Atlanta Hawks Squawks Game 1: Magic 114, Hawks 71
This is how it looked from their perspective. (AP)
ORLANDO–The Hawks opened the East semis by suffering a historic beat down. it was their largest playoffs defeat since the team moved to Atlanta. The Atlanta Hawks lost 111-76 at Philly in ‘82 and the St. Louis Hawks lost 133-75 at Minneapolis in ‘58.
– The Magic’s 43-point victory margin was their second largest in postseason franchise history. Their largest lead of the game was 46; their largest lead during the regular season was 38 in that Jan. 9 game vs. the Hawks. They’ve won their last four home games against the Hawks by an average margin of nearly 32 points.
– Not surprisingly, the Hawks talked afterward about how this is just one game in the series. Yes, they said they can regroup. Yes, they can come up with a plan to beat Orlando.
– “Honestly, it would be harder if we lost by one point on a buzzer beater,” Jamal said. “A game like this, you shake it off and move on.”
– “It’s one loss,” Al said. “We can’t let it be a snowball effect. We have to figure something out and play hard.”
– “We’ll bounce back in Game 2,” J.J. said. “It’s a long series. Anything is possible. We just need to look at the tape and make adjustments.”
– There wasn’t much conviction behind their words. But what else can they say? That they don’t have the depth of personnel to deal with both Dwight and the Magic’s skilled perimeter players? That they can’t run an offense with nearly the same precision, speed and effectiveness as the Magic?
– How can the Hawks really believe they can beat the Magic, especially on this court? They can talk about the missed shots, but what about the way the Magic relentlessly shredded their defense, switches or no switches?
– The Magic privately have to be making plans for the East finals but they went along with the cliches for now. “We understand that it’s only one game and in order for us to win this series we have to dominate every night like we did tonight,” Dwight Howard said
– What’s to say they can’t do that? Certainly not the Hawks’ defense. Or their offense. Or much of anything about the Hawks in Game 1.
– “We don’t get discouraged,” Smoove said. “We are a team that perseveres and plays hard. We just have to play better on the defensive end and make it hard for them to score.”
– That’s true but do the Hawks hope to hold the Magic to 70 points? The 10-point second quarter was something that shouldn’t happen in the playoffs. The Hawks had seven turnovers and four field goals in the period. The Magic rebounded 11 of their 13 misses.
– The Hawks seemed to be clueless about how they wanted to attack the Magic. Shoot, there were times when Iso-Joe looked to be better than anything else the Hawks were trying. “We just have to stick with the plan,” J.J. said. “I thought in the first quarter the plan that we had worked pretty good. In the second quarter we just fell apart and never regrouped.”
– The Hawks were back to their “the shots just didn’t fall” explanations. “We haven’t had many games where Jamal, Joe, and Bibby just couldn’t make shots,” Woody said. “It puts too much pressure on you.”
– It happened just a few days ago, in Game 5 against Milwaukee. The Hawks controlled that game until the meltdown because they played respectable D. They didn’t come close to doing that against the Magic. Then again, the Magic ain’t the Bucks.
– “We have to come up with a different game plan because what we have been doing hasn’t been working,” Al said. “We have to figure something out and play harder.”
– They are back to the “play harder, come up with something” line of thinking, too. That’s never a good sign.
– When Al got his first foul, Woody replaced him with Jason Collins and later replaced Josh with Zaza. “That’s the coach’s plan,” Al said. “He felt Jason and Zaza in would be better. I have to deal with that.”
– “I didn’t think that hurt us,” Woody said. “That was towards the latter part of the first quarter. We came in with Jason and Jason picked up a few fouls, but I didn’t want Al going through the quarter with two fouls and now he’s got to be looking over his shoulder going into the second quarter. I thought we played it right. That had nothing to do with second quarter letdown.”
– The Hawks got frustrated with some of the calls, and there were some bad ones that went against them. But most of those came in the first quarter, when the Hawks actually were in the game. “The calls did not go our way but that’s not an excuse,” Josh said. “The refs are not going to help them beat us by 50 points.”
– Howard had a big game. The Hawks’ “no dunks” approach didn’t work. But the Magic might have won with Marcin Gortat playing Howard’s minutes considering how they punished the Hawks on the perimeter.
– At this point, I just don’t see a way for the Hawks to guard everything they have to guard while also coming up with a plan to score efficiently against the Magic to make this a series. “We’ve beaten them before,” Horford said. “We are the third seed so we knew we were going to have to play them. We put ourselves in this position. We earned this.”
– When you look at what Boston is doing in the Cleveland series, what happened to the Hawks tonight, and how they huffed and puffed against Milwaukee, doesn’t it start to look like they didn’t close that gap so much after all?
– “They embarrassed us but we have have another one on Thursday and we will get ready for that,” Bibby said.
– I’m out, Hawks fans.
MC
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196 comments Add your comment
northcyde
May 5th, 2010
2:00 pm
That should say . . they shot 55% FT ( Kentucky missed 13 FTs )
Nacho
May 5th, 2010
2:04 pm
No only does Bibby not push the ball up like EVERY other PG in the league, he actually will hold the ball up every chance possible. The Hawks want to run and Bibby wants to walk it up so that he can hand it off.
Bibby is limited, so is Woody.
jeff
May 5th, 2010
2:07 pm
We could have a defense substitution at every whistle. Bring in West and Collins. Lol….. All of this is a joke. If Joe passes the ball, and everyone moves without the ball we will win a couple of games. Playoff ISO’s don’t work. 1 player doesn’t win games. It is a team game and has always been. If players aren’t getting their share of touches, they tend to get bored. When they do finally get the ball, they want to score too, so they aren’t inclined to pass the ball back to the ball hog/hogs. It has been that way from elementary school, and is just human nature. You share with me and I will share with you.
jeff
May 5th, 2010
2:10 pm
Get over the TEAGUE love already. He isn’t nor should he be playing extended minutes now. He got limited at best play during the season, and now isn’t the time to see if he can handle this team. He will go to summer league polish his skills and compete for the starting job next year. But this year spot duty or mop up duty is really all he is good for.
Grandad
May 5th, 2010
2:12 pm
Would Joe’s money be more well spent
using a kind of *Daryl Morey model:
*[Houston]
S & T Joe preferably – Chicago = Noah
*with Joe’s money:
FA – sign (1)Redick or (2)Morrow *[replace Joe/shooter]
FA – sign Amir Johnson [shotblocker/energy player]
FA – sign Bonner ??? [stretch 4]
FA – could look @ Haywood [Big] or Lowry [pt. guard]
trade Bibby – frees up more money.
replace with:
FA – Roger Mason or try & keep ‘Mo’.
Bring Childress back or S & T – Toronto:
Reggie Evans [Tough Guy]
Oh yeah / don’t forget:
Draft – ‘Brian Zoubek’
Hire – Mike Budenholzer
Mr. Sund I’ve already figured it all out.
Not much left for you to do this summer.
(tongue planted firmly in jaw)
Hey I’m retired, can’t play golf right now, I love basketball.
What else am I gonna do? This is my diversion & pastime.
Grandad
May 5th, 2010
2:15 pm
addendum:
I wasn’t sayin’ sign ‘em all, just idea’s of who,
[needs based] was available.
bigdave
May 5th, 2010
2:24 pm
Northcyde..
they couldnt hit the side of a barn yesterday, no contention there. however, these slumps are nothing new. we’ve yet to find ways to score the basketball when 1 pass and shot isnt working. thats a problem. Joe’s turnovers, or at least 2 of the top of my head, came from guys not being ready for the rock when he commanded the attention of more that 1 defender. or having no lanes or outlets to put the ball due to floor balance.. it just sucked. we have to work to hard to score buckets.
“our running game during the Woody era, has always been ignited by our forwards ( mainly Smoove ).”
ive addressed this a couple seasons now.. this is a problem. like most teams, your fast breaks are started by long rebs. usually off of missed 3’s. our bigs by default of our defensive principles are far away from the basket and able to secure the long board and begin a possible break. though we’d be better served by our bigs beating their man up the floor (w/out the ball) and the ball in the hands of a ball handler. its a matter of role definition. im saying that a faster tempo would call for a guard who could actually push the ball up the floor.. Bibby is casually turning the ball over in break opportunities this whole playoff. his passes have been sub par.
“That’s who we are. We can’t change who we are as a team, just because other teams have played a style that has been successful against the Magic.”
what do you mean? who is suggesting that..? im sorry but who we are shouldnt be putting up 10pts in a qrt. who we are shouldnt be acting like you’re supposed to be here and being beat by 40.. then acting as if its cool. nawwww… no way the Hawks should be soo inconsistent. need a more pro active philosophy in here. so we can make be the team that instills will.. and not have to always play the counter man. at least we should no what we’re doing. im afraid our guys dont have a clue. i mean, they say it themselves all the time..
“I wish I knew what happened.”
bigdave
May 5th, 2010
2:27 pm
* “can be”
* “know”
GeeMack
May 5th, 2010
2:31 pm
The Truth
If the Hawks allow the Magic to embarrasses them, then how is Van Gundy at fault.
I wish they would have beat the Hawks by 75 to a 100. If they show up and compete for 48 minutes then this is not a blow out.
Grandad
May 5th, 2010
2:38 pm
northcyde:
You keep making all our points for us:
It’s like ‘Nacho’ said:
“Not only does Bibby not push the ball up like EVERY other PG in the league, he actually will hold the ball up every chance possible. The Hawks want to run and Bibby wants to walk it up so that he can hand it off.”
Bibby drags his tired old butt down the floor & slows us down.
Joe doesn’t want to run.
[can't blame him, alot of miles on those wheels]
We are supposed to be a runnin’ team, Wdsn’s words:
per Michael Cunningham [paraphrase]
When asked what was his offensive philosophy?
Rebound the ball so we can get out and run.
*[once again, paraphrase] *accurate, however!
the only way we run is for Josh & or Al to take off
with the ball after rebounding…Bibby or Joe will
stop the running game every time unless joe *leaks out!
*[Cherry picks/snowbirds/etc.]
We are basically a team built to run with ‘Granny Clampett’
behind the wheel…man did I mix mataphors or what?
bigdave
May 5th, 2010
2:40 pm
Woodson cant motivate his team… i remember Larry Brown telling his club to come out and hit them in the chin.. its a long series, and they fought for him… i wonder what Woodson told his bunch? i fail to believe that you cant create a more consistent offense with 50+ wins talent.. clearly there is weakness with identifying strengths/mismatches and devising a scheme/strategy. u just dont have this talent and lose to the tune of 43.. or routinely get whipped by double digits by the same tactics..
jeff
May 5th, 2010
2:44 pm
just in….. the team is going to dinner again to iron out there differences.. Woody is staying at Disney world.
Sautee
May 5th, 2010
2:58 pm
northcyde,
You said this: “And this is what I’ll say about Teague. When he is in the game with the 1st unit, couldn’t he take it upon himself to try to do something outside of the set offense, to try to make an impact? Couldn’t he get the ball, and push it up the floor, even if the coach instructs him to get the ball to JJ or Jamal?”
LOL at thinking that Teague plays with the entire first unit. Yeah, right.
Then you said this (which in MY mind contradicts your earlier statement):
“Najeh said that Teague had better leadership qualities than Bibby. Well, part of being a leader is assessing a situation, and doing what you think is the best thing to do. I don’t blame Teague for following the “plan”. But sometimes when you see something on the court, and you know you can make a positive play, you deviate from the “plan” and do what you need to do to make the positive play. That’s true leadership right there. Hopefully Teague will develop that quality throughout his NBA career.”
LOL at this: “I don’t blame Teague for following the “plan”.”
Hell you just DID blame him for it in the previous paragraph!
And just what do you think Woody’s reaction would be if Teague “took it upon himself” and what he did resulted in a turnover?
Would Woody think “well, the rook’s just showing true leadership”? Yeah, right.
You are the one who a few weeks ago said “if the bench isn’t producing, pull them off the floor” Which I agree with.
Why doesn’t that go for Bibby too (or ANY starter)???????
cp
May 5th, 2010
2:58 pm
Grandad, I like the idea of Amir Johnson. He fouls a lot but he could be a nice back up pf for us next season. I’m already on the bring in Travis Outlaw for starting sf bandwagon. He has a better handle than Duck, can create his own shot, finishes strong at the rim, and was very clutch when he was at Portland.
cp
May 5th, 2010
3:01 pm
Why doesn’t that go for Bibby too (or ANY starter)???????
Sautee that is a question I haven’t seen a Woodson supporter answer all season although it has been asked a million times. To be honest Ive seen that question for a few years now.
Bib-Dawg
May 5th, 2010
3:07 pm
114-71? Wow that was embarrassing. Hawks payroll – hurry up with our checks!
bigdave
May 5th, 2010
3:08 pm
more good stuff from Sekou, pointing out the obvious.. expanding on our comments…
http://www.790thezone.com/instantreplay/Episodes.aspx?PID=1345
Grandad
May 5th, 2010
3:17 pm
bigdave:
[edited]
“need a more pro active philosophy in here. so we can be the team that instills will.. and not have to always play the counter man.”
I couldn’t agree more.
GeeMack @ The Truth
“If the Hawks allow the Magic to embarrasses them, then how is
Van Gundy at fault.”
I agree thoroughly.
It is our job to stop them, not Van Gundy’s.
Why should he take his foot off our throat.
He should try with & by every means to apply a beat-down.
This is not youth league, run by soccer moms.
His job is to win four game from us!
He began the process of winning the war by applying
that so called beat-down last night.
He most likely accomplished what he set out to do,
which was to completely destroy our ‘false’ *bravado.
*[our players think it is confidence]
“Confidence comes from demonstated ability”…Bill Parcells
We have not demonstrated any inkling, of ability
that we can even compete with *[Orlando].
Section 303
May 5th, 2010
3:35 pm
I have to had it to all of you. I was on here this morning and just got a chance to come back now. I figured no one would be posting anything. What is there to say, really?
I want to believe the Hawks have a chance in this series, but I don’t. There’s going to be some changes. 2nd round may be as far as this group is capable of going.
Anyone listen to 790 The Zone this morning. I don’t like the station, but I listened this morning to hear what they said about the game. They were killing Joe Johnson. And, for the first time, it did not bother me to hear outsiders (non-Hawks fans) rip Joe. He was brutal last night.
This may be a topic for the offseason, but should Joe get a max deal? I love the guy and want him to come back. But, do not think that management could justify a max deal for him. Thoughts?
jeff
May 5th, 2010
3:36 pm
Don’t bring him back unless they send him to PASS before shoot school.
Stan
May 5th, 2010
3:36 pm
Calipari Where art thou?????….are you freakin kidding me…blown out of a playoff game by 40+ points….I say hire calipari at any cost….If Atlanta sports teams want to dance they got t play the fiddler
northcyde
May 5th, 2010
3:46 pm
Ya’ll act like Woody never pulls Bibby. He does it all the time.
But he doesn’t put the guy you want in the game. He simply moves Crawford to the 1. At that point, it’s up to Crawford to make the plays he usually makes.
***********************
The other issue that needs to be discussed, is the Horford vs Howard situation. The trend has been that Horford is not only not effective against Howard, he can’t even get a shot up over him, without someone creating a shot opportunity for him. It’s pretty much apparent that this is the worst possible matchup for Boss Horford.
So if that’s the case, the other “adjustment” should be to start Zaza and bring Horford off the bench . . . just for this series. And when you start Zaza, that doesn’t mean that you try to run offense through him. No . . . just let Zaza play his game for about a 6 – 7 minute stretch against Howard to start each half, and then insert Horford into the game. Then see if Horford can do damage vs a somewhat tired Howard, or Gortat.
If it’s any adjustment that Woody needs to make, I’d try that one first.
jeff
May 5th, 2010
3:53 pm
Heck Sit Marvin and start Horford and ZAZA
Grandad
May 5th, 2010
3:59 pm
northcyde:
You’re all hat and no cattle.
More & more you’re startin’ to sound like the *’Mad Hatter’
*[Truth Serum] for the uninformed.
Lewis Grizzard once said:
“you ought not to rassle with a hawg,
’cause you get all muddy & besides that,
the hawg likes it”
I’m tired of rasslin’ with you.
No offense ‘TS’.
CrazyLegs
May 5th, 2010
4:11 pm
As much as I’d like to believe the Hawks will make this series competitive, I know better. Yes I will be at the home games screaming for the Hawks as usual, win or lose. In reality, we could probably overcome the Dwight Howard mismatch if we had a legit point guard (meaning one who can create off the dribble and make the other point guard work to get shots off). Imagine if we could get someone like CP3 or even his backup Darren Collison. Then “no-show Joe” could at least be free to run off screens and expend less energy trying to create his own shot. The point guard is the engine that runs any team and ours needs some mechanical work to say the least. Our guards rarely take charges or get fouls for anything other than reaching. But, if Joe leaves and we can’t get D-Wade, go after Dirk. Contrary to popular belief, he shows up to play in the playoffs and will call out his teammates if necessary (uh, Erick Dampier).
kwooden1
May 5th, 2010
4:20 pm
Last night was a terrible loss!! The problem wasn’t that Orlando kept scoring the issues was the HAWKS couldn’t score! Clearly the lack of ball movement and poor shooting was the problem. Overall I think the HAWK’S problem with Orlando is they get out coached for most of the game and imitated by Howard’s shot blocking. Since the HAWKS have no ball movement it’s easy for Howard to sit in the middle of the court and wait for someone to come to him.
Horford missed several easy jump shots and dunks, but otherwise I liked how he attacked Howard. I also thought Collins gave some good fouls because Howard is still shooting poorly from the line. Our real problem is the lack of ball movement so we can’t drive and get fouled. We have to get Dwight in foul trouble if we’re going to complete.
GO HAWKS!!
Mike
May 5th, 2010
4:22 pm
Why in the world would Van Gundy want to let down in anyway? He still has to win 3 more games, no coach wants to give any momentum going into the next game.
He also played his bench in the 4th, including 3rd stringers like AJ and Bass. Should they purposely try to play bad to make the other team feel good?
Atlanta should be embarrassed for having no heart, they could have kept it within 10-15 by playing hard, but they played selfishly trying to go 1 on 5 against the best defense in the NBA and not contesting anything. Orlando had 23 assists and Atlanta had 13.
kwooden1
May 5th, 2010
4:28 pm
My vote is to hire Byron Scott this summer. I know Byron pissed some people off in NJ and NO but I think he would get instant respect and he’s a tough minded guy. If we don’t get Byron, then we should find a new guy like Brooks.
GO HAWKS!!!
bpullin
May 5th, 2010
4:32 pm
Out-coached. Out-played. Out-classed.
They have no business being seeded as high as they are.
There are no leaders on this team. They are all selfish and lazy slackers.
AG
May 5th, 2010
4:58 pm
Woodson’s comments on making shots, heck THAT IS THE REASON IN IS BASKETBALL. MAKE SHOTS WIN GAMES, MISS SHOTS LOSE GAMES!!!! Wow, I can’t believe the head coach said that! My 3-year old daughter has already figured that one out. Maybe a little strategy for us to make more shots, by decreasing their difficulty! Increase them missing shots but using strategy to make them take low percentage shots.
Northclyde, you are right, win by the three, die by the three. The players are not reacting around the ball for the double team. It is okay to double him, but make him through a tough pass (across court which is a no -no). He actually did it a few times, but Marvin, Mo, etc were not anticipating those passes. Best defense against the Magic, keep them guessing.
Taylor
May 5th, 2010
4:58 pm
Byron Scott? you mean the guy who lost by like 40 to the nuggets? No thank you
Sautee
May 5th, 2010
5:00 pm
northcyde,
about this: “The other issue that needs to be discussed, is the Horford vs Howard situation. The trend has been that Horford is not only not effective against Howard, he can’t even get a shot up over him, without someone creating a shot opportunity for him. It’s pretty much apparent that this is the worst possible matchup for Boss Horford.”
One would think that by last night. However, look at Horford’s shooting stats in the 4 regular season games against the Magic:
15-28
Now how in the world did the KING OF RESEARCH miss that? 15-28 against the DPOY.
We need to keep force feeding it to Al and let him take it to Dwight.
Over and over. Dwight WILL eventually start to foul. Just because Horford had a bad night (along with EVERYBODY ELSE), is no reason to go away from him, anymore than it is to go away from JJ. Do what they’ve done all year, right?
That means take it inside, where they have won most games. They ARE the tops in the league at points in the paint, right? We should also play Horford WITH Zaza, and post him up on Lewis or Anderson.
Do what they’ve done all year. Take it inside. Open things up.
northcyde
May 5th, 2010
5:04 pm
@ Grandad
All I’m doing is discussing basketball, without all of the name calling and whatnot, like you told me to. Even though I’m been called some of everything in this thread.
@ Wabe
I didn’t mention Teague first. Najeh did in his ranting about Bibby. I just jumped in to express my opinion of Teague.
@ everybody else
If we passed the ball, but still missed jumpers and lay-ups, does that mean that our offense was better?
NUNNA!!
May 5th, 2010
5:05 pm
NORTHCYDE SAID:”Fact is . . whenever Teague enters a game with it still in the balance, he almost never affects the game. He’s just . . . . out there. ”
—————————————————————————————————————————————
U know why??
Because teague is always looking over this shoulder and anytime he even sneezes wrong,woody is pulling him out..
He never gets into a rhythm ever!! And how can he if woody does not even let him play his game and allow him to let the game come to teague.
Lets say that:
MC=WOODY
NORTHCYDE=TEAGUE
YOUR COMMENTS=TEAGUES PLAY
He lets you comment on this blog every other day,and has other bloggers (who most disagree with and know that you make more sense than they do),on here all the time night and day just talking their butts off!!
Every time someone(from another blogger team) vents or comments about our team,and you want to debate them,MC pulls you back and tells you to sit down..MC says to you,”Im running the hawks blog and you need to watch and learn northcyde cause u are not ready yet,so wait your turn”
And,everytime one of the other bloggers WHO ARE ON YOUR TEAM LIKE:(drmaryb,big dave,najeh,big ray,among others),comments and then stalls and does not make good points in their debate on the blog,MC,STILL DOES NOT LET YOU GET ON THIS SITE..
But ,MC will only let u in when the argument is well out of range for a come back..
And on top of that,whenever you make a bad argument on the blog,he blocks you from commenting..
Now you are not used to coming on so late in the blog,and you think that even though your OPINION is better than the others,you think that you should be on more but your not..
How can you affect the blog,and make your point on here without looking over your shoulder knowing that MC is gonna yank you once you say what he deemed as something “stupid”??
Thats what teague is facing,but,he also does not run the point..He brings the ball up and Jamaal flips his hands open and the rook has to give up the ball..Teague never looks comfortable out there unless it is out of reach and he has mo,west,collins,joe smith,and maybe randmo or zsa zsa out there with him and he knows that he is running it..
If he were able to turn his self loose and play like he wants and do his thing and let the game come to him,then i think he will make a difference.
But how in da heck can you make a difference knowing that you also have to keep looking over your shoulder?
Teague handing the ball off to jamaal is just like if you sign onto this blog under your name, “northcyde”, but you can’t comment yet and then someone comes to your computer (as your had the ball off like teague does to jamall)and starts typing for you,ON YOUR COMPUTER!!
All because MC says so..and he thinks you are not ready yet..
If you can honestly work that way,then dang,you are more powerful than most..FOR REAL..
but just like im not gonna say that this kid can’t lead this team,im not gonna give up on these guys yet either..even after last nite..
sam'l
May 5th, 2010
5:14 pm
You could start Mary B for Marvin Williams….I’m sure she’s a lot tougher…….
(Actually, I know how to beat the Magic…..but I’m not going to tell you.)
So you’ll just have to wait for the ultimate motivator….that moment when each and every Hawk looks himself in the mirror and says, “That’s it….I don’t care what anybody thinks…..Screw it” and then goes out and plays his heart out.
Ken Strickland
May 5th, 2010
6:06 pm
NORTHCYDE-Those of us who feel Teague could be a possible solution know exactly how you feel when you say you get tired of hearing it. All season long, especially after the Allstar break, we got tired of seeing first hand that MBibby wasn’t the solution, but rather the problem. Can you imagine how frustrating it was for us to see Woodson insist on playing he and his OFF/DEF limitations an average of 27.5MPG and get nothing but inconsistency and a lack of production in return, especially on DEF?
Even the most ardent and delusional BIBBY LOVER can’t deny he’s lost almost all of his skills, and is the NBA’s least productive starting PG. We are one of the NBA’s quickest, fastest, and most efficient uptempo, fast breaking teams, yet we rely on an inconsistent, 3pt shooting PG that’s the NBA’s least athletic and slowest non penetrating PG.
So NORTHCYDE, when fans talk about Teague being a possible solution, they’re actually talking about using his speed, quickness, penetrating ability and excellent DEF to solve the match up problems that exists on the team itself. I’m referring to the matchup problems Woodson creates by stubbornly insisting we rely on a slow, unathletic, nonpenetrating one dimensional PG to run an uptempo team filled with quick, fast, athletic players.
vava74
May 5th, 2010
6:11 pm
“Superman always soars above the crowd when playing against poorly coached, undersized teams — like Atlanta, and unlike Charlotte.”*
This would give a beautiful sample for Joe Smith next tune!
* Charley Rosen @ msn.foxsports.com
northcyde
May 5th, 2010
6:37 pm
Sautee, I didn’t miss a thing sir. I’m just curious as to why you didn’t tell the entire story about Horford vs the Magic.
- that although he shot 53% FG . . he only averaged 8 pts and 7.3 rebs
- that on the flip side, D. Howard averaged 21 pts and 16.8 rebs
- that he had a bad – good – bad – good game . . followed by a bad game in the playoffs ( which if the pattern holds true, he’ll have a good game )
- that if you add last night’s performance, he’s now 16 – 34 . . but now only averaging 7.2 pts and 7 rebs a game.
- that if you watched the games, you’d see why his shot attempts are much lower vs the Magic ( and the Lakers . . who ironically have a big frontline ), than just about every other team.
- that Dwight Howard’s defense is partially the reason for the low shot attempts.
- that Horford has drawn ONE FOUL against Dwight
See Sautee, this is what I’m talking about. You want Horford, all of a sudden, to do against Howard, what he hasn’t done all year ( matter of fact, his entire career really ).
Horford is mainly taking and making 12 – 18 ft jumpshots vs Howard. But now, we’re supposed to force feed him the balland let him go to work against Howard? Kurt Thomas gave him trouble down on the blocks, but you want hin to go right at Dwight?
Now if you want to get Horford more 16 foot jumpers within the offense, I have no problem with that. But that brings me back to the premise of what I’ve said all along . . .
. . . . people have to start making jumpshots.
northcyde
May 5th, 2010
7:22 pm
Nunna . . that was a cute analogy. Innacurate, but cute.
Because you see . . . if MC was Woody, a blogger like me would FORCE him to play me. My blogging skill level is way too high to NOT be on the board.
See . . a Teague-like blogger wouldn’t gain the serious attention of anybody on the board, outside of a few of his blog fans.
A Teague-like blogger couldn’t discuss a topic, and write no more than one sentence to express his thoughts.
A Teague-like blogger would be relegated to comments like . . “northcyde is an idiot” . . or . . “JJ sucks” . . or . . “FIRE WOODY”.
A Teague-like blogger wouldn’t have the skill or courage enough to challenge the prevaling train of though that goes on this board. He’d simply go with the popular opinion.
So put it like this . . .
if drmaryb is JJ
and Big Ray is Josh Smith
and Strickland is Horford
and Najeh is Marvin
and someone like you is Bibby
then dammit . . . I’m at least Jamal Crawford or Flip Murray . . lol
Because in my case, I immeadiately made my presence known on this board within the first week of blogging regularly on here. The opinions may be erratic, but you’ll definitely notice them, because they are detailed and chalk full of info.
And when I’m on my game ( like today ), then I’m VERY GOOD at what I do. And if you’re a “scrub” blogger, I’d take your spot. The MC version of Woody would be doing himself and the blog a diservice, if he didn’t let me get major minutes in the blog game.
drmaryb
May 5th, 2010
7:45 pm
Grand-Daddy
There was once a famous football coach (Bear Bryant) – I think? Well, his team was badly beaten in a game. Afterwards, the news reporter asked him, “What do you think of the execution of the offensive line?”
Coach replied, “I’m all for it”
-LOL-
drmaryb
May 5th, 2010
8:14 pm
NorthCyde
Look at your right hand- now spread your fingers apart & TALK to the HAND! Yell at it & say,
“You HOT man! – You HOT!” Don’t let D-Wade have all the FUN! This is the NBA man!
Your stuff is crazy today – I’m enjoying the conversation with Nunna.
Charles
May 5th, 2010
8:19 pm
Please Fire Woody. I’m sure he is an okay guy but he is terrinle coach! He is one of the main problems. Here is Hall of Fame Coaching vs. Mike Woodson: The Jazz have made to the second round with only two players drafted from the 1st round (Boozer and D.Williams). Everyone else was drafted in later rounds or they weren’t even drafted at all. But they still manage to compete night in and night out. We (the hawks) have all this talent but get beaten by an average of 24 points a game on the road.But the problem thats bigger then even Mike Woodson is ownership. We have too many owners. And each one just wants to keep money in their pockets. They don’t want to win championships b/c they don’t want to pay the big bucks. I challenge them to prove me wrong! Go out and get us another young star shooting guard (Rudy Gay) to replace Joe. Go get us a center so Al can play PF. Go get us good coach (Marc Jackson). I dare you. Listen I love the Hawks, in fact I Love all Atlanta teams, but facts are facts. Just try PLEASE
slim
May 5th, 2010
10:51 pm
Mike Woodson was a terrible hire from day one! This is Billy Knights team a bunch of 6 foot 9 guys with limited skill sets on offense and low basketball IQ! Orlando gonna win the whole darn thing anyway! Enjoy the nightmare for the next three games. Mike your bags should have been packed years ago dude……
Chris Humpherys
May 6th, 2010
12:42 am
This has all the makings of a short series.
http://sportschump.net/2010/05/05/preview-of-orlando-magic-atlanta-hawks/3636/
Jokeman 4000
May 6th, 2010
5:14 am
*Curious* No It Isnt A Type Of Program I Use Just Something I Do On Here.
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.
slim
May 6th, 2010
8:12 am
Woodson wont change anything because he’s not wired that way. He still starts Marvin Williams the best “WNBA” player I have ever seen who has no clue what’s going on out there after 5 years!!!! Billy Knight past on Chris Paul, Darren William and Danny Granger for this bust??? Are you Kidding me?? Thats why this franchise was and is being dismantle by Orlando everytime they match up. He took Josh Childress over Andre Iquadolla and Lou Aldange..Sheldon Williams over Rudy Gay!!!!!!!! We have 3 bigs that cant score the ball because they are not skilled that way..The guards carry way to much of the scoring load. Joe might as well thank Matt Barnes for shutting him down and keeping him from getting paid max dollars because u ain’t a super star dude!!! Mike Woodson exposes the Hawks weakness rather than hide em….Mike don’t walk, run out of town. We are tired of your excuses….