Atlanta Hawks: Heat 89, Hawks 77
Hawks crashed back to earth against Heat. (AP Photo)
Miami– After this one Mo wasn’t in the mood to be proud about a near-miss against a good team while missing J.J.: “Another ‘moral victory’ but we had one of those against Orlando last time. Those don’t count for anything.”
– Add Phoenix, Utah, and Dallas to that list, too. The margin of error is slim for the Hawks against good teams and so far they haven’t proven they can make the handful of positive plays at winning time to get Ws.
– Or maybe more to the point they haven’t been able to avoid the negative plays that lead to these kind of losses. “We had some opportunities and we had a couple of missed assignments and a couple of turnovers in that fourth quarter, and then the game got away from us,” L.D. said.
– There was Josh Powell’s turnover that led to a layup by D-Wade that started a 7-0 run with the Hawks down 66-63. Smoove had a turnover during that run, too.
– The Hawks one last run at it when Jamal scored to cut Miami’s lead to 74-72 with less than five minutes to play. Bosh drew a foul on Smoove with a strong post move and made a free throw. Smoove came back at him with made a strong move of his own but couldn’t convert.
– Then came the unkindest cut for the Hawks: Bibby’s lax pass that Mario Chalmers (hardly a Super Friend) corralled to start a fastbreak that Wade finished.
– Then Jamal forced a shot that Joel Anthony blocked and Al was called for a foul. On Miami’s next possession, LeBron blew by Jamal as everyone else sort of watched him throw down some thunder.
– Obviously the Super Friends present a tough challenge. The Hawks recovered from an awful start with some inspired play in the third quarter sparked by Damien Wilkins, who just signed a day ago and might have immediately achieved folk hero status by effectively checking LeBron.
– But the Hawks have to lament the unforced errors that made it easier for Miami’s All-Star trio to finish them off at the end. “With them, you have to be very decisive with your plays because they will take the ball and go score the other way,” Jamal said.
– When Wilkins talked before the game about being aggressive and physical against LeBron and D-Wade and not backing down, I thought it sounded a bit ambitious. And then he went out and was aggressive and physical against LeBron and didn’t back down and it seemed to inspire his teammates to pick up their intensity.
– It’s just one game, but Al is sold: “I love that. I love his intensity. I love his toughness on defense. It’s something we need. I’m saying it now: I hope we keep him and he’s with us for the long run. A guy like that can be helpful.”
– LeBron didn’t score in the third quarter. Wade had seven points and Bosh four, Arroyo two and no other Heat players scored. “We went back to trusting each other and helping each other on defense,” Al said. “We have to do that all the time no matter who is out there.”
– This seemed to be another game where L.D.’s stated desire for defense and toughness was contradicted by lineup decisions that seemed to be based more on concerns about scoring. The lineup with Wilkins and Marvin stymied the Heat late in the third quarter but Drew went with Mo instead of either of those two down the stretch.
– L.D. said he considered finishing with Marvin or Wilkins. “There was some thought of that,” Drew said. “But when we got it to two, and with the guys that were in there, I just felt good about what we had in there. That’s not something I would second-guess myself over if I had to do it again.”
– To be fair, there were two mitigating factors for Drew to consider. Wilkins obviously doesn’t know all of the plays and coverages yet, and Drew said he thought Marvin’s energy was sapped on the back-to-back as he still works his way back from the knee injury.
– L.D. also stuck with his two-foul rule for Al. As a result, Horford had to fit a sensational game (22 points, nine rebounds, 10 of 11 shooting) into just 31 minutes. He had more than half of Atlanta’s production in the third quarter.
– Al has said he’s cool with L.D.’s approach to his fouls as long as his replacements are playing well. He stayed with that line of thinking. “I understand where Coach is coming from this game,” he said. “I thought that Josh Powell and Zaza came off the bench and did a good job. I was OK with it. Obviously it’s frustrating because you want to be out there but I understand Coach’s philosophy behind it.”
– The Hawks were 6 of 18 from the field in the fourth quarter with two assists. Mo seemed to suggest the problem was too much Iso-Jamal. “We were stagnant throughout the fourth quarter and a lot of the game,” he said. “They started to lock in on the one guy who was handling the ball a lot.”
MC
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188 comments Add your comment
jamillion
December 5th, 2010
9:20 pm
mary be
the hawks have players they just play the wrong people
zaza , bibby, they have to go,
jamal has to go cause his game doesn’t flow with the team
jordan is a stud but doesn’t see time at all because LD like Woody puts guys in the game based on salary, thats it it’s the investment issue that keeps guys from playing and if this dude was on anyother team without any star at that position lioke the hawks he would be playing you think popovich, or monty williams, or even doc a let a young stud waste on the bench hell, doc played rondo when everybody else said he wasn’t ready cause he knew he had a stud.
teague and jordan need to be our starting backcourt, they would create offense and they play defense better than bibby and mo, plus we will be able to run the floor true other teams got better some got worse, but it is even a bigger sin to not use the best plaayers you have , zaza is not better than twin and mo is not better than damien,give me jordan over mo , bibby, and even jamal all day cause he a younger jamal with a ray allen shot, plus defense,trad that scrape and get a nice center,and play the game and quit bitching
drmaryb (*_*)
December 5th, 2010
9:24 pm
Ron,
Sorry for the kiddy stuff, I usually scroll past the personal attacks, but today I felt like engaging the attackers. I will keep it on topic – I promise.
Some days it’s hard to look the other way. Besides, who are these people.
I have never seen all these strange new I’d’s on here the past for years.
Yourself, included. My conversations have a very long ticker tape.
The real bloggers know me and know all my stances.
1. I – NEVER bash the Coach, no matter what!
2. Drew did not put this team together and does not make personnel decisions, nor draft players. He is working with what he has, like Woodson did.
3. This roster is extremely flawed and every player is a hybrid out of natural positions, with not one adequate back-up.
4. These players will be called out for a lack of accountability and no one is exempt from criticism. They come out flat and turn the ball over with careless passes and poor fundamentals! I will call out their names – period.
5. I will BASH the owners and GM with a baseball bat, whenever I feel like it.
Aye! Sund, build your team: See Boston!
I don’t care who is in a Hawks uniform, get us some winners in here!
We the fans and this city, deserve a winner! We don’t need no excuse making losers!
Build it and we will come! I’m outy! See yall next week or thereafter!
I got to go pay some bills… See you at the games – Fans!
northcyde
December 5th, 2010
9:28 pm
Honestly Blast, this team doesn’t switch and trap enough. We do not have many good defensive players on this team who can effectively guard their man.
Bibby and Jamal are defensive liabilities, but we need their offense. We cant just let them keep getting destroyed on the defensive end.
Wade completely had his way with Jamal last night. We may have been better off doubling Wade to force him to give the ball up.
@ drmaryb . . . our bigs are definitely playing further out. Smith is taking almost 3 full shots less at the rim, than he did last year.
He’s shooting a whopping 46% from 3 point range this year, but that’s not what we need from him. As you’ve stated, we need him and Horford to mix it up on the inside.
In other words . . . play like a big.
More important though, we need them to play big on the boards, both offensive and defensive. But if both are away from the rim when the shot goes up, no one can get the rebound. And play big defensively guarding their man.
Bosh had his way with us last night.
But it’s more the personnel we have on the team, than the coaching.
drmaryb (*_*)
December 5th, 2010
9:37 pm
Jamillion
This Blog has 99 B!tches and I’m NOT one.
I haven’t posted one word until last week about this team, I have been sitting back and analyzing the games from afar. I have seen enough to make my assessments! I waited for 20 games to be played before I cracked my lips!
I am not impressed with nor without Joe! Joe has been injured since last season, he should have spoken up sooner IMHO. When he is healthy, we should be alright. But we will NOT win 53 games this year. As long as we get competetive in round 2, then I’m good and that would another year of improvement.
Until then, I just pray we remain entertaining and FUN to watch. What happened to all the HIGHLIGHTS? Jump shooting might make the “Smitty under the Rim”. Reels, but where has the POWER in the PAINT game gone?
Again, I need to see our BIGS patrolling and controlling the PAINT, not shooting jumpers. I don’t care if the go in, that style will NOT win us a TITLe ever!
We need to DOMINATE the PAINT people! Have an IDENTITY!
I don’t want to be UTAH! I want to be ATLANTA!
O'Brien
December 5th, 2010
10:05 pm
drmaryb,
Rick Sund had a chance to make some moves this offseason, but typical Rick, he is reactive instead of proactive.
I would have traded Jamal for a PG or a big, signed a legit backup SF (Matt Barnes, Damien Wilkins, Rodney Carney), gone after Shaq, and leave Etan alone.
This team struggles with rebounding, and we see why. Al wants to play more PF, Josh wants to take more long jumpers, ZaZa is garbage, and Powell is a jump shooter. So who is going to bang?
December is going to be a rough month. But even if we lose games, the question is how will the players respond. Will they bond closer together, or will they start pointing fingers when the going gets tough?
I think they will hang their heads, pout, and play the blame game. But as a Hawks fan, I hope I’m wrong.
JeJe
December 5th, 2010
10:10 pm
MC, GREAT ARTICLE ON DAMIEN. NOW LET’S SEE THE GUY GET REAL MINUTES. NOT THIS 13 MINUTE GARBAGE WHILE MO GETS 27.
AND I SAW BROOK LOPEZ GOT CALLED OUT IN FRONT OF THE TEAM FRIDAY NIGHT FOR ONLY GETTING 2 REBOUNDS.
I WISH LD WOULD CALL PLAYERS OUT. LIKE HORFORD FOR NOT GETTING REBOUNDS
OR SMOOVE FOR THINKING HE’S LEBRON
northcyde
December 5th, 2010
10:10 pm
And what people never want to admit to, is that when the switching defense DID WORK, it gave people fits and turned us into a lethal fastbreak team.
Drew needs to find a personnel grouping in which he can play hard nosed man to man, while also employing the switch D to cover for our weaker defensive players.
Maybe when JJ comes back, that grouping may consist of Teague – Damien – JJ guarding the perimeter players.
Bailey
December 5th, 2010
10:24 pm
drmaryb,
You mention that you want the Hawks to dominate the paint. I’d like that too, but for that to happen, there’d have to be some significant changes in the offensive philosophy. Like others have said, the motion/flex offense is mostly based upon jump shooting, with occasional cuts to the basket. With an offense like that, you’re not going to get much in the paint, unless it comes from cuts to the basket for lay-ups, dunks, and floaters. If you look at the personnel we have, we only have 1 or maybe 2 guys who are effective at scoring in the paint: Horford, and to a lesser extent, Joe Johnson.
Horford takes about 40% of his shots in the paint and converts on about 67% of those attempts. It’s pretty clear that he’s effective in the post, so we have that. Joe, when he uses his isolation tactics, is actually pretty effective in the post against most defenders and pretty good in the lane with his floater. Some people might say Josh is effective in the paint, but I think Josh has a tougher time creating his own shot inside than either Al or Joe. Josh definitely can be effective in the paint with his quickness and athleticism, but for some reason, he’s shying away from that.
Now, in terms of Joe and Al scoring the paint, with the way L.D. is running things right now, you’re not going to see much of either one in the paint, unless the offense changes. Al doesn’t get nearly as many post-ups as he should, due to the fact that a lot of what he is asked to do on the offensive end is to set screens to free up either Jamal, Bibby, Joe, or Marvin for a jumpshot. Occasionally, the Hawks will run pick-and-pop for him, or in extremely rare cases, pick-and-roll. Obviously, they should be running more for Al, but for some reason, L.D.hasn’t figured that out.
Now, as far as Joe is concerned, L.D. hasn’t run as much isolation for him, and when he has, it’s mostly been high-pick-and-roll based or top-of-the-key isolation for Joe which ends in a jumpshot outside of the paint.
Outside of those two guys, you really don’t have many guys who are going to be able to score inside, unless they are set up by someone else for an easy basket inside. Jamal, occasionally, attacks the basket and can score on drives, but Marvin is a terrible finisher, Zaza is horrendous inside, Powell is really a perimeter player, and Collins is basically invisible on the offensive end.
So, overall, I think we’d need quite a few changes to be made to our offensive philosophy if the Hawks are to be dominant in the paint with the same group of players that we have now. Also, L.D. would need to stress for his players to attack the offensive glass, which is something that Woodson did. L.D. has gone away from that, in hopes to improve the perimeter defense and not send everyone to the glass. So, if the Hawks go back to attacking the glass, you’ll probably see an increase in opponent’s fast break points. Personally, I’d take that tradeoff, but that’s just me.
At any rate, with Joe out of the lineup, the Hawks need to make Al the #1 option on the offense end when it comes to the starters. They should be running things through him and play inside out, rather than outside in, or settling for jumpshots all of the time. I’m fine with the jumpshots being taken if they are open, high percentage looks for guys like Jamal, Bibby, Marvin, or Al. I still think the Hawks should start out the possessions playing inside though, to establish Al in the paint, rather than using him as the team janitor. Playing inside-out does wonders for you, and once you have established yourself in the paint, the jumpshots become wide open, not contested.
drmaryb (*_*)
December 5th, 2010
10:33 pm
Northcyde
Exactly! Like it or Lump it … It is what it is. I see Josh and Al shooting long jumpers and not one Hawk under the basket to gather an offensive rebound, if the shot does not fall. All, the guards are headed back on defense when the shot goes up! There is NO ONE to rebound and get put-backs. No One.
That is not fundamental basketball people. The farther Josh and Al play away from the basket, the smaller they appear.
That’s all I’m saying! I never saw these bad habits last year. It almost seems like because we are running that motion offense, (and sometimes I don’t even see players making crisp movements nor the ball swinging from side to side consistently with any type of pattern either), whoever is open takes that shot.
Not necessarily the best shooter. But, the offense doesn’t concern me as much as the defense. Sometimes it’s stellar and sometimes it is non-existent.
We should have won that Miami game though! We just stopped executing at key moments in the 5 minute mark of the 4th quarter. Not taking care of the ball and not finishing at the rim! The Refs were star gazing and horrible too, but that is no excuse. You will not get to the line shooting jumpers! Ask Joe,
9 for 10 is OK, but if half those shots were inside? Maybe we get some And – 1’s!
Just because I take MIDOL? Doesn’t make me basketball illiterate, it actually makes me smarter and more tolerable of ignorance.
LOL!
Great posts as always – Northcyde.
Steve W.
December 5th, 2010
10:33 pm
@JeJe
For the record, Horford’s rebounding percentages are up from last season. He’s actually rebounding better than last season. The only reasons he’s not at double-digits in terms of his rebounding average are due to this reduced minutes and the style of play L.D. has the Hawks playing, where he keeps Horford and Smith further out, and less likely to get offensive rebounds. Horford is 12th in the league in rebouding, while playing just over 30 minutes per game. he’s also top 10 in defensive rebounding. I don’t think he needs to be called out for any rebounding problems.
Lopez is another story. He’s barely averaging more than half as many rebounds as Horford is, and Lopez is playing about 5 more minutes each night than Horford. Lopez needed to be called out for clear reasons. Horford is getting it done.
Bailey
December 5th, 2010
10:41 pm
In my previous post, I said that L.D. had not been sending everyone to glass in order to help the perimeter defense. I meant to say, transition defense, not perimeter defense. Just wanted to clarity, since that probably didn’t make much sense. The Hawks were not very good, in terms of transition defense last season, and one of the reasons for that was the fact that Woodson had guys attacking the offensive glass, a lot. Not just the bigs, but everyone.
drmaryb (*_*)
December 5th, 2010
10:49 pm
Bailey’s and Cream!
That was a beautiful post, very insightful and easy to understand. Based on that, I guess I don’t like the motion offense 100% of the time. Maybe run that primarily, but mix in some ISO at key times based on personnel chaanges, like for Jamal and Joe. I like the high pick and roll/pops a lot too!
Just run some different plays, like in footbal. Put in a 2-minute offense for the ISO plays to close out the 3rd and 4th Quarters if we have a nice lead.
Throw in the pick and roll/pops when the opponent go to the zone defenses.
Then, just run the motion when Jamal is resting and when personnel does not lend itself to the motion. To Zsa Zsa credit, he does stay in the paint for offensive rebounds and put-backs. We need to do something different though, rather than just sit there and explain losses that are win-able.
But, I loved your post. I never really thought about it that way.
darrell starks
December 5th, 2010
11:04 pm
With the signing of damien why not make a trade.
MARVIN, JAMAL, ZAZA AND A 1ST
FOR
MONTA, BIEDRINS, REGGIE
GO HAWKS!!!!!!!!!!!
darrell starks
December 5th, 2010
11:06 pm
STARTE MONTA, JOE, JOSH, HORFORD, BIEDRINS
BENCH BIBBY, MOE, DAMIEN, POWEL, COLLINS
RESERVE TEAGUE, JC2
GO HAWKS!!!!!!!!!
darrell starks
December 5th, 2010
11:11 pm
Can josh play the 3 ? I SAY YES
GO HAWKS!!!!!!!!
Steve W
December 5th, 2010
11:23 pm
Here’s a quote to summarize L.D.’s failures thus far as a coach:
“You can’t strengthen the weak by weakening the strong.”
Think about how he treats certain starters and how much he over-utilizes the bench and I think it will make sense to you.
SteveW
December 5th, 2010
11:55 pm
I’m not trying to imitate Steve W – but I’ve been posting as SteveW for awhile, and I don’t know what to change to!
Great move to bring in Wilkens! And I wonder what Sy’s status is? I Hope he at least gets well enough to get to D- League.
Comparing this lineup to others without JJ, we are weak! We have an aging PG and an erratic backup. We have a journeyman SG who’s offensive skill have greatly declined, and a declining backup in Jamal.
Our SF is underachieving as always, and our 2 best players w/o JJ are undersized bigs who don’t know how to bang in the paint! Our bench is really bad. Powell has surprise me however. Good for him.
If we play .500 ball without JJ, LD will have done a great coaching job. And maybe after the surgery, JJ will be back to his 20/5/4 self.
And are we really about to face Jameer and Dwight with Bibbby and Horford again? Uh-oh. Maybe that stomach virus will linger just a little longer – get some rest guys, you need it!
SteveW
December 5th, 2010
11:56 pm
No spell check in that last post – sorry!
SteveW
December 6th, 2010
12:00 am
I would feel so much better if we had Shaq and Dampier down low. With Wilkens on the wing, we may be competing for a Championship with that roster. And I think we could have had Shaq and Dampier. And man am I glad we signed Wilkens. Hope Sy eventually pans out also.
Rufus1
December 6th, 2010
12:04 am
HAVE YOU BEEN WATCHING THE SEASON?
I think some people on this blog wait until the Hawks LOSE, so they can post negative comments. They don’t like certain players so they wait for a BAD GAME or LOSE, so they can express their negative points.
We lost to a GOOD team without our best player……SUPRISE!!!!
I THINK SOME OF YOU WANT THE HAWKS TO LOSE, BECAUSE I HAVE NEVER SEEN A POSITIVE POST FROM SOME OF YOU!! How can you be a fan, if Hawks can do nothing right in your eyes?
Najeh Davenpoop
December 6th, 2010
12:07 am
I gave Woody the benefit of the doubt for a good four years into his tenure, and I’m willing to give LD the benefit of the doubt for at least half that long. I think he’s been OK but not great so far. The new offense has done good things for the Hawks overall, and I definitely think they look less lost against good defenses (with the exception of the Boston game).
As questionable as some of his substitution patterns are, I think he’s planning long term. He remembers the Hawks dusting off Collins in the 2nd round last year and getting nothing out of him after having him rot on the bench all year and doesn’t want to repeat the mistake in the playoffs this year. He could continue trying to develop the bench without unnecessarily limiting Horford’s minutes beyond what’s necessary, but the general idea of trying to see what he has to work with early in the season is a good one.
Really, if there’s one thing with which I think he has done a poor job this season so far, it’s getting this team to box out and get boards. The Miami game was the first time they consistently boxed out and did a respectable job collecting rebounds. They have the personnel to be at least an average rebounding team; right now they are among the worst, and they can chalk up at least a couple of their losses to poor rebounding. The defense has to get better, too, but you can at least make the argument that he doesn’t have the personnel to play good perimeter defense consistently.
Rufus1
December 6th, 2010
12:12 am
TAKE DEEP BREATH!!!
Can we please let Wilkins play 10 to 20 games, before you make him the starter…….I know Marvin is SLEEPING with so of you bloggers Woman, but he is a VERY GOOD defensive players.
GO HAWKS
Rufus1
December 6th, 2010
12:16 am
13pts in the 3rd Qt….89pts for the game on the road….The defense coming!
Big Ump
December 6th, 2010
12:17 am
drmaryb
I agree with you a 100%. Keep piosting
drmaryb (*_*)
December 6th, 2010
12:59 am
Obrien said:
“I would have traded Jamal for a PG or a big, signed a legit backup SF (Matt Barnes, Damien Wilkins, Rodney Carney), gone after Shaq, and leave Etan alone.”
That is 100% Copa-stetic! Amen Brother O’Brien!
We st around all Summer waiting for Sund to do something and all we got was:
“The Decision” on ESPN! Oh yeah, my bad & we got Joe – that was great for our team! But we needed so much more!
BIG UMP!
What’s up Baby! Thanks for the Shout Out! I was in a puppy fight today, I appreciate the LOVE! Smile and LOL! Let’s Go Hawks!
Al did say, “I’ll go to war with what we got.” I guess that means no ETAN?
MsDee
December 6th, 2010
1:54 am
WOW, u guys constantly doggin LD and I just cant see why..1st of all, IS IT NOT LD 1ST SHOT AT COACHING IN THIS LEAGUE??? Allow him to make HIS OWN mistakes, HIS OWN adjustments, HIS OWN corrections..u guys have NO IDEA WHAT HE IS TRYIN TO DO WITH HIS TEAM EARLY ON IN THE SEASON. I have to agree with Najeh when he said, “As questionable as some of his substitution patterns are, I think he’s planning long term..He could continue trying to develop the bench without unnecessarily limiting Horford’s minutes beyond what’s necessary, but the general idea of trying to see what he has to work with early in the season is a good one.”
Just like Woody had HIS opportunity to make mistakes after mistakes after mistakes after mistakes after..well u get the point, allow LD HIS 1st year to makes some, the only difference I hope is that by mid-season, we will see a different line-up to start with, with Damien starting at SF..allowing Marvin to come off the bench with Jamal and also have a better 3 guard defensive unit in the end of ball games with Teague, Damien, & JJ..
Oh and quit crying about Horford AND HIS MINUTES..GOSH!! When he’s out there, NOBODY AND I MEAN NOBODY SEEMS TO BE SMART ENOUGH TO CONTINUE TO GO TO HIM ANYWAYS. Horford played his BUTT off in the 3rd qr but did Jamal, Bibby, JOSH SMITH, MO EVER CONSTANTLY PASSED THE BALL TO AL IN THE 4TH?????????????????? HECK NAW, cause Jamal and the crew was TOO selfish to give the game to Horford. Jamal needed to look good for a contract next season so he wasnt giving it up. Josh Smith wanted to be LeBron himself so HE wasnt giving it up. Bibby was looking like a rookie out there, with the horrible/costly TO in the 4th so again AL didnt get the ball..so quit hate-in on LD and hate on the players surrounding Horford cause trust me, if the players on the floor with AL would CONTINUE to go to him for 6-8 back to back buckets, LD WOULD NEVER TAKE AL OUT WITH 2 FOULS IN THE 1ST QTR!!! IT WOULD BE TOOOOO STUPID FOR HIM TO DO THAT WHEN AL IS OBVIOUSLY ON A ROLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!!!
Carlos
December 6th, 2010
4:23 am
I dont post much, or hardly at all, but I do read through the comments. This “Dr” MaryB character is the most annoying person on these blogs.
Are you really a Doctor? What kind of professional goes around on blogs telling people to suck their chest???
And why are you telling people they cant complain but you have a “right” to complain because you’ve been a season ticket holder since 1986 and you’ve been blogging here forever and blah blah?
I love basketball and the Hawks but my God, it IS BASKETBALL. You dont own the Hawks Organization or AJC, you cant tell people what they can and cant complain about because of how long you’ve been bloggingl. What kind of silly crap is that? I wasnt even born til a ‘87 and I know that’s immature and childish, so what kind of older woman acts like that???
drmaryb (*_*)
December 6th, 2010
6:45 am
There goes another fake blogger, hiding behind a new name.
LOL! It’s all the same guy people.
Yawn! Roll Over and back to sleep.
drmaryb (*_*)
December 6th, 2010
7:05 am
Hot Stuff in the City!
Ms. Dee,
All great points made. a very astute observation. Keep posting your thang girl!
O'Brien
December 6th, 2010
7:52 am
Except for Orlando and Boston, the rest of the East is close together.
And we have seen the Hawks play tough on the road at Orlando, and at Miami. And we have seen them struggle at home.
I know its early, but these factors combined make me believe that the Hawks are capable of winning a first round series even if they dont have homecourt advantage.
We’ll see how the rest of the season plays out.
Double Zero Eight
December 6th, 2010
8:58 am
The Hawks will not get past the first round of the playoffs if they have to face Miami, Orlando, Boston or Milwaukee. That’s the ugly truth.
Carlos
December 6th, 2010
9:36 am
rofl@middle aged women who want “cool” points for how long they’ve blogged.
It’s even worse than middle school kids who want to act cool for being “king of the arcade” when they’re losers at school or in the streets.
“Dr.” MaryB you a lame.
What your OLD a.s.s. going to do about it?
JeJe
December 6th, 2010
9:39 am
A team going a bit under the radar is the Knicks. While I am not scared of them, Amare could be an MVP candidate if they keep winning and get a 4 seed or better.
Damn he is beasting right now
Carlos
December 6th, 2010
9:57 am
“Dr.” MaryB, hiding behind what? I’m right here, do you need a link to a social network? I keep it 100. I’m pretty sure most of your “blog homies” who keep it real with themselves can agree with me that it’s unprofessional and silly for any adult old enough to have adult children to carry on in the way that you do, let alone a so called doctor.
Speaking of hiding, do your patients know you go around on internet blogs telling people to suck your unmentionables???? Nice to be on the internet where you can have the ghetto trash persona you cant display in person, right?
Anybody can read back through this blog and see YOU intiated insults with one guy calling him a “Hater” and then with another guy by calling him a “Little Boy” then you reply back on this page saying you usually “scroll pass personal attacks?”
Are you that dumb and delusional? YOU STARTED IT with those guys. Airheaded broad.
This is Carlos Smith from Columbus, GA attending school in ATL at GA St. Trust, it’s just me calling out something I’ve noticed reading these blogs, your old a.s.s. dont run nothing.
Hawks face nemesis again | Atlanta Hawks: Fan Nest
December 6th, 2010
10:11 am
[...] take on the task whether it’s a good idea or not. If you think that thought is off base, then read between these last lines. Either way, the point remains – the Hawks will need more from Marvin against the better [...]
Carlos
December 6th, 2010
10:31 am
“Dr” MaryB, the people who you brown nose on here in your imaginary world of “Blog Hierarchy” agree with me, whether they type it on the screen or not. I know this because I imagine most of them arent dumb, have common sense and decency. They also dont go around telling others what they can and cant say on a blog based on how long they’ve been blogging.
It’s not OK for some guys to complain about the team, but it’s OK for you to do it based on how long you’ve blogged or had season tickets?? HELLLOO you dont OWN the HAWKS or THIS BLOG. We all have the same rights.
I’m sure they also dont agree with middle aged professional women telling people to suck her unmentionables over a debate about basketball.
Work on your people skills. Learn to show some respect for the blog, yourself, other people and stop brown nosing.
All your “yyeeeaaah girl you said it!!” and “you tell em, preach brotha” and “yeea go head boo” dont mean squat. Everything I just said is keeping it 100% true, so just take this “L” and shut up.
northcyde
December 6th, 2010
11:23 am
Way too early to say that O’Brien.
Last year at this time, we had already beaten Portland, Boston, and Dallas on the road, while pretth much steamrolling everyone else at home.
This year our signature home win is vs Indiana and our signature road win is vs the Knicks.
Until this team starts beating some of the good teams in the league, I don’t know if we can get out of the 1st round if we didn’t have the home court advantage.
We’ve really had a very favorable schedule to start the year in those first 20 games. The potential was there for the Hawks to win 16 of those first 20. Winning 13 is still a decemt number, but I would’ve liked to have seen at least one win vs a top 10 in the league caliber team.
We definitely can’t beat Boston or Orlando in a series right now. Don’t know about Chicago, but they have weapons. And I can’t say that we’d take out Miami either.
Those are the 4 teams we’d most likely be matched up against, if we didn’t have the home court.
Mike is back
December 6th, 2010
1:57 pm
Well I’m late…but I seen the Heat…I KNOW there is no solace in moral victories…however…you have to at least acknowledge that the Hawks fought back and made it a game…so why I share the disappointment of the Hawks continues struggles against the elite teams in the East…I think the slow start was the biggest contributing factor to the Hawks lost to the Heat.
As for as LD’s substitution pattern…I think Dude is still trying to figure it out himself…they have enough big games in the month of December for us to get a good feel for where the team is at. One thing I will give LD credit for is his emphasis on the team’s slow start…again I felt that was the biggest contributor to Hawks lost…you can’t fall behind early to these elite teams and expect to win.
I must admit…the explanation LD gives MC to our questions are puzzling at times…Cuz it’s almost as though you are listening to Woody…now that’s very disappointing.
BTW, love the pick-up of DWilkins…I hope he is signed for the remainder of the season.
CMON JOSH…PICK-UP…TOO MANY JUMP SHOTS…you are letting your opponent off the hook.
GO HAWKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!