No Defense for Hawks

[jaywalker72]

Picture it, Michael Jordan floating through the lane then casually flipping the ball high in the air. The ball goes up and then comes down through the net, sealing the game for his team and sending the crowd into an excited frenzy.

A typical night in Washington?

Try Tuesday night in Atlanta.

As is his habit, Jordan turned the clocks back again against the Hawks, scorching Ira Newble, Glenn Robinson, and all the ghosts of Hawks past with a season best 30 points, much to the delight of the majority of “fans” who attended the 109-99 Wizards victory.

But, to the “fans” defense, the Hawks gave little reason for support, as the Wizards casually found whatever shot they wanted whenever they wanted, especially in an abysmal first twenty minutes, finding little resistance in a Hawks team that is supposed to want to be defined by their defense.

Well, mission accomplished Atlanta, you are.

Read the entire article:

http://hawks.realgm.com/index.php

[cyman3]

"Try Tuesday night in Atlanta. "

-hahahahhaha... hawks suck

no wonder my friend was making fun of me since i like the hawks... cuz they suck so much!

[MoonKnight]

MM for JT at the 5:50 mark in the 4th. I was at the game last night and could not understand at all this sub at such a crucial time (if there was one) in the game. This was an atrocious coaching decision b/c JT was not tired. Heck he only played 21 minutes. JT's facial expressions when he was yanked in the 4th told me all I need to know. I am no longer on the fence. Lon must go.

[Traceman]

He was not giving the effort that he needed to give last night for whatever reason and Lon pulled him as a result. During that timeout when JT was yanked, Reef BLASTED JT something awful on the sideline. I mean REALLY blasted him. I don't know exactly what prompted Reef's outburst but he was hot! JT was not happy about getting blasted and started yelling back at Reef. It was so bad that Coach Heard, Dion and a few other players basically got JT away from Reef and tried to calm JT down. JT was really upset but the players did a good job of calming him down. Late in the game, it appeared that JT and Reef made up but that was a pretty tense encounter and Reef was hot about it until late in the game.

I'm not saying that Lon was right for pulling JT but I'll GUARANTEE you that Reef agreed with the decision at the time. Take that for what it's worth.

[Blunt91]

I thought JT played better in the 2nd half. He was terrible in the 1st 2quarters though. Before JT was taken out in the 4th he had actually picked up his Defense to a certain extent in that he got a few steals. I say we stilll could have won the game despite playing terribly in the 1st half if we had of made some baskets after we got some defesive stops. We just couldn't hit crucial shots in the 4thquarter. I am going to plea with Pete to get in a pure shooter on this team to help out a the 2spot. We will not be consistent until we get someone who will knock down the open jumpshots. Neither Newble, Maloney nor Glover could provide that last night.

[Traceman]

I'm only half kidding. Dell might be 76 years old but one thing he can and will do, is come in and knock down an open J. I think Dell could be okay if we gave him about 8-10 mpg to come in and knock down some open J's.

The only other alternative is to go out and make a trade because I can't think of any other FA's out there other than Curry who can fill our lack of a shooting, SG void. [censored], ANYONE who can shoot is worth a try though. Now that CC is back on the DL for at least a month, I wonder what it would take to get someone in here for a test run?

[cyman3]

u saying that JT/REEF were arguing like SHAQ/KOBE in the middle of the game?

man, things sure are looking bad...

[Traceman]

And yes, they were arguing. HEATEDLY. I think it was a heat of the moment kind of thing and I don't think there will be any lingering repercussions but I guess time will tell.

The reality is that losing has everyone's tempers short. If we don't get a win soon, this season could go to [censored] in a hurry. The scary part is that the schedule is just brutal for a team needing a win. Philly lost 4 in a row and got Denver at home for an easy win. We lose 4 in a row and we get Houston on the road, Philly at home, Indy on the road, San Antonio at home and Washington on the road. [censored]!

[Guest]

JT has to traded.He's not giving his full effort

because he doesn't want to play PG.He wants to

just shoot...therefore no big contract.

I don't hate JT....But something clearly has to be

done and JT is a unhappy player.

But Reef shouldn't be talking...who gets str8 up

rejected by Jerry Stackhouse...What a embarass

ment.Reef is the least athletic PF in the league.

[Swopa]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/artic...-2002Dec17.html

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... On the next possession, Haywood blocked Robinson's runner and the Wizards quickly got the ball to a streaking Stackhouse for a breakaway dunk that all but sealed their fourth road victory.

"I knew Big Dog [Robinson] was going to drive because his teammates were getting on him about shooting jump shots," Haywood said. "I just knew he was going to come to me."

---------------

[Guest]

That's Big Dogs game!That is what he is supposed to

do!What the [censored] do they expect?I thought the players

had more class than this.They should have known Big

Dog is not a slasher.

[Diesel]

Sounds like Roles that are not clearly defined. Therefore you get confusion? When was the last time told Horry, You need to get in the post and away from the perimeter? Lon hasn't made it clear what Robinson's role is. SO you see him move from set shot specialist to Slasher to Point Forward. Trying to do things that are not his strength. That's the same with SAR and JT. We need a new coach soon.

[MoonKnight]

I didn't see him messing up in the 2nd half at all especially considering how poorly he started the game with his 2 early fouls. I entirely missed any argument between JT and SAR but I didn't see JT do anything to deserve being yanked at such a crucial time in the game.

On another note, I was listening to the 2liveStu's show on 790theZone thursday and there was alot of Hawktalk. The general theme of the callers was that a coaching change was needed now not later. I was surprised to hear from local fans since Hawktalk is so rare on sportstalk radio. Most fans wanted Michael Cooper or Fratello as the coach (or at least during the limited time I listened to the show). If this swelling of discontent continues coupled with more losses, the management cannot afford to wait to make a coaching change or completely lose our limited fan base.

[Traceman]

Immediately preceding him being yanked, he wasted 2 possessions (one on an ill-advised pass to Newble on the fast break, I don't remeber the other) and he failed to hustle back on D. He did get a steal in the middle of all that but overall, that was one of the worst efforts JT has had all season.