Bulls at Atlanta Hawks Game 6: All-NBA Al
Al was named third-team All-NBA. It’s the 24th time a Hawks player made one of the three teams. J.J. didn’t get a single vote from media after making the third team last season.
“I wasn’t really wasn’t expecting it,” Al said. “It’s really a great feeling. I’m very honored, I really am.”
Al had a great year and got plenty of pub for it, so why wouldn’t he think he had a shot?
“When you are so focused on the playoffs don’t really keep up with things like that,” he said. “And when you think about [All-NBA], it’s an elite group. I’m just really honored to be part of it. It just kind of shows the hard work I put in has been paying off.”
As we’ve seen in the playoffs, there’s more work for Al to do. Based on his history there’s little reason to doubt he will put in the hourse and, given that he’s not yet 25, there’s also reason to believe he will improve.
L.D. said Al’s development has been “truly remarkable” but both he and Al agreed he hasn’t reached his ceiling.
“A guy of his size and his ability, one area of improvement he really needs to make is his footwork,” Drew said. “On the block, he can score. He has skills down there but there is improvement to be made in that box area. He has certainly shown his ability, mid-range, to shoot the basketball. Prior to this year people didn’t see as a real pick-and-pop guy. He has turned into one of the deadliest shooters in the mid range.”
Al said he wants he wants to extend his range this summer.
“I haven’t thought about it that thoroughly, but some of the things I want is to be a better shooter, especially branch out a little more,” he said. “To be able to put the ball on the floor a little more–one dribble, two dribble and take it all the way. Those are things this summer I am really going to put a lot of emphasis on.”
Notes
- Same lineup tonight.
- The message on the Hawks’ locker room board at shootaround today: “Plane leaves for MIA 2:30 on Tues.”
- Teague on running the team: “We’ve got a lot of good shooters on this team. I’ve got to give them the ball where they can continue to play hard.”
- Josh on Teague’s feel for when to attack and when to facilitate: “That takes time, with minutes. He’s learning as we speak. We’ve got to be patient.”
- Smoove on being the catalyst: “I understand. It’s not pressure for me. I’ve dealt with it for a while. That’s just the DNA. I have to get off to a good start and be aggressive, especially on the defensive end. “
- L.D. on fourth-quarter offense: “We just have to move the ball. That’s just the bottom line. We can’t start isolating; we can’t start holding the ball. If you just hold the ball and try to play one-on-one you play right into their hands.”
- L.D. on Josh not retaliating against Boozer: “I don’t think there will be a carryover effect at all. Josh is professional enough to know he has to do that. All that does is plays right into their hands. It takes him out of his game, which I am sure they want. He has to be professional. It’s in the past.”
- Chicago media types were asking the Bulls if they are looking ahead to the Heat. D-Rose: “Definitely we want to get it over with but it’s not over with. We still have a game. We are anxious. We can’t look ahead.”
- It’s worth remembering that the Hawks have already exceeded expectations in the playoffs while the Bulls have underachieved relative to their regular season. That’s why L.D. thinks the Bulls are feeling pressure despite leading the series. “Going into the series, no one thought there would be a Game 6,” he said. “I give credit to my players. I think they have stepped up to the challenge. We have nothing to lose. We are going to lay it our on the line.”
Michael Cunningham, Hawks beat
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772 comments Add your comment
Little Fawkers
May 12th, 2011
10:01 pm
53 points into the 4th quarter. Way to show up Hawks.
Another season done……
drmaryb (*_-)
May 12th, 2011
10:01 pm
Assimilate!
The Hawks players do not play together as a unit. Do they even have an offensive play that everyone knows? This is street ball and very unorganized.
How does one get blown out at home in a MUST win game?
“The Hustling Bulls” take another rebound out of the hawks hands”
- steve holman -
Ok, time to channel surf … MSNBC for another Bin Laden update now.
Slimjr
May 12th, 2011
10:01 pm
Al for Javale McGee and a draft pick
truthspitter
May 12th, 2011
10:02 pm
Over the back and fouls. The Bulls will get swept by the Heat.
Buddy Grizzard
May 12th, 2011
10:02 pm
The team that has won the first quarter has won every game in this series. Last game Zaza sits the whole 4th while JC1 plays and contributes nothing. This game it was so important to come out and compete in the first quarter. I said on this blog before Game 5 the Bulls will go straight at Collins and try to exploit his slow foot speed. Game 6 Las Vegas Larry plays Collins to start the game and the 3rd quarter and he goes -8 in 8.5 minutes in the first quarter then goes -5 in 7 minutes to start the Third.
Not saying every score while Jason Collins was on the floor was his fault but you have to understand what’s working and what is not. Zaza had 13 points in 23 minutes in Game 5 and sat the entire 4th quarter. JC1 was 1-for-9 and PLAYED the entire 4th quarter. Las Vegas Larry getting paid in Sin City ya’ll. Fire this joke, please. I can’t take another season of breaking down what a moron this guy is. Please ASG just eat the 1.5m.
Below average Joe
May 12th, 2011
10:02 pm
there’s always next year……………………….to lose in the second round again
Najeh Davenpoop
May 12th, 2011
10:02 pm
If you are the type of person who judges All Stars based on who shows up when the chips are down, the Hawks’ two All Stars are Smoove and Teague. This series is a Bulls sweep without them, and this is a 30 point Bulls lead without Smoove.
Luke Cage
May 12th, 2011
10:02 pm
Hope a Western Conf team wins the title
calihawks
May 12th, 2011
10:02 pm
DOES THIS HAWKS TEAM EVER SHOW UP FOR A BIG GAME…????? NO!!!!!!!!!!
honest_abe
May 12th, 2011
10:02 pm
all nba al.. that has got to be the funniest thing i’ve seen all night. oh my
SteveW
May 12th, 2011
10:02 pm
Props –
Al with 3 Boards – Yay!!
JJ 6-17 – Yes!!
+/- JJ, Josh, and Al all -19 – Way to go!!
JT only -7
MistaGamer
May 12th, 2011
10:02 pm
JeJe,
shot clock was at 2 after Al pissed around? what was he supposed to do?
Sautee
May 12th, 2011
10:02 pm
bigdave,
Don’t be insulting fairies like that. Most of them are tougher than Al has played lately.
MistaGamer
May 12th, 2011
10:04 pm
Hubie was right, since we are the only team with a “Max” player that we can’t rely on, the coach has to put his players in a good position. Fail…
Gone fishing…
SteveW
May 12th, 2011
10:04 pm
I bought the hype – I can’;t believe it – I thought we were going to win this game
Melvin
May 12th, 2011
10:04 pm
I’m sorry to say but I never seen perennial All-Star players (especially teammates) get taken out of their game so easily as Joe and Al.
Luke Cage
May 12th, 2011
10:04 pm
Comic time:
Joe will score an Atlanta Hawk record 27pts in the 4th
honest_abe
May 12th, 2011
10:05 pm
najeh agreed.. josh has easily been the best hawks player in this series. which makes everyone that much more pissed that josh doesn’t bring this type of effort during the regular season. there’s a difference between lack of talent and lack of effort and josh is usually guilty of the latter.
drmaryb (*_-)
May 12th, 2011
10:05 pm
Put in the entire bytch – bench Larry!
Slimjr
May 12th, 2011
10:05 pm
How can your team not be ready to play Larry????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
Bye Larry??
Larry=2012 lottery pick!
Sautee
May 12th, 2011
10:05 pm
Buddy, the 4 turnovers the Hawks made in the 1st had nothing to do with Collins, but they scored 8 off of them. You have a point, but without those TOs he wouldn’t have been -8.
SteveW
May 12th, 2011
10:05 pm
I don’t think Smoove shows up – he’s just not bad like JJ and Al
Rev in Tampa
May 12th, 2011
10:05 pm
Looks like Al needs to work on finding his manhood over the off-season.
SteveW
May 12th, 2011
10:06 pm
But then he makes a shot – Win the game for us Josh – Please!!!!!!!!!!!
mykhalc
May 12th, 2011
10:06 pm
@drmaryb…already there…MSNBC killin’ the oil execs and tax payer subsidies!!!! i don’t know which is more painful…this or the game??!!!
Melvin
May 12th, 2011
10:07 pm
Josh should have dive to the goal on Teague drive.
Slimjr
May 12th, 2011
10:07 pm
Alice need to find a new City to hoodwink folks…………………..
SteveW
May 12th, 2011
10:07 pm
Not Taj again
Bulls just to deep and fresh – and maybe LD doesn’t know how to rotate
T-Mike
May 12th, 2011
10:08 pm
Later ya’ll.
Najeh Davenpoop
May 12th, 2011
10:08 pm
Can we start an LVP chant for Joe?
hawks_4_life
May 12th, 2011
10:08 pm
TRADE THE WHOLE DAM TEAM EXCEPT FOR TEAGUE. EVEN THE DAM WATER BOY.
Luke Cage
May 12th, 2011
10:08 pm
Comic time:
Hawks go on a 23-0 run now
calihawks
May 12th, 2011
10:08 pm
TURNED GAME OFF.. NO POINT
Slimjr
May 12th, 2011
10:08 pm
Larry won 44 games?? Impressed anyone? Crickets………………………………..
honest_abe
May 12th, 2011
10:08 pm
please booh joe out of the building and hopefully out of this town.
cp
May 12th, 2011
10:09 pm
way to end the season
drmaryb (*_-)
May 12th, 2011
10:09 pm
Hire Hubie!
Below average Joe
May 12th, 2011
10:10 pm
My buttcrack could score more than this team
Luke Cage
May 12th, 2011
10:10 pm
Comic time:
Hawks will score 48pts in the next 9 min on 89% shooting
Brandon
May 12th, 2011
10:10 pm
The Hawks look very flustered tonight. Tons of airballs already. Van Gundy said it best – the Hawks are a tough team when they are in front. Meaning that the Hawks are a good team when they have the lead. It seems like they only play well when things are going their way. When they are tied or have the lead or aren’t down by more than a few points, they are alright, but once the going gets tough, they always crumble.
Think about it, it’s incredibly rare for the Hawks to win a game in which they trail by 15+ points. In fact, it’s rare that they lose by less than 10 points when they are down by 15+ at any point in a game. They are a terrible team at playing from behind. It’s tough to even remember the last time the Hawks won a game when they got down by 15+ points, even if it was early on. You can’t blame that on lack of experience or youth anymore either, since this core has been to the playoffs for the past 4 years and they all have at least 4 years of NBA experience (the “core” does).
It looks like our season may end on another bad note, and all we’ll hear after that is how the team just didn’t fight enough but how they are confident that they will come back better next year. That’s all BS though. As much our coaching and offensive system is flawed, I still think that the biggest issue is mental fragility and weakness. It’s just infinitely disappointing.
I’m ready to just start fresh with some new players. Management needs to stop getting the hopes of fans up for nothing. It’s cruel and pointless. If this keeps up, fan attendance and profits, as a result, are going to drop next year, just like they did this year.
That is likely what is going to happen since you can tell that the weak-minded Hawks have already given up on this game. I don’t even want to hear the post-game interviews since nothing that these guys say is genuine anyway. Drew will pretend that he did everything right and the Hawks just lacked a “sense of urgency” and “missed shots”. Joe will basically say that he doesn’t care. Al will talk about how the Bulls just outplayed them, but say they still played well, and Jamal will just act like the Hawks didn’t play well and let the Bulls win. I really don’t want to hear it though. It’s the same story year after year. I want to hear that someone was in the locker room afterward crying, so that we at least know that someone (meaning one of the players) actually cares.
The Real Mandingo
May 12th, 2011
10:10 pm
I can’t see Jamal playin’ this bad in a big game…somethin’ foul must be up.
bigdave
May 12th, 2011
10:10 pm
smh.
Slimjr
May 12th, 2011
10:11 pm
Should of kept JC2!!!!! Sund…………………
Luke Cage
May 12th, 2011
10:11 pm
Comic time:
Crawford hits 8 consecutive 3’s in a row
Rev in Tampa
May 12th, 2011
10:11 pm
That last shot by jamal summed up the game. The only thing that’s worse is that Marvin is coming into the game to add a spark. Who thinks that will happen???
Wabe
May 12th, 2011
10:12 pm
Done deal.
Onto Falcons season.
They exceeded my expectations, but, as someone else pointed out, this team just doesn’t seem to have the personnel needed to get past this round. Do I have any confidence they’ll make moves to improve? No. This organization is the toughest organization for the average fan to support. They don’t so ish to get over the hump. Over and over and over, round 2 playoff exits. But, the core remains untouchable.
Move a peice of this core. Preferably, Al Horford. I’d love to move Marvin, but it won’t happen. Horford’s a peice of value though. Get him gone and bring in someone that can bang and get buckets in the paint.
Buddy Grizzard
May 12th, 2011
10:12 pm
Seriously guys I can’t follow this team like I did this year if they retain Las Vegas Larry. I’ll still be a Hawks fan but I’ll have to step back from it and not care so much. It’s been a great season, cool hangin with you people and I’ll be back once Vegas’ firing has been announced.
JeJe
May 12th, 2011
10:12 pm
YEAH LD YOUR OFFENSE SURE HAS BEEN MORE EFFICIENT IN THE PLAYOFFS
YOU SAID IT’LL BE UNPREDICTABLE IN THE PLAYOFFS
YOU ARE A PATHETIC JOKE
hawks_4_life
May 12th, 2011
10:12 pm
SHAME…..MARVIN JUST CHECKED IN AND IS ALREADY BETTER THAN AL
honest_abe
May 12th, 2011
10:12 pm
i hate to say this but the coaching staff might’ve put on a better show.