We’re live from . . . a wake?
Here's the Hawks' Joe Johnson looking down in Game 3. It's kind of hard to lead that way, isn't it? (Curtis Compton/ccompton@ajc.com)
Before getting to some pre-game thoughts, let’s talk about what’s really important.
As far I know, LeBron James has not booked any restaurants for a post-game party tonight in Atlanta. I’m not sure if that’s because he figured “24″ would hold down the crowd, or simply because the Cavaliers have a charter flight taking them back to Cleveland immediately following the game.
I mention this only because word of James pre-booking a party at Trois in midtown following Game 3 Saturday night sparked quite a bit of reaction in the blogosphere, and some even in the locker room. Al Horford was stunned, and even said after the Game 3 loss, “I wish I had known that before the game.”
Question: Would it really have made a difference? I mean, would that little bit of extra anger have carried the Hawks over the top in Game 3, setting up the possibility of them evening the series tonight?
Uh, no.
Which leads to tonight. I’ve covered several potential sweep-completing Game 4s before, and in three difference sports — basketball, baseball, hockey. There’s one common thread: The team on the verge of being swept ALWAYS comes out playing hard. The vast majority of professional athletes have a ense of pride and they don’t like being associated with a playoff sweep.
But what tends to happen is, the moment the team that’s up 3-0 punches the 0-3 team in the mouth, things quickly unravel. Negative thoughts creep into players’ minds. A sense of, “Just get me to the end of this game,” takes over.
That’s my concern about the Hawks tonight — not that they won’t play hard at the outset, but how’ll they’ll react when James basically says, “OK. Enough of this. Take that!”
And how will Joe Johnson react? The playoffs the last two years have revealed more bad than good about him. That’s something I might get into more in tonight’s game column. It’s not always about scoring for a star player, it’s about leadership, and Johnson hasn’t provided it. What he shows tonight could impact how he’s viewed by fans, media and even the organization. Remember: he only has one year left on his contract.
Josh Smith sometimes says one thing and does another. But at least he said the right thing after today’s shoot-around: “It’s all about pride, not giving up, not throwing in the towel. Even though they only have one more game to win, you don’t want to just roll over and give them that win, without at least giving them a fight.
”It left a sour taste in my mouth how the season ended last year. I don’t want to go through another summer of having nightmares of not performing the way I know how to perform.”
A CAVS LETDOWN? Not likely. I just asked Cavs coach Mike Brown if he would feel the need to talk to his players about not giving the Hawks life in the playoff series. “I’m not a big cliché go or anything like that. This team has been very good the entire year in terms of focusing just on the next game because it’s the next game and hopefully this game is no different. I have not told them that. I’m sure I won’t tell them that. I have heard them say it, led by LeBron.”
Now that’s a leader.
LIVE FROM PRESS ROW: Had some wireless issues in Game 3, causing hiccuping in responses to reader posts. But technical issues aside, we’ll try it again tonight.
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205 comments Add your comment
Rollins Tree
May 11th, 2009
9:36 pm
Cant wait to see what the Hawks do next year with a new head coach. Someone they ALL respect and inspires them more than Woodson could.
plussizemodel
May 11th, 2009
9:37 pm
I love the way Lebron clowns around with the crowd. Dude is suuuch a star
If I were Woodson right now I”d hit up Brown for an assistant gig in a few minutes.
The King
May 11th, 2009
9:37 pm
MVP….MVP…..MVP
Rollins Tree
May 11th, 2009
9:38 pm
Were they chanting MVP or Woodson sucks? Couldnt tell.
kj
May 11th, 2009
9:38 pm
Where was Mike Bibby? The Hawks look bad. This was their worst playoff appearance ever.
HawkDawg
May 11th, 2009
9:38 pm
How many freaking threes are they going to hit down the stretch?
keno
May 11th, 2009
9:39 pm
Well, that’s the game. Can we do something about the suspect defense in the off season? Switching obviously is not working because someone always has to help Bibby and then no one rotates to the open guy.
kj
May 11th, 2009
9:39 pm
I never saw the defense switch on Lebron as he would go to the hole. It look like they were scared or let’s just let Lebron score. Bibby it’s time for you to go.
preston
May 11th, 2009
9:40 pm
and another double digit loss!
RealSquawk
May 11th, 2009
9:40 pm
I can’t wait until they play some real competition.
I cannot believe we are being swept and anybody who thinks they competed is a fool. They don’t look desperate and they don’t look like they care I am not shaking anyone’s hand I am not mingling with anyone. this display of friendship is kiling me
WHAT IN THE WORLD IS GOING ON. YOU FOOLS JUST GOT SWEPT YOU JUST GOT SWEPT!! YOU JUST GOT EMBARRASSED ON YOUR HOME COURT. COWARDS!! HOW DARE YOU LOOK SO HAPPY.
D.Carter
May 11th, 2009
9:40 pm
FIRST – NEW COACH… AVERY, HELL SAM MITCHELL, ANYBODY WHO HAS AN OFFENSIVE GAMEPLAN AND CAN MAKE AN IN GAME ADJUSTMENT
2ND- MARVIN FOR RUDY GAY
3RD RESIGN FLIP AND ZA ZA
4TH – TRADE MO EVANS FOR WHATEVA… A BAG OF CHIPS
5TH – SEE WHATS OUT THERE FOR JOE, AND AL.. PHOENIX WANTS TO TRADE SHAQ… JOES CONTRACT IS UP AFTER NEXT YEAR SO IS SHAQS…
6TH MAKE A SERIOUS PLAY FOR KEVIN MARTIN AND MAYBE UNDER A NEW COACH WITH A DIFFERENT SYSTEM ACIE MIGHT BE READY
kj
May 11th, 2009
9:42 pm
To CaliHawks good season. Only people in Atlanta except stuff like this. This was not a good season. We did not show up. We loose in four and you say good season. Come on.
kj
May 11th, 2009
9:44 pm
I agree with real RealSquawk. We did not compete. This was ugly. We should not have went seven games with Miami. Like the commercial say. People wake up.
truth-serum
May 11th, 2009
9:45 pm
HAWKS NEED A CENTER! HAWKS NEED A CENTER! HAWKS NEED A CENTER! HAWKS NEED A CENTER! HAWKS NEED A CENTER! HAWKS NEED A CENTER! HAWKS NEED A CENTER!HAWKS NEED A CENTER!
YOU CANT COMPETE AT THE NEXT LEVEL WITH OUT A CENTER.
THE GAME ALWAYS REVERTS TO A HALF COURT GAME AND WITH OUT A CENTER YOU WILL NOT WIN.
HAWKS NEED A CENTER! HAWKS NEED A CENTER! HAWKS NEED A CENTER! HAWKS NEED A CENTER! HAWKS NEED A CENTER! HAWKS NEED A CENTER! HAWKS NEED A CENTER!
LETS GO AFTER THAT 7 FOOTER FROM UCONN.
kj
May 11th, 2009
9:45 pm
On our own court. Embarrassing.
IfYouHaveTivo
May 11th, 2009
9:45 pm
Go to about 2 mins into 2nd quarter and see Bibby cuss Woodson out! Hawks sold out on thier home floor. Mo Evans was calling guys OUT?? Reallly??? OH WELL! No shame in losing to the MVP!
Mo is a NO
May 11th, 2009
9:45 pm
This is Mo Evans the entire playoffs:
1. Shoot and miss
2. Hustle back on defense and get dunked on
kj
May 11th, 2009
9:45 pm
Bibby still yawning.
Rollins Tree
May 11th, 2009
9:47 pm
People kill me when they mention trading Horford. That guys the real leader of this team. Not Johnson.
kj
May 11th, 2009
9:48 pm
truth-serum i have said it plenty of time. we need a center. a veteran. hawks by by.
kj
May 11th, 2009
9:48 pm
To many guys who play the same position.
kj
May 11th, 2009
9:49 pm
No. You don’t trade Horford. By Bibby.
don'tcare
May 11th, 2009
9:50 pm
watching the pregame interviews of the Hawks should have been convincing to all that this team quit and laid down.
RealSquawk
May 11th, 2009
9:51 pm
o and the TNT folks talking about whether it is Joe or Josh? not Marvin or Josh or Joe, but Joe and Josh?
Non fair-weather fan
May 11th, 2009
9:52 pm
Hawks fan since I was a kid….thanks for a great season….now let’s go get Avery Johnson to coach this team to the NBA Finals next season. Talent is there, inspiration is not.
kj
May 11th, 2009
9:52 pm
People it was an ok season. I’m getting ready to watch a real game. Denver Vs Dallas. The thugs vs the Cuban. When it’s all said and done it the Cavs nor the Lakers will not be the champs. The champs will be the Denver Thugs.
Grounded
May 11th, 2009
9:54 pm
TNT talking about finding a certain style of play its either gonna be Joe or Josh…cant be both. Or bye bye in playoffs next year
ajw
May 11th, 2009
9:54 pm
The Hawks played hard. at least they kept their composure. Hawks were just over-matched in this series plain and simple. I thought they might get one win, but it didn’t happen. I enjoyed watching them play for the most part this season. I think the refs took us out of most of this series, but we were still over-matched. We need to make some serious changes to this team to compete at a higher level than the second round. we have too many people that do the same thing and none of them do it well enough. My favorite Hawks of the season in most important first is: Josh Smith, Zaza Pachulia, and Flip Murray. My answer is to trade Joe Johnson for someone who can penetrate and take charge. Joe Johnson just sucked in the playoffs period. He looks totally out of place in the all star game. No way are we re signing Mike Bibby. He is good in the reular season, but awful in the playoffs too. OMG! Steve Smith is calling the game in Dallas???? Freaky! NBA is desperate!
kj
May 11th, 2009
9:54 pm
F———the hawks.
kmilton41
May 11th, 2009
9:54 pm
i agree with charles barley, we need another penetrator like flip, keep za za he was tough all playoff, josh you are not a shooter, drive in there and get foul, to many players playing the same position, like the other night the coach of the lakers said in the news conference he was upset about way they played woodson never said that woodson must go, not a good moving offense team. i hate every year saying wait till next year, can’t just settle for this fans of atlanta.
preston
May 11th, 2009
9:56 pm
couple of obvious observations on these Hawks:
JJ – a very good player, the best on this team….but he is not yet ready for prime time. He had only one good game out of 11 in this yrs plaoff…..a time when the hawks needed him the most.
Mike bibby – another good player, but he did not and will not take the Hawks to the next level in their ever increasing demand for a true pg to run this team.
Jsmoove – a hec of an athelete and he has improved his game, but he is still a very reaw player that needs to mature in his game.
Mwilliams – is probaly the biggest disappointment of all….he is a very akward player….the only smooth thing about his game is his jumpshot, but he is never healthy…..I think this is as good as it gets with him.
Acie Law – we dont know what we have in him, and we probaly will never find out with Woodson as coach.
Mike woodson has improved his win totals each year as the Hawks coach, but does any body feel any better about the hawks and him as head coach of this team than they did when he took over this team?
herbK
May 11th, 2009
9:56 pm
Hawks had a fine year. That said, uhuhuh, byebye. The Cavs are a literal machine at this point.
cdog
May 11th, 2009
9:58 pm
BLAME WHOEVER WAS IN CHARGE OF MAKING A TRADE FOR A CENTER FOR THE HAWKS NOT RISING TO THE NEXT LEVEL. WHEN HE SO CALLED HAD A CELL PHONE STUCK IN HIS EAR AND FAILED TO GET A CENTER THATS WHAT DOOMED THE HAWKS SEASON. IF HE STICKS A CELL IN HIS EAR DOING THE OFF SEASON AND FAILS TO BRING IN A DOMINATING CENTER, HE SHOULD BE LET GO INSTEAD OF ANYONE ELSE IN THE SYSTEM
kmilton41
May 11th, 2009
9:59 pm
now u know why nobody comes out during regular season games, i started to buy season passes.(not)
kmilton41
May 11th, 2009
10:01 pm
this is the most woodson can get out of this team.
DeeMack
May 11th, 2009
10:02 pm
Well, Birds I’m glad you gone. You can fly off to some warm weather place and mediate. Cuz, where the broom? I wanna get to sweeping now so I can sweep you Hawks off the floor. One more note, pls tell your fans in the Arena to stop antagonizing players. It only adds fuel to the fire. Show some class in the ATL.
DW
May 11th, 2009
10:02 pm
It has come down to this… JOE or JOSH… I say get rid of Woodson first. He constantly ran plays where Josh was the open wing man. Josh was shooting bricks because he was open. That’s a coaching problem. Josh gives us flashbacks of Dominick. Joe gives us flashbacks of Steve Smith. I say Josh has the bigger upside. Package Joe with a draft pick and let’s get into the lottery. Resign ZaZA resign flip and keep Josh. Sorry Joe, but you gotta go.
ajw
May 11th, 2009
10:07 pm
DW ! Amen we need to package Joe for some thing good. the double teams he sometimes draws are what the defense wants. Its no advantage to us.
J.J.M.
May 11th, 2009
10:17 pm
lol joe and josh are not going no where…if the hawks office thought the team wasnt gonna work with them they woulda never resigned josh or they woulda at least did a sign and trade with josh…marvin will be most likely traded. Hawks will draft a big or pick up one in free agency. I would ratha have flip then bibby(acie has to step it up NOW) and what about josh childress? bring him back? I also would release speedy so we can have more money to work with.
Rob
May 11th, 2009
10:17 pm
Cheer up folks I’m already over it, lets look forward.This is now Rick Sund’s time to make this team his own. The hawks have 9 free agents and about 17 million dollars under the cap. Woodson has one year left on his contract.
Hopefully the Braves will keep us entertained until NFL training camps starts.
DW
May 11th, 2009
10:19 pm
The thing that made me so mad was, the Cavs ran the same defense that the heat ran. And the celtics ran last year. They doubled with the center. Josh ’s man rotated to Horford. That left Josh all alone 18ft from the goal. Josh kept shooting bricks! They dared Josh to shoot. It was embarrasing. Woodson should have made an adjustment. As for Joe, he was passing the ball before the double team even came. He played scared and he was not agressive. Joe did not get his average in any game vs. the cavs. He has maxed out his potential. The NBA is about the playoffs, not the regular season.
ken
May 11th, 2009
10:19 pm
Man i’m from little rock and joe didn’t represent this year seems like he was begging lebron to stay in cleveland so they can play together. It hurts me to say this but trade joe and bibby to phoenix for amare & jason richardson. Then hire avery or paul silas to coach the team. Package marvin and our draft pick to move up to get ricky rubio or brandon jennings + a vet. resign flip to mid level exception. Find vets to back up all positions like cleveland and let them run the rest of the east in the ground. If the trade for amare falls through trade josh or joe to new orleans fot tyson chandler. Please atlanta spirit fire mike woodson tonight i could coach better than him he sucks royally. I’m hurting bad my team didn’t even leave their house tonight.
braveshater
May 11th, 2009
10:22 pm
Disgusting. Mike Woodson has to go. He cant draw up a play for a playground team. Disgusting.
Avery Johnson
May 11th, 2009
10:24 pm
Yall coaching really sucks
TROTTINGHOME
May 11th, 2009
10:28 pm
GLAD THAT’S OVER WITH
J.J.M.
May 11th, 2009
10:31 pm
let bibby go sign a.i.?
jaxman
May 11th, 2009
10:47 pm
AJW, are you kidding me? ” I think the refs took us out of most of this series”. Can’t believe you could seriously make that statement. The Hawks were a bunch of jump shooters for 2 1/2 games. There was so much home cooking going on in this one I thought for sure they were going to win. The referee gave ATL every chance to win this game! That may be the most phantom calls against Cleveland that I’ve seen in a game all season. Pathetic for you to blame the refs. How about the lack of heart from your team….oh and Josh Smith failing to realize his game is 10ft and in! Bibby is a total stiff. Only defense he would ever be involved in is if he is sued! Joe Johnson is NO superstar. He lacks heart. You need a coach that will make Josh stay near the hoop. Then keep only Williams, Pach, Flip, and Horford. Everyone else must go!
GeeMack
May 11th, 2009
10:50 pm
Kurt Hinrich and Chris Kaman are the two guys we need to go get. Kaman would give us rebounding, low post scoring, and block shots. Hinrich at the point give us a penetrator, 3 point shooting, and a good defensive point with playoff experience. I like JSmoove, but I would rather have Al at the 4 than him. For all the woody haters on this site. When the players play the way he tells them we win. when they don’t we lose. Woody aint the problem this is a defective team. To many players playing the same position.
Ned Bartlett
May 11th, 2009
10:56 pm
Jeff:
So much for your “validation” of Woodson as the Hawks’ coach. If anything, Woodson showed that he couldn’t get this year’s team to come close to the play of last year’s team, which forced the eventual champ Boston Celtics to 7 games. In a series with Cleveland, Atlanta lost all 4 games by double digits, including both at home, where the Hawks beat the Celtics 3 straight last year. We could argue whether this year’s Cavs’ team or last year’s Boston team is better, but what is clear is that this year’s Hawks’ team didn’t play near as well against the Cavs as they did against the Celtics, but then this team has been woefully inconsistent throughout most of the year, despite having a better record than the year before. If beating Miami were to serve as validation for the job Woodson has done for the Hawks this season, then the Hawks would have been a much sterner test for the Cavs. The fact that the Hawks lost to the Cavs in 4 straight games, all by double digits, including 2 losses at home, shows that the Hawks’ series win over an undermanned Miami team, was nothing but fool’s gold, not validation of anything!!
Mike Fratello
May 11th, 2009
11:01 pm
I’m available guys!!!