Atlanta Hawks/Orlando Magic Game One Review: Annihilation
by The Human Highlight Blog on May 5, 2010 3:00 AM EDT
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We'll likely hear after the game, in both locker rooms, that "this is just one game". True, true---but man what a statement this one game was.
The 114-71 destruction of the Hawks here in Orlando in Game One showed one team, the Magic, that plays hard, team basketball from start to finish, regardless of the score or time of the game. The Hawks lack that gear, that initiative to play with the level of energy and movement that led them to a 25-23 first quarter, and keep it going for (48) minutes.
Whereas the Magic were unrelenting in their effort on both ends, the Hawks are apt to relent at any given moment, in startling, abrupt suddenness. Tonight, after that sudden stop for the Hawks in a disastrous second quarter, the Birds could never get it back, and the result was a Magic riptide that sucked the Hawks heart and effort out to sea.
The usual categories are available after the jump:
Game Over When: The Magic started the second quarter on a 17-4 run and never looked back. The Hawks simply stopped playing with the same energy that they did in the first quarter, and the Magic kept right on chugging, pretty much until the final buzzer sounded.
Worth Noting: Ummmmmmm....
Also: (still thinking)
We Saw It:
Where do we start? We'll start positive---the Hawks came out of the gate with energy and attack, led by Josh Smith's 5-8, 10 point effort. After Smith came out with his second foul---the unraveling began.
Things were so wrong for the Hawks that Al Horford slipped quietly into the Orlando night---after missing a dunk following a fantastic move on Dwight Howard, Horford lost his mojo and was even seen fading away when shooting 14 footers with nobody guarding him.
It was also Horford who, with six minutes left in the first quarter, was taken from the game in favor of Jason Collins. Woodson said after the game that it was to "use up fouls" and so Horford wouldn't pick up that second foul. This was the most successful strategy of the night, as Horford never did pick up a second foul.
Woodson said it was something they talked about in shoot-around. Afterwards, Horford told us that it "was coach" and that he "would have to deal with it". As for bringing in Collins over Zaza Pachulia, Woodson said that he was waiting to match Zaza up against Marcin Gortat, but Howard didn't leave the game until almost three minutes left in the first half with the Magic up (16) already. Whoops.
The Hawks have to do a better job of even the most basic of things---like making the pass into the post. The Hawks have some sort of mental block on this pass, because either the big has to come all the way out to the arc to get the ball, or it gets turned over. Joe Johnson, Jamal Crawford, and everyone needs to do this better. When the guys who pass the ball into the post the best are the guys you actually want in the post, something needs to get better.
When teams come back against the Hawks, we're told it's because "NBA teams make runs." Well, we're still waiting for the run the Hawks made after that first quarter. We asked everybody about it afterwards and here is a collection of what was offered as an explanation.
Woodson: "We just didn't have anything."
Horford: "We stopped moving. We stopped everything."
Crawford: "We let it snowball on us."
Josh Smith: "We stopped playing aggressively on defense. It seemed like after that second quarter we just laid it down." And then he asked the question we've been asking all season. "If we played like that (with energy) in the first quarter, why couldn't we do it the other three (quarters)?" Wish I knew, Josh---I wish I knew.
Mike Bibby was caustic in his responses, repeating that the Hawks "simply didn't make shots." Even when I pressed about the snowballing and not making any runs, Bibby offered, "If we're not making shots, how can we make a run?"
We Can't Believe We Saw It:
With around 4:41 left in the third quarter, Joe Johnson held the ball in the corner. He looked to move the ball toward the top of the key, until he saw Jeff Teague standing there, waiting for the ball. Joe almost had the ball out of his hands when he looked, sucked the ball back into his chest like a tractor beam, and then opted to shoot a three. Tough luck, rook.
Highlights:
Just kidding---we're not showing those stinkin' highlights. See you at Game Two!
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What a rough night
Hey it is supposed to be sunny in beautiful ATL this morning.
Who do you blame? A coach that has not utilized cheeseburger, brings him in in the 1st quarter. Is he kidding, instead of Zaza? When was the last time he did that this year? Max wannna a be and sixth man award winners that can’t shoot straight. Lack of size in the five position. Lack of speed or anything in the 1 position. The Hawks are who we thought they were(hint: we don’t really know them after a year). Let’s reboot please, not worth the brain cells to analyze this one. i am hopeful, though currently questioning my own sanity why i am hopeful, that this is a one game aberration.
On good news front, hey Orlando really looked rusty. But then again, have these Hawks not just been an irrational team all year? So who knows, we have pulled rabbits out of the hat all year, we still only need one game in Orlando, so …. hey i have to hang on to something…
.
Sad, but made me laugh
“It was also Horford who, with six minutes left in the first quarter, was taken from the game in favor of Jason Collins. Woodson said after the game that it was to “use up fouls” and so Horford wouldn’t pick up that second foul. This was the most successful strategy of the night, as Horford never did pick up a second foul."
@cocoqt81
I'm crushed
but not surprised. It’s like throwing yourself into traffic, I guess?
Question: Woody, what happened to the ball movement? Answer: I think our defense was pretty solid tonight. We held them to under 200 points so we did our job on that end.
John Hollinger tweet around 10:15 last night
“I’m not saying this is a blowout, but updated NBA schedule has " * – if necessary" next to Games 3 and 4."
I did not say it, he did. Don’t kill the messenger.
"There are two ways to argue with a woman, and neither of them work."; Carlos Boozer
I'll tell ya about the Magic It'll free your soul but it's like trying to tell a stranger 'bout rock n roll
The only way to stop LeBron is Smith and Wesson, but even that's a double team.
by NC Magic Fan on May 5, 2010 8:16 AM EDT reply actions
You have nothing to worry about
As we are all thinking the same thng anyway.
"You could spend the next fifteen seconds of your life watching a man and a tiger scream together, or you could be an idiot."
Fact.
Do they have a "run rule" in playoff NBA?
After that perhaps D. Stern is going to initiate one.
Game Over When:
A clear goaltending by Dwight Howard was not called in the second quarter during the Magic’s 17-4 run and all hope, effort, and fortitude left Smith, and as such, the rest of the team. That for me was the most defining moment in how this game was going to go. I’m not even surprised by the final margin of victory of 43 points. I look at that and all I can think is, “Meh, it’s to be expected considering what I saw in the second quarter.”
Woodson should be fired for even attempting to employ the 3rd-string-center-to-take-up-fouls strategy. Like today fired, because that is so dumb. That is playing not to lose instead of playing to win. What’s the odds he employs that same strategy again in Game 2?
"You could spend the next fifteen seconds of your life watching a man and a tiger scream together, or you could be an idiot."
Fact.
Good call
That was an interesting part in the game—-when Smith was literally hopping mad and the Magic raced down the floor to get that Barnes slam. I believe that made it 40-27 or something and foretold the end. This is not a mentally strong team—-we’ll have more on the Bill Shanks Show later today.
by The Human Highlight Blog on May 5, 2010 8:36 AM EDT up reply actions
That was when the house of cards collapsed.
That and with about 3 minutes left in the half, the Magic were up by 17 or so and the Hawks blew four straight opportunities for baskets while the Magic faltered on their end. Could have cut it to around ten and been in the game…instead the hole just got deeper.
Collins isn’t a good player, but it wasn’t his fault the Hawks had a 34.6% shooting percentage for the game.
I agree
You’re right, it’s not his fault the rest of the team shot bad. My point is that Woodson should have never even employed such a high school approach to this game. Horford is better than Collins in every regard unless we are counting how many chesseburgers one can tie around his waist.
If you throw Collins out there, regardless if it’s Howard or anyone else, he’s going to commit fouls because he has no skill, so I fail to see the logic in Woodsons comments and actions. If you are doing it to keep Horford out of foul trouble then I still don’t understand because Horford has a low fould rate to begin with and he ended with only one foul. So, like I mentioned in an earlier thread, what did we gain from this?
Nothing.
"You could spend the next fifteen seconds of your life watching a man and a tiger scream together, or you could be an idiot."
Fact.
I'll just blame everyone involved for having no clue about how to score
Taking contested, tough jumpshots with a man in your face and absolutely zero ball movement leads to being thrashed.
If you watch the play again
You’ll see that Josh Smith missed that wild shot short and/or left of the basket. The hometown scorekeeper gave Dwight a block but that was a rebound of an airball all the way.
So much so...
…that Josh thought it was goal tending. The activity of Smith jumping up and down like a child who didn’t get his way while the Magic executed a fast break was telling—-and foretold an even grimmer tale throughout the rest of the game.
BTW, if the readers of this blog haven’t gone back and read Bret’s Daily Dime chat comments (on ESPN, natch)—-you missed some excellent in game comments that went from strategy dissection to Dean Martin roast in about a quarter’s worth of time. Well worth reading (as is his blog, obviously).
by The Human Highlight Blog on May 5, 2010 10:51 AM EDT up reply actions
His reaction is also why...
I’d be open to offers for Smoove this summer. As said elsewhere, I wouldn’t actively shop him, but if we were offered Rudy Gay, Andre Iguodola, or Andrew Bynum for him, the move should be considered. Horford can handle the 4, but can he and Smoove be a championship caliber 4 and 5?
Smoove
Smoove is the best player on the team IMO. His constant bitching at the refs needs to stop, however. It kept him off the all star team this year, and will likely turn him into the next Rasheed Wallace
Smoove is the best player when his head is in it and when he's giving 100%...
but when that’s not the case, he’s a huge liability. At some point, his inconsistent ability to play at the level he’s capable of is a problem and a problem that can not be forgiven by youth (cause he ain’t that young anymore).
I'll have to go back and watch it
But from the multiple times I replayed it, I thought it was going to catch the front of the rim. Rule NO. 11, Atricle G does state that it has to have a chance to hit the ring, but that still leaves the ruling up to the perspective of all officials on the court. In this case, I’m assuming that they thought it had no chance to hit the rim, which is pretty damned amazing considering how quick the play unfolded.
"You could spend the next fifteen seconds of your life watching a man and a tiger scream together, or you could be an idiot."
Fact.
Gee, Bibster.
You’ve either been taking a lot of lessons from namesake, Woodster, about not saying anything useful or intelligent at all at the press…OR, you really believe that “making shots” is the only way to make a run. How about “getting stops”? Or “getting better shots”? Or “rebounding the ball”?
Seems like you may need to have all of those in order to make a “run.”
For those that think Woodson should still be our coach
I rest my case. Rick Sund has been in this business for almost 40 years, and I am sure he sees what most every intelligent Hawks sees, including many of you on this blog. I am not sure if we should bring Joe back or not, but if we do, Woody cannot coach here. We need someone to bring the most out of this team. Woody’s offensive and defensive strategies (whatever they are), does not play to the strengths of his team (especially Marvin). It only plays to the strengths of jump shooters and allows Joe and Jamal to play street ball. If the Hawks can do this much with this much lack of leadership, imagine what they can do with a good coach. This is all on Woody’s shoulders. Let see how he responds.
"Opposition in my face, trying to play the fence, I'm bigger than this dude, this don't make no sense, I Air Jordan on 'em". - K-Drama
by Sterling Platinum on May 5, 2010 9:28 AM EDT reply actions
I Say...
I love Woody’s ‘hack a Howard’ mentality, thats it…I say start JT(Jeff Teague) over old man Bibby, he’s more aggressive, quick, & I think he could do some things against Jameer Nelson, & we just gotta be more affect against Dwight Howard & neutralize there bench…And Joe & Jamal gotta get it goin or we will ALWAYS be put out the 2nd Rd of the playoffs…
GO HAWKS!
Watchin' Bobby Cox Turn Falcon Red Since 1991...
(A True ATLien)
by Dirtybyrdatl4life on May 5, 2010 10:03 AM EDT reply actions
Foul Howard is a valid strategy but neither it or any other defense will result in a W when you score 71 points.
It is not valid when you let him hit 8 of 10 field goal attempts
and give him “and 1’s”. You foul to keep him from scoring, not to increase his scoring!
"There are two ways to argue with a woman, and neither of them work."; Carlos Boozer
I'll tell ya about the Magic It'll free your soul but it's like trying to tell a stranger 'bout rock n roll
The only way to stop LeBron is Smith and Wesson, but even that's a double team.
by NC Magic Fan on May 5, 2010 10:22 AM EDT up reply actions
Quit trying to rationalize....
It’s over. Unless by some catastrophic miracle, we’re done. THe only player worth his weight on this team is Al Horford. Keep him.Everyone else, and I mean EVERYONE should be under review. Woody’s a goner unless we win the ‘ship after this one. Joe’s no killer, he’s no game changer, he’s no team leader. DO NOT GIVE HIM MAX MONEY!!!!! Bibby’s a backup at best, so he can walk. If J-Clank’em takes another wind up jump shot, trade him. Trade him anyway…get a competent center.
All in all, the Hawks as we know them are over. It’s time to destroy and rebuild.
49er and ATL Hawks fan since '86, Braves fan since '90, Bama fan since birth.
hang on there Ronnie
It was bad…I was upset…my wife left me alone to sulk….but its a new day. Orlando is a very good team. I was hoping to steal GM1 but it is only one game. (pause & swallow) Woody is right about using up the fouls, it was hard to admit but that is the only way to slow Howard down. Horford can’t guard him, its not a knock on Al..its just the truth. We know this team, they are going to go inside out. Drive and dish to a cutter or shooter. Woody needs to go deep on the bench Collins, Joe Smith, Morris, and put West and Teague out there more on the guards and shooters.
On Ofense you can’t get much on the inside against Orlando…you have to send two guys in so you can draw Howard out and pass to a trailer, and make foul shots. Once Howard gets to 4 fouls he’s less of a factor…that’s all we need get 4 fouls on him in the 1st half and we can win the game
Seriously....
…fouls don’t matter if Bibby can’t defend on the drive and dish. Granted, Orlando can’t hit like they did last night in every game, but that is their offense. What is ours? We have no semblance of one. Playing for a matchup aainst Gortat…WTF is that?
49er and ATL Hawks fan since '86, Braves fan since '90, Bama fan since birth.
I'd take my chances with Gortat
He’s a good back up but he ain’t Howard. Without Howard we could go toe to toe with this team
Will everybody quit with the "blow up" talks!
If this team’s good enough to win 50+ games and be a three seed, why in the hell would you blow it up? What should be addressed, and this meaning should have been addressed a year ago, is coaching and the starting five. If everyone’s on board with rebuilding yet again, I’ll see you in five years to see what happened. We all know that the owners “supposely” are broke and can only sign Joe or somebody lesser AND NOBODY ELSE!
Atlanta will win a championship....someday
would a sign and trade for JJ work?
Sign JJ and then trade him for one of the point guards that New Orleans has? May be bundle Bibby with that to entice NO for the trade?
Salaries wouldn't work out
NBA trade rules are complicated to explain. You can’t bring back less than 80% or more than 120% (I think those are right) of the salary that you’re sending out on a trade for a current season. If JJ gets a max deal, there’s no way we’d get Collison or anyone still on a rookie contract. There’s no way that the Hornets are trading Chris Paul, who is a top 5 player in the NBA when healthy.
Getting a young PG seems worthless anyway unless we have a decent idea for a new coach. I’d love to just get Avery Johnson in here and have him essentially take over Jeff Teague. He’s been known to micro-manage his point guards, since he was a pretty good one, but he’s also had some success with young points as well.
Because this is the ceiling of what this team can do. Good coach or bad coach, it is a team that can’t hit from the perimeter on a regular basis, which is what you need to stretch Orlando’s defense and make Howard come out from the paint. Atlanta is built to contend with Cleveland, and as long as Orlando is in the way, we’ll never see Cleveland. Cleveland may have Lebron, but Orlando is who we compete with every year in the division…and if yall have forgot, the Magic are the defending East champs….NOT Cleveland
49er and ATL Hawks fan since '86, Braves fan since '90, Bama fan since birth.
coaching matter whether you want to believe it or not...
What nba coach do you know would run the hawks the same way? Would you run the hawks the same way?
Atlanta will win a championship....someday
right!!
ronnie is right we were built to beat the Cavs. Which is why the 4th spot would have been an easier road for this team. BUt what offense can you run with NO POST PLAYER. Al doesn’t have a true post up game, he’s a power player….well so is Howard except he’s much stronger….our only chance is to run and hit shots…or drive & pass to a rim finisher
yep
not taking anything from the Cavs and Celtics but the Magic are the team to beat in the East. They are not getting overlooked by me. I see them. And I like what they got going. Can’t wait to see the ECF match ups.
they just suck
listen the hawks have all the talent to have a championship team, but they have the IQ of a turtle, whatever that means all im sayin is their not smart at all, they dont pass it like they should, they need a new coach, joe johnson and crawford dribble way to much and joe johnson throws up bs threes from a mile away when people are all on him but when he is wide open he doesnt take the shot. Why cant we get a lebron, kobe, or d wade in ATL? and send a new coach our way.
"supposedly" no cap room for any big name star not name Joe
Cheap is the word so you know what that means.
Atlanta will win a championship....someday
Someone get me a broom
I need something to clean my team pride up off the floor.
There may be a lot around
For game 4. Zing!
by BlueSkyOneCloud on May 6, 2010 2:02 AM EDT up reply actions
burn the film on this one
nothing productive you can get out of watching it….43 points was a more than i expected but coming off a tougher than should have been series, the travel, and the general personality of this team , a blowout loss wasnt unimaginable….i always thought game 2 was the one they had to get….44 or more point turnaround dont usually happen in a playoff series…looking at box score (not that you want to) -18 on boards, decent job defending the perimeter (9-23 on 3s for magic but terrible job defending paint and midrange bibby and al 2-12 combined. just all around bad night… ball movement on O and better effort on D. not much else to really say
"hand down...man down"
Just thinking
What does it take for our coach to name some of his players as “DOGS”? when they under perform, why is our coach quiet? Thinking of what Pop in SA did after the first loss to DAL and Jefferson. That set a fire under Jefferson for next game. Why can’t you call JJ and Jamal “DOGS” last night? What does it take to call them out? They need to know they bear responsibility. If Woody is gone, at least be a man and name Dogs Dogs (no disrespect to Dawgs).
some coaches just dont have it in their DNA to do it , and especially one who doesnt have much job security…Popovich has both
"hand down...man down"
by hawksfaninchi on May 5, 2010 12:26 PM EDT up reply actions
Just maybe
this just might be a strategy to to lower expectations so that the magic will go easy
So throwed that Randy Moss jumpin up couldn't even catch it
31 isolation plays
14 points from them. This game seemed like the game on January 9, 2009
Atlanta will win a championship....someday
the houston game?
I was actually comparing recent magic/hawks games
Atlanta will win a championship....someday
All Defensive Team
On another note, how does Josh Smith come in second in defensive player of the year voting, but then two players are named ahead of him to the all defensive first team?
Who votes on these things? Lebron?
Some people vote on reputation and don’t actually watch games. Sounds bizarre, I know
Watching Bobby Cox pick boogers since 1995
by a hooter's baby on May 5, 2010 3:54 PM EDT up reply actions
That
Makes no sense to me either coming in 2nd overall but on the 2nd team. Nba doing what it does giving certain players calls in everyway.
The same people that....
Vote for Tim Duncan over Andrew Bogut for all defensive team….
"There ain't nothing to do in Milwaukee"
--Josh Smith
OH RLY?
by Jacob Grinyer on May 6, 2010 6:07 PM EDT up reply actions
Sorry but
I will be glad when this season is over. The Hawks are unfortunately gonna need a make-over that will send them back to the lottery. I hate it so much because they worked so hard to get fans back in the arena and now all that is gone when Joe leaves, which I am now all for considering that he is not a good leader.
The intangibles Joe brings...
are a great work ethic, generally playing hard more often than most everyone else on the team, and being a leader by example.
But he has always been worth more for what skills he brings and his ability to compromise defenses in ways none of the rest of the Hawks can. in the end he has hit his head on his and the Hawks’ ceiling, at least without knowing if another coach can coach up this team. But Joe does do not all of the things leaders like Lebron, Garnett, Duncan, Billups, and Kobe do, no.
Joe
I really like Joe Johnson, but seriously, his offense is tailored for isolations and consists of mostly contested jump shots. His game discourages ball movement, pick and rolls, and everything else that nba teams tend to do every game. I can’t see paying max for a player that disrupts the offense that much
I’m almost leaning toward letting him go, but at the same time scared to let him go
i agree JJ is not max but ....
pair him with a goodpoint guard, and i think you see a huge improvement. Pair him with a coach that designs screens for him, and you see huge improvement. He has not been coached to do any differently from year 1 to now with the Hawks, and the Hawks around him, have changed and matured.
I can;t quite agree with that assessment of his game.
The guy can and does pass—he has a very good assist average, led the team. He can score from anywhere on the floor in a variety of ways. No, he does not get to the line enough and he will elect to force a fadeaway instead of passing or going to the basket in crunch time.
But I often wonder if those last things can be affected by another coach with another system.
They are mental choices, not physical limitations.
Marvin
I just caught myself saying how we could use a 6’6" to 6’8" guy who can drive, get to the line, and hit open jumpers…somebody like…Marvin Williams. Anyone think Marvin’s game would pick up with more touches?
No
Marvin is a bust man seriously its like 5 years into his career and people keep with this wishy washy Marvin talk. He is gonna get paid like $30 mill over next 4 years and will be almost impossible to move
why is it that when everyone is saying
the hawks have a chance to steal this game, or that game. they end up not showing for that game. jeez!
for sure!!
if they didnt fire woodson if the magic sweep them, well they’re doomed for another 3 years or more
"This team has not grown"
…said by Ric Bucher today on the SVP show. And sadly, I have to agree.
49er and ATL Hawks fan since '86, Braves fan since '90, Bama fan since birth.
Yeah, look how closely their record resembles that 13 win season when this all started, ZERO growth!
I don't think that was the intent of the comment
I believe it is referring to our display in last years playoffs. We haven’t learned from those experiences. Replace Bucks and Heat and you wouldn’t know the difference looking at the scores and results. Same with the Cavs last year and Orlando this year.
"You could spend the next fifteen seconds of your life watching a man and a tiger scream together, or you could be an idiot."
Fact.
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