TheNorthCydeRises

For all of you who can't see the game, have you tried channelsurfing.net or justin.tv Folks, we may have a BIG PROBLEM. They're almost exclusively attacking Bibby and now Crawford on the offensive end. We're going to have to start doubling whenever they're being posted up. Wow . . . Horford with 4. JJ and Jamal better heat up quick, or this game may quickly get out of reach.

LOL . . Bibby is so bad defensively. Poor effort by this team to start the quarter. They have to keep attacking this team in the middle. And when Kristic was at New Jersey, he was a damn good midrange shooting big man. Can't give him open jumpers. JJ must've hit the club last night or something. He's very passive with his game right now.

Ladies and gentlemen . . . MARIO WEST. Excellent defense by him. He was getting underneath Durant, forcing him to drive the basketball instead of just pulling up for the jumper. For anybody that wonders why Mario may get more minutes than Teague, he just proved it in those 7 - 8 minutes he played. If you can affect a game defensively, Woody WILL play you. Good coaching move by Woody, by going with Mario, instead of with Crawford or Evans. The Thunder definitely impressed me. We should definitely be down at least 10 right now. This team is very balanced, with Durant able to get his own shot at just about any time. Smoove and Al were working great together. Smoove was especially good with his passing. Al isn't making all his shots, but he's staying active and keeping plays alive. Great job b those 2 in the 2nd quarter. If JJ or Jamal can catch fire in the 2nd half, we have a shot to open up a lead on them going into the 4th. Good competitive game so far.

Mario made up for that silly 3 point foul on Durant by getting a steal and an assist, and then defending Durant pretty well. Yes folks . . . Mario is matched up on Durant, if you can't see the game.

I keep telling ya'll about this bench. .They're just not as good as advertised. Wow . . OKC is REALLY GOOD. They have us all out of sync and multiple people are starting to rack up the fouls. Woody puts Mario in for a defensive spark . . lol. Can't risk Marvin picking up #3 though, and Crawford ( while scoring ) wasn't doing much on the defensive end. Craw will come back in though, if Mario can't provide the needed defensive spark.

At the game. Maybe 10K here right now. But with it being Kids Day, the arena is a lot more lively in the 1st quarter, than if you had 15K here. LOL @ then beating the Thundersticks during the timeout. I'll have a headache before I leave the arena . . lol. Durant is hella skinny in person. Dude is a load to handle though. He's already shooting his 6th FT attempt. Thunder are a big, but slender team. Hawks better be careful with these guys. They won't lay down for us.

I gotta admit, I didn't read the entire thread before I posted what I posted. Had I read your earlier post, I would've just co-signed what you said. What I've consistently said about Woody for the past 2 - 3 years, is that he doesn't anything vastly different than most coaches in the NBA. People used to make a huge deal about his "timed substitutions", but every coach in the league does that, especially in the 1st halves of games. It's just a lot of stuff that he's flat out villified for, that really doesn't make any sense . . . because ALL COACHES basically do some of the things he does. He still has "timed substitutions". Everybody knows exactly when Crawford is going to enter the game, regardless of what is going on in the game. But you haven't heard one person cry about a "timed substitution" this year. Not one. Woody is nowhere near a perfect coach. But a bad coach? Nah. But he's proven this year that if he has talent, he can actually coach up the talent. Jamal Crawford is playing far beyond my wildest expectations. Were talking about a 40% FG shooter whose claim to fame is the fact that he's NEVER been to the playoffs, and has one of the worst shot selections in the league. Yet, he comes here, and is coming up big time for us on more than a few occasions? Plus he's at least trying to play defense? Sorry folks . . I gotta give Woody some of the credit for Jamal's efficiency. People will hate when I say that, because I also give credit to Woody for the mental development of JJ from a "what a star should do" standpoint, and the development of Josh Smith. People can keep on believing that "he's a horrible coach" stuff if they want to.

Bobcats are horrible on the road ( 3 - 15 ), although they've won 2 of their last 3 road games, with wins @ Miami and @ Cleveland. But they're red hot, having won 8 of their last 10. The Thunder are a .500 team on the road with quite a few good road wins. These two are definitely not to be overlooked. I'll be at the OKC game, because I want to see how this team responds after the dramatic Suns win. This is a holiday weekend though, so I hope they don't do none of that "sippy-sip" tonight at the club.

Diesel . . . playoff basketball means that you have to turn it up defensively. If you don't, you'll get bounced quickly. Even the great offensive teams that win in the playoffs, don't win because of their offense. They win because of their defense. Orlando's run to the NBA Finals last year definitely wasn't because of offense, because they struggled offensively in those first 2 series. But defensively, they were rock solid all the way up until the NBA Finals. Unfortunately for them, the Lakers were also playing at a high level defensively and had the players that could somewhat neutralize Dwight Howard. The reason why you see big time individual playoff performances in the playoffs, is because the good ISO players usually take over games. Plus a coach may shorten his bench rotation to 7 - 8 players, instead of the 9 - 10 he played during the regular season.

Now you have to ask yourself this question. When a team is down by 1 with less than 10 seconds left, how many games have you seen come down to a great coaching play that led to an easy basket . . . as opposed to an iso basket by their star player? Cleveland runs ISO Lebron in that situation. Miami runs ISO Wade Lakers run ISO Kobe Dallas run ISO Dirk Wizards run ISO Arenas ( or they used to ) Jazz run ISO Deron Portland runs ISO Roy New Orleans runs ISO Paul Phoenix runs ISO Nash Just about any team with a good creating guard or wing player, is going to run an ISO play for that guy at the end of the game. It's then up to the ISO guy to either make the shot, or find the open man if he's doubled. That's when it's important for the coach to surround that ISO player with shooters/slashers who can either get him a 2 at the rim, or knock down an open jumper. Woody really doesn't do anything else differently, than most coaches do at the end of games. It's just that some of those teams have a better ISO player than we do, or they have better post players than we do.

I guess people don't realize that before those final 10 seconds in the game, Jamal was 4 - 13 FGs, and was about to be blamed, right along with JJ, Woody, Marvin, Smoove, and Bibby, for blowing that game. Before that play, Crawford had lost the ball when double teamed ( which led to a quick Phoenix score ) . . JJ then took a quick 3 and missed . . and Smoove would've been destroyed by Hawk fans for missing that FT at the end. Then people would've ripped Woody for not going to Horford more. And Marvin gets ripped for missing open shots. And Bibby gets ripped for not taking enough shots And the great bench . . lol . . they were the reason why we couldn't score for those first 4 minutes in the 4th quarter. A unit that had Crawford on the floor, but he couldn't score. The +/- stats for the game show that Joe Smith was a -14, Evans a -10, even Crawford was a -8 for the game. We shoot 41% FG and 5-23 3FG ( JJ and Crawford a combined 2 - 13 before Jamal hit the game winner ). Yet, the game came down to a missed FT that happened to be misshandled by Phoenix, and right into the arms of Crawford for a layup. Then we get another missed FT by Amar'e on the other end to only put them up 2. And if not for the Suns doubling and tugging JJ's jersey to keep him from possibly attempting a game-tying shot, Crawford doesn't get the ball . . 35 feet from the basket . . with a 7 footer in his face when he shoots the ball after getting 'closer' at 28 feet away. In other words . . we were damn lucky to beat Phoenix, because we actually didn't play a good game at all. But we fought and clawed as a team the entire way, which enabled us to be in the position to "get lucky". It was the 3rd game that we've won, when we've lost the Efficiency Differential battle. In games in which the other team had less than a +10 team effifiency differential over us, the Hawks are 3 - 1 ( wins over Phoenix, Boston, and Dallas . . . loss to NY Knicks ).

Update: Hawks probably should've lost tonight, but pulled a win, thanks to Crawford's 3. Orlando gets blow out in Portland. Hawks lead the SE division by 1/2 game. LOL . . . Orlando better be careful the rest of this month. That loss to the Blazers made Orlando 3 - 6 for the month. Here are the rest of their games this month. @ Lakers ( 22 - 3 home record ) vs Pacers vs Kings @ Bobcats ( 15 - 4 home record ) @ Grizzlies ( 13 - 5 home record ) vs Celtics vs Hawks @ Pistons They could easily go 4 -4 or worse in their next 8 games, if they don't solve whatever their problem is lately. For us, we could easily lose 3 of our next 7 games as well. If we can go 5 - 2 over our next 7 games, while the Magic go 3 - 5 over their next 8, we'll have a 3 game lead in the division going into February. One game at a time though for this bunch. We can't afford to overlook anybody.

Thank you Jamal for hitting that shot. People were ready to explode before you made that play. The good version of Jamal is fun to watch. LOL @ that rebound deflection from the FT going right to him. Without that play, we lose.

I've never paid attention to Jamal's shot before, until the replay of this play. That ball had very little rotation on it. Almost like a knuckleball. Great shot though. Maybe THE biggest of his career.

Personally, I'd give Mario the minutes that Teague is getting . . . at least his 2nd half minutes. Mario isn't better than Mo, but he is more active. If Crawford is going to be the backup PG anyway, just play Mario at the 2 and keep Mo at the 3. Play Teague spot minutes whenever.

That's the problem though. You got a significant percentage of the crowd who don't go to Hawk games . . . to see the Hawks. They go to see the Hawks play some good team, or a big name star. Only the true die hard fans will go to weekday games vs lesser teams . . because their main interest is to see the HAWKS only. But if you like to see the Hawks win, those are the types of games to go to. This is what JJ was talking about. It's got to be a little disheartning as a team, when you're one of the best teams in the league, yet, people don't come out to see YOU play every night. They LOVE to see YOU play "so and so" though. If the Phoenix game was tonight, there would be easily 15 - 17,000 in the building. If the Lakers played tonight . . it could be 4 inches of snow on the ground, on a school night, with 22 degree temps outside, and the place would be packed.

Disappointed is easy: DOUG EDWARDS and RODNEY MONROE Doug Edwards was the main player on that ( I think 1993 Florida St team ) that was real good. That team had Edwards, Sam Cassell, Charlie Ward ( yes, the Florida St. QB ), and Bob Sura coming off the bench as the "super 6th man". Doug was supposed to be the guy that would be the good scoring backup PF to K-Willis. He and K-Will would also play on the frontline together in certain stretches. As good as he was in college, he was more than garbage on the pro level. He couldn't score on people who were the same size or bigger than him . . and he was a horrific defender. HORRIFIC. Much worse than Zaza. Rodney was a part of one of the greatest backcourts in college basketball history. For you people under age 25, go Google " NC State Fire and Ice" and read up on how good Rodney and his PG, Chris Corchaini were back at NC State. I think he was a 2nd round pick, but I still thought he could be a decent long range shooter off the bench. LOL . . that dude could barely get his shot off on the pro level. That's when I first realized that "system" shooters in college, who never scored off the dribble, would almost always fail on the NBA level.

Question . . . who are the most important players on the Hawks, in your opinion? List them 1 through 5.

So if the Hawks gave JJ say . . . a 6yr - 100 million deal ( 16.7 a year ), that'll probably secure JJ as a Hawk. If a team doesn't offer a max deal, then could go with a 5 year deal around 80 million. In other words . . . Sund should stay put with JJ, and pay that man come the summer.

Great post.

At 24 - 13 . . . with 45 games left . . . if the Hawks go .500 the rest of the way, we'll be exactly where we were last year . . 47 - 35 ( I'll add the remainder game as a win ) Toronto is currently 19 - 20 . . . with 23 home games - 20 away games. They'll have to go 28 - 15 the rest of the way to get to 47 - 35. Miami is currently 18 - 17 . . . with 20 home games - 27 away games. They'll have to go 29 - 18 to catch us. Charlotte is the other team, but they have a great home record, but one of the worst road records in the league. Something would have to go horribly wrong in Atlanta . . . or those other teams would have to play like world beaters, to catch us. On the flip side, we're right there with Orlando ( 1 game back ). You still think they're elite, but they struggle on the road like we do. They're not getting out of our sights. We may not catch Cleveland, but it definitely helps that we're able to gain a full game on Boston when we beat them. Orlando is the team we can pass, even if we don't beat them . . lol. We still have 2 more games against them though, so let's see what happens as the season progresses.

Buzz, the only way those teams behind us are going to catch us ( and there's really only 2 that can do it ), is if somethuing catastrophic happens to this squad ( an injury to a key starter that has him out 4 - 6 weeks or longer ). Toronto is a good home team, but a bad road team. They'd have to be lights out at home, and up their road record closer to .450 ( instead of the current .333 in 21 road games ), to catch us. Miami plays the same at home or away ( i.e. - you don't know which Miami team will show up ). Add the fact that they've only played 14 road games so far, and they could fall even further behind us.

It's because of the way you described the topic . . . like it was CNN Breaking News or something. Having said that, I think everyone will agree with te point of your thread. Give us anybody BUT Orlando in that 2nd Round. And we'd preferably want to go up against Boston. I think the other teams who are part of the BIG 4, have certain teams they don't want to see in the 2nd round either. Boston doesn't want to see us . . . . our switching defense bothers Rondo and they have absolutely no one to match up with the Bibby - Crawford - JJ lineup. the one adjustment Doc made last game, is instead of playing Allen or Pierce with the 2nd group, he played Rondo ( to guard Crawford ). Orlando doesn't want to see Boston . . . . because Kendrick Perkins guards Dwight Howard about as well as anybody, which allows the Celtics to play Howard without double teaming him. Now the shooters aren't wide open, and they have to create their own shot ( which is a weakness for everybody except Carter . . but he'll take some bad shots to kill a possession ) Cleveland doesn't want to see Orlando . . . . because Howard patrolls the lane. Lebron loves to drive the basketball, but settles for more jumpers vs Orlando because of Howard. Plus their jumpshooting PFs ( Lewis, Anderson ) forces guys like Varejao and Big Z to guard the perimeter. For them though, Shaq may be somewhat of an equalizer due to the fact that he may cause Howard to pick up fouls and go out of the game. People can talk about seeding if they want, but the playoffs are going to come down to MATCHUPS. Each of the BIG 4 in the East has a team that they DO NOT want to play in that 2nd round.

The one "major" thing that happens with the return of Mario, is that Crawford doesn't have to be out on the floor with the scrub unit during blowouts. This also indirectly helps Teague, because now Woody has the option to go with a Teague - West - Evans backcourt, essentially giving Teague TOTAL CONTROL of the offense, insteas of the partial control he shared with Crawford. As far as West's role on the team, give him his position back . . . as the best 1:30 end of the 2nd quarter defender in the NBA. If Woody wants to "extend" his playing time, let Teague continue to play in the 1st half, but let Mario ger 3 - 4 minutes in the 2nd half. He'll serve as the defensive 2-guard as Crawford runs the point and Evans/Marvin plays the 3. LOL . . having said all of that, it's just a 10-day contract ( 4 games ). If anything, Mario gives us an extra cheerleader on the team.

JJ played a lot worse in the 1st quarter of tonight's game, than he did in the 4th of last night;s game