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
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313 comments Add your comment
I MUS WRITE
April 27th, 2011
11:18 am
these players dont listen to LD and its obvious. We ISO just as much as last yr.LD truly is Woody lite. Should have hired the Coach from indiana. That series was entertaining to watch.
vava74
April 27th, 2011
11:21 am
MC,
For the love of god, please print 15 copies of Bianchi’s column and hand it to the Hawks players.
I will give you $100.00 if you do it. I swear I will.
It’s not much, but it’s with goodwill.
Please guys, contribute and let’s make MC a “rich” man.
Wabe
April 27th, 2011
11:22 am
the obvious has already been mentioned. the hawks weren’t really interested in trying to break a sweat to win game 5 in orlando. they figured they have a game 6 back in atlanta anyways, so unless the magic downright gave the hawks the game, they weren’t interested in showing up. they weren’t interested in working much to close this thing out in orlando.
so after being up 3-1 and looking like this thing was all but over, the hawks decide to toss the magic a freebie and put this series all on one game. the pressure is on the hawks in this game 6 to come out and deliver. if they don’t, do i have any hope they’ll return to orlando for a game 7 and save their arses?
Geemack
April 27th, 2011
11:23 am
@ JeJe
You act like the stuff he said in that articles not true.
The evidence speaks for itself.
Orlando embarassed them last year in the regular season, and playoff. That didn’t motivate them.
The Hawks fans booed them at home in the playoffs, and that didn’t motivate them.
They lost by 41 at home to the Hornets, and that didn’t motivate them.
They lost by 30plus to the Heat at home and that didn’t motivate them.
The Lakers come to town and beat them by 20 and that didn’t motivate them.
If those thing didn’t motivate them, I’m not sure true statements by an Orlando beat writer will help.
ejh
April 27th, 2011
11:23 am
Before I speake on last nights game, I picked the Hawks to win this series in 6 games (4-2) that has not changed. Would I have liked for them to win in five or four, sure. But the Magic is still an NBA team with talent. As for last night I knew it was going to be a blow out for the simple reason the hawks had a false since of security, they knew they had a game six at home in front of there raucus crowd. I expect the crowd Thursday to be that as of the celtics series in 2008. As ray allen that was the tougest crowd he has ever had to play in front of. So imagine if the magic do not make shots, early they are going to press and you will see it.
To me after the Hawks got down by 20 in the first half, they dialed this game in, and the main thing then was not to sustain any injuries going into game 6, and not to fully drain yourself physically. This was how the hawks played the last six games of the season. And as for Van Gundy’s statement that the first four games of this series was an aberration as opposed to last night, I don’t think so. You have played this team 9 games this season and this is the only blowout you have. The aberration is more of JJ scoring 5, Jamaal scoring 8, al 8, Hinrich 6, and Marvin your second leading socorer with 12. Josh and Marvin were the only 2 players in double figures, to me that’s your aberration. The Hawks have the confidence that they can beat this team when it counts most, and they will prove it Thursday, Hawks win this game by 5 points or more.
Wabe
April 27th, 2011
11:31 am
this is why you can’t take a word that any of these hawks says seriously.
they talk about how the way the magic humiliated them last season in the playoffs is still on their mind. they seem to be irritated by certain magic players and their disrespect for the hawks.
so what do they do? they toss the magic a freebie?
the way that game started out was favorable for the hawks, not the magic.
turkoglu picks up 2 early fouls – - josh smith should’ve abused richardson in the post.
dwight ends up picking up 2 fouls in the 1st quarter.
the game was still tight with two magic starters forced to hit the bench with foul trouble. and what do the hawks do? they let the magic blow that lead up even more with two magic starters on the bench watching.
that boggles my mind. you have circumstances that show the hawks had no business getting their doors blown off, but they still did. why? no effort. and it’s obvious, and that’s why nobody in here can bash anybody about being ‘a real fan’. this is the ish that people have grown tired of seeing. this is the ish that fans want to see the hawks put behind them. so don’t come at fans that are critical even after wins, because the hawks have a track record of letting things like this happen when they really shouldn’t. it has nothing to do with them getting beat because they played poorly – - it has everything to do with them taking their foot off the gas. they take too many plays off, too many quarters off, too many nights off.
ejh
April 27th, 2011
11:31 am
By the way let’s not forget the hawks are 6-3 against the magic this year and two of those wins have come in orlando, but the magic are yet to win in Atlanta this year. I just think the hawks are going back to that 2010 home court adavantage when they were 34 – 7 at home in these playoffs it is going to be a tough place for anybody to get a win in this years playoffs.
Section 303
April 27th, 2011
11:32 am
ejh, we can only hope you’re right.
I’m not even mad that they lost last night. I kind of expected it. I’m mad that they just quit, again. I thought they were past that. They aren’t.
I, with every fiber of my being, expect the Hawks to fold tomorrow night. They will not handle the pressure that Game 6 will bring. They just won’t.
10-years from now, one of the AJC’s hacks will write an article about the all time biggest Atlanta sports choke moments. This series will be part of that aritcle.
JeJe
April 27th, 2011
11:41 am
I agree there’s not much to argue with in that article, but would be nice if AJC would retaliate or something
Schultz or Bradley
Slimjr
April 27th, 2011
11:42 am
Allstar Al couldn’t carry Aldridge jock strap!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Aldridge is 10x more skilled!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!and he did not make the Allstar game,ARE YOU KIDDING ME???????????????????????
Al for DeAndre Jordan….make it so……………………Orlando won 55 freaking games this year, that is no push over….Lousy Hawks won 44…Lost 6 straight and backed into the playoffs..The Giant may have woken up???????????????????
crawdiddy72
April 27th, 2011
11:44 am
THE ATLANTA FANS ARE DUMB AND STUPID. IS IT RACE THE REASON YOU CALL THIS TEAM STUPID? I SWEAR ATL STINKS AS SPORTS TOWN. THESE SAME STUPID IDIOTS THAT BLOG PROBABLY DONT GO TO A GAME
Slimjr
April 27th, 2011
11:48 am
“THE ATLANTA FANS ARE DUMB AND STUPID. IS IT RACE THE REASON YOU CALL THIS TEAM STUPID? I SWEAR ATL STINKS AS SPORTS TOWN. THESE SAME STUPID IDIOTS THAT BLOG PROBABLY DONT GO TO A GAME”
Its not race its “bad basketball” as Kenny Smith on TNT puts it………Yawn…………….
JeJe
April 27th, 2011
12:07 pm
FIRE LD
FIRE SUND
FIRE BASG
darrell starks
April 27th, 2011
12:07 pm
Let face it the hawks have been lucky so far because of the magic lack of production from 3point line, if magic hit at 25percent of there three in playoffs the series is over, the hawks points come of difficult shot not easy transitition points, i no hinrich have played great so far but the hawks are not scoring easy points every thing is difficult from the perimeter, this why teague should starte because of the energy and athleticism he brings, TEAGUE, HORFORD, JOSH, JOE, out on wings is unstoppable, HINRICH doesn’t bring that he is a half court player, starte teague the hawks will run magic of the court, if teague don’t starte they will be lucky to win.
GO HAWKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
northcyde
April 27th, 2011
12:07 pm
Slimjr
April 27th, 2011
12:28 am
not impressed with josh scoring 20+,northcyde will probably have a stat that says when Magic jr scores 20+ pts, the Hawks have losing record……………………Yawn………….
***********************
I’m assuming “Magic Jr” is Josh Smith.
If so, we’re 6 – 4 in the playoffs when he scores 20 or more points. The key for him is to shoot over 50% FG while scoring 20+ points. When he shoots below 40%, we’re not winning.
JeJe
April 27th, 2011
12:09 pm
HORFORD QUIT BEING SOFT
JAMAL ATTACK WHEN DWIGHT IS OUT
JOE, WAKE UP
JOSH GROW UP
Slimjr
April 27th, 2011
12:10 pm
“For those knowledgeable fans who wish for Al
to make a move & drive to the basket
[since he's playin' the [4] and guarded by RA or BB]
you realize Dwight is playing a 1 man zone (when he’s in)
and Orl doesn’t even bother to guard Collins, et al….. right ?
Therefore Al would still have to contend with Dwight.
Yawl get that…..right ?”
Grandad,
Adrian Dantley at 6′5″ would destroy Dwight in the paint!
Charles Barkley at 6′4″ would destroy Dwight in the paint..
Allstar Al at 6′10.5″ would disappear in the paint……LOL
JeJe
April 27th, 2011
12:10 pm
northcyde,
What are your thoughts on the Magic Pick & Roll?
I feel we are screwed if they continue running that play since our defense is awful when it happens. I kept seeing Jameer/Redick driving the lane with Dwight on the side and ZaZa having to guard both players
JeJe
April 27th, 2011
12:11 pm
Dwight committed about 15 3 second violations (offense + defense) last night
Slimjr
April 27th, 2011
12:12 pm
Magic jr= Josh,
Thanks Northcyde for those stats on Josh. i knew you’d come through Sir!!!!!
darrell starks
April 27th, 2011
12:13 pm
LD starte teague the hawks will run magic of the court.
TEAGUE, JOE, JOSH, HORFORD, COLLINS,
Teague and josh out on fast break will be unstoppable, plus your team is balance, HINRICH, JAMAL, DAMIEN, MARVIN, ZAZA, is a good second unit 2 continue the pace, teague with the second unit just don’t fit.
GO HAWKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Jborodawg
April 27th, 2011
12:14 pm
36% shooting and too many turnovers will getcha in the loss column ’bout every time. That and sorry FT shooting. Magic only shot 41%.
Surely, the Hawks will shoot better and defend better Thursday?!
Slimjr
April 27th, 2011
12:16 pm
Probably Allstar AL and Marvin are best of friends………………………………
MistaGamer
April 27th, 2011
12:16 pm
O’Brien… that comment by MC on LD’s sub patterns is indicative of my whole issue with the coach. He grossly misuses his personnel on the offensive and defensive end. His schemes and subsitution patterns do not put this group collectively in the best position to win, especially in in-ingame situations where it’s time for the coach to put HIS stamp on a game.
Kurt… throwing in Al’s assists againsts Josh’s in this game is greatly misleading. The reason why Josh didn’t have many assists is not for a lack of getting guys the ball. Al, Jamal, Joe, Marvin, Hinrich, and Joe all missed numerous wide open shots set up with passes by Josh.
Old Mike… The reason why Josh is standing out there is because most plays that LD run space him out there to try to create room for motion underneath. MC has made reference to this. This once again goes back to my problem with the coach. I’ve been watching all these other teams play and rarely do they have offensive sets that space their PFs and Centers so far away from the basket. This is the reason Al has drifted so far out as well over the course of the season. Even Hubie Brown made note of it other night we he question why was Josh being spaced on the strong side of the play where his man will gladly double Joe in the post and leave Josh open to take the open shot, instead of Josh being on the weakside of the play, where he can slash. Why not have Marvin on the strong side where he’s a much more consistent spot up shooter??
It’s things like this that really lead me to question LD’s basketball IQ instead of the players that are simply running the plays he calls.
I’m telling guys, we don’t have a bad team. We have a very talented group of guys at EVERY position. We do have a team that night-in and night-out is not collectively put in the best position for success according to it’s advantages and weaknesses.
Slimjr
April 27th, 2011
12:19 pm
Larry= Highschool head coach….
O'Brien
April 27th, 2011
12:34 pm
From the Orlando column.
No matter how much talent they have, the Hawks are still the Hawks. They are still Team Dummy. They will always do stupid things and take stupid shots. They will always lose their focus and their composure...
The bad thing is alot of Hawks fans feel the same way…
northcyde
April 27th, 2011
12:36 pm
Najeh . . part of the reason why people say that he had an inefficient game, is that at no point in that game did his FG shooting % get above 40%, nor his FT shooting% get above 60%.
He started out the game 1 – 6 FG in that 1st quarter . . a quarter in which he and Horford combined to go 2 – 11 FG. The game was essentially lost in that quarter with their inability to convert on at least 50% of their shots, combined with the passive play of JJ ( only taking 2 shots in the quarter . . when he has gotten off to decent to good starts in the 1st quarter in our 3 wins vs Orlando ).
At halftime, Smith was 4 – 12 FG while going 3 – 6 FT . . for 11 points. By this time, the game was essentially over, which probably caused people to tune out on the game.
Midway through the 3rd quarter, he was 1 – 3 FG and 3 – 4 FT. So at that point, he was 5 – 15 FG and 6 – 10 FT for 16 points.
Then he finished the quarter with a layup and a three and took one more three for good measure, but missed it. In all, he had a very good 3rd quarter ( 3 – 6 FG . . 4 – 7 FT . . for 11 points ).
But like I said . . at no time in that game was he shooting over 40% FG or 60% FT overall in that game, which does make it seem like he didn’t have an efficient game. He wasn’t garbage, like people are letting on to be. But in essence, he had a horrible 1st quarter, a mediocre 2nd quarter, and a good 3rd quarter.
It’s just that the good 3rd quarter came when we were down 20+ points. So some of the people watching the game probably discount the good work he did in the 3rd that helped boost his overall stats.
northcyde
April 27th, 2011
12:40 pm
O’Brien
April 27th, 2011
12:34 pm
From the Orlando column.
No matter how much talent they have, the Hawks are still the Hawks. They are still Team Dummy. They will always do stupid things and take stupid shots. They will always lose their focus and their composure…
The bad thing is alot of Hawks fans feel the same way…
**************************
Which is why I was curious as to why people were so upset at Kenny and Charles the past few days about what they said about us. We all know that the Hawks can play this way, and they’ve done it far too often this year. Hopefully, this will be a one time deal for us, and we can close it out in Game 6.
The playoff M.O. for the Hawks the past 2 – 3 years, is that we lose one home game and win one road game during the 1st round ( except for the Boston series ). We got our road win early in this series, so let’s see if these guys can close out the series tomorrow night, like they have in previous years in the final home game during the 1st round.
northcyde
April 27th, 2011
12:47 pm
LOL @ Aaron’s 1:24 am post.
I agree.
I will admit that I’m a Joe Johnson defender. But even I’m not going to waste time defending him during a blowout loss . . especially if he played poorly when we needed him to play well the most.
Had JJ not come through in Game 4 in those final moments, he was going to be roundly criticized. And it wouldn’t have been too much I could’ve said to sugarcoat his performance in those first 3 quarters of that game.
Had last night’s game been close, and Smith was helping to keep us within striking distance, I think you could overlook the poor shooting and FT percentages overall, and give him the benefit of the doubt. The focus would be that he played well in the 3rd, which made up for his poor play in the 1st.
But because the 1st quarter set the tone for us being blown out, what he did in the 3rd doesn’t hold as much significance. I think that’s why people are blasting Josh.
Honestly, the entire time deserves to be blasted, JJ and Jamal included. We’re not going to win anything with both of them shooting a combined 4 – 20 FG. They can’t play like that . . ever . . and expect this team to overcome that.
Najeh Davenpoop
April 27th, 2011
12:49 pm
“so you were playing about moving up to get AJ?”
Nah, it’s legit. Peter King tweeted it and Mark Bradley has a blog up about it. I just think it’s funny that they want to get deep threats for a QB who can’t throw a 25 yard pass without floating it.
northcyde
April 27th, 2011
12:54 pm
JJ did play very well in the 1st quarter of Game 4, but disappeared for about the next 30 minutes of that game, before coming alive at the end. And even then, he was making a bad play for every good play, and turning the ball over left and right. Had he’d missed a few FTs down the stretch, and we’d lost, I don’t know how I could’ve spun that.
I would’ve had to focus on the 1st quarter, and how he essentially helped give us the initial lead. But had he choked in the 4th, there’s no way people would’ve been buying what I was selling.
LOL . . the bottom line is that this team has to close out Orlando tomorrow. If they mess it up, things could get very bad around here. The negativity will be at an all-time high, and I wonder if the guys will be mentally tough enough to win a close out game on the road. A team that has been a NOTORIOUSLY HORRIBLE road team during the playoffs the past 4 years.
It’s a scenario that I do not want to see.
If that situation happened, and we get blown out in Game 7, you almost have to blow the team up and bring in a new mix . . from the players to the front office.
As flawed as this team is, I will never root for them to lose, just to shake things up.
JeJe
April 27th, 2011
12:55 pm
northcyde,
What are your thoughts on the Magic Pick & Roll?
I feel we are screwed if they continue running that play since our defense is awful when it happens. I kept seeing Jameer/Redick driving the lane with Dwight on the side and ZaZa having to guard both players.
Najeh Davenpoop
April 27th, 2011
1:00 pm
” IS IT RACE THE REASON YOU CALL THIS TEAM STUPID?”
Is this a serious question? I always assumed at least half the people posting here are black…
prison mike
April 27th, 2011
1:02 pm
You know the hawks will bring it in game 6 but questionable shot selection and over dribbling by jamal and joe have to be tighten up. They have to set the precedent and drive into the paint.
Prime example was when joe drove right into howard’s chest and got the call that help seal the victory, stop being a puss joe and switch it up.
MistaGamer
April 27th, 2011
1:03 pm
Northcyde,
I agree, that it wasn’t like Josh was utterly outstanding lastnight.
But the point that was being made was that it is incredible to call him out as being specifically WILDY ineffecient on a night when he was, regardless of the outcome of the game, arguably the most productive guy on the court period.
Like I said, I have my faults with Josh’s shot selection, which is induced by the scheme in which he plays if you ask me (remember last year Woody made it a point to try NOT put Josh in a position where he would be seduced into taking some of those shots and he didn’t) and his pouting.
I really wish that Josh would say to hell with scheme and play to his strengths sometimes, but could you imagine what would be written and said if he did that and the coach was consistently calling him out for not playing within the system????
LC
April 27th, 2011
1:04 pm
How do you not have a single quote from Joe Johnson. This guys is the highest paid player in the game and yet he has nothing meaningful to say after any game. If you look at stories on any other team, their leader/”star” will always be the one most often quoted.
With this waste, Joe Johnson, he stays in the background and is content to just float by. This will go down as one of the worst signings ever.
JeJe
April 27th, 2011
1:06 pm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wnf3N_WC_W0
If you watch this video when they’re on the bench, Jamal and LD are hi-fiving and Horford is telling them to stop and that the game is not over. Where is this leadership from Al on the floor?
he shows it sometimes, but I was counting on him to make sure we played well last night
JeJe
April 27th, 2011
1:06 pm
Watch from 0:53
City of Futility
April 27th, 2011
1:06 pm
New life goal: Become a billionaire and buy the Hawks so that someone who actually cares about them will be in charge of them. That’s the problem here, our owners seem like they couldn’t care less about how the Hawks do and as a result we are one of the most unmotivated teams in the league. My point is that if we get an “ideal” owner, one who is involved and puts all his efforts into his team, we can be a force. But our organization as a whole seems to lack any kind of drive and it shows and Atlanta is about to give up a 3-1 lead to lose the series. Perhaps losing in epic fashion is the best thing for us. Maybe THEN one of the higher-ups will realize that this simply isn’t working.. but I wouldn’t hold my breath.
harry the hawk
April 27th, 2011
1:07 pm
maybe if “smoove” started listening to the coaches instead of his daddy and agent, he could be a positive impact player every night??
JeJe
April 27th, 2011
1:11 pm
City of Futility,
I wonder if ASG is ecstatic about losing game 5, so they can make money from Game 6 being at Philips
JeJe
April 27th, 2011
1:12 pm
I think from watching the video too it looks like LD is more of a friend or homie with these guys than a coach. I don’t think Phil Jackson or Doc Rivers would have done that
FIRE LD
Slimjr
April 27th, 2011
1:14 pm
News flash!!!!! your maker wont care if your azz is mocha or vanilla!!!!!!!!!!!!! meditate on that…….
MistaGamer
April 27th, 2011
1:15 pm
JeJe,
What I noticed on the pick and roll is that Al and ZaZa are too quick to give up their man and switch off on the guard. The other problem is our guards choose too often to chase the over top of the pick, putting Al, ZaZa and Collins in a very bad position, instead of sometimes going under the screen and forcing their guards to make the shot. At least that we give them only one option.
It seems the way that we are being instructed to play it seems to more often times than not put the our guards in the trail position, giving the Orlando guards all kinds of options. I think they need to either trap hard or our guards need to stop trying to fight so hard over the top of the pick thus leaving them in a trail position against a speedy Jameer Nelson and a crafty Gilbert Arenas.
I say put Teague in there to neutralize Jameer’s speed and slow down Jameer’s effort to get to the pick. But then again, hell would have to freeze over for that to happen. But clearly, the Magic have found a weakness and it is up to Coach to adjust. We’ll see how that turns out.
northcyde
April 27th, 2011
1:20 pm
JeJe . . you’re going to hate my answer . . but we’re going to have to start switching hard on that pick and roll if we can’t stop it. If the guards can’t fight through the screens or anticipate where the screen will be so that they won’t be completely caught up in it, we’ll have to switch on it. And that will mean less of Jason Collins in the game and more Horford at center.
Or use Smith to come out and trap on the guards, and leave Brandon Bass open on a few possessions, to see if he can knock down shots.
Honestly, I thought the Magic would make this type of adjustment earlier in the series. Running everything through Dwight, while him being very efficient, was playing right into our hands. He does all of the work, while the other guys stand around and watch. And when he makes turnovers, it opens things up for us offensively.
What you saw last night was the Magic figuring something out without Dwight in the game, and exploiting the hell out of that.
Of course, another option would be to see if Teague and Damien can control the guards a little bit, but Drew won’t go that route. Hinrich, JJ, and Jamal simply have to play tougher on D.
On offense, it’s always a bad sign to me when Smith comes out firing. I’d much rather for us to try to get JJ going, and have the defense react to him, so that it opens things up for other people.
It’s like I’ve been saying all year about “balance”. If JJ misses a few jumpers, there’s a greater chance that Smith or Horford may get an offensive rebound and score on that possession. But if Smith and Horford are missing jumpers, no one is going to rebound their misses.
Mr Johnson must come out highly aggressive in that 1st quarter tomorrow, just like he’s had been doing in games 1 – 4. If he can get going, that’ll open up things for everyone else.
In the previous 4 games, the tone of the game had been set by our guards, including Hinrich. They need to do it again in Game 6, which should open up things for Horford and Josh.
Slimjr
April 27th, 2011
1:20 pm
We pool our money guys and create a new twitter competitor based on blogging??? Weather,sports,sex,dating, fine eats, rating the nicest shoe modeling establishments, and my favorite subject:conspiracies… . et al…..In 3-5 years we have a billion dollars to buy the Hawks and bring 4 championships to Atlanta in the next 14 years………
Dream on Slimjr……………..LOL
City of Futility
April 27th, 2011
1:20 pm
“I wonder if ASG is ecstatic about losing game 5, so they can make money from Game 6 being at Philips”
I wouldn’t be surprised, that seems like the type of owners we have! The thing is, we DO have some conference champion talent. But we just HORRIFICALLY mismanage it, so much that we look like conference bottom-feeders. We don’t need a magical franchise-changing draft pick (although I wouldn’t complain) or new players, we need a more motivated, passionate organization.
Najeh Davenpoop
April 27th, 2011
1:22 pm
“But the point that was being made was that it is incredible to call him out as being specifically WILDY ineffecient on a night when he was, regardless of the outcome of the game, arguably the most productive guy on the court period.”
Exactly, and more importantly, pretty much everyone else on the team sucked too. Most of what looks like me defending Smoove is more in the interest of fairness than out of any sort of desire to absolve him of blame or make him look good. I really don’t take any issue with any of the points northcyde made regarding Smoove and his efficiency. I just think it’s funny that he gets called out when the All-Stars shoot 18% and 33% respectively. It’s just typical of the way too many Hawks fans have conditioned themselves to think.
Slimjr
April 27th, 2011
1:22 pm
free teague for more and more pt?????? Get him ready to deal with Rose???
MistaGamer
April 27th, 2011
1:24 pm
Northclyde,
Funny how we DO think alike more than you know…. lol