Dexmethylphenidate

Uhhh... Houston +6 means we're favored to win by 6.

I'd say making the playoffs is a successful season.

Can't wait for Vick vs Ryan.

Looking to see if Al Horford can take that next step from allstar to superstar.

Harris, JOsh Smith, Zaza, two 1st round for Dwight works? All are expiring. We'll even throw in Jenkins.I'm not fond of giving up Al and Teague when you only rent him for a year and hopes he signs an extension.Teague, Al and Dwight as a big three can compete. Then maybe CP3 can join in later.

I'd do it.Teague, JJ, and Dwight is pretty balance nucleus. JJ now being converted to good #2 instead of a average #1. Josh Smith has shown me enough that he simply won't get it. Plus the Hawks did pretty well in absence of Horford for the season.

Yeah.. they blew it in game 2. Rondo out... double digit lead but let it slip away.

Johnson not happy with limited shots

By Chris Vivlamore

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

5:00 p.m. Monday, May 7, 2012

A day later, Joe Johnson was at loss for words about the Hawks’ embarrassing Game 4 loss to the Celtics on Sunday that has the team on the brink of playoff elimination.

His one-word answer to a question on his number of shot attempts spoke volumes.

Johnson took just eight shots in the 101-79 loss to the Celtics, who are up 3-1 in the best-of-seven series heading into Game 5 Tuesday at Philips Arena.

“I don’t think they are doing anything different defensively on me,” Johnson said. “I think it’s just basically getting an opportunity to touch the ball. That’s it.”

When asked if he was not happy with his touches, Johnson answered with a simple, but emphatic, “No.”

The Hawks are trying to become only the ninth team in NBA history to overcome a 3-1 deficit in a seven-game series. The last team to do so was the Suns, who overcame the deficit against the Lakers to win a first-round series in 2006. If they are to do so, coach Larry Drew agrees that Johnson must play a more active role in the offense.

“We run a lot of things through [Johnson],” Drew said following a team meeting Monday. “He’s got to be more aggressive in working to get his shots and we have to be mindful when he hasn’t had a shot in one or two trips down the floor, we’ve got to get him the ball.”

Drew credited the Celtics’ defensive game plan against Johnson. While Paul Pierce has drawn the bulk of the assignment, the Celtics have also used double-teams, switches and crowding on the Hawks’ all-star to make things difficult. The Hawks have also failed in their offense, according to Drew.

“Just watching the film in flying back [sunday] night, there were a number of situations where we could have just made one extra pass and the extra pass would have been to him,” Drew said. “We’ve just got to be a little bit more mindful to make sure he is getting touches.”

Johnson finished with just nine points on 4-of-8 shooting. For the series, Johnson is shooting just 25-for-68 (.368), including 6-for-25 (.240) from 3-point range. Those numbers are down considerably from his regular-season field-goal percentage (.454) and 3-point percentage (.388).

For the series, Johnson leads the Hawks with a 17.8 points per game, just a tenth of a point more than Josh Smith.

In the Game 3 overtime loss in Boston, Johnson led the Hawks with 29 points on 11-for-28 shooting. Point guard Jeff Teague said the Hawks have to get back to what was effective, which was relying on Johnson.

“We’ve got him the ball in Game 3,” Teague said. “He got a lot of touches. [sunday] night, they took us out of our stuff and made it difficult to get him the ball. We will try to make a conscious effort in Game 5 to get him the ball and make sure he makes plays for us.

“He is our go-to player. Eight shots are not enough, especially in a playoff game for a guy who can play like him.”

Center Al Horford, who returned to action for Game 4 for the first time since January surgery to repair a torn left pectoral muscle, said the offense was not slowed by trying to work him back into the rotation. He said Johnson has to be more aggressive and still be mindful of the importance of quick ball movement when double-teamed. Getting Johnson more touches does not mean more Iso-Joe offense.

“Joe is our main guy,” Horford said. “We go to him. He has to get us going offensively so he needs to go out there and be an enforcer and make his presence felt. I don’t think my shots or Erick Dampier’s shots are affecting him. I think Joe needs to be aggressive. He needs to go out there and score the ball. That’s when we are at our best, when he does that.”

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I don't get it. He didn't say anything about not happy with amount of touches. In fact, he didn't say anything... that's the Joe we all know.

We need him. If we can get past the Celtics, we can advance to the Semis.

No shit.

Honestly Dolf, I think the disrespect of Horford has little to do with the injury and whether he could play right now or not. I think it has more to do with Al stating his preference to play the 4. Josh Smith fans view that as a threat to their favorite player. Seriously, ever since Al said it, you've been seeing people all of a sudden questioning his toughnes, saying that he should just "shut up" and play, taking cheap shots at him, dreaming up fantasy trades to try to get rid of him and on and on. Some folks want the Hawks to win, but J Smoove absolutely has to be apart of it in their minds. For the record, so long as the Hawks win, you could have Foghorn Leghorn at the 4 and I wouldn't care. But some are real particular about who has to be on the team and where. I don't think you can build a truly successful team that way and certainly not a title contender.

I think it has to do with what he said couple weeks ago when he said he could play the game at the end of the regular season. So people automatically think that he's able to go in the playoffs. Then he came out recently and made a flip flop. This series will be at least 6 games so if hopefully he can go then.

Yeah that pathetic lineup of all scrubs is good and dandy in the regular season in order to rest the starters for... the PLAYOFFS. You can run them to the ground now if you want. He should find a sub pattern where at least 1 of the big 3 will play at all times.Woody's probably the only other coach that rolls out all scrub lineup.

I haven't thought much about the WWE/F in probably 10 years or more since I stopped watching it but your title immediately brought me back. And YES lets bring in the Rock as a personal motivator for these guys, I like it!

You probably miss the Rock coming back last year then. I started watching it again when he came back and disses John Cena. Pretty funny exchanges between the two of them.

[*]Game 2

[*]BOS @ ATL

[*]Tuesday, Mar 1

[*]7:30 p.m. ET

[*]NBA TV

http-~~-//nba.cdn.turner.com/nba/big/channels/playoffs/2012/04/30/0041100132_bos_atl_gm2_lookahead.nba_nba_576x324.flv

Isn't this game on ESPN instead of NBATV?

The Hawks got shafted on a few calls, Celtics got rear ended on a few so it evens out. But it seems the Homecourt team get a few extra calls their way. Just wait til they get to Boston.

The road is set. Now take advantage of it! Sounds cruel, but it's now or never.

Jason Collins has been dissed around Hawksquawk alot, but he does provide pretty good bulk, and can hit that 10-15ft jumper. Most importantly, he know his role and play within his limits.

crap. that firstrow website is down. no way to watch.

Oh shit just got real!

At first I didn't think they can win the first round but I'd say I'm impress with Ivan. WIth Marvin and Ivan holding down the fort in the 2nd unit, they can pull this one out esp. having homecourt advantage.

It's for a 7th round pick. Good deal for Atlanta. They got no 1st round pick but they got a probowl CB for peanuts.

I love espn's recap of the game: show Blake and Paul highlights the entire clip then mention at the end the Hawks won with no mention of our injuries or how totally undersized we were. Laughable. I honestly think the Hawks could go 72-10 and win a title and the national media would still bury us.

I always go to nbatv for highlights. I like that this site has the video link at the top that only filtered out Hawks highlights.

We beat a team with a long athletic frontcourt WITHOUT our starting and backup centers. This was huge and should be noted.

Nothing against Zaza but I feel like the Hawks have a better chance playing Ivan at backup center. His athleticism is very good. Did you see that hanging reverse layup and that put back jam? Now if Zaza could do that instead of tripping over...

Hinrinch is making 8 mill this year. The Hawks overpay for Marvin a bit but not by much. I'd say he's worth a salary of a very good 6th man. 6.5 mill/year probably.

Nice to see they're overperforming. It's good to know they can be competitive on the road. Can't say that 5 years ago.

I don't get why they even do pick and roll with Zaza. He's not going to get the ball so it put the ballhandler at a greater pressure.