thecampster

right now, I think that there's a question of is Horf hurt or has Horf been exposed. Unfortunately, there were many times that Horf had the ball and he just didn't know what to do. Thibbs played him right. Is that a weakness we can overcome? The other thing is that yes, there is a Horf vs. Smoove competition going on now. Both are Pfs. So what you're seeing is the naturally lining up of people who realize that one must go.

We all know I'm a Josh fan but that isn't going to keep me from being honest. Anyone that saw Al after the Blake Griffin foul, knew he came back too soon. His production dropped by 3 points a game after he came back and he just wasn't the same player. I'm expecting in the coming days a story about Al's back being jacked up from that hard foul. Al got worse and worse as the playoffs went on and his only good game against Chicago was aided by 3 easy dunks off of Josh Smith passes. Without those 3 plays, Al would have had 14 points in the game. This has been going on for about 2 months now and it got worse the longer it went on.

JT was my favorite player from the early aughts Hawks.

If the Hawks get bounced, I'm rooting for the Mavs the rest of the way.

Ah Frank, you just stole that from my Around the NBA post tonight.....seriously though..I said the same thing.....I miss JT. He played with heart every night.

Don't take anything I say as too meaningful though.....I really liked what Laettner brought to the team over that poser Alan Henderson.

Had to get this off my chest.

I want the Hawks to win, but if they get eliminated, I'm pulling for Dallas. It's just their time. I miss JT in a Hawks Uni and just respect Dirk and Chandler. If it's not the Hawks year, I really won't be sad to see Dallas take it.

And after that cheap shot on Barrea by Bynum, I think they're earning it.

Let me just sum up the series like this

JT - 52.6 FG% (17.33 ppg)

JJ - 51.1 FG% (20.0 ppg)

JC - 39.4 FG% (13.3 ppg)

AL - 38.7 FG% (8.33 ppg)

MW - 36.6 FG% (6.33 PPG)

JS - 35.9 FG%) (12.66)

EFG

JJ - 66.6

JT - 68.4

JC - 60.6

Al - 40.3

MW - 43.3

JS - 48.71

So why the discrepency between FG% and EFG%?

3ptr's and this

FT's made:

JT 11

JJ7

JC11

AL - 1

Josh - 10

MW - 3

42 total FT's made in 3 games. 2.66 a game made by your 2 all-stars.....that will not get it done.

"Boo-hoo our coach idiotically kept our fragile MVP on the floor after the other coach emptied his bench and after Rose hurt himself all on his own the prior game...and the opposing player breathed on him!!!! Boo-#^}}ing-hoo!!"

Like you really needed another +1 but seriously what the heck was Rose still doing in the game at that point? What the heck was Rose doing taking the shot himself (ie...why not just pass it off to a less used player with 5 left on the clock and let him stat pad)?

I was causing havoc on a Bulls fan board this week when their posters were claiming that korver and company shut JJ down during the year and it wasn't due to JJ's nagging injuries. I'm still waiting on the "you were right" email.

Woody never got a superstar performance from Joe because he rode Joe too hard during the regular season so come playoff he had dead legs.

and a +1 for you sir.

The only issue with playing Rose by sagging 10 feet is that he gets the Lebron Rules, he has more space to build up a head of steam and knows he'll pick up a call even if he has no chance at a high percentage shot. We are going to have to find middle ground literally between not D'ing too close to get a handcheck call and not sagging too far to get a raging bull (pun intended) charging at the D.

That's because you give him a 3 foot cushion (1 step for recovery), that's it.

He still took the line of "Magic lost it" not "Hawks won it".

http://forums.realgm.com/boards/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=1109594

Just some quotes that I found interesting:

"Bulls in 5, and it will surprise many people how uncompetitive the games will be compared to the Indiana series."

"I got Bulls in 5. If Kirkland can be 80% and we click maybe, just maaaaaaaybe we can eke out 6. But I'll tip my hat to the Bulls."- this one was from a Hawks fan....smh

"A short, Brutal sweep.Bulls romp."

Lemme just say this, I can't wait until the series starts!!!

I grew up just east of Chicago. I became a Hawks fan at the age of 16 (duel allegiances) and when I moved here at 21, just started following them full time. My whole family still lives up there. My mom and I are already talking trash in facebook private posts. My whole family is disowning me for the next 2 weeks.

The problem with Josh is that he thinks that he can help the team so much, but in reality his main strengths are rebounding and blocking shots. When he goes away from that he is detrimental to the team. So far in the Magic series he has taken bad shots as well as bad passes (which could also be said about the team as a whole, especially Joe). However I do applaud him for his effort against Hedo and the timely block shots that he had, and his second most important play, the spin dunk which set the momentum for the team. Oh and it's not like Smoove is intimidated by Dwight like Joe, with his athleticism he should be a beast inside, but decides not to.

Don't know if you saw this or not but he hobbled a few times getting through the lane on D. He's playing hurt. It's not an excuse, it's just perspective. Don't be surprised if after the season you hear he got work done on his knees. Just saying.

Why is it that when I post the same type of thing people call me a troll? These are facts people dont want to hear. You can plug your ears and go "LA LA LA LA LA LA" but it doesnt change anything.

They need inspiration after being up 3-1 ?

It's because you've only posted 11 times. Typical troll like behavior is to get on message boards, make a couple of harsh statements just to rile people up. Most serious people post a great deal over time, new posters are usually full of energy and positive behavior. Others tend to be trolls.

Cmon DJ, that is a bit unfair. I'm not one of the traditional "Smoove haters" that seem to wait for Smoove to do poorly. In fairness, I listened to the first half on the radio on the way back home tonight, and he was GOD AWFUL. I didn't get to listen to or watch the second half in time. But the Sunday game I attended and the first half of tonight's game have been absolutely brutal. Yeah, Josh may have righted himself some in the second half, but he was a BIG liability in those time periods I mentioned.

Of course Joe and Horford were bad...everyone was. But no one has been quite as inconsistent as Josh so far. That's ALL I'm saying DJ.

There is the problem. Steve Holmann really doesn't like Smith and bad mouths him at every opportunity.

Had you "watched" the whole game, you would have seen only Hinrich and Smith playing with any energy in the first half. Two of Smith's shots in that first quarter were from Joe picking up his dribble early and just looking to dump in. After the dump, he didn't even move from his spot. It was like he was waiting on his man to double. Except for the one long 2 of those first 4 misses, all 3 of the missed shots were good looks within 10 feet. Take those first 4 misses away and Josh was 7 of his next 14. He drew a large number of the fouls on Magic players (getting Tukolu 2 in 3 minutes) and was active. He committed only 1 turnover for the game. It was an ugly 22/11 performance but look at the rest of the team.

Only Hinrich and Marvin shot over 50% from the field.

Joe/Jamal/Al shot a combined 7-29 and only attempted 7 FT's scoring a grand total of 22 points. Al to his credit got 14 rebounds and 6 assists.

Here is the "summary" of what you need to know on this game. 10 shots. If Al makes 2 of his missed shots (getting him above 50%), Jamal hit's 2 of his missed 3's, Joe hit's 4 of his misses (2 of them 3's), and Josh hit's 2 more shots. All 4 players would have shot 50% or better. and the final score would have been 24 points closer.

More importantly, very lazy perimeter D had us chasing the ball around the perimeter to an always open shooter. The magic hit 11 of 26 3's for either 33 points or 11 extra points...however you want to look at it.

This was a team laziness effort...pure and simple.

Josh had a 22/11 night but it was an ugly 22/11. Unfortunately, everyone was uglier.

Anyone who says no isn't thinking this through so let me do it for you.

Howard patrolling on defense, Smith weakside block threat = every Hawks opponent must jump shoot to win. There will be nothing going on in the lane with those 2 at the 4/5. I don't think many here understand the amount of covering for others' weaknesses Josh does.

Offense:

Howard drawing a double in the post means 3-5 dunks a game for Smith. Brandon Bass or Josh Smith at the 4....I think you take Smith all day long with a cup of coffee to relax and watch the show.

Would you take Hinrich, Crawford, Marvin, Smith, Howard as a starting 5 over what we have now...I'm pretty sure most coaches would drool over the league leading defense that would bring.

Boston series?

I'd still say this one because of the defensive dynamic. The defining play for me was game 3 when he went hard to the basket and drew the foul on Dwight. If JJ would do that 4 or 5 times a game he'd score 25 a game again. JJ is still making some selfish plays that are hurting us but he's doing much less of it in this series and getting himself good looks in ISO's compared to before.

Dwight in the middle creates real problems for JJ (much worse than the Boston series a few years ago) and he's finding the soft spots better and utilizing his teammates more.

:Nail Biting:

:clapping:

:secret: what

:drinks: WHAT

:dancer: WHAT!!!

Certain players on the Hawks would have to leave for that to happen and a coaching change would too.

You would have to take a look at Jerry Sloan or another coach that understands the inside out game in order to get the most out of Dwight and what would be left.

Awwww, mrhonline didn't like being called out and gave me a -1. Thanks, mrh.

Entering tonight (when his FG% was .444), JJ was 16th among 40 SGs in FG% in the playoffs. After tonight (down to .435), he'd slip to 18th of 40. He's 5th among 11 SGs who have averaged 10+ FGAs per game:

http://espn.go.com/nba/statistics/player/_/stat/scoring-per-game/sort/fieldGoalPct/position/shooting-guards

Btw, JJ's TS% for the series after tonight is .508. That's definitely not bad for a guard. Especially in the playoffs. Especially with the 3-time DPOY waiting in the lane. Especially getting as much defensive attention as he does.

You gonna say "my bad, his efficiency hasn't been awful" or are you gonna give me another -1?

Dunno. MrH is usually spot on with his analysis.

That said...major props to JJ....this might be his best series as a Hawk. Rebounding wins Championships...Al with 12, Josh with 10 and Joe with 9...tonight. Joe with 6.5 a game for the series from the 2 is huge. More than happy to give JJ his due on that.

He seems to be taking it to the hole in the second half. My question is why does he keep ending up with the ball at the 3pt line.

Easy answer. Most of the game we are playing a 3 big set with Josh as the SF. With Collins in the game, you are rarely going to throw it to him in the post (see 2 out of 3 possessions at the end of the first half that resulted in the ball being fumbled out of bounds). This creates a 2 down low with only one option set. Whenever a guard penetrates, the SF has to float out for the bailout...same on being trapped in the corner.

He's the outlet in these situations by design. It's a piss poor design but not one entirely of his making.

The complaint you should make is why isn't he calling for it on the kick, salvation and starting his feet toward the lane as the pass is in the air. That is a better question and I don't have an answer.

Additionally, many of these sets are taking too long to develop. As is his position at the 3, he is supposed to take the reset pass, back it out, give it to the non trapped guard to reset for a different play. Because our initial plays are taking too long to set (ie...dribbling when the double comes) and his feet aren't moving toward the lane when he receives that pass, he's opting to take the jumper instead of one dribble and stepping inside 10 feet.

Without Jamal, we are swept 4-0. Let me say something in my drunken stupor right now that I can blame on 6 or 7 different types of alcohol later..........

Jamal's purpose when he comes into the game is to shot that goddamn ball until his arms get tired....and then shoot it a couple thousand more times for good measure. I don't care how much he dribbles, how many 3 pointers he takes, or how many he misses. The man makes shots and is putting up ridiculous numbers OFF THE FN BENCH. Without Jamal, we are all pretty pissed off right now with several of us meeting up after the game to settle our Internet rage in the street. lol

SHUT UP and thank Jamal for us being up 3-1.

It cause me great pain but I'm about to +1 a drunk that took God's name in vain on Easter. That said...Well put sir!!!!

I'm sure there was some contact. With that noggin, it's hard for Zaza to nod his head without causing concern....

I think Zaza was the instigator in all this, I mean, Dwight did throw a cheap shot, but as far as J Rich....all Za. But I'm ok with it, that's what he gets paid to do. I like it. We just need our bigs to step up, let's face it, Zaza had a helluva game vs. Dwight.

Dead wrong. JRich crossed the floor and bumped Zaza while yelling at him. Zaza came away from the forearm to the head yelling for a foul/unsportsmanlike (which FYI the Refs accessed). JRich went right after him and Zaza turned on him with the contact.

JRich wasn't even involved the play and is lucky he didn't get beat down. As is QRich for leaving the bench.

he must not have seen alot of hawks bball ( cant really blame him though :bad: ), cause al lives of those 18-20 ft jumpers and the harder the shot is the more comfortable i am with craw taking it.

Actually, that breakdown was brilliant and the comment on Horf was because the rules of last 2 minutes with a close game is take it to the hole and try to get an and 1.

If this type of officiating happened in New York, Boston or Chicago, I believe there would be extra scrutiny of the referee calls and ESPN would be more critical.

This is the anatomy of a fix, and Al Horford getting two fouls in the first three minutes was the first clue. And Jason Collins got is second foul early in the second quarter. The Hawks were able to get a 32-22 lead, but with Horford and Collins on the bench, Orlando started to take control of the game.

At the same time, the officials were swallowing the whistle in regard to Dwight who should have been called for at least three fouls at halftime. Howard ended up playing a FULL 48 minutes with NO worry of getting into foul trouble.

The foul on Josh's layup happened 5 feet from the official who was looking right at it. As the play ended and the ball began to go the other way, the official runs right by the camera. He was right there, it was borderline flagrant since no play was made on the ball. He just pushed him while going up.

I want Tim Donaghy to analyze this game and point out every purposeful non call.

The Magic clearly shot too many FT's but our 17 wasn't far off of our season average of 21 and that's to be expected when we're afraid to go into the paint. The big reason as I see it that we lost tonight was because of a lack of ball movement and movement without the ball. I'd love to blame this on the refs but even as bad as we played and with the FT disparity we still had a legit chance at winning the game late.

Dolfan....you can't be serious. The layup by Josh where he was pushed out of bounds by Ryan Anderson, the blatant moving screen where Josh got crushed and went to the floor and didn't get up right away (in the first), the back to back moving screens in the 4th (one of which Crawford was called for a foul instead of Dwight). Heading into the 4th quarter there had been 37 foul calls in 36 minutes and a total of 23 turnovers.....That is a foul or T/O every 40 seconds. I am not a big fan of blaming the officials but I'm willing to step out there and say this game was fixed. I have no question in my mind the refs were calling this for Orlando to extend the series.

Yes we missed some big shots (see Marvin here) but in a 6 point game, the Magic were sent to the line and converted 18 more free throws. Horford was sent to the bench with 2 fouls in the first 3 minutes. This is the very defintion of a fix. Remember the NBA makes about 10 million dollars in total revenue for each playoff game played with the home team making about 1.5 million in pure profit per game.

This article called it with calling us bigger than Orlando minus Howard. They had no answers for our balance or matchups and our shots were falling. We did to them what they did to us for the previous six seasons. It use to be them shooting 50 to 70% from the field, last night it was us.

Kudos to Smoove for not taking a lot of bad shots just like he played last season. And it looked like any bad blood there might have been between Hinrich, Crawford, and Smoove has been cured by playoff basketball.

This was a team win and LD made sure with our perimeter D, that if Howard did not score 100 by himself, the Magic would not get 100. Solid game plan whether you like him or not.

Had to add this, I think they have missed the boat on us mailing it in and going home with a split. SVG will shake things up but I think our team wants to beat the hell out of the Magic and make those previous thumping's a thing of the past. Look out for this, game two could be similar to the physical play that we saw in our 1st round 7 game series against the Celtics.

Magic and Howard will not lie down, and nor will we. Go Hawks!

If you watched the game on TV....there were multiple shots of Hinrich and Josh sitting on the bench together talking about the game and pointing at things going on on the floor. The disagreements between them were overblown. There were 2 turnovers by Josh in the game...both times they were Josh throwing cross court to Kirk and Kirk breaking left when Josh threw right. Given both are here next season that will no longer happen.