issacreid

I hardly ever post much, but thanks for the insightful vid on Obama. I must say though, that anytime people get caught up about lapel pins or whether your hand is placed over your heart during the pledge of allegiance..... that is very indicative of why 81 perecent of people believe this country is going in the wrong direction.

The only flaw with your logic is that Joe Johnson is simply not on the level of any of those players that you mentioned. He's a very good complimentary player (his role in Phoenix), but he is not a go-to player. Because the Hawks are paying him 12 million, the expectation is there that he is supposed to earn those dollars. However, if you don't have what it takes you just don't have what it takes. At the very least, Woodson could have kicked the ball out to either Josh Smith or Marvin Williams and had them kick it out for an open look, or dunk it or get fouled. J.J. running around on the perimeter those last two plays was stupid. Did Woodson really believe the outcome would be different on the last play than the one that came before it? Fans should not sulk. After all, it is just basketball and these players are getting millions. However, if you are a fan and paying a 100 bucks for a couple of tickets, beer or whatever else.... you do deserve to see the product put forth its best effort. Down the stretch tonight, that just did not happen.

You are completely right. He'd be sitting next to Mario West on the bench. People fail to realize that if we made an even swap for Roy, he would be in the same position as JJ. Teams would know that Woodson only runs plays for Roy, so don't even bother to look at the other players on the floor and lets all gang up on Roy. The Hawks had to play Roy one on one or risk a three pointer. The Blazers simply had to concentrate on JJ, which is why they won and we lost.

If the Hawks had went into Portland and gotten blown out and were down by 40, I would have said okay Portland's only lost 4 games at home. They're a good home team. But Portland did not play well. The Hawks had a double digit lead with like 4 minutes left, and everybody knows that the last 5 minutes is what decides basketball games, and yet they were ill prepared (coaching) to do what was necessary to win. Furthermore, this is not the Hawks first time at the Rodeo!

I'm not one to get too high after wins or two low after losses, but this game is bothering for several reasons. Number one, this keeps happening over and over again. At some point, you think that a light bulb is going to go off in Woodson's head and that he will try to be a bit more creative in his approach to basketball. A light did go off, but not in Woodson's head----mine. It's just not going to happen. Second, the worst thing is that as a laymen, why is it that I am seeing these problems and Hawks management is not? At the end of the day, the Hawks problems are all about Upper Level Management. Woodson would be fired at any business corporation by now. Because most people in Atlanta don't give a care about the Hawks anyway, the management does not have any pressure on itself to make changes... I mean, who really cares?

My sentiments exactly. The only good outcome of this game is that Woodson won't sleep tonight, and this is one game closer to his (inevitable) firing.

Personally, I don't know why they had Joe defending Roy. I would have put Josh Smith on him. He's a much better defender.

Sorry, I don't blame this at all on Joe Johnson. He was being defended by FIVE people, where as Roy was being defended only by Joe because the Hawks knew he could kick it out to 3 point shooters,where as the Blazers knew that Woodson doesn't know what the hell he is doing and is only going to use Joe to take the last shot. BTW, if should never even have gotten to that point in the first place.

I'm not a woody hater, but you are totally correct. Defenses don't even bother to look at the other Hawks on the floor in the last few seconds of the game because it is quite obvious that they are simply going to punch it in to Joe Johnson. Woody simply is not a coach. Be creative. Use Joe Johnson as a decoy and get somebody else a OPEN shot. That simple.

Raef LaFrentz?

The blame Woody bandwagon is a bit much. Watching the Hawks, I am noticing that there is simply no floor leadership. J.J. does not step up to the plate when it is needed. Woody can not be blamed for this. Players on the Hawks are getting paid millions of dollars and they are refusing to play with intensity, and unless Woody has some sort of magic potion to force them to do so, it is not his fault.

I haven't been posting on this board long, but I do want to wish everyone a safe and Merry Christmas, happy Hannakah, or whatever... and a happy New Year.

Well, I've been a fan of the Hawks for years, and the cheerleaders have sucked at least for the past 20 years. The girls come and go but the choreography never changes.

Confidence. The Hawks did not believe that they could win games. Now they do.

I didn't mind calling ticky-tacky fouls. But it should have been officiated the same way for both teams.