ATL-WAS Game Review: Next Time, Skip the Tour
by The Human Highlight Blog on Mar 12, 2010 7:44 AM EST
24 comments
There is a growing concern among some Bird Watchers that the Hawks may not have the mental focus and drive to be anything more than part-time participants in the NBA Playoffs. Recent games have been consistently marked by uneven play offensively and minimal defensively.
For those who count those traits as a serious issues, then the Hawks 105-99 win at Washington did nothing to assuage their concerns.
The Hawks found a feisty foe in the you-name-it depleted Wizards, but the playoff bound Hawks decided they would try to see if they would win with two arms tied behind their backs. One of those arms was named Defense and the other named Discipline.
The Hawks offered little resistance against the shooting of Andray Blatche, who tossed a (30) point game in on behalf of the hosts. And when the nearly (40) Wizards misses caromed into the air, almost half the time (17) the ball landed in the hands of the team that shot the ball. The Wizards outrebounded the Hawks on the defensive glass 25-17, despite the Wizards missing two more shots than the Hawks. Al Horford had a single defensive rebound to numerically illustrate the point.
The Wizards are one of the bottom 10 in Offensive Efficiency, and hadn't done much offensively in their last (5) games. The Hawks were obviously willing to take their chances by resting defensively and planning to outscore WAS.
In regards to Discipline, the Hawks manufactured (10) first half turnovers (14 for the game), a gaggle of missed shots around the hoop--courtesy of loose passing and poor decision making, and a miserable 15-25 (60 percent from the free throw line.
The Hawks were fortunate in two ways to get the win despite their own attempts to handicap themselves. One, the Wizards were a generous bunch, providing the Hawks (32) points on their own (21) turnovers. How does Blatche score (30) points and still pull a (-9) in a six point game? Providing (7) turnovers goes a long way towards that dubious achievement.
Two, the Hawks were shooting very well from the outside--a good thing considering they scored only (36) of their (105) in the paint against the less than exalted Wizards front court. Jamal Crawford made over half his shots and got to the free throw line for (11) attempts (made 9) to ring up his Hawk-high (29) points. Mike Bibby was also 7-11 (16 points), knocking down the open shot against a defense-optional Wizards team that gave him many opportunities.
Despite giving some ground up late (We heard folks saying here we go again even in DVR mode), two fourth quarter sequences stood out in a good way.
(No, we're not going to pick on Joe Johnson's airball from the corner--Geez, people would begin to think THHB doesn't like him and didn't really praise him in the Top 10 countdown and are currently trying to "run him out of town".)
One was with around 7 1/2 minutes left to go, the ball zipped in and out, and side to side, eventually landing in Zaza Pachulia's mitts near the baseline with (2) seconds left to shoot. He nailed it. Perfect way to kill clock while getting a good look. Pachulia had a nice second shift tonight and ended with a 5/3/1/1/+6 line in (18) minutes.
The other was a flashback to how the Hawks beat back the Utah Jazz earlier in Salt Lake City---using Josh Smith in the high post, looking to pass. On this play, Smith got the ball up there and looked as if he was going to pass to a shooter coming off a Horford screen under the basket. Instead, Horford slipped the screen and when JaVale McGee turned his head to potentially defend the shooter off the screen, Smith zipped the ball into Horford for a jam. Pure Poetry.
Though the course of the NBA season, sometimes you are just happy to go on the road, play a lottery bound opponent, and get out of there with a win, no matter how ugly or hard you played.
The difficulty with accepting such a conclusion leaving the Nation's Capital is that it's not as if the Hawks had been playing basketball the way they want to over the last 30 or so games and just took this one off. This would have been an excellent opportunity to show mental resolve and get the starters some extra rest while taking care of the business of playing strong team basketball. Instead, they had to leg it out all night, not practice good habits, and still don't know if they can divine a full game's worth of effort when it's needed, as they will have to post-season.
The Hawks are nearing the end of the regular season line--when are they going to show the mental consistency needed in the playoffs? When will they gain momentum that isn't derived solely from their record, which can disguise games such as this one?
Still, even though those questions remain unanswered for at least one more game, they did come away with the win. So maybe next time. We'll keep hoping.
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This is the NBA
This is not your grandmother’s church league. The majority of the 400+ plus guys in the league are here because of talent. I understand that some teams should be taken out to the wood shed early on in games, but let’s face it, it’s not going to happen every night. Last night defense was optional on both sides of the ball. I also feel that once the media dubs you as a so-called elite team, every team you match up against will be gunning to prove to the world that you can be taken down. Our early rampage at the beginning of the season got us a lot of attention. With that, came a target on our backs. Everybody we play, whether they’re in the playoff picture or not, has something to prove when they play us. I think we were underestimated at the beginning of the season. We won improbable games. Subsequently , everybody we played the second time around had revenge in mind. For example, we won against Phx with the improbably 3 by JC. When we played in Phx, that was fresh on their minds. I still think we could have won that game @ Phx but whatever. Houston wanted badly to beat us on their home turf, but couldn’t do it. Utah wanted some payback for their romping at Philips…didn’t happen. My question who is to blame for the lack of defense? According to the NBA.com article, it’s our interior defense that’s the worse. That’s really odd to me unless they’re saying that our guards let people blow past them and our front court is left recovering. I don’t know. We just don’t seem to have a sense of urgency right now.
Bet it hit the rim!
Great point about being targeted
This is something that has gone under-reported, in large part because those of us who have watched the Hawks for a while aren’t used to being in the situation where the Hawks are the “good team you want to make a name for yourself in beating them.” But they are to some extent.
by The Human Highlight Blog on Mar 12, 2010 10:09 AM EST up reply actions
I feel like the Hawks
take too many teams lightly and they aren’t good enough to do that. There are plenty of teams who are Targets, the really good ones tend to come out and crush the hopes of the team who’s on the prowl. We aren’t doing that.
@cocoqt81
Still...
just cause other teams get up to play us now, doesn’t excuse frequent lacksadaisacal effort. We’re lollygagging right now, and you know what that makes us? Lollygaggers.
by Mr. Sanchez on Mar 12, 2010 10:30 AM EST up reply actions
I have no confidence in the team right now
I mean, I expected them to beat Miami, they didn’t. I expected them to beat New York, they didn’t. I expected them to beat the Wizards, they did but they made it a lot harder than it had to be. There’s no excuse for Joe having more rebounds than the entire starting front court combined until late in the game. It’s very telling that this team does not feel the need to play hard for 4 quarters every night. That’s on the coach, because clearly he doesn’t demand that of them. I’m tired of hearing “we just didn’t play hard for 48 minutes” in every press conference. Make an example out of someone. Do something to let them know slacking will not be tolerated. There’s seemingly no repercussions for lack of effort.
@cocoqt81
I tend to agree with dstdeelite
on the point that a road game against a bad team in March is not generally going to get a sterling effort from most teams in the NBA.
That said, I also understand that it seems like it has been forever since the Hawks played a truly good game regardless of opponent.
NBA playoff basketball is a different animal. I would very wary of making any kind of predictions regarding the Hawks especially—as they’re kinda unpredictable even in the best of times. I’ll say this: if they can’t play better in the upcoming games against the Lakers, Magic, and Cavs, it would be very tempting to write them off.
we are using the same excuses as the Celtics (and i mock them for their excuses)
and while they are old and can’t bust out of them as well, they also have a championship to push off of.
The bigger question that you bring up here is when do they learn this type of basketball if they haven’t deployed it already? They just can’t flip a switch come playoff time and start playing focused, post-season intense, basketball. They have to begin to lay the groundwork down now else they will get into the playoffs like last year and struggle.
by The Human Highlight Blog on Mar 12, 2010 10:12 AM EST up reply actions
Agreed!
No excuse making. They’re playing like shit and it’s not because of some limitations that they can’t overcome. Everyone is healthy, and young (except Mike Bibby) hehe. I kid Bibby, but for real. This team is not experienced enough or good enough to think they can just turn it on in the playoffs. One of their most important players has never even been to the playoffs!
@cocoqt81
Woody can’t or won’t make the needed adjustments to fix the problems that are holding the Hawks back. The entire team mails it in for quarters or halves at a time every game, and then after the games Woody gives quotes that make it sound like he is just another blogger like us who has no power to change any of that and just has to watch helplessly as the team flails around. What more does Rick Sund need to see to decide not to offer Woody an extension?
I missed the game, will watch later today on DVR
I don’t like the switching defense. It is causing us to leave too many people wide open to shoot jumpers. Why is it that every team we play against, seems to have someone that is not expected go all crazy on us on outside shooting. I think the switching defense causes missed assignments. We need to move away from that scheme.
And, we have talked about couple of areas that hurt us, A big rebounding defensive center that can free Lion and Smoove some, and a point guard (rookie) that is fast enough not to lose his assignments all the time.
I don't have a problem with the switching defense as a whole
What I do have a problem with is switching EVERY SINGLE PLAY. It’s ridiculous especially when Bibby ends up on the center or the biggest player on the team. They’ll exploit that matchup every time and Woody is oblivious to it. Makes me want to pull my hair out.
Bet it hit the rim!
I read an articles on ajc that said woody knows the switching creates mismatches
Woody even said he “hides” players in they switching and that he may go away from the switching for a while…….as for last night. happy bought the win but not the effort. they need their eyes opened to the situation they will be in if they don’t play hard 4 quarters. I mean I can’t event get out of my head the way they crushed Toronto on two occasions and beat Utah like they were nothing. Now, they need to be disrespectd, have their backs against the wall ya know so they can have something to play for.
by Hawksgirl on Mar 12, 2010 10:41 AM EST via mobile reply actions
the future
in order to be an elite team, the hawks need to be led by an elite coach.
not to sound like a broken record, but woody has shown very little inclination of elitism over the past few years.
two instances of the same picture stood out as i watched the game at the Verizon Center last night:
during a timeout and an end of quarter transition, the team was huddled around woody for some “coaching” as the game was still very close. except both times there were two notable absences from the huddle, JJ and Bibby. the first instance our starting backcourt sat in their chairs away from the huddle not bothering to listen in, the second instance they were both outside the huddle gawking at the wizards girls doing their routine.
this isn’t to say that JJ and Bibby don’t care about the team, but it was evident that it did not matter to them what Woody said as they were going to do their thing anyway. most nights their ‘thing’ of making jump shots lead us to victory, but is there any doubt as to why this team plays so poorly on the road?
“There’s nothing more demoralizing than a leader who can’t clearly articulate why we’re doing what we’re doing.” – James Kouzes and Barry Posner:
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