Atlanta Hawks: Do They Still Believe?
ORLANDO–It says something about how badly the Hawks got thrashed in Game 1 that they already are taking questions about their state of mind.
Also telling: The Hawks, emboldened against their critics after rallying to beat Milwaukee, realize these already are relevant questions against Orlando.
It was just one game, but it was an embarrassment.
“Yeah, it is,” J.J. said at practice today. “But it happens. Put it behind us and move on.”
They’ll get that chance tomorrow in Game 2. Until then, there are those questions.
Do they believe they can beat the Magic in a playoff series when they hardly ever beat them anymore? Can they win at Amway Arena when they keep getting blasted there and aren’t a good road playoff team to begin with? Do they really trust that they have the people and the plan to pull this off?
“I think we can beat them,” J.J said. “We just have to be poised and take our time on both ends of the court.”
“You look at it as a fluke,” Jamal said.
But how can that be when they’ve lost by more than 30 points three of their last four times here? When the Magic has won 7 of their last 8 games against the Hawks? When the Hawks’ offense so often stalls and the defense couldn’t slow the Magic’s inside or outside game?
“If it was a 15-point win, we can kind of be like, ‘Wow, they just beat us,’” Jamal said. “But 40-something points? They are not 40-something points better than us.”
So a day after taking the largest L in the franchise’s Atlanta history, the Hawks went back to work. Before they could even begin to consider their considerable problems with tactics and planning, the Hawks tried to fend off any creeping thoughts about the Magic just being better, period.
The Hawks have to win at Amyway to win this series. Woody said he still thinks they can do both.
“Sure, I do,” Woody said. “Without a doubt I do. But they’ve got to believe, too.”
How does he convince them?
“If we can just be competitive here for four quarters and make it a game, win or lose,” he said. “Make it a game. And then you go home and handle your business at home, which we’ve done. Anything can happen but we can’t just be lopsided like [Game 1].
“And I’ve got to take responsibility for that as the coach. I don’t always put it on the players. As the coach, I’ve got to take full responsibility. I’ve got to get them over the hump for four quarters.”
The Hawks spent a lot of time looking at the first quarter from Game 1, trying to reinforce the idea that if they do follow the plan they can score on the Magic. In that period, the Hawks made 11 of 26 shots with five assists, two turnovers, 16 points in the paint and eight points in transition. They still took a lot of long jump shots [3 of 8] but moved the ball to get open looks and had eight points in transition and 16 in the paint.
And then the second quarter happened. Woody put it on the bench.
“[The Magic] didn’t do anything different,” Woody said. “They just substituted.”
The Hawks didn’t spend too much time looking at those three quarters after the first. Well, really, the 2 1/2 quarters when the Magic was still playing and the Hawks hadn’t yet officially surrendered.
Guess they figured it’s probably better for their collective psyche to look more at the good from the first period than all that bad that came later.
“It was good for us to look at the first quarter and see some of the positive things that we did do early,” Joe said. “And that the gameplan does work as long as you stick to it. In the second quarter, we got out of the game plan, started forcing a lot of things offensively. And defensively we just collapsed.”
Woody thought the Hawks did a pretty good job against Dwight Howard. The Hawks wanted to limit his dunks but he got four of his eight field goals that way.
Howard went baseline for two dunks, one past Zaza and another past Al. He caught a lob dunk when Bibby didn’t chase the ballhander on a pick-and-roll and forced Al to help off Dwight. Dwight got yet another dunk when Pietrus easily blew past Bibby and got in middle of the lane to bounce a pass to Dwight on the baseline.
Woody said Howard’s baseline and pick-and-roll dunks “should never happen.” The Hawks wanted to deny Howard the ball but Woody said all the foul calls held them back.
“They called it a little close,” he said. “There were a couple of times where I thought Jason didn’t get a chance to defend him before the whistle blew. That is going to happen. We’ve just got keep banging him.”
Woody said he probably will activate Randolph Morris, who was out sick for Game 1. But neither Morris nor any of the other centers can do anything about the Hawks’ problems guarding the Magic on the perimeter.
It might be a personnel issue. The Hawks’ weak perimeter defense is a major liability in this series and they don’t have the advantage inside like they did against Milwaukee. The Hawks have Bibby, J.J., Jamal, and Mo chasing VC, Jameer Nelson, Redick, J-Will, Pietrus and Ryan Anderson. For the Hawks there’s an imbalance of numbers and an abundance of bad matchups.
It didn’t help that the Hawks were back to those timid closeouts.
“A couple of times we were too lax for sure,” Jamal said. “We were giving their shooters good, clean, open looks. You have got to run them off the line a little bit. Make them think about putting it down. That can change a person’s [shooting] percentage for sure.”
The Hawks will try to be better at that and all the other things they didn’t do in Game 1. They press on in the face of serious doubts.
It’s true that the Hawks overcame dire straits against Milwaukee but nothing like this. There was always the feeling that if the Hawks played to their potential against Milwaukee they would win the series. Now there are questions about their ability to play to their potential against the Magic and, if they do, if that will be enough to win at Amway Arena.
Even after Game 1, the Hawks say they still believe it can be done.
“It’s a new day,” Jamal said.
MC
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189 comments Add your comment
Mystikal
May 5th, 2010
11:00 pm
HIRE BYRON SCOTT!!! HIRE BYRON SCOTT!!! HIRE BYRON SCOTT!!!
HIRE BYRON SCOTT!!! HIRE BYRON SCOTT!!! HIRE BYRON SCOTT!!!
HIRE BYRON SCOTT!!! HIRE BYRON SCOTT!!! HIRE BYRON SCOTT!!!
HIRE BYRON SCOTT!!! HIRE BYRON SCOTT!!! HIRE BYRON SCOTT!!!
HIRE BYRON SCOTT!!! HIRE BYRON SCOTT!!! HIRE BYRON SCOTT!!!
HIRE BYRON SCOTT!!! HIRE BYRON SCOTT!!! HIRE BYRON SCOTT!!!
HIRE BYRON SCOTT!!! HIRE BYRON SCOTT!!! HIRE BYRON SCOTT!!!
HIRE BYRON SCOTT!!! HIRE BYRON SCOTT!!! HIRE BYRON SCOTT!!!
HIRE BYRON SCOTT!!! HIRE BYRON SCOTT!!! HIRE BYRON SCOTT!!!
Grandad
May 5th, 2010
11:04 pm
Of course LbJ was on there. [1st team all defense]
He’s *protected, he doesn’t take the other teams best player:
e g – Battier, Artest, Chuck Hayes, even Joe having to guard the other team’s pt. because of Bibby. [by his coaches & by the officials]
He doesn’t lock anyone down [Kobe], he just chases down & swats.
How many votes did Stern get? LbL is good but the media hype,
causes other people to get overlooked. People who work and take
pride in their craft.
What!
May 5th, 2010
11:05 pm
FIRE MIKE WOODSON NOW!!!!
GET US A REAL BENCH NOW!!!!!!
NOW!!!!!
Grandad
May 5th, 2010
11:07 pm
*As [Kobe] does
*LbJ / not LbL – (I think he’s a barber in Hahira)
Clyde
May 5th, 2010
11:10 pm
FIRE WOODY
What!
May 5th, 2010
11:19 pm
TRADE MIKE BIBBY TO INDIANA FOR A.J PRICE!!!!! NEXT MO WILLIAMS!!!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQ9nIHfX4N4&playnext_from=TL&videos=TSf7rsX4XX8
GET THIS NO DEFENSE NO DRIBBLING CLOWN (BIBBY) OUTTA TOWN!!!!
SIGN TRAVIS OUTLAW AND BENCH MARVIN WILLIAMS!!!!!!
What!
May 5th, 2010
11:25 pm
TRADE MO EVANS B4 HE OPTS OUT!!!!!
WE AT LEAST GOT TO GET SOMETHING FOR ALL OF HIS SUCKING WE HAWKS FANS HAVE HAD TO PUT UP WITH!!!!!!!!
i_am_soulstar
May 5th, 2010
11:25 pm
they can’t do any worse tomorrow, go hawks!!!!
I would put the all defensive team in against the Magic WHEN they go on a 6-0 run.
PG Mario SG Mo Evans SF Marvin Williams PF Josh Smith C Al Horford
Najeh Davenpoop
May 5th, 2010
11:27 pm
Lil’ Jon, welcome to the Hawks blog.
Mystikal
May 5th, 2010
11:41 pm
I’m feeling the “LET TEAGUE PLAY!!” movement. It would suck for him to get his first real action against one of the best teams in the league, but that’s on Woody again. If Bibby averages 12 pts and Teague only 8, that is not bad considering Bibby would give up 20+ pts to whomever he guards while Teague could keep them in check more. What happened with Boston couple years ago when they handed Rondo the keys??
doc
May 5th, 2010
11:47 pm
at najeh, 10:13 too funny,
yes, the car was not trying hard enough
J-MAN
May 5th, 2010
11:52 pm
Joe Johnson needs to go Bibby needs to go and Woody needs to go unfortunately this lineup is not working
J-MAN
May 5th, 2010
11:54 pm
Sign Avery Johnson, and go after D wade of C bosh
J-MAN
May 5th, 2010
11:54 pm
Sign Avery Johnson, and go after D wade or C bosh
cp
May 6th, 2010
12:00 am
I just read that Woodson will let Bibby guard Nelson in tomorrows game. SMDH. I just dont know what to say about cat anymore. Nelson is playing some of his best basketball this year in the playoffs and Woodrows answer to defend him is to put the teams worst defender on him.. You have to be kidding me. At this point Bibby couldn’t guard Stevie Wonder. Well I’m already preparing for game 3 because I don’t see this going well at all.
Old Hawk Fan
May 6th, 2010
12:09 am
So NATE………………………WTF does that have to do with this series???????
Mystikal
May 6th, 2010
12:13 am
ATTENTION RICK SUND:
1) FIRE WOODY(DONT’ RESIGN HIM, WHATEVER)
2) HIRE BYRON SCOTT/AVERY JOHNSON(Pref Scott)
3) BE @ CHRIS BOSH’S FRONT DOOR SECONDS AFTER FREE AGENCY OPENS
AND OFFER HIM MAX DEAL. (Bring Dominique Wilkens and random ATL musician
to help seal the deal!)
Just do that for me and we can work on the rest (trade Bibby) later.
Old Hawk Fan
May 6th, 2010
12:14 am
Remember who Boris Diaw looked playing Under Woodson………………..then he is trade to Da Suns…………………….and blossom under the coach there. Woody is a hinderance to players developing. I thinks Marvin will play better under a different coach here. Bring in Kareem Jabar as head coach and watch how these guys develope. My second choich to replace Woody is Bill Lambeer.
lewis
May 6th, 2010
12:25 am
I’d like to see them bring in Vinnie Del Negro
Clyde
May 6th, 2010
12:26 am
I wonder how many points we are going to get blown out by tomorrow.
FIRE WOODY
Clyde
May 6th, 2010
12:29 am
Woody only believes in a certain number of players. This works in college and high school but in the NBA you have to believe in your bench. And you believe in them by developing them throughout the regular season.
FIRE WOODY
lewis
May 6th, 2010
12:29 am
could someone teach a hawks pg how to run a pick and roll?
prolly too much to ask for…
lewis
May 6th, 2010
12:30 am
FIRE WOODY
Dr. Warren
May 6th, 2010
1:20 am
Kevin Loughery deserves a shot at coaching the Hawks.
Joe's place Joe speaking
May 6th, 2010
2:15 am
Michael Cunningham or anybody with an educated guess,
Can you please explain how Josh Smith does not make the 1st team all defense???!! He was the ONLY player to record over 100 blocks and 100 steals and was the runner up for defensive player of the year!!!! How the £uck does Gerald or Kobe make it over Josh???? What a joke!!!
Grandad
May 6th, 2010
2:56 am
Here’s the clueless Atlanta side…
Orlando Magic — posted by bschmitz on May, 5 2010 12:15 AM
[Orlando Sentinel by Brian Schmitz]
Instead of talking Magic, let’s talk Hawks. They would be the team where the outline is drawn in yellow tape around their dead body.
Move along, folks. Nothing to see here.
This is supposed to be a rising club, loaded with terrific athletes. Great individuals don’t necessary make a great team.
The Hawks lost by 43 points to the Magic in Game 1.
Coach Mike Woodson was asked what happened.
“I wish I knew,” he said. “Your guess is as good as mine.”
That’s the kind of response that drives an owner to push a coach over the ledge.
“The calls did not go our way.” Hawks power forward Josh Smith said.
Yeah, a few more calls here and there, and you’d have lost by 37.
“The refs are not going to help them beat us by 50 points,” Smith said.
Freud couldn’t get a read on this Atlanta team.
It could be Woodson, it could be that they just don’t have a real leader. There’s a lot of feast-or-famine to them. They are front-runners, and when things go South, the Hawks go so South they must learn another language..
You can understand why Joe Johnson questions their mental toughness. You have to question Joe’s.
Jokeman 4000
May 6th, 2010
5:31 am
I No Im Late Responding, But If I Was Woody I Would Change My Whole Game Plan Around, Everybody Thinks Each Serious Is About Howard. NO It Is Not I Would Say If AnyThing Maybe Just Maybe He Is A DECOY By Me Saying That I Mean As In 4 Guys Would Be To Focused On Him And His Little Two Points Rather Then The Other 4 Guys Which Has Made That Team The Best 3-Point Shooting Team In The League. If I Was Woodson I Would Say Hey We Can Not Be Concerned About 1 Man On The Offensive End And The Deffensive End If We Do We Will End Up Just Like The Bobcats Cuz Thats Exactly What They Did. Hell I Would Say Let Howard Bet You And Take The Other 4 Games Out Of Their Game, Let Howard Catch The Ball The More Times He Catches It We Have A 50-50 Chance He Will Get Called For A Foul Or We Will But Do Not Let The Best 3-Point Shooting Team Get Going. Nelson,Carter,Lewis, Are The Guys To Every Single Series Not Howard Y Do People Think Just Because He Is Out Of A Game The Magic Will Pose No Threat To Any Team?????? They Are Still Able To Win He Is Just A Very Strong Decoy That Distracts Your Team From What Is Really Beating Them.And They Dont Realize It Until They Are Sent Home Looking At The Next Round From Their TV Screens.
Jokeman 4000
May 6th, 2010
5:45 am
I Dont Get It…. If We Was Playing IN College And Coach Told You What Plays To Run You Would Run Them Its The Same With NBA Woody Says Iso Joe So They Run Iso Joe We Cant Get Made At JJ For Not Passing The Ball He Is Only Doing What His Coach Tells Him. He Just Needs To Come Up With Plays That Envolves All His TeamMates So Its 50-50 50 On The Players On The Defensive End And 50 On The Coach For Always Calling The Same Play. I Always Felt That Iso Play Should Be If A Player Is Hot and Shooting Lights Out Not As A Regular Play You Run 85% Of The Time
Eric C.
May 6th, 2010
5:53 am
No leadership, no discipline, no mental toughness, etc. etc. etc.
JeJe
May 6th, 2010
6:19 am
WOODY DOESN’T CARE ABOUT WINNING TONIGHT. HE SAID “WIN OR LOSE.”
LMFAO
SMGDH
FIRE WOODY
JeJe
May 6th, 2010
6:21 am
“If we can just be competitive here for four quarters and make it a game, win or lose,” he said. “Make it a game. And then you go home and handle your business at home, which we’ve done. Anything can happen, but it can’t just be lopsided like it was [Tuesday] night.”
-Woody
WTF is this MORON talking about?. We LOST to the Bucks at HOME, you dumb@$$. So you don’t even WANT to win tonight, but it’d be nice? Can someone please send this quote to the dumb@$$ ASG or NBA and get the moron FIRED?
JeJe
May 6th, 2010
7:10 am
WOODY DOESN’T KNOW WHAT WENT WRONG THE OTHER NIGHT
LOL
O'Brien
May 6th, 2010
7:11 am
Despite having a top 5 PG in Steve Nash, Alvin Gentry still found consistent PT all season for his backup Goran Dragic. He played 1442 minutes during the season (compare that to 719 for Teague). In the playoffs, Dragic is averaging 6 pts and 2 assists in 14 mpg. And this allows Nash to be fresh down the stretch.
I know our bench is not as good as some of these other teams out there, but I think if Woody had allowed them to take their lumps early on in the season (including Teague), we would have been a better team down the stretch.
Because whats the point of 53 wins if you’re going to look this bad in the playoffs (we have looked bad in 4 out of 8 games)? Wouldn’t it be better to have 50 wins, but be playing good basketball in the playoffs?
That being said, I look for a great effort tonight. These Hawks are very inconsistent, but they have shown resiliency at times. I think they come out ready to play, I think JJ plays much better, and we keep it close into the fourth. I dont think we’ll win (I hope I’m wrong), but I think Hawks keep it close to 10.
OrlandoFan
May 6th, 2010
7:31 am
Woody:“Make it a game. And then you go home and handle your business at home, which we’ve done.”
This ‘win them all at home and steal one on the road’ attitude may have worked for the Bucks without Bogut, but does your coach really think wins against a full strength Orlando are assured because they are being played in Atlanta?
ANY win by Atlanta in games 3 and 4 will be an upset…any loss and the Hawks are finished (assuming Orlando wins tonight). No way on this Earth Hawks come back from 1-3 in this series against Orlando.
jeff
May 6th, 2010
7:33 am
Someone posted that JJ shows up for the playoffs. Do you not read stats? JJ is way off of his averages in all aspects of his game in the playoffs and not just this year. Go to NBA.com search JJ and you can see for yourself. JJ probably touches the ball in a given game more than anyone on the floor. (Both teams) Given this he should be averaging 20PTS, 10 ASSTs every game, he doesn’t come close to that. Reason? ISO JOE, He isn’t Kobe, LeBron, Wade, etc. But we have praised him for so long as well as Woody and the other players, that he is their all-star, he puts his name in that class. Sadly enough we go as Joe goes mentality is the down fall of this team. Therefore- he thinks the game or series can’t be one without him taking 25-30 shots, dribbling the shot clock down and hitting one of his infamous fade-away jumpers. This team and Joe would be so much better if JJ would pass the ball. But- no lets dribble, take a shot, miss, hope Al or Smith can rebound then they can get theirs (points).
I still like the idea that I mentioned is run the rotation to every 6-7 minutes, keep fresh bodies and legs on the floor. Plus- you limit JJ’s ISO’s.
Bottom Line- JJ passes the ball and gets 7-10 assists we will win tonight. If he loads the team up on his shoulders and gets 5 or less assists and continues to ISO all night we lose and lose big. This will be found out within the first 12 minutes tonight.
NEW APPROACH
May 6th, 2010
7:53 am
Okay, you know we cannot stop Howard, so don’t try to. Just single cover him and try to limit how close he gets to the basket. Let’s see if he can get 40 without any dunks and lay ups; and we know he struggles from the foul lline. More so try to shot down their 3pt game. We are a mobile, athletic team and we should be able to move our feet and play good enough defense to not get killed with their shooting. Let’s see how Jameer Neslson, Rashard Lewis, Vince Carter and company fare when they are not just bombing wide open shots.
So again game plan is to let Dwight get his and shut everyone else down. Dwight is not as good offensively as we make him look at times. Even if this method in not full proof, we should not lose by 40+ pts. Above all keep competing for 4 quarters and don’t lay down like other night.
Cali girl
May 6th, 2010
7:58 am
Just let Al play Dwight one on one no double team cause u saw that all Dwight does is pass it out to the perimeter shooters don’t double team also because then u get our big men in foul trouble
Dwight is not going to score 30+ points cause every shot under the rim is not going to just go in without some defensive effort let him keep scoring if not that if u foul him let him go to the line he’s not a good free throw shooter anyway
and hawks just go to the paint cause dwight makes dumb fouls anyway u have to drive to the rim to score and not settle for jumpshots because somebody is going to foul u going in the paint anyway!!
just play 48mins i still have some kind of hope
GO HAWKS!
Nacho
May 6th, 2010
8:08 am
Bibby don’t have leadership qualities.
1. He stands still on offense and watches.
2. He is the worst defender in the NBA.
3. He slows down our running game.
4. He is the worst defender in the NBA.
5. He dates Woody (something’s up)
jeff
May 6th, 2010
8:39 am
It isn’t just Bibby that don’t have leadership qualities. Woody or no one else for the Hawks have leadership qualities.
Mz. Hawkdafied
May 6th, 2010
9:19 am
The Hawks beat the Magic once in 08-09, once in 09-10, so it is fair to say they can beat them again. BELIEVE!
JeJe
May 6th, 2010
9:25 am
If we can just be competitive here for four quarters and make it a game, win or lose,” he said. “Make it a game. And then you go home and handle your business at home, which we’ve done. Anything can happen, but it can’t just be lopsided like it was [Tuesday] night.”
-Woody
WTF is this MORON talking about?. We LOST to the Bucks at HOME, you dumb@$$. So you don’t even WANT to win tonight, but it’d be nice? Can someone please send this quote to the dumb@$$ ASG or NBA and get the moron FIRED?
Chuck Harrison
May 6th, 2010
9:35 am
I am a long time Magic fan. Long before they were very good.
Im not going to tellyou what to do to be competitive…you could be. The matchups are not good for you. You would do better against Cleveland or Boston than us. But that is no reason tnat you can’t be competitive.
Regardless, as fans, you are pretty much a bunch of canables. Not all of you, but most. I supported our team when they were not very good. You have a good team that is stuck with a really bad matchup.
I would love for a few Atlanta fans to get on this blog and show some confidence and belief in your team. If they hear your words, it doesn’t give them much of any hope.
You do have a good team. If you don’t panic, you can tweak it and be exactly where you want to in the next few years.
oldmike
May 6th, 2010
9:56 am
I have been posting on these Hawks blogs for 3 years now. One thing for sure. The thread is always the same. ISO Joe is a no-go. FIRE WOODY. Give the rook PG more playing time. Weak perimeter defense. FIRE WOODY. All us posters share a passion for Hawks basketball. More of a passion for excellence in Basketball. A trait this team lacks big time. Ownership needs to look hard and intelligently at the make up of the squad and make the right decisions. I think this team is 2 moves from being elite.
1. Don’t dump max money on Joe. It strangles the franchise and will not bring back a title.
2. Don’t extend WOODY.
A new coach – any coach – needs to have a commitment to sharing the ball, finding a rotation that works as well as develops the players and prepares the team for the playoffs. Third seed means nothing if number 2 is the Magic and we are still playing dumd ball this late in the year in this year in the reign of Coach WOODY. Pay big bucks to Bosh.
northcyde
May 6th, 2010
10:08 am
jeff
May 6th, 2010
7:33 am
Someone posted that JJ shows up for the playoffs. Do you not read stats? JJ is way off of his averages in all aspects of his game in the playoffs and not just this year. Go to NBA.com search JJ and you can see for yourself. JJ probably touches the ball in a given game more than anyone on the floor. (Both teams) Given this he should be averaging 20PTS, 10 ASSTs every game, he doesn’t come close to that. Reason? ISO JOE, He isn’t Kobe, LeBron, Wade, etc. But we have praised him for so long as well as Woody and the other players, that he is their all-star, he puts his name in that class. Sadly enough we go as Joe goes mentality is the down fall of this team. Therefore- he thinks the game or series can’t be one without him taking 25-30 shots, dribbling the shot clock down and hitting one of his infamous fade-away jumpers. This team and Joe would be so much better if JJ would pass the ball. But- no lets dribble, take a shot, miss, hope Al or Smith can rebound then they can get theirs (points).
I still like the idea that I mentioned is run the rotation to every 6-7 minutes, keep fresh bodies and legs on the floor. Plus- you limit JJ’s ISO’s.
Bottom Line- JJ passes the ball and gets 7-10 assists we will win tonight. If he loads the team up on his shoulders and gets 5 or less assists and continues to ISO all night we lose and lose big. This will be found out within the first 12 minutes tonight.
*************************
Jeff . . . how about keeping a note of this tonight. Keep track of how many passes to wide open shooters that JJ makes, and see how many shots that they miss.
People keep calling JJ a “ball-hog”, simply because he tries to take his man off the dribble, but don’t even see that he’s NOT EVEN TAKING THAT MANY SHOTS. In JJ’s current 4 game slump, the “ball hog” has taken 16 . . 24 . . 14 . . and 11 shots in a game. That’s a little over 16 shots per game during that stretch.
Any other star or lead scorer is taking 20+ shots a game.
The problem with JJ hasn’t been the shots he’s taking. He should be getting up MORE SHOTS. The problem with JJ, has been the turnovers.
People kill me trying to diss a guy who has ran ISO for 5 years, and had his 2nd best season as a Hawk in 2010. But act like everytime JJ misses a shot out of ISO, that it’s a bad thing. JJ HAS to take those shots. But when he’s off, JJ willingly scales back his shot selection, and defers to others. He’s done that his entire career when his shot is off.
So who do people want JJ to pass the ball to?
Bibby?
Marvin?
An ICE COLD Crawford ( who should be taking a hell of a lot more heat than he’s getting from this fan base . . who was all on his jock the entire season )
Oh I know . . . we can run offense in this series through Horford, even though Dwight Howard is guarding him.
I guess he can always pass to Smoove as well.
The bottom line is that JJ MUST jack up anywhere from 16- 22 shots a game, for us to win. That’s his job as the leading scorer and best shot creator on the team. Yes, he does need to get others involved, because that’s his job too.
But don’t get it twisted. We’re not winning anything with JJ getting up 15 shots a game in this series. Not when Dwight is causing havoc in the paint and frustrating our frontline players. JJ, and even Crawford, are going to have to shoot the ball and make some shots. I don’t care if it’s out of set plays, ISO, or transition.
For Real
May 6th, 2010
10:12 am
Starting line-up:
Joe PG
Marvin SG
Josh SF
Al PF
Joe Smith C
On defense play a 3-2 zone to take away the Magic’s outside game and use their 24 fouls on Howard. On offense pull whomever Howard is guarding away from the basket and run pick and roll with JJ, Marvin or Josh. The Hawks have the height advantage at the PG, SG, and SF position.
Orlando Magic News & Notes: Magic Hold Light Practice, Hawks Remain Confident | Howard the Dunk | An Orlando Magic Blog
May 6th, 2010
10:19 am
[...] You can find that story here. [...]
For Real
May 6th, 2010
10:19 am
Oh and when I say “pick and roll”. I mean roll ALL THE WAY TO THE BASKET! Not “pick and pop”. Make Howard block your shot on a strong move to the basket. Oh and can we please, please, please start using the freaking backboard!
nolerick
May 6th, 2010
10:20 am
Chuck Harrison
you are a very classy guy! I am a Hawks fan living in Orlando, and I read the blogs on the Sentinel, most of those guys are the most arrogant bunch fans I have ever seen. I like the Magic and ATL homeboy D12, but the fan base makes it hard to like the Magic.
O'Brien
May 6th, 2010
10:29 am
In last night’s close game against the Spurs, Steve Nash’s backup was 0-5, 0 points, 3 assists and 4 rebounds. But Gentry still lef thim out there for 13 minutes, in a close game.
I know that rotations tend to shorten in the playoffs, but I like what the Suns and Gentry are doing.
In the playoffs, the Suns have had 4 games decided by 9 pointr or less. However, in all 8 postseason games, they have played 10 players every single game, and no player has received less than 9 mpg.
northcyde,
Crawford has been horrible. But I wonder if people hold JJ to a higher standard because unlike Crawford, this is not his first year in the playoffs. Unlike Crawford, he is our 4 time all-star. Unlike Crawford, he is in the last year of his contract and will be looking for a MAX contract. For the last few games, he has not lived up to what you expect from a max player who talks about wanting to be in the conversation of elite players.
I’m not saying its right, and I’m not saying its all JJ’s fault (because the other players and coaches play a big role), but given the situation, JJ is going to get most of the heat.
SLAM ONLINE | » Atlanta Hawks Ready to Put Game 1 Behind Them
May 6th, 2010
10:31 am
[...] brave face, despite the beatdown they absorbed from Orlando in the series opener. They tell the AJC that they’re ready to even things up tonight: “It was just one game, but it was an embarrassment. ‘Yeah, it is,’ J.J. said at [...]