Atlanta Hawks: Bulls 114, Hawks 81
- Perhaps it’s best to just skip those video “highlights” above.
- The Hawks got down and stayed down. At Philips. Again. The Bulls balled and the Hawks bailed.
- The Hawks checked out against Orlando last spring (can’t say they did the same vs. Bucks after that W in Game 6). This time it looks like they are doing it before the playoffs even start.
- L.D. keeps preaching the same things and nothing changes. Is he still confident he can get through to this group?
- “I am going to keep trying.” he said. “Right now I think the most important thing with our team has nothing to do with Xs and Os. It’s got to do with just our whole mental state. Coming out and playing hard and sustaining that and being able to play hard for four quarters. I am going to continue to try to preach that message. Hopefully it will get through as we wind down this regular season.”
- That’s not exactly a stirring speech to rally the Hawks but, hey, at least it’s honest.
- And, anyway, all the talk from the Hawks is getting old. At the expense of ticking off my blog people, who no doubt are sick and tired of hearing from the Hawks after games like this, I will share what they had to say. J.J. sounded as if he’s pretty tired of hearing it, too.
- “We are a team that sits here in this locker room and talk about all the time ‘What we’ve got to do, what we need to do,’” he said. “And then we go out on the floor and do things that are out of our character. It makes us all look bad. Until we get that part of the game down we are going to continue to look bad. We have had countless meetings throughout the season that have meant nothing. I don’t even know what to say about it.”
- Of course there is the possibility that what’s happening is completely in line with this group’s character. Could it be that the Hawks need a new mix of players and/or new voices?
- “Maybe,” J.J. said. “Shaking it up a little always rejuvenates. I don’t know what we need. More so than anything come out and have each others’ backs. We haven’t been doing that, especially against upper-echelon teams. Teams that are not in the playoffs we will come out and play together and beat them. But the great teams, the top teams in the league, we come out and it seems like we don’t fight back.”
- The Hawks now own the three worst home Ls in the league this season. “The [stuff] is starting to get embarrassing,” Smoove said. “We are too good of a team to be getting blown out in our own gym.”
- “When you are at home you would think the sense of urgency would be there a little bit more and be jacked up and play with more energy,” Drew said. “We do the opposite for some reason. I am at a loss for words for that.”
- Bulls fans invaded Philips but, as Drew said: “We should be used to it by now. It should be something we can totally just block it out and go play.”
- Believe it or not the score was tied at 17-17 late in the first quarter. Then D-Rose and the Bulls put it on the Hawks and never let up.
- “What happened the last time we were here was definitely on our minds,” Rose said. “We knew once we got that lead we couldn’t let that happen again.”
- That was no sweat since the Hawks showed no indication that they wanted to make the Bulls work for it this time. “This team was up on us by 20 points at halftime last time we played here,” Smoove said. “We fought back, showed some resilliance. I seen the passion in our eyes and the will to win the game. Tonight it was just nonexistent.”
- “It’s frustrating and it’s embarrassing as a competitor,” Marvin said. “I think everybody in here, including the coaching staff, is embarrassed with our effort today.”
- “It went downhill very fast,” L.D. said. “It’s kind of a familiar sight to see–when a team makes a little run on us, our body language just changes. We have to learn how to respond in those situations. That’s just the bottom line. There is no magic pill. There is nothing to do but just roll your sleeves up and tough it a little bit more.”
- Probably no one was going to slow D-Rose the way he was playing tonight. Teague didn’t even get a chance so I guess that means he’s officially dropped out of the rotation again.
- Like he did at Chicago, D-Rose danced to the rim and did what he wanted without penalty.
- “We didn’t run any coverages,” Josh said. “We didn’t help each other and when you don’t help each other it gets contagious. We was giving up too much stuff–junmp shots, dribble drives to the paint, wide open layups, and no one was giving hard fouls. We didn’t show any resistance.”
- The Bulls are starting to look like the class of the East. They won despite injuries. They keep winning even as their schedule toughens. This is the time of the year when the real teams announce themselves and the Bulls are doing it.
- “Give them credit,” J.J. said. “They have been the hottest team in the league and they have been showing it all year. They came in here and kicked our ass pretty much the whole game. It is what it is.”
- It’s also the time of year when teams who once looked good are exposed as lacking what it takes. That’s the Hawks.
- “It’s going to take action. Results,” Joe said. “We are getting nothing out of sitting in here and talking about it or talking to one another. We have got to go out there on the court and do it. It’s matter of going out there and putting forth the effort.”
- L.D. took Zaza out of the game in the second half and the two had words. I couldn’t make out exactly what Zaza said but it looked like he wasn’t happy about whatever Drew said to him.
- L.D. said he told Zaza he didn’t like the jump shot he attempted on the previous possession: “You don’t go on your own, you don’t start trying to do things you aren’t capable of doing. You don’t deviate from what the team is expecting. You continue to play the right way. That was either a shot where he saw he was about to come out of the game or just a bad shot.”
- Said Zaza: “Obviously a game like that nobody feels good about it. We are not happy. These kind of things happen. We move on.”
- Al left the game in the second half with a hamstring strain. “He was OK,” Drew said. “I think the hamstring is still bothering him a little bit. We sat him in the fourth quarter and hopefully he will be ready to go tomorrow.”
Michael Cunningham, Hawks beat
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400 comments Add your comment
doc
March 23rd, 2011
9:45 am
rofl at samuel.
newkid
March 23rd, 2011
9:49 am
Hawks amongst 5-6 franchises the League should consider purchasing, followed by dispersal of the few ‘real’ players to the remaining 24+ teams. The owners are bush league at best, the GM’s a chump of the 1st order (with a track record that proves it), and many of the players are d-league material. The GM and owners should be sent off never to be heard from or seen in professional basketball circles again. The entertainment value of this franchise has long-since slipped into negative territory, which is to say that ‘fans’ should be paid to view games in which the Hawks ‘appear’ – and the verb ‘appear’ should not be confused with the verb ‘play’.
slimjr
March 23rd, 2011
9:53 am
love ya drmaryb!!! You got many jokes!!!!!!!!!!!!! LOL
slimjr
March 23rd, 2011
9:58 am
LD is there something not right about you???? Do you have all your chromosomes?
now I we know why you were an assistant coach for almost 20 years….You cant fit a round peg into a square hole…You should do the city a favor and just resign your tenure……You are broke.You’ve lost the team weeks ago!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Last night was a huge example of your team quiting on you!!!!!!!!!!!!!! They have flat out quit on you.. You need to quit now!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Yesterday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!11
slimjr
March 23rd, 2011
9:58 am
now we know
slimjr
March 23rd, 2011
10:00 am
Phillips should be empty for the rest of the season and playoff disaster to come!!!!!!!!!!!!!
slimjr
March 23rd, 2011
10:02 am
Shop AL
Shop Josh
Cut 90% of the bench
Waive Marvin
JC1 run dont walk
Fire Sund
Fire LD
Did I forget anybody??????? LOL
Start over………..
phil
March 23rd, 2011
10:05 am
LOL at yet another pathetic showing by the Squawks….as i keep preaching, don’t go to the games, don’t watch the games and don’t expect any improvement. The decline/collapse is well underway, the coach is as good as gone and until JJ and Smith follow Drew out the door, it will only continue to fall apart….These well paid professionals have no heart and are an embarassment to us all…
slimjr
March 23rd, 2011
10:05 am
all hands!!!! ABANDON SHIP!!!!! I REPEAT, ALL HANDS ABANDON SHIP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
slimjr
March 23rd, 2011
10:06 am
Who is worse SUND or BILLY KNIGHT???????????????????????????????
yoursporthouse.com
March 23rd, 2011
10:07 am
THESE GUYS SUCK BIZZALLS…ENROLL THE WHOLE STARTING FIVE AND JAMAL CRAWFORD INTO QUITTERS ANONYMOUS!!!!
yoursporthouse.com
March 23rd, 2011
10:09 am
WHEN DOES BASEBALL SEASON START?
BYC
March 23rd, 2011
10:10 am
What I saw last night was inexcusable. Fans can forgive lack of talent and cheapness, they cant forgive lack of heart and stupidity- which the Hawks have a whole lot of. There is nothing right about this organization from the owners to the players.
The Management:
The owners are constantly dysfunctional and the only time they opened up their wallets was to give Joe Johnson the worst contract in the freaking NBA. He is half the player Wade, Lebron, or Bosh is, yet gets paid more, and this is coming from a guy that HATES the Heat. Stop trading away our rookies and give them a chance! Jordan Crawford is proving that he is a legit scorer and even Acie Law is stepping it up as of late. The problem is not the rookies, it’s the coaches who won’t teach them how to play or give them a chance.
The Coaching:
Larry Drew is Woodson 2.0, still can’t run an offense, still can’t make adjustments, still won’t trust rookies, still can’t make his players play right (Josh Smith, stop shooting jumpers and BOX OUT). The motion offense looked nice at the start of the season, but everyone went back to old habits and now every possession is one guy playing one-on-one while everyone else watches. Also, I am pretty sure every single coach in the league tells his team “Alright guys, we’re playing the Hawks tomorrow, remember to leave Josh Smith wide open for long jumpers and threes”
The Players:
Josh Smith- Stop shooting jumpers, play in the paint, play defense, rebound. As brilliant as he sometimes is, this guy is killing our team with his attitude.
Marvin Williams- OK, he just has no talent, he’s not Chris Paul or Deron Williams and he never will be. I can’t really hate on him because he tries.
Al Horford- He is really the only solid player we have. He’s plays with unquestionable heart and effort out of position. He seems to be taking a leadership role but is still a little too nice. As much as we Hawks fans hate him, can you see KG letting his team bend over and take it like the Hawks did last night? Please trade Josh Smith and Joe Johnson before they can turn Horford into an apathetic heartless player.
Jeff Teague- Is he good or not? We can’t tell because the coach won’t give him minutes even after he proved himself worthy.
Joe Johnson- Worst contract in the NBA. We had two guys that could do his job, Jamal Crawford and Jordan Crawford, yet we decided to max him out instead of picking up a true center.
Jamal Crawford- It seems like he’s lost the will to live.
Zaza- He suffers from a combination of Teague and William’s problems. It appears he’s just not that good and the coach won’t give him a serious try either. Buckhead Bottle Bar has pretty bad service by the way, I hope you have replaced the 40-year-old floor manager with the frosted tips, but don’t pull an ASG, hire someone that actually acts differently than his predecessor.
Hinrich- You just landed in the same situation you were in before: dysfunctional team with a losing mentality, “star” player with the worst contract in the league, yep, we’re basically the Wizards with more talent, at least they let their rookies play (our rookies too), and at least their fans come out to games.
Hawks Hack
March 23rd, 2011
10:14 am
I have never felt more dejected as a fan supporting a professional sports team. Everyone in that lockeroom with the exception of Al Horford is a loser and a reject. Every single one of them!!! They get millions of dollars anually and they have no girth, moxie or fortitude… pathetic Losers is all they are!!
BYC
March 23rd, 2011
10:18 am
I forgot:
The rest of the bench- Just keep going to practice and collecting your paycheck, be smart with your money and you can probably retire comfortably in 5 years, get a degree from GA State and take up that profession after the NBA. Larry Woodson will never let you play or help you develop your talents.
julius
March 23rd, 2011
10:22 am
ASG HERE IS THE MESSAGE: FIRE THAT SORRY ASS COACH, GET RID OF JOE UR PAYING THIS SUCKER 120M AND HE’S GARBAGE, TRADE MARVIN, ZAZA,AND MAYBE GET A GOOD CENTER THAT CAN BLOCK SHOT AND REBOUND, AND HIRE A NBA COACH NOT A HIGH SCHOOL COACH. DAMN IT AM TIRED OF WATCHING THIS TEAM GET BLOWN OUT AT HOME
jeffrop
March 23rd, 2011
10:25 am
he said that to zsa zsa because he is the foreign white whipping boy. pure and simple. the coach has to be the leader of the team. three captains = a team going in three different directions. stuck with joke johnson. gonna keep al. josh will hopefully be the odd man out UNLESS you get a coach that will tell him to keep himself around the basket at all times. josh is a horrible dribbler. no jump shot. just a long set shot. they will loose the first round against orlando 4 games to one.
fan
March 23rd, 2011
10:25 am
Fire Sund trade anybody besides Al Holfrord he is the only player who has heart and passion for the game. Hire a young gm from a winning team and start over make going to the hawks fun again.
slimjr
March 23rd, 2011
10:25 am
???????????? That’s the sound of CRICKET’S at Phillips……………………
slimjr
March 23rd, 2011
10:25 am
AL for NENE!!!!!!!!!
jeffrop
March 23rd, 2011
10:26 am
^^ zaza^^
yoursporthouse.com
March 23rd, 2011
10:28 am
PATHETIC..AND THE OWNERS SHOULD BE ASHAMED THAT THEY ARE NOT EVEN MAKING MONEY OFF THEIR OWN TEAM. THEY ARE MAKING MONEY FROM OTHER TEAM’S FANS COMING TO PHILLIPS. THE HIGHLIGHT FACTORY SHOULD BE CALLED GET HIGH FACTORY CAUSE THAT’S WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE, THE HAWKS ARE HIGH ON METH WHILE PLAYING…
yoursporthouse.com
March 23rd, 2011
10:39 am
OH WELL, CAN’T WAIT FOR FOOTBALL SEASON, OH WAIT, THEY’RE LOCKED OUT..
BYC
March 23rd, 2011
10:40 am
jeffrop, what makes you think the Hawks will win one game against the Magic?
shake&break
March 23rd, 2011
10:40 am
Truth be told, JJ is not playing at a All Star level. However, he is not the reason the Hawks are getting blown out. There is plenty of blame to go around and even “The Boss Big AL” needs to be called out. JJ atleast tried to will his team last night and if he had played a full game he would have likely had 20 plus points and a overall good assist and rebound number.
When JJ complains after a game, everybody says “JJ sucks” and we pay him all this money. What else do you expect the “captain” to say? Should he say we are meeting and trying to get better as a team? Should he say we are going to get better even though they get beat over and over the same way? I actually like it that someone is finally speaking out.
So yes, it is okay to blame JJ for not playing up to Allstar level, but let’s don’t forget that he is facing double teams just about every night and Josh, JC1, Marvin, Kirk and yes, The Big Boss Man, is not doing much either.
Everyone also wants to talk about JJ’s contract, but let’s remember he is not making $20 million this year. Therefore, it is the collective contracts of Marvin, Jamal ($10 million), Kirk, Josh, Twin, Etan, Zaza, etc. that is really hindering this team. Just to prove my point, You could easily take Marvin and Jamal’s contracts and have D. Williams or Chris Paul for $15-17 million per season. That is real talk.
JeJe
March 23rd, 2011
10:41 am
JJ NEVER SAYS “I”….IT’S ALWAYS “WE”.
LOL
LD IS A HORRIFIC COACH
NO ACCOUNTABILITY
NEVER GETS A TECHNICAL FOUL
NEVER PUTS IN BENCH IF STARTERS ARE SUCKING
ASG SUCKS. FIRE THIS COACH ALREADY
KIRK HINRICH: WTF WAS WITH YOUR DEFENSE LAST NIGHT? YOU ALMOST MADE BIBBY LOOK INDISPENSABLE
JeJe
March 23rd, 2011
10:41 am
AND STOP WITH THESE DAMN ARTICLES ABOUT “HORFORD LIKES PLAYING NEW YORK AND CHICAGO”
THE LAST 2 TIMES WE PLAYED NEW YORK, HORFORD CHOKED
HE HAD 14 AND 3 LAST NIGHT. 3 FREAKING REBOUNDS
WOW
JeJe
March 23rd, 2011
10:46 am
LD WILL NEVER EVER CHANGE THE LINEUP.
SAME BULL!@#$ EVERY GAME
WE WILL LOSE TONIGHT, HAVE A PLAYERS-ONLY MEETING FRIDAY THEN BEAT TWO SCRUB TEAMS THIS WEEKEND
WE ALL KNOW THIS WILL HAPPEN
FIRE LD
FIRE SUND
FIRE JOE
FIRE ASG
Geemack
March 23rd, 2011
10:46 am
Give me this line up and bet we won’t lose by 40.
Dr. Mary B @ the point,
Grandaddy @ the 2
J from the A @ the 3 spot
Rod from CP @ the 4
Daniel @ the 5
Ken Strickland as the coach, and I bet they put up a better effort than this team.
There is no fight in this team. Too bad it took another lost season for management to realize that Woody wasn’t the problem.
Dr. Mary B do you perform hear transplants? The Hawks could really use one.
JeJe
March 23rd, 2011
10:54 am
WHY DOES THIS TEAM HAVE 3 CAPTAINS?
WE WILL HAVE LARRY DREW NEXT YEAR BECAUSE ASG CAN’T MUSTER THE 1.5 MILLION TO PAY HIS SORRY @$$ TO LEAVE
JeJe
March 23rd, 2011
10:55 am
GEEMACK, CAN I BE THE GM OF THAT SQUAD?
JeJe
March 23rd, 2011
10:56 am
THERE IS NO DESPERATION IN LD’S COMMENTS. HE IS CONTENT WITH LOSING 235 GAMES THIS YEAR AT HOME BY 40 POINTS.
WE LOST BY 37 TO A TEAM COMING OFF A B2B. WE GOT MURDERED IN THE 2ND QTR VS A LINEUP WITHOUT ITS 3 BEST PLAYERS
WE LET ASHTON FREAKING KUTCHER EAT US ALIVE.
yoursporthouse.com
March 23rd, 2011
11:02 am
Gee Mack, I’m the shooting guard off the bench. I also would take D Rose’s head off if he comes to the lane. I will shoot the ball like I want to score.
J from the A
March 23rd, 2011
11:05 am
I know that Hawks are not a great team, but they are capable of being a very good team. WTF is going on with these guys?!
These guys have been together long enough that if they don’t trust each other by now, it is unlikely that they will ever trust each other. I cannot believe I am about to say what I am about to say, but: [Unless the Hawks make a deep playoff run,] BLOW THIS TEAM UP! Or should the Hawks first take the intermediary step of getting a REAL COACH, and then if that does not work, BLOW THE TEAM UP?!
O'Brien
March 23rd, 2011
11:05 am
And how bad are the Hawks at home? These are the number of home losses for some other teams.
Washington – 20
Nets – 18
Detroit – 17
Charlotte – 16
Milwaukee – 17
J from the A
March 23rd, 2011
11:06 am
Co-sign Gmack 10:46am!
O'Brien
March 23rd, 2011
11:06 am
Hawks have 15 home losses so far. And that number is likely to climb, since we 5 more home games.
ag
March 23rd, 2011
11:09 am
RK _ I think your analogy of people wanting the backup QB in more in line with people asking for Hilton Armstrong. I agree with another person and Teague is our PG now and in the future. The sooner we play him, the better he will be the future. Sometimes we have to let our starter go (Favre) for our backup QB to play (Rodgers)- and he even struggled his first year.
The more you play NBA games, it will slow down for you. You gain experience from playing against Rose, so the next time you play him you make adjustments (like Rose did against Hinrich). Practicing against Bibby daily does not make you better.
Teague played Rose for 7 minutes and Rose was 1-4 with an assist, a rebound and a turnover. Do the math what he did against the rest of the team. I have said it over and over, what JT lacks in offense he will get it back on defense (see Lawton, Jennings, Curry, Miller etc.)
Josh is a lot like Nique. Josh has worked on his game and he has grown leaps but he needs a good coach. He needs to define his game. The first half he had some good post up moves, then went away from it the second half. LD should allow Josh to shoot jumpers, but make him understand inside – out. Out of all the players, I think Josh is the only one who really wants to be a superstar and that is why he takes a lot of shots.
To shake this team up, LD should be fired ASAP. That will get the fans back in the Phillips. Put the interim tag on Van Exel or any of the coaches. Let that coach prove he deserves the job next year.
Rod from College Park
March 23rd, 2011
11:09 am
“KIRK HINRICH: WTF WAS WITH YOUR DEFENSE LAST NIGHT? YOU ALMOST MADE BIBBY LOOK INDISPENSABLE”
Remeber this is the guy who supposedly has the highest basketball IQ on the team, is a captain on the floor, and was supposed to be the best defender of point guards in the league. He played a total of 28 minutes with 5 assist, 2 turnovers, and got his lunch handed to him by a guy he supposedly mentored. But some posters on here (Vava74) think he is an excellent point guard. He is only a little better than Bibby at this point, and should be a backup point guard, as the two teams who had him before us recognized. The guy used to have a little quickenss, but that is gone now either because of injury or age.
Sam from the Swats
March 23rd, 2011
11:12 am
Rod, I concur. I think the negative nature of this team has rubbed off on Hinrich now.
rusty
March 23rd, 2011
11:14 am
It’s the lowlite factory not the highlight factory or is it the Lowlife factory?
Sam from the Swats
March 23rd, 2011
11:15 am
It’s the run and hide like a little punk factory!!!
Rod from College Park
March 23rd, 2011
11:18 am
Joe and Marvin both outrebounded Josh and Horford last night. I know, I know, Al was hurt and nothing bad can be said about Al. It was all Josh’s fault.
Teague and Wilkins should be starting for Marvin and Hinrich. With Wilkins you should explain to him that he should provide defensive intensity, and slash to the basket on offense. No jumpshots. We have got enough jumpshooters in the starting lineup. Hinrich does not have the lateral quickness to stay with the faster point guards in the league anymore, unless he is still hurt.
JeJe
March 23rd, 2011
11:27 am
STARTING LINEUP:
TEAGUE
JOE
DAMIEN
SMOOVE HORFORD
OR HORFORD AND ZAZA
THIS TEAM STINKS
bigdave
March 23rd, 2011
11:30 am
Joe again, telling the truth. honestly thats the most candid he’s been. no cliches to express anything.. seemed like he cared.
get 20 shots up Joe.
“we done had countless meetings throughout the season that have meant (nothing)”
“they came in here, for a lack of a better word, kicked our @ss pretty much the whole game”
“we a team that sit in here in this locker room and talk about what we got to do, what we need to do then go out on the floor and do things thats out of our character, or thats not w/ in ourselves and uh.. makes us all look bad. until we get that part of the game down we gone continue to look bad”
“play with pride.. not playing for anything but ourselves, we all we got in this room and we should play for one another but we dont so..”
“teams thats not in the playoffs, we’ll come out, play together beat them you know..”
jeffrop
March 23rd, 2011
11:33 am
good question BYC! blind loyalty, maybe?
SteveW
March 23rd, 2011
11:39 am
O’Brien – I concur. And I would almost guarantee that the Hawks have lost by a larger point spread at home than any of those teams.
MC – Has any team ever lost by 33+ at home 3 times in the same season?
And OB – I think I remember a Bucks and maybe a Boston blowout at home early in the season also.
darrell starks
March 23rd, 2011
11:45 am
TRADE HORFORD, JOE FOR D HOWARD, TURKOGLU
TRADE JOSH, TEAGUE FOR PAUL
GO HAWKS!!!!!!!!!!!
darrell starks
March 23rd, 2011
11:46 am
ARTHUR BLANKS BY THE HAWKS
GO HAWKS!!!!!!!!!!!!
Un-Real
March 23rd, 2011
11:48 am
It’s lookin g like this management is actually going to allow LD to coach tonight!
This is beyond all belief to me.
I check the NBA headlines every few minutes waiting for word of LD’s dismisal.
But nothing. Nothing.