Playoff time is back in Atlanta, however brief

Are the Hawks a team on the rise, or one that has reached its plateau? If you let the national media tell it, it’s the latter. More and more, I’m starting to agree. As a a true Hawks fan, and a realist, I’m bracing myself for yet another round 2 departure. It’s not that I don’t appreciate this year’s team, they’ve been great, easily the most watchable Hawks team since the ‘Nique era. They also succeeded in halting the franchise from being an ever-running Chris Paul or attendance joke.

But there’s still the matter of doing it in the playoffs. The Hawks still can’t be taken as a serious threat to even reach the Conference Finals, not with Orlando and Cleveland looming over them, especially not with a 1-6* record against the two teams.

It’s not just that though. It’s also this. Losing in round 2 is what we do. Before Cleveland and LeBron, there was Sprewell and the Knicks. Before that, Larry and the Celts. This franchise is forever running headlong into eventual conference champions, always faltering valiantly. Perhaps some teams are just more suited for the “up and coming challenger” role. JA Adande kept it all too real in this assessment of the Hawks’ playoff chances:

For a while, I thought the Atlanta Hawks were ready to make the natural progression from their first-round loss to the Celtics two years ago to last year’s second-round loss to the Cavaliers and advance to the conference finals this season. But it’s impossible to envision the Hawks’ beating Cleveland or Orlando. It doesn’t seem fair that a team that has come so far so fast has already reached it limit, but sometimes these things happen. Ask the Bucks or Nuggets of the ’80s or the Cleveland Cavaliers of the ’90s or the Sacramento Kings of the 2000s.

The Hawks could lose Joe Johnson to free agency, but that shouldn’t be envisioned as the worst-case scenario. The worst case might be bringing him back and paying full scale for a player who hasn’t shown he can carry a team to the conference finals. At least Johnson has good company. Dominique Wilkins never got the Hawks to the conference finals. Neither did Pete Maravich. Sometimes franchises just have a ceiling. Atlanta’s is in the second round.

Pretty brutal assessment, but one that’s hard to take issue with. Sometimes franchises just have a  ceiling, ours is in the second round. But that means that the first round should be all the more enjoyable. Bring on those plucky Milwaukee Bucks, and may it be a hard fought series. While I do indeed “fear the deer”, I know that round 1 might be the last time this spring that the Highlight Factory is open. Oh well, you gotta take the memories when you can. Let’s go Hawks.

As for the last part, about Joe Johnson and the dilemma of whether or not to re-sign him: Isn’t it terrible that the worst-case scenario is probably better than the best-case scenario, which would be to let Joe walk, start Jamal Crawford and draft a young shooting guard?. Because that scenario looks like a 42 win team. We may never win a title with Joe Johnson as our franchise player, but we sure as hell won’t be a 50-win team without him next year.

* In games that matter. I’m not counting the 82nd game win over Cleveland since neither team was using lineups that we will see in the postseason.

Hawks salvage road trip

Now that’s how you finish off an undermanned opponent. In a battle of two teams involved in wild games the night before, the Hawks outlasted a Jazz team that was without Deron Williams and Andrei Kirilenko.

The difference between tonight’s win and last night’s debacle vs. Golden State, was improved ball movement and a return of the outside shot to the team’s arsenal.  Jamal Crawford came up huge, the front court was efficient, and Joe Johnson found the perfect balance of scorer and distributer.   Joe’s shooting totals weren’t much different for the two games, (12-22, 2-3 3pt. vs. Golden State, 12-19, 2-3 tonight) but he reduced his turnover total from 3 to 1 and doubled his assists. When Joe’s dropping 31-5-3, the offense becomes stagnant. When Joe’s dropping 28-6-6, the offense is nearly impossible to stop.

On a negative note, it’s clear that the only thing worse than Josh Smith missing a jump shot is Josh Smith making a jump shot. Because that means he’s gonna try (and miss) two more later in the game. Smoove’s transformation this year has been thanks in large part to his improved shot selection. He’s no longer attempting a handful of ill-advised threes each game, but he’s still taking 2-3 shots from a range that he has no business shooting from. Smith shot a stellar 7-13 tonight, and is at 51 % for the season. Imagine how much better those numbers would look if you could convince him to just say no to those 18-footers.

Nonetheless, a wild-and-crazy 2-2 road trip is in the books, and the team now heads home for a nice 3-game swing, starting with the 13-44 Minnesota Timberwolves on Wednesday night.

Embarrassing showing for Hawks

Wow.

That is all that can be said after such a pathetic display.  Forced to choose between two things that only happen every four years, the Hawks on national TV and Olympic hockey, I decided to DVR the basketball game and cheer on the USA in their defeat of Canada.

So two hours later, I’m fast-forwarding through the commercials between the third and fourth quarter and feeling pretty good about the Hawks chances with a 16-point lead against an undermanned W’s squad that only dressed 8 players.  That’s when my cell phone starts buzzing.  Text messages from my friends back in Atlanta offering the grim news about the meltdown in varying degrees of disappointment.

“I think the Hawks try to lose” said one friend.

“My week is ruined” said another.

Perplexed, I keep fast forwarding, thinking there’s no way they can be serious. Then I pressed play. Even as I saw it unfold, I was still in disbelief. I mean really, how the fuck does a playoff team blow an 18-point lead to the last-place Warriors? Especially when said last-place team only dressed 8 players, half of whom nobody has ever heard of?  How does that happen?

I have no idea. Maybe Mike Woodson went to his garbage time lineup too soon, maybe the team committed too many stupid fouls, maybe the shots just weren’t falling. Maybe calling a play at the end of the game that would require Josh Smith to make his first three-pointer of the year wasn’t the best idea. Maybe Stephen Curry is just that good.  I seriously have no idea. All I know is this better serve as one big wake-up call to this team.  They have a lot to straighten out, and very little time to do it.  With a game vs. Utah tomorrow, they’re in danger of losing three-straight and finishing 1-3 on this west coast swing.  I’d like to think that the team will rebound and take care of business tomorrow, but I know that’s not likely.  The Jazz are 22-7 at home, the Hawks are 13-14 on the road. But hey, if the USA can beat Canada in hockey, anything can happen.

Including a supposed contending team looking like a bunch of rookies and D-leaguers going up against a team full of, well, rookies and D-leaguers.

Suns 88, Hawks 80

If Amare Stoudemire was upset with his team for failing to move him at the trade deadline, it didn’t show Friday night in Phoenix.  A-Stat led all scorers with 22 points as the Suns overcame the Hawks in a surprisingly low scoring affair between two of the league’s highest scoring teams.  Rumors persisted all week that Stoudemire would be traded- first to Cleveland, then to Miami- but ultimately Phoenix opted to keep the free-agent to be.

It’s hard to imagine that Amare was pleased to wake up this morning still a member of the Suns, but to his credit, he refused to let any disappointment show on the court.

For the Hawks, it was disheartening to see Jamal Crawford struggle for the second straight game.  Crawford shot just 11 points on 4-11 shooting.  After missing February 10 match-up against the Heat with a sore shoulder, Crawford has made just 1 of 7 3-pointers and scored 23 total points total in the past two games.

As a team, Atlanta shot a dismal 39%, including 3-14 from outside.  Clearly, a big part of the lack of scoring can be attributed to Crawford’s ailing shoulder, but that makes it all the more imperative that Mike Bibby avoid nights like these.  Bibby made just 1 of 8 field goal attempts, missing all three of his shots from beyond the arc.  What’s worse, his paltry 4 assists were neutralized by 4 turnovers.  Bibby’s continued struggles this season are bordering on sabotage, yet Woodson refuses to trust Jeff Teague with any significant minutes.

The Hawks must recover quickly from this loss, as they head to Golden State Saturday night, then head to Utah for a Sunday night  slate with the Jazz, who are 22-7 at home.

Hawks interested in Big Z?

Michael Cunningham reports that the Hawks will make a run at Zydrunas Ilgauskas if the center receives a buyout from the Wizards.  Intriguing possibility, but if Big Z is released from his contract with the Wizards, I fully expect him to return to Cleveland.  He’s been through too many losing seasons with that club not to come back and try for a championship.  Still, the thought of Ilgauskas backing up Al Horford in the playoffs is a tantalizing one.

The Hawks will face Phoenix tonight in the second of their 4-game road trip out west. At 34-18, they are tied with Boston for third in the Eastern Conference and just 1.5 games behind Orlando for the Southeast Division title.

Horford, front-court, feast on depleted Clippers

AP Photo/Gus Ruelas

Al Horford notched a career high 31 points, Josh Smith added 20, and the Hawks cruised to a 110-92 victory over the Clippers. Facing a team depleted by two trades in less than 24-hours, including the departure of Marcus Camby, Horford turned in the best scoring output of his career, shooting 12 – 15 from the floor and 7-9 from the line.

The Hawks hit on none of the team’s seven 3-pt. attempts, but were having such an easy time getting the ball inside it didn’t matter. 42 of the team’s 56 first-half points came in the paint, and the team finished shot 54% from the field for the game.

Yeah, the Clippers are a shell of a team, but it’s great to return from the All-Star layoff with a decisive road victory. Even better when your freshly minted All-Star center goes off for a career high and misses just 5 shot attempts.

That’s 4 wins out of the last 5 for the Hawks, and win number 34 on the year through 52 games. For reference, it took the team 60 games to reach 34 wins last season. Whether or not you can take anything from a win over a particularly weak Clippers squad, this was a good way to kick off a big west-coast swing that includes upcoming trips to Phoenix, Golden State, and Utah in the five days.

Hawks head into the All-Star break with a home loss to Heat

AP Photo

With Jamal Crawford unable to go, the Hawks bench scoring and energy was noticeably absent in a home loss to the Heat Wednesday night. Crawford woke up with a sore shoulder, and with the All-Star break approaching, he opted to play it safe. ”He didn’t want to chance it and I’ve got to respect that and move on,” Woodson said.

Zaza Pachulia missed his second straight game with a sore hip, but should be back to full health when the season resumes next week.

It’s a troubling loss for Atlanta, but not entirely unexpected. Playing the second-half of a back-to-back, it’s easy to see why the team was flat in the fourth quarter without Crawford, the team’s second-leading scorer and a huge catalyst for crunch-time offense.

At 33-18, the team enters the break with a half-game lead over Boston in the Eastern Conference standings.  For  Joe Johnson and Al Horford, it’s off to Dallas for the festivities, for the rest of the team, a chance to rest up and get healthy for the stretch run.

Hawkin’ in Memphis

NBAE/Getty Images

The Hawks are looking more and more like a 4th-quarter team.  Keyed by a terrific shooting performance from Jamal Crawford, the Hawks pulled away from a promising young Memphis Grizzlies team and cruised to a 108-94 victory Tuesday.

Crawford played more minutes (27) than Mike Bibby (22) or Joe Johnson (26), and flat out carried the offense for long stretches of the third and fourth quarters.  It was a tremendous game from an efficiency standpoint, as Crawford needed just 14 shots to reach his 28 point total. He finished 9-14 from the floor, including 5-7 on 3-point attempts.

The Grizzlies held a 55-53 half-time lead thanks to some terrific shooting to start the game, but were not able to keep pace once Crawford got going. The 4th quarter began with the Hawks nursing an 82-75 lead, but five Hawks 3-pointers later, (four by Crawford, one by Mo Evans) the margin had swelled to 20.  Curiously, Grizzlies head coach Lionel Hollins (I hadn’t heard of him until tonight either) waited until the 5-minute mark to call a timeout, with his team already having been buried by Crawford’s barrage. It’s no wonder why Hollins has already been fired by the Grizzlies twice before.

As the Hawks continue to take over late in games with Crawford on the floor, one has to wonder if he should replace Mike Bibby as the full-time starter. How many lackluster first-halfs will Crawford have to rescue the Hawks from before Mike Woodson recognizes that his best crunch-time lineup is also his best starting line-up?

Bibby, easily one of the worst defensive PG’s in the league, is out there for the purposes of ball-handling and making shots, and he’s just not making them. Tonight, he shot 4-9 from the floor and missed all four of his attempts from outside. Crawford’s not exactly Bruce Bowen on the defensive end either, but he at least makes up for it with his scoring.

Seeing Bibby trying to keep OJ Mayo (16 points on 7-18 shooting) out of the lane tonight was like watching Paris Hilton’s poodle, Tinkerbell, square off in a cage fight vs. one of Bad Newz Kennel’s top heavyweights.

The lack of a ball-stopper is also contributing to opposing teams’ soaring rebounding totals, as Josh Smith and/or Al Horford must leave their man to provide help on a penetrating guard.

While the backcourt defense must continue to be addressed, the reality is that a fourth-straight win is on the board, and the Hawks are keeping pace in the tightly contested Eastern Conference standings. Up next for the team is a home game with the Miami Heat on Wednesday night.

Triple-Double for Smoove as Hawks outlast Bulls

NBAE/Getty Images

Facing another deficit going into the fourth-quarter, the Hawks turned it on late and ran away from the Bulls in a 91-81 victory.

Five Hawks scored in double figures, including 18 points for Joe Johnson and 17 for Jamal Crawford. But it was Smith who was the star tonight, recording the second triple-double of his career with 18 points, 14 rebounds and 10 assists. Smith also added 2 steals and a block and led the Hawks in all five statistical categories.

The first five minutes of the game was all Atlanta, and it appeared that we were headed for a repeat of the teams’ meeting on December 9, which the Hawks won by 35-points.  But Derrick Rose kept attacking the basket, taking advantage of Mike Bibby’s inability to stay in front of him, and the Bulls eventually pulled ahead, leading 70-66 at the end the third.

That’s when the Hawks exploded for another fourth-quarter offensive outburst, opening the final stanza with a 16-2 run and never looking back.

The key to the big finish was Mike Woodson’s decision to play Crawford alongside Bibby and Johnson, sliding Johnson to the small-forward position and allowing him to go to work on John Salmons.  With Johnson working the midrange, Crawford heated up from outside, knocking down two big threes in the quarter. Crawford also added a runner in the lane with 4:52 to play that put the Hawks up 8 and force a timeout by Bulls coach Vinny Del Negro.  The team cruised from there, capped by a three-pointer by Bibby to give Smith his 10th assist and secure the triple-double.

The Hawks improved to 21-5 at home on the year, and 32-17 overall. Tomorrow they travel to Washington to take on the Wizards who sport a mirroring record of 17-32, but are coming off of a one-point win over the Magic. With the Magic loss and Atlanta pulled within a half-game of Orlando for first-place in the division.

Everybody Leaves: Why Atlanta fans can relate to Matt Saracen

Shut up! Shut up! You don’t care about me, you left me for a better job! Your daughter left me for a better guy! Carlotta left me for Guatemala, and my dad left me for a damn war! EVERYBODY LEAVES ME!

What’s wrong with me?

That’s the heart-wrenching transcript of this scene from the show Friday Night Lights, which if you haven’t seen, you should, as it’s probably the best sports-related TV show since The White Shadow, and one of the more underrated shows of the last decade. For poor Matt Saracen, the QB of the fictional Dillon Panthers, it’s a justified reaction.  Everybody does leave him. His girlfriend, his other girlfriend, his coach, his father, they all leave him.  Everyone but his grandmother, suffering from dementia and unable to look after herself.  For two solid seasons, we feel sorry for Matt, but he refuses to feel sorry for himself.  Episode after episode, he handles his overwhelming responsibilities, to his coach, to his town, to his family, with a stone-cold demeanor, refusing to crumble.

That’s what makes the “EVERYBODY LEAVES ME!” scene in the bathtub such a harrowing moment. Saracen, the nice boy with way too much on his plate, finally realizes that he should feel sorry for himself, as his life pretty much sucks.

While Atlanta sports fans don’t have it quite as bad as Saracen, it’s pretty damn bad.  We don’t have a grandmother with dementia to look after, just a city known for its lifelessness, joblessness, and general emptiness. What we do share with Matt, is the sense of abandonment, the sense of nobody else giving a shit about us, the feeling that something might really be wrong with us.

First it was Michael Vick.  He left us for prison.  Then it was Andruw Jones, he left us for obesi-er-mediocrity. Now hockey star Ilya Kovalchuk is leaving us, headed to New Jersey after refusing to accept the highest contract ever offered to an impending free agent, effectively murdering hockey in Atlanta. That’s right, a star player wants to leave Atlanta even after receiving the highest monetary offer allowable, as well as the largest in the history of his sport. What is wrong with us?

Now, the anxieties and nail-biting will shift to the Atlanta Spirit ownership group’s other impending star departure, as the Hawks’ Joe Johnson is set to be an unrestricted free agent this summer.  While he hasn’t outright said yet that he’d prefer to leave, Joe turned down a 4 year, $60 Million offer to stay in Atlanta past this summer, and plans to enter free agency. Joe came here 5 years ago because he wanted to be here, and now, after enjoying much individual and team success, it looks like the four-time All-Star might be primed to leave. What is wrong with us?

Sure, Chipper Jones is still here, and Brian McCann and Matt Ryan have long-term deals in place that will keep them here for another decade.  But in the city where its custom to expedite franchise players for .40 on the dollar, where star QBs go to Federal Prison for dog-fighting, our coach leaves for a second-rate SEC school in the middle of the season, and franchise players turn down maximum contract offers, the Matt Saracen in every Atlantan wonders if, or when, they might leave us too.