This Is How We Do It

For those who didn't watch the Hawks 117-87 obliteration of the Milwaukee Bucks, let's just say there was a party going on at Philips Arena Friday night and nobody told the visitors they were going to get pies thrown at their face---repeatedly. In fact, one might say that the Bucks got into the act and tossed a few in their own faces by the way they fell apart during the second half.

If this were a video game, the difficulty would have been set on easy for the Hawks, even though they had to hold off a hot shooting Charlie Villanueva in the first half (19 point/27 for the game), which is the only thing that kept the Bucks within 10 at the half.

And since it was such a fun game, what's more fun than breaking things down bullet-point style?

• Mike Bibby was dominant offensively, not so much with his shooting as with his passing. Bibby offered 15 assists to various players, but none more fun to watch than the weak side alley-oop to Josh Smith, who had just given Bibby the ball at the top of the 3-pt arc. Both Bucks players stayed on Bibby and Smith looped towards the cup on the weak side, which seemed to be quarantined--Bibby tossed his hook pass with physician's precision and Smoove generously drove home the perfection.

• If you haven't read by now---the HHB hearts the game of Mike Bibby and we thank him for making this Hawks machine run sooooo good.

• We hope the coaches, family, and friends of Josh Smith found every recording method of this game and from this day forth play it in an endless loop wherever Smoove goes. Smith tortured the Bucks, scoring 22 of his 24 in that painted area of the court. Defensively, Smith ended a 2 game blockless streak (inspiring CoCo from the Vent to Comment and the HHB to openly break down the break down in Smith's blocked shot output) by swatting (3) for the night---and he seemed to be looking for the rejection with his defensive body language more in this game. Was it the extra rest between the Tuesday game against the Bulls and Friday night that made the difference in his energy? That's right, we're calling out newly ESPN minted Hoopinion to track the blocked shot rate when Smith has had extra rest since coming back from his early season injury vs. when he has had to play closer together.

• While someone is recording the game, someone send a copy to RFM, will ya? Murray could not miss against the Bucks, scoring as only RFM can score---with a dizzying array of Murray-esque shots. Three pointer stopping on a dime? Check. Turning against your own body and fading away with plenty of time on the shot clock? Check. Wide open 3's, crazy drives to the hoop, and everything else in between? Check-check-and check! Oh, and let's cap it off with a 4-point play to complete Murray's 11-13, 25 point night, shall we? Murray hit that three with Tyronn Lue taking his legs out from under him and there was no doubt about if it would go in---it was a good night for RFM.

• Marvin Williams was a rebounding beast---(8) in the first half, (9) overall. It was very good to see him back in action (coming soon: Al Horford) and even better that he got to get such a good game in and then sit back and relax for the majority of the second half.

• It was such a good night for the Birds that even Solomon Jones looked good. He scored 7 points, finished a 3-pt play, and still kept his prolific fouling going, hacking (5) times in his 15 minutes. Gotta stay true, Solly, gotta stay true---
  

About the Bucks----

• The Bucks played old school Hawks basketball---if that school was built earlier this decade. They took bad shots, turned the ball over religiously, and had nothing to say defensively.

• Good thing they payed Andrew Bogut all that cash this offseason, because obviously his absence was the difference.

• We go back to this thought---Why didn't anyone think Mo Williams was worth keeping? Utah scrapped him in favor of Carlos Arroyo and Raul Lopez (rimshot), and then the Bucks thought they were in such good hands that they couldn't/wouldn't overpay to keep him--really? Sure he might have wanted to play elsewhere, but why did he get so close to free agency?

• It was fun to hear I'm Bob Rathbun and Nique talk about Michael Redd coming back for the second half. They spoke about how he came out early after halftime and seemed determined to change the Bucks fortunes from the first half. He was dripping sweat as the second half began from his reportedly hard and focused workout. He had (1) field goal in the second half. Guess it was harder to score against actual opponents.

• While we're at it, if we were a Milwaukee fan (we're not) we might want to question the roster makeup of this team. It seems like players fit into 3 categories: guards with no singular talent, big men who can shoot, and big men who cannot shoot. That is all. No shot blockers (no, no, no---have a seat Mr. Gadzuric), no post players (you too, Mr. Bogut), no real point guards (yeah right, Luke). This---is a dead parrot.

So--it was a great night---That Joe Johnson had a fair night---and we say fair because the man brings it even when the shot is o-f-f (5 boards, 6 assists, active defensively)---and the Hawks still won easily tells you how bad the Bucks are and how the Hawks never gave into letting the Bucks back into the game.

The times that the Bucks seemed like they were willing to show some energy and patience offensively, the Hawks pushed back with stellar defense and snuffed out Milwaukee's curiosity. It was a display of good team basketball and not allowing themselves to lower themselves to an inferior team's level of play.

Bravo.

The HHB is going into the Official HHB Laboratory to find a way to permanently burn the game into Josh Smith's brain. Ideas on the process and other witticisms are welcome in the Comments Area.

GameNight: No Signs of Acie’s Pajamas in Woodson’s Doghouse

When we took the assignment of heading to Philips Arena for the game between the Good Guys (that would be the Hawks) and the Pretty Good but not as Good Guys (that would be the Magic), we knew we had to ask Coach Woodson about one player.

Acie Law.

These are the results of our quest.

First of all, Acie was out for family reasons, and Woodson reports that he’s fine and they hope that he is back tomorrow.

So even with knowing that nothing that was said tonight could be quickly addressed after the game since Law would be inactive for the game, we wanted to know why Law hadn’t been playing and if he fit into the long term (and short term for that matter) Hawks plans.

“Right now I’m just looking at what’s happening now,” said Woodson. “He’s a part of the team. He just hasn’t seen a lot of action in our rotation. We’ve elected to go with Flip.”

“It’s no knock against Acie,” Woodson continued. “I still expect him to be ready to play. I thought the other night he stepped right in and did a great job—for a guy who hasn’t played in a while—he did some nice things---and I expect that.”

When asked by the HHB if he would be playing more as the season wore on the Coach replied, “My thing is that I know as the season goes on I’ve got to get back to trying to play 9-10 guys consistently.”

The question has been has Acie done anything wrong to keep him off the floor and if there was anything that Law was doing well. Says Woodson, “His job is to run our basketball team---and that’s what I expect him to do and I expect him to be sharp defensively when guards are bringing the ball up the court. I've got to keep working with him and keep finding minutes for him.”

“(Being a scorer) is what he’s done in college. He was a scorer in college and here he doesn’t have to score a whole lot. If he’s a position to make plays, I do expect him to do that. And he’s doing that---I have no complaints about Acie Law—he’s doing excellent when he gets a chance to play.”

Without Law there, we couldn’t know for sure, because we couldn't ask him as planned, but we asked Woodson if Law understands that the defensive end and running the team effectively are the key notes for him to get on the floor for more time.

“He gets that---he really has no choice (laughter)---and if he’s called upon to play, that’s the way I expect him to play. I’ve just been going with a different rotation and he’ll be back in there ready to play.”

There it is---no bones for Law in the Woodson doghouse---hopefully the only bones thrown will be the minutes for Law on the court.


More Game Notes:

Zaza Pachulia was sick—so sick in fact that he was not even at the arena and is day-to-day.

We can appreciate Zaza not bringing his illness to work and exposing the HHB to even more sicknesses (see our Out Sick post from last month to catch a photo of us incapacitated by the last illness we had), but the Hawks missed his energy and toughness badly in the game.

The Official Spouse of the HHB sent along that we got a Comment from The Vent's CoCo regarding asking about Speedy Claxton, about whom we wrote last season to cancel plans to hold your breath for his return.

As Casey Kasem would say, CoCo---Here is Your Long Distance Dedication:

Claxton’s knee injury recovery timeline is still officially a mystery, but we are known to speculate that it’s awful hard to risk a player playing when insurance money is on the line. We hear that Claxton may want to be out there in heart these days, but his body and circumstances seem to be conspiring to make that a non-reality.

One more quote from Josh Smith tonight and this one goes out to Peachtree Hoops, who has documented that the Hawks are consistently one of the Top 5-10 slowest paced teams in the league, especially when winning.

“We played their style of basketball---half court---we opened up more and started to play our pace and cut the lead down---but you can’t wait to play your basketball what late against a team like Orlando.”


The HHB thanks all the fine people who came around to chat tonight at the arena---and of course the Hawks for having us---Comments and further Salutations are Welcome at the Comments Section.

Goin' Ballin' (Meet You at the Place Where We Met That Time?)

As we mentioned, we will be in the house for Wednesday's game against the Magic and are looking forward to locking into a discussion with one of the players, coach Woodson, and the usual post game quotes and thoughts about whatever will take place on the floor that night.

We know we are going to ask Woodson about Acie Law, we haven't settled on which player we want to try and lock down for a discussion, and we are looking forward to getting some game quotes and bringing them into the HHB.

Last season, we covered a game in late November against the Bucks (a win) and put our game thoughts here (pre-HHB, obviously).

We also got a candid conversation with Josh Childress and asked him about his pending restricted free agency.

It's always a good time in the arena, and the HHB offers its usual appreciation to the Hawks for opening their doors to a group like ours---it's always been a first class franchise to us, even when we haven't been the most flattering towards it--big ups, fellas---and we'll see you at the game!

The HHB is open to suggestions/requests on topics on conversation once inside the sacred walls of Philips Arena (too much?)----Comments are welcome in the oddly named Comments section.

Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder

In the aftermath of the Hawks 103-100 win over the Rockets, the HHB heard the following statement:

"Wow, imagine how we'd be doing if (Ron) Artest and (Tracy) McGrady were in the lineup?"

That's an amalgam of thoughts---we could include a series of "woe is us" statements from the Hawks side, bemoaning that the home team couldn't take more advantage of a team minus two of their stars.

We have to ask: Could the Rockets have done much better with those two guys in the game?

Sounds ridiculous, but hear us out because, just like everyone else, we thought the Rockets might be a little bit more a push over without those two, something like what happened in Toronto where the Rockets displayed little red glare.

Who would McGrady and Artest take minutes from?

Van Wafer? The guy was all over the place, playing 40 minutes and going 7-17 from the field, including 3-7 from three point territory.

Brent Barry? He was 3-5 from long range in his 24 minutes, giving the Rockets the advantage they needed to make up for the Hawks ridiculous shooting.

How about Aaron Brooks or Carl Landry? Landry was ridiculous, going 5-5 with 5 rebounds and getting 18 points in 18 minutes. Brooks was 4-10 with another three for the Rockets.

Really--if you plugged T-Mac and Artest in there, do they put up significantly better numbers than that?

Not to mention (oh wait, we will) that the team played with such passion and energy that it was hard for the Hawks to match. In fact, we were relieved every time Yao Ming came into the game, because it seemed like the Hawks were playing Houston better when he was in there.

Would McGrady and Artest have impacted the Rockets so much better on this night than all those players above?

We think, for this performance, no.

Changing Lanes

We have to applaud the outstanding performance of Josh Smith, who kept pounding the lane en route to his season best 29 points against the Rockets. Smoove was 13-16, which included a couple of throw-the-clipboard-down jumpers. It's nice when it all clicks for Smoove, and there was no shot bigger than the put back jam he stuffed home late in the game off a rare errant Mike Bibby three. Yuge.

After getting beat unnecessarily by a Vince Carter bomb the night before, it was pretty sweet to pay it forward to Houston when Bibby bombed his on the Rockets. The HHB came to their collective feet when Bibby launched and high fives and fist pumps were a-plenty when it swished through. Cathartic.

Joe Johnson had 14 assists. Seriously, is there anything the guy hasn't done to get your All-Star vote yet? What's that---haven't voted? Well get on over to the sidebar and vote! Anything less than the total support of what we have for a fanbase (we are few, but mighty!) is silly. The man is cash in hand. Awesome.

We'll say it again: Even though we know that Al Horford is a stud, he is getting outplayed by Zaza Pachulia right now. Horford continues to play small inside, rushing his shots and not using his total height around the hoop. Horford needs to assert himself inside on both ends of the court, going hard to the rim and protecting it on defense. Less Alan Henderson and more--well, Al Horford.


EXTRA! EXTRA! ACIE LAW LIVES! PLAYS EFFECTIVELY AT THE POINT FOR THE HAWKS!

He did indeed. Hawks fans everywhere had to be thrilled when the former 11th pick overall came on the court and showed us that he still had skills, going 2-4 with 2 assists, 2 steals and zero turnovers in his 15 minutes. He got to the lane and opened things up with aplomb, and even though his two misses were on layups where he flew to the hoop, we had to wonder what the kid is doing off the court that limits his playing time.

We will ask that question and more when the HHB rolls into the arena for the next Hawks home game on Wednesday night against the Orlando Magic.


The HHB is packing their bags for the big game on Wednesday but can still be reached in the Comments area for witty rejoinders and conversation.

Winning---It's Like---Better Than Losing

After losing to the Celtics in the manner in which the Hawks were dispatched (heartbreaker), the HHB mused in the recap below that what would show the mettle of the team is how they would play against the visiting Warriors on Friday night.

The team from Oakland does one thing---shoot the basketball----and defense has no place in their energy budget.

It sounds great as an opponent---hey, they hardly contest where I want to go on the floor or any shot I want to take---this is great!

And it is, until you find yourself suddenly settling for long jump shots and adopt the same "stand around" defense that's being deployed by the Warriors. That's called a trap. If you can avoid the trap, you can easily get past teams like the Golden State. If you can't, and you let them hang around, you might find yourself stuck like in one of those Chinese Finger Contraptions.

You know, those things that you stick your fingers into, and if you struggle and try to pull your fingers out fast, you get stuck even more, but if you are patient and take your time, you easily get out of it.

In the first quarter of the game, the Hawks patiently moved the ball around offensively and, lo and behold, they scored and scored in the paint. Defensively they were fairly solid, though yielding shot after shot to Marco Belinelli, and the lead was quickly into double digits.

Then the Hawks fell into the trap and found themselves stinking up the joint going into the fourth quarter down by two points.

Then, instead of trying to flail and run and shoot their way out of the trap, they went back to playing solid defense, which led to good possessions on offense, which led to the Hawks exploding out of the trap and shutting the Warriors down 36-18 in the fourth quarter.

How bad is Golden State? They allowed RFM to log a mind-boggling +24 in a little over 21 minutes of play AND he shot 8-12. Peachtree Hoops might lose their appetite all day when they see the headline of "Murray Leads Hawks over Warriors" .

UPDATE: Here is another great RFM headline to make PH feel ill--right here, courtesy of the AJC.


Alas, all was well at the end as the Hawks ended up with a gambling friendly final of 115-99 over the visitors. The first quarter showed there was no hangover from the Celtics loss. The second and third quarters illustrated how alluring that lazy brand of Warrior basketball can be, especially to a young team like Atlanta. The fourth quarter displayed that the Hawks are mature enough to understand when enough was enough and got back to all the things that were right about the first quarter, and used it to lock down the game and get the win.


Random Thoughts

• Consider the HHB firmly planted on the "Why in the world is RFM running the point over Acie Law?" bandwagon. We have chimed in on this in previous entries, but giving developmental minutes to Murray over Law flies directly in the face of all rational long term decision making. And really, thought the Warriors made him look like LeBron, Murray isn't even as efficient and productive as Law seems to be when he gets in the game. We could hope for injury to Murray to force the issue, but we are not into wishing such things---besides, guys you want to go away never do.

• We admit that we believe Dominique Wilkins to be one of the best guys to ever wear the Hawks gear (Hey, we did name the blog after the guy), and we were excited when he rejoined the organization in a front office role, though we suspected there was some figurehead aspect to it. We didn't care---'Nique was back. He has always been available and engaging to speak with, always very frank in those discussions. We guess that comes with being the man---you stop caring if anyone hears you say what you are thinking. So we were thrilled when we got the memo that 'Nique would join "I'm Bob Rathbun" on Hawks TV this year. Yes, he is sometimes Master of the Obvious, especially with the always-contrived-on-any-telecast keys to the game, but he also brings that frankness that we have enjoyed in private conversations to the people as a whole.
  

• Speaking of the people as a whole, Zaza's Playground has an interesting bit about the interest in Hawks as shown in the TV Ratings---Winning + Dominique = More watchers.

• We have taken the plunge and moved our internet operations to an actual domain name. We have assumed the logical humanhighlightblog.com address. We expect this to rival the Super Bowl in terms of interest, so you might want to make a note of the change. Thank you!
  

The HHB was once trapped 13 hours on an escalator during a blackout, but has always escaped the Chinese Finger Contraption. You are welcome to Comment in the Comments section.

Mediocrity---An Improvement But Not a Destination

"Middle of the road, man it stanks,/Let's run over Lionel Richie with a tank."

The immortal words of the late, great Steve Dallas ring as true today as it did two decades ago.

And so it is with our beloved Hawks, who played like dogs, not fought like lions in their two games over the weekend.

It is a testament to how far the Hawks have come that they can completely sleep walk through a game at home against the Knicks and still come away with the win. (Sidenote: The HHB has always, always hated watching "Knick Fan" gloriously walking out of the Hawks building with a "w" in their grinning, never-stop-talking-smack mouth". To have it be so close despite having more than they do was gut wrenching---but, alas, the game was won, and the noisy mouths can stop for one trip into Philips. End Note)

But against a decent team like the Mavs on their homecourt, the sloppy defense, careless offense act won't get it done. They need efforts as the ones the authored against New Orleans and Chicago to come away with a Gold Star and a Ring Cookie for their evening's efforts.

Let's give credit where credit is due:

Al Horford----Al, you know the HHB has your back, but I gotta tell ya---It cut us deep when you would bow out of Gator games with the occasional injury, but to see you in the layup line against the Mavs and then grab the poms poms stings even more, because hey, this team needs you man, badly.

Even in games he has played recently we have seen more of the First Year Al, the guy who rushes his interior moves and disappears defensively for too long than the Horfie we saw in Chicago, who brought his big, brass balls to the United Center and declared that the game was his and the Hawks.

More Horfie and less First Year Al, please! Thank you!

Joe Johnson and Mike Bibby----Got no complaints about these two offensively, though it does seem like Joe is forcing things a smidgen. Bibby has been golden offensively, through prone to the occasional off night as shooters can do. Bibby's defense has been--hmm--spotty against some of the aggressive guards recently. So, the bottom line---Mike Bibby is still Mike Bibby---glad to have him.

The problem from these quite untrained eyes when it comes to Joe forcing some things or the off night shooting from the backcourt seems to be a offensive philosophical issue more than a personnel or decision making issue.

Seems to the HHB that Mike Woodson is content to pass the ball around until there is a good outside shot available, rather than work the offense inside-out some of the time. In fact, when the Hawks do move the ball into the post, with Bibby and Johnson working their magic from the outside, the Hawks are tough to beat.

This is where I join the legions of dozens who rail game after game about the Hawks practice. Why don't the Hawks use Horford as a post play more? With Bibby, Johnson, and Marvin around the perimeter, it seems like tossing it in to Al and then letting him work the ball back out when the defense comes gives the Hawks an excellent chance to get those coveted jump shots that we only attempt 60-70 times a game.

Yet, I see Horford play after play, bust his bottom to get down the court and first to the post, only to turn and jog to the weak side and then to the top to give a perimeter shooter a place to temporarily offer possession of the basketball.

Yes, sometimes the Hawks post Johnson, but why use Johnson as a post processor unless we can clone him so that the ball can get tossed out to himself for the more-open 3? (Hmmm---probably shouldn't give Joe any ideas on how to spend his millions.)

Anyway, let's move on.

Marvin Williams----Still love his jumper and his moustache, would like to see him stronger around the basket, especially when finishing inside. As Bill Walton might say---Slam it home, big fella!

Josh Smith---At times, it was good to see him back---at other times, it was not so good to see him back. You get to see it all---the blocked shots, the effect inside, the careless passes and ridiculous jump shots, the marvelous way he can knife inside to get contact and finish.

Bottom line, it's good to have him back---will be better to see him continue to grow on the court and take each possession seriously. Seriously.

The Bench---I will stand by the numbers we looked at before the season and say that, based on a stupidly small games sample, Maurice Evans is no Josh Childress. The HHB is keeping Chillz' locker in tact, hoping he'll be back and that this whole Greece trip was a ploy to conceal an NBA mandating gambling suspension.

Gambling the HHB can forgive, choosing Greece and leaving us Childress-less we can't swallow.

However, there is nothing not to like about the effort that Evans brings, and the occasional left-side, sideline three that he is fearless in taking. It's just that he does not make his presence known like Childress did, and in times of starting lineup failure, it was a critical piece of making the playoffs last year, and is missing this year.

Ronald "Flip" Murray or RFM to the HHB (you conclude what the "F" might stand for) is an interesting little spark plug----completely out of control, able to leap tall building in a single bound, and then smack into the first floor on the next jump. He's good to have, but we wish we didn't depend on him so much for minutes.

Acie Law---Darn you Acie! If you were further along we might not need so many minutes from Murray, leaving perhaps only the best from RFM rather than having to take the bad with the good. He has GOT to improve over the last 3/4 of the season or the Hawks need to find another PG--as the hospital shows say---stat.

Zaza Pachulia---We almost didn't list him and then wouldn't say why for days until we would bring him back and say, "What? We didn't feel like the column material matched up well with Zaza's game!"

He is tenacious on the offensive boards, he throws his body around with total disregard, he seems to have a permanent chip on his shoulder, and he lacks a defensive presence like the HHB lacks writing talent.

Still, he is a solid backup center and we don't know what he is/isn't doing to make a condo in the Woodson doghouse. Maybe nothing, maybe something. Who knows.


The Hawks seem to be settling into what they are, a close to .500 team who has the talent to be better than that, but maybe mentally aren't there. Hopefully that will be addressed soon so that they can (1) qualify for the postseason and (2) do something once they are there.

The Hawks don't have a lot of time to make it happen if you believe that:

1. Winning teams need solid play from the point guard position.

2. Mike Bibby isn't getting any younger and we may/may not bring him back.

So while being .500 ish is OK for now, it shouldn't be a final destination, nor a pinnacle, but the Hawks are facing just that if the dog show doesn't get better.