Hawks find a perfect playoff pairing: victory and humility
Josh Smith congratulates Joe Johnson after his jumper helped seal a win. (Curtis Compton/AJC)
Maybe this is a good thing. Maybe if a team comes out and blows the doors off an opponent in the playoff opener, it gets lulled into a false sense of security. It takes a 22-point lead at the end of the first half, makes a sandwich in the second, rolls to an easy victory and starts to think, “Bucks, Magic, Cavaliers: You are mere specks of dust on my cashmere on the way to the finals. Away with you.”
Well, there is good news. The Hawks are 1-0 in this postseason — and there is no chance of them getting cocky before Game 2.
They led Milwaukee (minus Andrew Bogut) by as much as 23 points in the second quarter, only to see that spread shrink to seven in the fourth. They settled for a 102-92 win at Philips Arena.
Victory and humility can be a wonderful pairing in the playoffs.
“It’s a good thing,” Al Horford said later. “It keeps us on edge. Last year against Miami we blew them out in the first game, and I think guys got a little complacent. They won the second game and made the series tough for us.”
Good memory. The Hawks dumped the Heat by 26 points in that series opener, then actually dropped the next two games of the series. It took seven games, but the Hawks finally advanced.
Al Horford and the Hawks' front line dominated in the first half before the Bucks closed the middle. (Curtis Compton/AJC)
This series isn’t expected to go seven games. Expectations are higher. The Hawks won 53 games. Maybe network executives already are planning marketing campaigns around LeBron James, Shaquille O’Neal and Dwight Howard for the Eastern Conference finals. But Atlanta kinda thinks this thing is wide open.
When players arrived in the dressing room for practice Friday, each had a photo copy of the Larry O’Brien Trophy, which is given to the league champion, taped to their dressing cubicle.
Coach Mike Woodson also has a miniature version of the trophy on his desk. He brought it into the locker room Friday and put it on a ledge, just below the white board, for his pep talk.
“He basically said, ‘This is what we’re here for,’” guard Mike Bibby said.
“What are you in it for if you don’t have big dreams?” said Josh Smith. “You’ve got to think the unthinkable. That’s how you’re going to be successful: not just going in thinking you’re going to win a series or two. When you’re in the postseason, you’re in there for one reason, and that’s to win a ring.”
That’s how the Hawks looked at the outset Saturday. They ran and jammed and stuffed the ball inside, taking advantage of Bogut’s absence. They shot nearly 62 percent in the first half (26-of-42). Milwaukee also took 42 shots, but made only 16. Actually, Brandon Jennings made eight of 14. The rest of the Bucks made eight of 28.
“We played as good a first half as we played all year,” Woodson said.
But in the second half, the Bucks’ defense toughened in the middle. The Hawks had a hard time adjusting and cooled off just enough to make it a game. Only some timely jumpers by Mike Bibby (19 points on 8-of-9 shooting) and a couple of defensive stops prevented catastrophe. Jennings finished with 34 points. But he had 32 points through three quarters before being held to a deuce in the fourth on 1-of-5 shooting.
So the Hawks made two statements: 1) They can be really good; 2) They can be really average.
This kind of thing can create doubts. Perhaps that’s why there are still some disbelievers in this city. Maybe that’s why there were a couple of thousand empty seats in the upper deck, even though it was announced as a sellout. Right up to game time, there were tickets for sale on the Web site, StubHub.com, for as low as 89 cents in the upper level.
That’s right: 89 cents. Maybe it was Throwback Night?
“Wow — 89 cents. Really?” said Smith.
He said he noticed the empty seats, but added, “I hope next game they’re filled.”
But he was more concerned about the game.
“We have to come back and play with that same sense of urgency we played with in the first half,” he said.
Humility shouldn’t be an issue.
♦
Recent Hawks posts
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♦ Joe Johnson says playoffs need to be his time to shine
♦ Hawks apparently have some convincing to do
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63 comments Add your comment
Najeh Davenpoop
April 18th, 2010
5:55 pm
“By the way, let add that the Bucks deserve some credit. Those guys play hard for 60 mins. ”
Damn, so they play during halftime too? I got new respect for those guys…
DCHawksFan
April 18th, 2010
7:18 pm
Dawgs2010, you represent all that is wrong with Atlanta. You are too lazy to drive twenty minutes from whatever suburb in Cobb, Gwinnett, or Forsyth county you live in and like to complain about how bad a city Atlanta is. When people ask you where you are from, you say you’re from Atlanta even though you don’t even know your way around downtown. If you are so concerned about spending time with your family, why don’t you stop wasting it posting on the AJC Blog and go watch a movie with them or something. You were probably one of those bandwagon fans cheering for Kobe or Lebron anyways so you aren’t needed.
If I still lived in Atlanta, I would be at every Hawks playoff game possible, especially if the seats were so cheap. It is embarassing to see the lack of support and the amount of complaining people like you do.
To all of the real fans and Atlanta citizens, you guys keep the city fun. Keep up the support!
Big Ray
April 18th, 2010
10:47 pm
Question: What will Scott Skiles do to try and adjust to our fast start mentality?
Question: What will Woody and the Hawks do to counteract it?
Statement: It only takes one guy to start the negative domino effect on either offense or defense. Everything unravels from there. Each Hawk has to make sure they are not that one guy.
If that happens, then Woody won’t be in the post game presser saying “We got sloppy with our execution.”
Snowman
April 19th, 2010
1:15 am
Jeff, would it be too much to ask for you to write an article on the job Mike Woodson and staff has done with this team not ONLY this season but for the last 5 years in terms of their improvement every single year! I think they beat every team in the NBA this season and swept the Celtics!!! With 53 wins and a 3rd place finish in the East, can’t if you say Woody has done a really, really good? Can’t you Jeff? Can’t you say you have been completely wrong about him and his staff? I think you owe coach an apology, again don’t you?…By the way management, please give coach a really nice multi-year deal along with getting the Joe Johnson deal done…let’s hope we don’t have to start over. This organization is so, so close with 1 or 2 additions, who knows…Go Hawks!!!
Did You See That!!!!
April 19th, 2010
2:37 am
Jeff about these statements:
“Maybe that’s why there were a couple of thousand empty seats in the upper deck, even though it was announced as a sellout. Right up to game time, there were tickets for sale on the Web site, StubHub.com, for as low as 89 cents in the upper level.”
Did you really have to go negative here? Is this the real storyline of this game in a bad economy? I mean really, were you counting empty seats during the Falcon 2009 Playoff last year with Matt Ryan (your favorite quarterback) or during the Braves last playoff appearance? Why the constant negatives spin with the Hawks? I notice you do this quite often with the Hawks. You spam negative thoughts and when you are called-out, you go defensive with “I didn’t mean it like that” response. C’mon Jeff, we know what are trying to do here. Your patterned action reflects your shifting interpositions and nullifications as a great cover-up. Even when you are pretending to pay the Hawks a compliment, you can’t resist the jab. You epitomize everything that’s wrong with Atlanta GA and professional sport teams when the teams aren’t made-up a certain way (you know what I mean). I can envision you still counting empty seats even if the Hawks actually won the championship just to spin a negative story (with your sly self).
JSS
April 19th, 2010
3:18 am
Thanks for all of the well wishes, she is a trooper… Sorry, yesterday was church all day (8PM by the time I put away the final serving dish) and I feel asleep and did not wake up until 2:30A. She is a member of a little church her father and other children of ex slaves had moved board by board from the country when they migrated into the City at the turn of the last century. She is normally one of two worshipers most Sundays, but I guess word had spread that she was not well. More than 80 people attended yesterday. It was a good day!
Randy Wittman
She did that driving each day during the height of the OPEC crisis, so actually the cost of fuel was the equivalent of $4.25 a gallon in 2008 dollars. Not mention paying a home mortgage that was 16%… Brings all things in perspective…
Atlanta RISE UP, Game 2 is huge!
JSS
April 19th, 2010
3:27 am
And I’m still asleep!!! “FELL!!!”
heartofdarkness
April 19th, 2010
12:56 pm
I think it has been a while since DCHawksFan lived in Atlanta. If he drove toward downtown from Forsythe County or north Cobb, he would move two interchanges and probably wind up listening to the game on radio.
decatur joe
April 19th, 2010
2:03 pm
If you like pr athletics and live in Georgia then why buy a house in Forsythe county? I lived in boston and never heard a red sox fan from springfield complain about coming to the city, and that was dutring a time when they’re highway system was a mess (the big dig). Knicks fans in jersey wade through twice as many homeless to get to the Garden. I don’t know what you expect when you live 50+ miles from downtown. If you want to get to the games faster move. If you dont want to see homeless downtown then move to Phoenix, its too damn hot for them there.
dstdeelite
April 19th, 2010
10:41 pm
Not quite sure why the ticket prices were brought to Smoove’s attention. Ticket prices and empty seats are the last thing Smoove needs to be reminded of during playoff time. I read almost every recap for every game in the NBA and I can find only one that announces how many people were at any particular game. Guess what team that is……..u guessed it….Our Atlanta Hawks. I was at Saturday’s game and regardless of the empty seats, the arena was on fire. I’ve given up trying to figure why more people don’t show up for the games. How they spend their money is none of my business. I have to do my part and show up. As far as them ONLY winning my 10 points. I think it’s an absurd point to keep making. The long and short of it is: THEY WON! The game was never really in doubt and yet nobody made a big deal of the lead that the Cavs or the Magic lost in their own Game 0. Teams make runs. Let’s move on. Game 2 is looming and I can’t wait. Go Hawks!!!!
JSS
April 20th, 2010
1:28 am
@DSTdeelite
Co-sign!!!
grannyisgonnaspanku
April 22nd, 2010
12:00 pm
Lets face it, the nba playoffs have got to be the most boring of all sports. They need a better playoff system where they play one or two games at the most, then move on slowly working their way towards a final four type system instead of this cr*p!!! I remember last year, everytime I went to eat somewhere, yup, another stupid hawks game, ohhh which one is this? Yeah brah, its game 43, I think they can pull it off. Who has the channel changer, thank you. SWITCH!!!!
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