NineOhTheRino

kiss of death...they said the same thing early last year a bit too...

You got that right. I remember Mo Cheeks and Sam Mitchell getting COY talk last season.

Well if that be the case my hope is Woodson is wise enough to realize that and bring on an Offensive Guru to his staff to help him out.

You really think Woody would do that? We all know how these things play out. The second the teams hit a rough patch the fans would be clamoring to get the offensive guy in Woody's spot. Heck I'm already hearing underground talk of Mark Price.

Actually, my candidates are:

Phil Jackson, Doc Rivers, D'Antoni, & Sloan.

Woody is like 10th on the big board.

D'Antoni??? How much game planing goes into telling guys to run and shoot? He's a newer version of Don Nelson. He'll get you to the playoffs but you'll NEVER EVER EVER win it all.

and I'm not saying that Woody is better.

I guess the rest of the country thinks Woody is a pretty good coach.

Has he been out?

He hurt his knee last night and boy did he put on a hell of a sell job. Dude acted like he was shot with a .50 cal. After which, he was once again carried off the court by teammates.

Still hope he's ok though.

Woody misses Josh Childress.

He's playing flip because Flip contributes.

If Marvin would get off his ass and contribute, Flip would play less.

If Mo Evans were as efficient and consistent as Chillz, Flip would play less.

Flip has gone back to being flip.

I must say you called this one since day uno. I think we're starting to see why Filp is constantly getting move and why Mo was buried on the Orlando's bench late last year. It's kind of how I see Zaza. Sure Z can give you a good game or two but can you really trust him to get you through a tough playoff run? At some point Sund has to address this bench if the organization is serious about making a playoff push.

I just wish someone could explain Woody's obsession with Flip. Sure he scores on a good day but all the selfish play and bonehead ball handling offsets all that.

It would be nice if the Hawks could beat the Celtics at full strength. We all know that if Pierce doesn’t play that the media people will put more emphasis on Pierce not playing than the Hawks winning.

p.s.

How many more time can Pierce pull off the whole gunshot bit? Celtics gonna get tired of carrying his fat MoonPie-eating ass off the court.

A co-worker on mine, who happens to be a huge Hawks fan, told me that he doesn't have the heart to watch this one. His fear is that the Hawks will not be completive while in the national spotlight. Part of me has the same fear but if this one is half as good as the first then this is definitely must-see-tv.

Birng em home McKay!

that's pretty much common knowledge around the league. Joe even said as much in his Sports South special.

For real???

j/k Doc

bronnt: and speaking of muscular necks

Charlotte is showing the game for their market according to espn.com, so you should be able to find a link to watch the game online.

Good stuff

thanks.

except for the skin color, they dont have much in common at all..idk what u see man lol

They're half brothers. Thier dad is fomer WWF Tag team Champ Rocky Johnson.

Hawks and Bobcats calendar showing nothing for local/NBA LP for tonight's game. Does someone know otherwise?

please don't get me started

Maybe Woody knows what he's doing and we're the ones without a clue. Surely the man wouldn't have made this far with such little knowledge of basketball. I ask each of you to re-examine yourselves so that we all can fall inline the master plan from this brilliant leader of men.

I think our problem is more complex than any one thing.

I don't think Woody is totally the problem. I mean, you still have to look at the pieces he has to work with.

He has nobody willing to go inside and get the hard points.

We say Iso Joe is a problem, but with the personnel we have, Joe is our distributor and scorer. Teams key off of Joe defensively which allows him to get the ball to the other scorers. If we traded Bibby for Kidd today, would it solve our problem?? We'd be similar to NJ when they had Kidd and Vince...Offensively, we'd be sound, but we'd lose something. I don't think Iso Joe is a long term answer, but the truth is:

We have a PF who doesn't want to play inside.

We have a C who don't have the skill to play inside.

We have a Sf who doesn't have the balls to do much more than be a standstill shooter.

What makes Flip and Mo different than the rest of the cast is that Flip and Mo are agressive players. Their shooting actually takes some pressure off of Joe. So does Bibby... But if you live by the three, you die by it.

I don't think a different coach would get much better results than Woody is getting. I think we have some personnel issues.

Of our three key 2ndary players, who should be moved.

They all have value.

We like Horf but really what has he brought?

We love Smoove, but if Smoove is being a big a-- baby and doing what he wants instead of what we need, what good is he?

Some of us like Marvin, but I don't begin to understand what he contributes when we are in need.

Here's a thought...

Give this project 5 more games. After Dec. 15, the landscape will be different FA wise.

So you're in favor of another rebuilding job?

Gray is right. Woodson just doesn't trust Acie at point with so many other non-veterans on the floor.

now that this team is approaching .500 it's time for Woody start chaning things around to keep guy on thier toes. We're all seeing the real Bibby is a tricked out version of T-Lue. Hawks would be smart to phase Acie in now! Not saying make him the starter but pencil him for big minutes nightly.

HAWKS REPORT

By Sekou Smith

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Thursday, December 11, 2008

> TIME TO TIGHTEN UP: Now that his team is finally all grown up in the experience department, Hawks coach Mike Woodson insists that they do the same with their actions on the court.

He’s seen too much inattention to detail lately, and it’s cost his team during this road trip, where they’ve dropped two games in the late stages because they couldn’t maintain their focus long enough to finish off the Dallas and Houston.

“It’s like [Tuesday night in Houston], Josh Smith hit that 3-pointer to put us up eight and everybody is so happy and they just stop playing,” Woodson said. “And you saw the stretch to the end the game —- it was crazy. Instead of playing the way we did to get back in the game, we just went crazy. And it’s all related to the dumb stuff we’re doing.

“We’ve got to be mentally tougher in terms of doing the things we’re supposed to do. Because when I can watch film and we come out of a timeout and don’t execute the things we’ve been taught to do, I know we’ve had some slippage.”

> READY FOR WHATEVER: Both the Hawks and Spurs played games that went down to the wire Tuesday night, the Hawks losing to the Rockets and the Spurs knocking off the Mavericks in double overtime in Dallas.

The Spurs being the oldest team in the league and the Hawks being the sixth youngest would seem to give the Hawks an edge in the bounce-back energy department.

But that’s only in theory. And Woodson doesn’t subscribe to that theory. Not with the championship banners hanging over the team’s heads at the AT&T Center Wednesday night.

“This team has won enough titles and been in enough tough situations that nothing, and I mean nothing, fazes them,” Woodson said.

> ANOTHER SLOW START: The Hawks got off to their second straight slow start Wednesday night, going down 20-8 with 3:33 to play in the first quarter behind a 28 percent (4-for-14) shooting performance.

They managed just 16 points in the first quarter against the Rockets Tuesday night. The Hawks trailed by as many as 13 points in the first quarter both nights.

Woody always says the right things but damn if his teams ever do the right things consistently

he turns the ball over alot by traveling , he really needs to work on that. But hes only going to get better, but not that much. im glad we got him than the first to picks.....

Zaza has to lead the NBA in travels/attempt

I hope this isn't considered :beathorse:

Horford's offense has a long way to go but he is on a nice stretch right now. Over his last 6 games he is averaging 15.5 pts shooting 68% (no that isn't a typo) from the field.

I have been griping for the longest time that he needs to be more of a face up player and it looks like he is starting to get it. He is shooting his midrange shot more often and hitting them at a good clip. he can get an open midrange jumper any time he wants, he just needs to look for it more often. he is actually looking to drive at times now which he hardly ever did last year.

The first possession of the second half last night he got the ball up top and drove straight to the basket on Yao for the score. That is nothing special since Yao isn't exactly fleet of foot but that is exactly the type of basic play that Horford has so far been reluctant to make. He has a speed advantage over almost everyone he faces and he needs to start using it.

One other thing i would like to see him do is fake. He hardly ever fakes which makes it easier for the defenders to time his shots. It also leads to him taking a lot of off balance shots. If he throws up a fake he can get his feet under him and react to what the defender does.

More Al and less Josh would be nice.

4 foot jumper, shorted it by a foot.

Moreover, he was nearly uncontested shooting that one. Why couldn't he just have gone in and put it off the glass?

people (me included) being hard on Josh today. I feel sorry for the guy. No collage, he's still young, and he's only had 1 real coach so what should we expcet?

And the one jumper he did make, was right where he usually makes them . . . a straight on look from the FT line to the top of the 3 point arc. Some of Smoove's internet friends, or someone on the Hawks staff, need to point that out to him. He is not a good wing shooter AT ALL. But if you get him in that straight on position, where he can properly size up his shot with the rim and backboard directly in front of him, he becomes a much better shooter.

We don't get back into the game in the 3rd, without his hustle and activity though. It's a double-edged sword with Smoove.

“Our shots weren’t going down and we had too many turnovers,” Hawks point guard Mike Bibby said. “It wasn’t like we weren’t going inside, but our shots weren’t falling. Ron did a good job. He took over the game and he made the plays down the stretch.”