Atlanta Hawks/Orlando Magic Game Review: Four Quarters
by The Human Highlight Blog on May 7, 2010 12:23 AM EDT
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For three quarters, the Atlanta Hawks traded punches with the Orlando Magic, trailing by a mere point, 84-83. Alas, the Hawks real nemesis, the fourth quarter, was yet to be played.
The 4th Quarter numbers? 28-15, Magic. The Hawks managed (24) percent shooting with a whopping (2) assists. The Magic almost made as many three pointers (4) in the quarter as the Hawks had field goals (5).
The Hawks looked lost for a loooooooong stretch of time on the court, and clearly needed the offensive presence of Mike Bibby on the floor to calm things. Problem with that: Jamal Crawford had made 6 of 11 shots and was answering some of the Magic's big runs with swishes of his own.
Jamal's Fourth Quarter: 1-7, 2-2, 4 points and one of the Hawks pair of assists.
Oof.
"It was weird...we had the same exact shots we had all game and they just didn't go down for us...the well went dry," explained Jamal.
The Hawks go back to Atlanta trailing 2-0 in the best of seven series, and while they showed they can match the Magic for three quarters, league rules dictate they do it for four to win. They'll have to starting in Game Three, or the old saying that a series doesn't begin until the home team loses a game will mean an almost impossible deficit for the Hawks to overcome.
The categories and quotes (in bold) from the game after the jump:
Game Over When: The Hawks had as many turnovers (2) as assists (2) in the entire fourth quarter.
Worth Noting: Al Horford was ballin', scoring (24) and grabbing (10) rebounds AND guarding Dwight Howard. (3) assists and (1) turnover. He was strong and was the emotional difference in the second quarter when he checked back in---and is the hope for the Hawks to win a game against Orlando.
Also: The Hawks were better offensively than they've been this season against Orlando, but they fizzled big time in the fourth quarter, where they went from playing the Magic nearly even (1.25 ppp to 1.24) to allowing an unofficial 1.33/.71 fourth quarter. Too bad. The Hawks were angry and aggressive until the passive fourth quarter, where Woodson had his explanation for the team's falloff.
"We had some good looks...I don't know if fatigue set in or what but....We couldn't make a shot and we couldn't get stops. We got away from what we were doing. We got to put (4) quarters together to beat this team."
We Saw It:
The Hawks gave way on both ends in the fourth quarter in Game Two, amassing (2) whole assists in the quarter versus (2) turnovers. They allowed the Magic to control the pace and tempo of the game and stopped attacking on their own offensive end.
When the offense stalls, the lack of a fourth quarter point guard hurts the team. Jamal Crawford shot well, but does not help when he can't guard a player like Jameer Nelson (20 points, 6 assists) and can't run a team like Mike Bibby. The fourth quarter needs a QB. Point guards are floor generals and the Hawks don't have a long term answer for this key position.
Johnson: "Mike's our general, man...we kind of go as he goes. He keeps us in good sets..he knows when to run and when to run it...and he's very vocal. We really needed Mike to keep the floor balanced."
Woodson: "We haven't gone that route very often (not having Bibby in at all in the fourth)--I let things go that route tonight. Mike will be back in on Saturday...Jamal was playing pretty well...we just didn't play well in the fourth."
Horford: "I think that we weren't in the right places at the right time..and our spacing wasn't too good in the fourth...I felt there were a lot of times in the fourth we were all in one area."
Josh Smith had as frustrating a game that a man who put 18 points, 9 boards, and 3 assists could have. Jump shots, lapses of effort, and (5) turnovers gave fans the usual rainbow of characteristics one has witnessed from J-Smoove. To his credit, it was Smoove who corrected me when I asked him about his (4) turnovers.
"We stopped being aggressive and attacking the rim in the fourth quarter," said Smith. "We need to make our cuts harder, setting screens harder, and just keep playing aggressive."
Regarding the turnovers: "Five. I felt I kept it down until I had some careless turnovers in the second half.....I gotta be able to take my time more in the second half."
Dwight Howard shot (18) free throws and made (13)--for a (72) percent clip. Maybe the Hawks should have deployed a Hack-a-Pietrus strategy (3-8). Howard also grabbed (17) rebounds. The Hawks did force (4) turnovers from Howard--and (5) personal fouls. They bloodied the big man's nose to the point where they used a couple of plugs in his nose to stop the bleeding, rendering Superman to resemble the Magic's mascot, Stuff the Magic Dragon.
Known Hawk Hater Vince Carter, who auditions for a post-career role with a network (TNT, ESPN) with his Q&A sessions after the games, scored 24 points and even got 7 rebounds, part of a quartet of Magic players who scored (20) or more, with Rashard Lewis completing the team.
Almost a We Can't Believe winner, the Hawks had a mere (4) fast break points--all on free throws.
We Can't Believe We Saw It:
It happened with 1:27 left in the first quarter. Between saving Al Horford from getting his second foul in a game called tightly by the officials, (Woody told us pre-game that, unlike Game One, he would wait to see how the game was being called before he decided on his big rotation), Zaza Pachulia having (2) fouls, Jason Collins having THREE fouls, there was little Woodson could do except turn to the one man that could keep Mario West away from his (10) seconds of playing time--Randolph Morris. Morris checked in and became the fourth Hawks center of the quarter. Amazing.
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Ready 4 this to end
I think we can get Rudy Gay and bring Josh back, Mo just has to opt out and we have to sign Rudy 1st then Joe that’s a good way around the rule. We will need to get rid of Marvin and possibly Jamal but I’m done for that
what game where you watching?
Human Highlight, clearly you did not have a good seat for this game. How can you make the below statement:
“The Hawks looked lost for a loooooooong stretch of time on the court, and clearly needed the offensive presence of Mike Bibby on the floor to calm things”
Did you see how Jameer was killing him in the first half? Did you see us losing the lead beginning of the second half. Yes we need a point guard as you note later in post, but Bibby is no freakin answer. Wake up dud and watch the game. Bibbty was the reason we were losing in the first. Jameer was driving on him any time he wants. Bibby is finished. Garbage. No defense, even Woody understood it.
Sorry but am in no mood to give Bibby any excuse to play for this team again. As far as i am concerned, i would never play Bibby as my primary point in this league again after what BJ and now Jameer have done. At least Jameer is a quality point, but i have seen this same song and dance all year. All Bibby can do for you, is make threes, if that is not going he is garbage. He brings the pass over half court and hands to JJ. He is no point guard.
Yes they need a point guard in the 4th to distribute , but Bibby’s D is so bad, you can not keep him on the floor any more. I am not repeating myself, but you get the idea.
I was watching
I saw a fourth quarter with guys who were lost on the floor. I saw nobody on the court who could get the Hawks into anything resembling an offense. Would it have been so bad, after Crawford clanged another jump shot or given up another three, to get Bibby in the game to calm things down?
Bottom line is this: The Hawks have to address the point guard position—-the fourth quarter this season has resembled the Jason Terry era in terms of execution—they need a quarterback on the floor who is legit. Quit drafting and trading for guys who aren’t able to play in that capacity.
by The Human Highlight Blog on May 7, 2010 6:14 AM EDT up reply actions
4th qtr meltdown because Hawks have no point guard
You must be kidding asking for Bibby to come back in. Again I repeat did you watch the game? He can’t guard a stop sign. You get him back in the game, and Jameer rapes him in plain view of 20,000 people. I see no redeeming point in having Bibby in the game, if he is not making his threes, because on the other end, he just gives up.
What is the point of having Bibby in the game? Bring the ball up past the half court, hand it to ISO JJ, or hand it to ISO Jamal, and step aside. My grand ma can do that, and she is faster than Bibby. If you want things calm, go listen to jazz music. You think Jammer will let it be calm on the other end?
At least we agree, on one point, Hawks have dropped the ball on the point guard situation, and backup big guy. As Bronn said to me the other day, we have someone on the bench, we don’t know even how good he is, but that position is in dire need of improvement.
Sorry for the attitude this morning, I shall calm down.
We had our worst defensive quarter in the fourth
and Mike was nowhere to be found. What defensive effort was Mike going to undermine by getting in there to get things back on track offensively?
Look at the comments from Joe and Al and you’ll see that the Hawks were all out of sorts on the court—-and that Mike is the guy they look to for getting them into the right plays, spots, etc.
ATLpaul—-no need to apologize for the passion. Love it. Don’t lose it. :-)
by The Human Highlight Blog on May 7, 2010 7:58 AM EDT up reply actions
Well I looked at beginng of game and begining of 3rd quarter
Bibby was absolutely being taken advantage of by Jameer. It was not even close athe beginning of the game. As I said, Jameer is a quality point guard, if healthy all star material, but i have seen this movie before. Every team in the league takes advantage of us on that position. Every other player was playing hard, and so may have been Bibby, but I just saw him beat time and again.
Beginning of third, we lost the lead. Who was in the game then? It was bibby. Jamal comes in, things become stable. I think Woddy got it. It was not even close. Get Bibby in, we lose by 30 points. Is Jamal the right guy at point, no absolutely not. Hence my point about Teague or something
Thanks for understanding it is not personal.
The problem is that while Crawford should be better on D because of his quickness, Bibby is actually the better defender.
I realize that is not saying much considering just how badly either of them defend, but there are times when Crawford’s scoring is the answer, and there are times when Bibby’s floor management is more important to a team that has lost all focus. Teague may very well be the answer in the future, but it is too late for this season to try and have him run the point in a close fourth quarter, and as THHB mentioned, the Hawks haven’t really gone out and gotten a true point guard, other than Bibby, so Teague still has some thing to work out in transitioning from a combo guard in college.
"in no mood to give Bibby any excuse to play for this team again"
those are very, very harsh words. you don’t seriously think that they would have come this far without mike bibby, do you?
look, we are all disappointed here. but pls don’t take it out on THHB
It all depends on if we are talking 2010 or before
Bibby helped Hawks jump to the next step of the ladder. No doubt with him joining, it was a key part of us making it to playoffs in years past.
But what do you expect after the series vs. deer and now this? Do you really want it to be all sugar and sweetness on him. I want accountability. I think majority agree game strategy in need of improvement. That is on Woody. But when you have a weak spot on the court again and again, and the other team is constantly taking advantage of you, and you can’t defend, because you are out of shape by 10-20 pounds, who is to blame? It is on him for not being in game shape all year.
Lion is a great defensive player, and one series, he hounded Jameer all around, Jameer tried to do a layup and ball was not close to the basket. If our point could even though 50% of what Lion does defensively, we won’t be having this conversation. And I am not even talking about his lack of penetration, or ability to run the ball up the floor. Here I have a great athletic front line, but we can’t run the ball up the court, why?
We need to speak up and point out the deficiencies. Ahh by the way this is not so much on Human Highlight, as it is on Sund for signing Bibby for 3 years. Now if Bibby is a backup shooter like White choclate is for Orlando, yes he can play a role, but not as a point guard for the Hawks. And need to go to a fat farm next year.
Should have made mention...
…that the Hawks were 30-31 on Free Throws…really, really good.
by The Human Highlight Blog on May 7, 2010 6:58 AM EDT reply actions
Any time the Hawks shoot more than 10 FTs, I am impressed.
Last night we should have shot 40. The refs treatment of Dwight Howard is borderline mafioso. Kudos to the Hawks for staying mentally in the game even in the face of obvious one-sided officiating.
they can and will
The reason the offense sputtered again in the fourth was because movement stopped and the wrong people handled the ball. The hawks were getting calls and all they needed to get the ball to the basket and don’t shoot ANY jump shots no matter how wide open they are.
Atlanta will win a championship....someday
"The refs treatment of Dwight Howard is borderline mafioso"
LOL this helps me keep sane. Its all about perspective. I will go to the grave thinking David Stern has it in for the Magic….BUt seeing you post this makes me realize every fan of every team feels victimized at some point.
Hot pockets were 3 for $5 today.
Bout to eat like a King. Be good guys.
"Just to remind you, Orlando made it to the finals last year without this guy. Crazy."~John Krolik
Have fun with the resulting bowel movements
I feel like, any time you eat a Hot Pocket, your stomach responds by extending the equivalent of a middle finger back at you.
It’s almost like the Hawks treat good offense like a little kid treats eating his vegetables. Fine, I’ll eat a few heads of broccoli in the first quarter, but come the second half I want my iso-cheeseburger and iso-fries. Why doesn’t Woody call a frigging time out and make a substitution to put Bibby or Teague in before things get out of hand? The way he talks about things after games make it sound like he has no control over the team once the game starts (maybe based on the Bucher sound bite it’s actually true too). God am I sick of him. Game 4 needs to be his final game as Hawks head coach.
His inadequacies are just blatantly on display, no?
It would almost be an embarrassment for any serious NBA team to have him as their coach after this…it’s just so obvious the team is out of control and win in the regular season despite him. He’ll be back in the assistant ranks after this year, I’d bet.
I have been bashing Woody in the playoffs but
I though last night he did a good job, with what he had. We just don’t have the players on the bench to match up with Orlando. We need a BIG MAN, and to move Marvin to the bench. I still want Bibbs on the team. He is going to have to use his offense as defense. make Jameer chase him around screens, make him work. But it was VC who hurt us last night. His legs were fresh, and he could get to the basket and finish.
Go with the same strategy on Sat, get more open shots for Bibby, get 4 fouls on Howard in the 1st half, use the bench…win 2 in ATL
I'll take that bet!
You think that there isn’t at least one, if not a few teams out there that are staring down the barrel of an awful win-loss record, that wouldn’t look at Woody, based solely on the Hawks’ record progression over the past five years?
I just realized that Horford only went 3-5 in the second half.
And only attempted 2 free throws.
During the game I was listening to Hubie and generally accepted everything he was saying, so when he told me Horford was struggling in the second half, that felt right to me. But two of Horford’s 5 shot attempts came with under 3 minutes left in the game when it was already out of reach. I know he had his hands full with Howard the whole second half, but how can you get away from the man who led you in scoring the first half until the game is essentially over?
Jamal Crawford, for example, can go 1-7 in the fourth, and yet announcers still give him credit for taking the big shots and being clutch or stepping up in primetime-you can just pick your cliche. When the offense stutters, I’d much rather lose the game by overutilizing the Horford pick-and-pop than to see our “star” player pound the ball in place and then jack up shots.
16 first half points for Horford. Over the next 21 minutes, only 4.
And judging from their quotes
The Hawks don’t even realize that their offense DOES change in the fourth quarter.
This has been the Hawks’ 4th quarter offense all year. They don’t have the coaching acumen or player talent to suddenly change things up at this point in the season. The Magic just have a better playoff roster and much better coaching and this will all be over soon enough.
Well folks...
I’ve said this a few times, but it applies to this game as well.
When Smoove actually wanted to play in the playoffs last night the Hawks were rolling. Our only hinderance was poor ref’ing.
When Smoove became Tender is where all our trouble started.
doesn't seem fair, but people spend their money any way they want...
I don’t know if anybody else read this, but I just read this.
http://www.sbnation.com/2010/1/8/1240573/is-basketball-becoming-baseball
Atlanta will win a championship....someday
Josh Childress - To confuse things more
According to this article on Yahoo sports, he is likely to opt out of his contract in Greece and return to the association next year
http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=tsn-joshchildresswilllik
4th quarter stats
Can anyone find stats on the Hawks’ point differential for the 4th quarter this season?
Even more specific, what about 4th quarter point differential in games that were less than 5 points apart after 3 quarters?
I didn’t get to watch hardly any games because of living in NC, no DVR, and a crazy work schedule, but the box scores I would check after a loss always seemed to involve a 4th quarter meltdown. Is that accurate???
Here ya go
4th quarter pts/gm: 23.8
4th quarter pts/gm allowed: 23.8
We are dead even, though it surely doesn’t feel that way. You can find all kinds of sortable split-stats here.
"You could spend the next fifteen seconds of your life watching a man and a tiger scream together, or you could be an idiot."
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