A chilling thought: What happens if the Hawks DON'T win?

MN Possum

April 27th, 2010
7:14 am

Primo

tiger7_88

April 27th, 2010
7:16 am

We didnt’ ALL cheer when they resigned Marvin Williams, Mark.

Oh no… far from it.

(First?)

Not Don Waddell

April 27th, 2010
7:17 am

Josh Smith an absolute p*ssy. They are all a bunch of whimps, and Mike Woodson is an incompetent boob. Sickening. Who gives a damn if they lose anymore? They are not worth our caring. They will not learn. They simply will not learn. Enjoyed the run Joe, will hate to see you go, oh-oh-oh. Al, I thought you were a championship player? You are getting PUNKED by a worthless old fart named Kurt Thomas? How are you not totally embarrassed? You are 10 times better than Thomas was 10 years ago. WAKE UP, be a grown man. Sickening.

The Boss

April 27th, 2010
7:19 am

Defend and pass the friggen ball!

Cat Shabazz

April 27th, 2010
7:19 am

Don’t give up on this team yet. Defending the perimeter and rotating against a faster – smaller line up is this teams weakness. Give the Bucks credit. Hawks will win this series and be better for it. Should win the next seires too – then meet Cleveland – which will be a difficult matchup for ATL. One game at a time. This team has really improved – great season.

dawgma

April 27th, 2010
7:28 am

How can the team I loved to watch last Tuesday suck so bad 1 week later – COACHING!

Woodson is being shown the door by Skyles. It’s the coach baby – always has been since the “new” Hawks started their run 2 years ago. Scotty wiould have wrapped this baby as the Hawks coach last night.

JeJe

April 27th, 2010
7:37 am

82-79!

El Bravo

April 27th, 2010
7:39 am

I can’t help but think that Woody won’t be coming back. This team will get blown out of the second round in four games (if they make it there…)

Roundfield on Roundball

April 27th, 2010
7:43 am

In the series no one is watching — If the Hawks cannot beat a mediocre Bucks team (even with Bogut, they’re not in the league’s top ten) – it’s a franchise crushing embarassment. For Hawks historians, it’s eerie. Remember, Lenny Wilkens’ 50 win team going down to Paul Mokeski’s Bucks? But, look at the bright side … if they do play a game 7 Sunday, ABC will actually have to carry the game. Somebody get Mike Breen a media guide, just in case.

bring out your dead

April 27th, 2010
7:44 am

I was so disgusted that I turned back to the Braves game.

BIG MISTAKE!!!

Walker, Texas Ranger

April 27th, 2010
8:04 am

This team is at the end of the road. Even if they win the series, they will lose the next to Orlando. This team will not improve anymore or overtake the guys if front of them. It is time to blow it up. The only clutch guy in the group is Crawford and he is a 6th man. I would keep Crawford and maybe one other and trade the rest. All draft picks, no players unless it is a one year salary dump. The Hawks don’t have a post season stud just regular season whimps. BLOW IT UP

Walker, Texas Ranger

April 27th, 2010
8:05 am

SOFT

Pdub

April 27th, 2010
8:05 am

The only positive to come out of ATL losing this series would be Mike Woodson being let go. ATL has the talent to at least compete with Orlando or Cleveland, yet they own the Hawks and have for some time. Woodson’s offense is a joke (I don’t even know what his offense is outside of just letting players take guys one-v-one).

TheKnicksBlog.com – Report: Jamal Crawford to Win 6th Man of the Year

April 27th, 2010
8:05 am

[...] to Mark Bradley down in Atlanta, Jamal Crawford is set to receive the NBA’s 6th man of the Year award. Jamal, who broke his [...]

Biggdawg33

April 27th, 2010
8:06 am

Is it me, or is it the fact that Atlanta is a choke town? The Hawks have talent, but can not finish off a playoff series. Braves just can not win. We have to get excited that the Falcons finally finished back to back seasons of being over .500, but they did not go back to the playoffs this year.

I am a Georgia-born ol’ boy and have been supporting all of the teams, except for the North Avenue Trade School. It is getting old.

Shug

April 27th, 2010
8:09 am

I’ll worry about the Hawks if they lose the series. In the meantime, how bad are the Braves? Should Cox be allowed to finish the season, or is this gonna be one of those “the Braves owe it to him to let him leave on his own terms.” And Jason Heyward, at least Frenchy had a couple of real good seasons before he flamed out. Yikes.

john seamans

April 27th, 2010
8:11 am

alot of similarities between hawks and braves. niether team can play defense and neither team can hit.

Brian

April 27th, 2010
8:18 am

Where are the Hawks..this should be there starting lineup…Teague, Johnson, Smith, Hartford, Collins…with a rotating bench of Crawford, Zaza, Williams, Bibby and Joe Smith…man they pay these coaches millions for nothing..you have to be able to adjust..play playoff basketball and I just dont see that..Yes I agree, bad moves in the offseason retaining Bibby and Williams…couldve at least got Camby in a trade for them two that would have gave us an legit center. But the bottom line is the players have to play they have won 53 games this season with this team and are 3rd seed in the playoffs they should be able to win road games..I see a lack of focus like they have already won something. This is where coaching steps in..well shouldve stepped in in Games 4 and 5 but you know how that goes. Everyone needs to be held accountable on this one..Im just shaking my head hopefully I want have to bury if the Hawks wind up losing this series!!!

Marty

April 27th, 2010
8:22 am

Who cares. Orlando is sitting home resting. Whoever wins is going to get swept by them. The hawks are pathetic just like the braves. I root for them to lose. No point in continously being let down year after year.

braves choke again

April 27th, 2010
8:23 am

Woodson has served his purpose. He was patient and developed a young team, but its time for a change. The Hawks need to bring in an butt chewer for a coach. Either he will make men of Williams and Josh Smith or they can hit the highway. Joe Johnson will not be worth the money he will ask for….he’s not a leader. Jettison him and bring in a leader. He won’t have to be as talented as JJ to make it work.

Art Vandelay

April 27th, 2010
8:25 am

No matter how this series ends, I unfortunately have to now accept that Woodson is just not the right coach for this group. I’ve rationalized supporting him for countless reasons over the past couple of years, but when a team plays this poorly EVERY SINGLE TIME it’s on the road, that points to a serious problem with confidence and preparation — and that starts at the top. How is it possible that a road crowd could rattle this team so much? One of the Hawks said they were “caught off guard” at how loud the Bucks fans were in Game 3, which is one of the more disturbing statements I’ve heard…you didn’t expect the Milwaukee fans to be just as loud for their team as we’ve been for you? Ridiculous. This team looks completely lost on the road, and I see no signs that they’ll figure the problem out this season. If (and when) this series ends up going to a seventh game, that should be the final factor in Sund’s decision to look elsewhere for leadership next season. Absolutely no excuse for losing to a team that’s missing its starting center and was never that talented to begin with.

O'Brien

April 27th, 2010
8:25 am

Mark,

Marvin might be the team’s sixth man, but based on dollar value, I would put Mo Evans ahead of him.

If this team does not make it to round 2, then I think Woody’s contract should not get renewed. Because that would signal to me that he has taken them as far as they can go. He deserves credit for where we are, and its not his fault the players are playing so poorly, especially on defense.

But we’re healthy, and more talented, and we’re still losing (outplayed and outcoached) on the road. Woody can’t seem to figure out a way to get the players out of their road funk. Again, its not all his fault, but as the HC, he has to take some of the responsibility.

Isn’t that part of the reason they did not renew the Thrashers coach’s contract?

For a potential replacement, I would interview the assistant in Boston (Thibodeau – sp?).

Regardless of what happens though, Hawks need to resign JJ. I also think they should resign Chills, and try to find a taker for Marvin.

TONE

April 27th, 2010
8:30 am

they are done if they do squeak by the bucks orlando is rested and orlando knows how to win on the road , so they will be swept in the next series , I am afraid that JJ leaves and we keep Woody, I don’t think JJ gets enough credit (i know he is an all star but our fans don’t appreciate him as much as they should) but unless we can land James or Wade (not happening) we have to keep JJ and get a new Coach

Cat Shabazz

April 27th, 2010
8:32 am

BandWagon Chumps! This team has improved – and will win this series. Orlando and Cleveland represent the best in the league – and ATL has closed the distance.

Whatever the result is of the next series – which we could win – it would be wise to keep as much of this team together to further their development.

Did Fratello and D. Wilkens ever get past the second round?

Justin

April 27th, 2010
8:33 am

This series is already a big disappointment. The only redemption that could be found would be for the Hawks to win game 5 and close out in Milwaukee this weekend. I really doubt that happens. Bucks have the momentum and Hawks are back-pedaling. Game 5 is basically an elimination game for them now because if they lose a third straight they will just capitulate in game 6. And if the Hawks lose this series to the undermanned Bucks, there is no way that Woodson is back. For that matter, JJ probably shouldn’t be either.

ga boy in milwaukee

April 27th, 2010
8:34 am

Don’t feel too bad Hawk fans. The Hawks superior talent will win in seven games, but the difficulty of the series truly exposes the weakness ………coaching. Scott Skiles may be the best coach in the league but Woodson would just be an assistant on most teams.

dap01

April 27th, 2010
8:34 am

Not impressive at all.

bj rufino

April 27th, 2010
8:34 am

Come on guys, let’s win! We can beat these bucks. Just keep believing.

bigeasy830

April 27th, 2010
8:38 am

Marvin Williwms gives them nothing, he is a waste of a starters spot. he plays decent once every 10 to 15 games, then he reverts to his old self of being nothing. I don’t care about the argument of what his scoring average would be on a bad team, he is nothing on this team. J Chill gave us so much more than Marvin. J Chill would have signed for the money that Marvin makes and he is so much better. J Chill could actually defend. You all made an argument saying Marvin was such a good defender, well I have never seen it in him. J Chill could run the offense, Chills a great ball handler and ran the offense against the Celts in that play-off series when the Hawks made runs against the Celts. J Chills has heart, he plays with fire and desire, Marvin is soft. Marvin was a mistake when we drafted him, just like Sheldon was, well we let Sheldon go, its time to do the same for Marvin. That mistake was made we can’t undo it, but this kid must leave Atlanta, everytime I see him on the court giving us nothing, I keep thinking of what could have been, and Please resign J Chill.

Marty

April 27th, 2010
8:41 am

Just find other teams to root for and root against the atlanta teams. It makes it more enjoyable and you are right 75% of the time for the team you want to win!

Bob

April 27th, 2010
8:44 am

Lets face it Hawks fans we will never win a big game with Mike Woodson coaching our team. Why was Mo Evans in the game in the 4th quarter shooting every time he touch the ball and missing every shot? Why was Mike Bibby not in the game during that time? He was hot the entire game, makes big shots, and is a great shooter!! I don’t understand Mike Woodson coaching. We got beat by a 40 year old undersized center. We made Kurt Thomas look like an all-star. The only reason we win the series is because have home court, but we wont make it past the second round again. Get rid of Woodson, he is holding us back.

Kerry

April 27th, 2010
8:44 am

If Joe J was so good like some say, we would win a game on the road against an inferior team. He’s overrated. Where is the big clutch shot? Bricks off the backboard? Come on. He’s overrated and it’s better for him to go.

Atlanta teams

April 27th, 2010
8:45 am

I used to listen to sports radio constantly, watch every Braves, Falcons, & Hawks game, and read every Atlanta sports article on the internet. I haven’t seen a Braves game this year, had to look up who Falcons took with 1st pick, and watched maybe a quarter of Hawks last night. My life has remained the same so I don’t think that’s it. I suspect it’s the same ol’ same ol’ from these teams that simply gets old after awhile. At some point, it’s hard to stay fired up about organizations that make stupid moves and wonder why they don’t win. Here are some obvious poor decisions:

1- Braves should have retired Cox years ago while they were still competitive. A good manager wins at least 3 rings with the talent Cox had. Instead, John S told fans they should be happy with Division titles not World Series titles. Thanks John.
2- Hawks should have fired Billy Knight before he could blow more draft picks on S Williams, M Williams, and any other strong forward coming out of college. Spirit Group were too blind to see his idiocy but the fans did. Hmmmmmm
3. Falcons should have “promoted” Rich McKay out GM role from the beginning. He made countless bad decisions, J Mora, P Price, overpaid K Brooking, J Anderson, and ………. can anyone think of a good move this guy made?
4. Thrashers haven’t made one decent decision in club history. Their time left in ATL is dwindling.

How do these stupid moves and incompetent people happen when fans on blogs like these see the mistakes well before the teams do? It’s a bit disheartening and quite frankly has resulted in my becoming less invested in our teams. Apparently I’m not alone as tickets are still available for tomorrow night at the highlight factory.

PMC

April 27th, 2010
8:46 am

You do have to take your hat off to Scott Skiles for absolutely OWNING the Hawks the last 2 games without 2 of the best players on the team.

John loves Mike

April 27th, 2010
8:49 am

Enter your comments here

ccrider

April 27th, 2010
8:49 am

So, they lose this series or against Orlando, what’s really the difference. If there are any knowledgeable Hawks fans out there that actually thought they could win a championship this you year, well, you have become delusional. A good team, yes, a grgeat team, no.

EW

April 27th, 2010
8:56 am

Exit stage left Woody and Joe if we don’t win this series.

EW

April 27th, 2010
8:57 am

MB remember when I posted how great it felt the morning after the Hawks dominated in game one and the Braves won a thriller…well, the honeymoon’s over I guess…back to scratching and clawing to stay relevant.

Peter

April 27th, 2010
8:57 am

This team has been exposed and it has not really improved over being 2nd tier. New coach, Marvin gone, and a real point, and a real Big is what we need.

The ownership group will have to sell, and leave for this team to really be a contender.

Atlanta is a horrible sports town

April 27th, 2010
9:00 am

“What happens if the Hawks DON’T win?”

Um, they’ll be in line with the Braves and the Falcons. Teams that were good but found a way to blow a series.

Herschel Talker

April 27th, 2010
9:02 am

hahahahaha. The Hawks suck. hahahahaha

Dave

April 27th, 2010
9:04 am

Perhaps this is a silly question, but why are basketball road games so difficult? In baseball, ballpark dimension and layouts, and types of hitters’ backgrounds vary; in both baseball and football you have weather considerations, variations in turf quality, and outdoors vs. domes, and a team can often be assembled that fits its home environment. A savvy football crowd can time its noise to disrupt the snap count. Basketball is not like that- the dimensions are always the same, the game is always in an indoor environment. What’s the real difference between your home crowd screaming at the top of its lungs for you when you’re trying to score, and a road crowd chanting “DE-FENSE!”? Are basketball players so sensitive that they crumple because the crowd is “yelling at them”? I don’t get it.

RB

April 27th, 2010
9:06 am

until Woodson learns how to use young talent and his 7 footers to foul other bigs, this team will not go far. He is to set in his ways.

moorman

April 27th, 2010
9:11 am

the hawks are who they are. they are still not a good half court team because bibby plays too high ( 3 point shooter) and doesnt set up his team mates. joe johnson stops any movement with his isolations, josh smith for some reason, scheme, whatever, winds up with the ball out in 3 point land too often, looking for someone to pass it too, marvin williams is just goofy, crawford is nice, but has to get out of a rhythm by giving it back to joe, zaza is zaza, woodson needs to go or get better offensive assistants. on defense, the bucks just are out scheming them like you said mark. the thought was that the only team that was a clear mismatch would be orlando with howard inside, but these last two games are giving teams a clear blue print on how to beat the hawks.

Blue

April 27th, 2010
9:12 am

And the Academy Award goes to ……………. Kurt “Flopping” Thomas. What a joke. Terrible officiating last night. That being said, the Hawks are one of the most frustrating teams to root for. I was screaming at the T.V. last night! I stated on this very blog a month or so ago that the Hawks would be eliminated in the first round by either the Heat or the Bogut-lead Bucks. However, several bloggers made good points of how the Hawks are so good at Phillips and would eventually prevail in a seven-game series. Now, I’m not so sure. How are you down by almost 30 points (Game 2) to a team that is missing its two best players (Bogut and the forgotten Michael Redd)? And be honest, albeit more competitive, I was never convinced that the Hawks would pull out the victory last night after the first quarter. The flow of the game was just in the Buck’s favor.

Here’s hoping that they pull out the victory in Game 5. If not, we return to Milwaukee for a decisive Game 6, which means the road-impaired Hawks will be on vacation sooner than anyone expected.

gtm

April 27th, 2010
9:15 am

Our strength in this matchup is supposed to be inside. We got pounded in the paint. The movement on the switching defense is way too slow, and the Hawks look like the Matadors. They’re always expecting someone else to be behind them. There is a simple rule of defense: stay between the ball and the basket. The Hawks often guard the side of the ball, leaving a path to the basket, then wave the red cape and get out of the way. We got wiped out by switching F/Cs onto Gs the ENTIRE GAME and made no adjustments.

The Hawks show no passion, only whining. Joe is playing great (and in the playoffs!) but he can’t motivate anybody. Near the end of the game we just ran down the court and whoever had the ball made some ridiculous move, was still covered by one or two guys, and launched up the longest two-pointer possible.

If we even make it through this series, Dwight is going to be giggling and tickling Jameer on the sideline as Gortat pounds us inside and Jason Williams scores 30 points.

This team is at its ceiling. I’d put the chances at about 1% that we come out of the East. The handling of the Joe situation will determine the next course of this team. And Woodson absolutely has to go.

I'm Gumby, dammit!!

April 27th, 2010
9:15 am

Marvin Williams is the Hawks sixth best player? I’m not so sure about that. He was awful last night, not that that is unusual or anything. As for Bibby, Jennings made him look slow and old. Maybe it’s time to let Jeff Teague out there.

MICKEY MOUSE

April 27th, 2010
9:16 am

woodson REMIND’S ME OF MY FAVORITE DISNEY CHARACTER…..GOOFY!!!

roundball coach

April 27th, 2010
9:16 am

The Hawks can’t guard a dead man. When it gets to, not running back on defense, not stopping driving lanes and not taking charges, you have problems, and right now the Hawks have those problems.

Westurd

April 27th, 2010
9:17 am

Marvin kills me………….seriously, I just died!

Someone take Marvin out with this mornings trash

Goodbye Woodson

April 27th, 2010
9:23 am

Bibby guarding Jennings is a joke. Bibby guarding fat albert would be a mismatch, in alberts favor!

MaryM

April 27th, 2010
9:23 am

I agree with Waker… Blow it up and start over with players who want to play.

These Hawks will never win.

ChippersLoveChild

April 27th, 2010
9:24 am

It’s simple. The Hawks are being out-worked, out-hustled, and out-coached. The Bucks are a smarter, hungrier team and it shouldn’t be that way. If the Bucks had Michael Redd and Andrew Bogut in this lineup I think this series might even be over already. If nothing else I think the Hawks must get rid of Woody to truly ever make it to the next level. Other teams have had the coach that gets them to being close as a contender, only to hand it over to a new coach that takes them to the next level, the Hawks need to follow that plan before it is too late.

j-man

April 27th, 2010
9:27 am

Marvin Williams looks likes Tarzan but plays like Jane. Woodson needs to go plain and simple. JJ is not a leader hes just a guy thats wants to be a #2 guy.

ugaaccountant

April 27th, 2010
9:27 am

If they lose this series of course you let Woodson walk. That was the whole point of not extending his contract before, because you still weren’t sure he was a good coach. If he loses to this particular Bucks team without Bogut it’s as sure a sign as you’ll ever get.

Johnson also isn’t worth a max contract.

Woody in Blunderland

April 27th, 2010
9:28 am

“Steer clear of the beer deer,” the hardcourt jester warned the Eyebrow King.

“You’re a fool, Fool,” the Eyebrow King replied. “Good teams figure out how to win on the road. I learned that at the feet of the Wizard of Westwood (II), Denver, Kansas, Detroit, New Jersey, Charlotte, San Antonio, New York, Los Angeles, Indiana and Davidson.”

Before game 3, this series looked like a David vs. Goliath matchup. Once the Bucks close the series out this weekend, and are then swept by the Magic, it will be revealed as Doug vs. Phil.

What the past two games has taught both teams is that the Bucks can take the series. They will. Skiles is a far superior coach to Woodson. Woodson needs to go. A good coach would have taken this team much farther.

j-man

April 27th, 2010
9:28 am

D-Wade is our only hope

too funny

April 27th, 2010
9:29 am

absolutely chilling thought, maybe they will institute affirmative action and actually employ some white guys then

moorman

April 27th, 2010
9:29 am

i think if milwaukee had bogut, the hawks wouldve swept THEM. the reason why: milwaukee HAD to go to the smaller lineup and the offensive schemes they are running. with bogut in the lineup, this wouldnt have happened.

MilwaukeeMatt

April 27th, 2010
9:35 am

Fear the Deer!

UGASlobberknocker

April 27th, 2010
9:35 am

Woody has got to go. The team has reached a plateau and really have not been playing well since the All Star break. Sund on 680 a month ago danced around Woodson’s status w/o directly answering the questions..I believed then that Woody was gone unless the Hawks made a deep run..I am sure of it now. Replacement? What about Avery Johnson?

As far as Joe Johnson..no way do we re sign him. He disappears for quarters at a time and has proven the last two years he is not a good post season player..not someone to hang your team on. Let him go.

Hawks fall to the Bucks 111-104, Series now tied 2-2 | Soaring Down South | An Atlanta Hawks blog

April 27th, 2010
9:36 am

[...] Mark Bradley questions in today’s AJC about what happens if the Hawks were to lose this series. It really is a chilling thought and one that was very improbable after games one and two. So much has changed since then though. Now the Hawks are back on their heels and they better be the desperate team come game five. Which brings me back to Joe Johnson’s comments, deep in Bradley’s article he writes: Afterward one Hawk was heard to wonder why Mo Evans, not known as a scorer, wound up shooting (and missing) on three consecutive fourth-quarter possessions with the Bucks’ lead down to six points. There’s no answer except to say: That’s what the Hawks do. When in doubt, they don’t look for the open man; they look to shoot. And that’s always the harder way. [...]

Harry Hawk

April 27th, 2010
9:38 am

Fear the deer? How about f**k the Bucks?

TheAntiMe

April 27th, 2010
9:40 am

One of the 2 biggest reasons for the Hawks flop in the last 2 games was painfully obvious. The bigs had their lunch eaten trying to guard the Bucks guards and even with the Bucks obvious exploitation of the switching defense, Mike Woodson was either unwilling or unprepared to make the kinds of adjustments on defense that almost every NBA coach routinely makes.

The other reason that the Hawks have tanked in the last 2 games is their selfish refusal to share the ball on offense. Of the 14 assists that the Hawks registered last night, 9 of them were by Joe Johnson. You know, Iso-Joe, the guy who is often accused of hogging the ball. The only other Hawks player to have more than 1 assist last night was Mike Bibby, who had all of 2 assists.

What’s clear to everyone it seems except for the Hawks themselves is this:

1) If the Hawks don’t get their heads out of their collective posteriors on defense, the undermanned Bucks will continue to eat the Hawks lunch.

2) If Hawks don’t go back to moving the ball around the floor to find the open man on offense, then even their self-perceived air of invincibility on their Philips Arena homecourt won’t be enough to save them from themselves and a seemingly more hungry Bucks team.

Pi$$onaDAWG

April 27th, 2010
9:43 am

The Hawks suck. The Thrashers suck. The Braves are catching up fast too.

TheAntiMe

April 27th, 2010
9:44 am

One of the 2 biggest reasons for the Hawks flop in the last 2 games was painfully obvious. The bigs had their lunch eaten trying to guard the Bucks guards and even with the Bucks obvious exploitation of the switching defense, Mike Woodson was either unwilling or unprepared to make the kinds of adjustments on defense that almost every NBA coach routinely makes.

The other reason the Hawks have tanked in the last 2 games is their selfish refusal to share the ball on offense. Of the 14 assists that the Hawks registered last night, 9 of them were by Joe Johnson. You know, Iso-Joe, the guy who is often accused of hogging the ball. The only other Hawks player to have more than 1 assist last night was Mike Bibby, who had all of 2 assists.

What’s clear to everyone it seems except for the Hawks themselves is this:

1) If the Hawks don’t get their heads out of their collective posteriors on defense, the undermanned Bucks will continue to eat the Hawks lunch.

2) If Hawks don’t go back to moving the ball around the floor to find the open man on offense, then even their self-perceived air of invincibility on their Philips Arena homecourt won’t be enough to save them from themselves and a seemingly more hungry Bucks team.

Pi$$onaDAWG

April 27th, 2010
9:46 am

Harry Hawk have you seen the Bucks? Faces only a mother and gold digging wife could love. Wait that is almost all NBA players.

Sautee

April 27th, 2010
9:46 am

“We all cheered when they re-upped Bibby and Marvin Williams and Zaza Pachulia last summer, but the cold truth is that Bibby is much diminished and Zaza is Zaza and Marvin is the Hawks’ sixth-best player.”

Whether we ALL cheered is extremely questionable, but the MAIN thing is that Sund did what Woody wanted. He re-signed all three and “tweaked the bench”.

Sund gave Woody just what Woody’s shopping list said.

And THAT is a chilling thought.

Dejay

April 27th, 2010
9:47 am

What can I say, what can I say?

If this team, who we’ve heard about having improved for the last five years, lose to a bunch that lost not one but TWO ALL-STAR PLAYERS FOR THE SEASON (Bogut and Redd), this ‘run’ of improvement we keep hearing about from Woodson, Sund, Gearon, et al, will be regarded in the same category of disappointment as the Braves (remember them?) letting (insert playoff team here) splash champagne on each other in the middle of Turner Field 5-10 years ago when they were still relevent. And at this point and time, I no longer want to hear about the team being ’so young’ and one of the youngest teams in the playoffs anymore. I see Oklahoma City, with no earthly experience, run circles around the Lakers while Marvin, our #2 pick, spent his night getting hung on the rim by John Salmons and making Carlos Delfino look like Labron. Speaking of Marvin, when will we see this ‘potential’ we’ve been hearing about for the better part of this century? When are we going to finally call it as we see it, folks? He’s a bust; not of the Jon Koncak/Adam Keefe kind but of the Derrick McKey/Stacey Augmon type who have talent but don’t have the ‘want to’ to do anything with it.

In the words of Sheriff Buford T. Justice, there is no way, NO WAY, that anyone from the Notorious A.S.G. could rightfully explain bringing Woodson back and expect folks to buy, let alone renew season tickets; he should be gone as soon as the final buzzer sounds. Joe Johnson will think to himself; why wait on this team to grow up when I can team with Wade or Labron and compete for a title right away? He’ll be gone, too. And if you think our ownership group has the clout and, more importantly, the $$$ to bring in a more competent coach and an All-Star caliber player who isn’t already broken down (so Tracy McGrady doesn’t count), I have plenty of swampwater in Florida to sell you.

So, in essense, these next three games are the most important this franchise has been a part of since the Fratello days in the late-’80s. Because if they stop short, they’ll have to bring in a new coaching staff (again), detonate the roster (again), and start all over (again) because simply putting Crawford in JJ’s spot and convincing Childress to take less $$$ and ignore the nude hotties trotting around the beaches of Greece in order to sit on the bench behind Marvin (which shouldn’t happen anyway) will not be enough to win more than 43 games.

Hopefully, I’m proven wrong. Prove me wrong, Hawks….

CJ

April 27th, 2010
9:47 am

Supposedly we had an All Star Center this year. That guy is getting outplayed by Gadzuric and Ilyasova. Who are they again?

Woody must GO regardless.... Bring in AVERY

April 27th, 2010
9:49 am

What is ridiculous to me is that Woody refuses to use people for the reason we picked them up in the first place. There is NO REASON Mario West should be getting more minutes than Joe Smith,and Jeff Teague combined in any situation. Also this switching every screen is ridiculous and the coaching staff should implement actually attempting to fight through a screen and undercutting. I feel like I’m watching the NETS

I’ll give it to Woody though, he has to be the first coach to win 53 games with no real offense or rotation. My YMCA 7-8 team runs the same offense Hawks implement, its called chaos

UGASlobberknocker

April 27th, 2010
9:50 am

seeing P on a Dawg’s comments got me wondering:

Ive lived in Atlanta since 1966..Have we EVER had a year when more than one of our teams was any good? The Braves pretty much sucked til 91..the Hawks havent had a title contender since then. Thrashers have been awful their whole existence.Same with the Falcons pretty much.

The only yr I could think of in the past 45 is 1998 when the Braves should have gone to the WS and the Falcons made the Super Bowl. 1 yr out 45. thats terrible.

Mr. Turnip-Green Jeans

April 27th, 2010
9:50 am

Been a Hawks fan since Pistol Pete, Sweet Lou Hudson days.

Now I wish they’d go far, far, away, and never come back.

The past few years I’ve watched, and cared, less and less.

The NBA, as a whole, is now in my rear-view mirror!

UGASlobberknocker

April 27th, 2010
9:53 am

OK 2 out of 45 yrs…because I forgot about 1969..Braves won the division and the Hawks made the W Conf finals. 2 out of 45..still terrrible

TheAntiMe

April 27th, 2010
9:55 am

One of the 2 biggest reasons for the Hawks flop in the last 2 games was painfully obvious. The bigs had their lunch eaten trying to guard the Bucks guards and even with the Bucks obvious exploitation of the switching defense, Mike Woodson was either unwilling or unprepared to make the kinds of adjustments on defense that almost every NBA coach routinely makes.

The other reason the Hawks have tanked in the last 2 games is their selfish refusal to share the ball on offense. Of the 14 assists that the Hawks registered last night, 9 of them were by Joe Johnson. You know, Iso-Joe, the guy who is often accused of hogging the ball. The only other Hawks player to have more than 1 assist last night was Mike Bibby, who had all of 2 assists.

MilwaukeeMatt

April 27th, 2010
9:58 am

What would this Hawks team do with Michael Redd & Bogut played? The series might of been done in 5. Not one person in Atlanta gave this team a prayer & they are atleast going to take this series to 6 games.

The Bucks teams looks like that want it more & actually play defense.

Sope Creek

April 27th, 2010
10:03 am

Hawks don’t win unless Joe Johnson wants to win, and frankly the last two games it looks like Joe’s checked out of the ATL already.

So I’m ok with some churn after this season – let Joe go to free agency, start developing Teague to take over for Bibby soon enough, maybe trade/maybe develop Marvin, and continue to develop Smoove and Horford – they’re not done yet. In other words, give the other guys room to grow by letting Joe take a max contract from somebody else. If we have to take a step back for a couple of years and get get even younger with some new talent – hopefully a true center, an additional scorer who defends and a point guard with some size – that’s ok. This roster’s maxed out.

Whether Woodson stays or goes depends on how closely tied he is to Joe. If he’s so dependent on Joe to provide the foundation for an offense then that’s clearly not gonna be enough in this league especially when Joe’s mailing it in on defense. If Woody can get the rest of the team to develop – especially Marvin – into tier 1 players then I’d say the Hawks will be better off keeping him.

mountain_jim

April 27th, 2010
10:06 am

Evans lost that game with his 4-5 misses at crunch time.

Just me

April 27th, 2010
10:07 am

You can sum up the Hawks with three short statements.
1. Skiles is out-coaching Woodson so badly it is painful to watch. How did Woodson ever get to be an NBA coach?
2. On 3 critical possessions in the 4th quarter MO EVANS is going one on one and throwing up forced shots. He was the Hawks 5th option on the floor and never looked to pass the ball. On any other NBA play-off team this couldn’t happen, since they would have a real coach who would have yanked him after he threw up the first shot.
3. Josh Smith is the most over-rated turkey in the NBA. For a good part of the 4th, he was walking down the floor while the Hawks were on offense, and standing and doing nothing on defense. He kept looking at the bench and making gestures so I assume he had his feelings hurt about something. What a loser!

Hawks may not win this series and will quickly lose the 2nd if they get there. Without big changes next year they regress badly.

Craig

April 27th, 2010
10:08 am

I would rather let Johnson go and trade J. Smith and then turn around and do what we have to and get D. Wade. The man brings game every night and would be a great draw. This team has no heart and maybe it is time for a coaching change as well. I am tired of watching the inconsistent play of this team. If they do get past the Bucks there is no way they beat the Magic..no way in hell.

Pepper Dine

April 27th, 2010
10:08 am

I guess Josh & Company found out there is something to do in Milwaukee after all…lose games. It’s as if the team is just going through the motions out of boredom, lack of intensity, etc. Fault the players, fault the coaching staff. This was the series they had the opportunity to improve on that abysmal playoff record on the road and they laid the proverbial egg.

mountain_jim

April 27th, 2010
10:10 am

Is it football season yet?

Mike Hunt

April 27th, 2010
10:13 am

It takes a top-tier player to be a top-tier team. Joe Johnson is a second-tier player, which means the Hawks are second-tier as well. Simple as that. He does not have a presence on the court that comes anywhere near being what you could call a leader. He gets his points, but can’t inspire the team to win in difficult games. Let’s see if the Hawks can find a way to attract a top-tier player. If not, this is about as good as it will get. Maybe win a first round series then get thumped out in second round by a legitimate contender.

SAL

April 27th, 2010
10:28 am

The reason the Hawks can’t win on the road is because they don’t play the defense or at the intensity level they do at Philip’s Arena. Guys, you better wake up! You must win game 5 and close it out at Milwaukee in game 6. Even if you the Hawks win in 7, the Magic have completed their sweep of the Bobcats and have plenty of time to rest up for the winner of this series. If the Hawks win in 7, they will have no time to rest. Maybe they like living on the edge.

Dawglasville

April 27th, 2010
10:31 am

Mo Evans was the only guard playing defense last night. Why hasn’t any effort been made to develop Teague? What exactly does Marvin Williams bring to an NBA team? Why isn’t someone out there busting Kurt Thomas in the mouth?

j. naismith

April 27th, 2010
10:31 am

it is not hard to defend against the iso joe play when all the other hawks players stand around the perimeter on the opposite side of the court

northcyde

April 27th, 2010
10:31 am

The irony of people complaining about Mo Evans taking three 4th quarter shots, is that people have gotten irate over the ISO-JOE concept this year . . . whether it was working or not. People have flat out tried to villify JJ at times during this season for talking the vast majority of shots in the 4th quarter.

The fact is . . . JJ went 6 – 9 FG in the quarter . . . Josh Smith went 3 – 4 FG

But Mo Evans went 0 – 5 FG and Jamal Crawford went 1 – 4 FG. And at least 6 of those shots were wide open shots that were coming off JJ or Smoove passing the ball to them.

So the next time JJ decides to go ISO . . and he has it going . . people simply need to SHUT UP and let JJ do his thing. Ball movement is great . . . when people are making shots. If they aren’t, just let the man who is on fire, whether it be JJ or Crawford or Smoove or whomever, go to work.

SAL

April 27th, 2010
10:32 am

Oh and one more thing. Don’t give me any more of this Sh*t about feeding off of the crowd at Philip’s as an excuse for not winning on the road. You are not a high school or college basketball team. You are in the NBA!!! Play like professionals, at home and on the road!

Dawglasville

April 27th, 2010
10:35 am

Mo Evans was the only guy playing defense yesterday. What does Marvin bring to any NBA team? Why hasn’t anyone laid the wood to Kurt Thomas yet. Why hasn’t Teague been developed? He is the only guy fast enough to stay with Jenkins.

northcyde

April 27th, 2010
10:37 am

Mike Hunt

April 27th, 2010
10:13 am

It takes a top-tier player to be a top-tier team. Joe Johnson is a second-tier player, which means the Hawks are second-tier as well. Simple as that. He does not have a presence on the court that comes anywhere near being what you could call a leader. He gets his points, but can’t inspire the team to win in difficult games. Let’s see if the Hawks can find a way to attract a top-tier player. If not, this is about as good as it will get. Maybe win a first round series then get thumped out in second round by a legitimate contender.

********************

LOL . . . now it’s up to JJ to inspire other guys to play better? BS on that. Tell Mo and Crawford to make open jumpshots. Tell Smoove to close out people. Tell Marvin to show some fuggin fire every once in a while. Tell Horford to BATTLE period. That whole rah-rah stuff on the court is overblown like a mo-fo. In the end, players simply have to EXECUTE.

If anything, JJ may have to go SUPERNOVA, and just shot the ball ALL THE TIME, if these other guys aren’t going to step up and make critical shots. That’s what D-Wade had to do in order for the Heat to win Game 4.

The defense is a different story. There are defensive breakdowns all over the place. No way should the Bucks shoot 56% in a playoff game. That’s going to have to be up to the coach, and the players exuding maximum effort, in order to fix what is wrong defensively.

Mark Bradley

April 27th, 2010
10:40 am

Woodson has outstayed his welcome. Same as Willie Martinez…..one year too many.

Woodson should have been let go after last season.

This is it. The team will back in the lottery in 2 years.

AXE

April 27th, 2010
10:40 am

FIRE WOODY BEFORE THE SERIES IS OVER! MIGHT HAVE A CHANCE THEN..

BUCKS in SEVEN!

April 27th, 2010
10:41 am

I told you the Hawks had no heart. They’re the most athletic team in the league but without hustle it isn’t going to matter. You think any of the Piston’s teams won with talent… NO. They won because they simply wanted it more.

Trade Josh Smith, Bibby and Marvin Harrison for some guys with heart, guys that show up every night and won’t be denied the win.

joshua

April 27th, 2010
10:42 am

There is this thing in leadership called the Law of the Lid. You organization is only as good as its leadership. Look at the Leadership within the Hawks organization. Look at it from top to bottom. Look at the owners. Look at the coaches. Look at the players. When you do that evaluation and you think about the intangibles you realize that this is the best that we are going to get from them. They will creep out of the first round. But the expectation and desire is not in there eyes. There is no fire or passion or intensity. We have to manufacture a lot of that ourselves. We don’t see the heart in our players that we see in others. And for that reason we don’t put a lot of emphasis on going to these games. Change the leadership for the better and watch the people believe. Have some heart and soul about you and show that you care about winning and maybe we will show up to support you.

VMR

April 27th, 2010
10:46 am

What if Hawks lose this series?

1. Let Woodson go.
2. Try to keep Joe Johnson. If not, make strong push for Wade.
3. Bring back Josh Childress.
4. Get a real center. A big body to rebound and play defense.
5. Hire Bryon Scott, Avery Johnson or Georgia native Sam Mitchell as coach.

northcyde

April 27th, 2010
10:47 am

Sope Creek

April 27th, 2010
10:03 am

Hawks don’t win unless Joe Johnson wants to win, and frankly the last two games it looks like Joe’s checked out of the ATL already.

So I’m ok with some churn after this season – let Joe go to free agency, start developing Teague to take over for Bibby soon enough, maybe trade/maybe develop Marvin, and continue to develop Smoove and Horford – they’re not done yet. In other words, give the other guys room to grow by letting Joe take a max contract from somebody else. If we have to take a step back for a couple of years and get get even younger with some new talent – hopefully a true center, an additional scorer who defends and a point guard with some size – that’s ok. This roster’s maxed out.

Whether Woodson stays or goes depends on how closely tied he is to Joe. If he’s so dependent on Joe to provide the foundation for an offense then that’s clearly not gonna be enough in this league especially when Joe’s mailing it in on defense. If Woody can get the rest of the team to develop – especially Marvin – into tier 1 players then I’d say the Hawks will be better off keeping him.

**********************

Another BS statement.

JJ is playing like a damn superstar. 26 pts – 5 rebs – 6 assts per game in this series. Shooting 48% FG.

It’s the rest of the team who isn’t stepping up. Incredibly, JJ has gone to the FT line in these 4 games ( 18 times ), more than any other Hawk on the team. He’s done everything but drop a 40+ point game in this series. And if other guys don’t step up, he may have to do just that, in order for us to win . . . especially on the road.

Jamal Crawford et Tyreke Evans sacrés ? | Basket USA - Toute la NBA au quotidien

April 27th, 2010
10:50 am

[...] Fabrice, 27 avril 2010 - 16:50 Awards 0 commentaire Si l’on en croit l’Atlanta Journal Constitution, les dirigeants d’Atlanta tiendront mardi après-midi une conférence de presse. [...]

northcyde

April 27th, 2010
10:53 am

joshua

April 27th, 2010
10:42 am

There is this thing in leadership called the Law of the Lid. You organization is only as good as its leadership. Look at the Leadership within the Hawks organization. Look at it from top to bottom. Look at the owners. Look at the coaches. Look at the players. When you do that evaluation and you think about the intangibles you realize that this is the best that we are going to get from them. They will creep out of the first round. But the expectation and desire is not in there eyes. There is no fire or passion or intensity. We have to manufacture a lot of that ourselves. We don’t see the heart in our players that we see in others. And for that reason we don’t put a lot of emphasis on going to these games. Change the leadership for the better and watch the people believe. Have some heart and soul about you and show that you care about winning and maybe we will show up to support you.

*********************

Honestly Joshua . . . that’s STILL not an excuse not to go to home games, because this team plays GREAT at home. The home version of the Hawks are an intense, exciting, and entertaining group to watch.

Fans can’t do anything about how the Hawks play on the road. But at home, the fans provide the energy that this team obviously needs to feed on, in order to play at a high level. So nah . . . even though this team plays like zombies on the road, that’s STILL not an excuse to not support this team when it plays in Philips Arena.

In fact, it’s even MORE the reason why fans should support the team at home. Because if we don’t, they might REALLY fall off.

If this is how the majority of fans feel in ATL . . . then move the franchise out of the city to an area who will UNCONDITIONALLY support the home team. You see how the Milwaukee fans came out in droves, after they dropped the first 2 games. That’s the same thing we have to do when the Hawks come back home.

Anybody who is giving up on the Hawks NOW, weren’t fans to begin with. As a fan, you don’t mentally check out on a team, when a little bit of adversity happens. That’s one of the main reasons why on a national scale, ATL is known as a “bad sports town”.

DHD

April 27th, 2010
10:54 am

It is hard to win on the road in the playoffs. Remember when we beat the Celtics at home a few years back? It’s just the way it is. We’ll win at home and that’s all that matters in this series. Oh..if we lose? That means we don’t go to the next round. That happens in sports. Never heard of the underdog winning?

JADED

April 27th, 2010
10:56 am

The last time the Hawks were good they still couldn’t win in the playoffs – and upper management traded away their best players, fired the coach and the Hawks as up being the laughing stock of the NBA.

joshua

April 27th, 2010
11:00 am

I am a hawks fan and have been one since 1985. I have been a fan through all of the ups and downs of the last 25 years. I go to games but I am going to be real. People want to feel like they have a team that is going to win. And you just never know how far these guys are going to go. No consistency. Yes they win at home, but that is not the only place that they play. And for God’s sake Woodson, Can you please make adjustments in the lineup that are balanced! So much talent and not enough management! Drives me crazy when you have people in putting up numbers that are not putting up points. How are you going to be in for 27 minutes and you don’t put up any points??? Good Leaders know how to use resources effectively. So we have a whole lot of good resources. USE THEM EFFECTIVELY!!!!

Dawglasville

April 27th, 2010
11:00 am

UGASlobberknocker- I was born in Atlanta in 1965. I was a Tech fan, because my dad went to Tech, until 1982. I was crushed when UGA won the title in 1980. I went to UGA in 1983 and of course was crushed when Tech was given the title in 1990. I’ve only had one team I pull for, the 1995 Braves, win a championship. The only reason I can explain why I am a sports fan has something to do with one of Freud’s theories of fixation. I won’t say which say one because this will take a turn into the juvenile, but basically the theory states that the greater the pain, the greater the reward. One title in almost 45 years is way too much pain for too little reward.

Waldo

April 27th, 2010
11:02 am

What happens if the Hawks DON’T win this opening series?

Well,…..

A. The AJC can then devote more coverage to Frank Wren’s ineptness and bashing the Thrashers.

B. Atlanta Spirit Group won’t make as much money from the playoffs as they had hoped.

C. Clayton and DeKalb Counties will remain cesspools.

D. Atlanta traffic will still be HORRIBLE.

E. My Ex-Wife will still be overweight and at TOTAL [Term for Female Dog].

F. Jeff Schultz will still be a LOSER, a far bigger one than our Hometown Hawks Team.

NEWS

April 27th, 2010
11:02 am

espn reporting woody just resigned !!!

not really but 90% percent of yall had a happy thought didn’t you ?
enjoy that moment its probably the only happy moment left in this postseason.

BraveMark

April 27th, 2010
11:02 am

Mark: How’s that ‘there’s something special happening with these Braves’ thing working our for you? Maybe the major reach of your career…that ’special’ thing is now a 6 game losing streak, with no
end in sight. Response?

mailman

April 27th, 2010
11:10 am

Joe Johnson is doing everything he can to win. One bad defensive rotation should not be overshawdowed by 29 points and 9 assists, when other players on the team have played horrible the entire time and are missing wide open shots (that he created in some instances).

It amazes me how people say Joe is no leader and he does not have the fire. The Lakers are 2-2 in a series and everyone says Kobe is the most competitive guy out there. Wade is so great of a leader, but his team is down 3-1 and if I recall Joe did his thing against Wade last year as the Hawks won the series. LeBron the leader failed to make it out of the semifinals last year against D. Howard who has been on the bench much of this year in foul trouble as his other teammates have stepped up their games to lead the Magic to victory.

Put the personal feedback aside, Joe is not the problem. He is the best thing Atlanta has going for them. What they need is the other players to step up on defensive and for the right folks to be taking the shots or in the game to to take the shots. The irony of this all, is that if M. Evans hits two of the three shots and the Hawks win, then Joe Johnson would have had 29 points, 10 assists and 4 rebounds and everyone would be saying he played a great game and deserves to stay with the Hawks for a max contract.

Blake

April 27th, 2010
11:11 am

You could’nt have said It any better Mark Bradley!

MIchael

April 27th, 2010
11:12 am

No fire in the belly. That’s coaching. Woodson’s gotta go…

thomas22

April 27th, 2010
11:13 am

@Mark Bradley

Although it was a total team loss- those 3 missed back to back shots by Mo were a crucial part of the game and hurt us-we had the momentum, were only down six, and he came down and shot three shots back to back with no one under the basket to rebound- it was around the 5:20 mark-we never recovered from it. One of them was even a 3 point attempt!

My son (only 18) asked me why didn’t he pass it to Joe who was open instead of shooting a contested shot the first time- Al was open the second, and Josh/Jamal were open the third time. Mo had just come off the bench so he hadn’t even broke a sweat, but was shooting at a crucial point in the game. If an 18 yr old thought that-what happened to the NBA pro (Mo)?

I like Marvin personally, but when is Coach W going to limit his minutes or remove him from the starting lineup? He absolutely looks lost, and is playing like it’s the 25th game of the regular season, and it’s hurting us because we are now playing 4 on 5……..

northcyde

April 27th, 2010
11:15 am

And for those of you talking about D-Wade . . . tell me how we can get D-Wade?

- we don’t have the cap room, even with JJ possibly leaving, to sign D-Wade as an unrestricted free agent.

- this means that D-Wade will have to be involved in a sign and trade for him to come here

- this also means that along with losing JJ, we’ll also have to also probably lose Josh Smith and Jamal Crawford in a sign and trade for D-Wade, just to make the numbers work. Miami wouldn’t take anything less for D-Wade in a sign and trade. No one wants Marvin, or Bibby, or Zaza, or any other scrub on the team. And Horford currently doesn’t make enough to make a deal like that happen. But they MIGHT take Jamal Crawford and Josh Smith, if they felt that D-Wade was leaving no matter what.

- and even with that, D-Wade would still have to AGREE to come to ATL. And if JJ is gone and D-Wade is traded for Smoove and Jamal, would D-Wade come to ATL if he had THIS LINEUP to work with?

PG – Bibby
G – WADE
F – Marvin
F – Horford
C – Zaza ( cause he’ll have to start )

Bench

G – Teague
G – Mo Evans ( if he doesn’t opt out of his contract )
1st round draft pick
2nd round draft pick

THAT’S IT FOLKS !!!

SO NOW YOU TELL ME . . . would WADE come to the Hawks if he had THAT TEAM to work with?

That’s the only people we have that will be GUARANTEED to be on the roster, if we lost JJ, and if we had to trade Smoove and Crawford in a D-Wade trade. And for those of you banking on Josh Childress coming back in 2010 . . he still has one more year on his European contract, and is nowhere near being a guarantee coming back to the Hawks.

Joe Smith, Randolph Morris, Mario West, and Jason Collins will all be unrestricted free agents this summer. So the Hawks will have to find another crop of bench scrubs to fill out the roster.

A lot of you who have spent countless hours dissing Joe Johnson ( including some AJC sportswriters ), better understand the damn situation this franchise is in. There will be NO D-Wade, or Lebron, or Bosh coming in here on a white horse, supposedly saving us, without us making a MAJOR TRADE, and getting rid of ATL’s favorite son.

It’s JOE JOHNSON . . . or BUST !!

You think Wade would come to a Hawks team like that, ( without Smoove and Crawford ) when he could go to a Bulls team with this?

G – Rose
G – WADE
F – Deng
F – Gibson
C – Noah

LOL . . . you really think Wade would choose ATL’s lineup over CHI’s lineup?

It’s time to live in reality folks. Not in that fantasy world that some of you live in.

James

April 27th, 2010
11:24 am

Mark,

We did not all cheer when Marvin Williams was resigned nor is Joe Johnson the team’s best player.I think when Joe turned down the extention offer last hear he should have been moved for a couple of draft choices or front court help.Now there is a risk that the team will lose him and gain no compensation.My concern is not losing Joe but getting nothing for him.There is not much of a drop off between Joe and Jamal Crawford and I cant let go of the fact that he quit on the team during the Cleveland series last year.

northcyde

April 27th, 2010
11:24 am

And here’s a REAL CHILLING THOUGHT.

Miami . . . when they refuse to re-sign guys like Jermaine O’Neal, James Jones, and Quentin Richardson, they’ll have enough cap room to not only re-sign Wade . . . but also JOE JOHNSON ( if they sign JJ first, then do the Wade deal ).

That could be the ultimate result of the Hawks bowing out in Round 1 . . . JJ leaving to join D-Wade in Miami.

Kelvin

April 27th, 2010
11:26 am

I said weeks ago on this blog that we should not be surprised if the Hawks don’t make it out of the first round. I told my barber the same thing last week and he thought I was nuts. Five (5) years ago when the Hawks drafted Marvin Williams the team biggest need was a Point Guard and a Center. Five (5) years later the team biggest need is a Point Guard and a Center. Considering where Marvin Williams was taken in the draft (#2 overall) he has been an absolute bust. What you get from Marvin Williams you could get from fifty (50) other players in the NBA. The sad part about that draft and the one following in which the drafted Sheldon Williams; is that it raised the team from poor to being mediocre. Not good enough to advance deep into the playoffs and not poor enough to get lottery picks to address the team needs. Mike Bibby gets abused on the defensive end of the floor. Zasa Zasa gives you hardly anything anymore. If the Hawks do go on to beat Milwaukee, there is no way in hell they are beating Orlando. If you think the Hawks look bad on the road now wait till they go to Orlando and get blown out by 40.

Mark H.

April 27th, 2010
11:27 am

I watched the Hawks primarily walk through their last 2 games and watch teams like the Thunder and Jazz play well beyond their expectations and beat arguably better teams with some of their guys missing or not playing well. Coach Woodson and many of the players can share the blame. In Game #3, most of the Hawks did not even have to shower. They didn’t play hard enough to break a sweat! Hawks players have plenty of talent and athleticism but absolutely no heart and many times, no court sense! Woodson might be a likable guy but is arguably the worst coach in the playoffs. Bibby, Marvin Williams, and yes, Josh (no effort) Smith should all be gone next year! Woodson has hit his plateau and probably should join them.

northcyde

April 27th, 2010
11:28 am

James

April 27th, 2010
11:24 am

Mark,

We did not all cheer when Marvin Williams was resigned nor is Joe Johnson the team’s best player.I think when Joe turned down the extention offer last hear he should have been moved for a couple of draft choices or front court help.Now there is a risk that the team will lose him and gain no compensation.My concern is not losing Joe but getting nothing for him.There is not much of a drop off between Joe and Jamal Crawford and I cant let go of the fact that he quit on the team during the Cleveland series last year.

*******************

There is a HUGE DROPOFF between Crawford and JJ, because you have to play both sides of the ball. Crawford and JJ may be close offensively, but they are light years apart defensively. And that’s not even a debate.

And I guess Josh Smith is the team’s best player. LOL @ that. Smoove is the most exciting player . . . the most athletic player . . . but he’s not the best player on the team. He played well last night, especially in the 4th quarter. But he’s been a huge reason why the Hawks have struggled in the past on the road during the playoffs.

jc_dawgs

April 27th, 2010
11:29 am

Last 2 games….I am seeing laziness on the defnsive side of the ball. Waaaaay too many wide open shots for those people. Get a hand in there face!…dont give them the open shot. You are the more athletic team…..use that to your advantage. Energy energy energy!!

northcyde

April 27th, 2010
11:31 am

LOL .. . I now know how Boston fans felt, after we won Game 4 against them 2 years ago. They probably still felt that they would win the series . . but couldn’t understand why it would take 7 games to beat us.

This may very well be the situation that the Hawks are in.

Rick Beach

April 27th, 2010
11:34 am

Paraphrasing Dennis Green, “The Hawks are who we thought they were.” And they are who they have been for the last 20+ years.

EW

April 27th, 2010
11:36 am

Jamal Crawford being the sixth man of the year is costing us games. He should be STARTING with Bibby coming off the bench…

Rock Preston

April 27th, 2010
11:40 am

This says it all guys!!!

Woodson is a joke of a coach! Stubborness will be his downfall.

http://www.jsonline.com/sports/bucks/92154374.html

jeff

April 27th, 2010
11:43 am

ISO Joe is killing us. Pass the ball… my gosh. Do not break the bank to keep him. Let him ISO for San Antonio or something. He plays hard and is a good player. But he ins’t the only one on the team. He won’t pass the ball even if there are three guys around him. Enough of the ISO already, he is killing us.

thomas22

April 27th, 2010
11:49 am

One more thing-

Teams have scouted us well- you can tell because they have no fear of driving to the basket on us-even a green bean sized PG (Jennings) will drive because we don’t put a body on teams or make them pay if/when they drive inside.

Joe tried to show the guys how to do it when he fouled that Bucks player hard last night when he attempted a layup- ( i dont remember what Bucks player it was, but he didn’t try to drive again after that).

I’m down with your Hawks, but get Hungry For A Championship, instead of just wanting to advance to the Eastern Conference finals!

Barry

April 27th, 2010
11:55 am

Enter your comments here

Eddie

April 27th, 2010
11:55 am

The Hawks can’t win on the road, so their days are numbered already. The only outstanding question is, how much playoff experience will the players get this season.

If I were Joe Johnson, I would strongly consider where, and with what type of organization, I want to take my next job. Not sure that the Hawks would be a candidate.

Too much one on one on offense, a defensive scheme that breaks down way too often.

Eddie

April 27th, 2010
11:57 am

The ISO Joe is implemented by the coaching staff, not by Joe Johnson. When Crawford comes in, it’s ISO Crawford.

t_smash

April 27th, 2010
11:58 am

Everybody is a coach & not a fan. Bucks are a good team but Hawks will pull it off. Just remeber they’re somewhat rookies to playoff runs! instaed of going to the games to cheer for opposing superstars b/c they got the latest Nike shoe out or Gatorade commercial how about becoming more like a “Mark Cuban” for ATL only B-Ball team … he’s a mad-man; not b/c he owns them but b/c he’s a FAN!

ELVISINTHEHOUSE.

April 27th, 2010
11:58 am

You know,i was one of the ones who defended woodson when people jumped down on him but i must say he gotta go.he’s scared to play his bench players,you got a defensive specialist in mario west why not put him in to defend? sometimes you gotta substitute defence for offense especially when you got the bucks point and shooting guards shooting lights out.bibby has no defence get rid of him,williams don’t have a clue trade him,woodson scared to play bench players and play speed with speed get rid of him.If the hawks loose round 1 i will not be surprised.Your 1-10 on the road in the playoffs and suppose to be a elite team? I think not.Charles barkley said the hawks are pretenders not contenders and i agree.If the hawks win this round,how will they beat orlando and can’t win on the road? This team(hawks)is done.

dawgrific

April 27th, 2010
12:03 pm

We don’t want to admit it, but sometimes it is more obvious than others, coaching DOES matter-See this series and the Denver fiasco. I think we get out of this series, then lose to Orlando in 5 or 6. I agree, we have too mauch talent to be able to look SO BAD at times, and especially at crucial times in the 4th quarter. The constant problem of squandering leads made me sick all year, and the horrendous road play often leaves me baffled as well. Anyway, I am a pretty big fan, but I never really got over the Hawks (Freaking Lenny Wilkens) trading my hero, Dominique Wilkins baby! we had the best recors in the East, and he had come back from that awful achilles injury a much more well-rounded, team player. I’ll never understand how we did that, with the best record in the East, and I was not surprised at all that we lost to Rik Smits and Indiana in either round 1 or 2. D_mn it still hurts!

packerfan615

April 27th, 2010
12:04 pm

Atlanta is lucky that Milwaukee lost its All-star center(Andrew Bougut)for the season or this series would be over!!!

dawgrific

April 27th, 2010
12:05 pm

The 1988 Boston series, games 6 and 7, still hurt bad too, for the record.

Chris D'

April 27th, 2010
12:08 pm

Win or lose this series Woodson and Joe Johnson will not be back next season. There is zero chance this team beats Orlando so whatev.

Signing Joe Johnson to a max deal would be catastrophically stupid. Does it really make any sense to watch a 30+ year old shooting guard take jumpers with 3 guys covering him while taking up about 1/3 of the teams cap space.

Eddie

April 27th, 2010
12:09 pm

@Rock, Thanks for the link, but the Bucks are not beating the Hawks. I don’t care what Mr. Hunt writes in his column. That’s his view of things, and I don’t share it with him. Some facts are there, but it ain’t happening!

Chris D'

April 27th, 2010
12:11 pm

Mark Bradley what exactly is so chilling about what would happen if the Hawks lose. The assumption is they would let a player go and get a silly contract somewhere else and they would let a coach’s contract expire that no one else in the league would most likely hire as a head coach. It’s exactly what a lot of people would have happened any way.

Barry

April 27th, 2010
12:15 pm

Hey Y’all:

This is the “PLAYOFFS”!!! Things unusual happens in the playoffs from game to game. The key is your team have to adjust,be prepared and flexible, on the run, from game to game. THEY HAVE TO BE TOUGH MENTALLY, PHYSICALLY, AND EMOTIONALLY. THEY HAVE TO SHOW TEMPERANCE WHEN THINGS DO NOT GO THEIR WAY ON A BAD PLAY AND CONTINUE TO WORK THROUGH OR FORGET ABOUT THEIR MISTAKE AND “JUST PLAY!!!!”. Our Hawks have shown some “INCONSISTANCY” in their play, especially i the 3rd game. In that agme they came out walking around the court like they were in “LA-LA LAND”. The Bucks just ran than off the court. In the 4th game they tried to reve it up like they usually play and fell short. The point I am trying to make is that you can not play and coach “SLOTHFUL” in these playoffs. It is the coaches responsibility to have his players play at high pitch every night, especially in the playoffs. You can not turn it on and turn it off from game to game and expect to win. If that is how you are coached and play thenyou are “GOING TO BE HOME FISHIN” in a few days. Game 3, we were totally outcoached and out played due to “SLOTHFULLNESS”. It was difficult in
game 4 to just turn it back on and win. Now game 4 will be a different story. I believe our HAWKS are back to their regular up tempo game as seen in game 4. They have to play faster and even more agrressive from here on out. I believe our HAWKS got a “WAKE UP CALL” and that is going to be “VERY DANGEROUS for these BUCKS. Now they have a “FALSE SENSE OF SECURITY” in thinking they can play with the HAWKS. But “MARK MY WORDS” the HAWKS will win these next 2 games. The series will end in Milwaukee with our Hawks as the winners. THESE HAWKS ARE GIANT KILLERS!! THE BUCKS ARE IN OUR WAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!MOVE, MOVE GET OUT THE WAY. GET OUT THE WAY!!!!!!!

LET”S GO HAWKS!!!!!!!! LET’S GO HAWKS!!!!!!!!! “SHOCK THE WORLD!!!”

SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!
This is a SECRET from a HAWK FAN. TELL EVERYBODY!!!!!!!

……………………..”GIANT KILLERS”…………………….

Sharrieff

April 27th, 2010
12:21 pm

The Bucks play to their coaches personality: Focused and relentless, at the end of each game!
The Hawks play to their coaches personality: Bewildered and clueless, at the end of each game!

theZaZaGuy

April 27th, 2010
12:22 pm

I didn’t think we would lose to the bucks back when we got Reggie Theus and Moses Malone either but here we are.

DD

April 27th, 2010
12:25 pm

Who cares about the NBA playoffs or the Hawks, anyway?

The regular season is too long, too many teams in playoffs and zero Hawks radio coverage in the burbs.

JuliusCesaer

April 27th, 2010
12:28 pm

Mark Bradley: This is a very timely article. Its amazing because when the Hawks went up in the series they just assumed they would win this series and advance to the next round. The problem is that the Bucks appear to want to advance just as much [OR MAYBE MORE] than Atlanta. Should Milwaukee beat the Hawks at Phillips on Wednesday, then I feel that the Hawks will lose this series. But if the Hawks hold serve and take the game at Phillips Arena, I think the Hawks will win break through and win a road game in Milwaukee and close it out in game six. Its still going to be a tough series. Im so glad the Hawks got to play the Bucks because I think the basketball experts were wrong about which series is the most compelling in the eastern conference. I think its the Hawks/Bucks series. That series is the best one in the east right now. Cavs/Bulls is boring because Cavs are destroying the weak Bulls. Orlando/Charlotte sereis is boring because the Magic are dominating the Bobcats. The other series with Boston/Miami is somewhat compelling but the Celtics are in the drivers seat in that series. I’m sure the Hawks can win their series with the Bucks, but it will be ONLY if they dont lose confidence and DOUBT whether they can do it. If DOUBT creeps in the Hawks are going to lose the series. I’m hoping that the Hawks have not LOOKED PAST THE BUCKS TO THE SECOND ROUND, because if they are doing that, they will also lose the series with the Bucks. Lets see what happens but I do believe I know why the Hawks have blown so many leads in games this season and lost games that they should have won. IT MAY NOT BE TRUE, BUT I FEEL AS THOUGH THE HAWKS DONT KNOW JUST HOW GOOD THEY ARE THIS YEAR AND WHAT THEY ARE CAPABLE OF ACCOMPLISHING. If they knew that, I believe they would have won one game at least in Milwaukee and would be getting ready to close out the series on Wednesday at Phillips. Instead this series is headed for at least six games or maybe seven games and what should have been an easy series has become a series to determine the continuation of Mike Woodsens job. I can tell you for sure, if the Hawks lose this series, Woodsen is gone. I agree with the last blogger, the Hawks are still the laughing stock of the NBA primarily because of their inconsistent play.

MrDoThatThere

April 27th, 2010
12:30 pm

The problem with the Hawks starts on defense. I watched the game for a second time last night on DVR just for my sanity and the defense was pretty bad. Josh (my favorite Hawks player) looked lost every 3 possessions or so and tried too much to rely on his athleticism to get rebounds (instead of blocking out), several of which were retrieved by Kurt Thomas or Dan Gadzuric. Most obviously, Bibby couldn’t stay in front of parked car (in his defense his age has slowed him down) but his shooting keeps us in games which is why he plays. We need a mean player who actually looks upset when we are losing instead of showing the “oh well, we can beat em next time” face and who will take over the huddle during time-outs and command attention like Kevin Garnett (whom I can’t stand), LeBron James, or Chris Paul.

Joe

April 27th, 2010
12:34 pm

What if Hawks lose this series?

1. Let Woodson go.
2. Let Joe Johnson go. Try to get Chris Bosh. If not, make strong push for Wade.
3. Try to trade Josh Smith for a top 10 draft pick.
4. Bring back Josh Childress.
5. Get a real center. A big body to rebound and play defense.
6. Hire Bryon Scott, Avery Johnson or Georgia native Sam Mitchell as coach.

Pete

April 27th, 2010
12:36 pm

Tha Hawks are a collection of “B” player NBA wannabees. At home, in front of Mommy and friends they are decent, put them on the road, during the PLAYOFFS………….when it matters………..they wet the bed.
Memo to Hawks : Please fold the tent……….and leave………and take Chipper Jones with you.

Tony

April 27th, 2010
12:37 pm

…another gutless, heartless road performance by the Hawks…typical!

Marvin Willaims Fan

April 27th, 2010
12:38 pm

Enter your comments here

Marvin Willaims Fan

April 27th, 2010
12:42 pm

how can Marvin be a star on a team that last night got almost 45 shots from three guards….woodson is the problem….he has no offense..and a retarted swicthing defense,,..iso joe,iso jamal…..Woodson never uses the talent he has…He refuses to play a real center..ZAZA,Morris, Collins..hortford is 6ft 8..HE is A PF..I just dont see how people talk down on marvin when he only takes 5 or 6 shots a game…

Ackshun

April 27th, 2010
12:54 pm

Champions win on the road PERIOD. Regular season play-offs whatever, you have to win on the road. The teams that win on the road during the regular season get the top playoff seeds and homecourt advantage which means someone will have to come to their house and beat them to get the championship. The Hawks will probably knock off the Bucs in 6 but they will not win the championship and will lose to the first team they face that has homecourt advantage. That’s a hard fact to swallow but we better get ready for it. This is what killed the enthusiasm for the Braves, years and years of close but no cigar. It just gets old after a while. So don’t want to hear about Atlanta fans not being loyal and Atlanta not being a sports town. Once your fan base had been betrayed over and over again by a lack of effort by their team. The TEAM owes the FANS not the other way around.

I MUS WRITE

April 27th, 2010
12:55 pm

Observations: Woody again shows his incompetence by not adjusting the offense and continually sticking with the swithcing defense-ZAZA on Jennings-really??? I sincerely hope he is gone this summer.

Marvin is a below average player who doesnt help the team at all -he disappears like David Blain. A total waste of 7 mill.

I wouldnt brake the bank on Joe,while he is talented one could argue Crawford would give u the same production if given JJ’s shot attempts and playing time. If we lose this series or we get swept by Orlando he is surely a goner.

There should be some type of shake up this summer hopefully Marvin and possibly Bibby get dealt

I MUS WRITE

April 27th, 2010
12:59 pm

Joe you baffle me -u want to trade Josh and bring back Chills???/ What would that accomplish. Agreed on letting woody go and pushing hard for Wade. NO avery johnson or Sam Mitchell-he showed his worth in Toronto no thanx.

TU87

April 27th, 2010
1:02 pm

Unless they win in 6, which means winning on the road, this team needs a shakeup. Top teams win games on the road, second year in a row that this team can not win a game on the road in the playoffs.

Victor

April 27th, 2010
1:04 pm

For all of the doubters that feel the Hawks won’t win this series remember this: This same team beat the Miami Heat last year and Miami is a better team with more talent than the Bucks. The Heat got physical and beat up the Hawks and the Hawks still won that series. The Hawks are resilient and have demonstrated that this season. Mike Woodson is not the best Coach in the world but as stubborn as he is in properly utilizing his becnh, slow witted as he is making adjustments during the game, and having offensive schemes tailor made for the team you are facing, he will ultimately find a way to win this series just like he did in the Miami series. If he Doesn’t He won’t be here next year. Go Hawks!!!!

MikeMitchell

April 27th, 2010
1:07 pm

Folks settle down: I can tell there is a ton of anxiety with hawks fans, both die-hards and disloyal. Its not going to be a problem. There will be life for the hawks after the bucks. Trust me, folks. The Buck doesnt stop with the Bucks. The Hawks will win the nba title in a few months and all of this frantic/skitzofrenic reaction to the hawks losing two road games will be subdued. Im expecting the Hawks to be getting fitted soon for championship rings. The Hawks will win the championship REGARDLESS OF WHOMEVER COMES OUT OF THE WESTERN CONFERENCE. The Hawks will be hanging a WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP BANNER up a Phillips arena soon for the world to see how great they were this season.

I MUS WRITE

April 27th, 2010
1:07 pm

Good post northcyde-Chicago probably looks really attractive to JJ and Wade both, they have good young talent -they just need a SG. I will say that i have a new respect for Skiles and his team-I actually think they could win the series if Bogut were playing. Sharrieff-i totaly agree

Gwinnett Fred

April 27th, 2010
1:08 pm

Anybody that declares Atlanta a “choke town” needs to go buy a 1-way ticket the hell out of here. Delta is ready when you are.

The CITY of Atlanta can’t choke. The teams that play here might, but it won’t be because the team is located in Atlanta.

You people make me sick – you think this series would be over in a 4-0 Hawks sweep if the franchise was back in St.Louis????

Move to New York if you think so – no wait, the Mets, Rangers, Islanders & Knicks have sucked for years, so that town must be the reason. I got it, move to Chicago – no wait, the Bulls, Bears, Cubs & White Sox haven’t won a thing in a few years. Move to Dallas – no wait, the Cowboys can’t win a playoff game any more than the Falcons can and the Mavs (A NUMBER 2 SEED) are behind 3-1 in their series and the Rangers are a baseball afterthought.

So I guess, if you really think the city of Atlanta is a choke town, the only place to move to is – ANYWHERE – just get the hell out of MY town that I stand behind – PERIOD.

Greg Norton

April 27th, 2010
1:15 pm

They will win the next 2….settle down hotrods! A little scare in the first round is a good thing

Pi$$onaDAWG

April 27th, 2010
1:19 pm

Maybe we should ask John Drew if he can get the Entire Hawks team lost in that Elevator that he got lost in to miss practice in 82.

JEM

April 27th, 2010
1:20 pm

Let go of JJ, move Marvin to the bench, start Jamal, aquire Amare Stoudamire, fire Woodson, hire a new coach (whats Avery Johnson up to lately?). Whats you think, Mr. Bradley?

Gwinnett Fred

April 27th, 2010
1:27 pm

JEM:

I think you are nuts if you think Mr. Bradley will be replying to you. Haven’t you noticed – he hasn’t written a single reply since he wrote the article hours ago.

Typical sports “writer” – stir the pot & walk away laughing at their minions left to rankle amongst themselves.

Ted M

April 27th, 2010
1:30 pm

Did Woodson’s eyebrows ever grow back?

JEM

April 27th, 2010
1:32 pm

WHY, BRADLEY, WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN US?

Ted M

April 27th, 2010
1:33 pm

The Hawks may still need a point guard.

Does anyone think Teague will develop into a good pg?

TheAntiMe

April 27th, 2010
1:34 pm

I couldn’t get my earlier comments to post here as there seems to have been an slight glitch that has been occuring for some off and on this week. No worries, I’ve been over on ESPN.com having fun with the Bambi’s over there. They are so excited about their team, bless their hearts, that they have all seemed to collectively wet their pants with excitement. Poor Bambi’s, they know that their fun will soon be coming to an end when our Hawks finally get around to offing them.

Anyone bored over here who wants to screw with the deer might want to check it out. By the way, I understand that Kroger is having a sale next week on USDA deer steaks.

Ted M

April 27th, 2010
1:34 pm

Bradley is probably on a plane back to Atl

al

April 27th, 2010
1:37 pm

OK after watching the game last night I have to agree with most post on this site that coaching was bad and have been for this series. I have coach before and first thing I would have change was to match speed for speed in game four. There was no adjustment at all during the game or before game four. Jeff Teauge should have started if he can not stay in fornt of Jennings then we should not have drafted him. Two why bring in Joe Smith and leave him on the bench Joe Smith VS Kurt Thomas the NBA is all about match up and if you got guy u do not trust or will not play then they should not be on your team. Period Sorry Woody, been a fan not anymore win or loose. to late you should have coach this series like your life(job) was on the line. t
this is a good team and Joe johnson is good and should be kept, why is Marvin starting i have no clue a role player coming of the bench. why can we all see this and coach can not is shocking. Trust me they could won last night with adjustment.

THE GUY WHO CANT SEE WHY MARVIN WILLIAMS IS IN THE LEAGUE

April 27th, 2010
1:37 pm

MARVIN WILLIAMS IS THE FU**ING WEAK LINK! THEN THE FU**ING COACH! AND BIBBY IS GETTING BEAT TO THE BASKET EVERYTIME! IF BIBBY IS NOT HITTING 3″S HE NEEDS TO SIT, BECAUSE HIS DEFENSE IS FU**ING BAD! P.S. ALL TEAMS PLAY LIKE THE COACH COACHES! IF HE COACHES WEAK THE TEAM PLAYS WEAK! OH! AND HE DOES NOT KNOW HOW TO TEACH YOUNG PLAYERS LOOK AT TEAGUE SOMETIMES HIS HEAD IS NOT IN THE GAME WHEN HE IS ON THE BENCH! BUT WHATEVER!

Ted M

April 27th, 2010
1:41 pm

Has anyone else noticed the Marvin Williams walks like a cripple?

al

April 27th, 2010
1:44 pm

PLEASE START TEAUGE……………………..

THE GUY WHO CANT SEE WHY MARVIN WILLIAMS IS IN THE LEAGUE

April 27th, 2010
1:44 pm

FEAR THE DEAR! YEAH RIGHT F**K THE DEAR! AND BAMBI’S A BI*CH!

Go Caps Go!

April 27th, 2010
1:46 pm

If the Hawks can’t seal the deal this year they are done for the foreseeable future. Will be a lot of player movement in the off season and I am not confident they’ll be able to retain the necessary talent (or secure NEW talent) to return to the playoffs next year.

That said, here’s hoping the pull out the W and take care of business!

Dave

April 27th, 2010
1:49 pm

I honestly believe the Hawks will win the series, hopefully in six games, more likely in seven.

However, no one seems to recognize the position that Milwaukee is in, i.e., no one EXPECTS them to win, so they can experiment and throw up weird shots in hopes that they go in, which is what is happening.

I watched last night’s game and saw a Milwaukee team that threw up AT LEAST seven prayers, five of which went in. The underdog can do this and get away with it, because NO ONE expects them to win.

Should the Hawks have clamped down hard on defense in Game #3?? Absolutely, but a review of the line score shows they shot abysmally from 3-point range on Saturday. Had they made the normal number of 3-pointers on Saturday, they may have won that game and these conversations would be academic.

If Woodson is a good coach, he will motivate the team and they will come out fired up tomorrow and blow Milwaukee away, then follow it up and win the series going away on Friday.

If not, the Hawks will know that they have a coach that CANNOT take them to the next level, and they can let him go to Philadelphia or wherever else he may want to go, and they can find a coach who CAN take the Hawks to the next level.

Either way, the Hawks win in the long run!

TheAntiMe

April 27th, 2010
1:50 pm

Does anyone think Teague will develop into a good pg?

That’s one of the things I’ve been wondering about today, Ted M. I haven’t seen him play enough to get a good handle on it. I do know from what I have seen that he definitely has the quicks to play in this league. Mostly what I can recall of his game it seems that he was doing more driving and shooting than dishing to his teammates but, really, I just haven’t seen him enough to say.

Like I said earlier, he does have the quicks and has shown the ability, from what I’ve seen, to play some pretty good defense. That’s good to see since defense is not necessarily a strong suite of some of our other point guards.

Bottom line: I think that if given the opportunity (looking at you, Woody) that he will develop into a keeper, hopefully for the Hawks instead of some other NBA team.

Eric

April 27th, 2010
1:52 pm

Anyone who read Josh Smith’s comments about Milwaukee before Game 3 could have seen this coming. 1-10 on the road. Wonder why. Insulting an entire city before you play there is not very bright.

Let's Go Hawks

April 27th, 2010
1:54 pm

Wait Wait Wait the hawks are not done Yet? this may not be the year but maybe if jj leaves what about D-Wade and also we can beat the magic all we need is a little motivation like losing two straight against the bucks

Phucker

April 27th, 2010
2:02 pm

Who was it that cheered when the Hawk signed Marvin Williams? I’m still upset that they drafted him over Chris Paul and Darren Williams! Joe Johnson doesn’t make any of his teammates better. And Josh Smith is a big baby who needs to continue working on his post up game but would rather shoot 18 foot jumpshots.

The Hawks management is financially broke, so they won’t be able to re-sign Johnson. Personally I don’t think they should break the bank trying to sign him. He doesn’t sell tickets or merchantdise! I’ve never heard anyone say I’m going to see J.Johnson tonight! I’ve heard people say I’m going to see Labron, Kobe, D. Wade, ect. It will be a very bad investment for the Hawks to resign him to a max contract or anything close to it….

Ted M

April 27th, 2010
2:02 pm

Thanks TheAntiMe

I can’t imagine Bibby being the starter next yr

WilliamThunderchief

April 27th, 2010
2:03 pm

“What if the Hawks Win the Title This Year?” Will that satisfy all of you BIBBY, MARVIN and WOODSEN haters or will you continue to whine and complain about the hawks being horrible. THE HAWKS ARE ABOUT TO BREAK THROUGH AND BECOME GREAT and everybody is hacking at them and taking their cheap shots at them as though they are the new jersey nets. come on folks, go look at the regular season standings. THE ATLANTA HAWKS WERE THE THIRD BEST TEAM IN THE EAST. HAWKS HAD A BETTER REGULAR SEASON RECORD THAN THE BOSTON CELTICS. If that doesnt get woody a new contract nothing will. Think about it. Woodys team had a better record than Doc Rivers powerful WORLD CHAMPOIINSHIP celtic team OF TWO YEARS AGO with hall of famers Pierce, Allen and Garnett. Come on folks stop being down on the hawks because its only a couple of losses agaiinst the Bucks. The hawks will rebound on wednesday, win the next couple of games and go on to win the world championship. I guarantee you that is the direction that they are heading in.

Enough!!!

April 27th, 2010
2:03 pm

All the BS I’d heard about “There’s NO nightlife or things to do in Milwaukee”!!

You are overpaid hoopsters!!! Win THEN party… Don’t be a loser & blame the opponents city!!

Hugh Durham

April 27th, 2010
2:04 pm

I just want to let the Hawks know that I’m available and interested in their head coaching spot after the Bucks knock them out of the playoffs. (Remember, I coached Dominque).

Ted M

April 27th, 2010
2:13 pm

I hope so WilliamThunderchief. But think they are going to get flattened by the Magic.

HeavyPetter

April 27th, 2010
2:14 pm

Hi Atlanta, Milwaukee fan and resident.

Your sense of entitlement in this series is what really gets us fired up. The Bucks are the answer to the complant in the NBA that its not a coaches league but 5 guys doing their own thing.

Kurt Thomas and Dan freakin Gazuric score against you because they run the offense. How the hell is Milwaukee out rebounding you. You have more athletism in Smith and Johnson than we have on out team.

But its not just about talent. And its a team game. And your team is tied with the other team. Enjoy your sense of entitlement in this series.

Fear the Deer……

Najeh Davenpoop

April 27th, 2010
2:15 pm

Calling Marvin the Hawks’ 6th best player is a hell of a stretch — all 4 other starters plus Crawford and Evans are better than him, and on his good days you could make a strong case for Zaza.

Ted M

April 27th, 2010
2:15 pm

Fear the Deer, lol

ATLzPhinest

April 27th, 2010
2:18 pm

As a Hawks fan who went to many games even during the miserable 04-05 season when we won only 13 times, watching this team grow the past 3 years have been almost as fun as when I went to games back during the Days of Nique. This crew has improved each year in the regular season and this year we even got 53 wins so Woodson is ok in my book. Not sure I’d break the bank on Joe. He’s a good player, good role model and citizen etc…, but franchise players should be more intimidating on the court. Joe plays like he’s castrated sometimes- almost seems as if he couldn’t care whether the Hawks won or lost….all in all no need to shake things up to much. This team has chemistry and if we can ever get somebody to hold Dwight Howard to get past Orlando we’d have a shot at the finals. Lebron is Lebron so there’s no trades you make to prep for him anyways, but I truly believe the Hawks can beat Cleveland. Go Hawks.

Kilo

April 27th, 2010
2:27 pm

Fear THE DEER….Child Please. The Hawks have really disappointed me by dropping these two games, but as a fan I am in no way scared by the Bucks. Milwaukee is a decent team, but trust me they are not ready yet. They will not beat the Hawks. Remember this is the same core that took Boston to 7 games even though they were getting blown out each time on the road. Bucks won’t win if for nothing else the fact that the Hawks have homecourt advantage.

dwade3

April 27th, 2010
2:38 pm

yea atlanta not loosing to the bucks. itz going 6 gms. next round i see the hawks turning up their intensity and giving the magic all they want but coming up short. this offseason is going to be big. first they have to resign joe johnson. have 2.!!! and if im the hawks imaking a serious run at chris bosh, stoudimire, and c. boozer. they need some one to help al horford down low or move him to the power foward and josh to the 3. this would really give the hawks a great shot at not only playin with the cavs and magic bt beating them.

ChippersLoveChild

April 27th, 2010
2:43 pm

I’d Fear the Deer next year, not so much this year… I think next year when they sport a lineup of

Bogut
M’Bah Ah Moute
Delfino
Redd
Jennings

Salmons, Thomas, Ridinour, Ilyasova, and add two more first round draft picks to their talent, I think they could actually pass the Hawks, if for nothing more than the fact that they actually play for their coach. We don’t.

Big Ray

April 27th, 2010
2:48 pm

If the Hawks lose, then Woody is gone. The snowball effect starts from there. This isn’t an anti-Woody statement, it’s how the NBA works. The coach nearly always takes the first hit unless he is a very much established coach. Woody isn’t, sorry. I’ve seen better coaches get let go for less.

Meanwhile…..

What Josh Smith said must have been true. There isn’t anything to do in Milwaukee. How do I know? Because their fans keep showing up on OUR blogs. Damn, don’t they at least have blogs in Milwaukee?

Gail

April 27th, 2010
2:49 pm

The Hawks have the talent (minus a true big man), but they need a different coach to take them to the next level. Mike Woodson can only do so much. He has worn out his welcome with his tired plays. Make a change at the helm, get a big man, and the Hawks will be better off.

Gail

April 27th, 2010
2:50 pm

Enter your comments here

mark louis

April 27th, 2010
2:55 pm

Blow it up, hire Avery Johnson to coach. As it is, this team will never win a championship. Joe Johnson is not a superstar who can carry a team, he’s a really good player who would be a better 2nd option to someone like Lebron.

TheAntiMe

April 27th, 2010
3:01 pm

Hi Atlanta, Milwaukee fan and resident.

Your sense of entitlement in this series is what really gets us fired up. The Bucks are the answer to the complant in the NBA that its not a coaches league but 5 guys doing their own thing.

Kurt Thomas and Dan freakin Gazuric score against you because they run the offense. How the hell is Milwaukee out rebounding you. You have more athletism in Smith and Johnson than we have on out team.

But its not just about talent. And its a team game. And your team is tied with the other team. Enjoy your sense of entitlement in this series.

Fear the Deer……

Really, HeavyP, I’m happy that you NBA fans in Milwaukee relish your role as the underdog. It almost sounds silly, you folks playing the U card to us fans here in the ATL, because we have been the definition of underdog for nearly a decade prior to the past 2 years.

You know, for supposed underdogs, you Bucks fans seem to talk an awful lot of smack. There seems to be a conflict over just who you perceive yourselves to be and how you behave in public, especially going to other folks blogs to talk smack. That don’t sound like no underdogs to me, just dogs who like to bark an awful lot.

Big Ray

April 27th, 2010
3:02 pm

Somebody call me when JJ goes “supernova” the way Dwyane Wade has. I’ve not seen it in a while. To me, that means a 40+ point game. Heh. Like I said, call me when it happens….

I love how JJ is a super-mega-uber star to some people, the same ones who think he’s big-time max contract worthy. Ok, so when the Hawks lose, why is everybody else getting blamed, then? Why so quick to point out what they do wrong, and act like JJ is doing everything perfectly?

I’ll tell you why: Because JJ is a great player, but he is not a take-over-the-game-anytime-he-chooses guy. You want him to get paid like Kobe, Lebron, Wade, etc, but you get mad when people make the simple-but-true observation that he isn’t that kind of player. Even the “experts” of the media and other pundits recognize that he isn’t a vocal leader, and they try hard not to bang on him for it.

Simple fact: this team wins when other players step up. Joe is a 20 ppg scorer who can rebound, pass, and defend. He’s extremely versatile, but he is NOT a superstar who can go “supernova” anytime he has to. If he is, then how come he has not done it against the Bucks in games 3 and 4? Oh, don’t get me wrong, he played damn well. But not like a superstar who is willing his team to a win.

It’s ridiculous to get mad everytime somebody says he’s not a superstar, then turn around and blame all of his teammates for what they do wrong (I suppose it’s their fault when he has a 9-22 shooting night). There is a reason why Chicago wants him. It’s because he is a compliment to what Derrick Rose is/does. JJ is a guy you put with good players. He is not a guy you put league trash with, or you lose. Case in point, JJ was the only offensive option for a number of years with the Hawks. Yet he managed just one year of 25 ppg (an impressive year). I got news for ya. Danny Granger did the same thing on a horrible Pacers squad. Hmmmm, except for now he’s done it two years in a row, despite injuries. No, Granger is not the same as JJ, nor is he as good (again, versatility counts here).

Joe is good, but he needs his teammates to be good. Because he can’t do what Wade and a few others can: take over a game whenever he wants to.

I’d be glad for him to prove me wrong. But I don’t care about this one player. I care about this TEAM. It’s this team that wins. It’s hard to win without Joe, and it’s hard to win with him if his teammates (the better ones, that is) aren’t on their games. Joe is not the type to will his team to a win at any given time. He may be good for that on occasion, but not more than once, maybe twice in a series if we’re lucky.

At the same time, nobody else on this team can do it, either. They all have to work together. It’s not about Joe vs. his teammates. It’s about Joe AND his teammates.

Peter

April 27th, 2010
3:04 pm

Quick thought…….. Maybe Woody is not so bad, as much as the players don’t listen to him ?

You can’t coach guys that want to do it their way ?

Smiling Jack

April 27th, 2010
3:11 pm

Why is it that their rookie guard (Jennings) is such a strong contributor to the Bucks success and our rookie guard cannot even get playing time? It’s getting more difficult to smile!

UrBlogSux

April 27th, 2010
3:13 pm

Josh Smith is so highschool…that kid needed some college in his life

MilwaukeeMatt

April 27th, 2010
3:14 pm

FEAR THE DEER. How would any of you know about the night life in Milwaukee? I am sure the most of you that are knocking Milwaukee, have never been out of the Southeast. Give it a rest & consider your team is not playing the way they should they have more talent and deeper bench then the Bucks. The Bucks have a better coach & play with more heart.

DReed

April 27th, 2010
3:21 pm

Marvin Williams should be gone, he is only good at 3 feet from the basket, he is a bench player at best!!!!! Who in the h*ll sits their starting players the whole half with 2 fouls! Of course Woody does.
He thinks if you get two fouls in the 2 period your in foul trouble. I blame our road troubles on the Coach! different year and same results with different players, common on get rid of him.

Tim from EP

April 27th, 2010
3:24 pm

I’m with Bradley on this one. The Hawks are what they are…a bunch of long-tall, tall, athletic guys who play uninspired basketball at the absolute wrong times and after 5 years under Mike Woodson, still can’t find away to win on the road. Now is the time where Sund is really going prove his worth. Woodson has got to go. He routinely gets out coached in the playoffs. Besides his lack of half-court strategy, he has no sense of urgency in his coaching style and it has rubbed off on the Hawks players. We pushed Boston seven games because we couldn’t win on the road. Miami pushed us last year, because we couldn’t win on the road and it looks like the same thing is going to happen this year.

Unknown source

April 27th, 2010
3:28 pm

Joe Johnson is over rated, I don’t Know why people on ESPN keep saying he’s underrated?
Hawks need to Start all over again, the only two players that should stay on the team are Al Horford and Josh Smith…….and Jamal Crawford if he wants to.. Everyone else PLEASE LEAVE ATLANTA!!!

If Hawks don’t win

Woodson has to get loose his job.

Hawks organization shouldn’t even beg JJ to stay.( why overpay a player that can’t take us to the promise land?)

Marvin has to be send to the D-Leage(yeah that how bad he plays.)

Jeff Teague should get trade( He isn’t NBA material, he sucks!)

HollywoodHenderson

April 27th, 2010
3:29 pm

From what I am reading, many fans are carrying on as though they are GIVING UP ON THE HAWKS. They are assuming the hawks will lose the series to the Bucks and subsequently Woodsen will get fired. How about looking at the glass half full instead of half empty. How about the hawks winning this series with the bucks; going on to win the next round against Orlando; then going onto winning the eastern conference finals against the Caviliers; and finally beating the Lakers in the finals thereby WINNING THE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP. Why do losers allways take the path of least resistence. The hawks already proved themselves to be powerful during the regular season and it appears as though everybody has forgotten that the Hawks finished TWENTY-FOUR GAMES OVER .500. Of course Cleveland finished 40 games over .500 so people automatically assume the Cavs are great and will automatically win the title. I saw the Cavs get smoked by a hungry Chicago Bulls team last week where Derek Rose lit them up. The Cavs have had the best record before and got eliminated without winning a title and i believe the Cavs are going to be eliminated again. I think the Cavs will win the title in 2010-2011 (next season) but again this season BELONGS TO THE ATLANTA HAWKS. This is Mike Woodsens year, his team will win the title, and woodsen will get a 7 year extension on his contract.

Dawg Dominance

April 27th, 2010
3:29 pm

This is a logical question for milwaukee fans, Why build yourselves up just to let yourselves down? What makes you laugh will make you cry. It’s all about who has the last laugh, so be eazy. You people are only setting yourselves up for an embarrassing failure, just like your city. Lay off the brewery and come back to reality. Silly Mortals.

Ted M

April 27th, 2010
3:33 pm

Are the Hawks ownership issues settled yet?

Ted M

April 27th, 2010
3:35 pm

If they win game one against the Magic…well then maybe.

If they drop game one they’ll be out in 5.

MS TIPPI

April 27th, 2010
3:38 pm

Can we get rid of Woodson and Joe Johnson? I would love to have D. Wade in Atlanta.

Unknown source

April 27th, 2010
3:42 pm

I would like Mike Woodson to let Teague defend Jennings.

adrain webb

April 27th, 2010
3:51 pm

Hey why spend on joe johnson when dewayne wade is out there hey lets go after dewayne wade let joe goe

The Dude

April 27th, 2010
3:52 pm

Did anybody see the clip of the Buck BANGO doing the backflip dunk off the ladder…sorry this wasn’t relevent to the discussion

Unknown source

April 27th, 2010
3:56 pm

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/blog/ball_dont_lie/post/Video-Bango-strikes-again-this-time-from-above?urn=nba,237019

Speedy

April 27th, 2010
4:08 pm

Joe played great but people need to stop with the he had so many assists . When you play 47 minutes and dominate the ball every possession pretty much like Joe has you will get assists.

Whats hurting us is that we are not getting the Crawford 7-10 point runs like we were in the regular season with Joe off the floor mainly because Joe hasnt left the floor .

How many times have we seen us down 9 pts or so in the 3rd and then jamal goes on a little run of his own and Joe returns and its only a 2-3 pt game .

We feed so much off our transition game and exciting plays but we havent gotten jamal the ball enough with Joe off the floor to see if he can generate a couple of exciting plays to get us going and thats what we have to get back to .

Jamal is one of our biggest weapons against Jennings and weve taken him out of the equation . Im sure Skiles is happy about that .

MitchC

April 27th, 2010
4:10 pm

Mark, if the Hawks lose in this round, it might be time for some changes.

For the record, I thought you were wrong initially when you forecasted the Hawks to win in five games. This has been a bad road team all season, so their performances in Milwaukee don’t surprise me.

I think the Hawks will pull through, but I think it is going to go seven games. My feeling is the Hqwks win Game 5, lose Game 6, and win Game 7.

If the Hawks do lose, then it might be time for some changes. It would represent a step back, and it is probably time to think about letting Woodson go, and also to think very hard about whether to pay Johnson a huge amount of money.

Hopefully,. none of that will happen, and the Hawks will pull through and win this series, but, I’ll stick with my prediction, Hawks in 7.

i_am_soulstar

April 27th, 2010
4:19 pm

I think to myself often, “Trade Marvin!”, and I know he really get enough touches to be an effective contributor.

He’s been wide open several times, but doesn’t get the ball, and that’s unlikely to change if he’s the 6th option.

If our roster stays the same, maybe it’s time we trade Marvin for a board-hungry, defensive specialist. As far as offense goes, THE HAWKS are stacked against any team. It’s always on defense that we seem to fall short.

It’d be even better if we keep him and grab another small forward.

freshd

April 27th, 2010
4:24 pm

Woodrow will never lead the Hawks to a title. It kills me to see a coach who will not his quickest player Teague against Jennings, and the Hawks are getting PUNKED by Kurt Thomas old ass. Marvin Williams should be locked up for armed robbery, the way he is stealing money. He is the worst #2 pick in the history of the NBA.

LouFan

April 27th, 2010
4:25 pm

@northcyde

Brilliant rebuttals my friend. Once a fan, always a fan. A fan is going to a blow out and staying the last minute.

Joe Johnson has been the only consistent player on D and Offense.

Woodson and the other hawks teammates need to step up. Stop complaining/making excuses and make it happen.

JuniorBridgeman

April 27th, 2010
4:32 pm

i_am_soulstar: you make a good point about marvin. Marvin is a COMPLETE BUST and a totally lifeless nba player. Im shocked that he has a starting job in the nba. Im not saying hes a pile of garbage, but he would receive no starting job if he were playing for any other nba team out there. I think marvin can probably make more money being a department store manequin, because when he starts ballgames or comes into ballgames after resting, he basically does nothing to get his paycheck. However, Marvins value is in his defense when he is playing it, which is almost never. Marvin also has good hands so he comes up with steals and rebounds, when motivated, Marvin is then an asset to the team. Most of the time, though, Marvin is a liability and needs to be traded soon. Enough about Marvin. I think the Hawks problem is on defense in that they dont play it consistently for 48 minutes. I can tell you one thing for sure: IF THE HAWKS ARE PLAYING GREAT OFFENSE AND GREAT DEFENSE AT THE SAME TIME FOR 48 MINUTES, THEY WILL WIN THE NBA CROWN THIS SUMMER.

TheAntiMe

April 27th, 2010
4:52 pm

Woodson has got to go. He routinely gets out coached in the playoffs. Besides his lack of half-court strategy, he has no sense of urgency in his coaching style and it has rubbed off on the Hawks players.

While I do think, Tim from EP, that Mike Woodson does bring some things to the table, such as about a decade’s worth of experience as a coach or assistant coach in the NBA, it is abundantly clear that he is not the most strategic-oriented coach in the league.

Not only is his lack of knowledge regarding the X’s and O’s a serious liability for the Hawks, but his inability to make adjustments to opposing teams successful stratagems is really quite the double whammy for Hawks.

With the level of talent on the team, Woody could possibly overcome the aforementioned shortcomings as a coach, if only he could motivate his players. Unfortunately, it seems that with every passing year his players tune him out more and more.

J-Smoove

April 27th, 2010
5:15 pm

This is hilarious… yeah the Hawks are better than the Bucks, but this is the NBA and it’s tough to win on the road(especially in the playoffs). Just take the Lakers for example. Do you think that all the fans in LA are calling for Phil to be fired after they lost 2 road games to the Thunder. I’m not comparing Woody and Phil by any means, but Woody has improved the record of the Hawks year after year. Also, remember 2 years ago when the Celtics lost all the road games to the then up and coming Hawks, and they had to win a Game 7 in Boston to advance to the next round. All I’m saying is that everyone needs to take a chill pill and let the series play out. The Hawks have home court advantage and have been excellent at “The Highlight Factory” all year. This series is more than likely going to go to a game 7, but the Hawks will come out on top and move on to face the Magic.

Woody is B.King in disguise

April 27th, 2010
5:23 pm

It is hard to watch the Spurs play pitch perfect basketball with a banged up and aging lineup and not feel like we are being cheated here in Atlanta. We have an athletic, young, skilled team with many players who came from high caliber, team oriented college teams (North Carolina, Florida, Arizona) who are allowed to isolate, crossover, and shoot (and pray). Woody has to go – this team needs to run plays and should be required to pass twice before anyone shoots or be benched – let Bob Bender have the time – his Duke and Indiana background will encourage the team to play as a team.

Bucks Pat

April 27th, 2010
5:33 pm

What’s a Smoove? I checked on Mirriam-Webster.com, there is no word such as Smoove. Either Hawks fans can’t spell, or have invented a word. I’d describe the effort from the Hawks more like ambarrassing or non-exoostant. As long as we are inventing words, how about this one: fearthedeer

TheAntiMe

April 27th, 2010
5:51 pm

In your case, Bucks Pat, you would probably be better served trying to figure out the meaning of What’s a girlfriend? Then again, I almost forgot that I’m speaking to a loser troll who obviously has no class nor a life.

You Bambi’s really should take your own advice and Fear the Beer.

Bucks Pat

April 27th, 2010
5:55 pm

TheAntiMe:

way too easy to get you all worked up. lol. not very smoove, are you? go bucks!

Fear the Loser Trolls!

TheAntiMe

April 27th, 2010
6:00 pm

Naw, I’m just having fun.

nique

April 27th, 2010
6:24 pm

I’d be ok with the Hawks losing, because then there would be a shot that they wouldn’t re-sign Woody. They’re going to get creamed either way by the Magic, so why not get something out of this year’s playoffs – a new coach!

Smitty

April 27th, 2010
6:25 pm

Mark, I find it amazing that you encourage the bloggers to decry the Hawks switch defense. You must know that this team was drafted and built on Billy Knights theory of building a team with all players 6′6 or better who could switch all screen/rolls and thus defeat what was taking over the NBA as an offensive strategy. While else would the Hawks over draft and/or trade for the wing positions in such abundance(marvin) and count on a mobile but undersized ctr. in Horford. Woodson is still using that philosophy but not well as Bibby and Pachulia dont fit. and his players know it. They are as frustrated as us. I thought you were a student of the game

Bucks Pat

April 27th, 2010
6:25 pm

As stated earlier, if your Hawks beat us, then props to you guys, most of us Bucks fans will cheer for the Hawks going forward. Should be a fun little three game series we now have…

S Uga Fan

April 27th, 2010
6:40 pm

Woody has to go, period! If the idiots that run the Hawks bring him back then I will NEVER watch or go to another game. And I don’t get the support from guys like MB and John Kincaide! But birds of a feather do flock together!!!

Owner ship sucks

April 27th, 2010
6:42 pm

It starts at the top folks our ownership sucks!!! Atlanta spirit my *** the only spirit the owners have is a losing spirit..

Richard Denson

April 27th, 2010
6:50 pm

the hawks are creeping right back into last year’s playoffs. They win in 7 and then get swept by the magic in the 2nd round who sweep their first round opponent.

Rainy night in Ga.

April 27th, 2010
6:55 pm

OMG, Thrashers, then the Braves, now the Hawks……I guess everything comes full circle. Its the 70’s all over again!! I can still hear Cosell telling america that Atlanta is “LOSERSVILLE”.

Rainy night in Ga.

April 27th, 2010
6:57 pm

Woody=BOOB

MrHughes

April 27th, 2010
7:11 pm

Woodson is done.

I think these past two games sealed Mike Woodson’s Fate. Regardless who the magic play either one of us( hawks/bucks) would be lucky to get 1 game on them.

I also don’t see Joe Johnson coming back, i hope that i am wrong though.

Hopefully i don’t have to sit at home looking at NBA mock drafts because our team isn’t in the postseason anytime soon…

Spitting in the graveyard

April 27th, 2010
7:11 pm

no motivation,no inspiration.no team effort,wonder why? is’nt somebody responsible—answerable to somebody:accountable to somebody for an action or the successful carrying out of a duty.there is further definition of responsible but it doesn’t apply to this ownership/coach/team.

The Stark Truth » Blog Archive » Head Scratchers: About Lions Park, Turf Fields, Marvin and the Thunder

April 27th, 2010
7:14 pm

[...] Williams’ haters are having a field day in Atlanta. Check out some of these comments on this Atlanta Journal Constitution blog by Mark Bradley. One guy even blamed the Hawks’ [...]

JaBe

April 27th, 2010
7:21 pm

If they lose, we will longer read articles about the lack fans in the arena. If they lose, we will longer see Coach Woodson on the sidelines during a game. If they lose, the Hawks will ride the same bus as the Tharshers out of town.

Chris

April 27th, 2010
7:24 pm

Goodbye Woody!!! Get a coach who can COACH!!! PLEASE!!!n Goodbye Joe Johnson and Smith, switch Horford to Power Forward, trade Marvin, sign Garret Siler defensive center and can score he proved it in China this past season. Look to the draft and get a true floor general. NOW!!!

Pi$$onaDAWG

April 27th, 2010
7:25 pm

Isn’t a WOODY an old MiniVan/Stationwagon/SUFER DUDE RIDE? Load WOODY on top of a 47 Woody and send him out with the HIGH TIDE or to coach lil girls soccer.

Cracker Jacket

April 27th, 2010
7:27 pm

Nobody cares about the Hawks! This ia a college football state and NBA is at the bottom!

S Uga Fan

April 27th, 2010
7:29 pm

Don’t do that to the girls team! They deserve better!!

Edward M

April 27th, 2010
7:48 pm

The Hawks are not going to win.

Mr. Blackman

April 27th, 2010
7:55 pm

Yall are so hypocritical…. the Lakers are struggling, so are the Suns and Nuggets. But yall bashing a team that has shown some massive improvement? ATL fans make me sick….. GO HAWKS!!!! I’ll be the loyal one here.

S Uga Fan

April 27th, 2010
8:10 pm

Key word!!! the “one” And what improvement have they shown in the playoffs over the past few years? That is when it really matters! So yea if they play like they are then we(everyone else) are entitled and they are deserving of our anger!!
And where in the world did you come up with hypocritical? So we don’t agree with you so we are hypocritical! Wow! You may need to go blog on the Mike Woodson site! It would only be you and him!

J-Smoove

April 27th, 2010
8:24 pm

I’m with you Mr. Blackman…. if the Hawks were to make it to the Eastern Conference Fianls, all these fair weather fans will be praising Woody and the Hawks. I think it’s funny how quick fans jump ship and start calling for change. Wasn’t too long ago these same Hawks won 13 games all year and this year they won 50+. GO HAWKS!

fratello

April 27th, 2010
8:26 pm

the Hawks stink

S Uga Fan

April 27th, 2010
8:34 pm

Wow! two blind loyalists!!! Time for me to go before I throw up! It’s still a lonely and ignorant ship to be on! Just proves that even ignorant sports fans are on here too! I bet you are Jerry Glanville fans too! Later peeps!

northcyde

April 27th, 2010
8:38 pm

The real problem is that most Hawk fans think that the Hawks are head and shoulders above Milwaukee, simply because Bogut got hurt.

The fact is . . Milwaukee is weaker without Bogut, but they do have enough bigs that they can rotate into the lineup, to offset what he gave them from at least a rebounding and position defensive standpoint.

To me, Salmons has been the key reason for the Bucks turnaround. And because he’s still in the mix, they don’t lose much.

But let’s see if Woody can make a defensive adjustment, and slow down Jennings in Game 5.

LOL . . these AJC sportswriters couldn’t wait to write the Hawks pre-eulogy.

PartySearch247

April 27th, 2010
8:53 pm

Firing Woodson is 3 seasons late! Major Talent wasted. Mike Woodson is the Little Yellow Bus Rider of pro basketball coaches. The Hawks Have Superior talent, They just get out-coached However A coach like Hubbie Brown, Mike Fartello would take this team deep into the playoffs (60 wins).

J-Smoove

April 27th, 2010
8:54 pm

S UGA Fan… I’m assuming you are a fan of the Dawgs. You are probably one of the fair weather fans that thinks Richt is done and needs to go too.

Pi$$onaDAWG

April 27th, 2010
9:36 pm

Is the Rim still 10ft. high? Is the Free Throw Line still 15ft. away? Is it still 5-on-5? Man the HAWKS SUCK.

Tdawg

April 27th, 2010
10:36 pm

Josh, you want to know what there is to do in Milwaukee? I got a unique idea. This is just a thought though. Why not try to playing some basketball?

Not Drinking the Kool-Aid

April 27th, 2010
10:39 pm

I’ve been a Hawks fans since I moved here in 1998. Was a big ‘Nique fan back in the day. I would like to repeat what I stated along with several others on the AJC message board about the Hawks this summer. I like Mike Bibby and I think coach Woodson has been doing a pretty good job the last couple of seasons. The problem I see with the Hawks is Woody is trying to cover Mike Bibby’s defensive deficencies with the switching defense. Watch the other teams in the playoff most of them have at least one player that can break you down off the dribble and kick the ball to open shooters or pick and roll pass to a big man. Bibby is inadequate as an NBA defender he probably could not guard my grandmother. This is both Woody and Sund’s fault. Bibby should not have been resigned. I fault Woody for not developing Teague over the summer. There is no reason Teague should not be playing the point for the Hawks. This is also Joe Johnson problem: The offense is so strange for the Hawks, Joe doesn’t know when to take the ball to the basket or just to shake his man and shoot the jumper. Josh Smith still freelances at the top of the key and even though he seems to be a good passer alot of his passes are wild to Joe and others. Josh also seems to be in Joe’s way at times after passing to him. Josh needs the ball in the post and would be an excellent pick and roll player. Al Horford already is an excellent pick and roll player because he listens. If the Hawks develop Teague and get Josh to listen and respond you have a better basketball team on offense. Consistent defensive intensity I don’t know?

Sope Creek

April 27th, 2010
10:45 pm

Northclyde – Brandon Jennings has owned Joe. Joe’s offense hasn’t been enough to make the rest of the guys better on offense, and his defense has made the rest of them considerably worse on D.

steve smith

April 27th, 2010
10:52 pm

NEWSFLASH TO JOSH SMITH: There is something to do in Milwakee, its called practice and prepare for a playoff game!!!

birdshirt

April 27th, 2010
10:52 pm

Marvin Williams defends like he has cement blocks tied to his ankles…

Unknown source

April 27th, 2010
10:59 pm

MIKE WOODSON TO PHILADELPHIA? WTF

The most persistent report is that Woodson could wind up as Philadelphia’s coach, which is based on Larry Brown leaving Charlotte to become the 76ers’ general manager. Brown has denied that he’s planning to leave the Bobcats.

http://www.nba.com/2010/news/04/27/hawks.woodson.ap/index.html?ls=iref:nbahpt2

Bill

April 27th, 2010
10:59 pm

Hawks and Braves need new blood running the TEAM..New Coach for Hawks and New mgr for Braves.

GT Fan

April 27th, 2010
11:01 pm

Please take PAUL HEWITT with you. Fire the @#$%%$#@

@ReanuKeeves

April 27th, 2010
11:33 pm

Bottom line is the same as always–if we lose a SINGLE home game, we won’t win a series. That does NOT a competitor make.

Reid Adair

April 27th, 2010
11:33 pm

None of Mike Bibby’s four simple statements applies to the Hawks right now.

There is no player who will step up and lead this team, and Coach Woodson is failing miserably at doing so when it matters most.

corrina252

April 27th, 2010
11:44 pm

FEAR THE DEER

corrina252

April 27th, 2010
11:46 pm

Dear whiny atlanta hawks fans,

please tell me what there is to do in atlanta that you can´t do in milwaukee.

UGAKev

April 27th, 2010
11:47 pm

To those that get on to us fans at bashing the hawks heart and effort and calling for heads just because the lakers struggled on the road. Well the lakers have won how many championships?? The lakers have to fight themselves to stay motivated. How many championships have the hawks won?? There should be no problem being motivated as an atlanta hawk player. It makes me sick to see… I was going to go watch the game tomorrow but I thought if they are not giving effort then why should I give effort to ride an hour and a half from columbus to watch them. They show me some effort and win this series and I will be at every home game in the orlando series.

UGAKev

April 27th, 2010
11:48 pm

corrina252 start with the women in atlanta…that would keep a man busy for eternity

Harpie

April 27th, 2010
11:58 pm

Mike Woodson is an IDIOT!!!!!!

Harpie

April 28th, 2010
12:00 am

Mike Woodson sucks!!!!

BONE

April 28th, 2010
12:01 am

LOL ADD THE HUNDREDS OF MALLS, AMUSEMENT PARKS, MAJOR SPORTING EVENTS, CELEBS WHO LIVE HERE, TBS TNT CNN FOX NEWS AND ALL OTHER THINGS LOCATED IN ATLANTA, WORLDS LARGEST AIRPORT, JUST TO NAME A FEW…….WHAT DOES MILTOWN HAVE? UMM DEER AND DIRT ROADS?

truthspitter

April 28th, 2010
12:17 am

Bucks are jokes and the Hawks are known to choke, someone give me a smoke

truthspitter

April 28th, 2010
12:19 am

corrina252 : u cant continue to lick my butthole in Mil

racerx

April 28th, 2010
12:30 am

ok. Reality check. Reading a lot about the ifs Redd Bogut.
If bogut was playing, team would match up better and beat bucks in 4-5.
If bogut playing, Bucks would be winners in 4-5. Doesnt matter. Not the case. I have said before that if the bucks didnt lose Bogut, Bucks would be playing Boston as the 5th seed. Hawks would beat miami in 4-5 and have to play cleveland. But lets just say Bogut is there and teams are still playing each other. The only way to utilize matchups is for the coach to put players in the proper places and for the players to execute as a team. In Skiles, the bucks have a coach that moves the pieces around when something doesnt work and the players all buy into it and make the moves successful. Thats the difference. Yes. A lot of no name players….but total team concept win or lose.
End result….hawks win game 5 big. Bucks at best pull out game 6.
Hawks win game 7 and both teams are to tired to do anything beyond. For the bucks…it is a good learning experience for a team that was expected to be the second worst in the league(wow..22-8 though last 30).
For the Hawks, Status quo. While Hawks fans are down because they cannot seem to win a game on the road, neither have the bucks, although a lot less chances, still the same results.

Unknown source

April 28th, 2010
1:00 am

Why The F*ck would anyone Fear Bambi?

JeJe

April 28th, 2010
1:01 am

has anyone asked Woody why he hasn’t used Mario or Teague? We need to ask Woody questions on his rotation because it sucks.

And this switching on P&R is BS too

JeJe

April 28th, 2010
1:02 am

USE FREAKING MARIO OR TEAGUE ON JENNINGS AND MAYBE PUT MARIO ON SALMONS IF NOT MO

DO NOT PLAY MARVIN

JESUS

Unknown source

April 28th, 2010
1:06 am

Send Marvin to the D league pronto!!!!!!!!

Thekid2kill

April 28th, 2010
1:13 am

Marvin sucks, he needs to stop taking jumpers and attack the rim instead.
Make yourself useful Marvin!!!

Tj

April 28th, 2010
1:17 am

2004 We took took Josh Childress instead of Jameer Nelson, Kevin Martin, Luol Deng. But the hawks Drafted josh smith with the 17th pick so that was a big steal.

2005 We took Marvin williams instead of Chris Paul or Deron Williams.

2006 We took Shelden Williams instead of Brandon roy, Rudy Gay or Rajon Rondo.

2007 we took Acie Law ahead of Rodney Stuckey and Aaron Brooks, but the hawks got the second best player in the 2007 draft, we took Al Horford with the 3rd pick.

2009 we took Jeff Teague ahead of Darren Collison and Taj Gibson

I wish we could re-do this sh!t.

racerx

April 28th, 2010
1:49 am

Dawg dominance
“This is a logical question for milwaukee fans, Why build yourselves up just to let yourselves down? What makes you laugh will make you cry. It’s all about who has the last laugh, so be eazy. You people are only setting yourselves up for an embarrassing failure, just like your city. Lay off the brewery and come back to reality. Silly Mortals”
Wow. How about that. We are realists. We realize we are not as good of a team. We realize the bucks havent been to the playoffs in years and are excited about the improvement. Seems every hawks fan felt this should be over in 4 yet 6 is the minimum. We realize this team was picked to be the worst to second worst in the league. We lost our best player, and are still excited to be able to watch basketball. So, while you can laugh at the end of the round with a win, we know we accomplished a lot more than the year before and have faith that we have one of the best coaches and gms in the game now. Will you still be laughing 4-5 games in the second round after you are eliminated? Knowing your team hasnt progressed?
As for the people that complain about milwaukee fans being here, goto jsonline to read your faithful personell blogs. I am here because of roots to both and have tried to keep things real. Hawks win with talent, bucks build with better coach and experience. When constantly told we wouldnt see a game 5, nice to know I can use my Game 6 tickets to watch my 2 favoriote teams. One that hopefully can go somewhere this year, but probably not, and one that can keep improving over the next few.

JeJe

April 28th, 2010
8:30 am

I have a friend who ran into Stackhouse this summer (Stack lives in Atlanta) and Stack told him and he wanted to play for the Hawks and begged them to sign him and it could not have been for more than a ham sandwich and we didn’t. SOMEONE PLEASE TELL ME IF THAT IS A TRUE STORY OR NOT?…it sure sounds like it is true?

the buck almost stop here

April 28th, 2010
8:56 am

Lets see wonder if Game is sold out Not again the normal Fan is gettin fed up like Braves after blowin games n titles in 1999 n chokin in wild card games n a lucky chance help arizona win there only WS title.Bobby cox good remember he help fla marlins win 2 WS when he was here till he retired in 2010 We hope.So look for 11,456 at phillips arena with malox to use after game.

Hawker

April 28th, 2010
9:36 am

The bucks aren’t that good—the hawks should win the next two and finish this series. But, they’ll probably go out in 4 or 5 in round 2. Woodson will probably threaten to take the philly job and get a big raise, meaning more mediocrity in the years to come.

dangerousdan88.5

April 28th, 2010
9:59 am

Woody must go if they do not win this series. He has the players, but doesn’t rotate or play his big bench guys. Steve Smith predicting sweep and Josh Smith saying – there is “nothing to do In Milwaukee didn’t help. I know superstars do not make good coaches but I would love to see what Dominique could do with this team. He said the Hawks should use Joe Smith and Jason Collins on Dwight Howard so Al Horford doesn’t get in early foul trouble. He’s right.I hope the Hawks get the chance to play Orlando.

JeJe

April 28th, 2010
10:37 am

WHY IS ASG CONSIDERING GIVING WOODY A CHEAP CONTRACT? DO NOT GIVE HIM ANYTHING — HE SUCKS. LET HIM GO ROT IN PHILLY WITH ELTON BRAND AND OVERPAID ANDRE IGUODALA

corrina252

April 28th, 2010
11:31 am

Wow, am I getting a laugh reading all the negativity the crappy atlanta fans write about their team. The bucks got smoked in the first 2 games, are missing their best player, and we were still positive about our team and had the Bradley Center rocking. No wonder the reputation of atlanta fans is so lousy, you guys are a bunch of bitches. FEAR THE DEER.

corrina252

April 28th, 2010
11:34 am

I am still waiting to here from you bozos what there is to do in atlanta a person couldnt do in milwaukee, beside being such terrible sports fans.

PS hey, mark bradley, being new to your columns i didnt even know who you were but after reading some of your diatribes i am shocked at how pedestrian your columns are. i thought the sports columnists up in milwaukee were bad but they blow your arrogant ass away.

JuniorBridgeman

April 28th, 2010
11:54 am

I wish we could trade Marvin for a HAM SANDWICH. Marvin’s probably not even worth that much.

jc_dawgs

April 28th, 2010
11:58 am

Teams normally feed off there home crowd and they thereby play better at home. However….this Hawks team is a more extreme case of good at home…bad on the road.

I especially see this on the defensive side of the ball. There were a ton of instances where the Bucks would get wide open looks at the basket and simple layups due to a lack of defensive energy by the Hawks. It’s like night and day when they are at home as compared to being on the road.

They had better win tonight’s game or they are in serious trouble of getting knocked out in the 1st rnd…because quite frankly….I can’t see this team winning any games on the road with the lack of energy that I am seeing.

Miltown

April 28th, 2010
2:47 pm

This series has been flip. The Bucks are just playing with the Hawks. Next stop: Orlando.

irishmafia116

April 28th, 2010
3:37 pm

Main problem with this team (other than the more than useless coach) is they are not very bright, in other words they have a bunch of players who aren’t the sharpest stick in the pile. Go figure -look at them!–Also they have no desire ,been shown again and again over the last few years ,they are getting paid so they show up thats about it. They are pretenders not contenders. You would think with all the high draft picks and all stars on the team they could earn some respect –but they are not anyones favorite team -well maybe the Bucks-

Booby knight and anyone associated with him sucks

April 28th, 2010
3:49 pm

Woodson has got to go. He routinely gets out coached in the playoffs. Besides his lack of half-court strategy, he has no sense of urgency in his coaching style and it has rubbed off on the Hawks players.

Woodson career record as head coach –206-286 .416 which includes the last two years big winning seasons -worst in NBA history for any coach with over 300 games nuff said

Miltown

April 28th, 2010
11:56 pm

told you….

Dahlia

April 29th, 2010
10:29 pm

The Hawks are the biggest laughingstock west of Athens. Enough said.

BucksFan

April 30th, 2010
9:25 am

Fear the Deer!

dee

April 30th, 2010
11:20 am

Let Joe choke johnson go and get a free agent break the bank for Carmelo Anthony and get a center and get rid of Marvin Williams who is garbage Please Get A center for Al Horford SO he Can go Back to the 4 and smith to the 3 Get rid of the coach let the hawks run and gun they are young get rid of Randolph,West And COllins Please break the bank for Carmelo he is ready to leave denver.

A chilling thought: What happens if the Hawks DON’T win?

288 comments Add your comment

About Mark Bradley

We’ve Moved!

One Subscription. Total Access.

Search this blog

Recent Posts

Archives

More from the AJC

Categories

Bradley's blogroll (sports)

Bradley's other fave sites

More Bradley Bloviation

All AJC blogs »

Tell us what you think about the site

Subscribe »

Customer Care »

AJC Services

Sections

Other Editions

Guides

Affiliates

Advertising

AJC Sites

Special Reports

Blogs

Opinion

Blogs

Topics

Features

Blogs

Topics

Features

Topics

Features

Features

Blogs

Topics

Features

A chilling thought: What happens if the Hawks DON’T win?

288 comments Add your comment

About Mark Bradley

We’ve Moved!

One Subscription. Total Access.

Search this blog

Recent Posts

Archives

More from the AJC

Categories

Bradley's blogroll (sports)

Bradley's other fave sites

More Bradley Bloviation

All AJC blogs »

Tell us what you think about the site

Subscribe »

Customer Care »

AJC Services

Sections

Other Editions

Guides

Affiliates

Advertising

AJC Sites