Atlanta Hawks: Magic 101, Hawks 76
Orlando–During a radio interview yesterday, the host tried to get me to predict how this series would turn out.
- “I’m done trying to predict the Hawks,” I said. “They can make you look stupid. When I’ve praised them, they go and get blown out. When I criticize them, they do something like go up 3-1 on the Magic. But one thing I think I can say for sure after these four games is you know they are going to give a good effort tomorrow.”
- Man, I’m about as smart as Charlie Brown when he’s always trying to kick that damn football when he knows Lucy’s going to pull it away again.
- “They came out and hit us early; it just seemed like we didn’t have a response for it,” Hinrich said. “We are going to regroup. We still have the series lead going home. We’re confident we will play better in Game 6.”
- It’s hard to trust the Hawks. They said all of the right things after this, just like they said the right things before. Obviously they are back in the “show me” category after this one.
- Game 6 is Thursday at 7:30 on NBA TV, Home of the Hawks.
- “We are good,” Jamal said. “We are still in the driver’s seat. This is just one game. We have to come out and act like we are in desperation.”
- No act should be necessary. The Hawks shouldn’t want any part of a Game 7 back in this building.
- “There are going to be nights like this,” Smoove said. “We just have to wash it out of our heads. We did want to get the win tonight but we have another shot at it Thursday. We have to play with a little bit more desperation and know that we can’t play Game 7.”
- When Dwight went to the bench with two fouls in the first quarter, it almost seemed like the Hawks relaxed. Maybe L.D. did, too, because he took out Kirk and Al as Orlando’s lead grew to 10. He got Al back in but the Magic’s lead was up to 42-21 by the time Hinrich returned.
- Not that it would have mattered much in this game since his players weren’t ready, anyway, but for a guy who talks about subbing depending on feel and flow L.D. sure does have some weird patterns sometimes.
- With Dwight on the bench the Hawks still didn’t go to the rim. The Magic, meanwhile, played faster and crisper. The Dwight Defense was nullified and the Hawks were a step behind.
- “Jameer and Gilbert were coming off screens aggressivelty all night long,” Josh said. “We had to help a little bit and [still] get out on the shooters. They were shooting with rhythm tonight. I think that pick-and-roll kind of hurst us tonight.”
- “When [Dwight] went out of the game, they went to a little bit more movement sets,” Jamal said. “That is when everyone got involved.”
- And they made shots. Man, did they ever make shots.
- “It seemed like once they made one, they started making them all over the place,” Marvin said.
- “Guys were contesting J.J. Redick and he was making fade-away jump shots,” Josh said.
- “We’re a good-shooting team,” Stan Van Gundy said “This is more us than the first four games. This is not some aberration, ‘Oh, the Magic made threes.’ We’ve been doing this for four years. The aberration was the first four games.”
- The Magic eventually cooled off from the floor. They took care of the ball, though, so there were few extra possessions for the Hawks.
- Not that it would have mattered. Once the Hawks got down, they never showed any sign of putting together a coherent plan to get back in it. They just kept taking and missing jump shots, allowing dribble penetration and generally sucking all around.
- “Obviously we laid an egg tonight,” Hinrich said. “It’s disappointing but at the same time we are looking forward to Game 6. Right now our attention is on that.”
- The Magic turned up the pressure on J.J. and Jamal. They didn’t handle it well.
- “They gave me different looks,” Jamal said. “But I will watch a lot of film and adjust to it.”
- Josh and Al weren’t much better. Smoove strayed outside even before things got out of hand, though at least he did play with more energy than anyone else. Al doesn’t have much else to go to if he’s not popping free for Js.
- At least the Hawks got to the free-throw line. Too bad for them they only made 22 of 32.
- Dwight had eight points and the Magic won by 25. He had eight rebounds and the Magic had an 48-43 edge on the boards. He shot just 10 free throws and the Magic had 29.
- The Hawks lead 3-2 but the Magic have to feel good about a) finding a way to attack the Hawks that works b) discovering that they can in fact take Atlanta’s guards out of it and c) seeing that they in fact can still shoot the ball.
- “The biggest thing was we played with tremendous focus and intensity from start to finish,” Van Gundy said. “And that’s what it’s going to take [in Game 6]. It will be much, much harder on Thursday and we’ll need to play better than we did tonight to get a win there.”
Michael Cunningham, Hawks beat
Tell us what you think about the site
Customer Care »
Vacation stops, manage subscriptions and more
AJC Services
Sections
Other Editions
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement
© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
313 comments Add your comment
Youalreadyknow
April 27th, 2011
8:23 am
When they win the series, then I will give them credit, but until then it’s the same old thing for 40 plus years now. I can tell you are a newbie, or you would surely understand where I am coming from. Woulda, coulda, shoulda, build you up only to let ya down over and over again. This is a 4 of 7 series, three wins do not impress me at all when it’s four you need to advance.
dapluva!
April 27th, 2011
8:32 am
they better win thursday cot dammit the hawks sorry as Fugk nobody on that team has basketball iq
no justice
April 27th, 2011
8:35 am
Tough lose of the series. Oh well we’ll do better next year.
phil
April 27th, 2011
8:37 am
LOL at the idiot Hawks. Given the series, they collapse. Now the train’s out of the station and it’s too late….of course the signs were obvious in the last win at home when we tried to give the game away…
Magic will dominate the final 2 and that will be that…our brains are the size of walnuts….
phil
April 27th, 2011
8:40 am
exactly youalreadyknow….i’ve lived through the 1980s teams that always came up way short. Same in part of the 90s….all talk, no actual meaningful wins on the court….
here we go again….
They have their chance to go out and end this thing at home. Shut the heck up and go out and play some damn defense, you idiots!!!!! If you’ll hustle, play some D and take good shots, you should win. What part of that formula don’t you get?
I can hear idiot Smith and even dumber JJ now….”We tried.”
no justice
April 27th, 2011
8:40 am
You guys are like Brent Berry. He said “we all can agree that Orlando is the better team here”, yet they are down 3-2. How can that be? I can understand why he would think that, he is a hawk hater. Hawk fans are not suppose to think like that! Are you fans or haters?
Big Daddy
April 27th, 2011
8:46 am
When all is said and done, it comes down to whether the team runs its offense correctly and defends well. What I suspect most of us feel, including MC, is that we expected what happened last night to come to past and were not disappointed. We all know of the fragile psyche of the team and are worried that what we saw will carry over to Thursday night.
There are three things that more than anything else kills us most nights. That is defense, shot selections and turnovers. We can talk all we want about number of points, rebounds and assist. If the team takes care of those 3 things we will win most games. When we look at those 3 things that takes us back to what controls them and that is coaching.
We did a good job the first few games staying close and not letting them get too far ahead. But we did so with a gimmick offense. Once any team figures out the gimmick we can’t adjust it to keep them guessing. That stymies the defense and makes the offense stagnant. They make us play a half court offense when we should be running and attacking the basket.
In the end maybe a trade for Smoove would be better. He is an amazing talent that I don’t believe has had the type of coaching that would change him for the better. That does not all ways happen. The NBA landscape is littered with players who were not tutored under coaches who could bring out what their potential. If Smoove had been under the tutelage of Popavich, P. Jackson or Doc Rivers, he would be a different player. But, I digress.
If the team really wants to make a statement, they need to win big, not by just a little Thursday night. I can’t help but feel, as I suspect most do on this blog, that if they lose on Thursday, by a big margin or in a squeaker, they have no chance of winning game 7 in Orlando.
I will be in my Hawks jersey (No. 5) rooting for the team when tipoff rolls around and hoping that the team I saw in Game 1 is the team I see in Game 6. Go Hawks!!!!
Simpdawg
April 27th, 2011
8:47 am
The Hawks made a good run at it, but this series is over. I know it’s still a 3-2 series advantage for the Hawks, but Orlando will win this series in seven. I could be wrong but unfortunately the Hawks will prove me right. They should have played last night game as if they were down 3-1 playing the game with a since of urgency. Now I have to listen to ESPN’s Freddie Coleman dissing another Atlanta sports franchise.
no justice
April 27th, 2011
8:50 am
All series you have been blogging how bad the how dumb the hawks are and yet you are suprise when they lose.
tremaine
April 27th, 2011
8:51 am
Calm down fellas, the series is not over yet. If we don’t win game 6 at home then you can call time of death.
no justice
April 27th, 2011
8:55 am
Our fan IQ = 0
Hollywould
April 27th, 2011
8:55 am
120 MILLION DOLLAR BUST. 2-12/ DOESN’T CARE/ GOT LIT UP IN THE FIRST ON D. I AM SICK OF WATCHING THAT GUY SULK. CAN’T RUN A BREAK/NUTHIN BUT A GLOBETROTTER WITH HIS DRIBBLIN. SCREW HIM
jase
April 27th, 2011
8:59 am
terrell
no the pacers lost by more.
and 2nd… the rest of you that have no faith over a game we was gonna lose… then dont tune in thursday and go away. i dont wanna hear your lame asses when we eliminate them. you so called fans are pathetic as it gets. turn your tv off and let real hawks fans enjoy the rest of this.
tremaine
April 27th, 2011
9:02 am
If you have been ok with the way the hawks have been playing in this series then you are not a real fan.
honest_abe
April 27th, 2011
9:10 am
great stuff kurt. that j.r. smith analogy was spot on. awesome sometimes amazing talent that just can’t put it together mentally. sounds dead like someone on this hawks team. its sad really. and people just keep harping on the fact that josh still does well or better than other players on this team but fail to realize it’s not about being mediocre its about being great.
look horrible loss last night. i’m not going to put this one all on josh (even though i kill him every time i come on here) it was a collective effort on everyone’s part. josh was probably the only one that came out of the gate with alot of energy. whenever i see that on both ends i give him a pass for missing shots and turnovers. i just want to see the guy play hard all the time.
jase
April 27th, 2011
9:12 am
honest abe….
ARE U BLIND. JOSH WAS THE ONLY ONE PLAYING AT ALL LAST NIGHT.
i swear some of you are just weird……
jase
April 27th, 2011
9:14 am
tremaine im more than ok how we played. no one even gave us a shot. yet we up 3-2. i swear some of you idiots aill never be happy. get over it. better yet turn tv off and cheer for someone else. we dont need you half asss fans.
tremaine
April 27th, 2011
9:14 am
Josh Johnson=Josh Smith alter-ego (bad Josh, Joe Johnson wannabe)
oldmike
April 27th, 2011
9:16 am
What is Josh Smith -he of the incredible athleticism – doing standing on the 3 point line motionless? Would any other coach tolerate this or worst yet draw this up? They looked like the team I know they are. CRAP. JJ is a total waste of money. He is at least a step and a half slower than last year. All those minutes under Woddy have worn him down. I can hardly wait for his effort in the back end years of this abysmal contract. Why has LD buried Teague? Anyone notice that Phil Jackson yanked Koby last night when he was showing nothing? And Smoove bricks shot after shot and remains on the floor. There has to be accountability for your actions in order for things to change. Please lose this series so I am not lulled into thinking they can do something. or be compelled to watch another set of games only to be exposed to an effort like last nights toal embarassment.
To paraphrase MC “they just kept generally sucking all around”.
J from the A
April 27th, 2011
9:25 am
A bad loss is a bad loss. And yes this Hawks team is a bit schizophrenic. But the Hawks still have the advantage in the series, bringing a 3-2 lead back to Philips. Let’s all make sure we show up and support the Hawks Thursday night.
GO HAWKS!
tremaine
April 27th, 2011
9:31 am
jase- I guess we need more fans like you? Unrealistic! Before this season started ASG hired LD and said that this team would be better. They got worse during the regular season and now idiot fans like you have lowered your expectation. Orlando shot the ball like trash in the first 4 games and the hawks barely won 3 of them. People that understand the game of basketball knew that if Orlando shot the ball better a beat down would be coming. We criticize because we have high expectations for this team. You can go ahead and continue to act like the battered woman that stands by her man no matter what.
THE HAWKS WILL NEVER WIN A TITLE WITH FANS LIKE YOU THAT WILL NEVER HOLD THEM ACCOUNTABLE.
ant banks
April 27th, 2011
9:51 am
Kurt
April 27th, 2011
12:43 am
You can tell the difference between the Hawks and a truly elite team just by looking at the fan support. Think about the fan reaction in this series when the Hawks took a 3-1 lead. Even though we had a commanding lead in the series, most of us still didn’t feel very confident about the Hawks chances of winning this series because we know how weak this team is mentally and how easily they can collapse in the face of adversity. Meanwhile, even when the Magic were down 1-3, you can take a look at their blogs and you see that most of them were still confident that the Magic would win this series because they know how good this team has been over the last few years. When your own fans don’t even have the confidence in you to close out a series that you lead 3-1 in, you know your team is not very good.
——————————————————————————————————————–
BEST POST TODAY, SO FAR!!!
ant banks
April 27th, 2011
9:56 am
Rick Sund, ASG, Woody, LD-”we want to keep this core together.” WHY? this CORE is fatally flawed!! this is the same core that played boston, lights out AT HOME, then went to boston and got their effin’ socks blew off!!
WHAT IS SO SPECIAL ABOUT THIS “CORE?”
and if i hear one more mf talk about marvin’s upside or this is a “young team” i am goin’ to scream. this effin’ core been together over 5yrs
Fireld!
April 27th, 2011
10:01 am
Tremaine has been of fire. I share your sentiments exactly. I lived in Memphis for 2 of the last 4 years and I have not missed 1 game because I by buy the NBA package just for the Hawks. Their play has been unacceptable and we have underachieved despite our regulay season finish this year and last. Fire LD and get someone to come in and coach my beloved Hawks. Mephis is a glimpse of what we should be doing.
Fireld!
April 27th, 2011
10:08 am
Tremaine is on fire! I share your sentiments exactly. I have lived in TN for 2 of the past 4 years and I have not missed one Hawks game with the help of the NBA package and DVR. I know we are so much better than what we are showing and it all goes back to coaching. We have underachieved for the pat two years despite our regular season finish. That just goes to show how talented this team actually is, but the post season is about coaching and we have been extremely deficient for the past couple of years. FREE TEAGUE AND TREMAINE KEEP GIVING THESE IGNORANT b-BALL FANS THE TRUTH.
ant banks
April 27th, 2011
10:11 am
I AM TRYIN’ TO COMPILE A LIST OF BAD MOVES MADE BY THE HAWKS ORGANIZATION. Y’ALL HELP ME OUT!!!!
1. traded away dominique
2. traded dr. j
3. traded one of the gasol brother
4. traded rasheed wallace
5. picked marvin EFFIN’ williams over cp3 and d will
6. traded for speedy claxton
7. gave a 2nd rnd pick for anthony johnson
8. picked sheldon EFFIN’ williams, then traded him
9. gave up 2 1st rnd picks for joe johnson
10. gave jj 120mil
11. never developed 2 1st rnd pick in acie law or teague.
12. gave up 2 1st rnd picks for hinrich (jc2 and a 1st rnd pick in the ‘11 draft)
ant banks
April 27th, 2011
10:13 am
CONT.
picked garbage coaches
13. terry stots coach
14. lon kruger coach
15. larry drew coach
tremaine
April 27th, 2011
10:14 am
Fireld!
April 27th, 2011
10:08 am
Tremaine is on fire! I share your sentiments exactly. I have lived in TN for 2 of the past 4 years and I have not missed one Hawks game with the help of the NBA package and DVR. I know we are so much better than what we are showing and it all goes back to coaching. We have underachieved for the pat two years despite our regular season finish. That just goes to show how talented this team actually is, but the post season is about coaching and we have been extremely deficient for the past couple of years. FREE TEAGUE AND TREMAINE KEEP GIVING THESE IGNORANT b-BALL FANS THE TRUTH.
Lmao, thanks Fireld! And Memphis has looked really good this postseason. It would be nice if we could get Gasol for next year.
ant banks
April 27th, 2011
10:14 am
are we the effin’ clippers of the east? lol. the hawks prior to ‘99 were okay, at beast. since then, damn we have made bone head selections. dan dickau, roshawn mcclown. years, years, and years of ineptitude
honest_abe
April 27th, 2011
10:23 am
jase: learn how to read.
bigdave
April 27th, 2011
10:23 am
Nejeh…
so you were playing about moving up to get AJ?
about a month ago over on DOL’s they were talking about what it would take to get him.. essentially Cincy passing him up.. where did you read the latest chatter about a possible move up for the Falcons. TD can be aggressive when there’s a guy out there we covet..
sucks that we’ll miss all of what is looking to be a crazy draft day b/c the Hawks wanted to take a day off and put themselves in a game 7 situation, game 6.
Slimjr
April 27th, 2011
10:36 am
“Our fan IQ = 0″
Then what is the Hawks organization IQ?? -10????
Al keep play soft in the post against stiffs and your Allstar Al nick name is going to change to Mister Softie.. You should have pulverized Mr. Anderson down on the block Neo???????
The Hawks Bigs cant carry a shopping bag…
Scottie jettison the stiffs asap!!!!!!! AYE Captain..
ntrigue
April 27th, 2011
10:41 am
When Joe sucks we suck he played terrible offense and defense
JeJe
April 27th, 2011
10:42 am
LD better fix this P&R defense, or we will get destroyed in 7.
Orlando didn’t even try post up Dwight much. The P&R destroyed us.
Where the hell were Joe and Jamal last night?
Joe had Gilbert ARENAS on him and didn’t do anything. What heart he has
honest_abe
April 27th, 2011
10:43 am
where is chris crawford when you need him? heh
JeJe
April 27th, 2011
10:44 am
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/sports/orlando-magic/os-bianchi-magic-0427-20110426,0,7657264.column
Put this in the Hawks’ lockers
FalconUGAFan
April 27th, 2011
10:46 am
Amen JeJe Amen….I hope they see that article….
Slimjr
April 27th, 2011
10:47 am
For once cant Al, Marvin and Josh carry an NBA team to victory????
Ans: NEVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Scottie jettison the warp core asap!! AYE Captain…………………
honest_abe
April 27th, 2011
10:48 am
jeje: it’s sad there’s not much to argue with in that article.
Slimjr
April 27th, 2011
10:54 am
to defend the pick and roll takes tremendous knowledge and commitment which these professionals lack….I would not spend a dollar to watch these stiffs play pickup basketball..I get the same thang down at the local gym…..in fact they’d have to pay me to watch this ish live…..
GARBAGE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
JeJe
April 27th, 2011
10:58 am
Marvin posting up Jameer and getting STRIPPED LOL!
Man I knew that was gonna happen the whole time. What a pathetic basketball player. He has awful butter fingers too (just like the rest of this team).
Has Collins gained 30 pounds since the season started? besides manning up Dwight, he cannot jump more than 3 inches off the ground or put up one statistic
julius
April 27th, 2011
11:00 am
FIRE THE COACH!!!!!!!!!!!!! HE SUCKS SUPERMAN ON THE BENCH AND THIS SILLY DREW SITS DOWN AND DON’T CALL PLAYS FOR AL OR JOSH TO GO INSIDE THIS GUY IS GARBAGE.
JeJe
April 27th, 2011
11:02 am
Why the heck was Horford taken out yesterday when Dwight was taken out?
What an idiotic head coach
What’s worse is Dwight only played 29 minutes last night, scored 8 points, and we still got destroyed.
PICK AND ROLL DEFENSE IS GARBAGE
LD YOU ARE A JOKE
Slimjr
April 27th, 2011
11:03 am
Marvin drop down and give me 30 pushups.Then run a mile around the Gym…Today!!!!!!!!!!!!!Tomorrow and for the foreseeable future…………….
prison mike
April 27th, 2011
11:05 am
Joe and Jamal both have drew in their back pockets. They can do no wrong in his eyes, the team needs a new regime.
Section 303
April 27th, 2011
11:08 am
Wow! Mike Bianchi putting into words my feelings. Would love to be able to argue with that article, but I can’t. We all know it is true. Even if it managed to make you a little mad, you know it’s true.
And, even if the Hawks hung that on their lockers, they know it’s true, too. Team will fold, per usual. No point in fighting it.
I MUS WRITE
April 27th, 2011
11:08 am
I absolutely wouldnt mind trading Josh and Marvin this off season. D12 sitting on the bench and we refuse to drive to the rim, Im sick of this jumpshot /dumbshot offense. Watching guys like Darrel Arthur, Carl Landry and Taj Gibson just leaves me asking Y? Y are our players more talented on paper but produce less results,cant blame it all on the coach….. Disgusting
Slim- Al has no back to the basket game -1 predictable move- jump hook going to the middle of the lane or nothing. Efficient shooter but the post game needs major work. Im not sure he should have been an All Star this year. Smoove may not ever make the All Star team. Coaches take notice of his game and all the silly stuff he does. East or west-If Aldridge cant make it then No Smoove ever…… Sad – weve been saying the same crap for years.
zachdahater
April 27th, 2011
11:13 am
NO ONE, except Kirk Hinrich and Jamal Crawford have played consistently good in this series! We managed to win games without anyone really playing at their best or even well, but JOE needs to step up, play faster and harder. NOT EVEN 1 FREAKING FREE THROW ATTEMPT FOR JOE!! I can accept a loss, but not lack of effort!!!!!!!!!!! We need to get rebounds, we were 1 and done so many times last night and too much jumpshooting. Josh had a sloppy 22 points, but I’ll take it, he’s been scoring 9 points and crap! We NEED to bang them hoes in the post, our whole team is a mismatch besides the Center position. We need to drive and bang in the post ALL DAY LONG!!!!!! YOU KNOW WHAT, the Hawks just need to watch the LAST GRIZZLES VS. SPURS GAME, THAT’S THE HARDEST PLAYED GAME I’VE SEEN ALL PLAYOFFS. That would inspire anyone!
Hinrich keep doing your thing, you too Jamal, EVERYONE ELSE STEP UUUUUPPPP!!! GO HAAAAAWWKKSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
vava74
April 27th, 2011
11:15 am
The Magic woke up from the slumber which last season’s series put them into.
They came this year with the notion – parallel to ours – that the major factor in their dominance of the Hawks was Howard’s superiority.
This notion was wrong, as I pointed out all summer long when everyone was obsessed with getting a C to stop Howard (which we had already in our roster, although with far to many hamburgers on his tummy) instead of focusing on the real problem (lack of perimeter D, lack of coaching and – now we know it – lack of heart).
The fact is that last year’s Magic were much much much more than Howard.
It was a collection of shooters who defended well the perimeter (Lewis is a decent defender, Pietrus is an excellent defender, Barnes is an excellent defender, …) and a nice example of a major choker (Carter) who excels against inferior, heartless, clueless opponents (which includes us).
So, this year, with an inferior roster defensively and also on their outside shooting, they “drunkenly” went to Howard, pounding the inside on every possession, standing around in the perimeter waiting for Howard to deliver or for the kick out pass.
Yesterday, with Howard out, they finally realized that all they need to win is to move/pass quickly in the perimeter, drive – attracting the collapsing D – and kick out, leaving Howard to work more as a decoy, a rebounder and a defender.
Expect them to repeat this recipe and for us NOT to adjust.
In particular, with more movement in the perimeter by ORL, Jamal’s lack of D, amplified by LD’s stubbornness to over use him even if his shot is not going down, will cause out defensive “cohesion” (or lack of) to be exposed.
Obviously, this will be coupled with JJ’s “Houdini act”, Al’s “pant-crapping act” and Josh’s emotional but erratic and miss guided efforts.
ORL by 15-25 and back to Florida for the final humiliation.
(I sincerely hope that I am wrong and I wish Jamal drops 50 on these guys, I really do, but… I have ZERO confidence in being wrong)
Double Zero Eight
April 27th, 2011
11:18 am
I was afraid this would happen. If the Magic win
the next game to tie the series, the Hawks will
choke in Orlando!