Back on Track

The Hawks entered Friday night’s game with a lot of issues to address, and the Warriors were more than accommodating. Both teams shot a lot of jumpers, but only the Hawks’ were falling. You can’t take too much from these sorts of games, of course, they happen from time to time in the NBA. Sometimes, a team just fails to show up, play hard or convert even the easiest of offensive chances — it’s a syndrome that the Hawks themselves are not immune to as we’ve all seen this season. But tonight the afflicted team was Golden State, which, in addition to boosting Josh Smith’s shooting confidence (possibly to lethal levels), it made the assimilation of newcomer Kirk Hinrich into the offense a bit easier.

Hinrich didn’t play much, but when he did he looked like a good fit for what the Hawks like to do on offense. After entering the game midway through the first quarter, Hinrich promptly buried a 3-pointer, announcing his presence and sparking a 19-7 run to close out the period. The final line for Hinrich: 17 minutes played, 8 pts., three assists and one turnover. Pretty respectable debut to be sure.

But Atlanta’s other point guard, the one Larry Drew seemingly forgot about for weeks at a time, took advantage of the increased playing time with a solid performance of his own (just don’t look at the shooting totals). Granted, it was against a lifeless Golden State squad, but Teague looked comfortable running the offense, earning six assists and playing a career-high 26 minutes. If he can replicate that assist output going forward, it’s possible his playing time will be less sporadic than it was with Mike Bibby on the team. (Speaking of Bibby, he kicked off his stint with the Wizards as only he can, going 0/4 from the floor in 10 minutes and posting a negative-19 plus/minus rating.)

There will be nights though when the Hawks will need him to shoot better than he did tonight, and that is what’s likely going to keep Hinrich (once he’s acclimated) and Jamal Crawford ahead of him in the rotation. It’s still nice to see our “point guard of the future,” even if only by default, get some extended burn for a change. It only took 118 games is all.

The Josh Smith/Al Horford tandem was really the showpiece tonight, as both players were terrific on both ends of the floor. Horford (22 pts. on 14 shots, 13 rebounds and 7 assists) has such a profound impact on both ends of the floor that it’s a shame he doesn’t get more national love. I won’t go so far as to say he should be an MVP candidate this season, largely because the Hawks’ overall record doesn’t justify such a claim, but he has to be approaching that stratosphere.

Meanwhile, Josh Smith continues to defy the cries of “Nooooo” from Atlanta fans every time he cocks his left elbow behind his ear to unleash that funky jumper. It’s hard to argue with the results on nights like tonight, when he hit 11/18 from the field and 1 of 2 3-pointers attempted, but these are the sort of nights that artificially inflate his confidence and threaten to hurt the team down the road. Sure, it’s nice to see him light it up from outside against a team which checked out mentally sometime between the opening tip and half-time, but come the playoffs, against teams that actually are trying to defend, we’re going to need Smoove attacking the basket, not settling into a comfort zone. As he’s the only Hawk who is legitimately un-guardable when attacking the hoop anymore, it’s imperative that he maintains an aggression on offense rather than being seduced by these easy-coming jumpers which will no longer be there six weeks from now.

Will see what the future holds for the new-look Hawks. Whether Hinrich can hit the ground running, Teague can actually begin his previously stunted development, and whether Horford and Smith can continue to dominate games, the Hawks will certainly never have it easier than they had it tonight. The next eight games are brutal on paper. After finishing up their west coast road trip with trips to Portland (Sunday) and Denver (Monday), the Hawks face the Bulls twice, plus the Lakers, Thunder and the revamped Knicks in the next two weeks. Time to see what we’re made of.

J-J-Joe Johnson is feeling it

The Hawks blew past a depleted Raptors squad thanks in large part to another strong offensive output of Joe Johnson. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)

After his 37-point outburst vs. Toronto last night, Joe Johnson has now scored 30+ in five of his last nine games. Since January 1, he’s made 38 % of his 3 pt. attempts and is averaging 26.7/5/4. I think it’s safe to say the elbow surgery was successful.

In handing the Toronto its 13th straight loss, the Hawks combined for 30 assists and 100 points despite only attempting 9 free throws. Al Horford (12 points., 14 boards) was three assists shy of a triple-double while Josh Smith also added a double-double of his own. Smoove kicked in two steals and three blocks in the complete victory.  Up next is a weekend back-to-back with the league’s two best rookies.  First, a home date with Blake Griffin and the Clippers. Then the team pays a visit to our nation’s capital to face the John Wall-led Wizards.

Hawks win another playoff dress rehearsal tonight in the Highlight Factory

Josh Smith! Josh Smith! Josh Smith!

Just when I was beginning to think that the Hawks just couldn’t beat Orlando this season, we found out they could. It took until the last tenth-of-a-second to find out, due to a 4th quarter marked by porous shooting and even worse defense, but none of that matters. Thanks to Josh Smith’s heroics, we now know the Hawks can beat the Magic. Josh Smith’s heroics. In the process, they clinched a playoff spot, but that takes a back seat to beating those f’ing Magic for the first time in 4 tries.

Friday Linkage

Some links to get you through the first Friday of the NCAA tournament, aka the 2nd best Friday of the year.*

(In honor of March Madness, these links are gonna feature the super annoying and repetitive SHOUT THE COLLEGE THEY ARE FROM motif prominently featured on the Bristol Network.)

• Ken Sigura (from? AJC!) reports that Joe Johnson (from? Arkansas!) will play tonight vs. the Bobcats after missing the last 2 games with a sore Achilles’. Said Joe: “It going to be good to get back out with the fellas’ and start us a new streak”
• Former Falcons-TE Alge Crumpler (from? North Carolina!) is now a New England Patriot, as reported by the Boston Herald. Those same Patriots will be one of five teams to work out Tim Tebow (Nazareth) according to the Sporting News. The others are Buffalo, Seattle, Cleveland and Washington.
• My biggest worry about the Braves going into the year, is if the team will be able to stay healthy. With so many veterans, most with spotty injury histories, in key spots, the pessimist in me frets that something is bound to break down. My biggest concern, the back end of the bullpen, where a 38-year old Billy Wagner and a 40-year old Takashi Saito are the supposed solutions. This article from ESPN’s injury guru Stephania Bell, posted on March 4, assesses the risk of re-injury for Wagner (Ferrum College), Saito (Tohuku Fukushi University), Tim Hudson (Auburn) and Troy Glaus (UCLA).
• The Thrashers have now won two straight and are just 3 points back of a playoff spot. Nik Antropov (from? Kazzinc-Torpedo Ust-Kamenogorsk) scored 2 goals last night in the 6-3 win over the Sens; he now has 21 for the season.
• Great article on Josh Smith (Wheeler High!) and his improved shot selection from Chris Ballard of Sports Illustrated. Josh Smith’s evolution as a player is undeniable, but I agree with Brett Lagree’s response over at Hoopinion, which notes that while Smoove’s three-ball attempts no longer waste a few Hawks possessions each game, its evil cousin, the long-two, still does:

Chris Ballard makes ample use of Hoopdata in his profile but still ignores the elephant in the room those 3 (well, 2.9) long two-point jumpers Smith takes per game, those shots he makes 28% of the time.The Hawks gain little if Smith eliminates the three-point attempts but takes more long two-point jumpers that he can’t make any more often (and are worth one point less when he does) than he can the three-point shots.

*- the one Friday every year where I end up watching Friday all afternoon while boozing on the couch.

Hawks need OT, but get past Bucks

This time, the Hawks got it done in OT. A game after nearly being shut-out by Dallas during the extra period, the Hawks came up big this time around, scoring 14 points in the extra frame to beat Milwaukee 106-102. Didn’t get a chance to watch this one, but judging from the box score, it was a grinder. 3-13 from 3pt? Yeesh.  Thank goodness the team made 25 of 30 free throws, and Josh Smith (22, 15 and 6) and Al Horford (17 and 10) were able to get going inside. Smith’s superb passing from the post has added a whole new dimension to his game.  His 6 assists led the team, but it’s worth noting he also had 5 turnovers.

The Hawks, who now hold a half-game edge over Boston in the Eastern Conference standings, will take on the Bulls tomorrow night.

Hawks blow another big lead

Another 4th quarter meltdown is in the books, this one at home, in OT, to Dallas. Everything was going well until around the 6-minute mark of the 4th, that’s when Dallas coach Rick Carlisle switched to a 2-3 zone and stuck JJ Barea at the point in an ultra small lineup that also featured guards Jason Terry and Jason Kidd. From there, the run out opportunities and fast break points evaporated, as well as the 17-point lead.

Woodson opted to let his team play through instead of calling a timeout to stop the run (as all of Philips was begging him to call one), and what followed was a series of short possessions, each ending in a missed jump shot. The worst culprit down the stretch was Josh Smith.  Smoove’s all-around game has been the story of the season, he’s the team MVP by far and unquestionably the driving force of the team.  But he’d be that much better if he were to completely eliminate the 18-foot jumper from his repertoire. Josh missed 4 shots from outside in the second-half and overtime, meaning that 4 possessions were completely given away at the time of the game when possessions are most important. Not only did Smoove’s infatuation with his jump shot decrease the team’s likelihood of scoring, it removed the team’s best offensive rebounder. That is how JJ Barea ends up with 5 defensive boards and Jason Kidd ends up with 13 (16 total).

As for the technical foul with 1:27 to go, I don’t know what to say, other than it was a good move by Jason Kidd and a tough break for the Hawks. Mike Woodson racks up another technical, he’s gotta be closing in on the leader by now.

Interesting though is how fumed Woodson looked. You can totally make out an F-bomb at the :10 second mark of the video:

Reminds me a lot of Mike Smith popping off to DeAngelo Hall last season.  Throw in Bobby Cox’s all-time ejections record, and Atlanta might have the baddest collection of coaches in America. You will fear our coaching staffs. You will.  So what if Woodson’s got no eyebrows and Bobby Cox has no knees, it never stopped them.  You will fear Atlanta coaches.

Back to the on court action, the overtime showing was absolutely pathetic. The rotation management was similarly so. Where was Marvin Williams in the 4th, or Jeff Teague all night? How does Al Horford play 5o minutes and Zaza only 6?

On the plus side, ball movement was great tonight for stretches. Unfortunately it keeps disappearing when it matters most, but there were some great looks made in the 3rd quarter.  Including two beautiful outlet passes by Smith that triggered run out situations. 7 assists for Smoove, and 10 for JJ.  That should usually equal a win but only not when you allow 37 assists on the other end.

I’ll give Mike Bibby credit for shooting the ball well tonight, but his complete inability to keep even the most journeymanish of PGs in front of him continues to be a glaring concern. Woodson, please play Teague more please. At least play him more than not at all.

With the loss, the Hawks drop to 36-21, a half-game behind Boston for third overall in the East. Up next for the team is a back to back with two midlevel Eastern Conference foes, first, a home game with the Bucks on Sunday, followed by a trip to Chicago the next night. The front-end at Philips is no gimme. Milwaukee has won 5 straight and is 8-2 in its last 10.

Jordan Schafer’s tats put to shame by Eric Hinske

Earlier this week Jordan Schafer’s new arm-length tats were the non-baseball talk of spring training. That was until newly acquired Eric Hinske showed Jeff Schultz his newly acquired body art. Hinske spent two offseasons and $5 grand on this um, investment, and says “there is no special significance to the design.” Well I’ll tell you the significance, Eric.  Not only did you completely one-up Schafer in the Braves locker room, you’ve also supplanted Mike Bibby as the most tattooed athlete in Atlanta.

Hawks fail to inspire in win over the Wolves

While it’s good that the Hawks were able to beat Minnesota by 6 while not playing all that well, the fan base isn’t so thrilled. If one could call it a businesslike performance, I would, but that’s too positive, we’ll just call it a corporate-like performance. Lifeless, dysfunctional, and mismanaged, but ultimately successful.

I didn’t catch the entire game, but in the few precious moments I was lucky enough to see I managed to count the fans.  There were 46 fans on the screen.* So there is that to consider, but even still, the team should be used to playing for scarce crowds by now.  I don’t care if 100 people are there, the team should soundly outplay Minnesota at home.

A win is a win, even if you win ugly. That’s the edict in sports, even the NBA, used after every corporate-like performance ever recorded. You’ll hardly ever see a coach or player refuse to sugar coat a lackluster victory, because why would they right?  They won the game. They have a built in out, they’re golden. All they have to do is look into the camera and channel Herm Edwards for a few seconds, and they’re off the hook for giving it less than a-hundred. So, when that doesn’t happen, it’s a little disheartening.  Here’s the captain of the team, minutes after the win, hitting you with some truth:

“We were OK. It was nothing to really write home about.”- Joe Johnson

I’m not one to jump off the cliff after an NBA regular season game.  There’s 82 games, you can’t expect every one of them to be stellar.  Especially when the same same 5 guys are going for 40 minutes every game.  Which brings us to a long-term concern about the bench over at PeachtreeHoops. The main point of his argument is that Woodson still hasn’t found a decent 5-man second unit.

It’s true that the bench, while containing solid individual pieces, just doesn’t work for long stretches of time.  For instance, Jeff Teague’s defensive deficiencies prohibit him from being paired with Jamal Crawford, or in front of the non shot-blocking prowess of Zaza Pachulia. But Teague is the best ball-handler in the second unit, and could possibly help create offense for a few minutes if paired with say, Joe Johnson, Marvin Williams, Josh Smith and Joe Smith, who could protect the rookie on defense.

It’s all about the combinations of starters and reserves, about trying every combination until you find one that works. Woodson has yet to fully experiment with his rotation, and barring the improbable signing of Zydrunas Ilgauskas, this is how the team will look for the rest of the season. If the Hawks are gonna get past the 2nd round this April, it will be with the roster they  have now.

Which is why they’ll need better bench chemistry, and a better rotation, meaning more minutes for Teague and less for Bibby.

* No I didn’t actually count.  There were probably a few more than that.  Looked like 49 or so.

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.

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.