One big step for these Hawks, one giant leap for Atlanta
The franchise that didn’t draft Chris Paul and saw its owners sue another over a trade with Phoenix; the franchise of the wayward bird mascot and Cliff Levingston’s running lefty hook; the franchise that hadn’t won a Game 7 since it was based in St. Louis and a best-of-seven series since 1970 …
That franchise stands among the NBA’s elite eight.
Admit it. You laughed at these guys. Heck, we all laughed. But go ask the preening Pat Riley and the illustrious Dwyane Wade how funny it is to play these reborn Atlanta Hawks. Because they’re different. They’re the kind of team we Atlantans don’t see very often. They’re the kind that rises to its moment.
“This has been the kind of situation in which Atlanta has traditionally had trouble,” said Michael Gearon Jr., a lifelong Hawks’ fan who’s one of the team’s many owners. “And not just us. Other teams, too.”
Well, yes. From Lonnie Smith dallying in the Metrodome to Eugene Robinson getting arrested on Biscayne Boulevard, we’ve grown accustomed to the cosmic letdown. But this Game 7 wasn’t that. On the contrary, it was a beatdown. The better team won, and the better team calls Atlanta home. How nice is that?
“It feels good,” said Josh Smith, the Atlantan who scored 21 points and took nine rebounds in Game 7. “It feels like the monkey’s off Atlanta’s back, not just this team’s.”
Said Al Horford, who worked 32 1/2 minutes on a sprained right ankle: “It’s big. People are really starting to look at Atlanta and consider us a basketball city.”
People should. Forget that Philips Arena wasn’t quite sold out for Game 7. What matters is that these guys spent a year saying they wanted a Game 7 at home, and when they got it they made it sing.
Sorry, there are no polls available at the moment.Joe Johnson, the flashpoint of that Phoenix trade in 2005, had a terrible first quarter but owned the final three, finishing with 27 points (on 19 shots), four assists and five steals. Zaza Pachulia did his Hercules-unchained bit again, the Heat’s Udonis Haslem growing so frazzled he finally threw Zaza to floor and got ejected for his excess. And Mike Woodson – yes, Mike Woodson – had a moment that changed the game.
Game tied, first quarter, 10 seconds left, Heat ball. Woodson — whom I’ve sought to fire a half-dozen times — called for his men to give a foul, which Zaza did. And Woodson inserted Mario West, who harassed Wade into a lousy crosscourt pass that Mike Bibby intercepted. And James Jones fouled Bibby, who made a pair to give the Hawks a lead they’d never lose. Great coaching.
The rest was highlights and laughs, Johnson hitting and Smith dunking and Zaza hitting the floor. The lead would reach 29 points before Woodson began giving his starters curtain calls, which were richly deserved. They had stared down D-Wade. They had won a Game 7. They were the Same Old Hawks no longer.
Said Smith: “To go from 13 wins [in 2004-2005, his rookie season] to this is just a blessing. This is a wonderful team.”
No, it isn’t the NBA’s best team. But it now gets to play the best. LeBron and his Cavs will probably win. But we Atlantans again have reason to watch.
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121 comments Add your comment
James Gore
May 4th, 2009
7:49 am
Took the Hawks 7 games to beat a lousy Miami Heat team. Party is over now. Cavs sweep. (love the Hawks half court offense – what a joke!!!)
Bigeasy830
May 4th, 2009
7:53 am
Thanks for the info Maddog, I very seldom read a T. Moore article. I disliked most of his work. His article stated that “He agreed to a buyout”, looks to me like he was fired and he should have been. His loyalty was never with the Atlanta or Georgia teams. I saw him on the Jim Rome show talking sports with Rome and another sports writer from another city. T. Moore looked like an idiot. He was an embarassment to the AJC and the City of Atlanta. It seemed like when people started to criticize him for his half-brained articles on the blogs he would close them early. He only got a big response when he wrote something truely offesive and idiotic, like when he stated that UGA was only a dog after he passed. You just don’t write something like that about a beloved mascot in this state. He didn’t try to get people to think, hell you could tell by reading his artcle that he never used his brain while he was writing most of that trash, and in his last article he called us losers. That is what he was trying to say. He took one last shot at us and our teams. I know I have written on these blogs that I am no longer a Falcon fan, but I use to love that team. I don’t appreciated some Jack-Arss from Ohio talking about my teams. Damn, you T. Moore and take your buy-out money and move back to OHIO.
YOU SUCKER!!!!!!!
Sherman to the sea
May 4th, 2009
7:54 am
ZaZa is our Bill Lambeer. I used to hate that guy when I would watch the Pistons and Hawks go at it. He was the guy that would disrupt and throw everyone out of their regular game. Keep it going ZaZa, Bill took the Pistons to the championship, so can you.
Maddog
May 4th, 2009
8:19 am
And just who is Josh Childress:)
Mark Bradley
May 4th, 2009
8:28 am
I’m with you on Mike Woodson, Mac. And I shook hands with him yesterday and told him he’d done a terrific job. Which I believe. Which he had.
Zach
May 4th, 2009
8:50 am
The Hawks are going to get rolled by the Cavs. So they beat a one man team with a rookie point guard. The Heat are terrible face it. In the West the Heat would be just a head of Minnesota and Oklahoma City in the stands. The Cavs are Championship material with 6 or 7 good players…Oh yeah, they also have the MVP King James. It was a nice run and good luck next season.
Hollywould
May 4th, 2009
9:09 am
Hey Mark, Just thought I would let you know Pedro Borbon Jr.
is playing softball these days. Good hitter, maybe should have tried that in the majors. Good win for the Hawks but why can’t Joe Johnson ever act like he is having fun? Even Jabbar smiled.
Mr. Grinch
May 4th, 2009
9:10 am
Zach, I hope you don’t have kids playing youth sports. Good grief. Using your logic, you’d trivialize your child’s team winning a game by stating the next team they face will kill them. We’re celebrating a first ever game 7 series win since the franchise moved to Atlanta. I haven’t read, nor do I know of, anyone who is predicting we’ll beat Cleveland. We’re just looking forward to watching.
This Aint Yo Daddy Hawks!!
May 4th, 2009
9:18 am
Well. If Cleveland going to be in the final like the pundits say…then there is no need in the Hawks playing the series. GO WOODSON and HAWKS and DE#FENCE! We Love Stopping MVP’s Team!!!
Mark Bradley
May 4th, 2009
9:19 am
Kareem was quite the comedian. Ask Ted Striker.
Corliss
May 4th, 2009
9:54 am
Sadly, the Cleveland series is already over. LeBron is the NBA’s/ESPN’S golden child and will get most/all of the calls and little to none against him. I hate to use these words but “The League”/ESPN/ABC wants LeBron & Kobe in the Finals. What’s even more sad is that if you take away LeBron, the Cavs are garbage and the Hawks actually have a better team. Cavs in 5(6 if they don’t show up for a game in ATL). Hey, it’s not the Hawks’ fault but they don’t move the ratings meter and in 2009 that’s what NBA playoff basketball is about now. The simple act of playoff basketball selling itself died a long time ago. Good Luck Hawks, you’ll need every ounce of it.
Mark Bradley
May 4th, 2009
9:56 am
To answer SP: No, that one wasn’t mine.
Mark Bradley
May 4th, 2009
9:57 am
Oh, and thanks to Hollywould for the PBJ update.
SC Ace
May 4th, 2009
10:10 am
Pedro Borbon? Now you’re just showing off, Bradley.
Lenny Wilkens Would Be Proud | Tipsheet | STLtoday
May 4th, 2009
10:20 am
[...] That long-futile franchise hadn’t advanced past the first playoff round since 1999. The Hawks hadn’t won a best-of-seven series since 1970. [...]
Hawks on da Rize
May 4th, 2009
10:21 am
Sign and trade Marvin Williams and draft pick or throw ins for Chris Bosh. Hawks would be set.
aswingruber
May 4th, 2009
10:42 am
“From Lonnie Smith dallying in the Metrodome to Eugene Robinson getting arrested on Biscayne Boulevard, we’ve grown accustomed to the cosmic letdown. But this Game 7 wasn’t that.”
No, it wasn’t that. It was a first round playoff series. The other two referenced were Game 7 of the World Series and the Super Bowl. Let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves here MB. Great win for the Hawks franchise that will garner some much needed national attention when they take on King James, but this team’s still a ways from competing for a championship. Hopefully, like we did this year, we can continue building on last year’s success until in a couple of years we are in the NBA Finals. Now that would be sweet and then we can start drawing comparisons to Braves World Series teams and the only Falcons Super Bowl team.
Mark Bradley
May 4th, 2009
12:12 pm
Actually, Pedro Borbon saved Game 4 of the 1995 Series. (The key game, I’ve always thought.) He hadn’t pitched in almost three weeks but came on after Mark Wohlers yielded a homer to Manny Ramirez and a double to Paul Sorrento. And Borbon struck out Jim Thome, struck out Sandy Alomar Jr. and retired Kenny Lofton on a lineout.
I have to admit I cheated. I looked up the play-by-play on Baseball-Reference.com.
Hawkster
May 4th, 2009
12:57 pm
Well if it’s all about ratings and matchups, wouldn’t it make more sense for Cleveland in 7? I mean the network and the NBA is more apt to make considerable more that way than say Cleveland in 5 (or 6).
Clevland is clearly the better team and will take it in 5.
‘Net reaction: Heat at Hawks, Game 7 | Lancilo USA
May 4th, 2009
4:29 pm
[...] Mark Bradley, AJC: "The franchise that didn’t draft Chris Paul and saw its owners sue another over a trade with Phoenix; the franchise of the wayward bird mascot and Cliff Levingston’s running lefty hook; the franchise that hadn’t won a Game 7 since it was based in St. Louis and a best-of-seven series since 1970 … That franchise stands among the NBA’s elite eight. Admit it. You laughed at these guys. Heck, we all laughed. But go ask the preening Pat Riley and the illustrious Dwyane Wade how funny it is to play these reborn Atlanta Hawks. Because they’re different. They’re the kind of team we Atlantans don’t see very often. They’re the kind that rises to its moment." [...]
Live from Game 1: In the court of the wine-and-gold king | Mark Bradley
May 5th, 2009
7:06 pm
[...] and Tim Legler see it going six. (Full disclosure: In my own little poll on AJC.com the other day, I cast the first vote. I picked the Cavs in five.) In his exhaustive breakdown, David Thorpe of Scouts Inc. also sees [...]