TheNorthCydeRises

And if Curry and Thompson are the "Splash Brothers" . . . . we need a name for Korver and DeMarre. On FIRE tonight!!

DeMarre is like . . . Dude looks like the 2nd coming of Klay Thompson these days. Definitely looking to get paid in the offseason, if he keeps playing like this.

If we had Tony Allen AND DeMarre Carroll out on the perimeter playing defense, this series would be over by now. Tony is one of those guys that opposing fans hate, but his current fan base absolutely loves. Put it like this. There is no 35 point explosion by Deron, if we had The Grindfather.

1 - 25? Good Lord. Pero went 3 - 25 in last year's playoffs, so Baze definitely needs to stop jacking from 3, and take shots he can actually make.

I've been a Pero basher since he's put on a Hawks uniform. But even I have to give him props for his play in this series. He's playing solid defense, shooting the ball well, even rebounding at times.

I definitely agree. Horford finally played like a legit All-Star tonight. And you just can't say enough about DeMarre. Without him, we're dead in this series. Good, gut check win by the squad tonight. Gives me an excuse to possibly be in ATL this weekend.

Don't do it JJ. DON'T YOU DO IT!!!

Bud CANNOT let Schröder and Bazemore blow this lead, when they get back in the game. Yank them QUICK at the 1st sign of trouble.

Good activity by Horford in this 1st quarter.

It's 2015, and we're still winning with Horford as our center. Yet, we're struggling vs Brooklyn mainly because we don't have a bigger center than Horford.

Funny. We could use a shot creator like Jordan in this series vs Brooklyn.

How ironic that it's the "Woody" switching defense that has got them back on track.

Diesel, this is actually the worst case scenario that is happening to the Hawks. The defense is non-existent. The point guards are inefficient. Korver is inefficient. And we've given a team that has no business having any chance of winning the series, all the chance in the world to pull it off. And while I agree that the odds of Deron having another game like that is slim, the flip side is that the odds of Joe Johnson possibly having a game like that, grows with every passing game. Once he has his game, it's all about which team can prevail in Game 7 ( because I do believe that this series is now going 7 games ). Hopefully JJ doesn't decide to have his game then. On the flip side, who is going to have a Deron like game for us? Who is going to carry this team? The Nets have 3 guys who can potentially do it, no matter how inconsistent they are. The Hawks? how is going to do it for the Hawks? I do believe that we'll win the series. But it may have to go down like the Milwaukee series in 2010 did, with us possibly having to win the final 2 games to advance.

No one in this fan base saw the Nets even winning 2 games, let alone possibly winning the series. But it is clearly evident that we have no one that can contain Brook Lopez. And one of the things that we've been needing since day 1 ( really since Theo Ratliff left 10+ years ago ), is a rim protecting big man who can maybe alter a few shots around the rim, and possibly guard bigger, talented offensive centers. Other than a guy who can create offense off the dribble, that's really the only thing left that we needed. It's not that the roster isn't good enough. It's that the roster isn't built to handle every possible team we could face. And without Sefolosha's wing defense and especially his rebounding, it just makes our potential roster flaw that much greater. Horford is the guy who has to really step up now. Don't let Lopez control the game and the boards. Play like a big man, and not like a big SF.

Nah, I don't believe that. It's very hard to beat a team 4 games in a row during the playoffs, unless the mismatches you have over them are so great, that they can't overcome them. Brooklyn is very capable of winning Game 5 in Atlanta, because a guy like JJ is due to have a Deron like game. And my fear is that he's going to have it in Atlanta. Most of his better playoff games, both as a Hawk and as a Net, have come on the road. Brooklyn winning Game 5 would have them sky high and put us in desperation mode. And Brooklyn normally doesn't play well when people expect them to play well. Conversely, we SHOULD win Game 5. Now Brooklyn would be the one in desperation mode, while we'd know that we would have another game at Philips. So I don't think that the Game 5 winner wins the series in Game 6. This looks like a 7 game series no matter what.

Moose isn't a good defender but he's a much better offensive player than Antić and even Mike Scott. I think Brand has to get a shot in this series. Put an experienced guy in the game that can toughen us up defensively. Kill Mike Scott from the rotation. This is not the series for him.

As for the shot creator, we don't even have a Nate Robinson like shot creator. I agree with others that we need a big SG or a SF who could get his own shot off the dribble if need be. We can't depend on our bigs to set up in the low post and score down on the block, when we need a tough basket. Horford pretty much refuses to do it, and has failed to develop that part of his game over the years. Neither Teague nor Schröder, with their low release points on their shots, can rise over their man and make a tough shot. And while they're trying to do it more often, Korver and Carroll aren't the guys you look toward to create a shot off the bounce. But it's the defense that is now killing this team. Bud has to make major adjustments in who he wants to play and how he should defend people, or we may be facing a do or die game in Brooklyn for Game 6.

Ferry in the summer, and Bud during the regular season failed to construct this team to match up with anybody. Our fan base scoffed at the national media when they were telling us that we needed a big. And the winning stretch in December and January blinded a lot of people. All that criticism was coming from ex NBA players ( sometimes Hall of Fame players ) who knew what it took to build a championship team. Now we're in a situation in which the one team we've dominated in the regular season, has found a way to beat us. And with Lopez now being the best offensive player in the series, we have a big problem ( no pun intended ). I still say that Horford is the guy that really needs to elevate is game now, especially on the road.

No true go to guy. No true shot creator. Most of your truly great teams have that in one player. Other teams have at least a shot creator that can score the basketball off the dribble. The closest we have to any of these types of players, is in Millsap.

Teague tried to step up in the 4th quarter, but missed some critical FTs. Bud was trusting Pero, and scared to keep Horford in the game with foul trouble. Kyle nutted up in crunch time and couldn't get anything to fall. Demarre hardly even touched the ball in the 2nd half. AND Millsap was Millsap ... very good, just not outstanding when we needed him to be. We're going to need one of these guys to be a superstar when we go back to Brooklyn in Game 6. Because if we let this go 7 games, it may be curtains for the Hawks.

Demarre trying to raise his value come contract time.

The Spurs have the same non star system. Yet you routinely see one of their guys having huge games in the playoffs. Leonard went for 32 points. Duncan turned back the clock in Game 2 and went for 28 pts 11 rebs 4 assists. Minutes normally increase in the playoffs for starters. So if Bud chooses to increase Horford's minutes, I expect a big game out of him.

Definitely a very good article. I think real evidence of this recently, is with Pero now using his infamous pump fake to actually drive to the basket now. The "vitamins" have made marginal role players into useful assets.

And that's the reason why tonight's game is all about the play of Millsap, Horford and Teague. And I say the emphasis is on Horford and Teague in particular Teague definitely has to play better on both ends of the floor. The length of Lopez and specifically Young is bothering him, when he drives to the hole. I'd personally like him to utilize more of the 15 foot midrange jumper if he feels he can't get a clean look at a lay up. Another thing he could do is more drive and kick action, to possibly get guys better looks. But I think the real guy that needs to come up big, is Al Horford. No more soft play out of him. If your jumper isn't falling, then get active on the offensive boards and get some put backs. Size your man up at the FT line and take him off the dribble, like you used to do 4 - 5 years ago. Even make it a point to post up smaller defenders when they're on you. People talk about Playoff Teague. We'll I personally want to see Playoff Horford ( or at least the birth of it ). Star players normally have to come up big on the road, in order to get playoff road wins. It's time for you to step up Al, and show this league that you can be more than just a good all-around player. I want to see STARDOM tonight. 25 pts - 14 rebs - 6 asst shouldn't be out of the question for Al tonight. Carry your team dude.

Kind of wished that Bud would've tried either Muscala ( for shooting and offensive rebounding ) or Jenkins ( to replace Korver ). Just a horrible offensive performance today.