RonMexico

Teague Just summed up the officiating...throws hands up

ATLANTA -- Atlanta Hawks guard Kirk Hinrich says his ailing right hamstring is finally starting to show some improvement. Hinrich was hurt in the closing minutes of a series-clinching win over Orlando. Second-year player Jeff Teague has filled in admirably, averaging 16 points a game against the Bulls with only five turnovers. He's a major reason the Eastern Conference semifinal is tied 2-2 heading into Game 5 at Chicago on Tuesday night. Hinrich says he's only doing "very simple" exercises but feels his hamstring is getting better. When asked if he could possibly return in this series, he says, "I don't want to rule anything out." But coach Larry Drew doesn't expect Hinrich to play against Chicago, even if the series goes to a seventh game Sunday.

Osama dying or the Hawks winning??? ...be honest EDIT: OR DEREK ROSE GETTING HURT WITH 1 SECOND LEFT???

I've always thought of Josh as completely untouchable (as far as trading goes) but I can't remember the last time I've thought that in a while...why can't he understand his role??

I think there is something mentally wrong with him. He doesn't have the drive that Kobe, Lebron, etc. have to win so I don't expect him to do anything out of the ordinary. Some games he does go off but i don't think it's him being fired up, it's just he has the skill set to bust out. I don't blame him for this, not everyone should be like a Kobe but he's been pushed into that position. The only time I've seen him fired up/ready to carry the team was the first round playoffs against the Celtics. Haven't seen it since in my opinion. Again, i don't blame him, he's not that kind of guy but unfortunately he's been put on that level.

I don't think he cares at all to be honest.

3. Fact or Fiction: The Magic will force a Game 7 with the Hawks. LZ Granderson, ESPN The Magazine: Fact. Joe Johnson is a nice guy, but any squad depending on him to come up big in a closeout game is in trouble. What did he do last game, five points and three boards? Last year against the Bucks, dude scored eight in Game 7, and he shot 9-for-30 in the final two games against the Celtics in 2008. Jordan Heimer, ClipperBlog: Fiction. The Magic shot the Hawks out of Amway Center in Game 5, aided by Larry Drew's curious decision to sit Kirk Hinrich, his strongest defensive guard, for much of the decisive first half. Buoyed by a revved-up crowd and the triumphant homecoming of psuedo-headbutter Zaza Pachulia, the Hawks recapture their aggressive defense in Game 6, closing out on shooters and the series. Ian Levy, The Two Man Game: Fact. Jamal Crawford's jump shot has come back to Earth, just as outside shots have started falling for the Magic. It will take a significant amount of mental toughness to finish off the Magic, but mental toughness and the Hawks have been arch-enemies the past few seasons. In short, I like the Magic's brand of chaos a lot more than the Hawks'. Matt Moore, Hardwood Paroxysm: Fact. I'm sorry, but you'd like me to put faith in the Atlanta Hawks? Larry Drew's Atlanta Hawks? The Hawks had their chance to slam the door shut, and instead they allowed the perimeter flood gates to open in Orlando. Faith no more in Atlanta. Danny Savitzky, Nets Are Scorching: Fact. What looked to be a disturbing trend showed signs of changing for the better in Game 5, as the Magic finally started hitting some perimeter shots. Dwight Howard can't do it alone, and even though the Hawks have an advantage in being able to single cover him, Orlando shooters' success is a barometer for the Magic. Consistent with the law of averages, the Magic will push it to seven.

I put in Bob Rathbun hair plugs and it seems to really boost the team. Sometimes if Marvin isn't doing great I put a pillow in the back of my pants and walk around like a T-rex

Yes, is that milk pasteurized??

I don't know if anyone else really noticed this but with about 30 seconds left in the 2nd quarter Josh got called for a foul I believe and was really pissed and next possession he drove hard to his left, and then hop stepped to the rim and dunked it. He did it like it was nothing. It made me want to scream that he doesn't do that more often

It's quite obvious that in the playoffs there are less fast breaks and open court running and more half court offense. It seems like we have no half court offense. We can kind of run it through Al at times but it seems to always get kicked out to an open Josh Smith. Other than that it's Joe or Jamal just running around with the ball. My questions: Can a team go all the way like this? Can Josh Smith even fit into a half court offensive scheme? He can't slash with the ball or even really post up. How can he score points in the playoffs when we don't really run the floor? It's so bizarre that he chooses to literally stand at the three point line and watch the game when I'm sure everyone and their mom tells him not to. I guess i just don't understand why we don't run really anything in the half court. I'm not trying to bash i just don't understand what the problem is. It seems like immediately after a timeout and LD shoves a play in their face, they'll run something. Then after that they go back to the normal routine. So i have no idea if it's LD or what. Thanks guys.

dude Ron Jeremy +2 hahah Stan "the hedgehog" van gundy

Be careful at Philips arena tonight i heard there is going to be a nasty DWIGHT OUT! What do you dislike more? 1. The whistles he gets 2. His free throw shooting 3. his new goatee

We had a great defensive effort and they made it seem laughable. There also was a huge disconnect in the timeline. It's showing Orlando's dominance then us sealing the win. If i didn't watch the game i'd have no idea what the hell happened

I got so excited to watch ESPN to see the glory of the Hawks. What did they show? A highlight reel of Dwight Howard, the ESPN dude making fun of our defensive efforts to guard him, totally SKIPPED the 3rd quarter dominance of the Hawks over the Magic and showed like the last 2 steals we had to seal the deal. To top it off they mistakenly said that the Magic won. What the hell?

http://www.hoopinionblog.com/2011/01/why-have-atlanta-hawks-struggled.html

Joe have you never seen someone shoot a basketball??? He just keeps watching the shots haha

Honestly, I think sometimes psychologically it's harder to beat the "easy" teams. 1. It's an easy team we don't need to try, 2. there's NO ONE HERE watching. and 3. who care's if we lose we can beat them in a series. So i think the fact that we're still winning these games and putting in our effort each night is a good sign. We also get to develop the bench more and give our rookies playing time

Yeah he looks really good. The jumper is what has surprised me the most. He also has a lot of confidence in himself with taking his shots. If he keeps making them, i'm all for it. On another note, he might show even less emotion than Joe Johnson????

I was wondering if this trade were possible and logical. I did it on NBA 2k10 and it worked great haha. Trade Marvin Williams and Mike Bibby for Ben Gordon and a draft pick (i got a 2nd round in nba 2k10). This would make the starting line up Crawford, Gordon, Johnson, Smith, Horford. I'm assuming that the first year will be a bit rough till Teague becomes a little better but I love it in nba 2k10. and yes i know it's a game, i just wondered if it could work in real life.

I wouldn't say that the wizards are a playoff caliber team but the Portland win was great. I still feel like it's the same situation as last year though. When they play well, the hawks can beat anyone on any night but there's a lack of consistency still. I wonder what we need to do to fix that?

Yeah but they didn't talk like this about the Heat when we beat them bad in the first game. Why is that? I think it's because we don't have a "superstar" that they can drool over all the time.

Do any of you guys have any superstitions or rituals when you watch the Hawks? I don't really have anything but I get really superstitious with jinxing players and foul shots. For instance i'll never say if Josh is doing well from the free throw line. I did during game 1 on accident and right after he missed his first free throw (5/6?) haha. Do you guys do anything interesting? also, do any of the players have any superstitions you know of?

I saw something on nba.com that was very interesting. They were saying that the real x-factor will be either Marvin or Beasley. Whichever team has their respective player playing well will have the edge in the series. They both have about the same stats but Beasley has been playing way better than Marvin the last half of the season. I think that Johnson and Wade will somewhat cancel each other out and it'll come down to either Beasley or Marvin. I still think we have an edge on the heat even if Marvin doesn't play too great. I just thought this was an interesting take on the series and maybe a point that has been overlooked. What do you guys think if this is true? or does it even have any validity?