You could feel for the Grizzlies, you really could.
Memphis is experiencing a good season, one in which their throwaway off-season acquisition (Zach Randolph) has turned into an All-Star and their young core (Rudy Gay, OJ Mayo, Marc Gasol, Mike Conley) is beginning to come together. However, coming into their Tuesday night home game against the Hawks, they were in the throws of a three game losing streak, something that in the Western Conference can drop you behind teams very quickly. As it was, Memphis woke up Tuesday and found themselves at the bottom of the (12) teams in the West above (.500).
However friendly these Hawks are face-to-face, they were not in any position to offer on-the-court charity to the Grizzlies, chasing the Magic in their own division and not wanting to fall any further under .500 on the road (they entered the game a single notch below). In the end the Hawks would use an aggressive approach on offense, a tight second half defense, and Jamal Crawford to nab a quality 108-94 win in Memphis.
The game started with Joe Johnson hitting (5) points on the first two Hawks possessions. If THHB told you that Joe would score (6) more for the other 47:44 minutes in the game, you might have thought we had the wrong result in the previous paragraph. But trust us---our eyes hath not deceived us.
The Hawks played good enough offense in the first half against a team that, while they are offensively exciting at times--especially in transition, is a borderline bottom five defense in the league. Defensively, the Hawks struggled as Memphis took off in transition after makes and misses, scoring some easier points as Atlanta was slow to get back and defend. When Gay made a free throw with 2:19 left in the first half, the Grizzlies led 53-44. What came next was a (9) point run by Marvin Williams and Al Horford and when the horn sounded, the MEM lead was down to 55-53.
Williams was the aggressor all night, taking the ball to the basket and scoring on six of his eight shots inside the three point arc. He also helped keep the league's leading Offensive Rebounding Rate team down to moderately low (10) offensive rebounds.by grabbing (6) defensive boards of his own to go with his (15) points on the night.
The Hawks outscored the Grizzlies by (9) in a third quarter that saw the Atlanta defense quicker back on defense, rebounding well, and getting Memphis to shoot more from the outside. The margin might have been larger if not for some extremely careless ball handling by Josh Smith and Jamal Crawford (3 turnovers) in transition opportunities. But after Smith committed his third turnover with 4:22 left in the third quarter, the Hawks would not lose the ball again until Woodson emptied the bench in the fourth, a 13:32 span.
During that stretch, the Hawks turned the Grizzlies over (4) times and outscored their hosts 37-18 with half (OK, more than half--19) of those points coming off the considerably warm fingertips of Jamal Crawford.
Well, now me and Homer Jones and Big John Talley Had a big crap game goin' back in the alley And I kept rollin' them sevens Heh heh, winnin' all them pots My luck was so good I could do no wrong I jest kept on rollin' and controllin' them bones And finally they jest threw up their hands and said 'When you hot, you hot'
-Jerry Reed, 1971
Folks, Crawford was hot. 7-10 with (2) assists and (19) points in those deciding minutes of the game. That streak included (3) threes, but he was just as crafty getting to the rim as well. He is fun to watch when he is on---you expect to hear the old NBA JAM announcer bellow "He's On Fire!" when he gets going as he was in Memphis Tuesday night.
Riding the Fiery Trail Through Graceland
Separate from Crawford, the rest of the Hawks had a good shooting night as well, putting a (55) percent field goal number up on the board. In all, (5) Hawks joined Crawford in double digits, including Mike Bibby--who put 11 points/6 assists up in a half a game's work (22 minutes).
Al Horford won the battle of the efficient, yet underused centers battle with Marc Gasol, despite the latter's attempt to channel his inner Sabonis with hooking arms chicanery and lower body shoving as Horford swept through the lane offensively. Horford scored his usual (15) points on a mere (7) shots, blending the inside with the outside fluently. He also made inside life difficult for Gasol, who managed to only make (3) of his (7) shots. Horford was a game high (+21) while Gasol was a game low (-23). Yahtzee!
The Hawks blocked only (3) shots on the night, but two came on what has to be considered the play of the night for the Hawks. Early in the second half Memphis got ahead of the Hawks in transition and OJ Mayo was ready to lay it in for the finish. When he let the ball go Marvin came from behind for the block. Sadly, the ball landed in the hands of Zach Randolph, who was ready to quickly finish his gift for two points. That was the plan, until Josh Smith quickly got between the rim and the ball and put the whammy on such plans. Nice.
In the shadows of Crawford and the team's excellent shooting night was the all around numbers that Josh and Al put up in the game. Smith finished with 7-10, 17 point, 6 rebound, 4 assist, 3 steals, and a block night while Al countered with his 5-7, 15 point, 8 rebound, 4 assist, 3 steal night of his own.When the frontcourt is active and involved, that makes it easier for Johnson and Crawford, especially against a willing defense like Memphis, and nets the Hawks a lot of wins.
Wednesday night in Philips Arena, the Los Angeles Clippers were oh so close to claiming back-to-back wins in Atlanta's basketball home before giving way late in the fourth quarter to lose 103-97 to the Hawks.
Throughout the game, the Clippers controlled the contest, using their size inside with Marcus Camby and Chris Kaman to control the glass and make shots difficult for the one-on-one Hawks.
The Clippers got the early lead on their hosts, though neither team had much going on offensively. The Clippers held the lead for much of the first half, but emerged from the locker room in a funk, allowing the Hawks to turn them over (4) times in the first couple of minutes of the second half, allowing the Birds to finally take the lead in that stretch.
But, as they did throughout the game, every time the Hawks pulled close to the Clippers wagon, the visitors would hit the gas and extend the lead once more with aggressive play and good outside shooting. The Clippers got the lead out to (13) on back-to-back dunks by Rasual Butler with (2) minutes left in the third quarter.
The Hawks then went on a shooting spree, knocking down consecutive threes from Joe Johnson and Jamal Crawford and adding in a layup from Josh Smith. Then, with the Hawks down (5) in the closing seconds of the quarter, Crawford completed his 24th four-point play, tying him with Reggie Miller for the all-time NBA record and bringing the Hawks to within a single point of the Clipper lead.
But just as before when the Hawks caught up to the charging Clippers, Los Angeles pulled away yet again, extending the lead back out to (9) with nine minutes to go.
In games past, the Hawks have been called out for resorting to a Joe-centric offensive game plan, especially when times got rough on the offensive end. The Hawks could hardly be criticized for doing so the last couple of games, as Johnson has been among the hottest scorers in the league, yet the team has sought to diversify during the last few games and avoid the now-infamous Iso-Joe sets that opponents have been sitting on when chasing down the Hawks.
In the fourth, while attempting to once again pull even with the Clippers, the Hawks spread the ball around getting the ball into Al Horford for some inside points and Crawford for some mid-range magic. Meanwhile Johnson continued to scope for scoring opportunities himself, getting to the line for a couple of free throws, getting the Hawks back to within a point.
The Clippers had done a wonderful job of contesting many of the Hawks shots, especially inside. holding the Hawks to below (50) percent on shots at the rim to that point. But, incredibly, the Clippers let their defenses down late in this game as Johnson took his man off the dribble and got to the square for (3) close range baskets, the last of which accounted for his 29th and 30th points and gave the Hawks a (4) point lead.
Then, after Horford knocked down a pair of free throws to maintain the advantage that Johnson had previously provided, the Clippers took a page out of the much maligned Hawks playbook.
The Clippers had built their lead for much of the night by attacking the Hawks defense in its undersized middle, moving the ball from side to side, hitting cutters to the basket, and taking advantage of the Hawks switch-a-roo defense by grabbing (14) offensive rebounds, (10) of which were attributed to Marcus Camby (who had 20 boards for the game).
They had scored (52) points in the paint to this point in the game when Baron Davis, who had a modest game going, took on the Hawks defense one-on-five, an Iso-Baron, if you will. Davis took an ill-advised layup and fade-away in consecutive trips, missing both, allowing the Hawks to build the lead out to (7) before Davis came down and hit a three, completing his triumvirate of self-serving possessions down the stretch. Johnson played out the fouling end game, making four free throws, thereby sealing his game high (34) point performance and the Hawks win, a steal of a win as any home game could be.
Thoughts as Random as Eric Gordon's Shot Selection
THHB applauds two unique stat lines in the game: Camby's 6 point, 20 rebound, 6 assist game and Mike Bibby's 4 point, 4 board, 3 assist, 4 steal effort. Bravo.
We're going to go ahead and place that wager that says the Hawks will win all games when Johnson and Crawford have more than 1.2 points per possession used---though this game was close to beating those odds--even with Johnson @ 1.29 and Crawford @ 1.28.
Count us among the happy ATL masses that only saw Al Thornton (4-6, 8 points) on the floor for (21) minutes. Maybe we were still dizzy from the (13-22, 31 point, 7 rebound, 6 assist) performance Thornton laid down on the Hawks last season while the Clippers blew Atlanta out in Philips last year. Hey, Mike Dunleavy, were not mad at ya--thank you!
Somewhere in the second half, Horford started going straight up against the Clipper front line, accepting the contact and getting his points from the line. Every bit of his 16/10 night was needed to get the job done, as was the double digit rebounds efforts from his front court mates (Marvin Williams-10, Josh Smith-10).
With the terrific height advantage and success they were having in the paint, we're surprised the Clippers deferred and took as many outside shots as they did. They were 10-37 from further than (16) feet.
With the Atlanta Hawks 100-91 home win over the Boston Celtics, the Hawks have swept the C's for the first time in a four game series since 1995-1996, yet another one of the many "sinces" the Hawks have picked off this season.
The Hawks did this on a Friday night where they started each half slow and failed to the move the ball in the fourth quarter--well, unless you count dribbling.
Still, for the fourth time this season, the Hawks came out victorious over Boston. They didn't need miracles (though Jamal Crawford's half court shot may apply---though we were thinking "money" when he launched---admit it, you were too.) or some kind of officiatorial gift (they were handing those out to both teams all night). No, the Hawks did as they have done in all four games this season; taken advantage of the Celtics voluminous turnovers and turned them into points while using their length and athleticism to frustrate Boston on offense.
In the second quarter, it was the energy of Jamal Crawford that took the Hawks' stagnant offense and stuck a streak shooting roman candle in its rear end. Crawford had (18) first half points, including that humdinger of a half court shot after getting the ball with a little over three seconds left. In a similar situation, running the same play against San Antonio, Josh Smith didn't get the ball to Crawford, electing instead to try and whip the ball further down the court to Marvin Williams, which didn't work. Jamal gently gestured to Smith as if to say "no, no, get me the ball." Friday, against the Celtics, the Hawks did, and Jamal delivered to help give the Hawks a (12) point lead at the half.
In the fourth quarter, the Hawks found themselves clinging to their lead, having given all but a single point back to Boston with a seriously malodorous third quarter shooting effort, multiple technical fouls, turnovers, and (20) Celtic free throws (of which 19 were made).
And though we don't approve, the fourth quarter was turned over to the "Joe on Five" offensive playbook. Fortunately for the Hawks, it was a night that Joe Johnson was "on". For sure.
Johnson shot 7-9 in the fourth quarter as he famously dribbled, dribbled, crossed over, pulled back, and then dropped jumpers in Celtic faces. The only shot Johnson was way off on in the fourth was one that THHB swears they saw every Celtic swarming Joe while he shot back across his body. But other than that? String music, daddy-o.
This wasn't a night where Joe and Jamal would try to one-up each other on hero duty. This was Joe's night and Jamal wasn't intruding on his all-star teammate, though he was effective and important on his end as well.
Jamal attempted a mere (3) shots in the quarter and made two of them. One was a running 20-footer that he banked of the glass while drawing contact from Rajon Rondo. The other was a gut punch to Celtic fans who were watching their team attempt a final run. Boston had just retained possession after an offensive rebound when Rondo committed his fourth turnover. Crawford slapped away Rajon's pass and headed to the other end for the easy dunk. After a Joe three answered a Pierce triple, the game and this series, was over.
Sweeping Away the C's Like Confetti
Sure we know it doesn't mean as much as a playoff series, but we would like to know how the Celtics care to spin how much more athletic and effective the Hawks are against them. Sure the playoffs take it up another notch but these games have sure seemed playoff-y to us. Chippiness, physical play, and lots of minutes played by the key players. We're guessing that Boston has seen enough of Atlanta and would wish not to have to face the Hawks in any round of the playoffs this year.
We are not going to forget the (8) point second quarter of Zaza Pachulia--the big fella was fantastic. In games like this, and especially this opponent, Pachulia wakes up like Dickie V when the camera lights go on. In one sequence in his quarter, Zaza set a screen, then graciously accepted a Jamal pass and hit the jumper. Then, just as quick as he was backpedalling down the floor, he reversed direction to steal the inbounds pass at midcourt. Then, with no Celtic offering resistance, Pachulia casually laid the ball in the basket. Simply marvelous.
Mike Bibby had another rough night, this time largely due to the abuse the Celtics were giving him on the defensive end, where he picked up quick fouls and never could get into a flow of the game. Bibby logged only (9) minutes and was the only Hawk in the minus column of +/- with a gruesome (-11).
As good as Pachulia's play and a later pass/dunk from Al Horford to Josh Smith was, the play of the night was a trail block by Jeff Teague who after the block, got the ball back, went the length of the floor, and hit Jamal Crawford for a three point basket, the first of Crawford's game high (28) points. That basket officially erased the early lead Boston got out to and the Hawks would soon take control of the game.
It wasn't how we'd like to see the Hawks attack the game, especially late, but as Coach Woodson likes to say, it's sweet when the shots are falling, and Friday night, in the fourth quarter, off the hands of Joe Johnson, they certainly were.
Who can tell why, throughout the course of an (82) game season, some teams can't play at a high level every night?
That's probably why all championship teams don't win (70) games every year--why the greatest of all time are--the--greatest--of--all--time.
It takes special mental toughness, great talent, and a whole lot of luck.
In the matter of the Atlanta Hawks 105-90 loss in San Antonio Wednesday night, the Hawks had the talent, but not much else.
The Spurs came out with reckless abandon, using Tony Parker and company to attack the Hawks in the heart of the defense. The Hawks seemed shocked at the affront their hosts portrayed---how dare they treat their guests so rudely? Alas, the home team shot and scored quite often from the "painted area", scoring a majority of their (36) first quarter points, the quarter that would serve as the buffer zone from which they would play from for the remainder of the game, from there.
The apex of such perpetration was, with just a few seconds left to go in the quarter, when the Hawks witnessed Parker go coast to coast to score a bucket with .8 seconds left to go. Oh, and he got fouled, too.
Usually we use this opportunity to cascade blame across the Hawks offensive approach and deride their misuse of Al Horford. But not this time.
The Hawks actually seemed interested in going into the post, at least early on, but couldn't generate any positive effects. Horford was particularly bad, as he fell into his habit of wilting against longer opponents, something he needs to resolve before facing Kendrick Perkins and Dwight Howard over the next couple of games.
The whole offense and defense seemed off, as if they had raised the curtains on the troupe and they were still getting dressed. Nobody moved on offense, the Spurs consistently beat them on the glass at both ends---the whole beginning of the game was a disaster.
Still, the Hawks kept plugging as Joe Johnson (31 points), Josh Smith (14/16/7), and Jamal Crawford (25 points) had their boogie shoes ready to go. The Hawks wasted productive, in control, volume shooting nights from both Johnson and Crawford (both shot greater than 50 percent), which kept them in the game even until the fourth quarter.
The Spurs led by as many as (28), but the Hawks had the lead down to (9) with around nine minutes left, but Crawford missed a three, Zaza turned the ball over, and the Hawks botched a fast break op and the Spurs pulled away again.
Wait Til Next Year
Guess the Hawks can't rid themselves of all of their road demons in one season---selfish of us to want them to, come to think of it---so the SA streak, which has lasted all of Tim Duncan's lengthy career, rolls on---until, as the subtitle suggests, next year.
If the AS game doesn't come knocking, Al Horford can't blame anyone but himself---well, and the coaching staff and teammates for not using him more this season. We already mentioned Horford's weakness when it comes to taller men, and it's something that bears repeating. Horford didn't want anything to do with getting close to the basket, attempting only (2) of his (10) shots around the rim. Horford was a miserable 1-8 from outside that comfort zone and was way too quick to settle for the outside jumper. He did have a nice block on a Duncan finger-roll, however---just sayin'.
Mike Bibby, in (27) minutes, posted one of the most empty lines he has authored as a member of the Hawks. Bibby missed all (7) of his shots and had a single assist and rebound. With the post hanging an "Out of Order" sign on it, the Hawks needed every bit of firepower to overcome their first quarter defensive malaise---and Bibby couldn't muster it.
Tim Duncan, especially after Parker turned his ankle in the third quarter and couldn't return, got all nostalgic on the Hawks and posted a career high in rebounds with an eye-popping (27) rebounds. We missed when the Finals began on Wednesday night because Duncan was locked in like it was Game 7, dishing out (6) assists as well and hitting all (11) of his free throws. True, the Hawks held him to a wacky 5-20 from the field, but his (10) offensive rebounds and those assists definitely helped teammates like Antonio McDyess (8-9, 17 points) have good nights from the field in his stead.
DeJuan Blair was 2-4 with (4) points and had (9) rebounds in a mere (16) minutes. In those minutes, the Spurs were +9. The lesson---we don't like the Spurs or their fancy luck.
Oh, by the way, Jamal Crawford did the 4-Ball again, giving him (23) for his career, one shy of the all time mark held by noted Hawk Hater, Reggie Miller. It's payback time, Reggie. Payback time.
Looking at the road record of the Charlotte Bobcats coming into Friday's night game in Atlanta, you wouldn't be surprised if you looked and the score ended up 103-89 in favor of the hometown Hawks.
The Bobcats now hold a road record of (3) wins and (16) losses. That is--uh, stinky. The Hawks were able to use some early turnovers, late turnovers, and some turnovers in between to score (29) points off of the Bobcats considerable gifts, helping to snap Charlotte's 6-game winning streak.
They needed it too, because Gerald Wallace (8-12, 25 points) and Stephen Jackson (10-20, 24 points) were pretty warm and the visitors enjoyed a 30-14 edge in free throw attempts for the game.
The Hawks took the first quarter 31-17 thanks to those early gifts and converting, but spent the second quarter trying to hand it back by getting comfortable around the perimeter. The Hawks lost that quarter 26-16, but came out roaring again in the third quarter, scoring (36) points to the Bobcats' (22) and took an (18) point lead into the fourth quarter.
There the Hawks continued to work the ball inside, giving Al Horford the chances we have been begging for late in games. While it wasn't always successful, the Hawks remained balanced on the offensive end and used (14) Jamal Crawford fourth quarter points to give them their final margin of victory.
Crawford scored (18) points in the game's final 13:24 and is one of the mightiest streak scorers this team has seen. While scoring all those points Crawford rarely seemed to force the shots, being assisted on (4) of his (6) made baskets in that stretch.
All the Hawks starters and Crawford shot at least (50) percent, except for Joe Johnson (7-17), including a (10-17) game from Al Horford, who responded to a decent workload in the middle with (24) points, (9) rebounds, and (5) assists.
Johnson would have joined his heavy minute brethren in the .500 club if not for a miserable 0-5 fourth quarter where Joe showed some lapses in late game savvy (early shot clock three, one-on-three break attempt). Joe was 7-12 on his other attempts and had (7) assists as well.
Manna From Heaven
Al Horford got (17) shots, including many touches in the post, Jeff Teague played 11+ minutes, and Flubber West DNP'd. In all, with the Hawks win, it was a great night for the Hawks blogosphere.
We love the energy that new AJC beat-meister Michael Cunningham has brought to the coverage. He links out to the local crowd, makes astute observations, and seems to be extremely down to earth. If you have not checked him out already, take a pause and hit up his AJC Blog right here.
Josh Smith is beginning to be so consistently solid (caution: scary!) that he is getting into Joe Johnson territory in putting up good games that gets lost somehow in some other angle. Smoove had a 6-10/14 points/6 rebounds/4 assists/4 steals night and while he wasn't credited with any blocks, we know we saw Boris Diaw wet his britches on a shot in the lane with J-Smoove nearby.
Raymond Felton turned his ankle somewhat early in the game and did not return, leaving some extra time for last year's Jamal Crawford for the Hawks, Ronald "Flip" Murray. All RFM did was score (11) points and distribute (9)! assists and post the abberant +14 on a team full of minuses Friday night.
In the battle of the #10 Hawk(s) of the Aughts, Nazr Mohammed started for the Bobcats and beat out Zaza Pachulia, who played only 6:48 total against Charlotte. Nazr picked up (3) offensive boards and (2) blocks while shooting under .500 for the 'Cats--almost seemed like he never left Philips Arena. And, as Peachtree Hoops noted in their pre-game writeup, he's only (32), putting him on the Jamaal Magloire All-Stars as players who seem older than their actual age. Feel free to drop some more Magloire All-Stars suggestions in the Comments Area.
Midway through this 2009-2010 season, the Atlanta Hawks have (27) wins.
Staggering to think about, eh--especially as pundits such as this fire shots across the Hawks bow. The Hawks are in first place in their division and are on pace for a whopping (54) wins.
Though it led to that 27th win, the game Wednesday night was nothing much to get excited about, though there were some exciting bursts of entertainment along the way to the Hawks' 108-97 dismissal of the Sacramento Kings. The team started slow as the Kings attacked the Hawks inside and the Hawks were overplaying the perimeter to account for Kevin Martin and Tyreke Evans, but the team adjusted (gasp!) and the Kings scoring opportunities began to get a lot harder.
The Kings shot 10-38 from beyond (10) feet. Ten feet! That's a marvelous (26) percent for those w/o calculators.
The main culprit was the rookie Evans who, while he may look Joe Johnson going inside, shoots like Joe Mama from the outside. According to Hoopdata.com, for the season, Evans is shooting 184-310 (59 percent) on shots labeled "at the rim" and a gum spitting 101-305 (33 percent) from anywhere but there. To put this into some perspective---Josh Smith is 64-204 from the same range--a close 31 percent and a comparable place that we're guessing neither Evans nor the Kings want him to stay for long. Against the Hawks Evans was 7-9 at the rim and 2-8 otherwise, with most of the damage coming in that early action and then when Flubber West was assigned to defend him (more on that later).
Meanwhile the Hawks used a balanced distribution of shots and assists on their way to a (29) assist, (51) percent shooting night. Of those assists, (19) were to baskets within (10) feet, with (15) of those right at the rim. Jamal Crawford, Joe Johnson, Josh Smith, Al Horford, and even Marvin Williams found their way into double digits in scoring and contributed more points than the possessions they used. That's a winning combination and a tasty recipe for more wins.
And with the Kings still in some kind of striking distance in the fourth quarter, the Hawks even went into the post to Horford and Smith (Sidenote: It seemed like they went to the post more in the fourth quarter than throughout the rest of the game.) to stabilize the offense and fend off the Kings last rally.
Stuff We Found While Chasing Down Another Tyreke Evans Jump Shot
With Tyreke Evans obvious shortcomings from the outside, we were surprised that Woodson elected to go to Mario "Flubber" West to defend him in the third quarter. Flubber plays notoriously close defense on everybody, can't or won't change for anybody, and was apparently willing to throw his "fastball" at Evans, even though he is a fastball hitter.
We're sorry, but you can't give "defensive specialist" labels to a player who is outplayed by Zaza Pachulia in regards to defending a lightning quick point guard such as Evans. Even Pachulia knew to dare Evans to shoot, which he did with Zaza on him (he missed).
As soon as Flubber entered the game, Evans attacked him for two quick hoops. In his nine(!) minutes of floor time, Flubber garnered (3) personal fouls, one unnecessary risk that worked and one that didn't and was mercifully (for us) pulled from the game. As we listened close, we could swear we heard Hoopinion head honcho Bret LaGree carefully documenting his case for his eventual committal hearings.
In regards to the most recent post on THHB, Al Horford used the fifth most possessions on the team despite the well stated issues the Kings had defending the frontcourt. And while Horford was used in the post down the stretch, which did put a smile on our face, he was not throughout the rest of the game. We had to laugh when The Namesake kept mentioning on the telecast that he wished the Hawks used Al more down low. After an early third quarter possession when Horford got the ball in the post and easily scored, THHF once again stated his wishes that the Hawks continue to go down there to him. They immediately went away from it and did not go back until midway through the fourth quarter. Baby steps, we remind ourselves, baby steps.
Marvin Williams took the aggressive route to the matchup and it paid off by getting to the line for 5-5 free throws and making 3-4 shots at the rim. We've been saying that Marvin would be best served showing his outside shot as a way to keep defenses honest so that he can use his speed, length, and touch to get better shots inside. Taking (6) out of his (9) shots inside of ten feet is a good place to start. Staying under control while doing so is the next step.
Joe Johnson did a nice job Wednesday night of mixing some gotta-get-to-the-basket-myself moves with good ball movement and had a solid 17/7 game and a relatively short night (31 minutes) as a reward. Though at times he looked like he wanted to give Tyreke Evans as good as Evans was giving him, it didn't become an epidemic. At one point Evans powered his way to the hoop for a score and you could tell Joe wanted to take right back at him. Which he did---successfully.
It's more than a bit fun to watch Jamal Crawford chase history. Once again he was fouled while draining a three pointer and hit the subsequent free throw. It was the 22nd time Crawford has done this and is now (2) away from Reggie Miller's all time record. Miller used to get those fouls by kicking his feet out like a frog leaping from his pad. Crawford just seems to get hit and has the---talent?--to knock down the shot anyway.
We've long lamented the efforts of Kevin Martin (and others) to get to the free throw line at any cost, including trying to actually get the ball into the hoop. So you have to know that we looked on in approval as the Hawks rarely gave into his shenanigans as he shot only (6) free throws (he averages nine per game) while still using the second most possessions on the team. Good defense on a guy who can score often in the easiest way possible.
Jamal Crawford rose up and let a three point basket fly from 25 feet with the Hawks down two and time running out.
The fact that the Hawks were in position to care about the outcome of Crawford's shot was good fortune indeed.
The Phoenix Suns had rolled into Atlanta losing (8) of their last (9) road games and blowing big leads to boot. They like to run (4th in Pace on the season, averaging nearly 99 possessions per game) and shoot three pointers, ranking third in 3pt rate in the NBA (3 pointers attempted/field goals attempted-almost 27 percent of the Suns shots are threes), trailing only the trigger happy Knicks and Magic.
So that the Suns shot (15) percent of their shots in 3-pt territory and made only (2) when their average is (9) while playing at a pace (94 possessions) that is in line with Atlanta's rate would lead you to believe that the Suns were playing the Hawks game. Advantage, Atlanta, right?
Well....here's the thing about Friday night's game. Yes the Hawks got the Suns to play the Hawks way at the Hawks' pace---only Phoenix was doing it better than the home team was.
Oops.
The Hawks came out, by ESPN's Hubie Brown's observation, as flat and without energy and the Suns pounced, racing out to a quick lead on the back of aggressive plays at the rim and the Hawks struggling from the same. The Hawks opened an amazing 1-11 at the rim with Josh Smith, Marvin Williams, and Joe Johnson all struggling to score in the paint.
Then the Hawks second unit came in and was thoroughly spanked by the Suns' energetic bunch, falling behind a dozen points in the second quarter before Al Horford and Johnson returned from a brief respite. With those two returning, the Hawks got busy getting back into the game. Crawford made a quick jump shot and then Johnson hit a three pointer for his first bucket of the night (9:20 left in the half).
Then, with the Hawks now trailing seven, a break for the Hawks---Goran Dragic threw a bad pass that was eventually corralled by Crawford, who immediately turned up the floor. Dragic committed a clear path foul, affording Jamal (2) throws (which he made) and the Hawks retained possession. Then Jared Dudley was caught not defending anybody for three seconds in the lane and Jamal knocked down another free throw. After Joe Johnson and Josh Smith completed a baseline alley oop lay-in, the Suns lead was down to (2). Somewhere after the Hawks most recent (5) point play, Doc Rivers was shaking his head in remorse.
The lead would go back and forth, with Josh Smith getting over his early misses and continued to dominate the boards (15 rebounds on the night). Al Horford took advantage of Amare Stoudemire's early foul trouble by taking at the big man and the not-as-strong-as-Al Channing Frye for (11) first half points.
Meanwhile the Suns kept taking it in the paint--the Suns would outscore the Birds in there 48-38 Friday night---with great success. Grant Hill was killing Marvin Williams by moving without the basketball (15 first half points, 21 overall) and while Steve Nash wasn't shooting, he had (6) first half assists to give the Suns a (5) point halftime lead.
The second half began with the Hawks two best first half scorers, Johnson and Horford, picking up where they left off in the second quarter, with Al getting (9) more points in the q and Johnson (6). The Hawks got the lead up to as many as (7) before the Suns pulled back in and took the lead early in the fourth quarter. They got the lead by getting the ball to Amare Stoudemire and the Hawks bad bench combined with their usual fourth quarter missed jump shots.
The Hawks had missed their last (3) three point attempts and the Suns had got their lead out to (4) when Mike Bibby finally cashed in one of the open threes the Hawks had taken in the quarter and cut the lead down. Horford made another shot off the last of Bibby's (10) assists on the night to give the Hawks a slim lead.
The Suns continued to pound the ball inside, such a departure for the long range trigger happy team, with Stoudemire and Robin Lopez providing good results. By the time Steve Nash woke up and made (2) of his (3) field goals on the game, Phoenix had a (6) point lead with 4:17 left to play. Hill made a free throw to stretch it to (7) and then Jamal Crawford got back to attacking the lane and used his ability to penetrate the Suns zone to find Josh Smith for a jam, a hook shot, and another jam and the Hawks found themselves tied in a crowded, rocking house with a shade under (2) minutes to play.
After Steve Nash missed a three and Stoudemire traveled following their offensive rebound, disaster struck. The Suns finally got wise to Crawford's penetration/creation strategy and double teamed Jamal by surprise at the perimeter. Crawford jumped but could do little other than flutter the ball back towards Bibby. The Suns jumped on it and tossed it Dragic, who jammed it home to give the Suns the lead. After Johnson missed a three, Stoudemire hit a jump shot and the Hawks suddenly found themselves down (4) with (40) seconds left.
The Hawks stayed patient and Smith drove to the hoop and was met by a slew of Suns who forced him to cough up the ball. Fortunately Smith chose to get the ball to a rim-arriving Horford, who was fouled by Hill. Horford calmly made his 23rd and 24th points of the night and the Hawks trailed by (2) with 31.4 seconds to play.
The Hawks decided to face up defense rather than foul--but their constant craving to switch left the pick and rolling Suns with Nash breaking down Horford. As the shot clock (and game clock) wound down, Horford almost picked Nash's dribble, sending Nash grasping for the ball. Nash recovered and took Al to the hoop--while Al did a great job for the most part moving his feet, he hooked Nash's arm (or Nash hooked his) and one of the best free throw shooters was sent to the line to ice the game with (10) seconds left.
(This is the part where you hear THHB tell you that Nash uncharacteristically missed one or both of his free throws. Nope. He made them both.)
So the Hawks were down (4) with 10 seconds left. The Hawks had left (2) 20 second timeouts and used one to advance the ball. Bibby missed a three, but Smith grabbed his fifth offensive rebound of the night and got fouled. Smith made the first to cut the lead to (3), but then bricked the second unintentionally.
The Suns all seemed to jump for the rebound, but it caromed off the colliding visitors and into the hands of Crawford. Jamal seemed to glance to see if anyone was set for a game tying three, but in that split second noone appeared and he jammed home the gift, putting the Hawks down by one with 3.5 seconds to go.
The Suns called their last timeout and advanced the ball. With new NBA rules, teams can toss the ball into the backcourt. The vision of Nash zipping into a dark corner of Philips Arena and running out the clock was easy to imagine but the Hawks played that option very well and the ball had to be in-bounded to Stoudemire, who was immediately fouled. Amare had made 9-12 free throws to that point but missed the first shot to the delight and hope of all the ATL fans on hand. Stoudemire made the second one and the Hawks used their last timeout.
With the ball advanced to halfcourt, the Hawks used Mike Bibby to inbound. We might have thought the Suns would have a big to guard the inbound pass to make it more difficult on the Hawks. But the Suns sent Nash to front Bibby and Mike triggered the inbounds play.
First he looked to the corner where Johnson was rushing to catch the ball. Nash jumped that passing lane and Bibby was left to toss the ball to near mid-court to Crawford.
With Dudley guarding him, Crawford charged towards his man and rose up with a single second left on the clock. As the ball flew past the shot clock, the horn sounded and the red lights danced. The ball ripped through the net, giving the Hawks the most improbable win of the season, 102-101.
Buzzin' like Jolt Cola
Crawford's three gave him (21) points on the night, (9) of those in the fourth quarter. Crawford leads the NBA in minutes per fourth quarter and his complete fourth quarter effort Friday night only boosts that stat. Jamal, in fact, played the final 16 1/2 minutes in the game and still had the giddy-up to rise up for that game winner.
The shot reminded those in THHB Viewing Center of the Vince Carter shot that led the Nets past the Birds last season. We weren't as sure that Jamal's hoop was going in as we were certain Hawk Hater Carter's was, but we were not beefing about the shot, make or miss.
Among the items the Hawks wanted and got (Suns playing the Hawks' pace, Suns only hitting two threes, etc.) was that the Suns, who are next to last in the L on defensive rebounding, gave up (20) offensive rebounds to the Hawks, including those two huge rebounds by Smith and Crawford.
It was a game that Phoenix seemed to outplay the Hawks in many ways--beating them at the Hawks' own game. Maybe it was an indictment of the Suns' inability to close or the tenacity of the home team on this night that the Hawks could steal the game on a buzzer beater--whichever way it was, it's good to be on this side of a game winner---very good. Enjoy the highlights below.
No, we will not die like dogs! We will fight like lions! --Dusty Bottoms, Three Amigos
We will admit, we thought we had a different recap coming as the Boston Celtics and Atlanta Hawks headed into the locker rooms at halftime in Monday night's game in Boston.
The Celtics led 55-46---and the Hawks were fortunate to have the margin down to single digits when they left the floor after the second quarter.
Boston, without Kevin Garnett and Rasheed Wallace, was taking it to all the Hawks weak spots on defense. They used Rajon Rondo to obliterate Mike Bibby from the game by going around the veteran time and again on his way to (16) first half points. The times that ATL moved to help on Rondo, the young PG shifted the ball to an open man---usually under the basket, where they found little resistance from the Hawks frontcourt and capitalized to the tune of 17-21 around the rim. The Hawks simply couldn't keep Bibby on the floor as The Rondo Effect was making it impossible for the Hawks to keep the Celtics under (60) percent from the floor.
That Bibby had to be removed was unfortunate because it was clear early on that it was going to be one of the nights Jamal Crawford simply didn't have it. Prior to midway through the third quarter, Crawford was 0-6.
While the Hawks struggled defensively, they were grinding offensively. On a night where it seemed the Hawks were actually committed to getting into the paint, they found things awfully difficult there despite the absence of Garnett and Wallace. The Hawks were OK around the rim @ 72 percent on 13-18 shooting, but were an incredible 3-13 within 10 feet.
Symbolic of this frustration was the inability of Josh Smith to beat Brian Scalabrine off the dribble and get to the hoop, going 1-5 in the first half. Even Al Horford struggled to get anything to go into the hoop. Al went 2-6 inside 10 feet, including at the rim and was no better beyond that, shooting an unsettling 3-11 for the night.
Still, despite the defensive woes and the trouble the frontcourt had getting the ball to go down, the Hawks didn't start settling for bad shots (though the ball movement was weak early on)---they continued to try and get into the lane and to the free throw line.
Marvin Williams typified this approach by taking it to the basket and while he also faced the same issues as his forward brethren getting the ball to drop through the hoop, his aggressive approach led him to the free throw line for a team high (11) free throws. His (12) points and Joe Johnson's steady-as-she-goes (16) in the first half were keeping the Hawks in the water.
Then, in the third quarter, things changed.
It started harmless enough, with Scalabrine fouling Marvin and picking up his fourth foul. With his surprising nemesis out of the game, Josh Smith took a pass from a double teamed Joe Johnson and slammed it home, cutting the Celtic lead to (10).
On the next play, Ray Allen lost the ball to Marvin Williams. As Marvin broke away, Glen Davis collared him while Marvin was going up on the break. Davis clearly didn't play the ball and while he was not intending any harm to Williams, it was a careless play that will always be labeled a Flagrant Foul.
Much like longtime Celtic player/coach/broadcaster Tommy Heinsohn, Celtics coach Doc Rivers---ummmm---disagreed vociferously. His ensuing outburst cost his team (2) points and Rivers his courtside seat for the rest of the game. Toss in Armond Hill's "Me, too!" and the Hawks were suddenly back to within (6) points.
The (3) free throws that Jamal Crawford cashed in as a result of the Celtic coaches acting like Tommy on his telecasts were Jamal's first points of the game--and it may have re-aligned Crawford with the hoop as he cashed in two 3-pointers and two more free throws before the end of the third quarter. Suddenly Crawford had (11) points and the Hawks even managed to tie the game at 75 with less than a minute left in the quarter.
The Celtics, meanwhile, had gotten away from The Rondo Effect and lost their considerable offensive momentum, but they managed to start to pull away again early the fourth quarter when the Hawks starters took their last pit stops. With little less than (11) minutes left in the game, Davis knocked down a pair of jumpers to make it a seven point Boston lead again.
And then Joe Johnson happened.
Johnson got back in the game and immediately hit back to back shots, scoring (5) points in (30) seconds to get the game back to two points. Then, after Horford muffed a couple of chances to deadlock the game, Johnson took care of that by scoring his 30th and 31st points on a tough fadeaway jumper.
Atlanta's defense was now revitalized and energetic--and this combined with Boston's reticence to go back to what was working---attacking Jamal Crawford and getting Rondo into the lane---allowed the Hawks to clamp down on their hosts. The Celtics struggled (or just forgot) to get the ball to noted Hawk Hater Paul Pierce--leaving Glen Davis to get the ball in the critical minutes of the quarter.
Suddenly a game that just a quarter ago seemed like cash in hand for the Celtics was seeing the lead change hands on every possession.
Crawford drove the lane and then passed to an open man on the baseline for a jumper. Hawks fans could be heard collectively gasping as Josh Smith was the man shooting, but Smith's jumper landed in the hoop. On the next trip down, Ray Allen answered with a smooth three and the C's were up by (2) with (5) minutes to go.
Johnson answered with a second chance three pointer, giving him (34) points and the Hawks the lead again by one. Rondo then found himself switched off with Horford guarding him---Al had to goal tend to stop the speedy guard and Boston had the lead again with less than (4) minutes to play.
It's in these games that you expect the worst as Hawks fans---you expect that Pierce is going to hit big shots or that Ray Allen will slip off a pick and stick a three in your heart. So with the Celtics holding the lead, and the stretch run is on, you can only hope it's your team that hit the shots and the other team misses.
After a Josh Smith block on Rondo, the Hawks down one with almost three minutes left to play got the ball to Johnson, who took two Celtics to the right side and then shot an fadeaway that seemed to barely clear the outstretched hand of Pierce. They would be Johnson's 35th and 36th points of the night and the Hawks had the lead again.
Crawford then stole the ball from Pierce and got it to Smith and the Hawks were up three. Smith would hand the points right back to Boston when he would foul Davis on a made basket and tied the game with 2 1/2 minutes left to go.
On the next possession, with the shot clock winding down, Crawford got the ball and launched a three. Rondo jumped and hit Jamal on his shooting hand, granting Crawford three free throws, of which he hit two.
Suddenly, the Celtics went cold. Ray Allen missed a good look at a three. Then Crawford went around a Horford screen and got to the basket as neither Celtic big closed on him. Jamal's layup gently caressed the rim before softly dropping in and the Hawks were up (4).
The Official Viewing Center of THHB were allowing themselves to consider that the Hawks might pull this off--this game that had none of the markings of a typical Hawks win, but one that would clearly satisfy and pay off the hard work done in the game.
Allen got another good look---and missed again. Marvin fought for the rebound and got a timeout. Mike Woodson took the entirety of the timeout and then some, still sketching out the play for his closing backcourt of Johnson and Crawford as play was about to resume. As the two walked onto the court, you could almost hear them saying to each other that they didn't understand what Woodson was writing up and called an audible---whichever one of them got the ball would dribble out up top and take it in the paint for the shot--as always.
The ball ended up in Jamal's hands and he dribbled the shot clock down. Horford came to the top to set the screen and once again Jamal went around Al's pick and found himself wide open for the jumper. A second later the ball ripped through the net and the Hawks had a (6) point lead with a minute left to play.
The ending was anticlimactic---well, ok, not so much--but it lacked the drama we'd come to expect in Boston. Pierce, Allen, and Rondo all missed their shot in the last minute and failed to make Atlanta score any more to win and the Hawks walked off the court with the 102-96 victory.
The Hawks could have gotten down when the Celtics were dominating them on both ends, but they stayed aggressive, got to the free throw line and kept themselves in the game. This team will ultimately be judged on what they do in the playoffs---all the truly good teams are---so while this game wouldn't have meant much in the final opinion authored in April and May either way---it's encouraging to see them battle in this game where they didn't in Orlando.
Is This The End? No!
Horford struggled mightily in this game, but he kept working on defense, being a key reason Kendrick Perkins turned the ball over (6) times. Horford's fundamentally sound defense caused Perkins to show some poor footwork, though Horford can't take credit on one play where Perkins couldn't contain his excitement in having faked out the Hawks front line and having a clear look at the hoop. Unfortunately he was too excited and once again travelled.
Jamal Crawford hit 4 of his last 6 shots and had all (17) of his points and (5) of his (6) assists in the second half as the Hawks had to hide Mike Bibby on the bench. Crawford was getting abused too, but the lineup of Smith, Marvin, Al, Joe, and Jamal were very positive on the night, including a +24 for Al.
The Glen Davis Flagrant Foul and the fallout for the Celtics was a significant, if even statistically spurious, occurrence. Rondo, who had tormented the Hawks to that point, would score (6) more points and get (Zero) assists the rest of the way. Also from that point, Paul Pierce had (4) points in the last (18) minutes of game action.
For as much as he provided them in his (21) minutes of play, we were surprised that we didn't see Brian Scalabrine for any of the last (19) minutes of the game. It's probably a good play for the C's, as they already had received a season's high from Brian and didn't want to risk getting diminishing returns by bringing him back late in the game, but we thought he played tough defense on Smith and certainly provided energy and spark (along with three 3-pointers) that Boston might have been able to use in the fourth quarter in some way.
The discrepancy in free throw attempts will no doubt be noted (33 for the Hawks to 18 for the Celtics), but the difference was in the way that the Celtics defended compared to Atlanta that explains some of the gap. While the Celtics definitely attacked the paint, they usually found their shots uncontested by Horford or Smith in there. This was in large part due to The Rondo Effect that permeated much of the game, where Atlanta had to step over to cover the driving Rondo, leaving a Boston big open to score with relative ease. Contrast this with the wall of Celtics the Hawks had to contend with every time they were in the lane and you begin to see how the Celtics weren't fouled as much as Hawks were. They didn't allow the easy hoops the Hawks were and made their guests earn their points from the line whereas the Hawks simply chalked up two to their hosts, also explaining the 48-34 Boston advantage in points in the paint.
Finally, A Huge THHB 'Grats to Joe Johnson for having his biggest scoring night in Boston with his (36) points and for notching his 1000th three pointer of his career. We loved the (36) he scored tonight---as he rarely did it by forcing shots and trusted that his teammates would get him the ball in the right places, which they did. (8) of his (14) field goals made were assisted, a season high.
First things first---Yes, the Hawks did break their (4) game losing streak courtesy of the now 3-32 New Jersey Nets with a 119-89 win Wednesday night but, with the exception of the beginning of the game and some improved ball movement (read: less isolation) they did it simply by making the large amount of jump shots they took, rather than some ideological shift to what they were doing earlier in the year to improve their efficiency.
Disagree?
Ok, hands up who believes that the Hawks will continue to win consistently by shooting more shots from beyond (16) feet than inside (40-35)? Keep your hands up if you believe that the Hawks will be able to pull past the Celtics by only scoring (34) points in the paint?
The Backcourt took more shots than the frontcourt 32-20--they just made the shots that they took to the tune of (57) percent as a team. Joe Johnson took (13) shots and (11) of them were longer than 16 feet, of which he made (8). Whoohoo! All is well!
As we stated, at the beginning of the game, the Hawks came out motivated and with a lot of energy. They pushed towards the basket and scored----scoring almost half of their game points in the paint in the first quarter (16). The ball moved well, usually a result of some penetration and inside-out play which resulted in better 16+ foot shots than in previous games when those shots were much more contested as a result of isolation and stagnation. Ball movement was part of this for sure, but the Nets have lost all but three of their games this season for a reason---and their close out defense on jump shots in this game gave some clues.
But after that first quarter, the Hawks seemed less motivated towards going inside, especially since thier pet shot, the jumper, was successful. The Hawks led by (17) after that motivated first quarter and every time the Nets made what amounted to a run, the Hawks answered with jump shots. Good for them--they were due--but it's not what's going to make for long lasting success, as we have seen often in the past.
Eeyore Is Our Consult
Before the game we were informed that the Hawks were going to "take what defenses give us" going forward. We had to laugh---that might indulge a largely jump shooting approach as it takes much more work to move the ball around and try to get into the paint. And all the Hawks backcourt players can say "aw, shucks--we just took what the defense gave us". Indeed.
Al Horford is not going to the All-Star game, gang--at least not as a participant. Horford is used less than many frontcourt players and despite the Hawks great record and our belief of how good Horford is and how much more they should run the offense through his high and low post skills, the Hawks won't utilize him as such, which is why players like Brook Lopez and Yi Jianlian get more run and more counting stats that The Boss. He is ignored by his own team, why should we think the league will recognize him?
In the interest of fairness, the Hawks won a game where they shot over (21) three pointers, taking (22) against the Nets. This puts them at 3-6 when shooting that many in a game for the season, with those wins over Chicago, Toronto, and now New Jersey, all at home.
We Got A Pocketful of Sunshine
Josh Smith showed excellent activity early and tremendous hustle. Maybe the Hawks lost that collective juju after an easy first quarter, but Smith spent the rest of the game arguing for calls, picking up a technical, etc. Smith ended with an 11/9/7 primary stat line, but we feel like someone should continue to tell him that his griping is like being in officiating quicksand---the more you fight and struggle, the more you sink into the abyss.
We also liked the fact that Marvin Williams went in hard for a challenge jam (he missed) and Jamal Crawford did the same twice (he missed on one, fingertipped the other for the score). Williams did get a jam to go down with a nifty steal, tiptoe the sidelines, and then gather himself for a fast break jam.
In broadcast news, Bob Rathbun mentioned Effective Field Goal percentage when talking about the Hawks efficiency during the game. Thanks to places like Hoopdata.com (which is where we got our data for today), we know the Hawks were an incredible (66) percent in that particular stat. The fact that Bob Rathbun, a "seasoned" broadcaster, knows about these advanced stats and is willing to bring them forth in a telecast can definitely be stated as progress. And kudos to Rathbun for taking the time to explain it to the viewing public.
Next to the phenomenon of Flopping---the next non-basketball move that we abhor is the art of drawing fouls while not even remotely caring whether or not your shot is even heading for the basket. Now, we know that we have one of the best on the roster in Zaza Pachulia, but he doesn't do what Devin Harris does and did against Atlanta. In the manner in which many have done the same before him (Reggie Miller, Bobby Sura, and more recently, Kevin Martin), Harris lunges into players, wanting to draw a whistle for some easy points from the free throw line, often initiating contact himself. It's not good basketball to be driving to the hoop and then jump 45 degrees backwards with your shoulder down just so the ref can blow the whistle. Harris doesn't even need to do that kind of chicanery--he's so quick, like on the play where Al Horford nearly fell into the third row on a Harris stop and shoot, that he can get any shot he wants nearly--unfortunately, the shots he wanted mainly against the Hawks were free throws.
As we viewed the Atlanta Hawks 118-83 basting of the Chicago Bulls all of the tired and travelled members of THHB shared a single common emotion.
Pride.
The Hawks did everything they could have wanted to do in this nationally televised felonious assault on another NBA team.
The Bulls hobbled into the ATL in a bad, bad way. They recently got booed while getting killed by the Raptors. They lost another home game to the Nets, who left Chicago celebrating their first road win of the season. The only time that the Bulls have grabbed any headlines was for Joakim Noah's rebellion against Dance Dance Lebronalution in Cleveland---another loss, by the way.
Being that the game against the Nets, a hard fought one we must add, was the previous night and that the Hawks had not played since their weekend victory over the Mavs, the scene was set for the Hawks to take care of the business of putting away an injured, less successful team in their own building.
And so they did.
The Hawks, save for a few early Joe Johnson-esque possessions, moved freely about the court, moving the ball through the high post with fantastic success. Josh Smith and Al Horford both had (4) assists, most of them early, as the Hawks set the tone and attacked the hoop early and relentlessly against their guests.
The game began to snowball on the Bulls when the Hawks second team sprung into action late in the first quarter. The entire second unit was on the court when the Hawks trailed by one and by the time the first team started to trickle back onto the court, the Hawks had opened up a (5) point lead and never trailed again.
The second unit portrayed exactly the kind of aggressive, energetic play that was going to flattened an already thin and tired Bulls squad. Joe Smith grabbed (3) offensive rebounds in that span of time. Jeff Teague made an early appearance and looked like Tree Rollins swatting away a John Salmons layup attempt. Zaza Pachulia made his presence felt.
But the main man was Jamal Crawford. Crawford attacked Kirk Hinrich with a grudge and scored (16) first half points, inspiring the Bulls to lay down and play dead. Crawford noted at halftime that the Hawks want to "wear teams out" with their depth--and the bench play in the first half laid the foundation for that to happen.
The Hawks came out from halftime with a (14) point lead and kept the pressure on. The defense moved their feet, the ball moved on offense (32 assists for the night), and the energy remained high. Many nights the Hawks have rested on an early lead and left the locker room flat, but that was not the case Wednesday night.
The Bulls became so stagnant offensively they made the Hawks ball movement look like the Harlem Globetrotters. We kept waiting for someone to spin the ball on Taj Gibson's head and then toss a bucket of confetti on Vinny Del Negro.
Soon the Bulls emotionally and spiritually waved the basketball white flag, but the Hawks played on as if the game was still very much in doubt. They pressed the ball on inbounds passes, swarmed around on the defensive end to ensure nobody was open for long, and continued to control the glass. Only after the bench was emptied did the Hawks really waste any second half possessions. And we say this because, honestly, any shot Jason Collins takes is a wasted possession. In fact Collins gets our nomination for the Ricky Vaughn Memorial "Does He Need Glasses?" scholarship--and even he made one against the Bulls.
The Hawks looked like a team that is headed for good things this season while the Bulls look like they are headed for a year in the lottery. It was a game could that presented itself as a trap or at least a let down game, but the Hawks came out with the right approach and kept at it all the way after the game was no longer in doubt.
By the time the ESPN crew used up all of their filler material--and some for the collegiate game that followed---The Official HD Viewing Center of THHB was filled with smiles, laughs, and pride.
Leftovers
We do give Collins credit for one particular thing---he has made Randolph Morris look fantastic by comparison. Morris looks improved over last season when he couldn't seem to make good even in garbage time. Now he shows some decent post moves--no lift mind you---but some decent production in slop minutes.
We point out that the Hawks did their damage without relying on the three point shot--hitting six of their nine threes after the bench was cleared---including some fun run-up-the-score bombs from Mo Evans down the stretch.
We enjoyed that the Hawks cleared the bench before the fourth quarter even began, giving more quality time off for the starting five. No starter played even (30) minutes, with Johnson getting (29) and the rest of that crew significantly less. This has to be a good trend this season---hopefully the Hawks won't have to waste that rest capital on the upcoming schedule, which is heavy on sub .500 teams.
Here at THHB, there is much to celebrate--let us count the ways.
We Celebrate....
First, obviously, a massive ball sharing experiment that left the Toronto Raptors lying in a pathetic mess on the Philips Arena floor. This ball sharing episode led to (37) assists and put (9) players in double figures, something that hasn't happened to the Hawks since 1987--leading to a 146-115 blowout Wednesday night.
The absolute dominance of Al Horford. Chris Bosh is going to get a lot of money next summer when he becomes a free agent--and rightfully so. Horford made Bosh disappear by backing him down relentlessly and scoring and then smothering him on the defensive end as well, holding the all-star to (2) points for the entire game. Horford did what All-Star big men are supposed to do, dominate the game physically and get the other team's bigs into foul trouble. He also turned on the jets in transition and blistered Toronto repeatedly on his way to (24) points on (12) shots.
The presence of a competent NBA bench. Joe Smith may not get more minutes than Solomon Jones did last season, and we can debate the relevance of such a role on the team, but there is no arguing that Smith provides what we in the technical labs of THHB call "oodles" more than Jones may ever hope to acheive on a basketball floor. Yes, the Raptors were lost defensively---but Smith unleashed a variety of offensive scores and used his length very well in his (12) point, (5) rebound showing. Toss in the play of Jamal Crawford (16) and Zaza Pachulia (11) and you have quite the talent stew brewing off the bench.
We celebrate Jeff Teague seperately because he is what the Hawks haven't had at the point since Mookie Blaylock played golf in the ATL---a fast, quick handed point who can distribute efficiently and score. Teague is what old time scouts would call "sudden" on the floor. He looks calm and still and then---wham---he bursts with quickness to the basket or steals the ball and away we go. Where his ceiling is in unclear at this point, but one of the silver linings in a very golden cloud last night was that Teague had (22) minutes to do his thing and it was good.
The outside shooting of Mike Bibby. Who would guess that Bibby would have been perfect last night, if not for a dead ball free throw miss (4-4, 4-4, 0-1, 12 points, 5 assists, 22 minutes)? Among the Raptors many boo-boos defensively last night was leaving the Hawks point guard wide open with little attempt to deter.
The return this season of the shot blocking Josh Smith. We noted often last season that something was amiss from Smith in terms of shot deterrence and seeing him in full throttle shot denial this season underscores that even more. When he is active on that end, it wreaks havoc inside for teams--and good things follow for the Hawks.
The wonderfulness that is team rebounding. Here is where the Hawks have to look every game as a key to victory. If they protect the boards, with their offensive talent, they will end up winning. The Hawks failed to do this against Detroit and paid a heavy price at both ends. In their losses in general this is the case. Failure to stop defensively has led to stale offensive possessions and the cycle feeds itself constantly until the final buzzer. In this game, the Hawks outrebounded Toronto 51-29 and displayed a dedication to crashing the boards---from Marvin Williams all the way down to Randolph Morris.
The embracing of ball movement in this game was wonderful. Penetration, pass, pass again, drive, pass, score was in full effect in this blowout. Since this is not the first game that Hawks have had success not dribbling a hole in the floor every time down THHB asks why the team fails to make this their own personal basketball theme in every game?
Some of it is leadership--in that the biggest culprit is Joe Johnson--the supposed leader of this club. It was Johnson who in this game ground the team to a halt once again in the first quarter when he inexplicably took a quick 3pt shot (defended, mind you) when the team was killing the Raptors early inside. For someone who decries selfish play, this move by a leader of the team was perplexing. Taking a cue from Johnson, the team temporarily suspended ball movement for the jump shot fever. It was the only time that Toronto was in the game.
At the same time we celebrate all the positives of Johnson's game--of which there is much to shout about. (12) points, (6) rebounds and (11) assists in a mere (26) minutes shows that his temporary lapse of reason offensively was just that--for this night. Joe doesn't need to do this all by himself--even if at times he may want to.
Finally, we celebrate what this team can be when it's all going the right way--and it most certainly was Wednesday night. We hope they internalize how easy games are when you apply to knockout punch early (when it presents itself) and can get needed playoff rest late in the game. This team has all the talent to go far into the playoffs---only its own boundaries presented by their defensive rebounding and offensive ball movement prevent them from realizing their full potential on given nights.
Mike Bibby, Joe Johnson, Marvin Williams, Josh Smith, Al Horford, Jamal Crawford, Zaza Pachulia, Joe Smith, Jeff Teague, Maurice Evans, Randolph Morris--take a bow--we celebrate you today.
THHB appreciates that the Raptors and Hawks joined us in celebrating the birthday week of this blog's founder (December 4th). A finer present could not have been offered. Fruit cakes and gag gifts can be left gift-wrapped in the Comments Area.
The Hawks attempted to make the case in back-to-back games this weekend against the Celtics and the Hornets.
Now the standings say so.
Going into Sunday's games, (12) percent of the way into the season, there stand the Atlanta Hawks at 8-2, top record in the East. It's a small sample of games, but taking it as a progress report, who wouldn't take that grade?
But the question is can the Hawks make it last?
They have the win in Boston, but they also have the loss in Charlotte. With the exception of that upset to Larry Brown's crew and a momentary lapse of being in Los Angeles, the Hawks have shown a new side to them--one of strong rebounding, active defense, and even more firepower than before and haven't been beaten.
We were skeptical that this version of the team could improve on a (47) win season and a second round appearance against the conferences' best before the season.
Now? We might be willing to believe.
Why?
Wrote a Blog About It---Like to Hear It, Here it Goes
There are (3) big reasons we have seen that helps the Hawks chances at advancing their cause this postseason.
3. Improved Firepower
The Hawks were suspected to have more depth and so far the substitutions of Jamal Crawford and Joe Smith for RFM and Solomon Jones have been well received.
RFM had a good year last year, but it's clear that Crawford is at least Murray on Jamal's bad days and a level above Flip on his better days. Crawford's PER is currently at (20), which would be the best of his career, which logically poses the question if he can keep up this level of efficiency.
As has been well documented, Crawford has never played a single playoff game. The win totals of the teams he's been on are (15, 21, 30, 23, 33, 23, 33, 23, and 29).
The best players and their PER for those corresponding seasons:
What does it mean? Well, Jamal may not have played with as much talent as the Hawks have had collectively, but indiviually speaking it's no different from a top-end perspective than the Hawks (Joe Johnson, 18.2). Can Crawford's game improve so strongly based on a stronger team? So far, so good.
2. Attack!
While the Hawks haven't made a commitment to the post, they have been heading toward the hoop more, reduced their dependency on the 3---rate from (20) to (17) per game, and raised their offensive efficiency to second in the league. (All stats courtesy of Basketball Reference) They are among the leaders at points-in-the-paint and that has resulted in more open looks for The Backcourt, especially against lesser comp. Their game pace is faster, too---8th in the league right now compared to 24th a year ago.
1. Josh Smith and Defensive Rebounding
Maybe the most obvious example of the above, Smith has taken his game to another level thus far this season. Always known as the biggest X in the x-factor, Smith's PER is at (25) so far and has stayed firm to the commitment to playing around the hoop on the offensive end and has taken his game up a notch all around.
Between Smith and Al Horford's improvement, the Hawks have jumped to 10th from 24th in defensive rebounding percentage, a huge area of opportunity going into the season. The difference that these two have made has put the Hawks in the discussion of best in the East right now.
Bravo and Encore
For further evidence to defy THHB's skepticism, The Hawks are on top of Basketball Reference's Simple Rating System for the entire league and are playing so well together right now, they even seem to walk off the court in unison.
Even if you don't believe that it will last--if you are a Hawks fan, enjoy this run. How long has it been since the Hawks have been the best even over a 10 game stretch?
THHB recognizes that Hoopinion is doing a much more stellar job tracking season long themes statisically than in this space. More fuel for the fire can be provided in the Comments Area.
It's something when THHB can sit back and stroke their collective long, gray, novelty beards while the Good Guys appeared to be conserving energy and effort throughout a game, allowing an inferior team to hang around until the final quarter, where their good friend "Defense" waited for them to arrive. Then they conspired to close out their hosts and send the other team away rather unhappy.
No worries. No doubt. That's progress.
The Hawks played for quite a while as the equivalent of a sparring partner for the home team Sacramento Kings, trading punches without much regards for taking care of the ball (17 turnovers) or protecting their own rim or glass (19 offensive rebounds allowed).
Then, as the game began to take its final shape, the Hawks applied their pressure, got control of the game, and used a 30-18 fourth quarter to beat the Kings, 113-105.
We feel a difference than in years past when we would get worked up about how much the team was winning/won by. This team has caused such peace of mind because the have proven that they can accomplish that which they did tonight. Not that any team would want to get into a habit of such a high-wire act, but for the Hawks being out on the West Coast, on the rear end of a back to back, coming off a strong showing against a good home team like the Portland Trail Blazers, and being prime for a letdown, THHB felt the team could be allowed to pace themselves in this game--as the Kings are not up to the calibre of the either the Blazers or the Hawks--and still pull out the victory.
When they needed to, they turned up the defense, as they can do against lesser competition. It's when they try to deploy such tactics against the better teams that taking three quarters off defensively doesn't scale.
The goal is to advance to the playoffs--games like these are simple stairs on the way up. You take them one at a time and it doesn't really matter how you do it, just do enough to take that step and compile wins. That's what the Hawks did tonight. No two wins have to be the same--they don't give you extra credit for blowing your bodies out to win by (22) instead of (8). In the L, you need only win to get that mark in the column and the Hawks most certainly earned their incremental success tonight, getting them one more win closer to their goal.
Waiting to Be Killed---Waiting to Be Killed
Okay. We're getting pretty used to Jamal Crawford making The Backcourt a 3-person endeavor. Once again the new acquisition paid dividends late, offering another calming offensive presence down the stretch where he scored (9) points in the final (13) minutes, including a huge three to give the Hawks a 108-101 lead with (2) minutes left.
We're waiting for the other Jamal Crawford we have heard about--the one where we cringe when he has the ball late in games or becomes so obviously exposed that we are asking why he's in down the stretch. We're waiting because we haven't seen that guy. It's similar to the expectation most had when RFM started strong for the Hawks last season. We were told that we would "want to take a bag of Fritos" for Murray last in his season---but that time never came. Instead we were treated to one of his top 3 seasons and was so valuable to the team's success last season that Rick Sund made the move for Crawford to ensure that level of production was maintained.
So what are we saying? Maybe we are seeing the Jamal Crawford of 2009-2010--and we can stop waiting for the other shoe to drop, the winds to change, and other hopefully irrelevant expressions of another side to Crawford's contribution to the Hawks this season.
P.S. We Love You
Joe Johnson finished with a terrific (26) points on fifty percent shooting (11-22) to go with his (8) rebounds and (4) assists. He added his usual late game daggers from the outside, helping to lock down the victory there and with his defense.
He's great, we love him, etc, etc, etc....
Somebody Start a Block Party?
The night after Zaza celebrated his 30th game with 2 or more blocks, the Dynamic Duo of Josh Smith and Al Horford doubled up the efforts of the Georgian, each swatting (4) Kings shots away. Smith did his damage early in the game and Horford knocked away two big shots in the last two minutes to deny any chance of a Royal comeback.
Kevin Martin, Hawk Hater
Martin made a notion to get into the Hawk Hater club by scoring (29) points against the Hawks, giving him a an average of a little over (30) point per game average in the last (3) games he's played against the Birds. . Tonight, most of Martin's damage came in the earlier quarters, as in the fourth Martin was held to (4) points and could not use his scoring to hold off the Hawks fourth quarter dominance.
Another Fond Farewell
Just as we had bid goodbye to Hawks Web Guru Micah Hart, Wednesday night came word that Sekou Smith, the terrific Hawks bea(s)t writer for the AJC is leaving his post to work for the L in an NBA.com capacity.
Smith came along in a dark time for Hawks coverage in the paper, as Michael Lee had long since left for the Washington Post, the team was completely rebuilding, and the paper was assigning very unqualified staff writers to cover the game.
All Smith did was inject a real beat writer mentality to the position, offered sometimes extremely strong opinion with the "pages" of his AJC blog, and roped quite a few people into good conversation about the franchise. Smith never pulled a punch, offered great material and asked the questions Hawks fans wanted answers to.
Good luck, Sekou--You'll be missed in the land you call Hawksville.
The star of the 97-91 Hawks win over the Portland Trailblazers was Jamal Crawford, who proved more than capable of borderline criminal distribution with his (7) assists off the bench to go with his game high (27) points.
That Crawford was able to score the basketball wasn't a surprise, after all--it's been more than well documented that Crawford has scored 50+ points (For three different teams! Have you heard?!), it was that he has already been able to intergrate himself into the RFM role on the team and take it a step further.
As you recall, Jamal was brought in to be Bibby insurance and a replacement for the production that RFM provided last season---a fair bet since Crawford's PER has been, on average, about the production level that Murray yielded last season. But Crawford flashed glimpses that he might be able to go above and beyond that level of play. THHB holds off gushing about him--but we do note that Jamal has not played on a team as together/successful as this Hawks team is.
Crawford has given the Hawks the same can-create-your-own-shot off the bench as RFM did, but also showed he can run the offense somewhat more efficiently than the miscast Murray would from the point. There were at least two occasions that Crawford could have taken buckets for himself and instead offered those free points to a teammate. We feel that's worth noting since RFM never seemed to pass up a shot on the break, even if other options were flying in from the wing.
Thank you, Jamal--I left you an apple on your desk!
Al Horford had an uneven night on the offensive end, shooting 5-12, but with two of those baskets coming on those Jamal Crawford Christmas Packages at the hoop on the break.
We have to point out again that Horford is not progressing offensively against bigger players. Last night against the Blazers and Oden/Przybilla, Horford went back to shooting exaggerated fadeaways and quick hooks/layups, all of which missed. When he is aggressive and patient, he is efficient, but he lacks resolve against the titans he has been matched up against. Still, he didn't allow that to disrupt his hustle as he finished with (13) rebounds to go with his (11) points.
Somewhere, Tyrone Corbin is Smiling
There is no official stat that tracks it, but we're going to go ahead and say that Josh Smith is on pace to smash the all time record for shooting the ball with his foot on the line (known in THHB as a Ty Corbin three). Smith launched a couple more long shots last night and still looks like he could fall off the "don't fall in love with the jump shot" wagon at any moment on the floor.
Still, with the energy of the Hawks swallowing up the Blazers in the latter stages of the win, it was Smith who was the linchpin, especially his shot deterring activity inside. Smith could have derailed himself inside of his frustration with (2) quick fouls in the first quarter, but after Woodson put him back in the game (in the second quarter no less---whohoo!!), Smith went to work inside on both ends, and help rally the team back with his energy.
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea.
Zaza Pachulia went for a clean basket and dunked without trying to pick up a foul first.
Zaza Pachulia blocked (2) shots in a game. It was the 30th time he has done such thwarting in his (7) seasons.As a comparison, Horford has done this feat (53) times in his (3) seasons and Josh Smith (248) times in his (6) seasons with the Hawks.
Joe Johnson's Homemade Killer Sauce
Joe Johnson ho-hummed his way into the fourth quarter where he casually pounded a couple of long range nails into the Portland coffin.
The Atlanta Hawks gave us plenty to love about Opening Night at Philips Arena Wednesday night by kicking off the 2009-2010 season the same way they did it last season, by winning--this time casting aside the Indiana Pacers 120-109.
The Hawks started slow, picked up steam by halftime, and then battled the Pacers into the fourth quarter where, as they have made it a pattern of doing so against lesser comp (especially at home), they put the guests away behind strong interior play and clutch shooting.
The Pacers started the game shooting hot, and it helped them to a 53/56/84 night against the Hawks. They likely would have assumed a win if they had known before the game how they would shoot, as they also had the Hawks playing their tempo and their game, but the great equalizer was a massive (25) turnovers to the Hawks (10), allowing the Hawks to close the early gap and eventually overtake the game.
The Preseason is the Land of Illusions and Game One Reveals All
Game One of the season puts some of the fluff of the off-season aside and begins to paint the mural that will become the regular season. In the beginning of a mural, anything is possible, and as the first game concluded THHB saw plenty for Bird watchers to smile about.
Al Horford answered the bell by being very beastly all around against the slower Roy Hibbert and the less talented Jeff Foster. Horford scored (24) points by playing a very confident, powerful game. He shot without hesitation, he took the ball to the hoop without doubt, and finished with plenty of authority. He corralled (3) offensive rebounds, all of which seemed to lead to putback or tip dunks and owned the glass overall, finishing with a game high (16) rebounds. Defensively, in addition to collecting the boards, he contested shots without drawing fouls, blocking a pair to go with (4) assists on the offensive end, thereby filling out the stat sheet. Saying Al Horford set the tone might be stretching it too much, but in his game we saw the bigger picture of how the Hawks won; a consistent effort which, when the game concluded, showed its full value.
Hawks fans also got to see the tuned-in Josh Smith in Game One. Smith was extremely aggressive on both ends against the Pacers, contesting shots, going after steals, and taking the ball to the hoop with extreme prejudice. Smith is becoming one of the best in the entire league at finishing around the hoop. No, not just on the dunks, of which there were some fantastic throw downs by Smith, but anytime he went to the basket, even when fouled, you felt confident it would go in---and it usually did. Smith took only (1) Ty Corbin Three all night long, and there were times where he was definitely tempted. For his efforts to delay gratification, he was rewarded with a 7-10 shooting night (0-0 on real threes) and drew enough attention with his interior scoring that he was able to distribute (8) assists on the night as well. This is what Smith can be when he is dialed into playing the game the right way---and is faced with a less than average defense.
Joe Johnson took the game high scoring (25), but truth be known he captured the mark by launching a space shuttle shot to beat the shot clock with (6.5) seconds remaining in the game. Johnson definitely mirrored the early game struggles the Hawks had getting things flowing correctly, but once Joe was locked in, he lost the half court discomfort and had the typical ho-hum 25 points, 6 assist, 4 steal game we come to expect and dismiss from him.
Game One also showed some of how Woodson may plan to deploy his bench and not use Mike Bibby so much. In what was not a settled game until the fourth quarter wound down, Bibby still logged just (30) minutes. He used that rest to make three big fourth quarter shots that gave the Hawks the lead and then put it out of reach. Two of the buckets were bombs that were standard issue open Bibby looks, but the 2-pointer sandwiched in between was a runner in the lane in which Bibby seemed to lose the handle on, but was able to sneak it by the taller players inside and get the bucket. That basket gave the Hawks a (4) point lead with 7 1/2 minutes left and the Hawks never trailed again.
To be able to give that kind of rest meant that Woodson was already comfortable letting rookie Jeff Teague get his feet wet in his first official NBA game. Teague looked good in his debut, modeling a new take on the Josh Childress Memorial Jump Shot in going 2-7, but he seemed very comfortable at the point and was able to penetrate, dish, and get into the open floor enough to score (4) assists against (ZERO) turnovers. That his first game ended in a win and his first basket an impressive dunk were pretty tasty cherries on the winning sundae.
Nice Guys Finish With Eleven Minutes
For all the build up regarding Jamal Crawford as a Hawk and what it all means, he ended up playing a meager (11) minutes off the bench and his best shot of the night didn't even count. Crawford had (3) assists and a steal to go with his (3) points in such limited action, but his best action came when he missed a jump shot with about (4) seconds left in the first quarter and then, as the Pacers tried to throw the ball down the court to get a last second shot off, he leaped high to deflect the pass, collected the ball, and then turned against his body from about mid-court to try and beat the buzzer. The shot went in, but it was overturned in replay.
For what it's worth, it looked like there was .2 seconds left when the lights came on, but it could have been un-synced on the telecast.Great shot anyway. Welcome to ATL, Jamal.
Good Thing He Wasn't Healthy
Danny Granger was questionable health-wise before the game, but he was able to suit up and play (22) minutes for Indiana. This was probably helpful to the Hawks because when Granger was in the game he must have been wearing his Cloak of Invisibility, because he found himself wide open a bit too much for someone of his considerable talents. Granger cashed in (5) of (10) three point attempts in his short amount of time on the floor--scoring (31) points in all.If he had been able to go more tonight we might have had a more somber story to relate.
Elsewhere, unlike in March where TJ Ford obliterated the Hawks guards for (29) points, Ford was unable to accomplish anything positive against the Hawks in this new season. Ford was 1-9 from the field and didn't find the job of scoring as easy as he did about (7) months ago. The reason? Quite a few times it was Joe Johnson handling the action on Ford. Case closed.
Speaking of Clock Problems and Things Remaining the Same
It took exactly (3) seconds into the season for the Philips Arena clocks to go haywire. That in itself isn't funny, especially considering the the reputation the official scorers and the electronics have in the arena. What was funny was that, after the Hawks had won the tip and the game underway, the game had to stop--which frustrated the fans, most of whom we're guessing have seen this a time or two. Clearly annoyed, the ATL faithful booed lustily.
Ahhh--good to be back, isn't it?
THHB believes that winning is better than losing. Arguments to the contrary can be laughed at inside the Comments Area.
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