TheNorthCydeRises

Oh well. We had our shot when we cut it to 6. The Celtics had to play like this tonight. It was a must win for them. And they were hot from long range. Philips will be rockin' Friday night. I look foward to being there to cheer us on to play that Game 7. At some point in this series, Bibby needs to play like it's 2001. We have to get one monster game from that cat.

Quote: Quote: I almost get teary eyed looking at the crowd on TV and knowing I'm not part of that And it is that feeling that compelled me to purchase a flight to go home to ATL and Game 6 tickets immediately after we won Monday night. Work and life are officially on hold. I will be in the building Friday and i can't wait! I made sure i got my tix yesterday around noon. There's even a chance that I won't even be able to make it down there on Friday. But if I can help it, there is no way I'm missing a chance to either: - give the Hawks a standing ovation for fighting hard, but losing the series in 6 games - Be able to cheer them on to a victory, to force a Game 7 in Boston - Or be able to witness HISTORY, and watch the Hawks knock off the Celtics in Game 6, in what would easily be the biggest upset in NBA history, and maybe one of the top 5 upsets in sports history. I didn't even want to take a chance, and wait until after tonight's game, to make my decision to go. There were a lot of good seats around noon yesterday. I guess everyone who went to either game 3 and/or 4, want to experience that feeling again at Game 6.

I guess the ASG needs to fire Woody right now, in order to get Avery . . lol. If Avery still wants to coach, he'll have a job by Friday. Ish, the Knicks and Heat are probably talking to him as we speak. Cuban will probably bring in Del Harris or somebody. LOL . . I bet Larry Brown is pizzed right now.

Quote: The question is how hard is it to out coach DOC Rivers? What has Doc done from a coaching stand point in his career!!!!! You can't have it both ways though. The Celtics won 66 games with Doc at the helm. Victory-wise, that's in the top 10 of ALL TIME in the NBA. Off the top of my head, I can only think of 2 other NBA teams all time that posted more wins . . . the Jerry West Laker team that went 69 - 13 and Bulls team that won 72 games. So this Boston team may even be TOP 5 of ALL TIME!!! So did they win those 66 games on the strength of Doc's coaching and game management, or did they win it because they added 2 Hall of Fame players to the roster, plus a plethora of vet role players? If the answer is the players, then they're now struggling because of those same players. The same goes for Woody. To give almost al of the credit to the players for winning games, but placing all of the blame on Woody when we lose, isn't being objective at all. It's funny though. If you go to any online boards about the Celtics today, you'll see some of the same complaints about Doc, than may people have constantly said about Woody: - he plays the starters too much - he doesn't develop his bench - he has bad substitution patterns - he doesn't make in-game adjustments LMAO . . this is a coach that won 66 games this season that they're talking about. Yet, many people have reduced him to Woody's status, because the C's didn't sweep us. I read some of Boston's RealGM comments. People were complaining about Doc not playing Eddie House to spread the floor. Then when House comes in and does nothing, they complain about him being in the game in the first place. ( sounds like the Salim Stoudamie as a sparkplug for the offense argument, huh ). And that leads to them questioning why Rondo wasn't in the game more in the 2nd half, even though Rondo looked gun shy ( the Acie Law should play more argument ) The best one was why Tony Allen isn't getting any PT, especially to guard JJ in the 4th. ( the Mario West is our best perimeter defender, so he should play more argument ) I guess they wanted Sam Cassell out of the game, so that Pierce can run the point. Funny what losing will do for a person's perception about you.

And here's one more thing. When Woody really shortned this rotation in March, it not only enabled us to make the playoffs, it was PREPARING this team FOR the playoffs, a time when teams usually shorten their rotation. For all of the complaining about not playing the bench guys 8 - 12 little or no minutes, Woody knew fully well that he hd to rely on his core 7 guys to possibly have a shot in the postseason. And he was dead on.

Most of the fan base was in denial 2 months ago, about what it would mean to this team, the city, and the fans about the impact making the playoffs would make. We hadn't been there in so long, that people truly forgot what playoff basketball was really like. 70% of this fan base were complaining about how even though we had won somethibg like 10 or 11 out of 15 games in our quest to make the playoffs, that it meant nothing because we had lost just about every big road game vs teams near us. They complained that we only won 37 games, and dropped the last 2 games ( even though we weren't going all out to win those games ). They whined and complained about how cheesy it was for Woody to put pics of the championship trophy in the players' lockers. They had something to say when Woody said something about the Hawks winning the championship THIS YEAR. They were embarrassed after Game 1 and Game 2 to be a Hawks fan. They fully expected us to also get blown out in Game 3. But Game 3 changed everything, because, like the Georgia Bulldogs men's basketball team, the only thing that REALLY MATTERS, is how you play in the postseason. And if you can make a little noise in the postseason, it may be all the motivation and confidence you need going into next season. In Game 3, the fans came out in droves. The arena was as loud as it's ever been. And the players and coaches responded with a groundbreaking win. A relatively easy win, to be honest. Most saw it as a great win, but the only win we'll probably get in the series. Game 4, in which the Hawks faced as much adversity as they've faced all year, saw this young team finally "Rise Up" and play like veterans. And in the case of JJ and Smoove, play like SUPERSTARS. It also saw Woody, for the first time in many people's eyes, not only coach a good game, but show EMOTION while doing it. He has made adjustments once we came home to play. And those adjustments have worked very well. The same goes for our much maligned captain, who people complained about not being vocal enough and not showing much emotion throughout games. Yet, while he was in "the zone"" durng Game 4, you could see him yelling and beating his chest, ala what kobe Bryant does. The fact is Zbo, these last 2 games, no matter what happens the rest of the series, has done more for the confidence of these players, the coaches, the fan base, and Atlanta as a NBA city, than all of the 9 years of losing has done to completely suck the life out of all of us. It's the same thing that went on with the Nashvlle Predators this yar in the NHL playoffs. They were a franchise that was really on the brink of movng out of Nashville and into Canada. The fan base, even though the Preds had mde the playoffs 2 straight years, was fragile at best. And like the Hawks, the Preds had to face the best team in the league, the Detroit Red Wings. And like the Hawks, Detroit wiped the floor with the Preds in games 1 & 2. But when they went back to Nashville for games 3 & 4, it was the Preds that looked like the championship team. They played an inspired Game 5 in Detroit, tying the game on a dramatic goal in the final minute of regulation, but lost in OT. In Game 6 in Nashville, Detroit took control of the game late, and closed out the series. The Predators have gone from an organization that was on the brink of being gone from Nashville, to a franchise that saw the city actually give a damn about hockey. It also saw the Preds coach get an extension on his contract. Boston's 66 regular season wins means JACK S--T right now. And the same goes for our 37 regular season wins. Woody's greatest asset as a coach, is that he tries to keep his team from going into panic mode. He's done it all year, even when the team wasn't playing well. Say what you want about him, but he was right all along about what this team needed to do to win games. After getting blown out in Boston, I think the players finally saw what Woody was talking about. If you DEFEND and REBOUND THE BASKETBALL, you'll be able to RUN, which will enable us to win the game. If we play 2 close games, but lose to Boston in 6, he'll probably be retained,unless he can bring a guy like Avery ( if he gets fired ) or Fratello in. If we force the series to go 7 games, he'll get a 2-year extension, but have a short leash at the start of next season. If we "shock the world", there is no question that Woody deserves a new long term deal.

Quote: are u guys forgetting the Kobe/Shaq split commercial? ** end of thread **

D'Antoni is an average coach at best. He is NOT a bad coach, but he isn't a good one either. This team does not go to some "next level" with D'Antoni as coach, compared to with Woody as coach. D'Antoni's philosphy is to try to outscore everybody, not play intense defense to keep your opponent from scoring. We don't have the PG, the shooters, nor the low post presence for D'Antoni's style to work here. Avery is a different story. I think Avery could drastically improve us because he coaches the Mavs like Pop coached him. Avery's problem is that he has a team full of players that would rather play offense, than commit to defense. As I've said many times, the Hawks are built to DEFEND, not to run. They definitey have the athleticism to run, and they should when the opportunity presents itself. But it's defense and rebounding that wins games. And that has won these last 2 playoff games. As great of a quarter as JJ had, we don't win that game unless we absoultely shut down Boston offensively at the same time. The Lakers, Hornets, Spurs, Pistons, and even the Cavs all defend. Boston does it. Houston, Philly and Utah can do it. And the Hawks are doing it in this series. A cat like D'Antoni would be treating Salim like he was Barbosa, because he'd fall in love with Salim's potential explosiveness on offense. He'd opt to play Salim at times, over Chill and Marvin. And he'd tell Salim "it's OK, keep shootng", even after Salim would be 0 - 5 FG.

Quote: In other words, even Woody could win if he had to Suns lineup to work with. At least guys like Brown and Fratello wouldn't let this team coach EVER on defense. D'Antoni, on the other hand, would be encouraging everybody on the roster to take open jumpers at any time, even Smoove, Chill, and Zaza. Replace the word "coach" with "coast". Fratello or Brown would never let this team COAST on defense, like D'Antoni occasionally lets the Suns do.

People think that any other coach in the world, wll be better than Woody. This fan base will be in for a rude awakening, if we don't get the absolute right coach here. And I'm sorry, Sam Mitchell is no more of a good coach than Woody is. And a guy like D'Antoni has had 2 legit MVP candidates ( Nash & Amare ), another player who was a freak of nature and all-star caliber ( Marion ), a perennial 6th man of the year candidate ( Barbosa ), good veteran players who were former all-stars ( Hill & Shaq ), and one of the top perimeter defenders in the league ( Bell ) play for him the last 4 years . . . and the Most Improved Player in the league 2 years ago in the great Boris Diaw . . . and he STILL couldn't get it done. D'Antoni might be a better coach than Woody, but it isn't by very much. When you really break D'Antoni down, he isn't a good strategist at all. It's pretty much Nash or bust with that team. And Nash is destined to be one of the few league MVPs to never play in the NBA Finals. If Woody was the coach in Phoenix, they might not be as an exciting of a team. But with Nash and Amare, they'll still be able to pick and roll people to death. And with Woody stressing defense, they might be a better defensive team. In other words, even Woody could win if he had to Suns lineup to work with. At least guys like Brown and Fratello wouldn't let this team coach EVER on defense. D'Antoni, on the other hand, would be encouraging everybody on the roster to take open jumpers at any time, even Smoove, Chill, and Zaza.

I always tell you guys to record these games and re-watch them. Our running opportunities came, because we played DEFENSE and we REBOUNDED the basketball. Those are the 2 things that Woody has preached from the start of the season more than anything else. As for our halfcourt offense, almost all of our 3 point makes came out of the halfcourt set and the offense in general looked very good in the halfcourt. The inside-out game that Horford was able to execute was tremendous. If it's any team we played like on Saturday night, it was the Lakers. Not Phoenix, or Golden St, or Denver, or any run-n-gun team that tries to run all day, without playing defense. The Lakers run occasionally, but they make a total team commitment to defend and they rebound the basketball. That's how you win playoff games. The C's only grabbed 9 offensive rebounds the other night. When you do that as a team, plus hold your opponent to under 45% shooting and dominate the boards overall, you're going to have a good shot to win games.

Quote: I just don't see any D out of Marvin at all. I think I could get off a jump shot or get around him and I am 5-10 and 44 years old. Hawk88 Wow. Unbelievable. If Marvin is that bad on defense, he should be waived IMMEADIATELY or not dress every game. Why does he even see the floor, if this is true?

LOL . . . they just showed it AGAIN. I guess the KG commercial will be on 2 more times before the Dal - NO game is over.

LOL . . they have played that commercial a lot. Nike is fully aware of the Durant - Horford ROY race. I think the voting ended once the season was over. If it didn't, Horford's play in this series so far might elevate him over Durant. But you know what commercial I'm tired of? I'm tired of the KG Gatorade commercial. It's a cool commercial, but with him being the "enemy", I get tired of seeing that commercial every 45 minutes.

Quote: and probably the biggest reason that we won last night was when they slowed down our full court game we started going inside out with Horford and JJ playing that 2 man game. If they didn't double Horford went strong to the basket. If they doubled then Horford kicked it out. If we do that again Monday night I really like our chance to win again. I was just about to start a thread on that very subject. People can talk all they want about this team and Woody, but they made some SERIOUS adjustments last night. - They gave a dose of the Celtics their medicine back to them, by picking them up full court, forcing the C's to immeadiately call timeout to adjust. We didn't do it all the time, but we played more full court defense, which forced Rondo to work a little more. - The inside-out game by tossing the ball down to Horford in the post, was a thing of beauty. It not only forced Perkins to work and play Al straight up, it also opened things up for JJ on the outside. JJ attempted 8 threes last night, making 5 of them. I don't think he had attempted 5 threes total in the first 2 games. That tactic also opened things up for Smoove to do his thing. - For the most part, they stayed at home with the outside shooters and played KG straight up without a double team. It's not in KG's nature to completely take over the game with his scoring. Zaza's man defense on KG was pretty good last night. - He took Bibby off of Rondo and put him on Posey or some other weaker perimeter player when he was in the game. Chill guarded Rondo or Cassell on occasion, keeping them in check for most of the game. Of course, Woody won't get any credit for it, but it was obvious that the Hawks made adjustments.

Smoove is playing the best game of his career tonight. He's made one questionale play the entire night. This is how he had to play if he want teams to throw big money at him. Excellent game by him. LOL . .. and now the shot clock is back on.

Hawks only allowed 18 points that quarter. This place is absolutely rockin'. We just have to keep attacking on offense and not turn the ball over.

Excellent quarter. Boston getting some easy looks, but we are too. Let's see how long Woody leaves JJ out of this game with 2 fouls. I think we were up 7 when he went out.

He's definitely playing under control tonight.

He is extremey lazy fighting through those screens. And OMG . . . no foul call on the attempted Horford dunk? The refs bet not start this ish.

With all of these singers in this city, they get a VIOLINIST to play the National Anthem? That was lame as hell. Ish, Ciara fne azz should've sung it. Now the jumbotron opening is on point. Showing all of the great upsets of all time ( App St over Michigan., Giants beating Patriots, USA Hockey over USSR, etc ), then referring to us against Boston. Hawks fans are ready for this game. No silent arena tonight, unless we get behind. The first few minutes will be loud as hell, especially if we come out great.

There is a LOT of Green in this building. A lot of them got lower level seats too. This definitey has a big game feel to it. JJ has to play like a superstar tonight, for us to win this game. It's definitely enough Celtic fans in here for them to be heard tonight. It will be so embarrassing if Bibby has another bad game, and the Boston fans start chanting "Where is Bibby?" and "Rondo's better". As for what the organzation did for the fans, all they passed out were small towels so thar we can wave around. They do have all of te ushers decked out in white home jerseys though. 1 minute before opening intros. Lord, please let us win tonight.

. . . would you want him as the next coach of the Hawks? Phoenix looks as if they're about to get swept by the Spurs. And if that happens, D'Antoni could very well get the axe. The vast majority of Phoeix fans don't like D'Antoni AT ALL. To me, he's making a fatal mistake by leaving Shaq in this game. He is absolutely getting killed by the pick and roll, and Parker looks like the best NBA player ever as of this moment . . lol. So if D'Antoni isn't a coach that makes good adjustments, and most of their fan base hates him, would he be a better option than Woody? Not saying that I want to keep Woody, because i don't at this time. But a guy like D'Antoni may or may not be an upgrade over him. The Spurs have totally dismantled this team. This could very well be the end of the Suns "window of opportunity" to win a title.

It is sad. And I'm a big time NFL fan. Lord knows that my Bengals not only need to make the right pick in those first 2 rounds, they also need to trade Chad Johnson for some other disgruntled player ( Shockey, Jason Taylor, etc ) Having said that, people can ALWAYS record the NFL draft, and support the Hawks in their 1st playoff game in 9 years. I bet the people who are die hard Golden St and Raiders/49er fans, didn't pass on the opportunity to watch the Warriors live last year. The 1st round will be long over by the time the Hawks game starts. Rd 2 might also be over. So if viewing who the Falcons will take in Rd 3 is more important for you folks in ATL than supporting the Hawks at Philips, then I don't know what to say. If you miss Saturday night's game, at least be there on Monday for game 4. Watch . . those same people who didn't attend the game, will be the same ones complaining about how many Boston fans were in Philips. If you don't go to the game, and you live in Metro ATL, don't complain about the crowd and how much Green is there. Sec. 207 Row E for me.

EDS: Damn . . . I knew I was forgetting somebody on that Charlotte lineup. C- Nazr PF - Smoove F - Wallace G - J-Rich PG - Felton JBravo: We're better off with 2 Horford's, than one Horford and one Smoove. And I don't think neither Okafor nor Smoove are worth the MAX. At most, both are worth 10.5 - 12 million. 5yrs - 55 million is probably more like it. Where we get killed at from a team standpoint, is with giving up offensive rebounds. Smoove, while a good rebounder, isn't a guy that goes all out to get rebounds all the time. And his loose cannon attributes can be a blessing and a curse for us. And until he changes his mindset, and plays more with a Shawn Kemp like fierceness instead of a Rashard Lewis mentality, he's not going to get to the level that everyone thinks he will. He'll always be that athletic SF that can block shots, but isn't really physical enough to be an all-star PF. I mean, Gerald Wallace is much more physical of a player than Smoove. An Okafor - Horford frontline makes us tougher defensively, and a better rebounding team. The only questionmark would be if Horford can really become a consistent offensive performer if he got the shots to be one. To see Horford averaging 14.5 ppg, 9.5 rebs, and shooting 58% FG against a great Celtic defense, while Smoove is averaging 9.5 ppg, 7.5 rebs, and shooting a dismal 26% FG ( 2nd only to Bibby's 23.5% FG shooting ), it's a wake-up call for the direction this organization might go in regards to Smith. Even in the 3 games during the regular season: Horford: 15.7 ppg - 9.7 rebs - 55% FG Smith: 15.7 ppg - 6.7 rebs - 38% FG Smith wants to be an efficient offensive player, but he can't be one if he doesn't get tough at the PF position. It's just not going to happen. He'll always be a finesse guy, without a jumper. People keep saying that he'll develop a jumper, but I don't see it. I'm definitely against trading Smith for a bag of chips. You don't trade him for a scrub center like a Przybilla, Nesterovic, or even a Biendrins. For Okafor I would though. I'll say this again. Elton Brand should be our target this summer. If we have to let both Smith go to sign Elton, then sign Elton to an extension, then so be it. Then you get rid of Bibby's azz at the trade deadline for either expirings, or a nice SF, so that we maybe can make the same decision to get rid of Marvin if need be in the summer of 2009. But if no big time talents can be brought in, I'm all for keeping this current squad together. I just know that they'll just be flawed as hell, and may never win a game against a physical defensive team.