Atlanta Hawks: Video: Hawks finish strong
Here is my video report following Atlanta’s 106-89 victory over the Mavs in the regular-season finale.
Michael Cunningham, Hawks beat
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293 comments Add your comment
brigadier
April 27th, 2012
2:36 pm
this series will be much more about mental more than physical against celtics. if hawks split first two games at home i feel they can get one in boston
Rod from College Park
April 27th, 2012
2:39 pm
Josh will not cut these owners any slack. He will want a max deal. They disrespected him on this last deal, and made him go get an offer and they matched. He won’t do them any favors this time. Not sure how I feel about it. I’m not sure Josh is a max deal guy, but he is the best all around player on this team.
drmaryb.(*_*).
April 27th, 2012
2:42 pm
Sick “Em!
“Yes, the play-offs will tell the story;
but is everyone like Rusty and wishing for the Hawks to lose,
so that yawl can say;
” I told you so ”
” I knew LD was stupid all along ”
What kind of Hawks fan is that ?
______________
Get “Em Grand-Daddy! Yawl better listen to this wise old man on here. (she winks)
Jokes aside, I hope Stackhouse, TMac and Joe Johnson, being the elder statesmen – let these young fellas on the Hawks know that, Boston is gonna’ put on one hella dog fight in this series. Don’t get caught up in the “tacky fouls” and, lose focus on the game at hand.
Beat these guys one game at a time, and rebound and defend for 48 solid minutes at every single venue. The magic number is 4our.
Bravesfan79
April 27th, 2012
2:43 pm
Id love to see Nash added to the Hawks! He still has a good bit left in the tank. Go Hawks!
brigadier
April 27th, 2012
2:52 pm
i like nash but would rather go with teague. i like patty mills as a backup or even tinsley next year. hawks should offer ivan lle which is about 2.25 per year for about 3 years i think ivan will take it
brigadier
April 27th, 2012
2:55 pm
i see doc is rivers using mind games saying if josh is shooting well it will be a hard series for the celtics almost inviting josh to shoot
The Truth
April 27th, 2012
2:55 pm
“The Truth
You should send that Boston link to MC and, ask him to FWD that to Coach Drew” – drmaryb
I just did
Thanks for the address
doc
April 27th, 2012
2:57 pm
agreed rod the basg will get some karma on josh’s next salary bump. home discount will not be in play. i was appalled n their negotiation with him in comparison to marvn, bibby and jj. maybe they reexamined themselves after chills and josh.
Shamrock
April 27th, 2012
2:57 pm
Only four more games till the Atlanta fans can cry out the Hawks team motto, “just wait till next year.”
drmaryb.(*_*).
April 27th, 2012
3:02 pm
The Truth
Good job, MC will get back to you and let you know something. He’s pretty good about reading/responding to all his emails pretty quickly. You did a great job this morning. Did you write that part which followed that link? Or, did you copy and paste those 4-5 paragraphs?
If you did, that was some brilliant writing and communications going on there. Very, very impressive insights and delivery style. Very, technical. (smiles)
Thanks for sharing that link, the whole Hawks team should read that Boston link. Was that their beat writer?
Section 303
April 27th, 2012
3:03 pm
Shamrock, Hawks are coming for your boys. Know this.
TMACfan
April 27th, 2012
3:05 pm
Hey Shamrock,
GTFO
tyger
April 27th, 2012
3:15 pm
LD Coach of the Year!!! The force is with him…
Like him or not, the job he’s done is phenomenal…
Losing an Allstar in Week 2 and not miss a beat???…
Woody did a good job, but was set in his ways…
LD lobbied that he could get more out of them…
He was right…Josh blossomed, Teague pushed forward…
He frequently goes deeper into bench than ever seen…
Not without fault, i thought he cost us 3-4 games…
But his means to this end were calculated…
We need Hinrich playing well, we need Green, we need Collins…
TMac had to be shut down – he was out of line…
Ivan sent home and found his game…
He’s gotten a lil’ from everybody: Vladi, Pargo, TMac, ZaZa…
After thoughts on anybody else’s radar…
And that’s just what ATL needed…
We will never compete on payroll…
We have to massage wins outta what we have…
Always thought Woody could’ve gotten more, gone further…
Don’t feel that way this year…just the opposite…
LD has rung every drop outta this group, thus far…
Let’s see what Yoda has in store for the playoffs…
The Truth
April 27th, 2012
3:22 pm
“Did you write that part which followed that link? Or, did you copy and paste those 4-5 paragraphs?” – drmaryb
Thanks for the props drmaryb. Yes I wrote those paragraphs. If you don’t see quotation marks, it’s my work.
Since I’m one of your fans, a shout-out from you has weight and made my day.
atlantadeepdirtybench
April 27th, 2012
3:31 pm
Congrats to Ivan
northcyde
April 27th, 2012
3:33 pm
Rod .. if Josh Smith boxed out, he could average 12+ rebounds a game. He could easily be a souped-up version of Shawn Marion, a guy who was 2 inches smaller than Josh.
Kenneth Faried ( at 6-8 . . 230 lbs . . basically the same size as Josh ), grabs 12.2 rebounds per 36 minutes. Josh could easily approach that number if he boxed out more.
People talk about x-factors in this series. The true X-factor is Josh Smith. He’s the guy who has had lackluster games vs the Celtics the past 2 years. Horrible games, to be honest. So if we can get him playing at the level he’s playing now, we have a good shot to beat those guys. But he has to battle on the boards. He can’t live and die by that jumper.
@ Astro . . . remember the flip side of Nash. He can’t stop anybody. In the East, he’d be going up against Rondo and Derrick Rose. Or he’d be on a 2-guard who is much taller than he is. That’s not to say that we couldn’t use his services. The dude can still ball. But as of right now, PG is not our most pressing issue that prevents us from getting to the next level.
TMACfan
April 27th, 2012
3:36 pm
Okay, scratch that.
This needs to be the plan this off-season especially since his value is at an all time LOW.
http://cdn.jockpost.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/dwight-howard-hawks.jpg
MsDee
April 27th, 2012
3:37 pm
@northcyde,
I hear what u saying about Nash but doesnt mean Nash HAS to guard the Rondo’s and Derrick Roses of the leagues. Nash at PG, Teague at SG and Joe at SF..really no different now with Kirk at SG
MsDee
April 27th, 2012
3:38 pm
Teague can still guard those while Nash take someone else
Ra'mon
April 27th, 2012
3:39 pm
Rod, Josh deserves $2-3 mil more than Bosh’s contract per season. I doubt he will ask for max though. The scary thing is the team who attempts (Brooklyn?) to clear enough space to sign him AND Dwight. That’s the one thing lost in all of this is that with Dwight not opting out, it gives them the same summer.
Slimjr
April 27th, 2012
3:41 pm
“He’s[Ivan Johnson] an enforcer but he may be a little over the edge. We don’t want that right now.” LD
This coach has no freaking clue what heart is. Quotes like these confirm how much of a moron he is.” – BigLou
“Larry Drew says he hasn’t decided on lineup for GM 1. I’m thinking it will be Josh Smith at C, Marvin Williams at PF.” MC”
Larry wants Ivan to keep his head in the series and not lose it to KG ish talking.. Larry is short handed on Bigs going into this playoff run thanks to Gearon/Sund combo…
Marvin will be more of X-factor than even T-Mac! Marvin needs to help out on the boards with his length! I want 8-10 rebs. per night from him! Yes, he can! He has to play out of the gym like he did against New York..He’s has got to knock down his shots like Ray Allen does when he is wide open!!!!!!
Slimjr
April 27th, 2012
3:47 pm
“Josh deserves $2-3 mil more than Bosh’s contract per season. I doubt he will ask for max though. The scary thing is the team who attempts (Brooklyn?) to clear enough space to sign him AND Dwight. That’s the one thing lost in all of this is that with Dwight not opting out, it gives them the same summer.”
Yes, I believe he will ask for max, with somebody coming close..If the hawks are eliminated this year in the 1st rd., hes going to walk 90% chance….Thereby Josh and D12 fulfilling their dream of playing together in the Pros!
Enjoy this one ya’ll.. Set the DVR’s!
drmaryb.(*_*).
April 27th, 2012
3:49 pm
Doin’ Work!
“Thanks for the props drmaryb. Yes I wrote those paragraphs. If you don’t see quotation marks, it’s my work.”
__________
The Truth … and, nothing but. Man, Truth that piece was mesmeric to me. I was looking for quotation marks real hard, didn’t see any and, was like … just damn! He got highly effective writing talent – right there. man, you know – game recognize game. LOL
Slimjr
April 27th, 2012
3:53 pm
Josh is going to have trouble with his set shot cause KG will come out and contest it and bother him.Oh and his post game will be contested to.Too bad he did not have handles like Rudy Gay so he could reset acquire more space and get his jumper off on the move..Oh well..C’mon Pargo!
brigadier
April 27th, 2012
3:53 pm
slimjr,
why does if the hawks get knocked out of 1st round determine if he is going to walk?this series has no bearing if he want to walk or not
Grandmaster JeJe (GM)
April 27th, 2012
3:55 pm
Jokes aside, I hope Stackhouse, TMac and Joe Johnson, being the elder statesmen – let these young fellas on the Hawks know that, Boston is gonna’ put on one hella dog fight in this series. Don’t get caught up in the “tacky fouls” and, lose focus on the game at hand.
***
maybe Stack. TMac and Joe know little about winning Playoff series as underdogs.
Josh is not resigning here except for the max. He is good as gone by next summer. Move on, people.
We can’t even offer him an extension (not like ASG would) because of how idiotically we treated him 4 years ago, letting Memphis sign him to offer sheet
drmaryb.(*_*).
April 27th, 2012
3:56 pm
The Truth!
And one more thing, thanks for the compliment. Back ‘atcha.
Grandmaster JeJe (GM)
April 27th, 2012
3:56 pm
X-Factor is Jeff Teague. If Boston gets in his head and he runs scared, this is over in 5
brigadier
April 27th, 2012
3:57 pm
northclyde u are right josh play determine if hawks advance only advantage josh has to e uptempo
Slimjr
April 27th, 2012
3:57 pm
sorry, should have said acquire [new] spacing to…^^^^
Slimjr
April 27th, 2012
4:00 pm
Got to shop Josh in the summer or before next season trade deadline or else?
Set your DVR’s….
Slimjr
April 27th, 2012
4:02 pm
brigadier, as always Grandmaster JeJe (GM) answered your question better than I could have! Thanks grandmaster!
Bob Rathbun
April 27th, 2012
4:02 pm
I don’t know about you guys, but this season ROCKS and this weekend is going to be awesome!
Slimjr
April 27th, 2012
4:06 pm
Josh would be deadly if he could pick and pop off of Teague’s penetration to rise up and shoot the midrange j @ say 8 to 15 feet..Unstoppable he would be…..
That is my favorite shot..But I have a scorers mentality…Hehehehe
High-sider
April 27th, 2012
4:06 pm
“Josh will not cut these owners any slack. He will want a max deal. They disrespected him on this last deal, and made him go get an offer and they matched. He won’t do them any favors this time. Not sure how I feel about it. I’m not sure Josh is a max deal guy, but he is the best all around player on this team.” – Rod from College Park
“agreed rod the basg will get some karma on josh’s next salary bump. home discount will not be in play. i was appalled n their negotiation with him in comparison to marvn, bibby and jj. maybe they reexamined themselves after chills and josh.” – doc
In my opinion, Josh Smith should get a contract [offer by the Hawks] paying between $16-$18mil. per year for [the next] four to five years [if the Hawks can afford it]. I think that’s a fair amount considering the new CBA [Collective Bargaining Agreement], [the] NBA market value, [the] current state of the [U.S.] economy and the fact that the Hawks already have a[n overpaid] max[imum] contract player in Joe Johnson on its roster. If he [Josh Smith] demands anything more than that [$16-$18mil. per year], I hate to say it, but I would let Josh Smith “go” or perhaps “pull off” some sort of S&T [sign-and-trade] with another NBA franchise. Rick Sund and the ASG have already committed one blunder [by overpaying Joe Johnson] and they [Rick and the ASG] cannot afford another [blunder]. Josh Smith may be a “victim” of bad timing so to speak but I really can’t feel sorry for a guy that will more than likely make over $15mil. per year for the next four to five years nor can I really consider Josh Smith to be a “victim” in this scenario.
brigadier
April 27th, 2012
4:11 pm
slimjrr,
i didnt say josh wasnt going to leave, i stated hawks winning 1st round has no bearing on josh leaving. u said if hawks lose this series josh is 90% leaving. i was just stating if josh wants to leave he will and this celtics series wont determine if he leaves or not
Slimjr
April 27th, 2012
4:16 pm
I just believe if they lose its a step backwards for this franchise..Add to the fact he should have been an AllStar this year and he has stated the Hawks were the main reason why he was snubbed will facilitate his exit out of here…IMHO…
Grandmaster JeJe (GM)
April 27th, 2012
4:25 pm
ASG didn’t blunder by offering Joe the max. He never considered taking less and we couldn’t have signed anyone from the outside for over 7M a year if we had let him go….cap rules…
I don’t see why people are so blind about this. Let Joe walk and this team (which had Bibby starting) was done
Grandmaster JeJe (GM)
April 27th, 2012
4:26 pm
Joe should have taken the same deal Arenas took. About 12M discounted over course of deal
Astro Joe
April 27th, 2012
4:30 pm
I bet you can count the number of players who never averaged 20 PPG and received a max deal on their third pro contract on one hand. I’m thinking Ben Wallace and maybe that awful deal Orlando gave Rashard Lewis… then I’m stuck.
Rod from College Park
April 27th, 2012
4:35 pm
“Rod .. if Josh Smith boxed out, he could average 12+ rebounds a game. He could easily be a souped-up version of Shawn Marion, a guy who was 2 inches smaller than Josh.
Kenneth Faried ( at 6-8 . . 230 lbs . . basically the same size as Josh ), grabs 12.2 rebounds per 36 minutes. Josh could easily approach that number if he boxed out more.
People talk about x-factors in this series. The true X-factor is Josh Smith. He’s the guy who has had lackluster games vs the Celtics the past 2 years. Horrible games, to be honest. So if we can get him playing at the level he’s playing now, we have a good shot to beat those guys. But he has to battle on the boards. He can’t live and die by that jumper.”
Josh Smith is not Kenneth Faried. Josh Smith plays offense, and is one of the leading scorers on the team, as well as the only rim protector. You can’t expect him to do everything. He raised his rebounding almost 2 rebounds per game this year alone. Josh is what he is at this point. He is not all the sudden going to become Dennis Rodman. Kenneth Faried is only averaging 7.7 rpg, and Josh is at 9.5 rpg. I have no idea why you keep posting those stupid per 36 minute stats. They mean nothing.
Also, Josh does not play well against the Celtics, because he is being guarded by, and having to defend a first ballot HOF, who is still probably one of the best big man defenders in the league, and is a full two or three inches taller than Josh. Josh is not the X factor in this series. If he can play KG to a stalemate, he has done his job. The 20 million dollar man, and guys like Marvin and the bench will be the guys who will have to take advantage of mismatches in order for us to be successful. don’t look for Teague to have a big series either, having to guard, and being guarded by Rondo.
Astro Joe
April 27th, 2012
4:40 pm
Te missing equation in folk’s outrage over the josh deal 4 years ago is we don;t know how much his agents were requesting. If they saw Josh like the player he was in 11-12 and asked for that in ‘08-09 (or whatever year he signed the deal), then that would create a bit of an issue between production and potential. So while he performed this past season like a $15M+ player, that was not true during the first 3 years of his deal. And if he was asking for $15M from jump street (which I think is the type of deal Deng & Iggy got), then you can see why Sund said “go find a team that will pay you what you think you’re worth”.
Again, one size does not fit all. If Josh asked for $12M from day one and Sund sent him on a scavenger hunt, then yeah, Sund screwed up. I don;t recall ever hearing the details of the asking price… I just remember that Deng and Iggy got broke-off.
BTW, Iggy averaged around 13 PPG this past season and made around $15M (I think). 3 more points than Marvin for 2x the salary. But he slams real pretty, so who cares?
Rod from College Park
April 27th, 2012
4:44 pm
High-sider,
I do agree with you concerning the salary for Josh. The problem is the ASG, out of all the guys on this team, treated Josh the worst, when it came time for him to re-up. They gave Joe, Horford and Marvin all deals without making them test the market, but made Josh go get an offer, and then they matched. He, and his agent will remember that, so I very seriously doubt he settles this time.
Vino
April 27th, 2012
4:54 pm
congrats hawks im ready for some playoffs and i second that music!!!!!!
great job Drew and Sund Fire the Fans if they dont see the bigger picture how many other teams got to 40 wins?????
Slimjr
April 27th, 2012
4:56 pm
When you play against a guy that’s 2-3 inches taller you have to have handles to acquire new spacing to beat him to an open spot then you neutralize his height and length. Of course you have to have a quick release j that you can shoot on the move too. Josh Dad should have taught him this stuff a long time ago…
Slimjr
April 27th, 2012
5:02 pm
Watch how Rudy Gay will operate out on the floor[same size as Josh with a similar vertical] against the Clippers bigs.
Slimjr
April 27th, 2012
5:05 pm
Andre got an 80 million deal, Josh only 57 million when were FA’s Josh got screwed…
Slimjr
April 27th, 2012
5:07 pm
*[they] ^^^
Rod from College Park
April 27th, 2012
5:10 pm
Adtro Joe,
“BTW, Iggy averaged around 13 PPG this past season and made around $15M (I think). 3 more points than Marvin for 2x the salary. But he slams real pretty, so who cares?”
All ppg averages are not equal. Marvin gets empty buckets. Wide open shots. He can’t create his own shot, can’t handle the rock, and can’t play that point forward position like Iggy and Deng can. Iggy is guarded by the other teams best defender, and sometimes gets doubled. Iggy got broke off because when contract time came, he had put up 17 to 18 ppg over a couple of year span. Iggy also is considered one of the premier wing defenders in the league, and guards the opposing teams best players every night. Marvin is none of those things. Marvin scores because of Joe and Josh. He is no different than Kyle Korver, except he plays better defense, but can’t hit cluch shots.
There is no outrage about Josh’s contract. It’s simply fact. The ASG made no other member of the core go out and get another deal. No one else would have given Marvin that deal. Josh was and still is probably the most needed player on the team. They simply will have to pay if they want to resign him, and probably will have to overpay just like they did for Marvin and Joe.
drmaryb.(*_*).
April 27th, 2012
5:11 pm
AJ
Sometimes, when a player get’s broke off, the production goes South too. You just never know what a guy will do, once paid.