Why, it’s a birdbrain migration: The Hawks fly into Round 2
The series was there to seize in Game 6. The Hawks seized it. (AJC photo by Curtis Compton)
They’d been the better team through four games, and then they lost Game 5 and folks started talking about how lousy they were. An Orlando Sentinel columnist called them the Birdbrains, which sounded a bit strange: If the Hawks were such plods, why were they still leading?
The same scribe predicted the Magic, having won one game in a row, would outsmart the Hawks and win the series. And maybe if this were “Jeopardy” they would have. But this is basketball, and at last check MIT hasn’t been to the Final Four lately. And Orlando won’t be going to Round 2 of these NBA playoffs.
The Atlanta Birdbrains will.
No, they don’t always appear to know what they’re doing, and there are times when they don’t appear to care. But in this series we saw the tenacity that was missing during the regular season. Yes, they were lucky in that they drew the one decent team they’d proved they could beat, but they took their break and ran with it.
They beat the Magic three times in one-possession games, which says much about their resourcefulness, and Thursday’s clincher came down to one tiny-but-gigantic play, a play we can only call … well, smart.
Inside the final 10 seconds, Hawks by a point, shot clock near its end. Jamal Crawford fed Marvin Williams on the left wing, and Williams launched a trey that looked good but clanged long. All the Magic, the team with the world’s best rebounder, had to do to steal this game was to grab the ball and hit a shot.
Then Joe Johnson stuck out his hand.
Joe Johnson has been criticized for just about everything — for not being LeBron James, for not being worth $120 million (as if anyone is), for not playing big in big games — but on this night Johnson not only played big but smart. He took and made good shots in the fourth quarter and helped the Hawks fight back the staple Magic rally, and when the game was there to be seized, he seized it.
Actually, he didn’t so much seize it as he punched it. Johnson smacked the rebound toward Crawford, who claimed it and got fouled and made two free throws.
Yet again, a game in this series came down to Orlando having a 3-pointer to win or tie. Yet again, the Magic failed. J.J. Redick missed one you’d have sworn he’d make, and Josh Smith swatted away Jason Richardson’s last-gasp cast.
Birdbrains prevail.
Said Smith afterward: “We came in after practice Wednesday, and there were sheets of paper at everyone’s locker. And you could see everybody’s expression as they were reading [the Sentinel column]. They called us ‘birdbrains’ and ‘dummies’ — that really got us going. We felt disrespected. We came out and tried to shut that guy up.”
We can carp that Game 6 was, as happened in Games 3 and 4, closer than it should’ve been. But how much carping can be done when the lower seed essentially dominates the series? In three games here, the Magic led for a total of two minutes.
Said Crawford, the MVP of this series: “We showed a lot of confidence, a lot of resolve. We beat the same team that took us out by 25 last year. We couldn’t ask for anything more.”
Before the game, Hawks coach Larry Drew was asked if his team was indeed as, ahem, mentally fragile as has been suggested. “When it’s time to step up and turn it on, they’ve done that,” Drew said. “We’ve got some quiet personalities, but they’re strong in their own way. Deep down within, we’ve got some strong personalities.”
So what if three of the Hawks’ four victories in this series were hairbreadth things? This is the NBA, folks. Games come down to the end. What matters is that the Hawks stared last-minute defeat in the face three times and won every time. Crawford banked home a trey. Horford poked the ball from Hedo Turkoglu. Johnson punched a long rebound to the right man.
Maybe they’re not the smartest kids in the class, but they can play a little basketball. And now we get to witness a rare bit of migration. We get to watch these Birdbrains fly north for Round 2.
By Mark Bradley
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140 comments Add your comment
DawginLex
April 29th, 2011
9:33 am
Hey HT, Coach Richt talk to you last night in Macon?
MB won’t let me post the link. Go to macon.com and read the article “Coach Richt gets feisty at local tour stop”
Maybe you don’t need to read it since it sounds like he was talking to you
DawginLex
April 29th, 2011
9:34 am
Comments won’t post?
DawginLex
April 29th, 2011
9:35 am
Tried to post a link, wouldn’t work
BillyWhiteShoes
April 29th, 2011
9:40 am
Who the hell is Magnum Rolle? Apparently, NBA TV thought he was the Hawks leading rebounder all game long.
Rico Niles
April 29th, 2011
9:42 am
WHAT NOW???????????????? HAWKS WIN BABY YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!
ooooooOHHHH No Feedback from the Hawks HATERS!!! HMMMMMMM
Jamier Nelson: See you in the SECOND ROUND OF FISHING!
Mark Bradley
April 29th, 2011
9:42 am
Magnum Rolle: He’s a role player.
NBA AM: Dwight Howard – “I Love Orlando” – HoopsWorld | Free NBA Videos
April 29th, 2011
9:44 am
[...] Atlanta Journal Constitution (blog) [...]
Rico Niles
April 29th, 2011
9:45 am
Great Call on the very first column of the Series Mr. Mark Bradley. We are with you on that 100%.
BillyWhiteShoes
April 29th, 2011
9:47 am
Thans Mark!! Let’s sign this invisible dude to a contract. He rebounded and scored better than Collins. (No dig against Collins. He did a great job punching Dwight in the stomach when the refs weren’t looking.)
Friday’s Buzz: After Magic’s exit, is Dwight done with Orlando? – Orlando Sentinel | Basketball Video Zone
April 29th, 2011
9:52 am
[...] Atlanta Journal Constitution (blog) [...]
Rico Niles
April 29th, 2011
10:03 am
H – Have
A – A
W – Wonderful
K – Kind
S – Summer Fishing Jamier Nelson! Take your loser Magic Buddies with you! Oh and Derrick Rose will be a bit late but has his gears READY! Yea I SAID IT!
Ray
April 29th, 2011
10:08 am
The Hawks and their fans can get as mad as they want to about Mike Bianchi’s “Birdbrain” reference, but it’s true, despite the fact Atlanta won this series. Orlando lost because they executed exceptionally poorly. But Atlanta didn’t look impressive in any of its wins.
This is truly a dumb team, led by the dumbest Hawk, Josh Smith. He could be an All-Star if he ever learned the game, but he won’t.
Joe Johnson is also dumb for the way he hogs the ball and refuses to be a creator in addition to a scorer, and he takes many defensive possessions off.
The coach might not be dumb, but he sure is not smart in many instances.
Chicago in five.
Dwight Howard has starring roles in 2 Disney TV shows – ESPN | Basketball Video Zone
April 29th, 2011
10:21 am
[...] Atlanta Journal Constitution (blog) [...]
Rico Niles
April 29th, 2011
10:21 am
RAY RAY RAY: And with all that said which you claim is true about the Hawks and JJ, what does that say about them KICKING YOUR MAGIC’S BUTT?
PS: Remember it was also Orlando in Five! Now what Hater?
Blue
April 29th, 2011
10:34 am
I can’t believe it has come to this, but Josh Smith is now hurting this team more than he is helping it. He has all of the physical tools in the world, but poor basketball IQ. Whatever happened to those high flying dunks he used to excite us with? What happened to those highlight reel shot-blocks? This guy was more impactful as a rookie! Now this guy wants to be a jump shooter.
The offense flows much better without him. Last night, when they had the lineup of Jamal (1), Joe (2), Marvin (3), Al (4), and Zaza (5), there was a nice fluidity to the offense. As soon as Josh came in and started running point and jacking up three’s, the offense stagnated and Orlando made it’s run.
Drew is in a tough spot. He has to start and give substantial minutes to Josh or else his mercurial star will become a cancer to this team. But ownership needs to seriously try to move Josh this off-season for something quality (Center/Point Guard) in return. It would be addition by subtraction.
Blue
April 29th, 2011
10:39 am
Hey, moderator … what was so offensive about my earlier comment? Do explain.
bigdawg
April 29th, 2011
10:44 am
Hey Jameer, we’ll say hi to Derrick for you
maybe Derrick will say hi back in one of the press conferences
and you, sitting at home, crying and eating your tub of ice cream, will jump up and down for joy that your name was mentioned in the second round
Jameer Nelson
April 29th, 2011
11:05 am
See you in the 2nd…oh…wait. See you next year.
KevinM
April 29th, 2011
11:19 am
“Tick
April 29th, 2011
9:00 am
We don’t win this series if not for the Hinrich/Bibby trade. Our “D” would not have been nowhere near as good. Better give Sund some credit.”
You know how hard it is to give Sund credit? He’s in his last year, and I thought he might not be back. Oh well, LD and Sund will return just because we got past Orlando. We lose 4-0 to the Bulls, they still keep their jobs. And back we go to depending on the core. I’m just glad Bibby isn’t core anymore.
On the motivation to beat the Magic:
The real birdbrain in all of this is Nelson. He just got punked by the Hawks. Correct me if I’m wrong, but when has Nelson won a big playoff series? If you remember, it was Rafer Alston who came in and took the Magic to the Finals and then SVG gave the slot back to Nelson and they haven’t been the same since. Yes, they killed us last playoffs and they looked like they were ready to go back to the Finals, but when genius Otis Smith kept tinkering, he lost any depth with Gortat, who would have been the difference for them against us. That one trade could have sealed his fate in Orlando.
Them keeping DHoward now will be the talk of their offseason.
Now the matchups:
Noah/Al
Boozer/Josh
Deng/Marvin
Bogans (a fav of mine)/Joe – Joe will take it directly to him
Rose / Hindrich – the key to the seris of course
Its about how much Joe can do for us as much as Rose can do for them.
This could be an excellent series if our guys (who I have been very hard on for a long time, especially Bibby and Marvin) can play where we don’t just waste possessions.
MRHEIN2
April 29th, 2011
11:41 am
@Mutumbo, What? The Bulls are a team on the rise, best record in the league. Atlanta’s best shot is if Rose is not 100% and Boozer continues his so so play. Otherwise the Bulls are loaded and ready for the Hawks who they blew out twice this season and in one game lead by 47 points at one point. It is a young team which is getting its feet wet in big playoff action. They have not yet reached their potential. They play a team game on both offense and defense. They are athletic with Deng and Noah leading the way, Boozer supplies offence from the block, they have a 3-point specialist in Korver, a bench that can fill in with the best of bench’s. They are in short, scary! Oh, and did I forget to mention Derrick Rose? To watch the Bulls is to watch a hollywood script unfold of big finish after big finish. They have lost only 3 times in the last 25-30 games (I lose count) including the 5 game set with the Pacers. Now what were you saying?
SavageBeast
April 29th, 2011
11:42 am
I wish that all the bloggers who have bashing jj and saying that he is not clutch, I wish they will get on today and APOLOGIZE for their stupidity. As I mentioned before, in my opinion Joe has been from my observation the second best closer in the game. Many people will tell me Im wrong and that its LaBron. LaBron couldnt close in Cleveland for seven years and thats why he moved his game to south beach. Joe Johnson can put a team on his back and he proved it in this series. But whats special about the Hawks is that they have two closers: joe and jamal and I think that is what is going to catapult the Hawks into the Finals.
MRHEIN2
April 29th, 2011
11:46 am
correction.. the Bulls have lost 4 times in the last 27 games or so.. once to Philly(home), Atlanta(road), Pacers(road) and Pacers(road/playoffs).
MRHEIN2
April 29th, 2011
11:48 am
How would any team like to have a winning percentage of .850 for the equivalent of one third of the season? That is the ROLL the Bulls are on RIGHT NOW!!
Mr. O
April 29th, 2011
12:00 pm
My Bulls will beat the Hawks in five….bank on it.
CapedCrusader
April 29th, 2011
12:03 pm
If Captain Kurk can beam himself up to the team and play in the series with the Bulls, that will give the Hawks the upper hand. YOU SEE HOW HINRICH COMPLETELY SHUT DOWN PINT-SIZED MUTT JAMIER NELSON who keep his word that he will see Derrick Rose in the second round on his giant plazma tv screen at his home. I DONT KNOW ABOUT THE REST OF THE FANS, BUT I SEE THE HINRICH TRADE SO FAR AS THE KEY TO THE HAWKS EARLY SUCCESS IN THE PLAYOFFS. WITH HINRICH IN, HE GIVES THE HAWKS A DEFENSIVE PRESENCE AND PHILOSOPHY THAT THEY NEVER HAD WITH MIKE BIBBY. ITS CONTAGIOUS BECAUSE WHEN THE OTHER HAWKS WATCH HINRICH PLAYING D, THEY FOLLOW SUIT AND IT WORKED WONDERS IN HOW THE HAWKS SHUT THE MAGIC DOWN DEFENSIVELY. WITHOUT HINRICH, WHICH IS HOW THE HAWKS PLAYED AGAINST THE MAGIC LAST SEASON, THE HAWKS GOT BLOWED OUT OF EVERY GAME. WITH HINRICH THE HAWKS CAN BEAT THE MAGIC, BUT THEY CAN ALSO BEAT ANY OTHER TEAM IN THE ASSOCIATION. THE HAWKS WILL BE CROWNED KINGS OF THE NBA SOON AND I AM LOOKING FORWARD TO SEEING THE HAWKS CLAIM THE CHAMPIONSHIP TROPHY IN A COUPLE MONTHS. GO HAWKS–DEFEAT BULLS IN 4.
MRHEIN2
April 29th, 2011
12:09 pm
@CapeCrusader.. big words from a comic strip charachter, kind of hard to take seriously. Good luck to Hawk fans. Bulls in 5.
NBA Playoffs: The Changes the Bulls Need to Make to Reach the Finals – Bleacher Report | Locs Basketball Store
April 29th, 2011
12:23 pm
[...] Atlanta Journal Constitution (blog) [...]
Jay Dubu
April 29th, 2011
12:36 pm
Now comes the Hawks’ test. This is the point at which they have stubled the past two seasons.
The Bulls are beatable by the Hawks, but the Hawks will need to play consistant.
If they can figure out how to stop Rose, they’ll be in the East Title Game.
BudAbbott
April 29th, 2011
12:42 pm
Dont forget guys and gals. THE BULLS STRUGGLED TO CLOSE OUT THE PACERS. THE PACERS DOMINATED ALL THE GAMES AND HAD AN OPPORTUNITY TO WIN THE SERIES. Secondly, Carlos Boozer the Bulls second leading scorer was MIA [missing in action] in the series. The Bulls got absolutely NOTHING from Boozer. That makes the Bulls a one-man-band. Just shut down that guy playing the music and then all the music stops. Simply double and triple team Rose and I think the Hawks will easily beat the Bulls in five. If you succeed in bottling up Rose:NOAH, DANG, AND BOOZER dont scare anyone. The third factor in the Hawks defeating the Bulls is that the Hawks UNDERACHIEVED in the regular year. Frequent turnovers, brain lapses, poor shots, poor defense, blown leads all contributed to the scant 44 wins. The Hawks could easily have won 55-60 games this season which would have made them equal to the Bulls, Lakers, Thundser, Mavericks, Celtics and every other elite team out there. THERE IS NO DOMINANT TEAM SO I THINK THIS IS THE CHANCE FOR THE HAWKS TO GO DEEP INTO THE PLAYOFFS. HOW DEEP REMAINS A MYSTERY.
GeorgeFoster
April 29th, 2011
12:54 pm
Hi Jamieer, Ill get Derrick to say hello for you. As a tub of lard (you) are eating your tub of ice cream, remember in order for you to become a factor in the NBA you will need to grow approximately 10 inches in height. If you cant do that, you will ALWAYS SIT HOME and watch other teams win in the playoffs. The lowly Hawks (A TEAM YOU USED TO OWN) blocked your tiny shot about 10 TIMES in the series that we (Hawks) eliminated you and sent you home for the summer.
Mason
April 29th, 2011
12:55 pm
Chicago is going to sweep ATL no question.
MRHEIN2
April 29th, 2011
12:59 pm
@BudAbbott… I predict the Hawks lose by 20 Monday. That is in exactly 82 hours from now. I think we can agree that if the Hawks are going to win the series they need to steal game one. Talk to you all again on Tuesday morning.
joey1
April 29th, 2011
1:29 pm
if the hawks play with the heart and effort they played with against orlando in game 6 they will beat the bull in 6. but the question is which hawks team will so up??? the hungry team that plays with some much heart and effort like in orlando series game 6 or the team that often gives up when things dont go their way like in orlando game 5????
Youalreadyknow
April 29th, 2011
1:31 pm
I am guilty no lie, I lash into them all the time because that’s what they make you do, will frustrate the h#!! out of you. But I still send them $2900 a year for my season ticket package, because last night is what you hope will eventually happen regularly. But they deserve praise today, last night was incredible and to witness it live was pure electricity. Special congratulations to Coach Drew on your first series win!!!
The Game Has Changed
April 29th, 2011
1:41 pm
@Shake&Break- Well said young man. I cant understand why we are hated so much. But its all good. Even after we beat the Bulls in 6 games they are going to find a reason to fire Drew. The man is doing a good jump. This is his first rodeo so lets give him a lil room. Go Hawks
The Game Has Changed
April 29th, 2011
1:50 pm
@Mason-The Bulls just struggled with the Pacers. We just cruised through a team with the most dominate player in the East. Wow. Give us a lil respect. Nevermind. We gonna take your respect.
Mark Hoffman
April 29th, 2011
2:23 pm
Congrats to the Hawks for accomplishing something that most did not expect. Actually, the Hawks match up much better with the Bulls than the Magic. Hinrich being hurt will be a factor. He watched and played with Rose and knows a lot of his tricks. But, as Indiana learned, the strategy on Rose is “back up and make him beat you with his outside shot”. Horford certainly knows Noah well from his days at UF. Keep an eye out for Teague! He will play well in the Bulls series and make people wonder why Drew never let him off the bench in the Magic series. Expect toghter series than most but Hwks will lose in 6. If Josh Smith plays like he did against Orlando, it could be in 5 or even a sweep!
joey1
April 29th, 2011
2:34 pm
again if the hawks play with the heart and effort they played with against orlando in game 6 they will beat the bull in 6. but the question is which hawks team will so up??? the hungry team that plays with some much heart and effort like in orlando series game 6 or the team that often gives up when things dont go their way like in orlando game 5????
Youalreadyknow
April 29th, 2011
2:39 pm
Great marketing by the Atlanta Spirit on their 2011 renewal plans. The deal was, if you renewed your seats early for next season you will get your playoff tickets at the same price as the first round for as long as the Hawks last. So that means my second round (Bulls) tickets will cost the same as the lower priced first round tickets, what a deal. So if they make the finals, the fans will really win with this deal, a finals ticket for same price as a first round ticket. So you know who I am pulling for, right?
Dexter Lowe
May 1st, 2011
10:57 pm
Solid info! I wonder if this’ll show up on CoachWatcher. CW is the place to go for all the coaching info, news, and rumors. http://www.CoachWatcher.com