TheNorthCydeRises

Yes sir. It's a 4 1/2 - 5 hour drive for me, if no construction is going on.

The problem with this fa base, is that 80% of the people think that Josh Smith is untradeable or something. With Okafor being able to play center, you slide Horford to PF. A position in which he may already be better than Smoove at. Tell Charlotte to basically swap us Okafor for Smoove, and sign them to identical contracts. C - Okafor PF - Horford F - Marvin ( or trade him also for a more complete player ) G - JJ PG - Law ( or Bibby ) Then we have to hope that Horford is the stud at PF that we hoped, while Okafor still give us the shot blocking ability that Smoove brought to the table. Okafor's ability to guard the post will balance the squad out better. On Charlotte's end . . C - Nazr PF - Smoove F - Morrison ( if healthy ) G - J-Rich PG - Felton

. . . especially those of you who live in Metro ATL. As of 1 PM Thursday, that game was NOT sold out, because i just bought my tickets today. Sec 207. $55 ( $64 with tax, extra charges, etc ) Now we all have special circumstances that will keep us from going to a game, like family, job, sickness, etc. But these are the PLAYOFFS!!! If anything, you should be trying to find a reason TO attend the game, not a reason to get out of it. If you want management to put a great product on the floor, the die hard fans HAVE to support the team during the playoffs. So if you're in ATL, get a ticket for game 3 or game 4.

Quote: Quote: Who the hell made you the basketball god where you could call out Joe Johnson? Who the h*ll gave you the right to speak to me? JJ is basically stealing money. 4-10 shooting for 11 points? That's all he has got? Joe Johnson is proof that you don't always get what you pay for. (((( throwing up ))))

Why talk about Marvin, when our 30 million dollar backcourt played like ish tonight? Marvin outscored both of those cats tonight.

I'm at work till 11 pm tonight, and will try to NOT see or hear anyting about this game until I watch the tape of it. I'll peek right now to see the score. After that, I'll try to avoid every possible media outlet or loudmouth that might tell me the score.

- Now that I really think about it, Bibby may have ran his mouth so that HE will be more motivated to play better. And i think he'll play much better tonight. - JJ and Horford will get a double-double - One of the Celtics Big 3 will have a horrible game, but one of them will score 25+ points - Rondo won't have near as good of a game tonight, thus, Cassell may play in crunch time in he 4th. - Salim, if he plays, will hit his first shot, and the next one. - Smoove will hit a 3. - One of the Celtics will commit a hard foul against Marvin going to the hole, almost sparking a fight. - The Hawks will have a lead in the 2nd quarter at some point. - We will cover the spread

Quote: Quote: Pheonix had "4" fast break points last night. The Spurs had 23. Kind of an important component in their win! And they got those 23 points by rebounding and defending.

It's not Avery's fault that the Mavs are soft as hell. He didn't put that squad together or trade away their young PG or defensive center to get Kidd. The fans need to direct their anger toward Cuban and the GM. It's amazing how much better Paul is over Kidd. And watch . . Paul won't even be the starter for Team USA in China . . Kidd will . . because of seniority.

Quote: I don't understand the point of rewatching a game like that. They are simply better by far and i don't think anything new can be gleaned from this game or any game this series. The Hawks won 37 games, 29 less than the Celtics. They just aren't that good. I rewatch a game like that because I'm a hoops junkie. Even in a loss, you can see what they may have done well and what they didn't do well. The guy that you were complaining about for 3/4ths of the season, Horford, had the best offensive game of his career. He hit the midrage jumper. He converted down on the block or drew a foul. He even got KG in a one on one position about 15 feet from the basket. He faced him up, drove into the lane, and shot about a 8 - 10 foot running hook shot over KG's outstretched hands. When you rewatch the game, you also see how much JJ was in attack mode, even if he didn't make most of his shots. I have never seen him be so aggressive at trying to go to the hole and possibly draw fouls. He was definitely in Joe-Zilla mode, if he could've gotten more of those floaters to fall or a few more fouls called against him. He's gotta have that mindset the entire series. That game really didn't get out of hand, until Rondo hit those 6 straight points to close the 3rd quarter, and put the C's up by 18. But of course, all people see is a 23 point loss.

Bibby needs to shut his mouth, and take some extra shots before tomorrow night's game. Work on that schizophrenic jumper, not your trash talk with the fans.

It's a good thought, but here's why it wouldn't be nearly as effective here. Both Bibby and JJ aren't exactly lightning quick players that can blow by people. That'll keep the defender from being overly concerned about the dribble drive. What Paul does, is absolutely kill people off the pick and roll with his penetration. He'll look to score early. Then once teams start trying to shut him down, he'll start passing the ball all over the place. That's when you'll see the lobs to Chandler or even the kick out passes to Peja. Johnny, I'm rewatching this game as I type this. It's 8:02 in the 3rd quarter, and the Hawks are down 44 - 57. TNT is showing a stat about our shooting: SHOOTING TONIGHT Horford/Johnson: 10/19 FGs Rest of team: 7/26 FGs And with that rest of team shooting at that time, Marvin had made 2 shots, Chill 3 shots, Smoove and Bibby 1 shot. We just have to make shots man. If they get to the hole, they have to make the lay-up or draw the foul. And if they get open looks on ther perimeter, they have to knock the shot down.

Jack, I have watched Game 1 three times now. The Celtics, to start the game, was picking us up full court after every made shot. They even made it a priority of even doubling Bibby to get the ball out of his hands. When they didn't double the ball, the entire team sprinted bck to play defense. This is playoff basketball Jack. And we just happen to be playing the best overall team and best defensive team in the league. You MUST execute in the halfcourt offense this time of year and you MUST play defense on the other end. Against Boston, whether you run or not, you MUST make shots, especially open shots, plain and simple. Bibby missed at least 5 open shots. JJ saw most of his shots contested, but he missed open looks as well. Marvin missed shots too. This is not the Knicks defense that we are playing against. Great defensive teams make it a priority to take you out of what you do best.

Quote: some more bitching by a hawks fan.....surprising Hood, people have to just realize that the Celtics are from top to bottom more talented than we are. We can hang with them, but not when we shoot under 40% FG as a team. We"re going to have to play dang near a perfect game, or have them have a horrible game, fo us to win. But people continue to overrate how much talent we really have. They have talent, but they still need big game experience. This series will let guys like Smoove and Marvin know that they must become MUCH MORE TOUGHER mentally and physically as players. Right now, they're too soft. This is why it was important for this squad to make the playoffs, even if we are the Celtics sacrifical lambs. The intensity and atmosphere of the playoffs is totally different from what goes on in the regular season. And on the road, you better ratch it up even more, if you really want to win. As for us not running . . . right from the opening tip, they were double teaming Bibby as soon as he got the ball from a made shot. They made a point to not let us run.

Quote: 1. not having confidence for ANYONE to play few minutes with 2 fouls in the 1st half (Smoove). Especially when KG came back into the game and sparked the C's a little. At least put him back in for a few minutes, to see if he could slow down their momentum. If we were winning, I could see why he held him out. Quote: 2. Playing Chillz at PG (Plain STUPID) 3. Matching Chillz up on Rondo defensively reguardless of if he is playing a SF role offensively. (EVEN MORE STUPID) Mike Fratello, when raving about how good of a player JJ is, suggested that if Bibby kept struggling, that Woody shoud think about putting JJ at the point, so that they could play Chill. Woody did that toward the end of the 3rd. With the lineup we had in the game, the only options were to either play JJ or Chill at the point, which also meant that one of those 2 had to guard Rondo. Quote: 4. Instructing your players to go underneath screens rather them making them fight to go through or above them for better defense vs. the jump shot off the screen. I can understand allowing your players to do it vs. Rondo b/c he is not known as a shooter. However, we do this every game vs. ever opponent without EVER adjusting. Part of defending the screen and roll, is also for the defender whose man is setting the pick, to also fight through the screen. He has to at least show enough toward the man receiving the ball, so that he has to hesitate for a little. You'll routinely see our big men give a partial show to the man receiving the ball, but he'll turn his back completely to that man, in order for him to quickly get back to HIS man to prevent a lay-up. That's whe the ball hadler will immeadiately pull up from 3. Zaza is especially bad about this. Quote: 5. Instructing the players to switch ever time on defense. Why ? I understand when Marvin or Smoove switch but Bibby got caught on Garnett a few times and it seemed the Hawks didn't even care. They don't switch everytime. Otherwise, there wouldn't be a complaint about fighting through a screen. The best way to defend the perimeter, when your man to man defense is shaky, is to switch. But you're right about switching. It might get you into a horrible matchup. Quote: 6. Struggling in the half court offense and not being able to run enough. This has one common possible solution - Yes the rookie Acie Law......give the kid a shot. He might just suprise you under the bright lights. Our best solution is for Bibby to get his azz going. He's been the key to the increased success in our running game and in our halfcourt execution the past 2 months. Acie's time will have to come next year, when hopefully he and Bibby are pretty much our version of Toronto's TJ Ford and Jose Calderon ( even though they even looked like crap against Orlando ) Quote: 7. Post up JJ vs. Allen. The Celtics will double team and hopefully Bibby can get going.....Or the Celtics switch Pierce on JJ and Allen on Marvin where Marvin can take Allen inside. We have to play to our matchup strengths and that is one of our few match up strengths vs. their starting 5. JJ did post up Allen, but the C's covered that by letting Ray guard JJ until JJ made his move toward the goal. That's when KG or Perkins would rotate toward JJ, and defend his shot at the rim or at close range. JJ got his shot blocked a few times because of this. That team is very good defensively, and those vets know who can shoot and who can't shoot. Even when someone is open, they're running and flying out at the shooter. That team is GOOD. And they're better than people give them credit to be. I'm disappointed in Bibby, more than anybody else. Age and experience wise, he's the one guy that should know what the playoffs are all about. And he played like Anthony Johnson last night. Wait . . even AJ wouldn't have played that bad.

Interesting. No one wants Elton Brand? Oh I forgot. To get Brand, we'd have to let Smith sign someone else. And no way does the Squawk want to trade Josh Smith for an all-star PF just coming off of an injury. Smoove's "potential" to be great is too much to just give up on. I'm sure the Celtics regret giving up the "great" Al Jefferson to get KG.

LOL . . I guess Woody is the first coach to use gimmicks to try to motivate his team. So if Woody would've dunked his head in a bucket of ice water as a motivational tool, that would be stupid too huh?

Quote: Quote: When the Celtics turned it over, Woody just left him in. No excuse for Woody to leave him in. corrected Why are you always correcting stupid ish? If Mario can't hit a damn wide open 15 foot jumper, why is he even in the NBA? Whether Woody should have left him in or not, you're trying to tell me that Mario can't hit a wide open 15 foot shot? And it's no excuse for Woody to leave him in? LOL @ that ish. Might as well cut Mario, if he can't make that shot.

Quote: This has probably already been discussed ad nauseum but has anyone come up with an explanation of why Josh Smith didn't play in the second quarter of the year's most critical game for the Hawks? I was banging my head against the wall watching KG play with 2 fouls while Josh Smith sat for the Hawks to the point that he didn't even play for half the game. If we are going to have a chance in this series, we need to take chances and getting the most out of Smith and Horford is our best chance to be competitive. Isn't sitting Josh for more than half the game making the worst possible outcome (Smith misses key time because he fouls out prematurely) a guarantee? :doh I agree that you can't sit him out that long. If anything, bring him in for a 2 - 3 minute stretch, then take him back out, if he's that worried about Smith picking up that 3rd foul. But on the flip side, Rivers put Garnett back in the game in the 2nd quarter, when he picked up 2 early fouls in the first. Garnett was able to play 6 minutes in which the Celtics went on a 13 - 4 run. Then he picks up that 3rd foul with 4 minutes to go in the 2nd quarter, and sits out the rest of the half. Smoove gets so out of control sometimes though. That 2nd foul he picked up was an offensive foul in which he tried to go coast to coast. It worked once in that game. But when he tried to do it later on, Posey just stood in the lane waiting for him, and Josh plowed right into him. Woody may have to change his mindset about the whole "2 fouls and you sit rule". This is the playoffs. Might as well go out with all of your bullets blazing. The Celtics have proven all year that once they get up on you, it's very difficult to get back into the game. Quote: Josh played less than half the game but there is an upside Hawks fans, he only had 4 fouls which means none of them will carry over to the next game. I mention that because worrying about fouls carrying over to the next game is the only explanation I can come up with for sitting him for so long when he is easily in our top 3 of guys who can influence the outcome of the game. IMO, you simply don't have the luxury of sitting him if he isn't hot that night because to win you absolutely need him to play well to win and you just have to hope he catches fire or makes some key defensive plays that turn the game. We need his defense and his rebounding. We can win a game without his offense, but we can't win without his defense. At any rate, he should've played more than 24 minutes last night. Quote: On a lesser note, for the final play of the first half, has anyone figured out why in the world Super Mario was in the game when we were inbounding the ball? To the suprise of no one who actually thought about how the play might develop, he got left open and clanked the jumper. Well . . . people have been clamoring for Mario to play, so I guess his "fans" are happy he was in there to miss that jumper. Mario was in the game for defensive purposes, to prevent Horford from picking up a cheap foul at the end. When the Celtics turned it over, Woody just left him in. No excuse for Mario to miss a wide open 15 footer though. That's one of the easiest shots in the NBA to make. Bottom line is that Woody coaches scared sometimes. And because he doesn't trust his bench, he coaches even more scared in some stretches.

That's just Woody's rotation. He comes out after 6 minutes, and is back in the game with around 2 minutes to go in the 1st quarter.

Quote: The NBA should blackout the rest of this series. Seriously. The NBA has a bad image problem and a one sided series like this doesn't help. It makes the NBA look worse. How about you just blackout your own TV, and not watch the rest of the series?

Quote: I'm no apologist or hater, but I can safely say that he, along with damn near everyone else on the Hawks team sans Horford and Chill, are playing like utter crap right now. Exactly. I was about to type that very same thing. JJ's passing has been good. Otherwise, he's been off as well. Damn . . those cats have no respect for Zaza whatsoever.

Bibby is flat out selling us out right now. Not with just his lack of shotmaking, but also with his lack of playmaking or defensive awareness. Just a horrible game from him right now. And although JJ will probably get 10 assists tonight, we need points from him as well. Like I said, we need his scoring AND playmaking to keep up with the Celtics.

That was a 5 point swing. Quickly down 16 now. They just look nervous right now. LOL . . except the rookie.

( Sigh ) . . . keep attaking Smoove. Don't settle for that jumper. OK Joe-Zilla . . . time to stomp on Tokyo.