Sometimes a missed shot is just a missed shot.
by hawksdawgs on Feb 11, 2010 10:00 AM EST
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PrintA nights sleep, and this game feels a little less horrible. Don't get me wrong. It was still horrible. The deep seeded focus on going through the motions was troubling to watch, but these nights do happen. They do. Sometimes a team hits more open shots and it does not matter. The Hawks missed their open shots, and those misses shined a spot light on the fact that the Hawks were already participating in all-star weekend. So be it.
Atlanta is rarely going to 14 for 33 inside 10 feet. Of course when it does happen, you hope the focus turns to unrelenting defense instead of "oh wait, Daequan Cook is still in the game" defense, but whatever, we were missing two key reserves. That is not an excuse, but it keeps one game from being some kind of indictment. In the end, it gives Woody something to yell about, which I am sure he is happy about.
Loser Dots
- How is Woody leading the coaches in technical fouls? He clearly believes he has "made it."
- I would argue Jeff Teague looked a lot better than he actually was in the second half because Al Horford hit two quick shots and got to the foul line more than anything he was doing. Still, when Bibby came back in, it was clear that great make up defense by the other four guys was not there tonight, and Bibby looked old. Like really old. Like feel bad for him old.
- Fact: Zaza Pachulia looked good in his suit.
- I, for one, am tired of seeing 2002 Jermaine O'Neal.
- Marvin Williams literally played the spectrum last night. Great, average, horrible. It was impressive. In response, my stomach stayed on one side of the PH scale. Acidic. Very Acidic.
- If Josh Smith's one on one defense was not sub par, one could classify his game last night as quite nice.
- One of the better Marios by Mario West. Less than one minute, one three point foul.
- Does anyone gamble more on defense than Dwyane Wade?
- Seven shots by Al Horford? You guessed it, not enough.
- Mike Bibby has missed around 10 straight open threes.
- We had a bit of a blogger night yesterday, and I sat next to the very nice Kris from Soaring down South. In the third quarter, he mentioned how Joe Johnson had not shot the ball in over ten minutes. Then the dude finished with 21 shots. It is like Joe had an over/under bet going on. With Jamal out, it was a little less noticeable, but that was a very covert Joe show.
- The Hawks are not good enough on offense to lose the turnover battle. Plus, turnovers are annoying.
Go Hawks!
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He would, but---
—he’d have to to take it down off his living room wall to scan it first.
by The Human Highlight Blog on Feb 11, 2010 12:31 PM EST up reply actions
If Josh Smith’s one on one defense was not sub par, one could classify his game last night as quite nice.
I feel like this is a bit unfair. Wasn’t he matched up on Beasley most of the night? I thought he held up better than other times we’ve played the heat.
Beasley could be an X factor...
winning them a playoff series.
by Mr. Sanchez on Feb 11, 2010 11:27 AM EST up reply actions
last night I WAS wanting jj to do iso......idk why but it was weird
And I thought smooth played a nice game as well as marv and al. when I sleep on it, its only 18 loses compared to where we were last year so I’m proud of them. I will watch the ASG, I guess……………
by Hawksgirl on Feb 11, 2010 11:00 AM EST via mobile reply actions
We can't view losses like last night's as okay.
These losses are going to be the difference between having home court advantage for two rounds or one. The difference between playing Cleveland in the second round or Boston. You can’t lose games like this. You just can’t. I don’t care who was out. It’s not okay that neither Joe nor Josh had a foul in the game. It’s not okay that the Heat were getting great looks at shots. If the Heat were making contested shots then I could accept the loss a lot easier. They were making wide open shots which is the least an NBA player should do. That’s hard to swallow. Joe missing twice as many shots as he made and not getting to the free throw line at all is unacceptable. Al Horford only getting 7 field goal attempts is unacceptable. We shouldn’t change our basic expectations for this team from game to game. There are some things that are never going to be excusable. Last night’s loss is one of those things..
@cocoqt81
The lost last night was definently unacceptable and does hurt them
In the long run. I was saying I was proud at that fact that they have a better record and are 3rd in the east. Last nights game should be forgotten and they should build on it. After the allstar break they should be focused and ready to make a statement starting with the clippers.
by Hawksgirl on Feb 11, 2010 2:28 PM EST via mobile up reply actions
Very well said Co Co
If all we want is fir the Hawks to be better than they were a year ago, they’ve achieved that; Season over. If, however, we have higher expectations of this fine goup of ballplayers (which is more than the front office apparently has), the we can’t be okay with sub-par play on any given night. This team has a real shot at being the #2 seed in the Eastern conference, but tht will not happen unless: a. the team believes that they can win every night; b. the floor leaders actually lead and stop waving the white flag of surrender at the first sign of trouble (young players pick up on that ya know); and c. the front office takes some action to position this team for success. That could be anythig from making a badly needed trade to adjusting the rotation. Whatever happens, I agree with you that we can’t be okay with losses like this one.
It's Soaring Down South---
but after last night I imagine everyone down south was very sour. :-)
by The Human Highlight Blog on Feb 11, 2010 11:31 AM EST reply actions
LOL
Thanks for the link! both of you
by SoaringDownSouth on Feb 11, 2010 12:17 PM EST up reply actions
wowwww
i went to lasr nights game.very disappointed.we played no defense,and left cook n wade n o’neal open all night.it was sad.the whole team looked outclassed n lazi
Al didn't get shots because---
—he didn’t take shots. He had a number of occasions where he could have taken the path to the hoop that was available, but he pulled a Diaw on us last night, except for those two possessions in the fourth, which afterwards were quickly forgotten by his teammates.
Still, Al needs to be more forceful, especially with Jamal out of the lineup, Joe getting swallowed by the Heat by design, and nobody else making shots.
That’s what All-Stars do.
by The Human Highlight Blog on Feb 11, 2010 11:33 AM EST reply actions
at the same time. he became very decisive to start the fourth quarter, and then the Hawks went away from him on a jump shot barrage.
Going away from him after he makes a couple almost always coincides with Dominique saying “Now keep giving it to him until they stop him!” Jinxes it every time!
by The Human Highlight Blog on Feb 11, 2010 12:30 PM EST up reply actions
Agreed he needs to be more aagressive
Let’s also remember the Lion fights night in and night out vs. opponents that are heavier and taller. Not only does Miami have JO, but another good defensive back-up center (forget name). That makes it harder for him to throw shots out there as easy as others on the team, so he has to be selective at times.
Agreed—but it wasn’t his choices so much as his pre-conceived notion that he was not going to look for a shot when he got the ball, even in the lane—-even when there was a good path to the basket.
I believe Horfy could have gotten to the line for at least 6-8 more free throws last night, but he deferred too often—especially given the situations that were in play last night.
by The Human Highlight Blog on Feb 11, 2010 1:33 PM EST up reply actions
We were -15 with Josh Smith on the bench last night
in about 12 minutes. Just saying.
Of course, the bulk of that was the 3:51 in which we had the Collins/Smith front court duo, where we were -10. That four minute stretch of no offense combined with no defense really torpedoed the entire game.
it could be the Collins/Bill Russell duo
and I would not be surprised.
Collins is the anti-Battier. No stats anti-all star. He has no stats and makes people worse. Where is Michael Lewis with this story?
I was going to bring up Collins in my recap/non-recap, but didn’t want to go down the road of saying what a complete waste of minutes he is—-Collins make Mario West minutes look productive.
I am sure he’s a terrific human being and I applaud him being in the L, but have him tell jokes or something in the locker room and not use any actual floor time to provide value to the team. Thank you.
by The Human Highlight Blog on Feb 11, 2010 1:31 PM EST up reply actions
You want a real laugh?
Check out his twin brother Jarron’s stats. Boggles the mind to think that there are two of them and combined they can’t get 5 points, 2 rebounds and 1 blocked shot. SAD!
"the no-stats inverted all-star"
or perhaps “the no-stats body that even light could not escape; the all-pro of dark matter”
just “the human vaccum.”
Yeah
the Heat were making shots and the Hawks were missing shots. Cook and JO puts some daggers in our hearts when there was still some hope. Win some, lose some. Enjoy All Star Break. Who wanna bet the Hawks start a new winning streak at the expense of the LA Clippers? There are 32 games left, still a shot at 50+ wins, homecourt advantage for 2 rounds, 1st place in SE. I know whoopdeedoo. Losing still sucks, I know that too.
The schedule gets much easier in March.
This was definitely the toughest two months of the year. The hawks are still at about a 54-win pace, so the team record for wins is still in view (57).
If things break the right way, 58-24 is still conceivable.
Maybe this loss was a blessing in disguise?
Who would you rather face in the 2nd round, Cleveland or Orlando? I for one would much rather face Cleveland even though both teams are better than the Hawks. Marvin can play about as good a defense as can be played against Lebron and Jason Collins might actually be useful for the team. Right now, my feeling is that the final standings will be
1. Cleveland
2. Orlando
3. Atlanta
4. Boston(or Charlotte if the basketball world turns upside down)
Which is a terrible 2nd round matchup for the Hawks.
Snap out of it...
I saw no blessing in this game. Orlando has a tougher schedule the second half than we do, and if we get some help from the rest of the league, and win the games that we’re supposed to (like against poor teams like the Heat) AT HOME, then the Hawks could be the #2 seed. That means we meet Boston in the second round and Cleveland in the ECF. If we don’t have enough confidence to compete by then……..
Al Horford and Josh Smith
still need to get shots closer to the basket and take the ball strong to the hole
Atlanta will win a championship....someday
This game
or subsequent games will show us how good a decision maker Sund is. Is our whole bench just Jamal Crawford? If we traded away Acie Law and Speedy for him, how much could we get for Joe Smith, Collins, and Morris? Because of games like this, it shows us how far off we are in terms of being a serious team.
Atlanta will win a championship....someday
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