Sekou: Go West

[Traceman]

http://www.ajc.com/blogs/content/shared-bl...13/go_west.html

Good stuff from Sekou.

1. I like that JJ is voicing his displeasure with the way we are playing, I just wish he would do it DURING THE GAME and let guys know when they are not holding up their end of the bargain.

2. I agree that JJ and Bibby are missing opportunities to exploit mismatches but the blame for that is every bit as much on Woody as it is on them. He needs to see that and tell them to get the ball to the mismatch if they aren't doing it on their own.

3. He's 100% right on about Smoove. We need him to play like he can play for us to be successful and whatever the reason, he's not doing that right now.

Edited January 13, 2009 by Traceman

[frankthetank966]

Josh has been shooting well the past few games but he needs to focus more on defense and rebounding now that Al is out. We have scorers on the team in Mo, JJ, Bibby and occasionaly Marv. Smoove is supposed to be our shot blocker and rebounder who pounds the inside game when needed.

[Packfill]

http://www.ajc.com/blogs/content/shared-bl...13/go_west.html

Good stuff from Sekou.

1. I like that JJ is voicing his displeasure with the way we are playing, I just wish he would do it DURING THE GAME and let guys know when they are not holding up their end of the bargain.

2. I agree that JJ and Bibby are missing opportunities to exploit mismatches but the blame for that is every bit as much on Woody as it is on them. He needs to see that and tell them to get the ball to the mismatch if they aren't doing it on their own.

3. He's 100% right on about Smoove. We need him to play like he can play for us to be successful and whatever the reason, he's not doing that right now.

JJ has said stuff like this in past years but nothing usually comes out of it. Maybe this time will be different given the increased maturity of the team.

I also agree with Sekou that this team has some very fundamental breakdowns. The Hawks backcourt is comprised of veterans except for Acie, who barely plays, so I would expect them to be able recognize mismatches and get the ball into the hands of players to exploit those mismatches.

The team really needs to learn to win when the jump shots are not falling. Again, I expect the coach and veteran backcourt to make the necessary adjustments. Youth isn't an excuse anymore.

Smoove is essential to the Hawks. He can really elevate the team when he plays well. He really needs to work on consistency.

Overall, the Hawks have a great record all things considered but there are some things that cause concern over the long haul that need to be addressed.

[crimedog]

I don't like the fact that opposing scouts are saying that our guards don't even try to go at mismatches. I hate to blame it on coaching because thats too easy but I KNOW I've seen Bibby play on a team that knew how to utilize mismatches (Sacto)... Joe sometimes likes to go into AI mode where he either takes a shot or uses up enough clock that when he passes, the guy is gonna take a shot, but I also think he's a pretty smart bball player most of the time. I'm not sure what thats about but I hope Woody & Co. read that and take it to heart.

[Packfill]

I don't like the fact that opposing scouts are saying that our guards don't even try to go at mismatches. I hate to blame it on coaching because thats too easy but I KNOW I've seen Bibby play on a team that knew how to utilize mismatches (Sacto)... Joe sometimes likes to go into AI mode where he either takes a shot or uses up enough clock that when he passes, the guy is gonna take a shot, but I also think he's a pretty smart bball player most of the time. I'm not sure what thats about but I hope Woody & Co. read that and take it to heart.

The interesting thing is that both JJ and Bibby came from teams with good offensive movement and passing. Since they do the vast majority of the ballhandling for the Hawks, I am not sure why they don't use what they previously learned since their former teams were far more successful then the Hawks.

[GameTime]

Mismatch

The Hawks’ issues right now run deeper than just being emotionally prepared on a nightly basis.

An advance scout friend pointed out something interesting about the way they’re playing right now.

He highlighted some things he noticed during Sunday’s game as evidence that the Hawks aren’t taking advantage of mismatches on the offensive end of the floor that they exploited brilliantly earlier this season.

“There was one stretch where Andre Miller was guarding Josh Smith and Louis Williams was on Marvin Williams and the Hawks ignored both of those opportunities for their standard sets on the other side of the floor,” my scout friend said. “That’s not winning basketball in this league. You have to be able to recognize where those mismatches are and max them out. Joe and [Mike] Bibby have been piling up assists, but they left a lot of plays on the floor Sunday. Even worse, they let those Philly guards off the hook on the defensive end. They didn’t make them work the way you have to with two 6-9 guys on them.”

I’ve heard that critique of the Hawks several times this year, that they don’t utilize the entire floor the way they should offensively because they’re so used to their default setting of ‘Give it to Joe and watch him go.”

It’s a valid opinion. I can think of a lot of ways to breathe life into a struggling team. And one of those would be taking some of the pressure off of your No. 1 option by utilizing some of your other options, not all the time but just whenever the opportunity presents itself.

The Hawks have actually gone over this stuff in practice the past few days but they haven’t seen any improvement during games. It makes no sense.

Both Johnson and Bibby have to recognize the mismatches and exploit them. Because if the scouts notice it, you can be the cats on the floor (on both sides) notice it as well.

Interesting. That is all on coach. This is the simplest thing on offense to notice so it is obvious that Woody has no idea what he is doing here. Shocking an NBA coach doesn't know anything about mismatches. I mean this goes back to church league.