Atlanta Hawks Squawks Game 2: Magic 112, Hawks 98

MC, I am very surprised that you don’t have anything in your report regarding Josh Smith’s pouting and lack of effort to start the second half. That was a huge turning point in the game, and his lack of effort led to several open and converted Magic 3’s.

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FIRE WOODY

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“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.”

Considering the way he gets abused by Jameer Nelson like underage prostitutes do by Lawrence Taylor, definitely not. Give Woody credit for realizing how much of a liability the “teacher’s pet” has become and getting his azz out of there.

Like you mentioned the Hawks had an 8 point lead at halftime and almost immediately gave it back, but they still hung around until the beginning of the 4th, holding that lead for much of the time. Not trying to pick on you, but what you didn’t mention is that Orlando made up that deficit in the first 4 minutes of the quarter when Bibby was on the floor, and as soon as Crawford came in for Bibby the Hawks stabilized the game and stopped the Magic run. Bibby was awful tonight, just as he was in Game 1, and just as he has been for most of these playoffs.

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Look the nets sign BOSH OR STOUDEMIRE 2 A MAX. plus they draft john wall
and the josh smith trade.

THAT A GOOD STARTE FOR THE WORST TEAM IN TH NBA.
GO HAWKS!!!!!!!!

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watching a Hawks fourth quarter is like ground hog day. you already know what’s coming-utter collapse and disgusting ball movement. J Smoove taking of plays was the worst. Bye Woody. Go Hawks.

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NAJEH yes i think putting good player in a great position can benefit the hawks, plus a change or 2 can make you better as a team, look at the wizard trading there 2 best player with the mavs, could benefit them in the long run but hurt them in a subliminal way in the beginning time will only tell.
GO HAWKS!!!!!!!!!

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FIRE WOODY

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Bibby is done but he still has 2 years left on his contract.

FIRE WOODY

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I did not see the first half, but I intend to as soon as I find a download on the web.

But here is some speculative food for thought:

Apparently, we played really well during the first half.

There was ball movement.

Good shot distribution.

JJ got to the line and got points even though his shot was not going in at a good rate.

We out rebounded ORL.

We got Howard in foul trouble.

ALL THE ABOVE is not necessarily standard MO for us. It seems that the team responded to some strategy changes and to some different preparation.

Here, Astro is the moment that you will shut the f*ck up about effort, OK?

Even you came up with a post where SVG praises Woody for the adjustments made.

SO THE ISSUE IS WHY DIDN’T THOSE ADJUSTMENTS COME BEFORE GAME 1??

ISN’T it viable to speculate that the first half would be our standard MO if we were better coached since DAY 1 of the season?

And that, consequently, instead of looking at a very probable sweep we could be talking about a possible upset or at least at a competitive series.

What we saw yesterday only adds up to our “horror show”. Up by 8 at the break and then back to game 1 mode.

If we actually had some offensive plays designed to take advantage of our personnel? Cutters, shots off screens, ball and player movement?

Does anyone really think that JJ would not sink at least 45% of his shots if they came out of ball movement and with the D off balance rather than going 1 on 2, 3 and sometimes even 4 or 5?

JJ was never and will never be Lebron, nor even Wade since he is not as explosive AND since he does not get 1/4 of the calls but he is a terrific shooter.

Do we see Ray Allen – aged 100 right now – struggle in these playoffs or do we see him play well, off screens and after significant motion which has kept the defenses looking to keep up with him rather than stationary waiting for him to go against a wall of out-stretched arms?

And Smoove? Where are his high flying heroics in the playoffs? What do we have as a designed offense to take advantage of his superior athleticism and strength?

Nothing. Instead we have him stationed in the low post (where he now has some decent but not really reliable moves) as if he was a second coming of Tim Duncan or Hakeem.

What about Al? His correct usage is clearly on and off. Wasn’t he looking to beat Howard one on one down low in Game 1, as if he didn’t give away 2 inches and about 30 lbs of muscle to an athletic freak which gets a free pass (most of the time) from the refs?

His speed and outside shot can be used if he plays away from the basket and either shoots or catches ON THE RUN, instead of trying to get around Howard from a stand still position (well sometimes it does work from a stand still position, but Howard is not an immobile center, rather the contrary).

Due to his mobility, balance and athleticism Al can be used like a guard, rotating and shooting (or driving) off an elbow screen. That would keep ORL defense completely off-balance and would open up the paint.

What about Bibby. Isn’t he supposed to be at least an acceptable shooter? Why are there any more shots called for him off picks? If they go in, he can stay on the floor, if they are not going in you can get Jamal in.

Bibby’s first 5 minutes in the game should be ALL OUT giving maximum effort to move the ball and make a few shots. Then he would get a breather with Jamal taking over and giving the D something different to think about.

Bibby could then come in later in the game against the opposing reserves and DO THE SAME: ALL OUT speed and plenty of shots against inferior opposition AND WITH A BIG FRONT COURT playing for us to get the rebounds and to work the pick and roll (ZAZA JOE S and MARVIN) and with MO playing next to him to give some back court D during that period and some extra outside threat.

If Marvin was used on the pick and roll wouldn’t he be effective? He has a decent mid range shot and when he catches on the move he usually gets the call or the basket.

The same that was said for JJ can be said for Jamal. Why almost all of his shots must come from plays where he has the rock and has to shake and bake 3 defenders?

When you repeat a move and a strategy “ad nauseum” aren’t the defenses supposed to get comfortable and figure it out?

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In answer to the late night calls for the trade of Josh for a “Perkins-like Center”.

Give me the name of the center you would get for Josh. We keep saying we need a “Perkins like center”….. give me a name…. please.

It is my thought that that person / center doesn’t exist.in today’s NBA.

Is it
Marcus Camby / Brad Miller / Ben Wallace / Andrew Bynum, / Mehmet Okur / Chris Kaman /
Nenad Krstic / Tyson Chandler / Samuel Dalembert / Kwame Brown / Jeff Foster / Brendan Haywood /
Erick Dampier / Rasho Nesterovic / Andris Biedrins / Shaquille O’Neal / Al Jefferson/ Jason Collins / Randolph Morris / ZaZa Pachulia

You may also pick one from the 103 players who played the center position in the NBA this season
http://www.hoopsstats.com/basketball/fantasy/nba/playerstats/10/6/eff

Can you imagine Perkins in the current Hawks offense and switching defense? He would look like ZaZa.

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Everybody keeps talking about how the Hawks hit all their ft’s and rebounded and hit their 3’s and still lost by double digits. Big deal. They scored enough points to win a game, even with the slow 4th quarter. If you score 98, that’s enough offense to win a game. The Magic got red hot at the end of the game. THEY HIT 6 OF 7 3-POINTERS from the end of the third through middle of 4th, and one of those was a 30 foot bank shot at the buzzer. Yeah, the Hawks turned the ball over in the 4th and missed a lot of shots. But a lot of those shots were good looks and by and large they were not long range 2 point jumpers. The year we took Boston 7 we never had a game this close in Boston. Not to mention that Howard played a ton of minutes last night after the 3 blatant no-calls early on and he still finished with 5 fouls. If the refs had called those fouls, it really would have changed the dynamic of the game. Just look at what we did in the 2nd quarter when he was out. If the whistles down low are more fair in Atlanta, don’t be surprised if we take them both. Chartlotte couldn’t capitalize on Dwight’s foul troubles because they’re a poor offensive team. If Dwight gets in foul trouble early, we can definitely go over 100 points.

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“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.”

Isolations have been the blueprint of this team the last few years, and it all comes back to coaching. After all, you play how you practice, right? And if the players are not playing the way Woody wants them to play, then get the player out of here, or get Woody out of here.

I would like to hear from those fans who said Teague does not get any PT because he has not earned it, or he does not impact the game enough.

Bibby impacts the game alright, but its mostly negative. Maybe with more PT during the year, Teague might have been an option for games like this when Bibby only plays 12 minutes. I just hope Bibby makes a positive impact in the home games so he can stay on the floor.

And for those complaining about Bibby, keep in mind that he is signed for 2 MORE YEARS after this one ($5.6 mil, and $6.2 mil). Thanks Woody and Rick Sund. In my opinion, Bibby’s contract was a reward for what he did when he first got here. I’m not sure if they considered his contributions going forward.

He was always slow, and a big defensive liability. And despite his age, we still gave him a guaranteed 3 year deal (was anyone else offering him 3 years?). I just hope he finds the fountain of youth this offseason.

MC,

” 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”.

Agreed. As constructed, this team has some flaws, not all of which can be blamed on coaching. If Sund leaves the team intact, then he has to make a coaching change. And if he brings Woody back, then he has to make some roster changes.

I’m also surprised there were no comments about Josh and his lack if effort on defense, especially in the second half.

And whats up with JJ? Another bad shooting night. I can’t help but think his hand is bothering him. His play is disappointing though, because we have needed our star to help carry us on the road, and he has not done that. Thats part of the reason why we are 2-12 on the road in the playoffs, with 9 or 10 of those losses coming by 19 points or more.

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you got your moral victory woody! i hope you are proud! i suspect a “close” loss on saturday at home and another blowout on monday to give the magic a sweep.

we missed a great opportunity last night. played a decent first qtr barring defense. 2nd qtr was outstanding. we get a break to start the third with them losing howard–instead of taking the lead up to 15 to 20–we turn the ball over several times and let the magic cut the lead to one as howard re-enters the arena. depressing–so much so that woody has to burn a time out which gives howard more time to get back into the game. stupidity!

the half court shot by nelson was big for orlando–got the crowd even more into it, fired his teammates up and kind of shook up the hawks that had just got a big three from jamaal to give them the lead.

4th qtr was typical hawks basketball. i kept saying the whole game that we couldn’t keep playing this well offensively and i was right–we did it for about 38-39 minutes and than it just stopped!!! and is it me or does the magic shoot better against us than anybody us in the league.

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Why should we be encouraged by the effort. They fell short. They are an NBA team. Some of these dudes makle 15 million a year! Shouldn’t that be enough to motivate them to run the floor and play with energy? For 4 freaking quarters? Where is their heart? JSmoove should have been on the bench when he sulked and lslow footed it down court. Why does this team have so many lapses in big moments. Maybe the composition stinks. Gte rid of them all (except for Al) and start over. My stomach can’t take much more. And bring in a new coach, PLEASE!!!!!

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Does anyone besides me realize that Atlanta is misspelled in the headline?

“Atlatna Hawks Squawks Game 2: Magic 112, Hawks 98
12:39 am May 7, 2010, by Michael Cunningham”

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Have you noticed how irrelevant Woody has become? Does any reporter really want to write down his thoughts for the next game?

Our team is so poorly prepared, have you noticed how sloppy our screens are compared to any other team?

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It’s clear where the team went wrong. Two things:

1) Josh’s drop from intensity in the 1st half to a clear lack of effort to start the 2nd half

2) Iso plays, when ball movement worked so well for 2 quarters.

Josh’s careless turnovers and Joe’s dribbling down to 6 seconds left on the shot clock twice and getting shot clock violations left me absolutely infuriated!

On a lighter note, Welcome Home Hawks!

Let’s even this series up.

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It’s clear the Hawks have no true leader of closer. Nice cast but no true game changing star. Until they do this is what you get. Break the bank for Wade or Bosh.

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Hawks show some resiliency the first three quarters but the fourth quarter they start relying on the long ball and dragging around on defense,,result another loss.

If the Hawks can stay conscious and focus the next two games in ATL, I predict two wins for Hawks, series tied 2-2.

Joe Johnson need to hit shoot around.

HAWKS MAKE BEDLAM!!! STRIKE FRIGHT INTO YOUR OPPONENT

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Soulstar,

I just doesn’t work that way. Just beacuase we don’t give Joe Johnson a max contract does not mean we have a max contract type deal we can give somebody else. The Hawks are close to the cap and can ONLY go over that on deal with one of their players. So basically we either max out and resign Joe Johsnosn are we can use the veteran exception to go get a ‘contributer’.

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The main problem is that Joe Johnson looks worn out. Many of the hawks seem tired and I think that impacted their performance at the end of the game. I know that this is the playoffs, but Woody doesn’t use his bench effectively. Where is Joe Smith? I thought we brought him here to Atlanta for his veteran presence in the playoffs.

Also, Marvin Williams is a good support play, but he does not provide any impact on the defense or offense.

I’m interested to see what moves the hawks make this off season. If they continue with this approach to the team I believe we will always have the same result. “Being Average!”

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This is what Woody should do for game 3.Bench Bibby and Marvin.Start Teague and Mo.Craford still assumes his six man roll as usual.Teague should be able to handle Jameer,if anything he can keep him out the lane,where he has really abused Bibby.Then on offense he can get into the lane himself and set up other guys,something Bibby doesn’t do.Bibby and Marvin could excel against their second unit.I also like the idea of going big playing Al at the 4,it worked so well in the 2nd qtr,i dont know why he didn’t try this in the second half.And if Josh comes with his little baby fits on Saturday ,i say bench his behind.Lets hope Joe will find his mojo and prove that he is worth a max contract.

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Soulstar…you are right on. Go get Rudy Gay in sign and trade for Joe. Gay is a restricted free agent and Joe would be close to home in Memphis. Make it happen Sund.

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I was just reading a new post on here that was calling out “Big Ray” and “bubbas” and putting the onus of this teams shortcomings on the Hawks lack of a center. I hit the refresh button and now it is gone.

WHERE DID IT GO? WAS IT DELETED?

It did not seem offensive to me.

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You there?

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Mike?

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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.

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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

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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!

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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….

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Slim, completely agree !!!

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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

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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404atlhoops…

he’s a restricted FA this summer..

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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

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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.

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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]

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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!

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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!!!!!!!

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Rick Sund please put down the pipe dude you mean Danny Granger with his great ball handling and pure shooting skills. J-Smooth will never have that game because he’s not wired that way.. Trade J-smooth,Marvin Williams plus throw in Mike Bibby for Chris Bosh!!!!!!!!!YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!

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C. Barkley said it best with the Hawks terrible playoff road record for the past 3 years the Hawks are nothing more than a pretender than a contender!! If JJ does not put them over the top than he does not deserve max money from the Hawks. BYE-BYE JJ…….

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This City has never one a Championship or even won a conference final in 40 plus years and we are tired of thesSorry ass GM’s who continue to give us crap S303……….We will continue to point out the obvious…..

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Northcyde,

An that’s where sund comes in. He has to find a way to improve our roster, even if JJ stays.

And I think jj will get a Max offer from Chicago (if lebron, Wade and bosh turn them down). And I think jj gets a Max offer from the Knicks.

And as a result, if the hawks want to keep him, they will have to offer him a Max contract too.

But he should not be thinking about that. He just needs to go out and play his game.

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northcyde:
I’m trying real hard ‘not’ to sound harsh.
But your knowledge of basketball, although filled with data,
comes across as superficial.
You obviously are well read on the subject but your depth of
understanding leaves me curious?
Example, when I used this post from ‘Najeh’ quoting ‘CB’:
[argueing against Iso-Joe] You never seemed to comprehend his point.

“The problem with the isolation is not the actual isolation,” Billups said. “It’s the lack of movement.” According to Billups, the Nuggets need to do a better job off the ball to help maximize the one-on-one advantages they have against Utah. “A lack of [movement] just lets one guy play against three or four.”

As for Joe being a playmaker:
*Joe is a complete player.
**Joe is not a play-maker!
***Joe is not an Alpha Dog
****Joe would benefit from playing with:
[either/or] a play-maker/Alpha Dog.
This is the stat line of a winning playmaker:(Suns 111/Spurs 102 gm 1)
Steve Nash, PG [37 13-19 2-4 5-6 0 3 3 10 0 0 6 3 +18 33]

Once again I’m trying to understand why you have such a one track mind on Joe, when people like myself admire him, but are able to see him for what he is. Which ain’t bad. Kinda like you.

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JJ SHOULD GET A MAX OFFER. HA-HA. IN MY OPINION, HE IS THE BEST PLAYER IN BASKETBALL PERIOD. HA-HA. END OF STORY. HE IS BETTER THAN KOBE, MORE SKILLFUL THAN LABRON, FASTER AND CAN LEAP MORE BUILDINGS AND IS MORE POWERFUL THAN D-WADE AND CARMELLO. HA-HA JJ IS DYNOMYTE JUST LIKE THE JJ ON THE TV SITCOM GOOD TIMES. THAT IS ABOUT HOW GOOD JJ IS. HE IS NO BETTER THAN JIMMY WALKER (JJ ON GOOD TIMES). JOE JOHNSON STINKS AND SHOULD BE RELEASED AND RELIEVED OF HIS JOB RESPONSIBILITIES, JUST LIKE JAMARCUS RUSSELL WAS YESTERDAY. THROW THE BUM OUT OF TOWN.

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RESIGNING JOE JOHNSON DOES NOT MAKE THE HAWKS ANY CLOSER TO COMPETING WITH ORLANDO OR CLEVELAND FOR A CHAMPIONSHIP. EITHER SHAKE UP THE CORE O S&T JOE FOR DWYANE WADE AND OVERPAY IF U MUST

LEBRON AND DWIGHT AREN’T GOING ANYWHERE

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Hawks went 1 – 10 FG during that 21 – 3 run that blew the game open

( Crawford 4 misses . . Smoove 3 misses . . Horford and Marvin 1 miss apiece )

ISO-JOE made the only shot. . . off of a set play in which he caught the ball and immediately went into the lane and shot a pull-up 12 footer.

JJ’s problem is that he needs to get more shots up in rhythm, not that he’s shooting too much. SMH @ Bibby being ( – 18 ) in 14 minutes. A lot of that was because of the 1st quarter that Howard had . . but still. ( – 18 )?

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I really think that some of you are making too much of this, without looking into the details of what occurred late in the game. The Hawks did not “fall apart” or “lose focus”. They may have failed to get into their correct defensive sets coming down the stretch and were a bit lax in transition defense, but overall, the Hawks really did not deviate from the game plan all that much. A lot of the shots which the Hawks missed in the fourth quarter (particularly Jamal) were good open shots, they just didn’t drop. Also, you should know by now that no matter how good a defense is, skilled offense is still going to generate points. The three-ball is Orlando’s bread and butter, they are bound to hit around 10 threes per game, whether they are contested or not. Sure, contesting shots helps, but after you have been running drills for so long, it almost just becomes routine once you get to your sweet spots. Listen closely to the press conference comments. Even Van Gundy mentioned that most of the problem for the Hawks in the fourth quarter was that they simply missed shots. Some tighter transition defense and change of luck on open shots and this game could easily have been a Hawks win. That’s the way it goes in the NBA sometimes. On a positive note, the Hawks know that they have a strategy that works (no, I’m not talking about the ISO plays) and when they execute it correctly, they will always be in a position to defeat the Magic, regardless of where they play.

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And JJ is also the ALPHA DOG on HIS TEAM. He may be smaller dog, when you compare him to the superstars in the league. But for the Hawks, he is the Alpha Dog.

If he wasn’t, so much negative focus wouldn’t beon him to perform.

LOL . . when a team and it’s fans expect a player to score 20+ ppg – grab at least 5 rebounds – and dish out 5 assists – and shoot at least 45% FG and 80% FT – plus play defense on PGs, SGs, and SFs . . .

. . . you better believe that people consider him the ALPHA DOG, even if they don’t say it or necessarily believe it.

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