9:36 am March 29, 2012, by Michael Cunningham
I talked about the Hawks’ 98-77 loss to the Bulls at Philips Arena last night.
Michael Cunningham, Hawks beat
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123 comments Add your comment
northcyde
March 29th, 2012
3:45 pm
Doc, my post specifically said NEXT YEAR not this year. Even with Bibby on the team, he’d be the backup PG behind.Teague, with Jordan playing the 2. At times, Jordan could’ve even been the reserve PG. Kenneth Faried would DEFINITELY play, because he’s a defensive energy guy in the mold of Josh Smith.
Bibby could’ve easily have been amnestied.
Young talents on rookie contracts are normally packaged to bring in legit players. But hardly anyone is going to trade for a guy making the vet minimum. Or if they turn out to be ballers, you now have a high level reserve or possible starter on the cheap.
Melvin hit it on the head and illustrates one of the major problems I have with the front office.
northcyde
March 29th, 2012
3:48 pm
When JJ says that people don’t know their role, it means that Josh is taking way too many shots. With JJ now being the 2nd option, and fans not wanting him to score in ISO situations, the 2nd option now has to pick and choose his spots, or become unconscious like the 1st option.
doc
March 29th, 2012
4:05 pm
northcyde i SPECIFCALLY said they would be pretty much untested based on previous coach tedencies in this organization so we would still be at square one.
only wealthy organizations can amnesty players. the basg cant utilize players and picks but can count money. amnesty costs real dollars like scoreboards.
Melvin
March 29th, 2012
4:10 pm
northcyde,
I know Josh has been taking a lot shots of late but can we really say he’s been taking shot attempts away that other’s would have taken. I can’t see Marvin increasing his shot attempts, Teague and Kirk both seem to get a good amount of shots. Maybe there’s a case to be made for Joe but I think it’s more of Joe not being aggressive then it is of being he’s not getting his touches.
I know it’s been discuss that give Player X more shots than his avg would increase or the team outlook would be better but the thing that some folks don’t realize is that it takes skills to create shot attempts at this level. Defenses are too good to just allow a player to attempt a (quality) shot whenever they like to.
Najeh Davenpoop
March 29th, 2012
4:20 pm
“Bibby could’ve easily have been amnestied.”
Or simply just bought out last year at the trade deadline or salary dumped to Miami, although the DASG would probably not have wanted that.
WHEN ARE THEY MOVING ?????
March 29th, 2012
4:21 pm
GREAT TO SEE THEM LOSE, FANTASTIC !!!!!! JUST LIKE THEIR OWNERS, LOSERS !!!!
SEATTLE NEEDS THIS WORTHLESS CRAP TEAM & LEAGUE, SELL SELL SELL PLEASE,
THEN NO SPORTS AT THE PHILIPS, GREAT !!!!
hawks STINK, nba STINKS, asg LIES & STINKS AND GETS DRUNK !!!!!!!
SELL THIS TEAM TO SEATTLE, NOW, WE DO NOT NEED THIS AWFUL FRANCHISE POISONING ATLANTA ANY LONGER !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! SEATTLE WILL DO IT RIGHT !!!!!!
hawks STINK !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Buddy Grizzard
March 29th, 2012
4:39 pm
FIX YOUR COLLAR MC! LOL!
doc
March 29th, 2012
4:43 pm
deng takes away the oxygen that jj breathes is why he cant find room to shoot. unless he does something new to get separation before he can get some shots.
Rod from College Park
March 29th, 2012
4:51 pm
:I know it’s been discuss that give Player X more shots than his avg would increase or the team outlook would be better but the thing that some folks don’t realize is that it takes skills to create shot attempts at this level. Defenses are too good to just allow a player to attempt a (quality) shot whenever they like to.”
Ding!!!, Cosign, Exactumundo. Marvin was supposed to get more shots once Jamal left. What happened?
Rod from College Park
March 29th, 2012
4:56 pm
One thing I have noticed a lot of on this team especially from Joe, Kirk, and Josh is passeing up shots at point blank range to pass to a 3 point shooter. If you are in the lane, below the free throw line going towards the hoop, there is no reason for you to pass the ball to a guy behind the 3 point line, unless Larry Bird or Reggie Miller are on the floor. You should either get a layup, or a foul. I have no idea why we have become so 3 point and long jumpshot happy.
The Truth
March 29th, 2012
5:01 pm
A Trip Down Memory Lane
Seeking ‘another voice,’ Hawks part ways with Woodson – ajc Friday, May 14, 2010
http://www.ajc.com/sports/atlanta-hawks/seeking-another-voice-hawks-527675.html
“It was a hard decision,” Sund said Friday. “When I analyzed and looked at it, I went round and round. Finally I think it got to the situation where the compelling thought is, ‘Maybe change is good for everybody.” – RickSund
“That happens quite a bit in the NBA. Maybe the players need to hear another voice, and maybe Mike needs to talk to another group.” – RickSund
“Hawks management had doubts that Woodson’s approach would lead to further improvement, according to people with knowledge of the decision. Among its concerns was that Woodson would have an increasingly difficult time getting through to his players if he returned” – ajc
In retrospect, Sund prescription of change for the Hawks is emerging to be more smoke and mirrors, less substance. Yes the offense has marginally improved with a new “green” PG, less ISO-JOE and more Josh Smith; but the defense has gone from being competitive to the outhouse under LD. We are constantly losing games to good and elite teams because our marginally improved offense is not enough to overcome our declining defense. LD has failed to educate the fundamentals of elite defense. The team blasé approach to defense is an emulation of their coach. LD priority is only offense similar to Mike D’Antoni. They are getting victories against lottery-bounds and the sub-pars by out scoring them, but against the good/elite teams, they are getting exposed.
During LD pre-game interview, LD suggested the recipe for beating the Bulls will be to play playoff style basketball. But after the first 8 minutes of the 1st quarter, the Hawks digressed into what looked to be a pre-season brand of defense; no intensity, no active hands, no shots or passes contested for 4 quarters. However, the Bulls (and other good/elite teams) constant excellent defense caused the Hawks offense to look mediocre.
During LD post interviews, LD can always seems to summarize the right remedy for “what went wrong” but has trouble translating them into “game-time adjustments”. The Hawks players just aren’t responding to him. In contrast, when the Bulls were down early in the 1st quarter or lead slipped in the 3rd, Bulls coach Thibodeau calls timeout and his players responded on his command. This “new voice” LD prescription Sund has offered is tuning out to be underwhelming.
So now, nearly two years later, it is LD that is also having a “difficult time getting through to his players”. How ironic is that?
doc
March 29th, 2012
5:42 pm
nice comments truth.
najeh in a perfect world tha would happen only that scenario is rare in the nba where a player goes from starter to your own buy out in three weeks or less. it would be like the basg and sund hanging a sign on their necks saying “how stupid are we?”, rather than trying to spin it, “now, he is somebody else’s problem, along with that mo guy and that young out of control sniper and we got the pearl in a real guard who plays defense and can shoot as well and still get in the lane.” now “arent we smart!” is the sign we where.
no way do they play that action and lose money in the buy out without anything to replace him with even, najeh. that would be very hard to spin to people to buy playoff tickets and without hinrich we might not get the match up with the magic nor beat them.
Slimjr
March 29th, 2012
6:11 pm
ISO stopper?
Deng is an ISO stopper, Matt Barnes is an ISO stopper….Hmmmmm
And you thought Collins was the difference? Hahahahaha
Larry just lucked out….. Yup….
PLAYOFF Basketball= ISO stopper, which means game, set, and match…
Astro Joe
March 29th, 2012
6:21 pm
Hawks fever is spreading all over the city (like a virus).
The Braves’ bullpen picture became a little clearer Thursday when they traded Jairo Asencio, the pitcher formerly known as Luis Valdez, to the Cleveland Indians for cash.
bigdave
March 29th, 2012
6:29 pm
“One thing I have noticed a lot of on this team especially from Joe, Kirk, and Josh is passeing up shots at point blank range to pass to a 3 point shooter. If you are in the lane, below the free throw line going towards the hoop”
if they would simply come to a stop and give a hard fake they’d probably get to the line. if you’re that close to the basket, you have to look to finish. our guys love doing this..
Najeh.. this is the joint:
http://neweracaptalk.com/blog/?p=1267
so dont expect them j’s to come to an end anytime soon in the form of post ups. smh. ive been saying that Drew has no problem with trading his jumpers in favor of his passing ability in his “motion offense”.
Slimjr
March 29th, 2012
6:33 pm
Hey, the Braves make a trade for cash too? Nice one AJ! Hahaha
Slimjr
March 29th, 2012
6:37 pm
Woody’s Revenge!
Orlando is not a push over and Woody had them down by 39 points in the 3rd quarter?
Are you kidding me? I have never seen Orlando get crushed like that..Sheesh…
Oh no………..
Slimjr
March 29th, 2012
7:02 pm
Entertainment!
Hey Gearon, you want to entertain us? Add Tiny to your squad! He will pack da house!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HTnC0RBXwws&feature=related
Big Lou
March 29th, 2012
7:16 pm
The sad truth is that LD is no better or worse than about 80% of the league’s coaches. He isn’t bad, he’s just average. And to be quite honest, within the next five years, the Hawks have a better chance of blowing up this roster and rebuilding into a contender by drafting superstars than they do of hiring one of the few elite NBA coaches in existence.” Najeh
Usually I would agree with your analysis. Yet, this time your homerism is clearly showing. One, they don’t need an ELITE coach, just one that knows how to make adjustments/sub properly. LD is mediocre in these areas, IMO; and those ares are the most important during the playoffs. If the owners weren’t so dang cheap, they could have gotten better than Woody’s assistant. I mean, there are plenty of teams who are WINNING franchises that have excellent assistant coaches.
If I am not mistaken, Tom Thibodeau was an assistant coach with Doc Rivers during the Celtics NBA championship run. They don’t have to be already established. All it requires is research, and a willing to pay.
Big Lou
March 29th, 2012
7:17 pm
willingness* to pay
Actually
March 29th, 2012
7:42 pm
“I have never seen Orlando get crushed like that..Sheesh…”
The only crush I see is that big man crush you have on Woodson and the Knicks. You’re no different than the 76ers troll, except that you are here all the time.
Grandmaster JeJe (GM)
March 29th, 2012
8:26 pm
Woody’s pregame speech tomorrow night:
“Look guys. I want to be back as Knicks coach next year of course, but if nothing else happens the rest of the season, PLEASE win this damn game. I resent the entire Hawks front office for letting me guy. Beat these guys’ heads in”
Grandmaster JeJe (GM)
March 29th, 2012
9:04 pm
*go
Slimjr
March 29th, 2012
9:08 pm
actually crushed…..actually been trolling?
Troll is a word reserved for those football fanatics on the DX3 blog who define those who dont kiss their azz…
pot calling a fryin pan? Got it bud? Good…
SteveW
March 29th, 2012
9:19 pm
Northcyde – “Bibby could’ve easily have been amnestied.”
If we have to sell draft picks to pay for being slightly over the Luxury Tax line, no way a 6 million dollar contract gets amnestied, unless some major creative accounting got involved.
Slim – Didn’t Orlando get held to 59 pts a few weeks ago in a slaughter? They do get beat pretty bad on occasion.
But last nite was Chandler shutting down Howard.
SteveW
March 29th, 2012
9:27 pm
Orlando has been crushed a few times this season:
Boston – Lost 87-56
New Orleans – Lost 93-67
Bulls – Lost 85-59
Orlando can lose in pretty bad fashion even to teams not named the Knicks.
Just Joe
March 29th, 2012
9:29 pm
Boston and Chicago held Orlando to under 60 pts and beat them by 20+. They are a mess when the 3’s don’t fall.
Walt Frazier
March 29th, 2012
9:36 pm
It seems like the referees are not calling fouls and obvious defensive hard in-the-paint contact at all. I understand players flop, but lately, the referees calls are either non-existent, or just plain missed. There seems to be a regression in refereeing today and it’s as bold as ever. You would think that in 2012, that there would be a change? Naw, it has regressed-to the level of physicality where someone on the court is going to get seriously hurt by another player who hasn’nt been getting calls, to snap. There’s nothing wrong with physical play, but I always thought that the NBA was a level above street ball.
Walt Frazier
March 29th, 2012
9:41 pm
The other thing is: why do we need to have three referees? Back in the day, two worked just fine. Having two referees made them work the game better. Now a days, the referees don’t even run the court anymore. I remember when the refs were running on the same floor as the players and would sometimes have to get out of their way, but it was exciting to watch, because the refs were always close to the action. Nowadays, the refs just stay on the side making bad calls and using the replay.
KevinM
March 29th, 2012
9:41 pm
Astro Joe
March 29th, 2012
6:21 pm
Hawks fever is spreading all over the city (like a virus).
The Braves’ bullpen picture became a little clearer Thursday when they traded Jairo Asencio, the pitcher formerly known as Luis Valdez, to the Cleveland Indians for cash.
AJ, that old saying, cash is king, works for organizations that aren’t playing with a full deck.
Actually
March 29th, 2012
9:42 pm
“Troll is a word reserved for those football fanatics on the DX3 blog who define those who dont kiss their azz…”
Oh, so you’ve been trolling there, as well. Not surprised.
Hawks Fan Down Under
March 29th, 2012
10:02 pm
After reading that article about the firing of Woodson I feel sorry for Josh Smith. The guy really wants to win a title and does everything he can to make it happen (even if we dont all agree with what he’s doing). But it’s clear that the owners of the Hawks simply dont care about winning a title, which I have to say seems really bizarre. Why buy a team then not care about winning. Who are these people?!
Najeh Davenpoop
March 29th, 2012
10:12 pm
“the defense has gone from being competitive to the outhouse under LD. ”
The Hawks’ defensive efficiency this year is higher than in any year under Woodson.
Najeh Davenpoop
March 29th, 2012
10:15 pm
The Braves traded Asencio for cash because he was out of minor league options and the alternative was releasing him and getting nothing in return. He wasn’t going to make the 25 man roster.
Najeh Davenpoop
March 29th, 2012
10:15 pm
In other words, it’s more like if the Hawks had traded Wanamaker for cash during preseason knowing that he wasn’t going to make the roster.
Buddy Grizzard
March 29th, 2012
10:25 pm
W O O D S A N I T Y ! ! !
KevinM
March 29th, 2012
10:39 pm
What’s sad is we all know in our gut LD and Sund are coming back no matter what and we get to once again pin our improvement on #24.
Gosh, where would we be with Al?
Answer: the same spot.
doc
March 29th, 2012
10:43 pm
let the game begin okc-lakers that is.
0-45 and counting!
Grandad
March 29th, 2012
11:02 pm
Well said … Najeh
” The sad truth is that LD
is no better or worse than about 80% of the league’s coaches.
He isn’t bad, he’s just average”
Along with that:
Our players are not as great as we think thet are.
doc
March 29th, 2012
11:12 pm
“actually” i have never heard your blog name before
here is what a blog troll is:
1. Blog Commenter Troll – One who floats in and out of many different blogs and leaves anonymous or non-anonymous comments that fit the “troll” trademark code of, well, shame?
2. Blog Owner Troll – The blog owner troll is the top of the food chain in blog trolls. The blog owner troll of course owns a blog, and uses the blog to create “troll-like” blog entries, sparking conversation from other blog trolls, and occasionally luring an ignorant non blog-troll into his/her trap.
Blog comment trolls are nothing new and have been around since comments on blogs existed. Webopedia offers the following definition of trolls which works well for blog comment trolls.
(v.) (1) To deliberately post derogatory or inflammatory comments to a community forum, chat room, newsgroup and/or a blog in order to bait other users into responding.
Blog comment trolls are a continual pest just like they continue to be on message boards. Google shows over 11,000 results for blog trolls. Trolls and spam are one reason some bloggers started moderating their comments. A few posts from bloggers angry about troll problems can be found here, here, here, here, here and here.
so by definition you “actually” are the troll andwhen you come back under another name you will define yourself even further.
slimj has his opinions which by definition are not what creates troll behavior just yours. welcome if you “actually” have something to say other than continue to act the troll otherwise we all see youbfor the silly weak person you are.
slimj is here every day posing only as himself. again you “actually” are the only troll visiting until you recreate yourself into another one by the next caricature you bring.
doc
March 29th, 2012
11:15 pm
or grandad we “expect” them to be no matter their realistic capabilities.
Grandmaster JeJe (GM)
March 29th, 2012
11:21 pm
This core has been together 5 years, and Joe says guys still don’t know their roles.
*Yawn*
Buddy Grizzard
March 29th, 2012
11:55 pm
Northcyde – “Bibby could’ve easily have been amnestied.”
No way we Amnesty Bibby when we got the last 2-3 years of Joe’s contract hanging over this franchise.
The Truth
March 30th, 2012
12:23 am
“The Hawks’ defensive efficiency this year is higher than in any year under Woodson.” – Najeh
Defensive Efficiency – the number of points a team allows per 100 possessions. Currently the Hawks are ranked 7th and seeded 6th. The following teams are ahead of them:
1 Philadelphia – seeded 4th
2 Chicago – seeded 1st
3 Boston – seeded 7th
4 New York – seeded 8th
5 Miami – seeded 2nd
6 Dallas – seeded 6th
As illustrated, the DEF EFF ranking isn’t telling the true story of a team for a variety of reasons such as Strength of Schedule Ranking and performance against sub-par teams vs. performance against elite/good teams. It’s only showing the average DEF EFF ranking against all teams played to date. As an example, from this listing alone, Boston and New York seem to be out of place. But in reviewing the Strength of Schedule 2011-2012, these 2 teams are ranked dead last (29th and 30th) of the 30 NBA teams in schedule strength per this link:
http://espn.go.com/nba/stats/rpi/_/sort/SOS
So Boston and New York soft schedule contributed to their high DEF EFF ranking. Since we can’t break-out the DEF EFF ranking for the sub-par teams vs. performance against elite/good teams, we can however examine the Hawks YTD DEF EFF number (0.978) vs. their last game number (1.134) against the Bulls (BTW, the higher this number, the worse the team defense). If you just used the Bulls game as an example, the Hawks would be ranked the worst team in the league based on DEF EFF number.
Of course this would be unfair to use one game to define the Hawks DEF EFF ranking, but it shows how they drastically fluctuate when they play an elite team like the Bulls (probably most good/elite team for that matter).
BTW, I’m no Woody lover just stating the obvious; the Hawks Strength of Schedule 2009-2010 under Woodson was ranked 16th vs. 2011-2012 Schedule under LD is ranked 19th. Also, the 2010-2011 schedule under LD shows a ranking of 26th, almost the weakest in the league. So Woody had a stronger schedule than LD 2 years. As previously stated, stronger a schedule, affects the defensive efficiency ranking.
Cwebb
March 30th, 2012
6:54 am
Slimjr,
We don’t care about your knicks. Stop posting about them in a Atlanta Hawks forum please
terrell
March 30th, 2012
7:51 am
Woody gets a standing ovation before the game, and the Knicks go on to blow out the Hawks. Priceless. lol
drmaryb.[*_*].
March 30th, 2012
7:51 am
Freedom of Speech!
who died and made CWebb a blog police? If, you dont like it: Scroll Bruh. You just posted about them too. If, you don’t know how to scroll in America, then relocate to CUBA where no one is allowed to blog at all, that should solve all your personal bog issues.
drmaryb.[*_*].
March 30th, 2012
7:59 am
The hawks will win tonight. I doubt if we lose three in a row. Unless, there is blow back from the non-role player(s). Hopefully, professionalism will prevail and, the Hawks come out with defensive intensity against the KNICKS!
drmaryb.[*_*].
March 30th, 2012
8:01 am
Topic for Discussion!
Either way, this blog will be discussing the KNICKS and hawks for the next three days. LOL
vava74
March 30th, 2012
8:43 am
After the win against UTA I predicted a 0-4 or 1-3 week.
The Hawks are working according to what was expected.
The win against UTA was draining both physically and mentally and the Hawks lack that last inch of mental stamina to understand that following that 4OT win, to collect another win would catapult them to “these guys are for real” status (even if the win would be only against MIL and even if they then lost to CHI).
These two losses are “understandable” but not having one of those defeats is what you would get from a contender to the ECF.