Atlanta Hawks Squawks Game 2: Magic 112, Hawks 98
ORLANDO– “Almost need the perfect game to beat this team,” Woody said. If that’s true, “almost perfect” for the Hawks does not include things like a 15-point fourth quarter, allowing a 35-point third quarter when they had control of the game and getting scorched for 56 percent shooting.
– “We know we can play in this arena and we can play with these guys,” Smoove said. “We just have to establish ourselves. We have to look at the bright side. We played hard and we didn’t just let them roll over us.”
–The Hawks lost by 14 points despite being nearly perfect from the line, seeing only 39 minutes of Dwight Howard due to foul trouble and a bloody nose and holding the Magic to 17 points in a quarter. “You have to look at the positives,” Jamal said. “We came in their place and were down one entering the fourth quarter. That shows you we are right there.”
– I understand the Hawks have to maintain that positive state of mind but it’s little solace if they are actually trying to win this series. Is this the really the best they can do at Orlando? Take a lead at halftime, spit the bit in the fourth quarter and lose by double digits?
– “I think we are good enough to play with anyone in the league,” Al said. “We have to keep improving and build on how we played in the first half.”
– The Hawks were a model of offensive efficiency in the second quarter: 9 of 21 shooting, 10 of 10 free throws, six offensive rebounds for eight second-chance points and five assists. The first quarter was good, too. “I think we had more movement going around instead of keeping the ball on one side and playing isolation,” Al said. “We were moving the ball and just sharing it. When we play like that, we are at our best.”
– They didn’t play like that in the second half: 41 points, 12 of 33 shooting. J.J. and, to a lesser extent, Jamal were the culprits. The Magic are a good defensive team but the Hawks make it easier for them when the ball stays in one place.
– You had to figure Al would start making jumpers. When he does, it usually means the offense is flowing and Dwight is away from the basket, and both of those are good things. “Al Horford, it seemed like he didn’t miss any shots tonight,” Howard said. “I was upset that he was just on fire.”
– Bibby played just four minutes after halftime, none in the fourth quarter. Maybe having him out there would have improved the flow but, considering the way he defers to Joe, maybe not. Jamal had the Hawks playing faster. He went hard to the basket, too, getting six free-throw attempts.
– “Mike will be back in there Saturday ready to go,” Woody said. “That’s not my worry. It’s all about trying to win. I thought Jamal was playing pretty well but we just didn’t have that in the fourth quarter.”
– You know what you are going to get when Jamal is running the show. The shot distribution was out of wack in the second half: 11 for Jamal, 7 for J.J. and only 5 for Al. So were the minutes: only 5 for Zaza and 4 for Mo.
– VC, Jameer Nelson, Pietrus, and Rashard Lewis combined to make 27 of 51 shots. I still think the Magic just has too many good perimeter players and the Hawks have too many bad matchups out there. That’s something that needs to be addressed in the offseason.
– If the Hawks are going to take the “let Dwight get his” approach, they have to find a way to control all those shooters. Dwight got his and so did Rashard, VC and Jameer. No one is saying it’s easy to do both but that’s what it’s going to take for the Hawks to win this series. “The idea is to put pressure on them,” VC said. “You want to come in as many waves as possible.”
– The Hawks survived Dwight’s 18 points, 6 of 6 shooting and 6 of 9 free throws in the first quarter. He only had 10 over the final three yet the Magic still won going away. “We tried doubling him,” Woody said. “We tried playing him straight up. He got to the free-throw line quite a bit in the first half, but I don’t think that really hurt us. Their threes coming down the stretch were huge in terms of our rotation. We were slow there and they were able to knock down shots there.”
– The Hawks had a 57-49 lead at halftime and then almost immediately gave it back. They started the quarter by coming up empty on five consecutive possessions, including three turnovers. “We just fell apart to start the third quarter to give them momentum to get back in the game,” Woody said
– The Hawks didn’t let it get away from them at that point. The lead changed eight more times over the last nine minutes of the period, the last time on Nelson’s running, banked-in 3-pointer at the buzzer. “I think we relaxed and that’s a big momentum shot for them going into the fourth quarter,” Woody said.
– The Hawks were down just 88-87 early in the third. Then the Magic ripped off runs of 10-0 and 9-0 as the Hawks missed 8 of their next 9 shots, including four in a row by Jamal. “We just didn’t have anything left in the fourth quarter,” Woody said.
– At least the Hawks didn’t stay down once they got down like they usually do on the road. “I think we realized that we had to play harder than what we did [in Game 1],” Al said. “We got away from our game plan in the first game and we learned from that and moved on. We tried to put a full game together tonight but just couldn’t do it. We just have to go home and handle our business and win at home.”
– I’m out, Hawks fans.
MC
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120 comments Add your comment
Deleted?
May 7th, 2010
10:15 am
Mike?
Michael Cunningham
May 7th, 2010
10:16 am
@mike: i’m just trying to give an accurate and fair picture of the team. if you realize the team’s shortcomings that must mean i’m on to something.
BYC
May 7th, 2010
10:20 am
Give Josh Smith a year or two with a new coach, if he doesn’t get it by then trade him. For all his amazing athleticism and talent, the dude is stubborn as hell and has the basketball IQ of an AND1 player. He is also apparently attending Rasheed Wallace Bitch and Whine Academy. I saw him whining after a play where he jumped up in the air and landed ON Dwight Howard. I thought, oh crap, they called a flagrant on him. Nope, regular shooting foul. Its not surprise Josh doesn’t get calls when he’s bitching about obvious fouls like that.
As late as the end of the regular season, I though Josh was untradeable. I thought he was the best player on our team. After the Bucks series and the first two Magic games, we really may need to trade this guy while he’s still worth something.
Also get rid of Bibby and Marvin Williams. They are taking up playing time that could go to other better or improving players. I’m still not sure about Joe, of course if he wants max money let him walk, but a better head coach may be able to find ways to utilize him better than Iso-Joe-24/7.
Brad
May 7th, 2010
10:20 am
MC, no it isn’t anything new. Is anyone in the media going to call him out on that though? Maybe in the form of a question, citing specific times in the game when he did it? I’m not sure I would have the balls to do that if I were in your shoes, but it really should be done.
O'Brien
May 7th, 2010
10:27 am
Guys,
I’m as frustrated as everybody else. But mark Bradley reminded us how we got blown out in Boston. But We still pushed it to 7 games..
Can we do it again? I hope so
ladyhawksfan
May 7th, 2010
10:37 am
Its very obvious that Josh Smith is retarded.He has all the talent,but doesn’t know how to use it.He played a perfect first half,then he quit on his team like a little heifer.He is such a wimp sometimes.The Hawks do have one match up in their favor.Carter defending Marvin is an advantage on the block,but how many times did the ball go in there.Instead we keep putting it in Joes hands and we see where thats getting us,no where.I cant stand this anymore.
FromUpNorth
May 7th, 2010
10:38 am
My 2 cents:
Good game for 2 quarters, then the Hawks lost focus and fell apart by the 4th. I had my doubts about whether they could keep up the solid play for an ENTIRE game – and should we have to feel this way about this team? That’s a major red flag. I’m still pretty happy with the way they played for the first part of the game, though. Mental toughness/focus would have served them well after the half – both the players and the coaching staff take the blame for that. Good game from Horford, JJ surprised me, Smith did fine until he started whining to the refs in the 2nd half.
Justin
May 7th, 2010
10:43 am
Obviously Josh’s attitude and JJ’s overdribbling was a huge problem last night. Al is the only player you can hang your hat on for the Hawks. He has the worst match-up and look at the numbers he still comes up with, with an injured leg. He’s the only one that always brings the same intensity and has that ‘never-say-die’ attitude.
I haven’t written off this series yet. We are a jekyl and hyde team between the road and home. Let’s see how we fare this Saturday. Lose that one and season’s basically over.
As for off-season, no way in this world do I offer JJ a max contract or anything close. Here’s an idea: Sign and trade JJ to a team with a lot of cap space that wants to give max money. Package Marvin with him. Should be able to get something good in return because there are a lot of people out there who think that we just misuse Marvin and that he has a lot of potential. Bring Childress back in from Greece. With all the problems going on in that country right now- raising taxes, cutting pensions, fire-bomb protests- I’d be shocked if he doesn’t opt out. We still have his rights.
Childress is a great team player, great perimeter defender, and can score without plays being called for him. That’s exactly what we need. Then I would think that in return for JJ and Marvin we can probably get a decent big- maybe Chris Kaman and then a shooting guard who doesn’t dominate the ball- Ray Allen-type. I don’t want Ray, but somebody like him who scores without dominating the ball and who can defend better than Ray.
South ga boy in the atl
May 7th, 2010
10:48 am
If we are honest about the Hawks, then we must admit we have reached a tipping point. Either the team is still young and only needs a new coach and some massaging of the roster. Or we have reached our best with this roster and coach and need to make some significant changes. I thinkits the latter not the former, and that kills me to say it. If we choose option 1 and commit max money to JJ then we going “all in” with, I think, a flawed lineup. We would have committed max money to a guy who CANNOT be the leader of the team because it’s just not in him personality wise. We will be committing to a miscast and undersized front line that can’t consistantly play with the elite front lines you have to beat to win a championship. (3 forwards instead of a center, PF, and SF). This lineup has reached it’s potential and if we give JJ max money, with this ownership group that holds up a cardboard sign outside the “The Varsity” every yr that says “team broke down, just need a few million to get on the road again,” then we will have moved all in with maybe “2 pair” to complete the poker analogy. 2 pair has never won a poker tourny.
Justin
May 7th, 2010
11:06 am
@ South Ga boy- I agree that this is a tipping point. We don’t have to blow up the whole roster, but some major moves are in order. What do you think about my idea in the previous post?
south ga boy
May 7th, 2010
11:19 am
Justin, I completely agree that Al is the front line player we can hang our hat on. Im not sure if a sign and trade will work with JJ. The Bull seem to really want him and JJ wants to explore what he is worth on the open market. He wants to have all options open to him with multiple teams courting him, and I cant fault him for that. I would definately consider trying to swap Marvin straight up for another SF around the league and Im realistic about what you could get, but another struggling SF and Marvin might improve with a new team/city. The real question is do you continue with an undersized center in AL or trade Josh and move Al to the 4 where he can dominate against most other 4’s and hold his own against the elite 4’s in the league. The bottom line is we cannot match up against the elite teams with AL/Josh combo at 4 and 5. IT CANNOT BEAT THE LAKERS, CAV’S, MAGIC, OR OUR ALTERNATE EGO’S IN THE WEST, THE NUGGETS. But on the whole, Justin, I agree with the sentiment of your post.
Ken Strickland
May 7th, 2010
11:24 am
MICHAEL CUNNINGHAM-PG has been this teams problem since Woodson arrived, and to say we have to address the problem after he’s been here 6yrs tells you where the real problem is. It was Woodson who didn’t want to draft CPaul or DWilliams because he didn’t think they were capable of performing at this level. It’s Woodson who has this stupid bias against young PG’s, that won’t allow him to commit to any effort to their development.
It’s Woodson who refused to give young PG’s like ALaw and JTeague the consistent mins, support and opportunities to progress. It was Woodson who insisted on giving major mins to Bibby, the NBA’s slowest, least athletic, non penetrating PG, who regressed to the point of hurting the team and becoming a total liability, with his low production and inconsistency.
At this point, saying we need to address the PG position is synonymous to saying we need to address the HC position.
Joel Callins
May 7th, 2010
11:26 am
Will someone suggest to Coach Woodson….”When the other team has put a 7-2 run on us, call a timeout, instead of letting the run balloon into a 19-2 run.” All he has to do is integrate an automatic timeout rule to give the guys a breather, and stop the momentum of the opposing team’s run. By the time Coach Woodson normally calls a timeout in this situation, the damage is usually already done and the fat lady’s warming up!
south ga boy
May 7th, 2010
11:29 am
I also believe that we have to throw our cap over the wall and move Teague to starting PG next yr and see what we have. Bibby can provide some quality minutes off the bench, especially when he’s hot. And, of course, the only way that happens is if Woody is not there because he treats Bibby like his son. (not being sarcastic, its just the truth and as a father of 5 kids, I would love to have Bibby as my son) With multiple fast, athletic, talented PG’s in the eastern conference,(Rose, Jameer, Rondo, Mo Williams, Felton) we have to find out if TEague is the answer or not. Only way to know is play him 35 min a night. I think he is the answer but he has to start and play with the first team for us to know one way or the other.
slim
May 7th, 2010
11:30 am
Rick Sund, you have your work cutout for you thanks to that sorry GM, one of the worst ever BILLY KNIGHT. That man blew up three of four LOTTERY PICKS!!!! What an idiot!!!! No Chris Paul. No Andre Iquadollar, No Rudy Gay or Dany Granger!!! All these guys he passed up!!! The fool….
south ga boy
May 7th, 2010
11:37 am
Ken, I basically agree with your post on PG but you let Billy Knight completely off the hook. Woody doesn’t make final determination on whe we drafted. Knight was the GM, Woody’s boss, and if he had determined that we draft CP then Woody would have had to deal with it. I agree with your summation on Woody’s near maniacal fear of young PG’s but Knight was the boss and he deserves the blame on who was or wasn’t drafted. Blame Woody for not playing TEague enough (personally thought Law was overrated and will never sniff anything but the lemon pledge on the pine in the NBA) but BIlly knight was the giant screw-up when it comes to missed opportunities in the draft.
south ga boy
May 7th, 2010
11:38 am
Slim, completely agree !!!
VenomSpitter
May 7th, 2010
11:40 am
I think I’m the only one who wants to see what Marvin can do if Joe isn’t here and he has a good coach to coach him up. I seriously believe theres something in that duck body wanting to come out but Joe and Woody keep it from coming out.
south ga boy
May 7th, 2010
12:00 pm
VenomSpitter, I don’t have a problem with that either. If Sund wants to trade him straight up for another SF who has some unachieved talent and needs a change of scenery, or keep him after letting JJ walk and moving BIbby to a backup role. In that scenario, I think Marvin may thrive too. I think its 50/50 on which way to go and would really depend on what other SF you could get in a trade for Marvin. I have been saying for some time that, while Marvin has some downside, he cannot find his role in Woody’s limited offense. He’s the 3rd option, behind JJ and Bibby, when it comes to outside shooting, and the 3rd option down low behind Josh and Al. He doesn’t know or really have a “role” in our offense. Some would say, and maybe correctly, he needs to carve out his role. Take the bull by the horns. Maybe he’s still young (of course Im getting sick of hearing that excuse for Josh so if Im honest I have to say the same thing about Marvin and the “youth” excuse) and with a fascillitator at PG (Teague) and a different SG who doesn’t just try to pound the air out of the ball (JJ) but either shoots if open or rotates the ball when covered, then Marvin might flourish. I just dont know which way is the best to go. Its about the 3rd thing to think about after signing/letting go JJ or deciding on whether to keep AL/Josh or trading one. Its down the line after bigger decisions
bigdave
May 7th, 2010
12:01 pm
amongst other things.. the Hawks need to upgrade our bench. say an Anthony Morrow..? other than Jamal nobody else is really a threat to score and put heat on the opposition. allowing our opponent to fully rest their primary guys while we struggle to get offense. Joe Smith should have seen a lot more minutes people. he’s a veteran presence, who will play smart and rebound the ball. a pick and pop threat.
Section 303
May 7th, 2010
12:01 pm
Venom Spitter, you might be the only one who wants that. Marvin is capable of more than he shows, but he seems like a typical head case to me. If we’re ever in a position where we are depending on Marvin, we’re screwed.
northcyde
May 7th, 2010
12:13 pm
I’m not upset with that game last night. We were right there with them going into the 4th quarter. It was almost a complete 180 degree turn from what we showed in Game 1.
The 2nd quarter was one of the best balanced quarters ( offensively and defensively ) that I’ve seen this team play all year. And Horford was excellent.
In the end, it all comes down to 2 things . . . 1) defensive rotation out on the shooters . .. and 2) our guards making the shots they normally make. When the guards went cold, that’s when the game started to turn.
With us being at home for Game 3, I fully expect the complimentary players to play much better, due to the energy of the crowd. Let’s hold serve at home Hawks.
northcyde
May 7th, 2010
12:17 pm
JJ made 5 shots last night . . . 4 of those shots were assisted. While that’s good that he made some assisted shots, that’s almost unheard of from JJ.
You’re talking about a guy who has been so good of an ISO scorer, that he only saw 39% of his shots being assisted during the regular season. The fact is that when the shot clock winds down, you want the ball in his hands because he’s the dude who can create and make his own shot.
He didn’t do that tonight . . . and hasn’t been able to score off the bounce in the last 5 games. But for the Hawks to function, he has to take a few of those types of shots. That’s been his role on this team for the last 5 years. When a play breaks down, make something positive happen.
Unfortunately for him and the Hawks, until he starts making a few of those contested shots that he normally makes, we’re not going to be able to beat the Magic. And I still say that he needs to be around the 20 shot range, regardless of what he’s shooting, in order for this team to have a shot at winning. If he’s 4 – 9 in the first half, I want him shooting enough to possibly see him end up at least 8 for 19. Even if he misses, our frontline may offensively rebound a few of his misses, to give us a 2nd chance in that possession to score.
I thought he was going to come out aggressive tonight, via what he said during shootaround yesterday. But he didn’t. Only taking 3 shots in that 3rd quarter, wasn’t going to cut it, even if he missed all 3. The top tier stars in this league don’t stop shooting the ball. JJ simply has to get his shots up.
He does need to be more decisive though. Either shoot the ball, or attack in the paint to try to create a shot for someone else. If his thumb is bothering him ( as O’Brien suggests ), he may need to go into full playmaker mode, if his shots aren’t falling. But to me, I just feel that he needs to have in his mind that he is going to shoot the ball, and make a decisive move to get his shot off.
MemphisHawk
May 7th, 2010
12:17 pm
Great 1st half, but its a 4 Qtr game….on another note – Josh Smith acted like a child and needs to grow up somewhere else…there needs to be some accountability and consequences for his antics…in the old days the players (like Bird and Magic) would call him out on this crap – since its obvious the players and coaching staff won’t do it I guess it comes down to the fans and journalists to speak up…This Team, despite tons of talent, lacks leadership and discipline. So I ask, Who is the Team Leader? I bet I get 4-5 different responses…
sweetness
May 7th, 2010
12:25 pm
All you Hawks fan. You just started putting fans in seats at the High-Lite Factory. Now you want to run the coach and players out of town. Just remember what you ask for…. Remember 79&80 Falcons.
south ga boy
May 7th, 2010
12:33 pm
Northcyde, agree with some of what you say but whether JJ’s thumb is hurting or not, he still is indecisive when his thumb is fine. He drives me crazy with his tentiveness. He’s not the super star/leader that should get a max contract, but that’s the only way we will be able to keep him because other teams, with far more financial resources than the ASG, will give him max money. And that is the conundrum with JJ. He could be a great NO. 2 but he will never be a NO 1 for a championship caliber team. That’s why we cannot commit max money to a player who is “fools gold” when it comes to the idea he is an elite player that will LEAD the Hawks to a cfhampionship. He cant do it. I have seen enough to make that determination. I would continue to give him what the ASG offerred earlier this yr (4 yrs at 15 mil per) but no more. He wants more and probably can get it on the open market, but he doesn’t deserve Kobe, 20+ mil/yr, type money. Some team, the Bulls probably, will overpay for him and when they find out that he’s a no. 2 and not a no. 1 they will regret it.
404atlhoops
May 7th, 2010
12:33 pm
Anothnoy Morrow still has another year on his contract but that is not a bad call to bloster the Hawks bench for more firepower. The most pressing need for the Hawks other than center is the point guard position. When you look at the new wave of NBA point guards which are now quick penetrating players, you need someone who can play defense at that position. That is what the Hawks lack in the worst way. We got Joe Johnson spending all of his energy trying to guard Nelson and Jennings (Bucks Rd1) when those guys are really way too quick Johnson. I don’t know if Teague is going be that guy but next year is huge for his development.
northcyde
May 7th, 2010
12:39 pm
When Crawford thinks he’s “hot”, he’s going to try to take a game over. He was 3 – 4 FG in that 3rd quarter, had just hit a long 3 at the end of the quarter, and was 6 – 11 FG going into the 4th.
The turning point in that game last night came when JJ went out of the game for a well needed breather. Horford was at the line, getting ready to make his 2nd FT to make it an 88 – 87 Orlando lead. After catching a break with Pietrus missing 2 FTs, Crawford proceeded to miss 4 shots in a row on 3 possessions. He went from being “hot”, to “ice cold’ in a mere 2 minutes.
Make any of those 4 shots, and you’re looking at staying right within 2 or 3 points of the Magic and possibly buying JJ some time on the bench to get rested up for the stretch run. Here is the turning point in the game:
- Hawks down 1, after Pietrus 2 missed FTs. Jamal comes down, gets a screen set on his man by Josh, and takes a wild out of control 12 footer. 3 Magic players were around him and Al was wide open on the other side along the baseline. Hawks get bailed out in transition with Pietrus traveling. Woody calls a timeout ( probably telling Jamal to calm down and possibly buying more rest time for JJ )
- Hawks come out with more movement, seemingly trying to get Horford midrange jumpshot. The shot isn’t there for Horford and he gets the ball back to Jamal. Jamal has Howard playing him softly, so he hesitates a little, and decides to take a 18 footer that he misses. Smoove gets the rebound and immediately passes to Jamal in the corner for a 3 pointer. He misses that shot. Jamal is simply being aggressive as a shooter. But because he’s a streak shooter, he’s now missed his first 4 shots in the quarter.
- After Horford fouls Howard, and Dwight makes 2 FTs, the Hawks come down again. Marvin dribbles across the time line and does a hand-off with Crawford. Josh sets a slight high screen ( not really a screen, he just stands there ). Crawford goes from the right side of the court, dribbling to the left side. He has Jason Williams on him, so he’s looking for his shot all the way. After 11 dribbles, he throws up another wild runner ( similar to the 1st shot I described in this sequence . . and once again over Howard ), and misses. Marvin gets the offensive rebound, but gets his shot blocked by Carter from behind. Josh gets hit in the face by Carter, and grabs his face.
- Magic race the ball down in transition 4 on 5, because Smoove is still holding his face. After a few passes, Vince gets a wide open look for a 3 and drains it. And Smoove still hadn’t crossed halfcourt yet.
In a mere 2 minute stretch, with JJ out of the game, we see the Hawks miss 5 shots ( with Crawford missing 2 wild runners ), and Smoove’s inability to at least get back down the floor after being popped in the face, leading to 5 points by the Magic to get the crowd ( and most importantly Vince Carter ), energized in this game. We’re now down 6 . . and the momentum has totally shifted.
That was the turning point.
jeff
May 7th, 2010
12:40 pm
Clyde- It is SAD that an NBA can only function with only one player bailing them out. JJ isn’t the answer. You can’t dribble for 20-22 seconds, not pass the bal and expect to get a decent shot. Not going to happen, not for your beloved JJ or any other player.
You will see we will be a better offensive team when is playing in NY next year.
When JJ started the ISO Joe show in the 4th quarter that is when the game was lost.
bigdave
May 7th, 2010
12:47 pm
how is Al’s knee/quad?
bigdave
May 7th, 2010
12:51 pm
404atlhoops…
he’s a restricted FA this summer..
bigdave
May 7th, 2010
12:53 pm
with nobody to guard the opposing pg’s Joe had to take those duties.. then VC absolutely destroyed Marvin..
VenomSpitter
May 7th, 2010
1:00 pm
I just watched that Gatorade commercial with that catchy song Evolve that was produced by David Banner:
If u want a revolution the only solution EVOLVE.
Damn ain’t that what the Hawks need to do
Mike Jay
May 7th, 2010
1:02 pm
Memphis hawk,
JJ actually not so subtley called Josh Smith out in the media last week about his whining to the refs. It did nothing. Woodson has been after him for years but he just doesn’t listen. Not sure if that is the coaches fault or Josh’s. Probably a mix of both. He should of been behcned after the first time he failed to eveen get past mid court before orlando scored while squaking at the refs.
south ga boy
May 7th, 2010
1:03 pm
Northcyde, agree on that being the turning point but how many other times are we gonna be hit the first 25 or 26 free throws in a row. Uh, not many, and without that we would have been behind by 7 or 8 at the end of the 3rd qtr instead of 1. JJ cannot put a team on his back against an elite team. He thinks he can and he’s told he can but he CANNOT do it. And without a dominating post player, ala Howard, its just about impossible to win a champoinship without an elite No. 1 at SG or SF. I like JJ, as a person, and he can be a good no. 2 on an elite team, but he’s not a no. 1 (talent wise or from a leadership standpoint). He’s a NO. 2 wanting NO. 1 money on a team with limited financial resources. SQUARE PEG-ROUND HOLE. We will end up letting him go and have to find another SG or move Jamal into the starting spot.
404atlhoops
May 7th, 2010
1:08 pm
ok BigDave….did not know Morrow was a RFA. But the fact that Joe has to guard the opposing team’s PG is an indictment on the Hawks and a huge deficiency.
Grandad
May 7th, 2010
1:29 pm
Kyle Lowry would be perfect [FA] to tandem with Teague next yr.
Ray Felton [also FA] wants too much $. K.strickland is correct:
Wdsn/Bibby duo gotta go! I’m leaning toward a Childress return.
Trade pkg. [Marv, Bibby, Josh, Zaza]* not necessarily all.
Joe, (S & T).
I like [South ga boy in the atl's] term “tipping point”.
I also like the term “massaging” the roster.
Are [South ga boy in the atl] & [south ga boy] the same person?
By the way BK screwed up some drafts. Okay – It’s over & there’s
nothing we can do about it now but lament. The way I see it is
the way things worked out [providence] sequence of events allowed
us to get Big Al. Let’s be happy. He’s MY favorite Hawk & I’m darn
proud he represents our franchise. Had events changed we may not have had Al, now let us move forward. Besides that BK realized the need to
replace Wdsn. One must give him credit for that and drafting Al when ownership wanted Yi Jianlian.
*(plus I heard Wdsn wanted to trade the pick for Kevin Ollie)
**(Wdsn said Ollie would add much needed bench help for the Play-offs)
*** editors note – Wdsn didn’t really say that.[no ""'s]
northcyde
May 7th, 2010
1:42 pm
south ga boy . . . I would counter that by saying that JJ didn’t even ATTEMPT to put the team on his back. That;s part of the problem. His deliberate style is meant to try to set other people up, or create a shot for himself at the end of the shot clock. That’s the design of what ISO-JJ is about. He passes out of ISO much more than he shoots out of ISO, and that’s my main problem with him.
I know he has to be the playmaker on this team ( he led the team with 5 assists ). But sometimes, a star player has to be selfish, and look for his own shot. Crawford has that mentality as the designated instant offense guy. But he has it a little too much, because he’ll take bad shots with multiple people on him in traffic.
But JJ doesn’t have enough of that mentality, because he’ll pass up good looks in order to get other people the ball. And instead of attacking, he’ll shoot the fadeaway jumper, even when it isn’t falling. That’s something that he needs to stop.
When his shot is off, either take a quick squared-up jumper, or continue to try to get in the paint to see if he can get a closer look. But fadeaway jumpers are only good when your shot is on. When it is off, the fadeaway is not a good rhythm shot. JJ needs to attack much more than what he’s doing, instead of trying to draw the double team so he can pass to the open shooter.
Crawford does this, but he just takes too many questionable shots in a short amount of time.
northcyde
May 7th, 2010
1:50 pm
Woody may have to look at the tape, and see if playing less of Horford and Smoove in the game together, may be the way to go. When Horford was allowed to play PF for that stretch in the 2nd, he looked damn near dominant.
That’s not to say to keep Smoove out of the game, but if Horford is going to play that well against the Magic’s PFs, then that’s a matchup that the Hawks may need to exploit as the series goes on.
Grandad
May 7th, 2010
1:55 pm
bigdave & 404atlhoops:
bigdave on Morrow:
I think all they have to do is give him a qualifying offer.
After that I don’t exactly know how it works?
I love the idea.
Redick is un[non]restricted FA.
Shootrs are shooters / well let me amend that:
shotmakers are shotmakers & they are valuable I don’t care
if they can defend like Artest or not.
Redick can make shots/works hard/HIGH B-ball IQ/& in the
right system could be just as valuable as Joe. [offensively]
That ought to get northcyde going.
northcyde
May 7th, 2010
2:03 pm
Oh . .and here’s a programming note.
First off . . . I hate the beta stage of ESPN3, because they’re not leaving the replays of games up for a long time. The Hawks v Magic game is already off of that site for some reason.
But if you want to see Josh Childress play in the Euroleague Final 4 . . his team ( Olympiacos ) will be playing Partizan Belgrade in about an hour on ESPN3.com I’m not sure if you need to be hooked up to a cable modem or be a member of ESPN.com to see the game. But it’ll be on at 2 PM eastern, if you want to see Chill play ball.
O'Brien
May 7th, 2010
2:04 pm
Northcyde,
JJ will pass up a good look to get others the ball. But he will also take a bad shot instead of passing to somebody else for a good look.
And that’s a big problem with ISOs. Lack of consistency. And sometimes players are not sure if JJ is going to pass or shoot.
So they end up standing around (plus we have seen bad passes out of the double team from JJ because he waited too long).
He was 5-15 last night. But you wanted to see him go 7-20? I don’t think that would have helped much.
I agree about when the game turned. My question is, why did we go away from horford?
And as far as coming home, we were all looking forward to the hawks coming home for game 5 against the inferior bucks. How did game 5 turn out?
I can only be cautiously optimistic with these guys…
Reality
May 7th, 2010
2:04 pm
Hello!!!! This is the Eastern Champions Orlando Magic, right? The top 2-3 team in all of the NBA, right? I know you guys have that FINE State of Georgia education working for you.
Soup Nazi
May 7th, 2010
2:07 pm
Joe, No Max Contract for you!
northcyde
May 7th, 2010
2:29 pm
O’Brien . . . JJ going 7 – 20 is better than JJ going 5 – 15. 15 shots means that he’s being way too passive in the game. 20 shots means that he’s at least forcing the issue and making the defense play him, which may open up offensive rebound opportunities for us. It also may mean that he’s drawing fouls, if he’s being aggressive.
And the only way shooters get their way out of slumps, is to keep shooting. Now he has to take better shots, but he can’t quit shooting. We don’t have enough reliable offensive threats on the team for him to strictly be a playmaker. We are not Orlando, in which we can bring a plethora of shooters off the bench who may can make their first shot or two as soon as they come into a game.
Bibby is usually JJ’s bail out guy in the ISO, with his ability to knock down the 3. But if Bibby is playing horribly, JJ can’t afford to wait. He has to look for his shot. The same goes if Marvin is missing. Those are JJ’s 2 primary targets when he goes ISO, but passes the ball.
JJ can’t worry about anybody calling him “selfish” or not a team player. Because in reality, the Hawks need him to SCORE THE BASKETBALL. And the only way to score the basketball, is to get up his shots.
So yeah . . . I’ll take 7 – 20 any day over 5 – 16. If he goes 7 – 20 FG . . and still makes 7 FTs . . you’re looking at JJ having anywhere from 23 to 25 points in the game ( if the 2 extra FGs are threes ). And you’re also possibly looking at the Hawks getting opportunities to grab offensive rebounds to score off of his misses.
But we can talk about the offense all day long. Fact is, the Magic shot over 60% FG and scored 63 points in that 2nd half. ESPN is highlighting on how the pick and roll ate us up last night.
The ironic thing about this is . . . the switching defense is designed to prevent getting lit up on the pick and roll. But because we didn’t switch off the pic last night, our guards were constantly going over top of the pic, trailing the ballhandler. This gave the ballhandler ( mainly Vince and Jameer in the 2nd half ), free reign to do what they wanted once they got into the lane. Jameer had the big 3rd quarter, while Vince had the huge 2nd half altogether.
northcyde
May 7th, 2010
2:35 pm
And I wish people would stop talking about JJ’s contract. I hope in the hell that’s not becoming an distraction for him. JJ wasn’t getting a MAX contract from anybody anyway. He may have gotten close to one, but he wasn’t getting a MAX deal.
Dude just needs to play his game, and forget what people are talking about. Stop being tenative, and go out with all guns blazing.
Rick Sund
May 7th, 2010
2:41 pm
Will you UNGRATEFUL fans realize that we gave a GREAT effort last night. Our organization is about PROGRESS not CHAMPIONSHIPS right now. All we have to do is win ONE GAME in this round and that will be better than last year’s team. Rome was not built in a day. You have to crawl before you can walk. You fans just TOO HIGH EXPECTATIONS for this team. We have already reached our ELITE status because we won over 53 games. Being ELITE is not based on the PLAYOFFS, but the REGULAR SEASON. The real fans are SATISFIED with where this team is. People like BIG RAY knows that it TAKES TIME to win a championship. You people are just UNREALISTIC about this team. It’s about PROGRESSION right now. As long as we have a NUCLEUS like J-SMOOVE (because of his great ball handling and pure shooting), MARVIN “GREAT POTENTIAL AND UPSIDE” WILLIAMS, and AL HORFORD, and last but not least JOE “I WILL CARRY THE TEAM WITH ISOS” JOHNSON, the future looks bright. Well see you real fans tomorrow at the PHILLIPS ARENA (aka “highlight factory”) for a special CHIK FILA FAMILY NIGHT!
jeff
May 7th, 2010
2:45 pm
Someone has a man crush on ISO JOE…
slim
May 7th, 2010
2:45 pm
Joe does not or ever deserve max dollars. He’s not good enough especially in “crunch time”. Marvin Williams should never have been picked as a lottery pick, He is clueless. He has a very low basketball IQ and is not or has been in GYM shape. He displays no work hard effort! He plays small rather than extend his 6′ 9″ frame. Thats why is shot gets blocked all the time when he takes it to the post. He is a bust of major proportions BILLY KNIGHT YOU CLUELESS SCREW BALL YOU!!!!!!!!!! It should be no surprise that you are not employed as a GM in this league anymore..You set this team back for years to come!!!!!! Atlanta Hawks should be a contender rather than a pretender RIGHT NOW!!!! Shame on you J-Smooth. You got called out on National TV for not going all out on the court!! You should be run outta town you bum…..With your 5th grade jump shot!!!!!!!
Clyde
May 7th, 2010
2:51 pm
Jeff you got a good point. The Iso Joe show cost us the game. That’s why I say FIRE WOODY all the time. Woody is the one that calls that crap to be run. If we had a offensive system in place we could run it and get good ball movement to get a easy shots.
FIRE WOODY