard who can still run
Mista Gamer
April 29th, 2010
12:21 am
We have the only “coach” in the league that truly believes that his 4’s and 5’s can check 1’s and 2’s on the perimeter!! I mean doesn’t that effectively take away our size advantage on the post when our big men are trying to check guards out on the perimeter. Doesn’t that take away from our rebounding. Doesn’t that negate Josh Smith’s shot blocking help defense in the paint?
How can our “superstar” end the game on the bench, fouled out, with 13 points?
How many times did “coach” ignore the isolation post play with Rignour trying to match Marvin Williams?
Hey “coach” wasn’t Marvin our hot man. When we went through a scoring drought of Iso-Joe’s did you not have a play to get Marvin the ball? Maybe Horford the ball in the post?
Hey “Coach” what is our offensive identity by the way? Bet on a run out off a defensive play?
Hey “Coach” since game 3 have you not recognized that Skiles has made an adjustment against your collegiate switching D?
Hey “Coach”….”Coach”???? Anybody home? Guess you’ve gone fishing… for some reason you seem to always checkout in crunch time. I know where our players get it from!!
Najeh Davenpoop
April 29th, 2010
12:24 am
Salmons comes through in crunch time because his coach doesn’t make him play 1-on-5.
FIRE WOODY
Najeh Davenpoop
April 29th, 2010
12:25 am
The one big game in which Marvin steps up and plays his azz off, he sits on the bench for half the fourth quarter while Jamal Crawford, who has struggled THIS ENTIRE SERIES, is shooting brick after brick.
FIRE WOODY
Najeh Davenpoop
April 29th, 2010
12:25 am
We booed the Hawks off the floor. They deserved it.
FIRE WOODY
Mel
April 29th, 2010
12:27 am
This team most likely will not have Woodson, JJ, Mo Evans, moving Jamal to start. There goes the bench. There goes the overall team defense.. Thats probably top 3 worst defensive backcourts in the league
Nate ArchiBALL
April 29th, 2010
12:28 am
I think Scott Skiles can take the Hawks team and beat the Bucks……….
houstondawg
April 29th, 2010
12:29 am
J Van Gundy or give Fratello one more shot. Two best options
The Bullhorn
April 29th, 2010
12:44 am
For the past five games, I’ve been screaming for Woodson to run a rotating tandem of Teague and West at Jennings from the second Jennings touchs the ball.
By the fourth quarter, Jennings would be toast. Instead, Woodson just lets the guy walk down the court with the ball unmolested.
This isn’t rocket science. I guess Woodson failed science or had someone lese take the test for him. What an idiot.
Oh yeah, FIRE WOODY!
drmaryb
April 29th, 2010
12:49 am
DEAR GOD:
I would SWITCH my AZZ for a DEFENSE!
RBWAY
April 29th, 2010
1:05 am
The Hawks lack definitive leadership. Talent is nothing without drive, consistency, and one total commitment to winning. The Hawks passion to fight for every inch, and personal sacrifice, is disgrace to the many thousands of fans which has support them for years. To watch them in person or on television is mentally exhausting. Their constantly trying which worth is equal to Practice. How does it feels to be stealing from fans throughout Georgia and other regions around the world? Get your (ACT) together. From upper management to all players in the organization, PUT OUT, or MOVE ON. P.S. for management (Hit the NBA circuit find a Tough, unyielding, direct, LEADER).
northcyde
April 29th, 2010
1:16 am
Let me ask some of you a question:
What did the Bucks do, scheme-wise in those final 4 minutes, to help them get a victory?
A: NOT A DAMN THING
*************
They won that game, simply because the players kept scrapping and they made plays.
- Salmons taking a standstill 3 and making it, because JJ backed off of him
- Drawing an offensive foul ( charge ) from JJ on that out of control drive
- Jennings doing a Chauncey Billups-esque pump fake on JJ, to draw a foul . . 21 feet away from the basket
- Salmons drive to get to the FT line as the shot clock was winding down
- Ilyasova getting to a missed FT before Smoove ( because Smoove didn’t box him out )
- Ilyasova taking /nd making an early in the shot clock standstill 3, which was the DAGGER, because it put them up 4
Those are all either heads-up plays . . or hustle plays . . plays that their PLAYERS made. Meanwhile, we’re running into people, blowing wide open lay-ups, taking wild jumpshots, and ironically . . looking like a (( bleepin )) deer in headlights.
And I’m pizzed at JJ for what he DIDN’T do.
You CANNOT take 1 or 2 shots total in the 4th quarter of a playoff game. I don’t care if he was having a bad shooting game. or not. He’s the floor leader in that situation. Get your damn shots up or get to the line. But don’t defer. Don’t play that passive ish like you played during last playoffs.
And those defensive breakdowns . . . wow. I expect that from Mike Bibby, not JJ. For all the good JJ did in that 3rd quarter to help build the lead, he was a huge culprit in the disentegration of that lead.
As for Woody . . my stance has always been that you can’t solely give credit to the players if we win, but solely blame Woody if we lose. Woody has a hand in ALL LOSSES, but so do these players. When you see a team make mistake after mistake coming down the stretch of games, you have to put some of that on the players.
A lot of it actually. Especially the mental errors.
Damn . . and it’s a full moon out tonight too?
This was a Rex Grossman, Jake Delhomme type moment.
#1 Hawks fan
April 29th, 2010
1:18 am
I understand everyone’s frustration, however we must let this game go and move on to Game 6 and route the Hawks on. They can do it!!!!!
No Crying
April 29th, 2010
1:47 am
We waited all season for this moment. What a drag.
No big deal!
April 29th, 2010
7:34 am
The hawks were just flat and overconfident. They’ll win game 6 and 7 easily! Woody will get them motivated to play much better in these next 2 games—book it!
Hawks win NBA ha
April 29th, 2010
7:39 am
well who ever is Bobby Knight simple i pick Bucks in six and at Milwaukee where Josh smith say its a nothin town.Well bye bye Josh Smith enjoy See Woodson Fired after losin bye 30 at Milwaukee in game six!
oldfart
April 29th, 2010
8:00 am
The fat lady is warming up and not just for this series. Short of getting a big free agent that the ASG has so far proven unwilling or unable to pay for, you may as well get ready for another “rebuilding” period.
Ken Strickland
April 29th, 2010
9:10 am
If we’ve learned anything this season, especially during this playoff series, it’s that HC Mike Woodson isn’t going to change anything about the way he coaches. He’s proven in this series alone that he’ll let this team go down the drain before admitting his halfcourt/ISO OFF and switching DEF just aren’t working. If Bibby isn’t scoring(2PTS), isn’t creating easy scoring opportunities for others(2ASSISTS), isn’t playing any form of recognizable DEF(which is his signature), and you desperately need DEF, why would you play him 27mins and your quickest, fastest and best on the ball defender only (1)ONE min?
I’ve called Woodson stupid, moron, dumbass etc, for not making needed OFF and DEF adjustments. But you know what, I don’t think he has any adjustment options in place that he can go to, so he just stands on the sidelines barking at the officials while leaving it in the hands of his players to do whatever they can, and routinely blames them if they fail.
Therefore, if the DEF shuts down his limited OFF, the players are left to their own devices, and end up resorting to sandlot ISO’s, no ball movement and no accountability or intervention whatsoever from Woodson. HC MIKE WOODSON HAS BEEN EXPOSED. Isn’t it odd that Woodson has complete control over what DEF we play, and stubbornly insists on playing one that’s getting us killed, but appears to have absolutely no control over how we run our OFF.
In the 4th quarter of gms, I have no doubt certain players are tired, literally and figutively, and sick of being left out to dry and blamed for everything that’s not working, especially when their halfcourt OFF has no built in options for them to work with. Let’s face it, the fate of this franchise won’t be based on whether JJ resigns or not. It will be based on GM RSund decision on HC MWoodson.
Over the last 5yrs, Woodson has screwed every rookie drafted, and over the last 3yrs he’s screwed every FA’s we’ve signed except Flip Murray and Jamal Crawford. The only way we’re going to get veteran players is through trades, and if they have good seasons we won’t be able to retain most of them when their contract runs out.
We’ve already seen JJ’s resolve when he wants out, and he was in a far, far better situation in Phoenix than he’s in now. He’s gone people, and so is JoSmith and likely MEvans. Look, it JJ leaves, and we get rid of Woodson, we can still do as well as we did this yr. I believe a new HC with a more modern OFF/DEF philosophy and system will allow us to get more production out of Marvin. Bench Bibby and sign or draft a SG that plays DEF, then try to resign RMorris, MEvans, and/or JChildress as our starting SF. A bench with Zaza, Bibby, MEvans, RMorris, JCrawford and MWilliams ain’t bad at all.
L
April 29th, 2010
9:51 am
Sooooo disappointed in last nights lost. I may sound crazy for this, because if you have an opportunity to win a championship, you go for it. With that being said, I believe Joe’s fourth quarter meltdown was all apart of the plan. If we made it to the Eastern conference champions or potentially to the Finals, would Rick Sund FIRE WOODY? I highly doubt that the hawks organization would do that. These players know they won’t go anywhere with Woody. the plan is on, we will lose to the Bucks! if woody goes then JJ stays. these players recognize the lack of talent they have as a coach.
Woody's the man!
April 29th, 2010
10:02 am
To keep woody happy, the hawks better step up with some big time cash—a raise and a big bonus for getting this young team to the playoffs without a legitimate big name superstar. If not, he may get mad and take the Philadelphia job. The hawks owners need to spend some money to get D-Wade next year to increase scoring.
downtowner
April 29th, 2010
10:08 am
With Jennings penetrating and running circles around the Hawks’ defense, will someone please explain to me how Woodson can justify playing Teague :05 and 1:28 respectively during the past two games? Woodson’s inability to develop rookies and make in-game adjustments are reason enough for him to be gone.
kinoshika
June 19th, 2010
3:31 am
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