Atlanta Hawks at Bulls Game 5: On energy and effort
Chicago–If you are skeptical about how much those favored NBA cliches of “energy and effort” factor into winning then perhaps this series has changed your mind a bit. There have been scrums and scraps around the basket on what seems like every loose ball in this series, and I think there’s something to be said for energy and effort in these circumstances.
Defense and rebounding are undervalued as talents, and certainly it’s true that some players can try hard but just don’t have what it takes to be good in those areas. But maybe physically gifted guys can be better at defending and rebounding if they have the zest for it, especially within the team concept.
The Bulls are a good defensive team because they have good defensive players and a sound scheme but what good would any of that be without their single-minded devotion to getting stops and then securing the ball at all costs? Isn’t that energy?
Or is it like Doc Rivers likes to say, that energy is a talent, and so it’s really not helpful to think of it as something separate from “tangible” talent?
It’s pretty obvious the Hawks’ energy level has increased during the playoffs. That has correlated with the Hawks allowing just 101.9 points per 100 possessions in the playoffs, 2.7 points better than during the season, and that’s including the outliers of Game 5 vs. Orlando and Game 3 vs. Chicago.
“I’ve been pleased because I feel like the guys have really bought in to what we are trying to do,” Al said. “It’s never going to be perfect but you can make up for certain mistakes and certain things [with energy] and I feel like we’ve been doing that.”
Certainly sound game plans against Dwight and D-Rose have been major factors in Atlanta’s success. Some favorable matchups have helped, too.
But I’m thinking Atlanta’s energy also has been important–and that’s coming from someone who rolls his eyes when players and coaches (and media types) use that word to explain unexpected performances when there are more obvious reasons.
“We are an energy team,” L.D. said today. “There are times we just come out and we just don’t play that way for some reason. We have the athletes. It’s just a matter of coming out with energy, and I am totally expecting that tonight.”
That’s always the question with the Hawks. Can you expect that tonight? Any night? Jamal summed it up yesterday:
“We’ve shown we can play with anybody, and some nights we can play with nobody. That’s the most frustrating part for us.”
Which version of the Hawks shows up depends on more than just how hard they play. But in the end, when the Hawks and Bulls are fighting for every possession to gain control of this grinding series, maybe that’s will matter the most.
“I expect us to come out and the effort will be there,” Al said. “I feel like we have been played well in this building two games. One night we had a great shooting night; the other night we struggled. But I think our effort was good. That’s my biggest thing. We need to come out and just play hard.”
Notes, quotes and links
- L.D. said he’s likely to stick with the Twin lineup.
- Bogans (ankle) will play.
- Joe on the big moment: “It’s right there. It’s in our hands. We just have to focus in on winning another game in Chicago. It’s definitely possible. I am sure we can get it done.”
- L.D. on if he’s happy about shot selection: “That varies game to game.”
- L.D. on pressure: “They are one of the teams that was picked to come out of the East. A win here puts a tremendous amount of pressure on them to go back to Atlanta with us having a chance to close it out. I feel like the pressure is on them.”
- L.D. on Bynum’s BS takedown of Barea: “We don’t condone those type fouls where you are taking people out of the air and really trying to hurt somebody. That’s not the way the game should be played. The game should be played with hard fouls, though. You are talking about fouls that are not going to injure people or hurt people or put in jeopardy of their careers being on the line.”
- L.D. on matching up with Chicago: “Obviously Rose is the MVP of the league. What he accomplished this year is absolutely remarkable. Hats off to him. But looking at the rest of the roster–they have good players, solid players, good role players, guys that play really hard–and we like to feel we match up well against them. . . . Throughout this league there are certain teams you match up well with and some teams that give you problems, and we look at this as a team that we do match up well with, irregardless of what happened in the regular season. Looking at it man-for-man, we feel like we match up really well.”
- Damien on Smoove: “We go as No. 5 goes. Joe is our go-to guy, but we go as No. 5 goes. The better he plays, the better we play. He can do so many different things. I wish he would do it all the time. That wasn’t even a great game for him [in Game 4].”
- Jamal did a radio interview.
Michael Cunningham, Hawks beat
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945 comments Add your comment
Najeh Davenpoop
May 10th, 2011
10:54 pm
Haha I saw that Brad. Not the first time someone called him out on that during this series.
bigdave
May 10th, 2011
10:55 pm
“NBA boxscores has Josh with 0 blocks. Did they missed that possession when he had 3 blocks in a row?”
they gave em to Al .. like the credit that most give here..
northcyde
May 10th, 2011
10:56 pm
Teague with another excellent game though. He gets major props tonight. At some point, Drew is going to have to trust that Teague and JJ can play by themselves, if Jamal is off like he was tonight.
Hawks Fan In New Orleans
May 10th, 2011
10:56 pm
Jamal is effing up big time. He’s to step it up next game. Great game by Smith. Horford – smh.
O'Brien
May 10th, 2011
10:56 pm
JJ and Jamal were a combined 7-24, including 1-9 on 3’s. We can’t win with those numbers, especially when the refs were wearing Bulls jerseys under their shirt.
Am I the only one who thinks the offense should go through Teague every time down, especially when Jamal and JJ are struggling.
I think we forced it to JJ the first 2 or 3 possessions in the 4th going iso. The Bulls played great defense on him, and his teamates didnt do a good job of giving him an outlet, so he got stuck pounding.
Oh well. Give the Hawks credit. After a rough first quarter, they hung in there. Hopefully we can pull out game 6.
ronosl
May 10th, 2011
10:57 pm
The refs sure didn’t make the calls even tonight. Rose got all the calls while Teague got ripped off.
SteveW
May 10th, 2011
10:57 pm
Al 4 turnovers also – we need to activate Etan to bust some heads
SteveW
May 10th, 2011
10:57 pm
Jeff Teague 0 turnovers – his most impressive stat to me of alot of impressive stuff he did
Najeh Davenpoop
May 10th, 2011
10:58 pm
Some big time home cooking on that official scoring for the Smoove blocks. I bet if it was Gibson or Asik they would have had about eight blocks.
Ole Hawks Fan
May 10th, 2011
10:58 pm
Baseball Umpires and NBA Refs are the worst @ abritators in PRO SPORTS!
SteveW
May 10th, 2011
10:59 pm
bigdave – friends with Rod?
Paradise Lost
May 10th, 2011
11:00 pm
We take Thursday and Game 7 boils down to the battle of wills.
Nate ArchiBALL
May 10th, 2011
11:00 pm
Josh blocked two shots on one sequence in the 4th period and the Bulls stat crew didn’t him with any. Maybe the league will correct it tonight.
SteveW
May 10th, 2011
11:01 pm
I think some on here feel to be a Josh fan one must hate Al
Najeh Davenpoop
May 10th, 2011
11:01 pm
“Am I the only one who thinks the offense should go through Teague every time down, especially when Jamal and JJ are struggling.”
I’m with you 100%.
I am all for feeding Joe early in the game to get him going. But he has to be fed in spots where he can do something with the ball. Giving him the ball on the perimeter and clearing out not only puts him in a position of weakness (he doesn’t have the quickness to get to the rim from out there) but also ensures that if he passes out of the double team it’s still going to go to someone on the perimeter.
This is the mistake the Hawks made in the 4th quarter. Run plays to get Joe the ball where he can use his size and strength to create space for a shot or set up a teammate, and the offensive execution will be good. Clear out for him on the perimeter, and invariably a good defense is going to shut him and the Hawks down. Not to mention, the jumpers that get launched from far away tend to be harder to rebound for this team for whatever reason.
Luke Cage aka Power Man!
May 10th, 2011
11:01 pm
If Crawford comes in he needs to be Shooting Guard and not the PG, Jeff did a great job in that 3rd qtr running the team, hopefully Kirk will be available next series (yeah thats right NEXT SERIES) we won’t have Crawford handling the point. Jamal’s job is to come in and score, if he isn’t scoring then he needs his A$$ on the bench!!!
Mantis
May 10th, 2011
11:01 pm
I am so sick of NBA referee corruption. The 4th quarter was so blatantly rigged. That goaltending call against Josh Smith was completely baseless. The Hawks played more than well enough to win this game and would have won if the calls were even steven.
SteveW
May 10th, 2011
11:02 pm
Al’s just a solid player, that’s it. He’s only an All Star because of a weak crop of C’s in the NBA right now.
Get over it
Just be a Hawks fan and root for the team
Nate ArchiBALL
May 10th, 2011
11:02 pm
Bulls stat crew didn’t credit Josh with any blocks tonight……
Ole Hawks Fan
May 10th, 2011
11:03 pm
Has Teague won the starting PG for this team for next season?
SteveW
May 10th, 2011
11:03 pm
We can beat this team. Didn’t see anything tonite to show me otherwise
Najeh Davenpoop
May 10th, 2011
11:04 pm
I’d be more inclined to blame the refs if the Hawks had done what they needed to do to win. But they started slow in the first quarter, and they didn’t execute on offense to start the 4th when the Bulls were invariably going to make their run buoyed by their home crowd. Can’t blame the refs when your team doesn’t do what they need to do, regardless of the bad calls (and there were several) that didn’t go the Hawks’ way.
Kenny Smith is breaking down the Hawks’ 4th quarter struggles right now.
SteveW
May 10th, 2011
11:04 pm
OLe Hawks fan – Of course not – not in the rotation yet
bigdave
May 10th, 2011
11:04 pm
SteveW..
check the archives.. ive been exposing the holes in his game since forever.. others have just started to take notice. its just out of fairness to Josh and Joe who take all the heat on here.. Horford seems to get a pass. merely on image.
Wabe
May 10th, 2011
11:05 pm
IMO, this thing is still gonna go 7.
Game 7, the Hawks *can* still win this series. They just gotta go get one first.
If this thing goes 7, it’s no different than what we saw tonight. A game that Atlanta could’ve won, and if they get another chance, they’ll have a chance.
Najeh Davenpoop
May 10th, 2011
11:05 pm
“Has Teague won the starting PG for this team for next season?”
If he isn’t the starting PG going into next season, LD needs to be fired.
drmaryb (*_-)
May 10th, 2011
11:05 pm
For some reason Joe loves to get pinned down on that right side?
Why doesn’t he play in the middle, where the help is?
Why doesn’t a teammate come to bail him out?
So many questions about the same things repeatedly.
We did not play together down the stretch. I really thought we were gonna do something when we got it down to 1.
Give Thibbs credit, he won it with his 2pt bench and sat Noah and Boozer when the game was in the balance.
Luke Cage aka Power Man!
May 10th, 2011
11:06 pm
Najeh, your right but they didn’t help the hawks either, just want a evenly called game for a change, superstar or not.
Wabe
May 10th, 2011
11:06 pm
Jeff Teague’s still the man.
Again, all the Jeff Teague haters…
GTFOH
Ole Hawks Fan
May 10th, 2011
11:06 pm
Got to win here next game but David Stern Goons will determine who moves on to the ECF not the players. FIRE DAVID STERN…………………….GO ON STRIKE…………………………GO ON STRIKE
SteveW
May 10th, 2011
11:07 pm
Headline on ESPN:
Rose Bests Teague
That’s a lie – Teague much better shooting %, no TO’s to Rose’s 2, Teague more Boards
What a stupid headline!
cp
May 10th, 2011
11:07 pm
really wish he would have pulled Jamal and got Zaza back in the game
SteveW
May 10th, 2011
11:08 pm
bigdave – Me also – he has some massive holes – No handles, no low post game etc.
SteveW
May 10th, 2011
11:09 pm
Rose may have best Teague a little – but its a stupid headline!!!!!
Daniel
May 10th, 2011
11:09 pm
Joe Johnson was a no show .. again
MistaGamer
May 10th, 2011
11:09 pm
Just stop taking the ball out of Jeff’s hands. It makes no sense that after you’ve been forced to play the best PG we got that we take the ball out of the PG’s hands.
ronosl
May 10th, 2011
11:10 pm
The HAWKS are a better team and should win this series with BULLS. I expect Game 6 to be a win for the Hawks by 7 and game 7 to be won in overtime by 3. Hawks vs Heat for ECF. OK, that’s wishful thinking…
drmaryb (*_-)
May 10th, 2011
11:10 pm
Jamal was useless on defense. On one play, he just stood there and watched Rose waltz in behind him on the left side.
Should we really re-sign him? I’d rather get a wing defender and another shooter, instead of shooting, he tries to draw too many fouls
Useless! Jamal that’s what you were in the biggest game on the biggest stage..
James on Pharr Rd
May 10th, 2011
11:10 pm
LD- Ride the HOT HAND, even if it aint the franchise player
Mantis
May 10th, 2011
11:10 pm
@ Ole Hawks Fan: Absolutely. David Stern is the Vince McMahon of Basketball. The NBA clearly wants to see Derrik Rose in the NBA finals, and you can tell by the soap opera marketing in favor of the Bulls’ advancing in the Playoffs. The refs were the reason why the Bulls won game 5.
MistaGamer
May 10th, 2011
11:10 pm
drmaryb,
Jordan Crawford and Kirk Hinrich would have been an awesome 2nd line backcourt!
bigdave
May 10th, 2011
11:13 pm
“For some reason Joe loves to get pinned down on that right side?
Why doesn’t he play in the middle, where the help is?”
by design.. mainly b/c he prefers to play on the wing where he’s comfortable shooting a jumper. guys that want the rock center court are usually threats to beat you off the dribble, making it tougher to send a double team.
brigadierjerry
May 10th, 2011
11:13 pm
Najeh,
You bring a good point about comparing Marvin and Deng. There is no reason why 50% of the player Deng is can be Marvin but why even bother. It is a waste of time.
The other thing is Najeh you stated before and I have you need a star for this Hawks team to bail the team out when the other players cant get their games going and the Hawks dont have that. The Hawks overall have to play like those 2004-2009 Pistons where the sum are greater than their parts
Ole Hawks Fan
May 10th, 2011
11:15 pm
Jsut think how Teague game would have evolved if Woody and LD had given him some playing time these two years.
I say there is No Question Jeff Teague is the starting PG now and The Future for this TEAM. If he isn’t, Rick SUND and LD(plus all LD’s ass’t coaches) should be FIRED!
Jerry West
May 10th, 2011
11:15 pm
“Jordan Crawford and Kirk Hinrich would have been an awesome 2nd line backcourt!”
Jordan Crawford and 2011 1st rd pick (Shelvin Mack/ Nolan Smith) woulda been awesome too. or hell just Jordan by himself.
truthspitter
May 10th, 2011
11:16 pm
The refs took this game in the 4th. Anyone that can’t see that is just stupid. The refs called 3 fouls in a row, the Bulls did nothing special. This shi+ is rigged
tjhook
May 10th, 2011
11:16 pm
I’m at work so I couldn’t watch the game but I am glad to see the bloggers talking about strategy more than they are effort. That means the Hawks are making a good representation of themselves. Somebody tell me what Chicago did well and poorly tonight. I like to get both sides even though I am a Hawks fan.
drmaryb (*_-)
May 10th, 2011
11:18 pm
Mista Gamer
Yeah but, we gave up Jordan for Kirk.
Again, we lose a winnable game.
Worldwide Clyde said Hawks in 7. I sure hope he’s right.
The Hawks seemed helter skelter tonight, I guess it was the defense, but Teague needed to dominate the ball
chi
May 10th, 2011
11:18 pm
Bulls baby
ntrigue
May 10th, 2011
11:18 pm
Al played terrible help defense!!! And officiating didnt help either! Ld dont ever take Teague and Josh out at the same time I dont care about the fouls!!!!