Another Game 7, and this one’s at home. They’d better win.
They’d better win because they’ve worked 12 months for these 48 minutes. They’ve said it daily since May 4, 2008, same as Mike Woodson said it Saturday: “We wanted to have a chance to host Game 7.” Now they do.
They’d better win because to do otherwise would leave them where they were 364 days ago. They’d be just another team that made a bit of noise before taking its leave, just another Round 1 loser. They’d get to sit and watch while the big boys sort out the NBA championship, and again they’d have to ask, “When are we going to grow up?”
They’d better win because these Hawks are almost grown, or they should be. Joe Johnson and Mo Evans entered the NBA in 2001, Flip Murray in 2002, Zaza Pachulia in 2003. Mike Bibby was drafted in 1998. Even Josh Smith, widely viewed as the epitome of young and reckless, has been a pro since 2004.
They’d better win because they saw in Boston what it takes to win a Game 7. They saw the Celtics in all their focused fury. They saw the Celtics’ captain, Paul Pierce, score 22 inspirational points. They saw a proud defense that had yielded points on 17 consecutive Game 6 possessions limit the visitors to 24 baskets in 48 minutes. Woodson again: “They hit us in the mouth and we never responded. But we learned from that.”
They’d better win because they’ve let Dwyane Wade’s middling team linger too long, and you do that at your peril. As nice as it is to have Game 7 at home, it’s still a game that can be lost. This time a year ago, the famous Kevin Garnett was so nervous about an elimination game against the 37-45 Hawks that he stayed up all night, and the almost-as-famous Ray Allen was texting teammates at midnight.
They’d better win because any excuses would fall flatter than L. Frank Baum’s Kansas. Marvin Williams has a bad wrist, but the Hawks have won without him. Al Horford has a sore ankle, but that’s no alibi. (Said Horford: “The season’s on the line … I’ll be ready.” And Woodson plans to start him.) Jermaine O’Neal missed Game 6 and the Heat won by 26 points, and Jamario Moon was lost a week ago. Come the playoffs, you win with what you have. Or you lose.
Sorry, there are no polls available at the moment.They’d better win because this is Atlanta and they’re the Hawks, and we’ve come to view them with skepticism ever since they lost a winner-take-all Game 5 against undermanned Milwaukee at the old Omni on May 7, 1989. We’ve spent the past 13 months warming to this team, but to lose a series after leading 3-2 would test our patience. And we Atlantans have no patience. Ever seen us drive?
They’d better win because, even after being outscored by 19 points over six back-and-forth weirdo wipeouts, they still seem the better team. They’re the fourth seed for a reason. Game 7 is here for a reason. “We’ve put ourselves in this position,” Woodson said, “and I like our position.”
They’d better win, and they will. Hawks 82, Heat 77.
Tune in tomorrow! I’ll be blogging live from Game 7 from my lofty perch alongside my new Twitter pal Spirit the Hawk. (Just kidding, but most of us press people are pretty high up.) We’ll get started around 12:30 p.m., and we’ll keep going until this strange series is finally finished. I invite one and all to join the theoretical fun.
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82 comments Add your comment
Shamus Thacker
May 2nd, 2009
8:08 pm
Fine piece Mark.
Time for the Hawks to put up, or shut up.
A championship team, at some point in time, has to decide that it’s NOT going to be denied. Period.
We’ll see tomorrow if that decision has been made by this team.
Shannon
May 2nd, 2009
8:12 pm
Woodson has to go regardless……. the team would be much better off with fresh blood!!!!
Gumbo
May 2nd, 2009
8:14 pm
Worst half-court offense in hte HISOTRY of the NBA (at least, for any team that made the playoffs).
An “unwatchable” brand of “me-first” basketball.
Maybe if the NBA makes the Championship settled by playing “21″, the Hawks would have a chance. No Teams in 21…….
UGH!!!
Our Time, Our Team, Our City, Our Destiny....
May 2nd, 2009
9:06 pm
You look like a bunch of fifth grade sissies after a cat fight! You got anger, that’s good. You’re gonna need it, you got aggression that’s even better. You’re gonna need that, too. But any little two year old child can throw a fit! The game of basketball is about controlling that anger, harnessing that aggression into a team effort to achieve perfection!
History is written by the winners. Bring the “I’m a winner. I’m going to win” mentality to Phillips on Sunday. Before we can win, we must become ONE…Ride the skills and abilities of every player to achieve the ultimate dream of becoming NBA Champions…
Time To Rise Up…It’s Win or Go Home…Game 7…
Go Atlanta Hawks!!!
Mark Bradley
May 2nd, 2009
9:34 pm
About Joe Johnson: He played the most minutes of any player this season. Do you think he might be tired?
Football season yet?
May 2nd, 2009
9:36 pm
Could Careless this year: AMEN! GO BIRDS GO!!!
Chipper Jones
May 2nd, 2009
9:37 pm
Looks like this team has packed it in and blamed it on injuries.
Suckers.
HeatFan4Life
May 2nd, 2009
9:53 pm
These Atlanta announcers are freshman. If they think the HEAT are playing like thugs, they didnt watch any HEAT v Knicks basketball in the late 90s. This series is tame compared to that. But, what do I expect from an organization that hasnt gone past the 1st round since ‘99 and has been hanging in the cellar with the Clips since the dawn of time?
Meanwhile...Mark keeps the bar high
May 2nd, 2009
10:06 pm
Re: “…flatter than L. Frank Baum’s Kansas.” I love it. I love it when a columnist doesn’t dumb down the references, just to pander to the lowest common denominator. Make ‘em google it if they have to, I say!
Though I think they will win as well, but unless Woodson can click his heels three times, and return to Kansas long enough to invoke the spirit of Phog Allen, they will find Cleveland to be a far more perilous journey than the trip to Emerald City ever was.
And for this particular collection of talent, I suspect that’s something that no wizard, not even the Wizard of Westwood, has an answer for.
Topics about England-places » Another Game 7, and this one's at home. They'd better win. | Mark …
May 2nd, 2009
10:33 pm
[...] Mark Bradley placed an observative post today on Another Game 7, and this one's at home. They'd better win. | Mark …Here’s a quick excerptThey’d better win because this is Atlanta and they’re the Hawks, and we’ve come to view them with skepticism ever since they lost a winner-take-all Game 5 against undermanned Milwaukee at the old Omni on May 7, 1989. … [...]
Mark Bradley
May 2nd, 2009
10:37 pm
Meanwhile, I try not to dumb down anything. I’m dumb enough as it is.
And thanks, Shamus.
And Gumbo, I disagree about the half-court offense. It has been quite good this season. (Having shooters — Bibby, Flip, Mo, Joe, Marvin — helps a lot.)
Bravoshawkin
May 2nd, 2009
11:24 pm
Way to put more pressure on the home team, prick.
Biff Pocoroba
May 2nd, 2009
11:32 pm
Mark, I wouldn’t worry about sitting far away tomorrow. With so many tickets still available, you should be able to move down low and sit wherever you want. I think the owners may have made the Hawks blow game 6 on purpose because they need the extra revenue from a game 7 to help pay for all of their legal fees. I hope Gani Lawal pulls out of the draft. Otherwise, the Hawks will probably draft him since they love guys his size that can score 3 points a game in the NBA.
DenverHawk
May 2nd, 2009
11:58 pm
Mark, been reading you a long time. My 2 favorite colums of yours are both from 1986 – one positive (paraphrasing) (”nothing in this world like an NFL team taking hold of a city”) and one negative (”unthinkable, stupid & silly”) – both times you clearly reflected what I was thinking, too, yet said it better than I could’ve… Here’s looking forward to a positive series recap from you in Monday’s paper… GO HAWKS!
Kevin
May 3rd, 2009
1:27 am
that great plenty of seats remain maybe game be blackout here so we can’t see it ha ha atlanta fans…..we blew game six now game seven….if we lose this the GM n coach are gone…that it we need a coach who been around n by golly pat riley is the Man to run this team and that is it
Dr. Warren
May 3rd, 2009
2:02 am
I predicted in Mark’s column Thursday the Hawks’ intermittent lack of focus and intensity would surely condemn them to lose in Miami Friday, and they did. But I also predicted they’d win Game 7 at home, and they will. 87-72.
Heat Diehard
May 3rd, 2009
3:53 am
This is going to be one hell of a game. If there’s one thing we’ve learned, Al Horford is a crucial element in limiting D-Wade, so that’s great news for you guys. As for Jamario Moon and Jermaine O’Neal, the Heat’s trade now looks awful…they traded Shawn Marion for two guys who aren’t playing in the biggest game!
I think we’ll finally get a close game, with Dwyane Wade’s heroics evening the scales against Atlanta’s homecourt fervor. A total push. Really anybody’s game tomorrow…I’m excited, and extremely anxious
CJ
May 3rd, 2009
4:11 am
I have no idea how this game will turn out tomorrow; the Hawks are so on again off again until you can’t have any confidence in anything they do.
Speaking for the long term though, something is going to have to give with this Josh Smith/Mike Woodson thing. One of them have to go. Josh has to know in his heart that he can’t shoot yet he continues to do so miserably. Woodson also knows that he can’t shoot but can do nothing about it obviously. If management (in all their ineptitude) is cool with Woodson then Smith has to go. If they think Smith is a long term puzzle piece then get a coach in here that will let him know that he needs to work from 12 feet and in or else…or at least get a team leader in here that will put him in his place after the 3rd or 4th brick that he puts up.
I want us to win though the Cavs will be waiting to put a beatdown of epic proportions on the Hawks in the next round, and that’s fine considering where this team is fundamentally. However, long term they have to look at doing something to fix the lack of consistency, be it changing the bench boss or the pieces that he orders around.
Just A Fan
May 3rd, 2009
4:53 am
Honestly. As a fan who live in NYC. Who watched most games on the nba package. Who let Rio copy of him in marketing. I love these guys. They have the talent to challenge the Cavs. It starts with Woodson. Terrible head coach. Great assistant. I don’t think he alone has the leadership or the plan for this team. Wisdom? yes. Basketball sense? yes. Head Coach? unfortunately no. I hope we win game 7. But to win an NBA Championship we’ll need a deeper bench and a new coach (keep woodson as assistant). (BTW huge mikey woodson fan)
pete
May 3rd, 2009
6:18 am
Let’s hope Woody doesn’t stick with his ridiculous 2 foul rule and sit someone for the rest of the 1st period if they get 2 early fouls. With Marvin and Horford out, there is no way Joe should have been on the bench while the Heat was basically winning game 6 in the 1st quarter. The Hawks never recovered from the 14 point 32-18 deficit after one. The closest they got was down 8. Joe had two 1st quarter fouls and finished the game with 3 fouls. It is so frustrating to watch Woody stick with his 2 fouls in the 1st quarter, 3 in the 1st half, and 4 in the 3rd quarter rule. Come on Woody. You get 6 fouls. Sitting Joe for 10+ minutes with 2 fouls would be like a Roy Williams sitting Ty Lawson for 10+ minutes with 1 foul. Makes no sense. You sit these guys in “foul trouble” all the time, and very few of them ever even get their 5ht foul before the game ends. There is no need to sit a guy in quarter one with 2 fouls, especially for 10+ minutes while your team is already shorthanded and falling farther and farther behind. This decision gave the Hawks no chance to win game 6. None.
DawginLex
May 3rd, 2009
8:47 am
Don’t understand why anyone would say losing is a better option. Getting to the next round is an improvement over last year with higher expectations set for next year.
Just win.
IUlia
May 3rd, 2009
8:53 am
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Cuz
May 3rd, 2009
10:12 am
So Mark you will be reporting again from Acworth? Do they have a Marta station right beside your seat? Heck I don’t know, I live in Augusta.
Mark Bradley
May 3rd, 2009
10:18 am
Thanks, Denver. Oddly enough, I recall both of those efforts, too.
Dr. Warren, checking in from Shanghai, predicts a 15-point Hawks’ victory. And if I were you, I’d listen. Because of the International Date Line, it’s tomorrow over there, which means Game 7 has already been played.
eddieomaha
May 3rd, 2009
10:28 am
Heat-Hawks have some history. Remember the Grant Long choke hold… before he was a Hawk? As a Heat fan, there should forever be a curse set on your franchise for stealing Steve Smith and Grant Long for Kevin Willis. I’m still not over that trade. We both have young teams in the same division. Looks like the start of a beautiful rivalry.
BravesAreDone
May 3rd, 2009
11:13 am
I don’t think it really matters if they win or not…they still have no shot at the championship…which is all that really matters. I’m so tired of Atlanta teams never winning championships. It gets tiresome being an Atlanta fan.
Robert Yates
May 3rd, 2009
11:15 am
Mark, check this one out. I haven’t read a better analysis yet: http://freedarko.blogspot.com/2009/05/he-was-born-in-hell.html#comments
Eric L.
May 3rd, 2009
11:52 am
You’re just hoping they win because of all of the idiotic comments the Shultz and you have been writing the past week relating to this series.
Live from Game 7: Looking for Mr. Good Game (finally!) | Mark Bradley
May 3rd, 2009
12:16 pm
[...] it. Somebody’s going to be chasing LeBron James in Round 2. And I’m thinking, as I mentioned yesterday, it’ll be the [...]
Mark Bradley
May 3rd, 2009
12:37 pm
Pregame blog has been posted. Enjoy. Or not.
Mark Hoffman
May 3rd, 2009
12:42 pm
Can Rick Mahorn be rented for the day? First time that D Wade goes to the basket today, he needs to be out flat on his back to send a message that he can’t drive to the basket all day. Will live with hom shooting jump shots all day. Hawks will win today based on being the more athletic team. They win zero games because of their coaching or preparation. If coaching decides today’s game, they are in BIG trouble!
D-Whine
May 3rd, 2009
12:50 pm
First, living in Macon sucks. Turn over thinking I’m going to watch the ABC pregame show that’s supposed to be on. Except it appears it’s been preempted by some low budget turkey hunting show. Hello WPGA, it’s game 7 and instead of pregame we get rednecks in camo plugging holes in defenseless birds. Where’s PETA when you need them?
Go Hawks. Between all D-Whine and the Mi-aholes that have frequented these blogs, there will be some flash flood warnings in south Fla tonight from all the tears.